My lovely dogs
September 27, 2010 14:22




Ok, both are not mine but Diva (who is Lisens daughter) in the right pic, feels like she is mine as well. Even though technically she is my sisters. Us four hang out quite a lot, in the left pic Lisen and me are waiting for them to pick us up for a walk in the forest. However, to get Diva into this world was not an easy task...

C-section
Lisen was 4 years old when she had her puppies. When it was time for Lisen to give birth, she simply would not do it naturally! Typical Lisen, always wants it her own way... I had to drive her, my sister, mum and two friends, in the middle of the night to a Vet station 1,5 hours away. The Vet gave her medicine to try and induce labour so she could deliver on her own, but nope not Lisen. Finally the Vet decided to do a c-section.

Will she make it?
We waited and waited, the Vet had told us that they would come out with the pups as soon as they were delivered. But it took a lot longer the she had said, so we got really worried something had gone wrong. I was so nervous and anxious, and there were a ton of thoughts running through my head. We had decided to let Lisen have pups because we knew she would be an excellent mum and wanted her to have that experience. But now, was it really worth it? What if something went wrong and she didn't come out of this alive...

What!?
At last, the Vet assistant came to us, and in his hand he had a box with six black pups. Ah, we thought there would be a few more but six, ok. And then he said, "I'll go and get the other box for you", ehhh whua!? " Here you go", he said. And in that brown box, another six puppies!!! Yiax! We had to rub them to make sure the kept breathing, however one just didn't have the strength. After about an hour we got to see Lisen, who was very groggy and didn't understand anything. We showed her the puppies but she was uninterested and didn't want to have anything to do with them.



Exhausted
I drove us all home, and at home Lisen just went off and laid down. A bit of a panic arouse within us. How on earth are we going to take care of these 11 puppies without Lisen!? It was an intense sleepless next 24 hours of making sure the newborns were ok. And considering the previous 24 hours had been sleepless as well, we were all pretty exhausted. I had to work during this time, so my sister did most of the care taking.

Best mum ever!
Finally, 24 hours after Lisens c-section, Madde (my sister) told me that Lisen came to her, when she had a puppy in her hand, and was a bit curious. She still didn't understand that the puppy was hers. But Madde put a drop of puppy pee on Lisens nose (yes, sound gross, lol) but as soon as Lisen licked it, it was like a light bulb went off in her head. And after that moment she was the best mum ever! Thank God for that! I know that we, three people, could never have done such an amazing job with them as she did. It was a joy and unforgettable experience to watch her take care of those 11, very demanding, pups. And one of them, Diva, never really left the nest :-)





The summer of 2005 was all about puppies, LOL! Busy and oh so fun! To see more pics and find out more about Lisens life visit her own blog at lisen.eu.

/A.L

Stuck behind music
September 24, 2010 12:30




On my way to work, when this happens...really!? Do you have to march and play music in the middle of the street? And I could not take another road...Anyway, I was on time so I guess it's aaall good.

On another note, I have received my free Iphone bumper from Apple, yay! I guess it helps improve my reception...not sure actually? But it feels better to have it on though, a bit more comfortable to hold it. Actually I read in a Swedish online paper (link to article) that over 700 000 Swedes own an Iphone, wow! That's like one in ten Swedes! I wonder what the total number all over the world is, hm...?

Have a wonderful weekend! :-)

/A.L

Some Swedish traditions
September 21, 2010 13:21

I have been working on adding some pages about Sweden to this blog for quite some time now. Today I finally finished two pages of my favourite Swedish traditions. I have written about my experiences of them, a few pics and some history behind the traditions.

I will continually add new pages about different "Sweden" topics. They will be added in "About Sweden" in the menu, and of course I will post whenever I have finished a page.

To visit the new pages, click here --> Traditions or Christmas

Let me know what you think, and if you like the pages please click the like button on them :-)

Thank you!

/A.L

Results are in...
September 19, 2010 23:12

Unfortunately, I can't say I'm surprised, but it still saddens me that we lost. Another four years of increasing the gaps in society between those who have, and those who don't. However, I must say, what really concerns me about this election outcome is that one party, which have never been in the Swedish Parliament before, managed to get in.

This party is called Sverige Demokraterna - Swedish Democrats. And, regardless of what they try to portray themselves as, they are basically a xenophobic party. Not too extreme - but extreme enough to make me feel like this is a major concern!

Even though "my side" lost, I still feel like the Social Democrats' leader, Mona Sahlin, did the best she could under the circumstances. It's not easy to have a position no one else wants, or refuse to take responsibility for. She stepped up to the plate when no one else had the guts to, and I commend her for that.

I think it's easy to blame others for what went wrong, or is wrong, both in our lives and in society. If you don't like it - do something about it! Don't act like children and do the opposite to demonstrate your discontent, that's when shit happens...

/A.L

Time to vote!
September 19, 2010 12:16

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.

/A.L

Is the Earth spinning faster or what?
September 16, 2010 14:39

Yiax, I can't believe how fast this week has gone...Ok, not over yet but it's already Thursday! Seriously, has somebody pressed a fast forward button? Hm...Anyway, I'm STILL working on my Swedish pages, currently on Swedish traditions. And I of course want to include my favourite ones with some history and pictures, which takes time. But I'd rather spend that extra time on it to get it done properly!

And while I have been busy with my traditions, it's been rainy and windy most of the week here in Karlskrona, and fall has pretty much arrived. However, I like fall, especially the amazing transformations of colours on leaves in all the trees! It's insane how beautiful our nature is! The downside though, these cold, windy and wet days...



Now back to working on some more traditions before I'm off to work (that I actually get paid for, lol!).

/A.L

My Iphone 4 review
September 14, 2010 15:17

I have now had my Iphone a few days and feel like I have an opinion on how it works for me. Short story - It is the best phone I have ever had!

Long story:
What makes it so great for me is that everything works quick and all functions are easy to understand and operate. Sure you have to download a few programs to your computer and transfer them onto your Iphone before you can get started, but once that is done everything works smoothly.

Regarding the signal issue, I do notice that I sometimes have low reception depending on how I hold the phone. Even though it does not cause any major problems, with an expensive phone like this I want everything to work tip top. Thanks to a tip from my friend at One Million Connections, I found out that you can get a free rubber ring (protection thingy) if you go to Apples website at apple.com/iphone/case-program/and follow instructions. This supposedly helps with the signal issue and protects your Iphone if you drop it. Of course I have ordered one, however - delivery time 1-2 weeks...

Another great thing about this phone is the HD quality, something I really notice when I surf and take pictures. Everything is very sharp and easy on the eye. To demonstrate the quality of picture and sound I have here a little video from our visit to the forest today. This was filmed with my Iphone 4 (not sure if it shows in HD quality on this small screen though...). Enjoy!

To sum it all up, I'm glad I bought this phone and highly recommend it! This is my non sponsored opinion. And by the way, if you want me to review something on my blog I'm sure up for it! Just send me your product :-) To contact me CLICK HERE!

/A.L

There are two main versions of this dish, either grey or white "kroppkaka". You usually boil the grey one in water and eat it with melted butter and lingonberry. Whereas you usually fry the white one in a frying pan and eat it with a white sauce and lingonberry. I prefer the latter and it is the one featured in the photos.

/A.L

Iphone 4 in my possession!
September 10, 2010 18:58

Today it finally arrived, my Iphone 4. Yay!!! However...I have not yet received a micro SIM from my phone company Telia, and without that I can't access anything :-( Oh well, I called them and they said they had sent it, so I'll probably have it on Monday.

I don't understand why Apple uses a micro SIM? Are there any advantages with a micro SIM as opposed to a normal SIM card? I have no idea...? Anyway, thought I'd at least share that the phone is here, only took five weeks from the day I placed the order...LOL!



Here we are - me, my Iphone and I :-)

/A.L

What do you want to know about Sweden?
September 9, 2010 13:50

I'm working on adding a few pages about Sweden to my blog. And it got me curious as to what people outside of Sweden would like to know about Sweden? I would very much like to hear your ideas, thoughts and questions! Leave your comments in the shoutbox :-)



A pic of the Swedish flag and a traditional Swedish, miniature, midsummer pole.

I will tell you all about Swedish midsummer in my new pages. Hopefully they will be ready during or after the weekend.

/A.L

Human nature with a modern twist
September 7, 2010 14:39

There are all kind of blogs out in cyberspace nowadays, in all type of niches. But the niche that seem to be by far most popular is the "personal blog". Even though not many people make any money on it, somehow we feel the need to share our daily life with anyone who will listen.

I believe that "personal blogs" just demonstrates old human behaviour in a new way. We all want what we have always wanted, to be seen, heard, noticed and remembered. And blogging is our new platform for doing that.

But how personal is too personal? Is it OK to talk about people behind their backs? How come it feels safer to share a secret in your blog than to tell someone about it in person? And do we really want to know all about your intimate life?

I think ultimately it's up to each one of us how comfortable we feel about reading about other peoples lives, and sharing of our own. No one is forcing anyone to do either, and if you don't like it - just keep on surfin :-)

/A.L

In the middle of a market
September 4, 2010 21:27

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.

/A.L