• Mood: sore
• Music: Applause on Comedy Central in the living room

INVINCIBLE SUMMER

Things that I am grooving on lately:

• Looking: Swedish summer!
• Listening: Sara Bareilles — Little Voice
• Reading: Bill Bryson — At Home, A History of Private Life
• Drinking: Schweppes Pear Lime Fusion
• Eating: mozzarella & tomatoes, red seedless grapes
• Flowering: Paradisbuskena (Paradise bushes! latin: Kolkwitzia Amabilis), it's called Beauty Bush in English, and it really is incredible. Giant bushes FULL of these gorgeous deep pink flowers

Karin took this photo of the farmhouse behind us. It's falling apart...no one has lived in it or taken care of it for a couple of years now. The green-covered mound to the right was dumped there last fall but nothing was done with it. A tractor was in the pasture to the right of it plowing up the overgrown earth last weekend, but they didn't touch the mound and nothing has been done since.



Today Martin and I participated in a fun AWC activity: Dressin (or rail) Cycling across the Skåne countryside. The "bikes" are set up on platforms with a bench, and straddle the abandoned railways that are all over southern Sweden. It was REALLY hard work, much more strenuous than either of us expected, but the sun was shining, a cool breeze was blowing, and we had lots of fun company and a great picnic lunch packed. We cycled for TWELVE kilometers, and since neither one of us does much bicycling, we're both really feeling it already. Ow my aching butt! :D

The rail started in the middle of grass fields, but progressed slowly to woods and then what felt like full-blown forest. though it was just a thick belt of trees along the railway. There was a place to stop for ice cream, but we had already picnicked and were already feeling the strain in our leg muscles so we took turns to push ourselves to get all the way back. Fun and a great workout!











And a beautiful tree, just because I loved it:



Summer Summer Summer Birthday Wishes to Jeanine, Heather, and anniz!