Heavy duty work

Today some dear friends of ours came over and made us a new patio. It took 4.400 lb of concrete. Lucky me I didn't have to help carry those bags. The result is great and we are super happy with thier work. Now we are going to find some nice patio stone for the the small part we decided not to put concrete on and then we can fire up the grill and let the party start.

E.T. phone home

This morning when we woke up it was a crop circle in our yard. Pretty freaky...

Bithcing for privacy

We have gotten new neighbors. Neighbors that we don't like. Neighbors that are annoying, loud, and straight up weird. Therefore we decided to buy some shrubs. Shrubs that get 15-20 feet wide and almost as tall. That should do it. Unfortunately they are not sound resistant, but at least we should not be able to see them. The neighbors that is.

When they saw we planted those bushes they countered with putting up blinds in all their windows. I wonder what our next move will be? I think our newly planted shrubs will be enough. Don't want to exaggerate you know...

My summer's reading material

On my nightstand today...

The Great Sand Dunes

We are home from our road trip. The highlight was definitely The Great Sand Dunes in southern Colorado. It was amazing, so cool! Here are some pictures.

Myror i benen!

Sure, it's no place like home but after hanging around the house for a week more or less it's time to move on! See something else. So the bags are packed and so is the tent and the sleeping bags. We are going on a trip through different parts of Colorado and down to New Mexico. Thursday and Friday we are going to be in Pueblo since Max has to go to a job meeting there. But then we will continue our drive to the Great Sand Dunes, Santa Fe, and hopefully Carlsbad Caverns among other exciting stops. The updates will probably not be too many but in that case pictures will be posted on the blog when we get back. Adios for now!

Hard as a rock

We finally got some sun here in northern Colorado why I have neglected the blog a little bit. We have been outside in the yard excavating. The plan is to make a little patio outside the back door. After all the digging was done we went to look at patio stones. That was a little bit of a shocking experience. Why are rocks so expensive?! Oh well, I guess we should have thought of that before digging up the lawn...

Scented room

Fresh Lilacs from the yard...

matching my new framed pictures from IKEA. I lööööv IKEA!!

Bun in the oven

Tonight we are going to a barbeque and right now we are in the kitchen making bread for it. Max is showing off his newly developed artisan bread baking skills and I am making Swedish cinnabon buns. Lightning and thunder is still in the air so we'll see if there will be an inside BBQ or not.
P.S. my cinnamon buns turned out way better looking than the one on the picture which I took of the internet :)

Familiar ground

The drive back west took about sixteen hours. It is good to be back and it has been fun to see some familiar faces again. Today we had some beers with my boss and some coworkers and it looks like I am going to go back to work in the beginning of June. So right now we are in the process of planning some trips within the states or just outside. Lightning and thunderstorms have been passing through the last couple of days and our yard looks like a djunge. But it is so green and beautiful and clean looking.

Homesick

Our stay here is about to end and I am ready to start heading back to Colorado. It feels great that as many places as we have been to, and as many times as we have been driving across the country, we always agree on that no place is like Steamboat Springs, CO.

Sure, it is snow there six months of the year and sometimes brutally cold. But most of the times it is really pleasant, calm, beautiful, and clean. Sweden would be an alternative, but unfortunately we haven't agreed on that subject (yet).

Cozy

Rain and thunder is in the forecast for our last two days here. I think I'll stay in bed a little longer with my laptop, book and remote control. Zzzzzzzzzzzz...

Life is hard

The reason why we went to Napa Valley is that Max is taking a couple of classes here at the CIA in Saint Helena. His classes are from 7.00 a.m. to 8.30 p.m.

So what do I do here? Well, lets see. I wake up and have long breakfasts in the hotel lobby, I walk the dogs among the vines, I lay by the pool and read Swedish mystery fiction, I stroll downtown and drink lattes at some of the outdoor cafes or have a glass or two of a local chardonnay. And I am staying here for free!

Yeah,, it could be worse...

Picture on demand

I have received lots of e-mails requesting pictures of my new haircut so here is one...

Greetings from Napa Valley