And on my walk with Lisen a few days ago we saw these camels, not exactly a common sight here in Lyckeby, Sweden. Lol! Of course they belonged to the visiting circus here, but still, looked pretty funny I thought. :p
A few days ago I walked with Lisen up in the nature reserve next to my apartment building. In this nature reserve, called Ekebacken (in Lyckeby, Sweden), is a fenced in area where sheep roam every summer. An area you are allowed to walk through. So when Lisen and I approached it I saw that this years sheep herd had arrived.
Usually sheep run away, or move at least, when they see Lisen coming. But not this time. Well, when they first saw us they started to get up and was about to move. But then they stopped, turned around and looked at us instead. And I felt this connection between us, like they knew we weren't dangerous. Everyone was so calm, including Lisen. So we just stared at each other for a little while before me and Lisen slowly walked away.
And I love moments like this! Interaction with nature and life. Not a word was spoken, but yet so much was said. Beautiful! :-)
Yesterday I saw a carnival under construction here in Lyckeby, right across from where I live. Usually a carnival means there is a market around the corner, and I had no idea it was market time again here in Lyckeby. I had not seen any signs or ads about one, so I looked it up.
It turns out there is indeed a market this Saturday and it's simply called "Spring market in Lyckeby". It's a yearly event which is held to celebrate spring. Hm? My memory must be a bit "out of order" because I can't remember a spring market here in Lyckeby last year... I know there was a market at the end of summer, but spring...? Lol!
Anyway, if you are in (or around) my neighbourhood this Saturday between 09:00-16:00, come on by and check it out. I know I will! :p
But there is still some way to go before this carnival is up and running. (These pics are from this morning.) It usually takes about 4-5 days to build this carnival, and then of course it takes about 4-5 days to take the whole thing down again. And I always think it's so much work for a few hours of fun. But I guess it must pay off somehow, because they keep coming back. Hehe.
It's pretty cold here in Lyckeby again, but I like this type of calm cold. Without interference from wind, rain or snowfall. Just sun, blue skies and below 0°C. Ahhh! And yesterday I happened to time mine and Lisens afternoon walk with the sunset. What a wonderful sight! :-)
So how is the weather where you live? Warm, cold, wet, snowy? And are you enjoying it?
Yet another storm is heading in over Sweden and once again warnings have been issued. This storm is predicted to be a class 2 storm (class 3 is the strongest). Which means possible danger to thepublic, especially surrounding the area where I live. Fortunately we won't get snow with this storm though, yay! Just strong winds and rain... However, I don't really think it will be as bad as the weather reports make it out to be. They always issue warnings over everything nowadays.
Anyway, I thought I show you some pics I took this afternoon. The calm before the storm...oooo, hehe.
Lyckeby today.
I'm waiting at the traffic lights at Amiralen, heading towards town.
I thought it was about time I had another Swedish giveaway! Yay! Like last time, the prizes will consist of some Swedish treats and a personal gift from me. I will pick the winner in a live broadcast via my Ustream channel on Wednesday January 19th, I will be back with the exact time later.
These are the prizes:
-
Napkins with Swedish flag motive
- Four wooden butter knives
-
A car air freshner with Swedish motive
- Swedish crispbread
- Some popular Swedish candy; three different kinds of salt liquorice candy, Ahlgrens bilar and Peppermint Rock Candy - polkagris
- Our traditional Christmas drink, Glögg
- A postcard with motives from my hometown Karlskrona
- And my personal gift, spring water from Lyckeby
As for my personal gift. I wanted to give away something which has some sort of connection to this giveaway, as well as to me and where I live. And I was so excited when I got the idea to give away some water. Huh!? Well, just a few metres from where I live here in Lyckeby, is an old water pump. It has actually been here for centuries. And people still come to fetch water from it today, even though we can drink water directly from our taps. But this spring water is tasty and has a long history behind it, which I'm sure is why it is still frequently used. It is also why I thought it would be cool to give away some of this spring water from Lyckeby, Sweden.
Below are pics of the pump, as well as some history about it. Top left pic: this is how close it is to my apartment. Top right pic: Some close ups. And below pic: an enlargement of the text which is written on the info board next to the pump.
And this is how I made my personal gift. I boiled a bottle in water, made labels, filled bottle with spring water, and voila - finito!
Giveaway rules!
Now to the most important part, HOW TO WIN these prizes! All you have to do is answer these two questions in a comment below.
1. What country do you live in?
2. What do you love about the country you live in?
My answers:
1. Sweden
2. I love that we can drink water straight from our taps here. We are very fortunate to be able to do that, something I definitely appreciate!
Today is Advent third. And besides lighting a candle in my Advent candlestick and eating rice pudding every Advent Sunday, I try to visit at least one old fashioned Christmas market every year. So this afternoon I decided to uphold yet another of my December traditions. I grabbed my sister and off we went to an old farm called Hässlelyckans gård, located a few kilometres outside of Lyckeby. Every Advent Sunday they have a small and cosy Christmas market here, inspired by the 1600s.
In the above pic is the farm, Hässlelyckans gård. Second pic from above; a suspicious doggie. I bet he thought those Christmas goats looked a bit weird (which they do). LOL! In the third and fourth pic; more Christmas goats, and a stand where they sold different kinds of smoked fish.
And here are some pics of the old farm shop, which was filled with lovely traditional home made products. Like different kind of drinks made according to traditional recipes, home made crisp bread, candy, honey etc. I bought something called juniper berry root beer. All in all it was a nice and charming Christmas market. :-)
Snow, snow, snow and...yes that's right - more snow! It just keeps on coming. So I thought I'd share some pics of Lyckeby covered in snow, and Lisen covered in snow :-) Not that Lisen mind the snow. Well, she does not like it when she get cramps in her legs or when snowballs get stuck under her paws, but besides that, she enjoys the snow.
Because Lisen has the dog breed New foundland in her, who originally lived in cold weather, her fur is adapted to withstand cold temperatures. And the main reason she has a jacket on is because last year we found out that she has a bit of plaque between some of her vertebras. Therefore our Vet suggested I put a jacket on her to insure she stays warm, which helps prevent her from getting inflammation in her back. But when she was younger she use to love jumping in the ice cold water and swim. And when she got up, her fur use to freeze into ice. Brrr!
The first snow has officially landed in Lyckeby, Karlskrona. And not in a soft, calm manner. But with the forces of strong winds and freezing cold. It is now winter... Unfortunately for me I have not yet changed my summer tires to winter tires, so no driving tomorrow. Oh well, when the snow has settled, it is actually quite nice :-) Maybe I'll throw some snowballs at Lisen tomorrow, lol!
New feature
I have added a new comment feature, you can now comment on each post. I still have my cbox a bit further down. I would love to know what you think about this way of commenting. It's probably how it works on most blogs. I just don't like that you have to be moved to another page for it to work...But maybe it's better than just a cbox? Click on "Add comment to this post" below to try it out :-)
Today is the big election day here in Sweden. Will our Parliament remain the same for another four years or not? Well, however you vote, I think the most important thing is that you do vote! So this morning I grabbed Lisen and wandered to my local polling house here in Lyckeby to cast my vote.
Lisen waiting for me while I'm in the yellow house voting.
Today it was time for the annual St Jacobi market right here in Lyckeby, Sweden. A market that has been a held since 1909. And I have memories of being at it when I was a child, but somehow I remember it as a lot bigger than it is today. We could spend hours there. Today it took me about ten minutes to check the whole thing out. I don't know if it's because I have lost interest or because markets always seemed bigger and more fun to me when I was a child?
Anyway, after my quickie at the market it was off to work for a few hours...After that dinner at mums, turkey - yum! My aunt and her husband are there over the weekend so it was fun to see and talk to them as well. And on the way home from mums we made a little stop in the forest to let Lisen and Diva run around in the fields for a while :-)
Below are some pics from today.
Above: From the market today. Below left: Todays dinner. Below right: Not sure if it's Diva or Lisen, but it's one of them anyway. Listening and looking out for wild animals.
I moved away from home when I was 19. My very first apartment was in Lyckeby, right outside Karlskrona. For some reason, counting out when I was travelling and right after when I got home, I have remained in this little suburb. I like it here, it's close to everything, but not too close, and surrounded by nature.
Actually I have lived here in Karlskrona basically all my life. Sure I was born in Uppsala, Sweden, but I only spent my first two years there. Karlskrona is not a big city, I think we have a population of around 60 000. And of course, like in any minor town, everyone knows everyone in one way or another.
I used to think I had to get out of here, move somewhere else - anywhere else. But I have realized that it's quite nice to have a home, a real home. Not just a house or apartment where I eat and sleep, but a place that I feel as close to as my own family. I might not always like it, but I stick around because it's simply where I'm suppose to be.
Top left: Shops, about five minutes walk from my apartment. Top right: I'm taking the pic from the same spot as in the the top left pic, I live behind the flags. Below left: Lyckebys "main street". Below right: I live in one of those brown buildings.
So I live in an apartment building with 16 apartments and where the average age is around 60-80 years old. I am by far the youngest person in the building... Right outside my windows is a several hundred years old nature reserve filled with grand oak-trees and animals. Sounds nice right? Well many of my friends and family tease me about this and think I should move someplace where there is more "action". Hm…not me though, I love it here!
I love my apartment, I love my neighbours and I love the nature and calmness that comes with it. Now of course, I don't plan to stay here forever, haha. But the next time I move, it will be to a big stone house :-)
Left: View from my window.
Right: This is how it looks up the road.
Left: There are a lot of lurking paths up there. Right: Lisen and I bumped into this very cocky cat today. It would not budge and I had to take a big detour around it with a struggling, half choking, hanging in the leash Lisen. And once we finally passed the cat, they just wanted to stare at each other...
