No, I haven't fallen off the face of the planet. I haven't fallen asleep in my soup. Well, not lately anyway...

I haven't even won the lottery and gone off on a long sundrenched vacation in the Bahamas. I have no excuse for my prolonged absence here, other than the fact that I just don't have enough hours in the day to do all that I want to do and wish to do.

It has been an awful sort of year anyway. Just before Christmas, my mother-in-law became quite ill. We spent a lot of time in Stockholm with her and she sadly died in early April.

Since then, we have been busy with her funeral and of course the general winding up of her estate, which is still ongoing. It all takes a lot of emotional energy.

Because we just love complete chaos, we also moved towns - AGAIN. I know, I know, we only moved to Vadstena not so long ago, but we missed the archipelago, I sure as hell did not want to go sailing in Vättern again, we lived next door to the neighbour from hell and it was just too far from family and friends. So, in April, the same week that Evy died, we moved to Oxelösund. I swear to God, it was either move or hire a hitman to solve the neighbour problem. So, we are back on the east coast again and much closer to Stockholm.




Then we had the saga of Lambi being ill, having to be rushed to hospital and having a full hysterectomy, though you will be happy to hear that she is back to her little bossy self now. She has just finished celebrating her fifteenth birthday and the vet assures us that she could still have another 5 years (or more) left in her.

The news was not as good for our dear little cockatiels, with Sheila dying in August while we were out sailing. It just has not been a happy year.

It was not all doom and gloom, though. The absolute high point came in July, L-G became a grandpa for the first time, which was a big thrill and has done something towards redressing the emotional balance of the year. L-G is very happy and using the line "But I'm a grandpa now!" as an excuse to get out of doing anything physical, claiming he's earned the right to sit back and stay in a rocking chair now.

I will be posting about our summer sailing over the winter months, but for now, it's all about autumn. I love the autumn in Sweden. It is my favourite time of year. I love the sights and smells and there seems to be a different feel in the air. It's like summer's last hurrah before the cold winter sets in. I love the sound of dry leaves skittering across the footpaths. I love the warm days and cooler nights.





We are lucky to have a wetlands area just a short walk from our home, so the chances of seeing more birdlife, while certainly not on the same scale as we had at Lake Tåkern, the numbers and varieties of birds are enough to keep us happy.




The sun is still shining here, but the days are markedly shorter now as we head towards the winter solstice and the darkness. The leaves are doggedly hanging on to the trees this year, so it is still not as dreary as it can be in November, with a few splashes of gold to cheer our day. Snows and frosts are heading our way, so this may not last too much longer, so I'm enjoying it while I can. If it is one thing I've learned this year, it is how fleeting life can be and I intend to grab every opportunity for enjoyment that I can.

Great to be back online again.