Well it's started already, I'm losing interest in my own blog, probably because I have nothing remarkable to get off my chest. So now I'm just talking to myself here like a mad man for no particular reason other than I feel I should.
We finaly bought a car it only cost 7000kr or 700 quid. seems to run fine but lets see if it gets past its MOT next march. Feels great to be able to get out and about at last. Spent most of the weekend at Jonköping taking the kids to parks and shops etc. I want to go further afield, money's tight though.
Would be good to spend a night in the cabin I saw online up north. They arrange tours so you can spot wildlife. Elk, bears, wolves, beavers... I'd love to do that one day, costs an unbelievable amount though. About 2750 kr for a couple of days.
Bit cooler weather this evening, sitting in the garden anyway. Nice couple of beers and a few "english" crisps (salt and vinegar, bought from the "english week" section in Lidl. Can't really be bothered to type any more. Also there are some really strange noises coming from the woods beyond our garden. Not heard them before, can't tell if they're animal or people noises. Bit freaky tbh. Might go inside.
Tuesday, 22 July 2014
Thursday, 17 July 2014
Domestic bliss
Wow! look at me go! My 3rd blog post in less than a week. This definitely isn't a fad thing that I will get bored of after a few weeks and never look at again, making all these words seem redundant and pointless. No this his here to stay, and maybe if I do make it a few weeks then I'll let my wife know and everyone on facebook. Thought it might be a good idea to have a bit of content to share first...and what content it is!
Well I tried making those tasty sweet buns again and they weren't as good second time round, don't know why. Maybe they needed more milk. You know what did turn out good? The redcurrant ice cream! Definitely making that again. Or something with another kind of berry.
The wife has been astounding today. Not only is she letting me drink beer, despite being on the wagon herself (although if I was a proper husband I should give up with her, I really don't fancy it right now though. Hope she doesn't feel too let down). She noticed that someone had moved into a flat that we were paying rent on but hadn't moved into (long story) So she rang the landlord and told him to pay back half this months rent, The money we had saved for next months rent is now ours to spend so we are looking at buying a car. Unfortunately looking at what's available we still can afford anything from this century. Just hope that whatever we end up getting we can afford to repair when it inevitably falls to bits.
It's occurred to me that it's not very swedish, writing all these pointless, rambling thoughts. Not very Lagom. Maybe that's what this is all about, having an outlet. I could have just written it all privately but that seems kind of pointless. I had a diary for years as a kid, with tons of stories and poems, pictures and god knows what else. It was actually all in a ring-binder rather than a book. One day in my late teens I read it all and cringed so much that I stuffed it all in the bin. I then spent weeks worrying that the bin collectors had found it all and we having a good laugh in the tearoom.
Well I tried making those tasty sweet buns again and they weren't as good second time round, don't know why. Maybe they needed more milk. You know what did turn out good? The redcurrant ice cream! Definitely making that again. Or something with another kind of berry.
The wife has been astounding today. Not only is she letting me drink beer, despite being on the wagon herself (although if I was a proper husband I should give up with her, I really don't fancy it right now though. Hope she doesn't feel too let down). She noticed that someone had moved into a flat that we were paying rent on but hadn't moved into (long story) So she rang the landlord and told him to pay back half this months rent, The money we had saved for next months rent is now ours to spend so we are looking at buying a car. Unfortunately looking at what's available we still can afford anything from this century. Just hope that whatever we end up getting we can afford to repair when it inevitably falls to bits.
It's occurred to me that it's not very swedish, writing all these pointless, rambling thoughts. Not very Lagom. Maybe that's what this is all about, having an outlet. I could have just written it all privately but that seems kind of pointless. I had a diary for years as a kid, with tons of stories and poems, pictures and god knows what else. It was actually all in a ring-binder rather than a book. One day in my late teens I read it all and cringed so much that I stuffed it all in the bin. I then spent weeks worrying that the bin collectors had found it all and we having a good laugh in the tearoom.
Tuesday, 15 July 2014
Trevligt Tuesday
Well there I was about to go to bed when I remembered there was a sneaky bit of whiskey left in the bottle on the cupboard. Having not had my customary couple of beers this evening due to lack of money, I think it's needed and well deserved.
Spent the day at home with the kids which is never a relaxing time but one that goes from fun to intensely stressful every other moment. Robin is 4 now and I find his behavior can be quite challenging. The thing to do is be firm and let him know when he is doing something wrong. When every other thing he does is wrong in someway, it gets increasingly hard to keep my cool and by lunchtime my throat is usually a bit sore from shouting. Something I have to work on I suppose.
Sometimes being half arsed, absent minded and silly can work out quite well. Felt a bit peckish this morning so looked at what food we had, saw there were lots of eggs in the fridge and so decided to make some sort of cake. Didn't have much flour but I saw on the side of the packet a recipe for kanelbullar (cinnamon buns). Thought I could make half a batch with what flour I had left but it came up short so added some cornflour. Only had dry yeast so after mixing that with water and adding milk and syrup the dough was very runny and so I chucked in the rest of the cornflour. The blobs of paste I put on the baking paper were still very wet so I didnt expect them to come to much when I put them in the oven, but to my suprise they turned out fantastic! Very soft and just a little bit sweet. Went down well with Toby, Robin and his mates too. But most of all Ellie loves them and wants me to make them again! Better write down what I can remember of the recipe.
445g flour
1 pkt (14g) dry yeast in 300 ml water
1 dl syrup
1 dl (I think) Milk
Some cornflour
We've been watching Orphan Black and quite enjoying it. It's very young and sassy so I don't really feel part of the demographic but it has an interesting sci fi plot and is quite clever.
There is enough whiskey left for me to have a small drink tomorrow and the day after. Friday we get more money so I can stock up on beer then. Of course rationing myself like that would make me a complete tosser so I now sit with a full glass and tomorrow can sort itself out.
Here's a list of films I add to every time I hear about something that sounds interesting. The one's with * next to them I have now seen:
Ellie rearranged the top half into alphabetical order. There are some crackers on there you have to see!
Made red currant ice cream from the bushes opposite our house today, tastes great!
James
Spent the day at home with the kids which is never a relaxing time but one that goes from fun to intensely stressful every other moment. Robin is 4 now and I find his behavior can be quite challenging. The thing to do is be firm and let him know when he is doing something wrong. When every other thing he does is wrong in someway, it gets increasingly hard to keep my cool and by lunchtime my throat is usually a bit sore from shouting. Something I have to work on I suppose.
Sometimes being half arsed, absent minded and silly can work out quite well. Felt a bit peckish this morning so looked at what food we had, saw there were lots of eggs in the fridge and so decided to make some sort of cake. Didn't have much flour but I saw on the side of the packet a recipe for kanelbullar (cinnamon buns). Thought I could make half a batch with what flour I had left but it came up short so added some cornflour. Only had dry yeast so after mixing that with water and adding milk and syrup the dough was very runny and so I chucked in the rest of the cornflour. The blobs of paste I put on the baking paper were still very wet so I didnt expect them to come to much when I put them in the oven, but to my suprise they turned out fantastic! Very soft and just a little bit sweet. Went down well with Toby, Robin and his mates too. But most of all Ellie loves them and wants me to make them again! Better write down what I can remember of the recipe.
445g flour
1 pkt (14g) dry yeast in 300 ml water
1 dl syrup
1 dl (I think) Milk
Some cornflour
We've been watching Orphan Black and quite enjoying it. It's very young and sassy so I don't really feel part of the demographic but it has an interesting sci fi plot and is quite clever.
There is enough whiskey left for me to have a small drink tomorrow and the day after. Friday we get more money so I can stock up on beer then. Of course rationing myself like that would make me a complete tosser so I now sit with a full glass and tomorrow can sort itself out.
Here's a list of films I add to every time I hear about something that sounds interesting. The one's with * next to them I have now seen:
Act of killing
American Mary
Amour
Before Midnight*
Before Sunrise*
Before Sunset*
Berberian Sound Studio*
Bernie*
Barbara
Beyond the Hills
Birth of the Living Dead
Broken*
The Broken Circle Breakdown
Captain Phillips *
Compliance*
Enough Said *
Even the Rain
Everyday
Filth*
A Hijacking
Holy Motors
I Wish
Kings of Summer *
Lawless
Like Father Like Son
Maniac
Marley*
My Brother the Devil
Nostalgia For the Light
Now is Good*
Prince Avalanche
The Place Beyond the Pines
Something From Nothing- The Art of Rap
Sunshine on Leith *
Super*
The Spirit of '45
This is Not a Film
Upstream Colour *
The Way Way Back*
Welcome to the Punch
What Richard Did
Where Do We Go Now
White House Down *
Curse of chucky *
Philomena *
The selfish giant
Inside llwelyn Davis*
Byzantine *
The ice storm *
Only god forgives
Drinking buddies
Local hero *
How i live now *
How to survive a plague
Stories we tell
The King of comedy
Tim's Vermeer *
Under the skin*
Nebraska*
The Box Trolls
All is Lost*
Until the light takes us
Only lovers left alive*
Dallas buyers club*
Saving mr banks*
Broken flowers
Enemy
The past
Calvary
A golden dream
Cold in July
The rocket *
Boyhood
Edge of tomorrow
Tracks*
Frank
Begin again
I, Origins
Ellie rearranged the top half into alphabetical order. There are some crackers on there you have to see!
Made red currant ice cream from the bushes opposite our house today, tastes great!
James
Sunday, 13 July 2014
In a room on my own
This is the first time I have blogged since 20th of June 2011 on http://theswenglishfamily.blogspot.se/ Both me and the wife have no idea how to log into that account as I think it must be with an email address I no longer use. You can still go back and read about our early experiences with moving to sweden in your intrested. Mostly its pictures of Robin but now we have a Toby too so if you don't like pictures of kids then this isn't the blog for you.
I am currently at work at the cinema, sitting in the projection room while Transformers 4 bangs and crashes behind me. I dont think I could keep interested, watching the whole 2 hours 45 minuite robot orgy but I do like to put the 3D glasses on now and then and go downstairs for a look. The 3D seems to actualy work in this film, although it's still a pointless gimmick. 5 Minuites of 3D at a time can be fun but watching a whole film like that gives me a headache.
Next week I'm going to be showing Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. I keep getting the title mixed up with Rise of the Planet of the Apes (from 2011). I guess one problem with these films is that the story hasn't really moved forward much. Dawn or Rise, Rise or Dawn. Maybe the next film will be "Beginning" of the Planet of the Apes follwed by "Birth". I actualy really like "Rise" loads of great action and a fantastic story. Not often you get a smart film with great FX. Apparently "Dawn" is even better (according to early reviews) Can't wait.
I think I'm pretty lucky to have this job as I have always loved watching films. Watching film's rarely takes any mental effort, other people do all the thinking for you and you get to just sit back and watch the story unfold. Yeah I'm quite lazy. I'm only working about 20 hours a month, doing this job while I am on parental leave from the graveyard job which starts again in September and finishes 2 months later for the winter season. I'm really not looking forward to being unemployed next winter but I may end up getting a job at my wife's place as a homecarer for the elderly. It depends really on how good my swedish is (it comes and goes).
Since moving to Sweden I have managed to run two 10k city races and 2 half marathons. I suppose that isn't a great deal in 3 and a half years but it's difficult to find time to train with 2 kids, working part time and the other half working full time. Since moving to our new house I havnt done any training at all. I was going to take part in a triathlon at the end of June but I'm glad I didn't now as I probably would have been the laughing stock of the whole town. Anyone that knows me is probably wondering why that would be a problem as getting laughed at doesn't usualy prevent me from doing really dumb things but I guess thats all a part of getting older.
Haven't had a chance to read any good books latlely, I think the last book I read was Irvine Welsh's Skagboys, which is a prequel to Trainspotting. I'd completely forgotten how compelling his books are. He knows how to draw you in to the story so you believe in the characters and the situations they get into, although he does push the boundries of grimness at times (the bit where a guy tries to rescue a puppy from a rubbish chute) other parts had me laughing hard (like when Mark Renton's brother comes home early and catches him in a compromising situation).
When I get back to work in the graveyard I can continue listening to my audio books. One I'm in the middle of is called The Etymologicon by Mark Forsyth. It's an amusing look at the history of words where the author tells a story about how a word originated and within that story he finds the next word to examine and it carries on from there. Here's a quote:
“If Jupiter was in the ascendant when you were born, you are of a jovial disposition; and if you're not jovial but miserable and saturnine that's a disaster, because a disaster is a dis-astro, or misplaced planet. Disaster is Latin for ill-starred.
The fault, as Shakespeare put it, is not in our stars; but the language is.”
― Mark Forsyth, The Etymologicon: A Circular Stroll through the Hidden Connections of the English Language
You can probaly tell I copied that from a website of quotes, most of the book is actualy about rude words and is quite funny. I still have a ways to go on it yet though.
The big dumb film behind me is about to end so I better get ready to turn the lights on.
Laters
James
I am currently at work at the cinema, sitting in the projection room while Transformers 4 bangs and crashes behind me. I dont think I could keep interested, watching the whole 2 hours 45 minuite robot orgy but I do like to put the 3D glasses on now and then and go downstairs for a look. The 3D seems to actualy work in this film, although it's still a pointless gimmick. 5 Minuites of 3D at a time can be fun but watching a whole film like that gives me a headache.
Next week I'm going to be showing Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. I keep getting the title mixed up with Rise of the Planet of the Apes (from 2011). I guess one problem with these films is that the story hasn't really moved forward much. Dawn or Rise, Rise or Dawn. Maybe the next film will be "Beginning" of the Planet of the Apes follwed by "Birth". I actualy really like "Rise" loads of great action and a fantastic story. Not often you get a smart film with great FX. Apparently "Dawn" is even better (according to early reviews) Can't wait.
I think I'm pretty lucky to have this job as I have always loved watching films. Watching film's rarely takes any mental effort, other people do all the thinking for you and you get to just sit back and watch the story unfold. Yeah I'm quite lazy. I'm only working about 20 hours a month, doing this job while I am on parental leave from the graveyard job which starts again in September and finishes 2 months later for the winter season. I'm really not looking forward to being unemployed next winter but I may end up getting a job at my wife's place as a homecarer for the elderly. It depends really on how good my swedish is (it comes and goes).
Since moving to Sweden I have managed to run two 10k city races and 2 half marathons. I suppose that isn't a great deal in 3 and a half years but it's difficult to find time to train with 2 kids, working part time and the other half working full time. Since moving to our new house I havnt done any training at all. I was going to take part in a triathlon at the end of June but I'm glad I didn't now as I probably would have been the laughing stock of the whole town. Anyone that knows me is probably wondering why that would be a problem as getting laughed at doesn't usualy prevent me from doing really dumb things but I guess thats all a part of getting older.
Haven't had a chance to read any good books latlely, I think the last book I read was Irvine Welsh's Skagboys, which is a prequel to Trainspotting. I'd completely forgotten how compelling his books are. He knows how to draw you in to the story so you believe in the characters and the situations they get into, although he does push the boundries of grimness at times (the bit where a guy tries to rescue a puppy from a rubbish chute) other parts had me laughing hard (like when Mark Renton's brother comes home early and catches him in a compromising situation).
When I get back to work in the graveyard I can continue listening to my audio books. One I'm in the middle of is called The Etymologicon by Mark Forsyth. It's an amusing look at the history of words where the author tells a story about how a word originated and within that story he finds the next word to examine and it carries on from there. Here's a quote:
“If Jupiter was in the ascendant when you were born, you are of a jovial disposition; and if you're not jovial but miserable and saturnine that's a disaster, because a disaster is a dis-astro, or misplaced planet. Disaster is Latin for ill-starred.
The fault, as Shakespeare put it, is not in our stars; but the language is.”
― Mark Forsyth, The Etymologicon: A Circular Stroll through the Hidden Connections of the English Language
You can probaly tell I copied that from a website of quotes, most of the book is actualy about rude words and is quite funny. I still have a ways to go on it yet though.
The big dumb film behind me is about to end so I better get ready to turn the lights on.
Laters
James
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