It's been a while since we posted a blog. Working hard as usual. Trying to get many things finished before the Christmas break. After a short cold spell of subzero temperatures a few weeks ago and a light dusting of snow, it became a bit warmer but much more dreary. The maximum daily temperatures raised again to around 5-7 degrees but it rains almost every day and the grey November dreariness gets to you after a while. Luckily there are always things to cheer you up a bit. Below are some of the "cheering uppers" of the past month.
A little bit of snow - always makes you feel better
Halloween with scary movies and lots of sweets
My tomato plants made it through the summer before the first cold came (although I had to bring them inside for the last bit) - I was crossing fingers the whole summer- the cherry tomato's tasted very nice
The Uppsala light festival is a very nice highlight. Every two years Uppsala kommune have a light festival to counter the November dreariness and lighten up the lives of residents. This year was very nice again with a 4 km route and 15 interesting light displays:
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| A clock light display in the central plain "Stora Torget" |
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| A interactive light display on a building where you can play music on a keyboard which lights up notes on the building |
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| Artsy display on the outside of a school |
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| "Water spirits" rising out of the Fyris river (Uppsala Castle in background) |
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| Water spirits on the Fyrisan |
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| This spooky display on the outside of a row of buildings and their windows can be activated through the internet |
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| A Christmas tree rising out of the Fyrisan |
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| Colorful tunnel |
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| Lighted glass sculptures next to the old water mill |
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| A natural light display - the moon on Uppsala domkyrkan |
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| The lighted roof of the Gustavianum museam |
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| On a bridge crossing the Fyris river you can declare your everlasting love... |
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| Maybe this is the original intended way? |
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| Panoramic view of the church and the river |
The best highlight of November was my anniversary gift. A gift of freshly baking bread when you wake up in the morning. This amazing bread machine. You just put all you ingredients in the night before, set the timer, and go to bed - and in the morning you wake up to the most wonderful smell - fresh bread. And it tastes wonderful - soft in the middle and a crunchy hard crust. We just tried the plain white, but there are hundreds of different bread recipes, cake recipes, pizza dough, tart crusts, buns and croissants to try - it can even be used for jams and compotes. What a wonderful present - thank you Ronnie!
So even though the month of November was grey, dreary and sunless, there were quite a number of lighter moments. From now on things will get better though, with quite a bit of snow predicted from Thursday onward, the advent time that's starting after next week, kicking off with a Christmas market and fireworks next weekend, from then our town would be lighted up by Christmas cheeriness - and after that we are going to the summery beaches of South Africa for Cindy's (Ronnie's sister) and Cois's wedding in the south-coast town of Mosselbay!
C&R
