third weekend in June

Weekend wrap-up time, my friends.  You've already had the Friday holiday report.  Now for the weekend proper.  Here we go!

Where did we start Saturday?  I mean, after the walk, that is (and a shorter walk than usual - it was on Saturday morning that we really noticed the smell of smoke from the warehouse fire in Los Angeles).  Amara Cafe, of course!  I wasn't very hungry thanks to the lamb dinner the night before, so I stuck with an empanada

and a decaf latte and that was entirely enough.

But gosh, we got a lot done on Saturday:  the walk, groceries, four loads of laundry, two open houses (we are kind of sort of not really looking at condos), more travel planning, running the dishwasher, a stop for ice cream at Afters,

dinner and some television, a nap.  It's nice to feel accomplished, and we did.

Yesterday was lower key.  Not because we were tired or anything, no.  The air quality was still not great, and we wanted a bit of a lazy morning, so we stayed in and had coffee and ate lightly.  I did some sorting of things in my drawers and Conrad did some paperwork at his computer.  I also made some dinners for him so that when I'm at Van's tonight, he won't go hungry!  All in all, low key.  Shall I confess that I was listening to Christmas music to take an afternoon nap?  Hardly a surprise to anyone who knows me, I think.

We did, however, venture out yesterday evening.  Van came by, and the three of us went over to Union for an early dinner reservation. 

I can't recall the last time we ate there.  I have enjoyed it in the past, but I was also a little startled to see that their menu hasn't changed much.  I know, I know:  the Maestro menu hasn't changed substantively in years, and we still go and enjoy that.  I will say that the carrots were nice

and that the olive oil cake was good (and quite a portion!)

and that the bread was crusty. 

The meatballs were fine if a little solid and might have included a little more sauce. 

The spaghetti was also fine, but I remember it being plated more tidily and just having a little something better about it that I can't quite put my finger on.  The restaurant has expanded as well, opening up a back dining area that a friend had told us she rather didn't like.  I agree.  The front has a cool Italian bistro feel, the back is like being in a side room at a brewpub restaurant.  A disconnect between the spaces.  I did like that it was a little quieter and more spacious, though.

After that we wandered to the movies.  27 fricking minutes of commercials and previews later, the show started.  Stop! That! Train!  It was light and amusing.  A fun diversion.  Nice to see various drag queens and other familiar faces.

We got home, and that was that.  Van headed back to Olive, Conrad and I headed to bed.  A three-day weekend had finished, and it wasn't half bad, I have to say! 

Tuesday evening at home

An entry in this week's series of short posts.  We haven't had dinner out together since before I went to Toronto (we did have takeaway sushi once, however), and the trend continues for Conrad and me.  It's funny - I get tired of restaurant food and not being in my kitchen when I am away, and now that I have been cooking at home for days, I'm looking forward to a dinner out again some time.  Soon, I hope!

In the meantime, I threw together some pasta for dinner on a Tuesday night.  Some pork and ricotta meatballs, a tomato sauce, bucatini.  Not my best effort, but entirely filling.

But by gosh, is it good to have Conrad home! 

a too-short time of it in Sweden

We're home.  By the time we got our bags at LAX yesterday, it was 24 hours after we had checked out of the hotel at Arlanda (and given that we were awake well over an hour before we checked out, that's an even longer day).  A vacation cut short, alas, but we did enjoy ourselves so very much while in Sweden.  So let me recap!

On arrival in Bollnäs, we were met by Conrad's cousin Kersti and her husband, Ivar, and whisked off to lunch at the cafe of a beautiful garden shop, Mobackes Trädgårdscenter.  The shop puts on an annual holiday display using many amaryllis flowers and other flora.  It's not large, but the imagination shown was really delightful, and I'd never seen so many different colours and types of amaryllis.  So lovely.

After lunch, we headed to Kersti and Ivar's home, a farmhouse from the 1800s.  We stayed in the second house (also from the 1800s).  The two are painted the typical red that you find all over Sweden, the Falu red. 

You'll also find a lot of houses and farm buildings painted in a yellow, and the two together all over the country are such a beautiful combination, especially with a snowy backdrop.  In addition, many homes have advent candles in the window, and the warm glow from them made for such a wonderful, warm sight.

Wednesday evening the family all gathered at the Långheds Bygdegård (the local community center)

for the Saint Lucia celebration, a traditional celebration before Christmas.  Five of Kersti and Ivar's grandchildren were participating in the concert, and it was our first time seeing all of them - the eldest was in the womb when last we saw her mother and father in 2014.  The children were all very sweet, though by the end they were a little antsy.  It was super cute.  There were a few sweets to enjoy, and we got to catch up with Kersti and Ivar's children (who are all close to me in age) as well.

Dinner back at the house followed that, with Olov joining us for a bit as well.  Then?  To bed.  Lots of travel, I was still feeling the effects of the cold I had had, and we needed some sleep.

Thursday started off with terrible news from home:  Conrad's mother had passed away the night before.  It was an awful shock.  And it also meant we had to scramble to change plans for the trip, cutting it short to get back to the USA.  It was sad news for Kersti and Ivar as well - Kersti is Conrad's second cousin on his mother's side, and they had met Conrad's mother when they came to visit Michigan a number of years ago.  We spent time that morning dealing with what arrangements we could before joining Kersti and Ivar along with Pär and Olov at lunch at Kitchen in Alfta in the same industrial park complex where Olov has his office.  After lunch, he showed us his office and their operations, which were really cool, really fascinating.  From there it was a little shopping for mementos in Alfta at a store across the street from the library (of course I took a photo of the library!). 

We swung past a little shop in Knåda on the way home,

then got back to changing and canceling and making bookings for everything ahead of us.  That completed, we joined the whole family for dinner together (well, most of them - Lena's son lives with his father, and her daughter had handball practice that night, and Pär's partner Maria had gone to Stockholm for work). 

That was a really great evening.  Through it all, Conrad was doing pretty okay - things had not really sunk in yet for him.

Friday was a travel day.  Packing for the train was pretty easy, and we got that done readily after breakfast.  That left time for us to drive a little deeper into the country to see Lena's project:  ForRest.  Wow, what a beautiful forest retreat she has designed and built. 

We saw the property in 2014, and it was a thrill to see what progress she had made.

Lunch was up next, at Gästisbacken in Alfta.  The original plan had been to have the Christmas table there that night, but at least we got to have a good lunch

in the beautiful hotel

across from the old church. 

A bit more shopping (and a stop for hot chocolate)

after that, and then it was off to the train station in Bollnäs to catch an afternoon train down to Arlanda.  It was already dimming out when we boarded, and long dark by the time we arrived.  We checked back into the same airport hotel as a few days earlier (though with a view),

did a bit more souvenir shopping, and then headed to the airport hotel for some dinner - fish stew for me

and meatballs for Conrad. 

Re-packing followed, then to bed.

By 5:30 the next morning we were in the SAS Business Lounge. 

Getting through passport control before our flight was a mindbogglingly slow process that had us worried we would miss our flight, but we didn't.  It was over to Heathrow,

then a handful of hours in the lounge there before the 10.5 hours flight back to LAX.  It was a perfectly comfortable flight,

and I dozed a couple of times, but I would be lying if I said that all that airplane and airport time wasn't just a little boring. 

Oh, it was good to get home, unpack, shower, and get to bed.  Nine hours of sleep last night, and much needed!

Life happens, right?  Who could have known we would need to come home early (and leave tomorrow morning for the Midwest for the funeral on Wednesday)?  Kersti and Ivar were as wonderful, warm, and generous hosts as ever, and we were so glad to see them again.  The whole family was also very good at providing what support they could for Conrad.  A too-short time of it, though, and I am sorry for that.  We'll need to get back there again, and not with a nine-year gap!