How I managed to watch a 12 hour season of True Blood in 2 days and still work AND clean the house, I don't know. But at least now I can go away for the weekend having that taken care off...
We are leaving at 1:30 PM, and all I need to do today is vacuum and mop the floors, do one small load of laundry and pack. Almost done with half of it...
I was just in Sarah's room packing her clothes, when I noticed an all too familiar scent in the air...
I looked down at Bob, laying on the floor, basking happily in the morning sun...
It could not be...???
I quickly called the husband to confirm, and YES, Bob had rolled in some kind of dead animal this morning on their walk!
Agghhhhhh!!!! And he just conveniently forgot to mention this (or notice that Bob now stink like a skunk???)
So add to list of things to do: Give the dogs a bath... :-)
Hope you all have a great weekend!
Friday, June 12, 2009
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Thanks a LOT!
OK, I wanted something to watch and since Sonja has been talking about (obsessing with) the HBO series True Blood, I decided to watch the first season. The second season starts soon here in the US.
THANK YOU! It is just so freaking good, in a cool, very kinky and well... you will have to see for your self...!
Now I will not get anything done until I have plowed though the whole season. I am on episode 9, 3 more to go before I get my life back...*rolling eyes* So THANKS !!! :-)
THANK YOU! It is just so freaking good, in a cool, very kinky and well... you will have to see for your self...!
Now I will not get anything done until I have plowed though the whole season. I am on episode 9, 3 more to go before I get my life back...*rolling eyes* So THANKS !!! :-)
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Passion Fruit
I was just coming back from a walk with the dogs, and noticed a tree in the neighbor's front yard that is kind of hanging over into our yard. I never actually looked that close at the tree before, I knew it had a passion vine all over its top, but not until today did I notice that it is actually a tree full of passion fruit!
I have never seen a passion tree up close before, it was pretty cool discovering this close! I am sure the neighbor will let us have some fruit, she gets bananas from our banana trees all the time, and since she lives alone, I doubt she could eat all that fruit herself. I will have to ask for some after she gets back form vacation! So cool!
The tree with the passion vine all over the top
Some of the fruit hanging down
Some of the fruit, three different stages of ripening in one picture!
The beautiful passion fruit flower
I have never seen a passion tree up close before, it was pretty cool discovering this close! I am sure the neighbor will let us have some fruit, she gets bananas from our banana trees all the time, and since she lives alone, I doubt she could eat all that fruit herself. I will have to ask for some after she gets back form vacation! So cool!
The tree with the passion vine all over the top
Some of the fruit hanging down
Some of the fruit, three different stages of ripening in one picture!
The beautiful passion fruit flowerÄrtsoppa
Tonight we are having Swedish yellow pea soup, the vegetarian kind.
I have had the yellow, dried peas in water over night, and I am really looking forward to eating the soup! Last time I made it (it has been a while now) it came out really good, and the husband really liked it too!
So far he has liked most Swedish food I have made for him. He loves "bruna bönor", pea soup, Swedish pancakes (kind of like crepes, very thin), Swedish meatballs and "pannbiff" (pretty much flat meatballs...), lingonberries and so on. Oh, and he loves salty licorice!
The stuff that has not gone over so well is mainly of the fish variety. Pickled herring (sill) and "Kalles Kaviar" (creamy, smoked fish roe in a tube!), but also things like crisp bread "knäckebröd" and "skorpor".
He loves sushi and regular caviar, so it is not that he is scared of trying it. He is up for most culinary adventures I take us on, he have even steered me in some odd directions (such as snails, alligator and other not so, in my opinion, yummy things)...
He likes almost everything I cook. The only thing I don't like is that when he does not like something, it can take him months before he fess up and tell me! Why? Just tell me that no, that dish was not so hot, and I will cook something else next time...
But no, he says nothing and I keep cooking it until one day the truth comes out: "I don't really like this"...
But, luckily, as I said, he loves most of the food I cook. And that is good, since I like a large variety of things, different Asian cuisine, Italian, Mexican and so on. I am not so sure of "American" food... I think I would categorize American more like what we in Sweden call "husmanskost". You know, every day food. But there are things that are typical American, like turkey dinner on Thanksgiving, jello, hamburgers and so on.
A lot of people ask me if I cook a lot of American food. I think American food is mostly a hodgepodge of food from all over the world, after all, almost everyone in America is an immigrant, even if not in first, second or even third generation. So yes, sure, we cook a lot of "American" food...
American food can be great! And not so great... Just like the food of any other country in the world...
I have had the yellow, dried peas in water over night, and I am really looking forward to eating the soup! Last time I made it (it has been a while now) it came out really good, and the husband really liked it too!
So far he has liked most Swedish food I have made for him. He loves "bruna bönor", pea soup, Swedish pancakes (kind of like crepes, very thin), Swedish meatballs and "pannbiff" (pretty much flat meatballs...), lingonberries and so on. Oh, and he loves salty licorice!
The stuff that has not gone over so well is mainly of the fish variety. Pickled herring (sill) and "Kalles Kaviar" (creamy, smoked fish roe in a tube!), but also things like crisp bread "knäckebröd" and "skorpor".
He loves sushi and regular caviar, so it is not that he is scared of trying it. He is up for most culinary adventures I take us on, he have even steered me in some odd directions (such as snails, alligator and other not so, in my opinion, yummy things)...
He likes almost everything I cook. The only thing I don't like is that when he does not like something, it can take him months before he fess up and tell me! Why? Just tell me that no, that dish was not so hot, and I will cook something else next time...
But no, he says nothing and I keep cooking it until one day the truth comes out: "I don't really like this"...
But, luckily, as I said, he loves most of the food I cook. And that is good, since I like a large variety of things, different Asian cuisine, Italian, Mexican and so on. I am not so sure of "American" food... I think I would categorize American more like what we in Sweden call "husmanskost". You know, every day food. But there are things that are typical American, like turkey dinner on Thanksgiving, jello, hamburgers and so on.
A lot of people ask me if I cook a lot of American food. I think American food is mostly a hodgepodge of food from all over the world, after all, almost everyone in America is an immigrant, even if not in first, second or even third generation. So yes, sure, we cook a lot of "American" food...
American food can be great! And not so great... Just like the food of any other country in the world...
Monday, June 8, 2009
Weekend
Sarah on her way to one of her last days in Kindergarten!This past weekend felt like it was really slow and boring.
The weather did not look really promising, but we headed out for a visit to the Sea Hagg, and that was a really inters ting place for sure. Now I know where to go next time I am in the need of some quirky, cool or just plain curious decorating items!
Some of the stuff to be found at the Sea Hagg
Sarah at the Sea Hagg
After that we drove around on Anna Maria Island a little, before stopping at one of our favorites, the Beach House, for lunch. It really doesn't matter much what you eat when you are next to the ocean, but the grouper sliders we had were really good!
The view from our table at the Beach House
Me hungily awaiting our food at the Beach House
The rest of the day was spent just hanging out together, the thunder storms came and went.
Sunday we started by having breakfast at the Rod and Reel Pier, and then fishing a little of the pier. No bite, but we did get to see dolphins, among them a little baby!!!
Ken and Sarah bating the hook with live shrimp
The plan was to go swimming afterward, but the clouds looked dark and ominous, so we decided to drive home and see if it was clearer there, and in that case go to the pool. We weren't sure what to do, but decided to go for a swim in the pool after all. The clouds were not quite over us yet. But the pool was closed due to machinery problems, so we had to head home after all. And lucky was that, we had just walked in the door when a big thunder storm rolled in very quickly and lasted for more or less the rest of the day.
I made homemade potato salad and coleslaw, and we also grilled some hamburgers.
Then it was nice just reading the rest of the day, all of us siting in the living room, doing our own thing but still being together.
Today have been work and reading on and off, it is hard to get work done when Sarah is home all day, but I did squeeze in a few smaller projects.
My plan is to just clean and do things around the house a little each day before we leave for our 3-day mini vacation on Friday. We are planning on ending our weekend in Orlando with a visit to Disney World's Hollywood Studios, we haven't been there since Sarah was just under 2.
The resort we are staying at, The Fountains Resort, looks very promising, we have a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom condo and the resort have a pool area that rivals some of the local water parks. We picked this place based on the pool area, knowing Sarah will love if for sure. Nice to also have a fully equipped kitchen, so we don't need to eat out all the time...
Overview of The Fountain's pool area
Close up of one of the pools.
I also have to see my rheumatologist tomorrow and have my teeth cleaned on Wednesday.
So not much excitement around here, feels a bit like the summer loll is already here!
The weather did not look really promising, but we headed out for a visit to the Sea Hagg, and that was a really inters ting place for sure. Now I know where to go next time I am in the need of some quirky, cool or just plain curious decorating items!
Some of the stuff to be found at the Sea Hagg 
Sarah at the Sea Hagg After that we drove around on Anna Maria Island a little, before stopping at one of our favorites, the Beach House, for lunch. It really doesn't matter much what you eat when you are next to the ocean, but the grouper sliders we had were really good!
The view from our table at the Beach House
Me hungily awaiting our food at the Beach House The rest of the day was spent just hanging out together, the thunder storms came and went.
Sunday we started by having breakfast at the Rod and Reel Pier, and then fishing a little of the pier. No bite, but we did get to see dolphins, among them a little baby!!!
Ken and Sarah bating the hook with live shrimp The plan was to go swimming afterward, but the clouds looked dark and ominous, so we decided to drive home and see if it was clearer there, and in that case go to the pool. We weren't sure what to do, but decided to go for a swim in the pool after all. The clouds were not quite over us yet. But the pool was closed due to machinery problems, so we had to head home after all. And lucky was that, we had just walked in the door when a big thunder storm rolled in very quickly and lasted for more or less the rest of the day.
I made homemade potato salad and coleslaw, and we also grilled some hamburgers.
Then it was nice just reading the rest of the day, all of us siting in the living room, doing our own thing but still being together.
Today have been work and reading on and off, it is hard to get work done when Sarah is home all day, but I did squeeze in a few smaller projects.
My plan is to just clean and do things around the house a little each day before we leave for our 3-day mini vacation on Friday. We are planning on ending our weekend in Orlando with a visit to Disney World's Hollywood Studios, we haven't been there since Sarah was just under 2.
The resort we are staying at, The Fountains Resort, looks very promising, we have a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom condo and the resort have a pool area that rivals some of the local water parks. We picked this place based on the pool area, knowing Sarah will love if for sure. Nice to also have a fully equipped kitchen, so we don't need to eat out all the time...
Overview of The Fountain's pool area
Close up of one of the pools.I also have to see my rheumatologist tomorrow and have my teeth cleaned on Wednesday.
So not much excitement around here, feels a bit like the summer loll is already here!
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Weekend plans
Things have been veeeerrrry sloooow around here this past week.
School is over. Summer is here! Yesterday it rained pretty much all day, and Sarah spent pretty much all day playing with the neighbors.
Today we are going out for lunch at the beach, then we are visiting The Sea Hagg, a very cool local antique shop where they have all kinds of stuff, most with a nautical theme. I mean they got everything! So many cool decorating ideas and curious what nots. The husband have been wanting to go here for a while, so now we are finally going.
Tomorrow we had planned on fishing and then going to the beach, we will see what the weather allows!
Next week I was hoping to get the house all in order. I would love to go on vacation next Friday and be able to come home to a nicely clean house...
School is over. Summer is here! Yesterday it rained pretty much all day, and Sarah spent pretty much all day playing with the neighbors.
Today we are going out for lunch at the beach, then we are visiting The Sea Hagg, a very cool local antique shop where they have all kinds of stuff, most with a nautical theme. I mean they got everything! So many cool decorating ideas and curious what nots. The husband have been wanting to go here for a while, so now we are finally going.
Tomorrow we had planned on fishing and then going to the beach, we will see what the weather allows!
Next week I was hoping to get the house all in order. I would love to go on vacation next Friday and be able to come home to a nicely clean house...
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Walking
Our dogs really really love going for walks, and usually they end up getting 4 longer once every day, depending on what is going on and so forth.
But on days like today, when the temperature is high, Bob's tongue drags on the ground. He is not as in good shape as Stan, but that is just another reason to keep on walking!
Both them and I need the exercise and fresh air.
So he will just have to hang in there. A nice fresh bowl of cold water and a nice air conditioned stone floor is waiting at the end of the walk for him.
And then he can snore away for a few hours before it is time for the next walk!
But on days like today, when the temperature is high, Bob's tongue drags on the ground. He is not as in good shape as Stan, but that is just another reason to keep on walking!
Both them and I need the exercise and fresh air.
So he will just have to hang in there. A nice fresh bowl of cold water and a nice air conditioned stone floor is waiting at the end of the walk for him.
And then he can snore away for a few hours before it is time for the next walk!
Palm tree pain
We have two queen palm trees on our property. One is really tall. The problem with these palms is that they need to be trimmed at least twice a year. Not just dead fronds and stuff, but from the seed pods, these huge things full of little fruit. If left, they fall off and rot and STINK.
Ken really wants to do this himself. He even bought a super tall ladder so he can reach, and he has all the tools for it.
But when he gets up on that ladder he freezes. Very. Afraid. Of. Heights.
The Husband 1½ years a go trying to will himself up the ladder. It was a No Go!
And I am to weak to hold on to the saw and all that. Soooo... the trees have not been trimmed in years. Not good!
Hiring someone? Well, you have to hire someone who is insured and licensed. If they fell out of that tree on our property, they could sue us.
A licensed and insured contractor charged around $150. A tree.
Then today I noticed a company was out doing the neighbor's trees (she has like 20 palm trees!). They left me a card, and they are licensed and insured. I asked how much, he said $40. I said DO IT! Can't wait to get that trimmed. The smaller palm I know even I can handle, so no need to hire someone for that one.
And the husband mowed the yard last night, so it will be so nice after all this!
Until the grass needs mowing again, like, this weekend! :-)
Ken really wants to do this himself. He even bought a super tall ladder so he can reach, and he has all the tools for it.
But when he gets up on that ladder he freezes. Very. Afraid. Of. Heights.
The Husband 1½ years a go trying to will himself up the ladder. It was a No Go!And I am to weak to hold on to the saw and all that. Soooo... the trees have not been trimmed in years. Not good!
Hiring someone? Well, you have to hire someone who is insured and licensed. If they fell out of that tree on our property, they could sue us.
A licensed and insured contractor charged around $150. A tree.
Then today I noticed a company was out doing the neighbor's trees (she has like 20 palm trees!). They left me a card, and they are licensed and insured. I asked how much, he said $40. I said DO IT! Can't wait to get that trimmed. The smaller palm I know even I can handle, so no need to hire someone for that one.
And the husband mowed the yard last night, so it will be so nice after all this!
Until the grass needs mowing again, like, this weekend! :-)
Slow day today
Both yesterday and today I woke up with a terrible headache, but besides from that, there seem to be not much of anything going on today.
I think I might putter around the house, get some things done.
We will be going on a 3 day mini vacation next weekend, so I spent most of yesterday setting that up, booking the dogs at the kennel, planning things to do etc. But it will be mostly relaxing, hanging by the pool and then a visit to Disney's Hollywood Studious theme park on the last day. Should be fun!
Sarah is having a Carnival Day in school today, they have been getting Bob's Bucks (the school mascot is Bob the Bobcat) whenever they have been really good, and today they get to use that "money" to do different things at the carnival. Sarah is thrilled, since she has tons of bucks saved up.
After school she is going over to her friend Rosie to give her a birthday gift.
I guess I better go and do some laundry or something now...
I think I might putter around the house, get some things done.
We will be going on a 3 day mini vacation next weekend, so I spent most of yesterday setting that up, booking the dogs at the kennel, planning things to do etc. But it will be mostly relaxing, hanging by the pool and then a visit to Disney's Hollywood Studious theme park on the last day. Should be fun!
Sarah is having a Carnival Day in school today, they have been getting Bob's Bucks (the school mascot is Bob the Bobcat) whenever they have been really good, and today they get to use that "money" to do different things at the carnival. Sarah is thrilled, since she has tons of bucks saved up.
After school she is going over to her friend Rosie to give her a birthday gift.
I guess I better go and do some laundry or something now...
Monday, June 1, 2009
Weekend outing
After the initially cranky husband incident the day actually turned out awesome!
We packed the car, grabbed the dogs and took off for Fort De Soto park.
Our first stop was the off-leash dog park, were Bob and Stan got to run around, sniff and piss to their hearts content.
Then we drove down to that nice picnic area we found on a previous visit, but this time we hiked into the thick mangroves along the shoreline, and it paid off big time: we arrived at a private perfect little beach with two picnic tables off in the shade. Could not have been any better! And except for a canoe and a fisherman, there were no other people around. Unusually enough, there were even palm trees ON the beach, so we leashed the dogs up to these and just enjoyed ourselves.
Sarah and Ken went exploring and found all kinds of crabs and other sea creatures. We enjoyed our picnic of sandwiches, potato salad, watermelon and grapes and then we drove back to the dog park to go down to the dog BEACH.
SO MANY DOGS! It was almost surreal how many dogs of all kinds of shapes and forms were running around on the beach and swimming in the water. Bob and Stan really seemed to have a great time, and both of them actually got to try surfing for the first time, on Sarah's boogie board. They did really good! I sure wish I would have had my camera with me, but it was too hot and too sandy anyway...
What amazed me the most is that I did not see a single aggression anywhere on that beach. All those dogs and just happy yappy all around. And there were quite a lot of larger breeds such as Dobermans and Pit Bulls.
The only "attacks" were off wet dogs launching themselves onto people for a little kissing. There was this one big yellow lab pup that seemed to think my lap was his personal hangout, and he was very sandy and wet, so not exactly cozy:-)!
After our 4 hours at the park we drove home with two very happy but tired dogs... A great day!
We packed the car, grabbed the dogs and took off for Fort De Soto park.
Our first stop was the off-leash dog park, were Bob and Stan got to run around, sniff and piss to their hearts content.
Then we drove down to that nice picnic area we found on a previous visit, but this time we hiked into the thick mangroves along the shoreline, and it paid off big time: we arrived at a private perfect little beach with two picnic tables off in the shade. Could not have been any better! And except for a canoe and a fisherman, there were no other people around. Unusually enough, there were even palm trees ON the beach, so we leashed the dogs up to these and just enjoyed ourselves.
Sarah and Ken went exploring and found all kinds of crabs and other sea creatures. We enjoyed our picnic of sandwiches, potato salad, watermelon and grapes and then we drove back to the dog park to go down to the dog BEACH.
SO MANY DOGS! It was almost surreal how many dogs of all kinds of shapes and forms were running around on the beach and swimming in the water. Bob and Stan really seemed to have a great time, and both of them actually got to try surfing for the first time, on Sarah's boogie board. They did really good! I sure wish I would have had my camera with me, but it was too hot and too sandy anyway...
What amazed me the most is that I did not see a single aggression anywhere on that beach. All those dogs and just happy yappy all around. And there were quite a lot of larger breeds such as Dobermans and Pit Bulls.
The only "attacks" were off wet dogs launching themselves onto people for a little kissing. There was this one big yellow lab pup that seemed to think my lap was his personal hangout, and he was very sandy and wet, so not exactly cozy:-)!
After our 4 hours at the park we drove home with two very happy but tired dogs... A great day!
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