HOT HOT H.E.A.T

A New year has begun but before that we had Christmas. Fireworks from our balcony. Hard to get good photos and a sense of how many there were New Year's dinner - main course I started my holiday on December 22 so I had a chance to fix all the things you need to do before you can celebrate. Like shopping for everything you need to prepare the food like the most important - the ham. Then to make the meatballs, the spareribs, the ham, the Christmas porridge and everything else you need. Ready for Christmas Eve Father and sons with some glogg On Christmas Eve we were just the boys and us. Mandy worked and then she was at her sisters house. We had a very nice time together and very traditionally. Helen and her family had gone on a cruise from Barcelona to Maroc and the Canary islands so they weren't here. We had Secret Santa and I got a wonderful warm grey scarf. Our Christmas tree Some of the Christmas smorgasbord The next morning we all went up to...

OK here I go again :-) Fireworks Beautiful! Where did I left off? Yes, at last weekends fireworks :-) Fantastic! And so unexpected. I started to see that something was going on around 830PM when several police boats came and sealed the area from other boats. I thought something had happened but as the time went on more and more small boats gathered and then at 10PM a big boom came and it all started and kept going for 15 minutes. And we were at the front row :-) Hasse at Boule & Berså where we had coffee (me) and beer (Hasse) in the beautiful weather Me in front of "our" hotel I loved the ship - Brilliance of the seas - and I wouldn't mind going with her, at all. It was the first time that I've been on a cruise ship viewing and the guide have been Swedish! They usually have someone onboard, information/guestservices or something but this time a Swedish guy from Scania. He does work with RCCL and has done so for 8 years. The pool area o...

I know I have been a bad girl not writing for so long but so much has happened and I don't seem to have the strength to write. It has not been all fun and party but of course that too. When I last wrote I was on my way to New York. Two days before I started to get sick. Hasse had been ill for a while and got antibiotics from his doctor. Fever, coughing and so on. So I asked Helen to prescribe the same for me which she did but since I had the allergic reaction a couple of weeks ago I didn't take any before the flight. Everything went well with the flight. I was upgraded to Business, thank God! I had the wonderful company of a 90-old lady from Sweden who now was both American and Swedish citizen. She had had the most exciting life and she invited me home to her on East Manhattan, river views, for a glass of wine. We arrived at Hilton New York Midtown which is a huge hotel. We had a suite on the 42nd floor with views over Central Park. Great view and a very spacious suite. We ...

Well, it really was yesterday but we had a lazy day then and just watched TV like the New Year's concert from Vienna that we watch every year. A very nice tradition. Otherwise nothing much happened. We had leftovers from New Year's Eve. I made a cold Avocad soup with shrimps as a starter and to that I made rolls with Västerbottencheese. Main course was fillet of beef with potatoe gratin made of almond potatoe (I don't know if you have it in USA but it's a delicacy here) and of course Västerbotten ;-) and garlic and to that a green sallat. For dessert I made tosca pears with whipped cream. We ate slowly and enjoyed each dish and it took us around 2 1/2 hours to eat. At midnight we watched all the fireworks from our balcony. We have this amazing view and can see 360 and all the way into Stockholm. It was a clear night which made it extra special. But that was then and now is now and the new year began today with work :-) January is a month with lots of work sin...