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Pfizer second dose done and dusted
Yesterday I had my second dose of the Pfizer vaccine. In Sweden, those who received their first vaccination before June 1 are called within six weeks for their second dose. If you received your first...
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Gardens and Fluffy
Our apartment building has beautiful gardens. The HOA are very good at mowing lawns, cleaning paving stones, trimming hedges so it always looks lovely. We also have benches, grilling areas, garbage...
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Emergencies and pets
Fire has followed me through my life, and not in a good way. When I was little I played with matches, set a sofa alight and was terrified of matches until I was about 25. My grandmother died in a fire...
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Back to Stockholm!
We have just come back from a five-day 1200 road trip across the country in humid heat (32°C or so), and a couple of hours of bucketing rain. The whole week I have felt sweaty and sticky and my hair...
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Remember when…
Remembering: when siblings were similarly dressed when dad did all the driving on family holidays coffee in a thermos manually winding down windows ashtrays and cigarette lighters in the cars venetian...
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Rest in Peace my beautiful, beautiful boy
Fluffy passed peacefully across the rainbow bridge this evening. Our hearts are broken but the gift of freedom from suffering is the greatest act of love an owner can give a pet. He was my feline...
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Good things from this last week
The wife of the Swedish Ambassador to South Africa came to a lovely brunch this last week, and brought me a box of Ouma rusks. Rusks are my favourite South African coffee time snack. They come in...
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What a few weeks it’s been
Usually my workload drops after the Swedish Riksdag closes for summer recess. My students and I were looking forward to being able to do things we had neglected during the hectic spring. The Parliament...
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New helmets!
We bought new helmets yesterday! Our previous ones were five years old and starting to near the end of their lifespan. Before, we had matching ones with flip-down visors. Now we have the same brand and...
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Sweet Harley
Harley continues to bewitch us with his personality. He came to us by pure coincidence, about two weeks before Fluffy died. This video was taken about 20 minutes after Harley arrived home. You can see...
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Back to early starts from today
One of my greatest pleasures in life is waking up naturally and slowly in the mornings. If I wake up naturally, I do so at about 9am. But from today my days start between 7am and 9am, so I have to be...
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Fluffy is back home, where he belongs
He was individually cremated, as all my Swedish cats have been. I am not particularly spiritual or religious, but it has always given me such peace to have them home. He only went for walks for two...
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Cremation jewellery
When I lived in South Africa, all my pets were buried in my aunt’s garden. She has a huge garden and in one corner is the pet’s graveyard. All pets are all buried beside each other and have been since...
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Tags for ashes
Paddy and Fluffy’s urns are almost identical. On impulse while at the pet shop the other day, I bought a little pet collar tag for each urn. We had one of these made for Mollie when she came to us,...
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Mälaren runt
On Saturday we went on our annual motorbike rally around Lake Mälaren in the Stockholm area. 2019 was the last ‘normal’ rally. Meaning that about 20 000 people took part, there was an official group...
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Niblings
I have seen the term nibling used more frequently over the past year. Coined by Samuel E. Martin, a professor at Yale University in around 1951, nibling is a gender-neutral term, replacing niece and...
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How often do you change your sheets?
I read the following on CNN recently According to a 1,000-person survey conducted by bedding reviewer, Mattress Advisor, the majority of people change their sheets every 24.4 days. When you do the...
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Ponderings about these COVID-19 times
Sweden announced yesterday that the restriction on the number of people allowed at public and private gatherings was to be lifted from 29 September, as was the recommendation to work from home. It...
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