Wow! Time flies. CAn´t believe that winter is soon here

Marianne:
I (and you) may just have to accept that there will be longer time between my posts. Last time I wrote  (the 28th of July), I had not imagined that it would be 3 1/2 months until my next post. But it is as it is. We had a great vacation in FriisBo - even it hte weater was far from perfect.

When writing my last post, we were expecting a visit from Caro and Mick. They arrived late Friday night and stayed until Sunday. On Saturday, my Mom, Dad, Søren and Sisse came for breakfast. We all made a trip to Lønstrup, where the girls did some shopping while the boys enjoyed the sun. Mom bought yarn for a new winter hat and Sisse bought sea urchins for her girlfriends back home in Roskilde - and also one for me!

When we returned to FriisBo, we all relaxed on the patio.

We went to brunch at Mom and Dad´s on Sunday and afterwards we made a trip to Aalborg. We visited the beautiful harbor bath, where Sisse was the only one of us who had the courage to jump into the water. She could not withstand the pretty amazing obstacle course. The rest of us stayed dry.

For the longest time, Michael and my brother Michael had talked about going to Restaurant Vestre Bådelaug to eat their famous hamburgers with gravy, pickled beets and other stuff. We all joined and had a wonderful time. (And the boyz were happy!)

Michael and I took down the chimney at the summerhouse, and made ready for the process of replacing the roof tiles, which was going to happen the week after my vacation.

We also consecrated the local petanque course. We biked down there and played, but unfortunately it started to rain, so the match was not settled.

We enjoyed dinner one night in Løkken where we were able to sit outside at Søgaard. The service was excellent and we a great time.

On Thursday August 3rd, we went back home to Farum. Michael was attending a golf turnament for sponsored teams (for some reason I wasn´t invited???) But I was invited for the after party, which was a spectacular event. They served an amazing fish and shellfish dinner and later in the night we were partying, dancing and enjoying ourselves..

The following day, we both played in a golf tournament. This one was for all members of the boards in the golf club. Another fun day.

The following Monday I went back to work. Michael drove back to FriisBo, where he met with two neighbor guys from Farum, Steen and Michael and my Dad. They were going to change the roof tiles during that week. My Mom assisted by cooking "Grandma dinner" which the boys appreciated. The weather during this week was perfect - probably the best all summer. I love the new blac tiles.

They made a small attic in the utility room, so now everybody can enter without bowing their head.

I had the opportunity to see the new roof when I made a trip to Northern Jutland a few weeks later. Michael was already there since he spent a few days up there so he could watch the Made in Denmark golf tournament. Dad was there for a single day and I was there on the final day, Sunday. As previously, it was a really nice event with lots of spectators.

One weekend in August we drove to Møns klint. We visited the very nice GeoCenter and wene for a walk down to the beach.
The nature is absolutely amazing. And it was good exercise to climbing the many stairs.

Our good friend Ole has decided to realize an old dream of opening a kitchen store. He has done that in Hillerød - and it's a vey nice store where he sells the beautiful Rotpunkt kitchens. I attended the opening reception and decided that he should have a gift that was somehow related to our common past when we first met - both working in the pharmaceutical industry. Michael was in the US on the opening day, but we went up there a few days later to see and admire it all.

August var en måned med masser af aktiviteter. Vi havde besøg af Hadda og Haukur fra Island. Skønt at se dem. De var på kærestetur i København, hvor de bl.a. skulle fejre Haddas fødselsdag.



Helle and Søren have been married for 25 years - and they chose (luckily!) to celebrate with a beautiful party at Kragerup Gods. The day after the party we played golf in Sorø. We must have been very relaxed, because we both finished on the leader board ;-)

It probably hasn´t overlooked anybody´s attention that we are very happy in our new house. We have had a one-year review and most things have been fixed. We have a lot of wonderful neighbors with whom we celebrated a street party. We have bought a tent together, so now we´ve got the basis for this party to become an annual recurring event.

We participated in the Ryder Cup, which is a golf tournament over 3 days with around 65 participants. Spouses play on each of their teams (red and green team). As you can see from the picture, this year the red team (my team!) won. It was a very quiet trip back home from Korsør..

I have started making cards again. I have now held the first workshop that took place at Luna Hobby in Køge. It was a great success. And for my part it was crowned by my niece Sisse being a very skilled participant. The theme was backgrounds for autumn cards. I'll teach another workshop in the middle of January. So I have to figure out something fun and beautiful.

In early October I was on a congress trip to Belgrade. Most of the time we spent at the convention center, but I went out to see the city on Sunday morning. I was not very excited about the city, but there were nevertheless some really nice places.

This coming Tuesday there are regional and municipal elections. Since Michael and I do not yet know the local politicians, we decided to go to a election meeting on Monday. It was TV2 that had arranged and it was actually quite informative. I´m still not sure who to vote for, but I´m sure I´ve made up my mind on Tuesday.

Summer vacation 1

Marianne:

Finally it was our turn to have a summer holiday.
We started off with a wonderful weekend at home in Farum. We prepared ourselves for the 3 weeks vacation and on Saturday we played a couple´s match (golf) against Pia and Stef. Unfortunately they beat us on the very last hole. It was a wonderful day; all 4 of us played very well enjoyed ourselves (in spite of...). When we got home it was still nice weather and we were totally exhausted. That's why we took a nap on the terrace. However, it became a bit chilly, so we had to get some blankets. Great and very relaxing start to your holiday!

On Sunday we drove north and when we arrived at FriisBo (our summerhouse), Helene had come to visit. Helene and I bathed both nights she was here. Amazing waves!

Helene introduced us to Quiz Battle - a game app on the phone that is terribly addictive. We have played quite a bit since then.

Monday morning, MB played golf while Helene and I went chanterelle hunting. We harvested enough for a nice dinner of pasta with canterella sauce in the evening before Helene went towards Frederikshavn, from where she was going to Gothenburg and further north in Sweden.

On Wednesday the 19th we drove to Sæby to play golf. Afterwards we went down to the harbor where we went for a walk and had lunch. There were lots of people and a very good atmosphere. Sæby is a really nice city. In the evening we drove to Løkken to see a beautiful sunset. There were a lot of others who had the same idea. When the weather is nice in Denmark, you can rest assured that everyone who´s able, will get out and enjoy.

Thursday we were in Brønderslev to visit mom and dad. We all rode our bikes to Grindsted Plantage, which is a small park where we came a lot as kids. I had not been there since last school day in 9th grade. It is a lovely place that mom and dad visit occasionally.
IPad and computer assistance were provided later in the day. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner and enjoyed ourselves totally.
Friday we met with dad at the golf course in Løkken and played a wonderful match.

Saturday the 22th we left early because we had tee time in Blokhus at 7.30. Here we played an exciting course, which we had heard a lot about. Afterwards we drove to Camp Friis, my uncle and aunt´s summerhouse, where this year's traditional bob tournament was going to take place. (As I probably explained before, bob is a board game very similar to Carrom - a game of Eastern origin.) We started with a lunch and then the battle began. This year the 3 oldest children participated - and that was great fun. It all took an unexpected turn when Sisse beat Tobias, who has been relatively outstanding for many years - and he was out of the game! The final was between cousin Kathrine and cousin Christian - and it was nice that it ended with a female victor. It hasn´t happened since the tournament debut in 2004. Well done! The taste of victory was a little overshadowed by Tobias revealing that Kathrine is expecting twins in February. Wonderful news!

On Tuesday the 25th we made a trip to Fosdalen where we went for a beautiful walk. We also went to Langdal Plantage, where we hiked a part of Hærvejen - an ancient road through Jutland. It is incredibly beautiful in this particular area. We played golf at Jammerbugtens Golfklub, and afterwards we made a trip to Svinkløv to see if they had started the construction of the new hotel (the old historic hotel burned down last year). However, they have not yet started the construction.

On Wednesday, my parents, Søren and Sisse came to visit. We had a delicious lunch on the terrace and afterwards fixed different projects: When MB had fixed the garden tractor, Søren helped to mowing the lawn. Søren also helped granddad to smooth out the soil from the many molehills.

Sisse relaxed on the terrace and later she gave a hand with the cooking: She bellied peas. Sisse was also responsbile for the serving of soda and  Dark'n Stormy before dinner.

Søren, Sisse, Dad and I went bathing in the ocean before dinner. Lovely! Søren was designated grillmaster and made sure we had delicious ribs and sausages. In conclusion, we had a really beautiful day.









Thursday morning my Dad and Søren came here and the boys drove to Løkken to buy some materials for the coming roofing. Michael and I visited Rikke and Klavs in Flamsted in the evening. It was amazing to see them again. Rikke´s daughter, Nanna was home, so we also had the pleasure of spending time with her.
When writing this, we were waiting for Caro and Mick to come here for the weekend. We looked very much forward to see them. More about that later...

It´s soon time for summer vacation

Marianne:

The summer vacation is getting closer. And we look forward to that. We´ve enjoyed the pre-summer. Weather has been very unreliable, but that´s how it is in Denmark. One thing is certain: It´s beautiful. I love when the beeches burst and everything is fresh, light green and crisp.

During the last couple of monts, we´ve actually quite a few very nice days, where we´ve been able to sit on our terrace - even pretty late in the evening.  I´m currently sitting insidem but the door has been wide open all day. Actually I sat outside most of the day reading (work). We love that terrace!

As some of you know, our house is located between 2 small ponds. And it's not any ponds - they are protected area! The reason is that they are breeding place for water salamanders and frogs. And they are all thriving here. The frogs are pretty loud in the early summer, when they are getting ready to mate. It´s actually is quite nice, as long as they just stay in and around the pond. However, when they, as they did an evening in mid-May, seemed to find that it would be very exciting to come visit us - then it´s not so nice.  I had just closed the door on this lovely evening when I saw this “little” fellow sit outside and look through the window. After that it took a while before we left the door wide open again!

Early June is the time when our students graduate. Hence I made some cards, because there might be someone who needed one. I really enjoy making cards again - and I also enjoy watching the happy students.

On June 5, the women´s league in our golf club went for a field trip to Dragsholm Golf Club. It was a really nice day with sunshine and great spirits. We were not so many, but it was a great day. I actually played reasonably well - without it being flashy.

Birthe og Carsten have been married for 12 1/2 years. Fortunately they chose to celebrate this. So we were invited to copper wedding in their lovely summerhouses in Nykøbing Sjaelland (yes, it´s not a mistake - summerhouses is supposed to be plural. They own 3 neighboring houses, so there is room for the whole family). It was a beautiful day with fantastic weather which we enjoyed with a bunch of amazing people - friends as well as their families.

Occasionally we´ve had some very nice weather. In mid-June when we went to the summerhouse. We took a trip to Aalborg, where Jesper showed us around in the newly renovated Vestre Fjordbad. It's a fantastic open-air swimming pool - and a lot of other activities are also based there. Jespers viking winter bathing club is here and so is the scuba diving club, where Michael is still a member. Rikke and Søren took us there later the same day.

Jesper, MB and I went to Restaurant Vestre Bådelaug to eat their famous hamburger with gravy, pickled beets and other stuff. Not bad at all! Helle joined us for coffee later on. Great to see them both! Jesper and I found the perfect place for a “see-you-soon-again" hug.

On Mid-summer Eve we were invited to Frederikssund to Jeanette & Ole´s. Their youngest daughter, Caroline was also at home. Very nice! Caro set the menu: Sushi, which we both love. After dinner we went down to the harbor to watch this year's Viking amateur theater - Harald Blåtand (Harlad Bluetooth). It was really entertaining.

After the play they lit a fire on the beach and the mayor gave the midsummer speech. A very enjoyable evening!

See, we usually make lemonade from elder flowers every year. This year I was inspired to combine the elder flowers with rhubarb. If nothing else because it would get a nice color. Lone had for a while begged me to take away some of her many rhubarb. The process was very similar to what we´ve done before, so it required 3 days of patience while it was in the fridge. It was so worth the wait. It looks incredibly beautiful, and the taste is extremely good. So it comes highly recommended.

I have to return to the card making. My brother Michael was recently promoted to consultant - and of course it had to be celebrated with a suitable card. Actually, I do not know if he is wearing blue clothes, but I know that he has (had?) a yellow stethoscope. So there is no doubt who the owner is ...