Newsletter 2010

This year, like last year, began with more snow than we are used to in south Sweden. In February we experienced winter holidays in the summer holiday resort Mölle. There was a whole lot of ice in the harbor and the path along the shore was steep and slippery. The knowledge that people usually walk around dressed in bathing attire added an extra dimension to the walks in deep snow an icy winds. We really enjoyed it and can really recommend off season summer resorts.

The two weeks before and after midsummer were spent swimming and fishing in the archipelago of Karlshamn. Cacke had even arranged for a fishing guide to show us the best fishing spots. The poor guy lost all faith in himself when we did not catch a single fish. That had never happened to him before. We learned that fish are not hungry enough to be fished when the water is warm. One evening though Axel caught a tremendous herring, the father of all herrings. It was 34 cm long and weighed almost half a kilo. We hardly even thought it was a herring.

This summer we made a Sweden-tour. We watched soaking wet cowboys at High Chaparall, realized that they did not have enough dinosaur skeletons at the museum of Natural History in Stockholm, visited almost every single room in the Royal Castle, bought second hand comics and had fun at the amusement park Gröna Lund. We also visited an old cannon fort which once protected the Swedish coast from enemy submarines, and we stayed in the summer house dear friends. On this trip Hannes, who is the son of Cacke´s sister, joined us. He did not really enjoy suddenly getting two smaller “brothers”, but he coped quite well.
 

This autumn we visited a paradise in Germany called Wiessenhäuser Strand. There were adventure swimming-pools, an indoor play land for kids, a shop with plenty of German beer and a windy beach with a cold gray see. It was a great place for an off season (again) family holiday.

This year the house has not been much improved. Cacke has put some wood panel in the hallway, but I consider this more a hobby than actually renovating the house. We have put some effort into restoring the garden after the draining efforts last year. The basement is now dry and there is actual grass in the garden. Almost all the other stuff (like trees and things) have survived and started to sprout again. Cacke has put lots of thought into organizing all his tools, and is happily moving them back and forth in the basement. We have began to make plans for a new kitchen, again. We have talked about it ever since we moved in here in 1999, but now we promise to actually do it. At least any of the next 1, 2, 3 or so years.
 

Axel is now in the third grade. He takes crafts classes and often comes home with pieces of handicraft and art. Just before Christmas he learned to crochet, and he made red, white, green and purple wreaths for the Christmas tree. He still plays tennis and has started to play the guitar. This summer he swam 200 meters in cold lake and was allowed to buy the special 200 meter swim button. He was very proud.  Cold water and children with a blue-gray hue to the skin and clattering teeth are very much the image of Swedish summer. Axel has attended a science club for children and enjoyed it very much. Freezing ice cream with liquid nitrogen and throwing eggs to how much they can take before they break were the favourites.
 

Johan is in the first grade. He reads pretty fluently and prefers books about dragons, heroes and ghosts. He has also attended a science club, and he loves to make experiments. He is still doing jijitsu, now with the purple belt. He has started to loose his teeth, and smiles widely to show it off. He still wears the Mohawk for special occasions, but now he plans for a more hedgehog-like hairdo.

Kersti still enjoys doing all sorts of different things at work. Now she is also managing soft ware testing and buys snacks. One hobby project is finally completed. The children's book about a dog family has been printed (www.enbrabok.se). Only 100 copies exist, but it is a proper book. Kersti immediately started a new book project as a really good hobby should take all  your time and all your money and Kersti still has some of both left.

 

Cacke likes to be Mr. Know-It-All at work. His company is now looking to find him a boss, something that makes him very nervous, He has been operating rather independently the last couple of years, and now he is afraid to see his freedom evaporate. This year he has traveled a lot, mostly very short trips, to Japan, Netherlands, Germany twice, Belgium and Denmark. He has designed two thermal cameras (AXIS Q1910 and Q1921). For his birthday we had booked the museum of zoology in Lund. It contains huge amounts of skeletons and stuffed animals. We even had a treasure hunt among the spooky contents of the museum.



Kersti & Cacke

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Last update: Feb. 20, 2011