Finally relaunch, yay!
August 31, 2010 21:00

It took many hours and many different layouts before I finally decided to keep it almost like it was before... I have added many pages, most of them under "Categories". If you want to link to me, I now have a whole page devoted to that, haha. But I have made most changes in the code, hopefully I have managed to get it a bit more SEO friendly?

Moving on to Lisen. She is now over believing she is pregnant, and back to her happy self. Which I think this pic, taken today, demonstrates quite well :-)



By the way, for all of you who have seen my old layout, I would love to hear your opinions on this one compared to the old. Improvement or not? And if anyone find errors, like broken links and so on, I'd appreciate feedback.

/A.L

Life - if we can't touch it, what is it worth?
August 30, 2010 17:16

Nowadays it's all about what we own, where we have been and where we are going next. I wonder, what are we chasing? Who is it we want to impress? What is the point of having an enormous house, if we are miserable in it?

A diamond ring, new shoes or the latest car won't ever give us what a living soul can. We need to feel love, in one way or another, that's what makes us human. Things won't ever love us, like us or even talk to us - they are just there reminding us of what we don't have.

I feel like people are being forgotten, overlooked all over the place, simply because we are in a rush to live. There is nothing wrong with wanting to succeed in life, or having big dreams and go after them. But I think that what makes us who we are, is not how fast we get there - but how we got there.

/A.L

Time to get political
August 29, 2010 13:28

We have an election to Parliament on September 19 here in Sweden, which we have every fourth year. Now I know a lot of people prefer to keep their political opinions to themselves, as well as which party they vote for. That's fine with me and I respect that. I'm just not one of those people, LOL!

I don't mind sharing which party I vote for and why. I have the privilege and freedom to do so and I don't see any reason not to. That doesn't mean I am one of those people who bring up this topic, or very much enjoy discussing it, but if anyone asks - I tell.

I bet you want to know wich party I'm voting for this year...no? Yes? Well I'm going to tell you anyway. I'm voting for the Social Democrats’ (in Swedish - Socialdemokraterna). It's been a long time since just one party had a majority in our Parliament so the seven major parties have divided themselves into two blocks, the red block and the blue block. The red block is the one with the Social Democrats’, but the blue block are those who won the election last time. I'm hoping for a change this year. Unfortunately I'm not sure we'll get one, simply because the Social Democrats’ don't have a very strong leader...

Oh well, enough political chatter. I saw these signs when I was on my walk with Lisen today and they got me thinking about this.




/A.L

Lyckeby, Karlskrona, Sweden
August 26, 2010 16:43

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.

/A.L

How can you not laugh?
August 24, 2010 20:48

Was just about to sit down and take my first sip of lovely, fresh, coffee this morning, when this happened...



Yiax, and I only made one cup :-(

Oh well, there is only one thing to do - get the camera and document! LOL. Had another cup of coffee in my hands about fifteen minutes later, and I held on to that one real tight this time!

/A.L

Blog changes and fake pups…
August 23, 2010 19:45

I have been working hard on social networking to get visitors to my blog, I have also gotten advice on how to improve my blog from some of them. I always take constructive criticism seriously and if I feel there are some valid points - I make changes! How else can you possibly grow and develop? I have also gotten a lot of positive feedback, which I sincerely appreciate and value :-)

Besides being back at my day job and working on implementing my blog changes, I have been dealing with a dog who thinks she is pregnant. Lisen always gets like this after every heat cycle, it lasts for two months, and now she is in the last phase of her "pregnancy".

Along with loss of appetite comes constant whining and digging around to make a perfect little place for her to have her pups. She looks so sad and confused, but I know it’s perfectly normal so I just let her be.



But still, sometimes I just can't resist those eyes and simply have to give her a cuddle!

/A.L

Can you believe it!?
August 20, 2010 21:20

I finally have a dog grid in my car! Hallelujah! Thank you to my mums partner for finding one, and for half the price I originally paid for the first one - that didn’t fit and caused me five months of irritation… This one was ordered and delivered within a week! Such a relief!

I also replaced my old, worn windshield wipers with the new ones I bought a few days ago. Soon it’s time for tire change and yearly check up. Gosh, all this car maintenance is sooo boring! Wish it could just handle it self…blah!

Now I’m going to force Lisen to pose for me in the car, behind “the bars”, so I can post a pic as well, hehe.



She was a bit surprised at first, but then she gladly posed for the camera :-)

/A.L.

Forest + Lisen = Dirty dog
August 15, 2010 19:25

Today we all went to the forest for a walk, me, Lisen, Diva and my sister. Lisen behaved quite well the first half, didn’t jump in any disgusting puddles, but then I heard a “splash”, and that was that. Not only are all the puddles right now brown and filthy, they stink! And once she has gotten in one, there is no point in trying to stop her from going in another one, and another one, and another one…

Diva loves to look up different puddles in the forest and then she gets Lisen and shows her them, and in they go together. However, Lisen is her mother and she is the one who has taught Diva everything, so I’m sure Diva is just following Lisens order.

The thing with Lisens fur is that it is very resistant, she can withstand the cold pretty well but when her fur gets wet, it really gets wet! And it takes hours for it to dry. Divas fur is a lot easier to manage and she dries up pretty quickly. Of course its just not water in those puddles, there's dirt. Dirt that gets tangled up in Lisens thick fur, and guess who has to wash and scrub that fur...

Oh well...It's worth a bit of a hassle later on. I mean, it makes me truly happy to see Lisen and Diva enjoying their freedom and just being dogs. Something every dog should have the right to do!

Some pics from today.




If you want to get to know Lisen better and see more pics from her life, check out her own blog at lisen.eu

/A.L

Updates
August 14, 2010 20:36

Iphone poll: Buy Iphone 4 or not? Total 9 votes, 6 Yes and 3 No. I have decided to follow your advice and buy it. When it will arrive, well who knows...?

Dog grid: I ordered a dog grid from a pet shop, Hundbiten, in April. It was suppose to take two weeks to get it, took closer to TWO months! We tried to stop the order, one employee told us it was cancelled, but when it arrived the owner told us that it’s impossible to cancel an order because they make them especially for ones car. I went in, got it. When I tried to put it in, it did not fit! Wrong model! I called and told them about the problem, after about three weeks and me calling several times, finally the owner agreed to take it back, but I had to pay for the postage (250kr!).

Now, the whole ordering process was a mess with different answers all the time. To avoid this circus, the employee who took the order should have taken my cars registration number, something you ALWAYS do when you order something specific for a car. Jiiiz! What really put me off, is when I went to return the dog grid. The employee who had taken the order started to make excuses and blame us for the mistake, even though I had come to an agreement with the owner. OMG, how much more unprofessional can you get! It’s a shame because I have always liked the owner and her store, but that employee! Sorry to say, but she makes me NOT want to return there again :-(

And finally an update on the weight loss plan my mother and her partner signed a month ago. My mother has lost 3 kilos and her partner has lost 0 kilos. Good job mum!

/A.L

I - phone - doubt
August 9, 2010 20:25

I have already ordered an Iphone 4, but now I'm starting to wonder if I should have...I mean because of the whole antenna issue...hm? What do you think?

Cable shot
August 8, 2010 19:59

I try to keep my all my cables in one place so I won't have to conduct a “find the right cable search” every time I need to connect something. However, even if they are in the same place they somehow always manage to end up in one giant tangled mess!

So when I was organizing and refurnishing yesterday, I came up with a brilliant idea! I took my shot glasses and put one headphone in each, cause I have a few...and voila! At least now that cable ball is a little less tangled :-)


I thought it was a smart idea anyway...?

/A.L

Sometimes you need to take one step back in order to move forward!
August 7, 2010 20:18

I have a tendency to get so wrapped up in my projects that my mind start to spin way too fast with ideas and thoughts. Thankfully I know myself enough to recognize when I have gotten to this point. And I find that in order to get back on track again, the best thing for me, is to just drop everything and do something completely different. So today I have refurnished my apartment :-)



/A.L

Crayfish party, sort of...
August 5, 2010 21:04

Ok, not really a party but a premiere. Party just sound more fun, hehe. Today I ate my first crayfish of the year, a tradition in Sweden to devour the little buggers in August. They are really tasty, although it sure is a lot of work for such a little piece of meat...but worth it :-)

I also ordered an Iphone 4 today, however there is a couple weeks waiting period because of the high demand right now. Oh well, hopefully I'll get it before Apples Iphone 5 gets out...haha.


Some pics from today.

/A.L

Old surroundings
August 4, 2010 20:24

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...

/A.L

Thank you water
August 3, 2010 20:28

It has been a rainy and slow day today, a day to appreciate the simple things in life. I think it is important to be thankful for what you have in life, especially for everyday things. Things we take for granted, like water. I mean without such a common, natural and simple resource, life becomes a battle for survival.

I took this pic on my balcony today.

For me, beauty is everywhere. You just have to open your eyes.

/A.L

Life and widgets
August 2, 2010 21:26

I just discovered a great TV-series, Life. I first saw it when I was in Gran Canaria, but when I was going to google it later at home I just could not remember the name...Then one day when I was flipping through the channels on the tube, there it was. Yay! I've added a clip from it here.

Now on to the widgets. I have finally managed to find a website, feedity.com, where you can get a RSS-Feed button and easily add it to your website. But I wonder how many people actually subscribe to blogs and websites, hm. I'm not a big subscriber, but then again I just started becoming more active online, so what do I know. Haha.I also added a share-button instead of the meebo-bar, which was a bit "in the way"
I felt. So now anyone can share me :-)

/A.L

Websites and herbs
August 1, 2010 18:54

Today I have spent most of the day working on this website, adding pages, updating and changing a few things.

The one break I took was to eat. As I mentioned before, I now own a few plants for the first time in my life, and they are still alive :-) Today I picked some homegrown, organic, fresh parsley and added it to my dinner, yum!




/A.L