Happy Halloween!

I hope you all had a great Halloween.  I spent mine with an adorable black cat named Arwin.  

  

We have become great friends. She loves to get her ears scratched. 

Chris

Host Lov (fall Break) is finally here

The weekend was quiet.  I bought some groceries since I will need to cook for myself during break.  No quick lunch or breakfast type meals for dinner since I ate a dinner at lunch at school.  I caught up on a course I am taking on line and some odds and ends from school.  Most importantly I caught up on my sleep. 

The days are getting colder here.  I am wearing my winter coat, scarf, ear muffs and mittens when out side.  There are bits of snow in the air but nothing that stays.  Today it is all rain.... cold rain.  I bought a new winter coat that is designed for the Nordic winters.  It is a grey white and very warm.  Too warm to wear in the zero degrees Celsius weather.  It is long enough to cover my butt and almost to my knees. It adn my new winter boots should keep me warm through the cold winter.

My excitement for the week will be house/cat sitting for a friend.  I start this evening through the weekend. I can't wait to play with the cat, it will be a blast.  She lives in the apartments by the school.  The peace and quiet will be great.

Fun plans for the week are trips to the ABBA museum and the Vasa Museum so there will be pictures to come. 

Not so fun plans include getting ahead on my planning and marking last week's tests .  But at least I can do it in my pj's.

Nothing much for now.

Talk to you soon.

Chris

Weekend Wanderings

Sunday I took the ferry to Vaxholm, which is described as an" rchipelago town with many well-preserved wooden houses from the turn of the century painted in the archipelago's typical delicate pastel tones," which is north of Stockholm City.

It was a beautiful morning until I got on the ferry to the island grouping.  Then it turned overcast and colder.  I took the ferry since it is free to SL card (transit) holders in the off season.

                                      

Here are some pictures of the shore line on the way to Vaxholm.

All the boats put away for the winter.

 The wake from the boat

 When I arrived on the Island, there were a tn of black ducks. Even their beaks were a dark grey colour.  I was fascinated since I had never seen black ducks before and secondly because I would have thought they would have already left for their winter homes down south. 

I explored the island for a couple of hours and got my steps in.  i began in the harbour area of shops and cafes and then journeyed out father to the neighborhoods.  Here is a house I particularly liked.   

I also found a cute little church.  Which dates back to the 1700's.  It had a cemetery where some of the graves also dated back to the 1700's.

                                   

                                              

                                              

The temperature dropped again and the wind picked up so I decided to take the bus back to the city instead of the boat.  I would have had to wait for over an hour for the boat and the bus was sitting right there.  It was a fun day, exploring a new part of Sweden.  It would be great to go back on a brighter day.

Saturday I went out to find a Halloween costume for school next Friday.  I found a witches hat and shawl (reasonable inexpensive), to go with my black skirt and top, in the Flying tiger store  which is similar to a dollar store but doesn't have the variety of a dollar store.  I was having no success finding green makeup to go with my costume  anywhere.  Then I remembered seeing "The Dollar Store" near IKEA and decided to check it out.  The name is somewhat misleading and nothing like a Canadian dollar store.  It was huge and more like a Walmart (which they do not have in Sweden).  There was a bit of everything from cosmetics to clothes to furniture and housewares and more. Some of the prices were good, but others were crazy.  I did find Halloween makeup for my costume and pretty cheap.  I also picked up a few other bargains like TP , office supplies and food stuffs. The day was a success and I am ready for Halloween.

Have a great day!

Chris

Sip and Paint

Happy Hump Day........Wednesday!  

IES Arsta (my school) is full of surprises.  I went to a paint and sip event tonight after school ...... at school ...... for staff.    While we were painting our masterpieces we sipped on wine, beer or pop and had cheese and crackers and other munchies to go with it.  This is the true definition of a drink after work.  And it was free!

It was an event in our wellness program at school ..... building healthier bodies and minds.  (I missed Saturday's spin class)

There was soft music playing in the room and we all relaxed, painted and chatted. It was a terrific evening.  Great company food and fun for all. Very relaxing and energizing at the same time.

Here is my masterpiece.

It will be a busy week.  Tomorrow I am going out with the math department for dinner.

Have a great week.

Chris

Sunday Runday!

Well I have had a relaxing weekend.  I watched some Netflix  Friday night and did nothing school related.  I saved the marking and planning for Saturday and Sunday, well mostly Sunday .  

Saturday Zhila (my relatively new housemate) and I went grocery shopping.  We bought so much we took a cab home. The fridge and freezer are well stocked.

I got my planning done Saturday, and still had some time relax and  watch TV via the internet.  

Zhila cooked dinner Saturday which was a nice treat.  It is nice to  have someone to share meals with. I miss that.

Today, I managed to go for a run.... 2 Sundays in a row and counting.  It was gorgeous out today.  Perfect running weather.  I had fun.   I took some pictures of the fall trees.  The school is having a house photo contest.  I will enter one in the competition.  Definitely not to win, but to participate and support my house.

These were on the trail I was running on.

 

This is my street

This is the lovely construction debris that sits between our building and the one you see in the picture.  I do like the trees though.

This is the same view, without the construction leftovers.

I managed to get marking done before the run and then after while doing wash..... another Sunday regular.  Then I cooked dinner for   Zhila and her cousin.  It was my turn to cook.   I introduced them to fajitas and Cesar Salad.  They both really enjoyed the meal.  It was a fun evening.

I got a change to talk with my mother and you and am now heading to bed.  Have a great week!

Chris

Graduation

Wednesday Kayley graduated from Nursing.  I am so proud of her.  She worked so hard and gave up much to get to this point.  

However I woke up Wednesday morning grumpy and sad, upset that I wouldn't be there to cheer her on.  I knew Ted, Lucas and my mom would be there along with her BFF Ashley, but I couldn't seem to let go of the guilt of me not being there to share such an important event in her life (the first one I had missed).  

I had prepared for the fact that I wouldn't be there ..... searched Windsor for the perfect gift, ..... got a card and wrote her a heartfelt letter for her special day.  

Luckily, St. Clair had a live feed of the Graduation ceremony.  I watched it and it felt like I was there, cheering her on.  I got to see the whole ceremony and listen to the speakers (which weren't too bad), and most importantly hear her name get called and watch her walk across the stage to accept her diploma.  It warmed my heart to be able to witness it.  I was also lucky enough to have her friend send me pictures to show off.

After the walk across the stage

Getting ready for the ceremony with friends 

   

   

After the ceremony with friends

 

    

After the ceremony with family

  

 

  

   

My beautiful baby girl, daughter who has grown into such a fine young woman.

 The family and Ashley went to dinner at Jose's afterwards to celebrate.  I Skyped myself into the celebration and got to see Kayley open her gift and see her face light up as she viewed it for the first time.  She loved it.  It was worth all the time and effort that had gone into finding it. 

Hear is a picture of her gift on.  It is a necklace with  heartbeat.

The day turned out better than expected. I was able to support Kayley from here.  Thanks to the internet.

Kayley texted me "It felt so weird not having you here in person, but at the same time even being on the other side of the world you made it feel like you were."

That made me feel so much better about not being there.  

Well I am back to my cheery self. Loving my job and my adventure here in Sweden.

Chris

Sunday's Exploration (or walk)

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone celebrating in Canada.  I hope you have a fabulous day.  

It is a bit cool in Sweden, but a lovely sunny fall day.  It is full into fall here.  The trees are all changing colour and loosing their leaves.  I am told the colours aren't so brilliant this year due to the very hot, dry summer and lack of precipitation.  They are still pretty...... but too early.  Morning are pretty cold around here.  I had to go buy mittens the other day to keep my hands warm.

A great day for a run...... or rather a walk/run.  After several hours of marking, planning and learning Swedish I decide to head out.  

Sweden believe in fitness and health for all.  Which is why there are not a lot of overweight Swedes.  They build fitness parks in their parks so people can workout at no cost.  Here is the fitness park near my house.  I have used it a few times but not today since my goal was a run.  They are made out of wood and are pretty cool.

Then I started finding new things I didn't know existed on my walk.  See what you get when you cross the street.

The first was Arsta Golf (in Alvjso). They have a driving range and putting greens.  There were lots of golfers out.

This area is the driving range.  The path to get there is where they are hitting the balls to.  Maybe a hard hat would be a good idea.

This is the putting green area.

This is the sign telling you to look out for golf balls.  

No s**t Sherlock.

Next I discovers an off lead dog park.  It is really quite large, almost as long as a football field and half the width.  There were also lots of  things to keep the dogs amused,  Tubes to run threw and things to climb.  There were several dogs having a ball, racing around and playing together.  It would be a great place to take Razzle. 

My last find was a local library.  Literally just across the street. But  as you can see, there is no signage.  it is also below street level.  I will have to go and look at the English books they have.  It sill also be good for my new roommate because she can get there with her walker.  

Well that was my excitement for the day and now I will take the evening off from marking to cook dinner, relax and do my wash.  

Chris