Livin' la Vida Linkoping

I was first introduced to this town through an American's blog, Linkoping Livin'.
It was cold and rainy and a Saturday I think when we took a walk to get out of the house and came upon this gated courtyard spilling with music. It was a small operetta with a mixture of Verdi and Gershwin and more. Apparently the mayor's wife is an opera singer (in the fur coat) and the mayor joined in as well (in the black hat behind her).
The best part is that there was a small orchestra who was first in one room of this building, and then moved from room to room to change the sound and emphasis of action. Interesting concept, especially since it was cold and REALLY rainy.
This is the fella who did something galant to create this settlement of Linkoping. Look at that face! I'd run too.
A really old building.

Directly above these bikes is a speaker system. Every hour, it plays the sound of a Jackdaw bird, dying a terrible death. Yeah, like the soundtrack from The Birds. These birds have made a mess of the town squares, in particular this one and the only thing that seems to keep them at bay if this awful sound. Of course, I was sitting here alone, wondering what the hell??? I didn't see any birds and couldn't figure out where the sound was coming from. When it was explained to me I thought, okay, how bad can these birds be?

The next week, at sunset we were walking towards the square and saw masses of these large, raven like birds it honestly, it WAS scary. We changed our path down a side street to avoid confrontation with the feathered masses of menace.

Here, a mixture of the old, next to the new architecture.
A lovely cafe to enjoy, but oh, the stairs!

A Break in Our Programming for a Politcal Message

I am now going to break with tradition and make a political comment.
I've been watching the Democratic Convention for the 3rd night in a row.
I've just seen Obama's acceptance speach and I am in awe.
He's right. It is about us. We need to vote for this guy and put some of our own elbow grease to help create that change.
I originally hoped that we'd see Hillary up there, but my mind is changed.
Obama MUST be our next president.

(We will now resume with our previously scheduled programming and I would ask for no comments if not positive. I'm allowed. It's my blog.)
Thanks

Can You Tell I'm Not Swedish?

Here are some reasons I am easily identified as a non-Swede:
1. I like to smile and talk to strangers.
2. I don't ride a bike everywhere.
3. Buses like the ones below look like really long insects to me.
4. I am always saying "excuse me" and "thank you" to people in stores and on the street.

5. This sign looks like a call to run, run, as fast as you can!!! instead of the "walk don't run to your nearest exit" sign that I was raised with.
6. That I think this country is full of Presbyterians instead of these little markets that sell candy and bus tickets.
7. Last but not least, I can make a mean meatloaf!

Stockholm Syndrome?

(Folks actually live on these boats here, with all the city folk and tourists walking by.)

No, afraid not.
There were no captors and I visited Sweden for 3 weeks on my own accord. I'm afraid Sweden returned the favor with mostly bad weather, but in the midst of many cold and stormy days, there were a couple of sunny ones.

This blogging is starting now that I'm home, although I wanted to do it while I was there. Thing is, I had quite a hard time with the Swedish keyboard. Not the same, always hitting the wrong key and searching for the question mark. And, to top it all off, I feel as if this whole trip could be in the form of novella. But, being a woman of relatively few written words, I'll let the pictures do much of the talking. So, still jet lagged and a bit out of it, here I go:
The main day in Stockholm was raining torrents and we visited the Nordic Museum mostly and walked to the old town area for a glimpse of the boats and had a bite to eat. The pictures above are in the main hall of the museum.
There was a shoe exhibit and these are some needlepoint men's boots that were just amazing.

Then there were trays and trays of archived textiles to view, although difficult to get good pictures of with the glare on the glass...

Classic lace pattern
A lace trim sampler that was just amazing!
A lace baby top.
A knitted bodice with the date of 1840.

The view from inside a very crowded cafe. The restroom was actually back outside in the rain, through a small doorway into a stone cellar. Ughhhhh. Yeah, quaint.

And now you can see that the window of the shop next to the cafe was nearly obscured by the rain splashing on the windows. Still not used to the currency conversion, it was a look and leave quickly kind of shopping experience. And, had I understood the conversion, I still would have left quickly. Yes, the dollar is VERY weak overseas. Later, you'll see my big nordic sweater score was actually in a second hand shop...

And here we have the streets of old town Stockholm, better known as Gamla Stan. Stockholm was, to my surprise, a group a small land masses surrounded by water, connected by bridges.

Next stop Linkoping (lean-show-ping), my home away from home.

Cosy and Pink

I know I'm behind the times, but I finally crocheted my first ipod cosy. Didn't use a pattern, just took some balls of Knitpicks Palette and my Nano and started crocheting this morning.

Fun!

Good things from Another Land

Is this not the hugest hunk of chocolate you've ever seen? I don't want to open it yet. It's like an actual bar of gold to me.
For those of you who know me, this second photo will be the most shocking. A completly CLEAN fridge. I don't think I could have even achieved this alone. It took a Swedish guest with a complete sense of order (think Ikea) to pull this off. Oh, and that there's actual FOOD in the fridge. Not a minor footnote.

America the Green

It's a day about patriotism.

It's a subject that comes to mind more days than not lately.

Speaking with non-Americans about this country is always an interesting experience. I find myself defending my country verbally much more than I would expect. "Don't talk smack about my momma!"

I do make an effort to be realistic and not defensive. I did just spend a month in jury duty (however you want to take that!)

But really, for good, bad and worse, I am an American.

Black Sheep 2008

Sheep shearing with ye olde sheep shearing scissors. Are ya done yet??

Okay, I'm hot. Enough of this coat! I am NOT so vain.
Trying out the equipment (I didn't)

Shopping (I did)

Watching the busy spinners while I'm shopping...
Looking to buy things....
Nana and her mother, Yoko. My partners in crime.
Little girls with little sheep.

Is there anything better? Damn no! I had a great time and got some great new stuff to spin this year. How can you be in a bad mood around soft fiber? I actually bought a tiny amount of cashmere this year. Mmmmmmm.

Roses

I mean, they must be SOMEWHERE. It is the Rose Festival for God's sake. Oh, on the back of this Rodeo Queen's horse....

Then I headed over to Tom McCall Park to see Nana's Dragon Boat race...
This was their second race of the day, the first one ending in near Collision. This one they came in Second.
See, she doesn't know I'm there....
And then she does!!

Then on Sunday, day two, they got first place! Nana came by knitting in her gear just to have some happy-happy feelings....

Older

Yup, had a birthday last weekend. As usual, the focus was mainly on fiber. This year Paula was around (she's usually away on another job in the MidWest and misses it) and she made the best cake. Not only was the cake great, but it came to the celebration at Abundant Yarn with all the trimmings. Her fancy cake transporter, china plates and silverware, and the cake atop this cute old cake stand that you wind up and it plays Happy Birthday.

There was yarn and presents and my baby boy and flowers. All my favorite things....

Bigger and Better Than Ever!

Yay! Teeth! Sweater from Aunt Melissa!

Cal you all believe how much the boy Benjamin has grown? Since you've seen him he's traveled to Guatamala and Germany. At some point he may travel beyond countries that start with the letter G, but there's always Greenland and... No, he can go where ever he wants, although his mother at this point would prefer shorter airplane rides.

I had fun making this sweater for his 1st birthday and used some stash yarn and some antique plastique buttons. It just fits. I got the pattern here.

Was really fun and easy to knit and didn't take much yarn at all.