Just for the Weekend

WiseMan says that I am crazy, maybe I am. I just drove up to the cabin in Sweden for the weekend.

I actually love to drive, and especially alone. I have complete control over the radio. I can run through gazillion crazy ideas and even speak loud about them without anyone asking questions. I can swear at the other idiots on the road - as a Mommy I try to curb the swearing when WiseKid is in the car with me. And were there idiots on the road!

But the ferry was not crowded, I even got one of the seats near the electrical outlet. Got some work done, then set off through Denmark. Stopped in the first bit of civilization as I had seen the newspaper getting off the boat - buy a (yellow press) newspaper, buy a DVD with two new Örnen series for just a few Kronor. I am nuts about Örnen (an Icelandic cop in Copenhagen), and you can't get the DVDs in Germany, can't even ORDER them in Denmark and have them sent to you. You have to physically go to Denmark to purchase them. Got one at the gas station.

The bridge to Sweden was a difficult drive, there was this warning sign on the Danish side that I didn't understand. But since I could barely see the road for the fog, I assumed it meant "fog". Sure thing, just across the border in the middle of the water the sign changed to dimma - a special kind of pea-soup fog particular to Skane.

Had a break just across the bridge for some nice blueberry soup, packaged in a plastic bottle. Got to the cabin, was unloaded in 10 minutes, in 20 I had the fireplace roaring and my feet up on the coffee table with a glass of Merlot. This is the life!

The weather was gorgeous today. 12 degrees Celsius and sun poking through the clouds. I raked leaves, turned the compost (man, was it steaming!), cleaned the gutters, did two loads of wash, scrubbed the algae off one side of the guest house, visited with two neighbors and did some shopping.

Alas, the lady with the store in the village is sick, so the sign says that she is closing the store at Christmas. Drat. I love falling out of bed, taking the car or bike down for rolls and the newspaper in the mornings, and spending a good two hours on breakfast. Don't think I will drive the 8 km into town, so it will be bake-em-yourself rolls and no paper this Christmas vacation.

I'm now caught up on the gossip: Elin, the elderly lady whose father owned the land that our houses are now on, passed away last week; lots of wind this past week, an elm came down across the path through the woods; one neighbor has sold his house to a young couple, another is selling this week, a third has announced his intentions of selling. And still no break-ins, knock on wood. Must be all the dogs - the yippy bunch in the first house, and the son of a neighbor who drives up in his police car with his K9 and a buddy. They train in our woods, and then have coffee at Mom & Dad's.

Another fire this evening, I'll have to go get more firewood tomorrow morning before I leave. But I feel so good, and the coughing has gone down quite a lot. Must be all that exercise in the fresh air! Another 8 hour drive back, just in time for a horrific week, meetings from dawn til dusk. I'm glad I came, even if it was just for the weekend!