SIESTA

It's almost 10 pm.

We had 30 degrees Celsius on the porch today, in the shade!

I started to clean out the shed (to make room for hay) this morning after turning out the horses and mucking the boxes.

I had to move slowly and be careful not to wase too much engery. It was so warm!

Even though I was able to stay in the shade, it was windless and humid.

I took a break around 11:30, went in to drink lemon-water and cool off on the sofa...

Hasi was already done with laundry chores and vacuume cleaning.

The house is equipped with one of those fantastic "built in" systems where you only have to plug the (very long) hose into the outlets in the walls... It really works perfect! Amazing power!

:))

We both ended up resting on the sofa, thinking about what to eat for lunch.

We decided to warm up leftover chicken sweet sour and I made fresh Jasmin Rice.

After lunch we landed on the sofa again - after pulling down the blinds and closing the back door, trying everything to keep the hot air from coming into the house.

Soon after that, around 1 pm, I fell asleep.

When I woke up one hour later I realized that Hasi and Cleo were gone...

I spotted Cleo on the bed in the bedroom, the door was open. She wasn't alone in there, Hasi was also taking a nap. :))

I went up and to the bathroom, felt incredibly tired and decided to take another nap.

How cool is that!?!

S I E S T A ! ! !

It was 4:30 pm when we woke up again. I slepd so well!! :))

It felt so good to rest, not just the body also the mind was resting.

I turned the horses back out, luckily it was a bit more windy and the nasty horseflies were mostly gone.

We, Hasi and I, joined forces to get finished on the shed project, around 7pm it was accomplished.

Clouds started to show up on the western sky behind the "Fjälkinge Backe" Nature Reserve.

It has cooled off quite a bit but no rain so far.

I just looked, it's 19 Deg.Cel. now on the back porch. HEAVEN!

Hasi and Cleo are out on a evening walk. It's almost dark now and they should be back soon.

It's almost 11pm now.

It's quiet in the house, the only noise i hear is my fingers tippy-tapping on the keys AND the sprinkler just outside of our yard.

The farmers are very busy with watering their corn- and potatoe fields.

The sprinklers run 24/7.

It seems to pay off though, the plants are doing great, the harvest will be rich, some cornfields are starting to turn from green into gold, a beautiful sight!

I hear Cleo's little paws coming in...

Time to get ready for bed...

Good night World!

***

Renewal

I felt like change today...

so I changed the layout of my blog a bit.

I have a lot of thoughts in my head that want to come out throuhg my hands which are touching the keybord, but it's late and we have to clear out the shed tomorrow.

We are going to get a load of hay bales wednesday...

Bedtime!

:))

Best Summer Ever

THANK YOU ALL that have commented on our loss of our beloved dog "Barry".

THANK YOU for all your sympathy and words of comfort!

I didn't have the energy to blog these past few days,

I felt kinda numb.

But time heals, and so does laughter.

We had ups and downs, cried and laughed.

Life goes on, life is wonderful.

We look back without regrets, look forward to the unknown and enjoy what is.

This is the best summer, ever.

Beauty all around, where ever I look.

The wind drives waves through the huge cornfields,

the potatoe plants are starting to bloom, wildflowers are everywhere.

Swallows and other birds are raising their second brood.

A pair of woodpigeons are nesting right next to the house, in the branches of "our" gigantic Lindenbaum.

I went up to one of the bedrooms upstairs and got a very nice view directly into the nest and heard a tender "oh-oo-oor" a couple of times.

One of the babys came out underneath her crop and started to beg for food...

So cute!

The cherries are slowly turning red, I think though we won't be picking them ourselves, the birds are all over them!

:))

The roses are fully in bloom, spreading a lovely scent all around the back yard porch.

Missy Lou, our cat, is spending most of the day outside. She found a nice place on the outdoor furniture cushions on the porch, that's where she naps in between her trips to the barn and through house and garden.

She is doing well now, that makes us very happy, of course...

Now it's bedtime again and we are looking forward to another wonderful week in our new home.

:))

LOVE

♥

PURE LOVE

Barry

2004.05.15 - 2009.06.24

EMPTYNESS

VOID

SILENCE

We had to let go.

Yesterday.

It is indescribable how much we all miss our protector and always loving friend Barry.

We knew that this inevitable day would come, we knew it for a long time.

The signs were there and it was up to us to decide how far he was able to come with us.

Barry didn't have an easy start, some of you know "his story"..

He was bitten by his mom when he was just newborn. That's why he had one ear standing and one not.

We believe he was in some (more or less) pain most of his life.

But he was always happy and showering us with his love and positivity.

Always here, always present.

But we had to keep in mind that it was our responsibility that he didn't always have controle over himself when he was in pain.

So in order to keep our family and others safe and to be able to remember him as

PURE LOVE

we decided to listen to the little signs he gave us.

We said good bye to him yesterday.

It was the hardest thing we ever had to do.

It's not just the house that is empty, we are also feeling this incredible void inside of us.

Life goes on without him.

But we'll always keep our memories and his love in our hearts.

We are mourning.

We have to.

Thank you Barry for all your

PURE LOVE!

♥♥♥♡♡♡♥♥♥

Summer has arrived

Yes, summer has finally arrived.

Not just on the calendar, also for real.

Its really warm outside and calm.

It's going to be a hot summer day.

I turned the horses out a little while ago, the horseflies attacked them right away!

I had to put some repellent on, I hope it works.

We will bring them in for a few hours during noon, they will appreciate that for sure.

Indigo likes to take a powernap during the day (he can't really do that outside, because Midas doesn't let him I think), and Midas just loves to get out of the sun and cool off.

Yesterday someone communicated with our animals (animal communicators) and it turns out that Midas would love to pull a carriage...

I'd like that too... I used to drive my Haflinger mare when I was just a teenager. It's been a long time I drove a carriage and Midas hasn't done it for a couple of years either... but it's like riding a bike they say, once you get the hang of it you'll never forget it...

We'll see how it goes.

;-)

Now it's time to get some tools unpacked and get organized in the shop. Hasi will help me and that makes me happy. It will be a fantastic day!

Have a great summer thuesday everyone!!!

*smile*

Varying Countryside

We went for a drive yesterday late afternoon, no particular destination.

First we drove east to Bäckaskog, then we "found" the Nature Reservation Tosteberga (directly on the ocean) and went for a short walk. We had the dogs with us, and because there are too many rabbits hopping around we had to turn back to the car.

The dogs are getting crazy with all those rabbits and it's no fun to be dragged around on the leash...

We decided to continue along the coast and visited the harbor of Landön... that's little north-east of Åhus. What a gorgeaus place!!! So many birds, all over!

What a gorgeaus part of Sweden! We are so fortunate to be able to live here. Can't wait to explore the close neighborhood on horseback.

Here are a couple of photos I took on the drive...

:))

(A click on the map will enlarge it a little)

*

Midsommar II - without words

:)) Fotos taken by Carola, Hasi and me

Grünfink - Greenfinch

A little post for all the bird lovers... ;-)

We named this little guy "Fritzi", he sits often right next to the porch in the tippitops of the conifers and sings his heart out. Another one, we called him "Maxl", sits in the trees nearby and sings as loud as Fritzi. Sometimes it sounds like they're having a competition going on.

So cute!

*

And here's an update on the bird that is sitting on the straw bales next to the road between Åhus and Olseröd every day...

Our friend Mari-Louise identified the bird for us.

It's called Whimbrel in english and Småspov in swedish.

The german name is Regenbrachvogel.

Tack så mycket Mari-Louise!

♥

Schweden feiert Sommersonnenwende - Midsommar

Now we know what "Midsommar" is, swedish Midsommar...

Back in Austria, when I was a child, we used to go to the "Sonnwendfeuer" - the annual fire at Midsummer night.

The farmers in the neighborhood would get together just before sundown, there was always someone playing the accordion, we kids were running around the wooden stack that would light up the sky later in the evening and play.

Our eyes were also lightening up when the fire was higher then any building we had ever seen (except for the church AND everything looks bigger when you are a child anyways),

some of the grown-ups were always getting drunk and we wouldn't go home until just a small pile of embers was left...

Swedish Midsommar is different, at least in this region.

Here's what happend this afternoon.

We were invited to join the Midsommar Celebration in Olseröd, a small village on the East Coast of Skåne.

So we went there around 2pm and walked over to the community building.

People where already setting tables and got started to decorate the Midsommar Pole.

Here a couple of photos:

Cute coffee cups and a nice little folder with lyrics of some of the folksongs

that we heard that afternoon.

Tables all set and ready for coffee and pastries

There was a big pile of branches, the women were cutting off the twigs...

and the men were tying them to the pole, together with all the wonderful flowers.

Volksmusik!

Unfortunately, and also as expected, dark clouds showed up on the sky, all the tables had to be cleared and everything was taken inside the building again. It was amazing how quick the people were!

Within 20 minutes or so the tables were set and we were all allowed to sit down.

Coffee was ready and for just 40 swedish kronor we could get pastry and cookies.

We were buying some lots for the tombola (we didn't win anything) and the musician started to play his accordion...

BUT THEN...

...just as we were comfortable (Edith was sleeping in my lap), the sun came out and people started to go back outside.

:)

And the amazing thing was that the Midsommar Pole was all done!

YES, the people just continued to decorate it throughout the rainshowers.

And then the big moment, the pole got placed in the middle of the yard.

Within no time kids and grown-ups started to form a circle (some of the women and girls had a floral wreath on their heads) and performed a cuple of funny and cheerful dances.

There was also a horseshoe throwing competition going on, but I don't have any pictures of that unfortunately.

Moa with the gorgeaus flower wreath in her hair and a magic ring.

***

Later in the afternoon (around 5pm) we went back to the house and C and ML started to get the food ready.

Sweat bread, Knäckebrod, Salmon, Herring, Eggs, Potatoes, Sour Cream and Matie

plus

Strawberries, Cream and Sugar for desert!

There was also some (very strong! ) belgian, german and dutch beer...

and a cuple of different bottles (very small ones) of Schnapps.

All together we had a fantastic afternoon and we would like to thank Carola and Mari-Louise again for everything!!! ♥ ♥ ♥ We had a blast!!! :))

It was getting pretty chilly in the evening, so by the time we got home I had already decided to fire up our very nice (white!) fireplace. We are now sitting comfortably on the sofa and enjoy the warmth and the crackle.

And have a great Midsummer weekend everyone!

Good night!

:))

Midsommar Pasture

It's true!

We do spoil our dogs...

Barry in front of the fireplace, in his "SchnuffelWuffel" with his favorite heart!

Cleo on HER new chair! She's the Diva of the Mansion!

We turned out the boys to their (Mid)Sommar Pasture this morning MEANING we opend the gate to the large back pasture. It's probably a little over 1 ha big (that would be 2.5 to 3 acres).

We hadn't turned them out there untill today because it had been a bit over overgrazed by the horses of the previous occupants.

They couldn't believe their eyes when they saw the opening 'into freedom'.

:))

Notice the synchronicity in their movements!

Looking at those pictures right now remindes me of a song I used to sing a lot with my trail riding buddies back in Austria...

Here are the lyrics:

Oh, give me land, lots of land under starry skies above,

Don't fence me in.

Let me ride through the wide open country that I love,

Don't fence me in.

Let me be by myself in the evenin' breeze,

And listen to the murmur of the cottonwood trees,

Send me off forever but I ask you please,

Don't fence me in.

Just turn me loose, let me straddle my old saddle

Underneath the western skies.

On my Cayuse, let me wander over yonder

Till I see the mountains rise.

I want to ride to the ridge where the west commences

And gaze at the moon till I lose my senses

And I can't look at hovels and I can't stand fences

Don't fence me in.

Oh, give me land, lots of land under starry skies,

Don't fence me in.

Let me ride through the wide open country that I love,

Don't fence me in.

Let me be by myself in the evenin' breeze

And listen to the murmur of the cottonwood trees

Send me off forever but I ask you please,

Don't fence me in

Just turn me loose, let me straddle my old saddle

Underneath the western skies

On my Cayuse, let me wander over yonder

Till I see the mountains rise.

Ba boo ba ba boo.

I want to ride to the ridge where the west commences

And gaze at the moon till I lose my senses

And I can't look at hobbles and I can't stand fences

Don't fence me in.

No.

Poppa, don't you fence me in

by Bing Crosby :))

*