Crafty stuff

Well, I've once again been slacking on my blog, but for good reason since the summer has been wonderful, we've been spending lots of time out on the boat in the islands, I was working at a preschool until the end of June, and I've been waiting for a good opportunity to take some photos of all the baby stuff we've been making.

M told me he was working on a baby bed/cosleeper but wouldn't tell me exactly how he wanted to make it...then he surprised me with this ADORABLE bed which is even more adorable because of the fact that we met while I was working on his boat as an environmental consultant looking for dolphins and whales:

 

 Here's a quilt I crocheted...at first it was hard to figure out which colors to choose since we don't know if we're having a boy or a girl, but then it was fun to just go crazy with all the colors:

I was also inspired by M's nautical baby bed to crochet an undersea mobile for the kiddo...M made the hanger from an oak tree in the backyard:

Lobster

Fish

Whale

Clam

Octopus

Jellyfish

I have a feeling that if we have a second child there's no way I'll have this much calm downtime to make so many cute handmade baby crafts, so I'm just assuming these will be for ALL our future kiddos too.  Everything is going smoothly with my pregnancy...a little less than 1.5 months left and I've officially crossed over from being "cute pregnant" to "kind of freaky pregnant."  Let's just say the next person who jokingly asks me if I'm sure there's not twins in there is getting slapped....

Spring has sprung!

...and it sure doesn't mess around when it decides to show up!  The weather for the past few weeks has been absolutely gorgeous, sunny, and warm....the flowers are blooming, baby lambs are being born, and I'm actually getting a little bit of a tan from spending the past week outside during Easter vacation.  It's amazing how much better and happier Sweden becomes when springtime finally shows up.  In more good news, the daycare where I had an unpaid internship has hired me to work 20 hours per week, possibly up to 30, through summertime.  It's a huge difference not feeling like an unemployed crabby pregnant burden on M and having so much to look forward to this summer.  Here are a few photos from the past couple of weeks:

A brand-new lamb born on the farm on M's parent's island.

I've been getting crafty in anticipation of the baby Sweedie.

 M's new boat, Vixen, is all spiffed up and ready to start his new company.

Every day the buds on the trees are bursting bigger and greener.

You know spring is here when the forest is carpeted with blåsippor.

 More fuzzy buds.

View over the fields on the farm where we live.

Vitsippor everywhere!

Six months in Sweden

I can't believe it's already been half a year since I passed through customs at the Stockholm Arlanda airport with my shiny new residence permit.  After an absolutely gorgeous, sunny, and even hot summer followed by the most beautiful crisp fall imaginable I can say it's been much better than I expected so far.  Not only does the beautiful view outside my doorstep remind me on a daily basis of how lucky I am to live here, but it's been much easier to settle in and find productive things to do than I imagined.  Before I moved here I made the mistake of reading some expat discussion boards online where everyone constantly whined and complained about the impossibility of finding jobs, poor treatment of foreigners, coldness of Swedes, dark winters, rain, high cost of living, difficulty of learning Swedish, and generally how much they hated Sweden.  Reading posts from these crybabies was a really bad idea as it only made me nervous and doubtful about moving here.  I've been pleasantly surprised and relieved to find out that Sweden is wonderful and most of the expats who feel the need to go online and grumble and complain about their lives would most likely be doing the same thing regardless of where they were living.

So, six months later and I am getting more and more comfortable understanding and speaking Swedish, I have two part-time jobs that fill up my schedule give me something interesting to look forward to, I've moved up through several levels of Swedish classes to the point where I'm being challenged and enjoy my class, I've made lots of wonderful friends, and I can finally say enough words in Swedish to get a giggle out of M's super quiet, zero-English-speaking father.  Life is good and I even feel up to the challenge for the cold, dark winter ahead.

My Swedish classes have been moving along quickly and now I'm finally in the correct class for my level of Swedish.  The typical language-learning path that most newcomers to Sweden take begins with Svenska för Invandrare (Swedish for Immigrants), or SFI.  This class can be good or bad, and I was lucky enough to have enough Swedish under my belt to test out of the class after one week and move up to Svenska som andraspråk (Swedish as a second language), or SAS, which has three levels (Ground, A, and B).  It all gets a little confusing if you're not in the system yourself, but I'm in SAS A now which is basically high-school level Swedish.  I just started SAS A last week, and my new teacher is excited about teaching and challenging her students rather than just sitting around and chatting about current events.  I have class once per week for 4 hours and I'm really happy with it so far.

My two little jobs have been fun and although they're not the most economically lucrative choices in the world, I feel that right now it's more important for me to get comfortable speaking Swedish and making new friends and being happy and content here than it is to leave for another five weeks at sea in the middle of trying to settle in.  I've been babysitting for a few different families which has been by far the most fun way to learn Swedish.  The little girls I watch are quick to correct me if I say something wrong and love to teach me new words and meticulously help with my pronunciation.  I've also been hired as a native language English teacher for kids who speak English in their homes (most of the kids in my classes have one Swedish parent and one parent from an English-speaking country).  The kids range in age from 5 to 9 so it can be tough to find activities on a level that everyone can enjoy together, but I've come up with a few good ideas and right now I'm reading them one of my favorite childhood books, Charlotte's Web.

Having M home for the whole fall has been wonderful as well...he has been working on his 12-meter steel workboat that he built himself.  I've been helping him paint and pick out carpets and colors for the inside, and it's starting to look fantastic.  There will be several beds, a small kitchen, and a toilet/shower area inside so we'll be able to use it as a little floating guest house when we have visitors.  I can't wait to take it island-camping next summer!

The autumn has brought an abundance of food, so all of our meals are usually around 80% locally harvested wild game and vegetables.  There are potatoes and sweet corn grown here on the farm along with wild mushrooms in the forest and huge piles of apples on the ground.  Last week we picked 120 kilos of apples and dropped them off at the Värmdö Musteri (local cider mill)....now we have a stack of boxed cider in the cellar that should keep us from buying any type of sugary drinks for at least the next year.  M always keeps our freezer full of deer, moose, fish, duck, and whatever other creatures he manages to capture, so I am definitely getting spoiled by high quality meat and doubt I'll be able to stomach gross US factory-farmed beef and chicken again. 

Mushroom-O-Rama!

Unfortunately my little garden didn't fare so well this year (I think our yard is too shady since it's right next to a rock cliff), but I did get lots of dill, lettuce, parsley, carrots, a few green beans, and some basil out of it.  M's parents gave me some pumpkins from their neighbor and I introduced M to his first roasted pumpkin seeds and pumpkin pie from scratch.  I was nervous about making pumpkin pie for the first time for a group of Swedish friends who had never tasted it, but luckily it was a hit.  Everyone said the pie tasted like gingerbread cookies (which are a huge Christmas favorite here) so I was glad that I managed to represent and give everyone a little taste of authentic American culture.

So, that's my six month Swedish update...so far so good!  I would say "bring on the winter," but I'd rather keep this bright sunny autumn weather for as long as possible.

Another trip to Kallskär

We spent the weekend out on Kallskär again, and this time we brought the kayak.  The weather was gorgeous, the water was warm, and our bellies were full of fresh smoked fish.

If you ever go on vacation with a group of Swedes, you will notice a huge difference between the American and Swedish style of "taking it easy."  There is no such thing as idly lazing around on a Swedish holiday: wake up, drink coffee, take a swim, eat a breakfast smorgås (sandwich), pile into the rowboat, set out the fishing nets, return to the cabin, drink more coffee, eat cake, sip a little whisky, pile back into the rowboat, head to a different island for snorkeling and exploring, drink beer in the sunshine, haul in the fishing nets on the way back, clean the fish, hang up the nets and pick seaweed off them, scrub off the boats, cut up firewood, start the smoker, fix the dock, haul kelp out of the sea to put on the garden, cut down weeds, take a paddle in the kayak, eat smoked fish and drink wine, take a walk, drink some more beer, take another swim, sip a little whiskey, and fall into bed completely and totally satisfied.

Flounder, whitefish, and bass, fresh from the Baltic Sea.  We cleaned the fish and packed them in salt for a couple of hours, then smoked them with juniper branches.  Stockholmers pay hundreds of kronor for fresh smoked fish....we had so much we had to give some to M's parents. 

Triss on the lookout for fish (or anything else that can possibly be chased and barked at).  This crazy guy chased seagulls up and down the rocks for about two hours and ended up with horribly ragged paws.  He still hasn't learned that it's impossible to catch a seagull.

Timon patiently waiting for M to return from a spin in the kayak.

A summer storm rolled through with some beautiful cloud formations.

Island Life

Some photos from the island where M grew up and where his parents still live.  There are no cars out here, only boats, ATV's, and tractors.

  The homestead, along with at least eight boats (last I counted).

An inventive ATV seat.

The definition of "traffic."

M testing out my new kayak (finally I have a boat too!!)

 My turn to try the kayak.

Island cows, kickin' it.

You expect trolls to pop out whenever you turn around...

...or maybe just a rådjur (roe deer)

These horsetails are so fine and fuzzy they look like they aren't in focus.

Wild rose

Island farm

Major highway

This is a knipa, or common goldeneye, with her brand new babies.  M's family has about five nest boxes for them in the yard, and the eggs were hatching while we were visiting.  The babies only spend a day or so in the nest before they have to make the perilous plunge down to momma in the water.  Unfortunately there are evil seagulls lurking everywhere, just waiting to swallow them whole.

M and his father checking the nest box.

Just hatched...we put him back for a rest before the big jump.

Late evening sunset during one of the longest days of the year.

Conclusion: I Love Midsommar.

I survived my first Swedish Midsommar this past weekend, and oh boy was it a good one.  M and I spent the past week out in the far archipelago between his parent's island and the island where our friends have a stuga (cabin) on the island of Tornö.  We arrived to Tornö around eleven on Friday morning...the boats were decorated, the lunch table was set, and the beers were flowing freely.

Everyone decorates their boats and houses with björk (birch) branches for Midsommar.

Lunch consisted of about 8 different types of sill (pickled herring), deviled eggs with caviar, new potatoes with dill, smoked moose heart, wild boar paté, cured smoked salmon and shrimp, several types of cheese and bread, plenty of beer, and a special drink called aquavit to wash down the sill.  Aquavit is spiced vodka, and the particular bottle we had was Linie brand aquavit...what makes this kind special is that all Linie Aquavit has been aged in an oak sherry cask on board a ship that has crossed the equator twice.  You can read details of your particular bottle's journey on the label; ours had traveled on board the M/V Tampa from Scandanavia to Australia and back.  Supposedly this 5-month journey combined with fluctuating temperatures and humidity causes the booze to become extra delicious.  My taste for strong shots of booze isn't refined any more than it takes to get the fiery stuff down my gullet as quickly as possible.

Once we were totally stuffed, warm, and happy, we took the boat over to the larger island of Möja to see the Midsommar festivities.  We brought along a cooler full of beer, whiskey, coffee, and traditional strawberry cake.

The midsommar dancing was just about the happiest sight you can see while you're half-drunk and full of delicious food under perfect sunny weather on a Swedish island.  Everyone has crowns of flowers and both grownups and kids dance and sing along to the silly songs.  Whenever I asked what the song was about, I got an answer along the lines of, "Uh...this one is about a priest and a crow who fall down in a ditch and start laughing."  Or, "This one is about frogs that have no tails or ears so they're funny to see, and then pigs have tails and ears so they're funny to see too."  My conclusion was that the songs don't necessarily contain great mysterious cultural significance, they're just fun to sing year after year.

Later on in the afternoon we went back to the stuga and continued our eating and drinking spree.  I had been warned by M that by nightfall on Midsommar, someone usually came up with a crazy idea like taking the boat farther out into the archipelago to skinny dip with seals, or something along those lines.  This year was no different, and our friend suggested we drive out to his grandfather's fishing cabin on Kallskär to watch the sunrise.  We piled into the boat with food and blankets and drove to the outer edges of the archipelago where we hiked to the highest point on the island to watch the combination of sunrise and sunset that pretty much lasts through the night.

Here are some photos of Kallskär the next morning.  The islands here are windswept and rocky, with low vegetation and no one to see for miles.  I'm not one to get sentimental about the beauty of nature, but there was absolutely something magical about this place.