Halv åtta hos mig

They came and interviewed me and took pictures of my house and film of me during the interview. The whole interview took about 45 minutes. I will be notified in about a week if I have made the cut for the show. Very exciting.

Sugar Beets and Geese

THE FARMERS HAVE STARTED THE SUGAR BEET HARVEST. SUGAR BEETS ARE PILED IN MOUNTAIN LIKE PILES AT THE EDGE OF THE FIELDS TO BE PICKED UP AT A LATER DATE FOR DELIVERY TO THE PROCESSING PLANTS. LAST YEAR SOME OF THOSE BEETS REMAINED UNTIL JANUARY, ALL COVERED WITH LOOSE STRAW THEN SURROUNDED BY BALES OF THE SAME TO KEEP THE BEETS FROM FREEZING. THE BEETS ARE USED FOR BOTH ANIMAL/CATTLE FOOD AS WELL AS FOR MAKING SUGAR AND SYRUP.

SOME OF THE OTHER FIELDS AROUND US ARE ALREADY TURNING THAT BEAUTIFUL TENDER GREEN, SPROUTING SHOOTS OF RECENTLY PLANTED WINTER WHEAT.

THE GEESE WHO HAVE JUST STARTED THEIR JOURNEYS SOMEWHERE SOUTH STOP,FLOCKS OF HUNDREDS AT A TIME, TO FEED. QUITE A SIGHT! THEY STAY FOR A DAY OR TWO, THEN TAKE OFF IN A JUMBLE TO SHORTLY THEREAFTER ORGANIZE IN THAT FAMILIAR V SHAPE, WITH THEIR LEADER IN FRONT CHATTERING THE ENTIRE TIME. WHAT A NEAT SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR. I AM ALWAYS IN AWE.

THE TREES ARE STARTING TO LOSE THE GREEN COLOUR TOO. BIRCHES ARE TURNING YELLOW, SOME HEDGES ARE CHANGING TO BROWN AND GOLD THOUGH WE ARE YET NOT INTO THAT EXPLOSION OF WILD AND VIBRANT COLOUR, BUT IT WILL NOT BE LONG I PREDICT. THE GEESE KNOW!!!!!

THE DAYS ARE A BIT COOLER, THE NIGHTS EVEN MORE SO, BUT UP UNTIL VERY RECENTLY WE HAVE ENJOYED RATHER MEDITERRANEAN WEATHER. VERY PLEASANT FOR US.

LITTLE "BELLA" OUR ADORABLE LITTLE FEMALE KITTEN NOT YET A YEAR OLD IS GIVING US WORRIES. SHE NEVER SHOULD HAVE BUT INDEED DID CONTRACT CAT SNIFFLES, THE COMMON CAT COLD SHE WAS PROPERLY VACCINATED AGAINST. SHE HAS SINCE UNDERGONE INTERFERON TREATMENTS TWICE AND PROLONGED PERIODS WITH ANTIBIOTICS TO SEEMINGLY NO AVAIL. SHE STRUGGLES FOR BREATH AND IS RESTING A LOT, BUT IS OTHERWISE SO FULL OF LIFE. IT IS HARD TO UNDERSTAND WHY THIS IS SO DIFFICULT TO CURE. WE HOPE EVERYDAY TO SEE HER BEAT THIS BACTERIAL "MONSTER", HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL!!

Last few days

The family owned business that I am employed by has been getting a lot of new orders for cooling machines. I have been working full time the last week and this may continue for some time. My work schedule had been three days a week. Since Neta and I are semi-retired it is nice to have some income coming in instead of it all going out. I do miss the three day work week though.

The work is very physical at times, climbing ladders to roof tops, carrying tools, etc. It keeps me in physical shape and that is good.

Neta went to her cousins 60th birthday party in Linköping on Thursday. It is about a 4 hour ride by train. She walked about a kilometer to her house from the train station. She had a wonderful time with family. I was working.

Today we went to a dog show in Åstorp about 20 minutes from our home. We have been contemplating getting another Great Pyrenees. But, we think that having the freedom from the obligation of taking care of a dog may be more important. It ties you down in many ways. We have had pets for much of our adult lives and we know how much love they give us. But at this stage in our lives we may want the freedom to travel to California to visit our kids and our grandkids. And to travel some in the rest of Sweden, Norway, Finland, etc. Well we haven't yet decided. We are pondering.

We had planned on running a bed and breakfast. But we wanted to take it easy for a time. We owned and ran a Feed store in Oakhurst, California for 15 years. We had a great time and it was all consuming. It is nice not having that resposibility. Neta now has time time to read. She has joined a book club with the local bookstore where for a nominal fee she can read as many new books as she wants for a year and end up keeping the last book. She has read 35 books since she got here. It has almost been a year. I have bicycled many roads here and have taken lots of photos of our travels here. We are in no hurry to start another business.

Life is good. There are many things to say about our adventure. Enough for now.

Changes

This morning we got up at 5Am as we do every day Monday thru Friday to go the gym from 6Am to 7AM. The morning was particularly beautiful. The sun just showing its rays, and a gentle calm with a slight wind that was beginning to increase its strength. It was just a nice feeling.

Work for me today was exciting as it usually is since I am in the learning stages of a new work profession. Refrigeration, cooling machines is what I work with. It is exciting. Today I was up on a roof of a commercial building directing a crane operator who was lifting one of five new cooling machines on to the roof. It began to rain. I was somewhat prepared for the rain, but I still got soaked. I don't mind it really. I am enjoying all that is new and different. On the way home today the work van I was driving suddenly quit. It felt like it just ran out of fuel. A light indicator on the dashboard was telling me that the fuel injection was at fault. I was able to coast to a safe place where my boss was able to call for a tow truck. All was taken care of and my bosses husband came to pick us up at the Mercedes dealer where the van was towed.

I work for a husband and wife team in the refrigeration business, who happen to be our neighbors as well as good friends. More on how this came to be later.

Fall is here, we can feel it slightly.

Exciting Development

Today I came home from work and got some exciting news. Five months ago I entered Agneta to be a participant in a cooking show we had been watching since we arrived in Sweden. And today they called and want to come to interview her with a camera crew next week Tuesday at 10AM.

Those of you who know Agneta know that she is a wonderful cook and loves to feed people. She and I are excited and with any luck she will be chosen as one of the participants. The TV show is "Halv åtta hos mig" which translate to "7:30 at my place". The show takes place each week in a different city in Sweden. Four people in each city take turns hosting a dinner party for each other. They meet each other for the first time at the first dinner. The person hosting the dinner party is judged by the other three on a scale from 1 to 10. By the end of the week all have hosted a dinner party and the winner is revealed. The winner is awarded a sum of 15,ooo Swedish Crowns which is approximately $2,200. It is really a fun show.

As we learn as we go about blogging I will try to include some pictures.

Beginnings

Agneta and I moved to Sweden in October of 2008 from Mariposa, California USA. This is our first time writing a Blog and are new to this medium. We are not writers and don't pretend to be. We want to present our ideas and our feelings without worrying about proper structure and writing techniques.

Today we decided that we should put down in writing our experiences and our views of our decision to move to Sweden. We want to be able to express our ideas and our thoughts. This blog seems like a good beginning. We want to be able to express ourselves. We need to share our ideas and feelings and be able to in essence talk with others about our thoughts and our experiences.

We left the USA to live in Sweden because Agneta, who is Swedish, wanted to go home. She left when she was 16. She went to America by herself on her great adventure.

We have been here for almost a year and do not regret making the move. We do love it here.

We live in Skåne in southern Sweden. We live very near Helsingborg between Allerum and Mjöhult. Enough for today. It is a good beginning.