Pappa ❤️

I would like to share the sad news that my Dad peacefully passed away yesterday afternoon at home here in Stenum. Though his passing at the age of 88 was not unexpected after such a long and full life, it was deeply sad to say goodbye.

My Dad fought cancer for the past many years. He responded well to his treatment and medicine for a surprisingly long time, until around May this year, when he started to deteriorate rapidly. I came home over the summer to spend as much time with him as possible, and help out so that he could stay living at home, as that was what both he and my Mum wanted for him.

I am now trying to hold on to gratitude - for the privilege of having been able to spend so much time in Sweden lately and for the fact that the whole family was able to be here to make some last memories together all of us. These past months by my Dad's side in his final chapter have been a gift.

I am also so grateful that I could support my Mum with his care, and for being with him at the very end. My heart is heavy, but I take comfort in knowing that he is now at peace.

On way to Toronto

Back in Abu Dhabi, Nathan went on his own adventure. 
They have removed New York from the A380 schedule, and instead put Toronto on it. 

This was his first Toronto flight, and it really is a trek, which can be seen from the route mapped out on Flightradar. First they were flying almost straight up north, passed Finland, and then over to the west, descending via Greenland.

Long flight!

Starting Folkhögskola

School starts in the middle of August in Sweden. Those who were moving in were welcome on the Sunday before school start, so Linnea and I packed Mormor's car full and off we went on the long drive. It takes about four hours from Skara to Svalöv.
Linnea had got a part in a room in the Östhem part of the school, the building you see here:

It didn't exactly feel like this was a double room... More a single room where they had just put in an extra bed, desk and chair... hmmm..? Only one small wardrobe to share, one tiny shelf in the bathroom. Not a really great start to be honest. We had already put her on the waiting list for a single room, but no guarantee of course.

So we tried to make the best of it. After Linnea had unpacked a bit we went and got some more things that were lacking, her "starter pack" of food, and a fan - because the room was extremely hot.

I am hoping this will be a great year for her! It will be very exciting to hear all about it once it kicks off!

Early 20th birthday

Even though it's still months away, we decided to have a little birthday celebration in advance for Linnea at Mormor and Morfars, before she was going to her school. 

It was nice for them to get to participate in her celebrations, to see her open her gifts from them, and to have some Princess cake together.
She got some Hardanger series serving utensils (from the same series as she got for her graduation gift) and a very traditional first cookbook that all Swedes have - Rutiga Kokboken. A good setup for boarding life!

Ice cream excursion

Linnea and I went on an excursion together with Emma and family, to a Gelato Shop outside of Eggby. 
A popular place it seemed, as the parking was completely full; I guess that's what happens when they are only open 3 hours once a week, with different flavours every time!

 

Although it is in the middle of nowhere, Snickaretorpet is not just any gelato shop, it is a prized artisan gelato shop. Their gelato has won best in Sweden several times! We were very excited!

The queue stretched around the corner. We ended up queuing for over 45 minutes... but, it was worth it!

I decided to try a little bit of all the flavours on offer apart from the sorbet. The hazelnut ice cream ended up being the winner.

Yum yum yum!

Ullared shopping raid

Linnea finally got on a flight back to Sweden, after having been bumped several days in a row. She was home in Abu Dhabi to reload a little bit, before she is now going to - live in Sweden!

She has applied to and been accepted into Fridhems Folkhögskola in Svalöv (Skåne, about 40 minutes away from Malmö), to study at 'Allmän Kurs' and get her general qualification in Swedish that she needs for higher education. 
A brand new adventure awaits, and she will be boarding at the school; which means that she took the train from Copenhagen when landing early in the morning, and I drove down to pick her up in Varberg for us to go straight to... Ullared!

I had promised her a shopping raid when she got back, to kit out her new room. 
Unfortunately, she will be in a shared room, so we couldn't get too many things as we weren't too sure how big the room was going to be. We have put her on a waiting list for a single room, but until then we concentrated on her bedding and some storage. Still came away with a completely overfull trolley!

Happy happy shopper!

I bought her a Harry Potter Lego-set as a moving in gift, which she decided to build straight away.

She came in time to spend another week with Mormor, Morfar and me in Skara, before school started. Lots of organising, packing and repacking was done.

Walks & 'Sommar i P1'

One thing I love to do when in Sweden every summer, is go for long walks and bike rides. 

When the kids were young it was a way to get a short break; when I was on my fitness streaks it was a way to keep at it and this summer it was a way to collect my thoughts and feelings. Some days I would just walk and listen to the birds, the winds and the sounds of nature. Some days I would listen to ''Sommar i P1', depending on my mood.

This, this is everything.  

Special visitor

One evening as I sat in the outdoor room to Zoom with Lucas, and all of a sudden I see something out of the corner of my eye - a hedgehog! So cute!
He (she?) came tottering along the lawn, went to have a quick drink out of the pond, and disappeared into the bushes on the other side of the garden.

Mum missed seeing him, but she got really excited because they haven't seen a hedgehog in their garden for over 25 year; and having hedgehogs is a good thing.
About a week later he came back again, and came up all close to the house. He didn't really see me, so I could get really nice photos of him sniffing around just outside the windows:

We decided to try and leave some food out for it, so we bought some wet cat food and left it in the garden. Bingo! 
I managed to spot him eating once, the other times the food disappeared it might of course have been him too, or one of the neighbours' cats.

Old school buddies

I met up with my cousin Johan and his family today, at a new café in Skara - Lilla Lokalen. It was super cosy, and had a really lovely terrace where we decided to sit.

Good food too, this place really fills a hole in the restaurant scene in Skara. They serve a bit more than just café food, but is not a big restaurant. I had a shrimp sandwich. I can't help it, if it's offered, I have to have it! Yum!

And, it brought me on a little trip down memory lane, as it's owned by an old school buddy of mine, Claes. We went to school together from grade 1 to 9, so that was a good chunk of time ago!