Week 48.

It’s been one of those stormy weeks last week. And I’m not talking about the weather. Week 47 of this year was, sure enough, not what you’d call a bed of roses. It started off pretty great but ended in a shocking manner, to say the least.

The week was packed with friends, good food, and tasty wine, but it ended with sorrow. My girlfriend’s family’s dear, wonderful, and beloved dog passed away yesterday. It was not the perfect Sunday.

God, we loved that Labrador so incredibly much. Almost 14 years of age. They truly are family members.

It was a pretty surrealistic feeling too because we were at a Christmas fair and were all pumped up and looking forward to the smell of pines and the taste of mulled wine (the best drink for Christmas ever made). And right in that moment, with people strolling by, carrying Christmas trees on their backs and laughing at almost knocking people over with them, they called.

It’s in those moments when you simply know what the phone call is about. It’s as if the ringtone itself is telling the message. You just know. And sure enough, it was that kind of call.

I know it might seem silly to someone who’s never felt this kind of bond between a human and a non-human animal but… It’s like losing a family member because that’s exactly what you’re doing.

So, today has been really gloomy. We bought a honey-scented candle (because Felicia always says that Sam, the Labrador, smells like honey) and lit it. It’s almost burnt down at this point. And I did the one thing that I know will comfort me at almost any time: I got out and borrowed some really good books and bought a Pinot Noir. And now I’ve put on some lovely 1940s music.

The books because I’d like to think of reading as a way to skip reality for a while.

The wine because it was a tradition of Sam’s and mine to sit outside; Me with a glass of wine and a book and him with a dog bone and a blanket.

I hope your week number 47 passed smoothly and I really hope that week number 48 will be great for all of us!

Swim cool, Internet.

Talk to you tomorrow.

The Beginning Of Stockholm Pride

Hello, Internet!

How are you today? It’s a good Wednesday for me. We’re back home and today is the first day of the Pride festival in Stockholm 🌈😂 

We’re, of course, heading over to the capital because of this at this very moment. SO EXCITED!

Wednesday aaaaaall the way until Sunday morning the celebration will go on. Non stop, constant events, lectures, and partying to relax in between. Rainbows everywhere and acceptance of each other’s differences as far as you can see. One word: amazeballs ❤️🌈

This morning started a little bit calmer, though, with coffee, porridge (yes, I know, it’s a boring breakfast but sooooo good), and me sitting on the balcony watching the world. ~ aaaaaaah ~

Nature, a dog, and calm walking – it’s the perfect beginning to a day.

Talk to you soon!

Swim calmly.

Buzzing Flies And Buggy Thoughts

Hello, Internet!

How are you doing today? Wednesday and all.

I’m sitting with a cup of coffee (fourth of the day, I seriously need to go over my daily caffeine intake) in a hammock, swaying softly in the sunlight. Back and forth, back and forth, in a reassuringly calm pace – it’s so soothing, my god.

In front of me lays the open pool with glistening water, rippling as it moves just as calmly as I sway in my hammock. Next to me sleeps my girlfriend’s family’s Labrador, snoring as if nothing could wake him up. Hmm, you know what, now I got worried – I need to check that he’s not in a coma or something of the like, the old fellow.

Nope, all good. He looked at me with blaming eyes for waking him up. Oh well, he’ll soon fall asleep again. Yup, there he goes now. Anyway:

So, the atmosphere is ridiculously calm, full of buzzing bugs and flies and yet here I sit, in the midst of it all, unable to simply calm the f*ck down.

It’s rather impressive, really, how I can manage to feel stressed over…? What? Everything? Nothing? It’s like the nothingness stresses me out even more. I don’t think I’m alone. I believe this is a classic holiday/vacation-problem.

“Problem”. This is one of those fabricated problems that just don’t seem to go away even though the very logic reasoning around it is that it’s freaking ludicrous.

Because of this, I decided to handle it – or tackle it, if you would – by reading a book. Fiction, nothing else. Books have a soothing effect on me, always has. It took me four hours to start and finish the book of my choice. Reading it as if I was preparing for a seminar at uni.

Scratch that idea.

Now I’m thinking I should force myself to – after finishing writing this post, of course – shut down all that could be a distraction and lie down and merely listen. Making it some sort of game to try and identify all different sounds and scents. Only for a few hours, to kind of reset the system, I suppose.

What do you do to stress down? Is there a special cure or remedy that you use for this madness?

I’m going to try this method out now, then I’ll think of a new post to write for Friday.

Until then:

Swim calmly.

A Walk In The Woods

Hello Internet!

It’s winter now. Like actual winter. Finally!

It has been snowing like crazy today and the day before that but I didn’t get any good pictures of it since the snow was forming itself like a shield outside. A wall of snow, literally. It was awesome. Our balcony is completely covered in snow now. So cosy!

Anyhow, a few days before that we took a walk in the woods with Felicia’s family’s dog and right there and then there was no crazy snow weather. Still winter, but no grand amount of snow. That was a good thing though, because I accidentally forgot my winter shoes and had to use my fall shoes. They’re dead now. Like, unable to use anymore. Honest truth: they split in half. Super dead.

Can’t imagine what had happened if it would have been more snow. I’d probably lost my legs too.

Ahem.

Oh, and happy Friday Internet (for the first time 2017)! I hope you’re super excited for the first weekend this new year! Yaaaaaay! I don’t know exactly how to celebrate it but rest assured that it’ll be celebrated somehow.

Playing With Labrador In a Lake

Are there any things that could possibly be better than playing with a dog in a lake? That would be a limited number of things if you ask me, especially if that dog you’re playing with is a very cute labrador. Look how fun we had with my girlfriend’s family dog doing just that:

When we were driving home the entire car smelled of wet dog. Kind of charming in a way actually. He was so happy, I was so happy, everybody was happy, happy, happy, happy!

And, I almost forgot, happy Saturday everybody!

Midsummer

As you may or may not know, in Sweden we celebrate midsummer every year in honor of… That we’re in the middle of summer I assume (I don’t know why I don’t know it better than that or why I can’t find the energy to google it). The great thing about midsummer – except it being marked as a holiday in the calendar – is that it is an excuse for everyone to come together, eat and drink tasty things, play silly games and hang out. So that’s what we did last Friday.

We ate and drank tasty things.

We played games – although not silly for me. The game kubb always manages to light up my spirit of competition and that may be one of the reasons why I shouted “all who wants to win, join  my team!” when we split into two teams. I can’t help it.

⬆️ Dead serious. My team won.

We hung out.

We cuddled this cutie 🐶.

And we had this for dessert. Allow me to drool.

Giant trees and playing with a labrador

We got a visit from our lovely relative Sam (the labrador) and decided to show him some of the nature around here, in Uppsala. Out of comfort we chose to go by bus – a wise choice if I may say so myself, the rain was pouring down.

Travelling. “Just so that you know, I’m not too fond of this bus thing.”

We found this wonderful open space in the woods and at the same time the rain had stopped. It had to be a sign, we ended up staying there for three hours.

Labrador ——-> tennis ball. Can you spot it?

Coffee break!! And cookies, of course. And, naturally, a labrador with a tennis ball.

Girlfriend playing with labrador. “MY STICK” “NO MINE” “NO MINE”

Walking back home we found this enormous tree where three of us could climb in at the same time. It was huge! Really cool, like a portal to another world. Truly mesmerizing, outdoor nature is awesome.

After getting back home we spoiled Sam with all what we could. I’m pretty sure we successfully bought some love from him. He loves us the most now.