Thank you April!

This is how I end April: with a field and some poppies. Thank you April, this has been a great month!

Das Leben auf dem Ponyhof

Today, we have been farmers for a whole day. We said hello to all the animals, the children did some horse riding, we smelled the flowers, we tried out the hammock, we were reading books, played some ping-pong and we found clover with a heart pattern. Isn´t this what a farmer does? I think it is. At least at a "Ponyhof". 

Lago di Garda

In my dreams, I can be at many places in different countries during one day. If this was possible, then I would like to wake up in my apartment in Switzerland, take a look at the view from my window and let August out before I make a cup of tea in one of my favourite cups. Then I could imagine going for a long walk in a country with lots of forest, before I would sit down and play some backgammon at a café with Anna in Athens. I would have lunch in Paris, and a "fika" in Sweden. Then I would give Håkan a big hug before I go for an afternoon trip on Lago di Garda where the water has the most beautiful blue-green colour. In the evening, I would go for a swim, no matter where. Well, I think it does matter where, because I don´t like cold water. Maybe Zanzibar in winter or a small Swedish lake in summer.

Agricultura & Verona

It has been raining today and we have been dealing with raincoats, rubber boots, umbrellas, to hide under roofs and in restaurants. We got to know the animals at our farm, we played ping-pong over and over again, and we visited Verona, the Romeo and Juliet city. We actually had a great day despite the rain!

Casa di Giulietta :)

Bella Italia

I have made my way to Italy for some vacation in the vacation and I love it! This country may be strange in many ways, but it has also so much beauty to offer. I think I have been here at least fifteen times and I still have so many streets to walk, doors to open, flowers to smell, staircases to rest on, hills to discover and food to eat... 

From Copenhagen to Milan. I miss you, Switzerland! 

Our sweet home!

Agriturismo outside Verona 

A Saturday road trip

Swans hanging out between Trelleborg and Ystad. 

The beauty of living next to the sea

Here we spent yesterday evening, accompanied by birds and a cool breeze (it was 7.30 PM and I could have said it was cold, but no other Swedes would agree :)). Today we used one of my scarfs as a picnic blanket which worked perfectly fine, but I think I will invest in a bigger one since I am quite sure this will be our favourite spot this spring and summer.

Some of my favourites

Small items that you use almost every day. Here is my new Kånken backpack and my mustard-yellow scarf that I got as a gift from a friend almost two years ago. This is for sure my favourite scarf ever, it has coloured up so many grey days and now she gets along very well with the frost green backpack. 

My sabbatical style

Something like this use to be my outfit nowadays: flower print leggings, and big sunglasses, so that you can pass as an insect in the forest. If I dress up in something else, then it´s party time.

Early bird behaviour

It would have been magic half an hour earlier, but this was not bad either and a night owl does not leave her bed before 7 AM. Basta. 

Some of my four legged friends

During this week, I met the Icelandic horses again, I was on the road with Ashi and today I had a reunion with Fritz in Småland. ♥

I körsbärslunden

They are all over the place

With all its beauty

People were quite surprised when I told them that I will have six months off from January until July. What, you choose to stay in Sweden and Malmö during the winter? Yes, I did, and it was so right. It was the perfect slow start with lots of time for snailspeedlife, it was dark outside and you could spend a lot of time inside which I think was perfect. 

Since a while, I have a much bigger need of doing more things which also fits very well with the nature, waking up out there with all its beauty!

Inspiration

Where do you get your inspiration? I think the world around us is so full of inspiration, and it´s rather difficult to stop only consuming inspiration instead of using the inspiration and get creative... I think nature is one good source for inspiration, the city is another, people around you, the thoughts that occupy your mind and not the least Internet. Instagram never disappoints me and let me present some of my favourites. For beautiful food pictures: instagram.com/linda_lomelino/ The most fantastic apartment, I could imagine: instagram.com/annacate/ If you feel for vintage: instagram.com/emmasundh/ The hippie in me loves this page: instagram.com/for_goodluck/  Yoga: instagram.com/yoga_girl/ and photography: instagram.com/isabellnwedin/

Enjoy!

Still life

With horses and frogs

We grabbed my mother's bikes this Saturday and off we went. We enjoyed the sunshine and the countryside and I made my first little film. The result is... well... I don't need to say that I am a beginner filmmaker, but the frogs are fun, the horses are sweet and it was nice to dance in the sunshine.

Simple beauty

 

A rowing boat, still in hibernation. 

Friday morning

I think we will get another sunny day today.

Yes, a sunny day and a blue sky.

These days you better start with a bowl of sunshine.

We're part of nature

The need of nature and small everyday adventures, means that we make lots of small trips to places outside Malmö. Five minutes is enough to reach the sea, and something like fifteen if you want to travel further. Today we discovered Klagshamn just outside Malmö. This place will be crowded in summer, but at this time we were more or less on our own, except for some fishermen and some sunset-interested photographers.

My new passion

Today I took my first horse riding lesson ever. I felt like a grandma when I chose one of the older and slower horses, but it didn't take long until I felt comfortable and I think I will love the combination of being the leader at the same time as being gentle and smooth to the horse. 

Five Tuesday-thoughts

After 34 years without wearing a cap very often, I finally love it. I may have been influenced by Anna, who has been very clear that I need to be dressed warm enough for winter. This cap was lost and found in Anna’s tango studio and is now used by me. 

I am in a fruit tea phase right now and Clipper is my clear favourite brand with its beautiful boxes. 

Hugs make happy and life is so much more beautiful in a relationship.

I am falling asleep on the sofa while watching movies. This hardly ever happened before and it makes me a bit scared. Either I am getting older, or I am just not used to watch movies in these cosy, and sleep provoking, sofas. 

Seagull-love. I will associate Malmö and my sabbatical with seagulls! I have heard them outside Anna’s apartment since January, I have seen them everywhere in town and now you can hear them from Håkan´s bathroom (!) at night before you go to bed and right after you wake up in the morning.  

A family day

We celebrated my grandfather's ninetieth (!) birthday today, all relatives joined and we had lots of food and cakes. Just what a birthday celebration is all about! 

To keep in touch

If you have lived abroad for a while, you probably know that it gets even harder to keep in touch with your friends back home. Right now, it is the other way around for me: I have lots of time for friends and family in Sweden, but I have to be satisfied with texting and calling my friends in Switzerland... Sometimes I think I should get in touch more frequently, but I also want to truly absorb myself in Sweden and my life here and more time for socialising is one of the best things with a sabbatical. Today I met this lovely friend and gangsta gal in Malmö. 

Ellika

Outdoor lunch

It's still cold in Sweden, but the sky has been blue for many days now.