A Place Like This......

Wanderings

Hi Everybody! For the next few weeks we are in Sweden on the island of Gotland. I don't want you to miss a thing. We're over at our other blog "LearnSweden". Be sure to keep up with us over there.

Welcomed

See who was waiting for us as we arrived in Visby.

 

Sommarlov

 

Every summer, around midsummer time, Swedes head to their summer houses for a month or more of just pure vacation with family and friends. I've decided to do the same this year and so my little man "O" and I have headed to Gotland where we will visit family, stay at a horse farm called Avonlea, visit all of our neighbors, especially our good friends "The Svangrens", go to viking camp, and just live the island life of Gotland.

 
  
We are needing a couple of days to adjust to the new time zone and be kissed and hugged profusely by our loving family. We'll be back in a very short bit to share our summer life with all of you. Until then be well.

  

Treasure Island Day

Happy Treasure Island Day! Today is your day to show everyone how much fun you had inside the pages of Treasure Island. Two weeks ago we had a really fun book adventure into the pages of Treasure Island. There was a lot of pirate activity going on over there.  Please leave a link to your blog in the comments section over at Jump Into A Book so that we can see for ourselves how much fun you had.

 

I've had a lot of emails saying that summer has been really busy and you haven't gotten around to things yet. That's completely ok. Both the book adventure and the celebration day will be up for a while, just waiting for you to get things done in your time. We aren't on a schedule just loving reading and doing as a group of family, friends, and blogging buddies.

This is the great thing about blogland. We've just set the structure. You can do this any time you get the inspiriation. We want to thank everyone who participated with us. We look forward to reading your blog posts and don't forget to upload a couple of photos to our Treasure Island flickr page.

The Secrets of a 4th of July Chef

I thought today's blog post would be about the 4th of July, happily celebrated among family, friends, and the foxes. As I was looking through the myriad of photos I took, I noticed a very special story emerging.

Mimi climbed into bed with us yesterday morning and started chattering about what she was baking for the fourth of July. Prodding her tired momma along, we skipped breakfast and headed straight to the store so as not to throw her off schedule. Mimi had put her dibs on making the desserts and so everyone was expecting some very great things.

By the time my little brunch was finished the counter was full of apples peels.

 

After all of the apples were peeled, a conversation ensued as to which was the better way to slice an apple for an apple crisp. Length wise or in little slices? Aunt Claire has been visiting us this past week and so she joined in the conversation and lent a helping hand.

Once all of the apples were sliced in the agreed upon manner, Aunt Claire added her special touch to the apples. A little lemon juice and sugar make this special blend of apples taste oh so much better. We had some left over and we just ate them with a fork. They were so good.

Aunt Claire wanted to make sure I got this next photo in.

Next came the crumble part. Mimi was asking me how to cut butter into flour. I pulled out a fork and started showing her when Aunt Claire asked for the bowl and gave it her special touch. Who needs a fork when one has two perfectly good hands?

The above set of hands gave way to the next set of hands.

To make the perfect apple crisp. A memory caught sharing knowledge from one generation to the other.  

Fox Diaries: An Update

Over the last week we've been seeing glimpses of a fox running through our garden. It is always fast moving and I can't tell who it is.

Yesterday morning, I woke up to an email from my neighbor saying,"Valarie, there are four young foxes on our street. I was wondering if they could be "your foxes".

I waited until sunset and walked down to their new location. It didn't take long to see them sitting in a newly mown field. With my camera in hand I sat and spent an hour with my four sweet babies, who are now teenagers.

Momma Rennie is nowhere in site nor is daddy, Big Red. The only concern is that the neighbors on this street have started to feed the young ones turkey and tuna fish because they want them to keep coming back to their yard so they can see them. The only problem with this, is they will forget how to hunt, become accustomed to human food, and not seek out their own hunting territories. This is also part of the story of wild animals in suburban neighborhoods. We will just have to see what happens. Until then, here's a look at our sweethearts.

Ringding

Hulda

Osa and Effie

The little young foxes

Happy Weekend

The Best Friends in Life are Sofas

I know I've been a bit quiet on the blog and visiting blogging friends. We are in between two groups of visiting friends. The midsummer group left yesterday and today our aunt Claire is coming to visit. The weekend was so much fun. We had family and friends of all ages visiting and celebrating the longest days of the year. I promise to share some of these photos later this week.

I hope to go blog reading tonight.

Until then have a very relaxing day. And remember, the best friends in life are the ones who become your sofa.

  

{This Moment} A Swedish Midsummer

Glad Midsommar to everyone. Today Swedes everywhere are celebrating midsummer. Please come see exactly how it's done over at Rhythm of the Home.

{This Moment} A friday tradition. A single moment you want to hold onto forever. A photo without words.

  

The Most Incredible Giveaway

When I read about this giveaway I knew I had to share it. I've never heard of a giveaway this big but here it is. What would you think about winning a one week stay in a castle in Scotland for 13 people?

I thought you might feel the same way I did with a resounding YES! Here's how it works. Hey maybe if one of us wins we could have a "blogfest" or something. Just an idea.

  You and 12 other people have a chance to stay at the beautiful Balbegno.  

This giveaway is offered by the very generous Charlie and Caroline's Blog. If you are from Great Britain you might be familiar with a store called Pedlars. They own it. It's a fantastic place. A not to be missed sort of place.

 

All you need to do is.....

 Leave a comment AND become a follower
here on their blog
 

The winner will be drawn on Christmas Day 25th December

How exciting is that?

For an extra chance at winning be sure and add them as a friend on facebook.

Good Luck Everyone.

A Pirate Midsummer

I know!......that's a weird title but I couldn't sum it up any other way. This morning is glorious. The sky is a bright, bright blue. The birds are singing. The flowers are in full bloom and I'm just a little giddy with all of this summer happening around me. Today is truly the first day of summer and it was my mom's birthday. We will celebrate Midsummer on Friday and throughout the whole weekend. The Swede's celebrate Midsummer the first friday after the 21st. So this gives me all week to cook my brains out, make flowers wreaths and poles, and clean the treehouse for this fine event.

Today, little O goes to camp for the very first time. We spent most of yesterday writing his name on everything. He's a little nervous. Isn't quite sure if we'll survive without him but he can hardly wait to get up there and start communing with the smoky Mountains.

Ok ...so where does the pirates come into this midsummer celebration? My whole little family is so excited about the Treasure Island book adventure over at Jump Into A Book. Each day will uncover an new part of the adventure. Today we are dressing, talking, and naming ourselves like pirates. Tuesday is arts and crafts day better known as pirate doings, Wednesday has us eating pirate food, Thursday we'll be playing the best games ever and it includes a treasure hunt, Friday will have us swabbing the deck as we sing our favorite pirate tunes, learn a little more about the author, sharing our own adventures during circle chat and at the very end, a list of resources to help you find everything you need to make a pirate's life of your very own.

On July 6th is Treasure Island day where you get to blog about your own pirate adventures. Everyone will link over at Jump Into A Book for a day filled with pirates and such.

It is never to late to join us. If you would like to go on the blogroll leave a comment here or over at Jump into a book or send me an email at jumpintoabook@gmail.com .  You do not have to enroll to enjoy the activities. Just come over and have fun.

A huge thank you to my family, our friends and neighbors who have come out of the woodwork to help make Treasure Island come to life.