loulouloves

The Book Club – part 2

Missed The Book Club – part 1? Click here to catch up.

Book Club book #2

With the weighty chunk of a bible for Book Club book #1, I was eager to get my hands on the...Read more

The Book Club – part 1

I passive aggressively wrote to the librarian sharing my surprise at the choice of book, then promptly handed all book club book responsibilities over to the Swede.

“Well, I’m 7-and-a-half and I still haven’t had my 6th birthday party,” was the leitmotiv of Marigold, especially after being asked to empty the dishwasher. There were daily reminders; Tristan chord tensions were palpable.

Summer so far…

Summer is abundant wild flowers, long days that barely fade into night, warming sunshine, family together at last, laughter, slower days; sometimes.

The Wild Journal

hether you live in a house or flat, in a rural or urban environment, this beautiful book shows how to harness the natural world around us and feel more grounded and rooted in our surroundings.

Take my breath away

Arriving home on a Tuesday morning in a taxi at dawn, after a night of public vomiting, feeling woozy, clutching an unmarked brown paper bag containing five small blue pills could at once, seem like a night out well spent. Or, on the other hand, signal the return home, after another night in a crowded emergency ward in the midst of a global pandemic, hooked up to a drip after an unexplained anaphylactic episode, that again, took my breath away.

The slow summer of 2020

Think forests, swimming in lakes*, berry picking, tumbling with cousins, social distancing from grandparents, remote working and breaking bread around the table.

Oral allergy syndrome update – part 1

What exactly am I allergic to? Am I really allergic to waffles? Let’s find out and won’t eat it,” I said.

How social media can cure a fussy eater

On some occasions, when the stars were not aligned, put a plate of anything other than an Ikea meatball on her plate, and there could be trouble.

A midsummer night’s dream

However, midsummer 2020 was very low key; mona corona. There were no mass gatherings, traditional dress, or dancing around a 20-foot penis - oh those were the days. The frog dance leaped a year, the organised fun set aside, and for something completely different, the sun was shining.

Mail it Mondays

Well, well. Ironies of ironies. The only thing actually closed in Sweden during corona: mail to Australia

The one question you never want your child to ask…

Could have be worse mind you, she could have has asked to learn a string instrument, so I guess I should count my blessings. Jesus, beginner violin sounds like a cat slowing dying and could be the real inspiration behind social distancing.

Mayday! Mayday! On May Day.

Boom.

I’m alive.

I’m breathing life back into my blog.

It only took a brush with emergency services during a global pandemic to help me remember my WordPress password. And well, now, writing sparks so much joy, you’re...Read more

30 day Keto challenge – week 1

I'm trying to become a fat-burning beast and judging by my mood these last few weeks, I've already nailed the beast part of it.

Fractured

It seems like more of an old lady's injury with the jury out as to why, when falling down a hill trying to save a dozen eggs before Easter, both my leg bones shattered on impact.

Keto kid-friendly fried chicken with broccoli

For 30 days, I am going to eat <20 grams of net carbs, which basically means you give up bread, pasta and biscuits, and go around annoying people with endless energy and nutritional advice.

Mixed bag 2

Given my current state of reduced mobility, sitting around losing weight by eating butter just sounds too good not to try.

Needing a new knee

Life on crutches is not optimal. It makes you look like a pensioner and feel like a pensioner, but without any discounts.

Easter 2018

I've been camped out on the trundle bed in the girls' room for 7 nights and we've barely left the house. It's been a quiet one, that's for sure.

Maundy Thursday

TSH can't stand up and I can't really walk so Easter 2018 will be a much toned-down version of usual events. The kids will not even notice as long as "The Rooster" shows up sometime over the next few days.

The Heads of Departments

And it's pretty safe to say that for the last three nights the kids have had supermarket meatballs and macaroni for dinner, with nigh on not a vegetable to be seen. I know you are meant to 'eat the rainbow' but our rainbow has a slight 'sepia' tone to it, with only white and brown to be seen.

Mixed bag 1

I still feel like I play a rather 'supportive' role to the other members who actually possess value-adding real life and language skills. However, I do put on a great spread when meetings are held at our house, which may be the reason for my re-election.

The gift of time

And by the way, I've ignored all the rude message's I've received from TSH such as, 'I'm sleeping much better now', 'I'm feeling less stressed'.

Sunshine, summer, scents

We had such a fun time exploring all the boutique shops, which all had superior gifting wares. We got into the south coast mood and I felt the strong need to get into a soft linen pant.

TMJ hindered to healing

The best news was that my biological age was estimated to be 37, so when TSH told me I was looking five years younger, he was as usual, absolutely SPOT ON.

Cheers to the year that was … part 2

I felt like I was in the Barossa Valley, whipping up quince jelly, quince paste and rosemary and quince jam. Turns out, all you have to do is add a hell of a lot of sugar to them and boil the crap out of them.

Cheers to the year that was… part 1

Turns out, the younger two had the same resolve as their mum, that 9 million others should learn our language, instead of us having to learn theirs.

Pretty Raspberry Caramels

Oh and with a slight diversion from my sugar-is-the-devil ways, I'd love to share one of my favourite Christmas recipes. They make the perfect gift!*

Adventures with Advent

By December, Sweden has very few hours of daylight so some clever bugger came up with the idea of celebrating the four Sundays before Christmas, by lighting candles and drinking mulled wine. Golf clap.

The Ying and Yang of Marriage

I think this is because you see 'your other half' do shit that you can't, so you get super impressed with their skill set and decide to marry them.

The room that does not spark joy

A box/drawer/room that causes a twitch in your right eye every time you walk past, but not enough that you actually do anything about it.

Halloween in Sweden – part 2

My contributions of 'ghost bananas' and mini 'pumpkins' we not the most popular choice. I blame 1) merchandise positioning - he'd placed them right near the big pot of candy and 2) his complete failure to sell them in.

School holidays in Swedish, literally

Adding to the mysteries of Sweden, there is no hangman in 'hangman', you just drawing a sad looking face.

Halloween in Sweden – part 1

I went as the dead car crash victim in the Great Gatsby/or a Dickens novel. I have to say, looking dead took no effort at all. Over the last few months I have truly perfected the haggard look and basically, just roll out of bed every morning looking like this.

Starting a herb garden

So over the coming weeks, TSH did the hard labour of cutting back the overgrown mess and I became the operations manager. This project was the start of our dream to build a kitchen garden and to attempt sustainable living. My 'all spirit/no skills' approach to gardening was born.

The slow, slow down

So how's not working going? Turns out not as good as I thought. Last week I thought I would have been happily soloing parenting along, job seeking, fermenting vegetables or learning to play the mandolin.

The Good Life

Although I have plans of becoming a biodynamic gardener with a primary focus on vegetables and sustainability, let's just say that I am not quite there yet. I'm still sitting at home, drinking tea and listening to Madrigals.

Seeker Lover Dreamer

Today, I finished up at 9.30am and by 10am I was at a specialist appointment with Miss 5. I ate ice-cream for lunch and had a cup of tea. This sparked immense joy.

Warning: more change ahead

I'm now a job seeker in a country where I can only apply for 5% of the jobs on offer. Jobs in English. Sure, I can speak Swedish, but it's a version of Swedish that is not recognised by the EU, nor by the greater Swedish population.

Game on!

We had a nude weigh-in on Sunday night - which sounds like it should have been way more fun than it was - because we know it may come down to just grams.

A rainy Friday afternoon

It's for those interested in sharing tips and inspiration from all those who have a real green thumb, and are interested in organic growing and sustainable living. I've been allowed to join the group despite only successfully growing sage.

The Magic of Midsummer in Stockholm

It's also a celebration of fertility and that's why around noon on Friday we will be dancing around a phallic pole, doing a traditional frog dance with a crown of flowers on our heads. WHAT IS NOT TO LOVE ABOUT THAT?

Why not?

We've never owned a property, only apartments, so we have no experience WHAT SO EVER in any of these important issues and me in particular, have never shown any interest in anything other in home ownership, other than candles and organic linen in the shade of Marigold.

Buying a House in Sweden – part 1

The final nail in the 'let's move to Sweden' coffin was when we found out that - despite not being residents there/me having any form of income in that country/TSH not even having started his job/us living in Australia - we could indeed get a bank loan and purchase property there. This had long been our dream, to find a family home.

Another Easter Miracle

"The resurrection gives my life meaning and direction and the opportunity to start over no matter what my circumstances."

Jan 16

The Book Club – part 2

Missed The Book Club – part 1? Click here to catch up.

Book Club book #2

With the weighty chunk of a bible for Book Club book #1, I was eager to get my hands on the next book as early as possible, to ensure success. With two failed attempts in-person at the library – the book hadn’t come in – I emailed the librarian, who promised to send me an email when the book arrived.

We waited and waited, and life went on. Thoughts of Book Club book #2 sank to the bottom of everything else swimming in my brain. Then the email arrived.

The shock, the horror. It said Book Club was in two days, and would be an in-person event at the library including cake. She’d forgotten to email me when the book arrived; we were screwed.

I told Elsa what had happened, and that we would jump on the Book Club bandwagon for book #3 and skip this one. Then I got The Reaction. She burst into tears, completely devastated that she would miss the next session.

“Did I just say we would skip book #2? Of course, we would never do that!”.

How could I forget to follow up on the book? I pinned that Best Parenting Award badge straight to my jacket, and power walked to the library to claim the book. In the next two days, we powered through the first few chapters, speed reading and skipping the boring bits. We didn’t finish it, but we did make a good attempt.

The Book Club met, and she could keep up with the discussion. The librarian told her to cover her ears when they were discussing the ending. The cake was a hit; smiles returned.

And wasn’t I just totally on top of book #3; got it in my hot little hands the minute it landed at the library. We were off and running with a strong start, plenty of time to read the book before the next session. We were going to nail book #3.

Book Club book #3

Here’s a loose translation of the Swedish book…

Prologue, 1796.

It was a grey and damp morning, when Christine, handcuffed, travelled over the meadow towards the harbour. The carriage wheels and horses heels could be heard on the gravel, but nothing else. No wind. No birdsong.

Oooooo, that’s a descriptive way to start a story, I said to Elsa.

Not many were there. Some soldiers, some police, the officials for the protocol; maybe eight, counted Christine.

Mmmm, I wonder what’s going to happen next…

But Christine, doesn’t want her life to end. Not yet. She’s too young.

Hang on…ummm…

The officials read out she’s convicted of killing her baby son. She didn’t. He’s still alive. No one listens to her. Her screams have never been heard.

Ummmmmmmmm…

The executioner takes a step forward with a rope. Christine looks at the executioner right in the eyes, it’s all she can see of him, his face is covered in a black hood. He has light blue eyes without life. She falls to her knees… As the clouds appear and dawn arises, there is nothing left of the woman known as Christine.

CHEERY START TO A BOOK FOR BOOK CLUB AGES 9-12. A young, immigrant, innocent women gets hanged beside the harbour, in graphic detail. SHOULD BE A GOOD BOOK.

Needless to say, we didn’t read much more, and Book Club book #3 was one we gladly skipped.

2/2 for 2022, on a writing roll.

Jan 6

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Christmas in Sweden, 2021

I think nothing says ‘injecting some life into my blog’ like writing content that should have been published weeks ago. Why yes, January is the perfect time to write about Christmas. Today is a public holiday in Sweden, Epiphany – thirteen days after Christmas, so in fact, I can legally still write about the festive season, getting it in at the very last minute. To push my point further, the Swedes like to drag out Christmas so it doesn’t officially end here until Saint Knut’s Day – twenty days after Christmas – so maybe I am actually ahead.

Delightful (and dark) December

When December 1 appeared, we were Advent-ready. As a Christmas extremer, I am a fan of this lovely tradition that dates back to the 1890s. On top of our usual adventures with advent – Grandma’s beautiful advent calendar + public television’s daily Christmas tv show and radio saga, with matching calendar – this year, we took it up a notch.

Marigold and Elsa made their own calendars at school, turns out they were my favourites, of course. To hear the matching stories associated with each window was pure joy. Grandma also sent us a ‘kindness’ advent calendar with a kindness challenge for every day. Fabulous!

Christmas near the north pole – Santa included!

As the pandemic raged on, we were very grateful to be able to spend Christmas together with our Swedish family. For so many both in Sweden and around the world, this type of family gathering was not possible; we were truly thankful.

On Christmas Eve, the Swedish Christmas Goat made his majestic appearance like clockwork and Christmas celebrations officially started. Santa must have been triple vaccinated, because he showed up on a sleigh!!! A day of eating, gifting, chatting, napping, and taking walks with the puppy. Yes, that’s right. A puppy!

A puppy for Christmas

The Ling puppy lobby won their petition for an earlier-than-expected surprise purchase of a puppy, with a strong four votes out of five. By mid-December, we were able to pick her up, an 11-week-old ‘Pomapoo’ – a mix of Toy Poodle and Pomeranian. Her real mix is part dog, part teddy bear, so it was love at first sight; introducing Yumi Rose, the best Christmas present ever! Having her with us up north was golden magic. She even loves snow.

The joy of writing

I have now set a target to write one blog post per week and with this post, I am 100% on track. You’ll have to put up with me a bit longer.

More to come.

Can you ever take too many pictures of a puppy? How was your Christmas? Could you spend time with family or did corona bite you in the bum? Let me know below.

Nov 6

The Book Club – part 1

I passive aggressively wrote to the librarian sharing my surprise at the choice of book, then promptly handed all book club book responsibilities over to the Swede.

Aug 12

2 Comments

Summer celebrations

Jul 16

6 Comments

Summer so far…

Summer is abundant wild flowers, long days that barely fade into night, warming sunshine, family together at last, laughter, slower days; sometimes.

Jul 8

2 Comments

The Wild Journal

hether you live in a house or flat, in a rural or urban environment, this beautiful book shows how to harness the natural world around us and feel more grounded and rooted in our surroundings.

Jun 21

3 Comments

Take my breath away

Jul 29

5 Comments

The slow summer of 2020

Think forests, swimming in lakes*, berry picking, tumbling with cousins, social distancing from grandparents, remote working and breaking bread around the table.

Jul 8

4 Comments

Oral allergy syndrome update – part 2

Welcome back! Catch up with all the nonsense from part one here.

Do you glow when you eat a tomato? That’s what I was trying to find out so was very eager to hear back from my allergist with my latest results.

One afternoon at the beginning of Jan 2019, I answered the call that changed my life.

“Hello Louise, your results are in”

“Great, what am I allergy to?”

“Nothing”

“Wait what?”

“Nothing”

“Can you say that in English because I swear you’re saying that after 3,5 years of very restrictive eating, a few cross contamination episodes which landed me in hospital, an irresitable love of interrogating restaurant chefs, and a whole lot of faffing about regarding the interpretation of food labels, ARE YOU NOW TELLING ME I AM CURED? I DO NOT HAVE ANY FOOD ALLERGIES, I AM ALLERGIC TO NOTHING?”

“Yes”

“What about tomato or wheat, cooked or raw?”

“Go eat pizza if you want”

“WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT???? CAN YOU EVEN CURE YOURSELF FROM FOOD ALLERGIES? I HAVE NEVER HEARD OF THIS BEFORE, ARE YOU A REAL DOCTOR?”

“Your immune system has now healed and I can’t detect anything in your bloodwork; you’re fine.”

“I thought I hated you, but I love you”

“Thanks”

“Do you want a picture of me for your wall or latest medical magazine cover, this is amazing.”

He didn’t.

Turns out, he was correct. I went home and tested myself by eating tomato sauce, just a few drops. No reaction. I ate a crumb of bread. No reaction. We ordered pizza. No reaction. Over the coming weeks, I re-introduced all my forbidden foods, all of which came up with no reaction. Not even a single scratch.

Oh, and didn’t I eat for Sweden! Making up for lost time.

“Would you like a cinnamon bun?”

“Yep, make it two!”

“Want a cardamom bun”

“Jesus, of course I do, hand them over”

“Darling, should I get pizza on the way home?”

“HELL YES!”

With gleeful abandon, for 2019 and the first half of 2020 I ate grains with joy, with a side of tomato salad.

Well, until this happened. Since, nearly dyings, I’ve gone back to a restrictive diet, with success I might add, as I haven’t had much of a reaction since. But not knowing really what the cause of my reaction in May was, every time I eat, I feel like I’m playing Russian roulette. Will we end the night with Netflix or a trip to emergency?

But Friday is the BIG DAY. I have an allergist appointment including a skin prick test and the works – with a new allergy clinic as I refused to go back to my original allergist. I can’t wait to sort this all out, and to find out, if I am once again a scientific miracle, or if I’ll be given an epi-pen and orders not to eat anything but apples.

More to come.

Jul 4