Christmas display at NK

This is the annual Christmas display at NK, which is kind of Gothenburg 's Harrods. Pretty...

The Ongoing Adventures of Fanny

Finally, here's a picture of Fanny relaxing a little, so you can see her properly without any action blur:

Awww, isn't she a cutey... mooshy mooshy mooshy OY! GERROFF ME SHOES!

New family member

On Saturday, we got a new family member, in the form of a kitten. Linda's sister and her boyfriend had a new litter recently (well, their cats did obviously) and asked us if we wanted one of them. Initially I said no, because I'm a grumpy old man and was happy just having Åke around. But having met the little bundle of energy my heart melted and gave in (much to Linda's delight).

As a "reward" for this, Linda decided that I can name the little kitty. So, she's called Fanny. Yes, exactly.

She's just  getting acquainted with us all right now, and she doesn't like Åke very much (hissing at him), but that's what cats are like sometimes and so, with a little time and patience, she'll come round to him. And she's a little Daddy's Girl too, sleeping with me last night until quite a decent hour actually. It was only around 9am that she realised how much fun it was to hunt down and chew on my toes.

Being so young she hardly sits still, so this is the best photo I've managed to take of her so far:

I'll try and post another one when I get a better quality shot!

Winter's here, suddenly

The overall weather here in Gothenburg can change in a matter of days. Last Thursday I was wearing my denim Spring/Autumn jacket. However, the following Monday - the space of just over three days - I had to start wearing my winter coat. It's definitely winter here now in Gothenburg.

Since Monday it has been beautiful weather actually, if you can stand the cold. The sun has been out and there's that crisp air that freshens everything up. Unfortunately, today has messed everything back up - we're back to dull and wet - Gothenburg's default weather.  Actually, Gothenburg's default weather is horizontal rain with plenty of wind, so it's not that bad yet (the rain is actually falling vertically right now).

We've recently moved around in the office and now I have a view out to the track leading up to the train station, 200 meters up the road. It can be quite busy with 32 trains coming and going per hour. Thankfully the double glazing - and the fact that the trains are electric - means that we don't get too much noise; just the low rumble of wheel-on-steel.

We also now have Fredags Frukost (Friday Breakfast) at work, instead of the old Fika on Friday afternoons. Much better! Makkor (sandwiches), yoghurt, cereal, eggs and juice for the taking, and a chance to meet up with the other colleagues. Speaking of which, it's almost time. I'll sign off now in the hope that this random blog entry will stop me from forgetting to visit every now and then!

My new workplace

We just moved around a bit, to accomodate the new employees, so this is where I sit now. It's also the cleanest it's been for a long time!

Visiting Tjolöholms Slott

This is the sea at the back of the castle. Lovely!

....And Relax!

Well that's it for four weeks. Today is the first day of our vacation, and I "celebrated" last night by broadcasting an extra-long show on the BBB which seemed to go down well. We're off to England next Monday for 9 days, seeing the folks which includes a big family meal (about 20 of us) on Friday night.

We're also going to see the old Chortles Gang, who I haven't seen for a long time either. That's the name for our gang of friends who have hung around for a number of years. It's getting more difficult now that I live in Sweden, but we still try and meet up at least once a year. Of course, it will involve going out for an Indian meal.

Good Indian meals are difficult to find in Sweden - for an English person anyway. Most Swedes are not accustomed to very strong spices, so a typical Indian restaurant in Sweden wouldn't have, for example, a madras or biryani on the menu. They do have vindaloo, but it's not head-exploding hot like the English counterpart. In fact, that's usually what I choose as it's the spiciest I can find around here.

That reminds me of a story when Linda was still living in Trollhättan. We went to the local Indian restaurant there, and Linda asked for an English-style madras, to which the owner agreed and asked me in English where I used to live. When I told him it was Leicester, he told me that it was there that he came from, and moved to Sweden 19 years ago. Small world! Oh, and he made a perfect madras by the way. Pity we live an hour away now.