After the blogging-silence of the past few weeks, I have a lot to catch up, to tell and to share. I secretly (so shh don’t tell) added the #tongueouttuesday picture to last weeks date because I was unable to upload it then because we were traveling with our dogs from Belgium back to Sweden.

So where shall I start? First of all, I shared the images of our hike at Jätturn nature reserve and the images of the fleece tug toys that I made while driving from Sweden to Belgium. They are soooo happy with these and it’s easy to make.

One week ago around this time, we drove back home through the dark and the rain after 3 wild weeks in Belgium. Normally we try to drive during the light hours of the day as much as possible but this trip was different in so many ways. Because I was sick the week before, I didn’t have the chance to visit my grandmother (I don’t want to make her sick of course!), but I couldn’t leave without seeing her. I didn’t tell her that I was stopping by so my visit with Mogwai was a big surprise. After a nice chat, looking at pictures together and a big kiss, we were ready to hit the road again.

Driving through Germany was even more unpleasant than usual. The sad rain fell down from the sky, making our windshield work like crazy.  Even the dogs didn’t want o go out during the breaks. Just a quick pee and back in the warm and dry car. Because it would rain all night and be rather cold, we decided to get a room for the night. Mostly for the comfort of Ravasz who gets cold easier nowadays. Pretty exciting because this was Oona’s first time at a hotel. I was hoping for a room close to an exit because Oona often wakes up extremely early and then she needs to go out immediately. But no. Because of our late departure, we just reached Flensburg where we were somewhere on the third floor with corridors full of fluffy carpet and not much green outside. We were already tired when we arrived and had to beg our doggies to do their thing on a drizzly and soggy lawn in the pouring rain. Those three stubborn beasts gave us some angry looks telling us: “We want food and a warm bed! Not standing in the rain like idiots.” But we insisted, then stumbled upstairs, quickly brushed our teeth and fell asleep in the crisp white bed.

A new day arrived unfortunately early for Joeri who was awakened by Oona because she had to go outside- of course. “Nondedju!” He quickly jumped into his shoes and ran down- in time! This new day came with as much rain as the previous one. It was only far into Sweden that it suddenly changed into snow. We seemed to make little progress. The night arrived early, we were behind slow trucks and even the Coca-Cola truck we passed by didn’t have Christmas music and lights– that would have been great. The illuminated billboard of a wok restaurant looked like a miracle. A warm oasis in a cold environment. A warm meal with vegetables and noodles after two days of soggy sandwiches, … Haleluja!

The closer we got to our home, the more snow we spotted. A tickling joyful feeling took over. What would our garden be like? Could we go for a walk in the snow tomorrow? O-ooh I was so happy to be home again.

Upon arrival there was a gift waiting for us in a small box. A package that was missing according to the website, but which they apparently delivered during our absence. What a relief! What arrived? A box that brought us the Christmas spirit from Vicia Faba design in Finland ?

 

I am very pleased to be home again but it is with great pleasure that I look back at our stay in Belgium even though we had to say goodbye to our dearest dog friend Perro. It were three fascinating weeks in which we spend time with friends and family, went on a trip to the beach and ate too much fantastic delicious food (as if they do not have any food here in Sweden!). On the Grafixx zinefest, I sold books (much thanks to those who bought a book!)  and also followed the lectures and performances – a weekend of drawing, graphics, illustrations, books, handmade items, … The smell of ink and paper and curiosity. Delicious!
It was also three weeks in which I could just go to the store and ask something without stuttering or tinkering. ? Did you know that it will soon be the birthday of our move? So much has happened this past year!

While I am now going to finish my Swedish homework, I’ll leave you with some photographs from our autumn walks in Antwerp.
See you later! X