Mom visits Sweden - Uppsala

This is how my system works. Take photos. View photos on computer, and write down which photos I like best and would like to put on my blog. Never edit or upload photos. Have tons of post-it notes lying around the house.

So I decided I wanted to start tackling this problem of mine. I went to a stack of post-its, and chose one. And guess what I found! A list of photos from when my mom and Joel visited Sweden last summer! I was surprised to find I hadn't posted these yet (or maybe I had and am just really bad at searching my own blog).



We took a ride on the old steam train, Lennakatten. That was the conductor.



Greg's beard looks so wimpy these days compared to what it once was!







The above photo of the cathedral during dusk was made possible by the fact that I had been carrying my camera everywhere while we had visitors. And on this particular day I had to go to one of my first Swedish classes, and I also had a flat bike tire, so I was on foot and able to admire everything around me. (I didn't have such a positive outlook at the time, but I'm glad I stopped to take the photo.)



At one point we were just walking along and we heard a crash, which was a potted plant being dropped from an upper floor and breaking on the sidewalk. I took a photo (above) and these guys were all shocked about what was happening and maybe asked if I knew what was going on. Sorry gentlemen, I have no clue, I just like to take pictures.





I know I have tons and tons of photos from the Linneaus gardens in Uppsala. They have such a huge variety of plants and flowers, and somehow I managed to narrow down my photo choices to just these two. I'm tempted to go back and look through all the photos again, but I do always spend a lot of time cultivating these little post-its of photo numbers, so I just have to trust my choices and give you what I've got!

Recombobulating

I just finished reading The Secret Garden, which was such a perfect choice for me. I had never read it before, but had seen the movie. It was a lovely little book, and I read it at the perfect time of year. It feels like spring here. Although officially it is spring in Sweden? I guess they don't care about the equinox, but just start saying it is spring after reaching a threshold of consecutive warm days. 

For all the miserable cold that has been happening in the US, it has been just the opposite in Sweden. The winter was unseasonably warm, and the little snow we had gotten has been melted for several weeks. Yesterday was a perfectly warm day with lovely blue skies. 

In the name of 'spring cleaning' Greg and I washed our windows and did a bit of dusting and oven cleaning. I bought purple tulips, and we've put away the Christmas decorations (I guess we were a little late on that one). Broth is simmering on the stove, and my old world woman aspirations are soaring. 

Most beautiful Sunday

Today is the most beautiful Sunday. The skies are blue, and the air smells so sweet. After Mass I stopped for a coffee to take away and strolled to the city park. I hadn't been through it since the winter, and it is just so lovely. I found a partially shaded bench where I enjoyed my coffee and some more Anne of Green Gables. Then I meandered home by way of the University's gardens, which made me glad I was on foot due to an unfortunate flat tire on my bicycle. Last year I didn't arrive in Sweden until mid-August, so I missed all of this lovely summer weather and the lovely summer flowers.

And when no one was around, I took some quick self-timed photos by some of those lovely flowers to document and share my outfit. I'm linking up with Fine Linen & Purple and looking forward to seeing what everyone else wore on Sunday(:

Viennese crocus! (croci?)

Popping in quickly to share a photo I took yesterday (mainly so I can share in the fun of Cari's theme thursday). Vienna hasn't been too much warmer than Sweden, surprisingly, but it is warm enough for a crocus to grow! I always love when I see the first one of the season, and when I was walking through a park there was a section with all of these little patches of flowers. Very lovely.

No longer in the closet

I have moved back to my normal desk, next to a large window, and it is quite nice. At the beginning of the week before my thesis dissertation, Kristina gave me a begonia and said that the lady at the flower shop said it could survive in the dark closet for one week, and then we both needed to move out of the closet.

I think we are both happy to be in a sunshiney kind of place.

The Barn!

Luckily enough we have one photo of our rocket launch.

This was taken by Robert Michell who was Kristina's graduate student that worked on Cascades1. In this photo you can see the four motor burns, which did not happen for C1. On that rocket the third stage motor did not light so the entire mission was a failure.

Anyhow, so now I am back home! I got out of Alaska just in time, as Mt Redoubt is now erupting and they are canceling many flights due to the large ash cloud drifting over much of the state. My flight actually left about a half hour early, because we were scheduled to go three hours after the first eruption, and they didn't want to risk us not getting out. So I had a little extra time on my layover in Seattle, but it was still quite short. Three of the NASA dudez were also on that flight out of Fairbanks, but they had 3 hour layovers, so they brought me to my gate and saw me off, which was fun. Usually I am that lone traveller in airports. Also, one of my NASA buddies had the privilege of sitting next to Kevin Barry in first class. I must admit I never would have known who this guy was if I didn't have that inside connection. He was a HUGE guy though. Nice, but HUGE.

My next flight got into Minneapolis a little late, so I got off one plane, booked it through the airport, and got right back on another plane. I guess it was the perfect amount of time, except for that whole not eating thing, but such a short connection makes me very nervous, particularly since I don't want a repeat of my last Minneapolis airport stranding. Luckily enough I made it just fine, as did my luggage. Then I got to ride a completely full Dartmouth Coach home.

I got to Hanover and my car started with no trouble, and Lisa and Laura were home to greet me at the barn with flowers and freshly washed sheets on my bed. All in all it was a great return.

At the barn I am starting to realize I have forgotten a few things. I smacked my elbow on the toilet paper dispenser, so I'm quite convinced someone moved it around or something. Also, the bathroom mirror makes my face look tan (is that even possible??), so I think there is something wrong with the mirror or the lighting. Almost all of the snow is melted around here, and tomorrow the high will be a balmy 47F. Not so bad..