In a holding pattern....

Embarrassing as it is...here is the FIRST photo I took with my new camera! Luckily, the camera did not break!

(do NOT click on the image to see a larger version until Halloween!)
My brother, Tom, sent me this HEALTHY JUICER to make my own WheatGrass Drinks...and other nutritional drinks for my struggling body. Dad (what a clown!) put it together yesterday and we had fun experimenting with it...making a lot of mess in the process ...we had the collection tray on the wrong part at first and all the precious juice went all over the floor! (Pepe the dog didn't like it, he said he eats enough grass from the garden.)

Dad made a special trip to town to get a different variety of veggies to use in the juicer! He had a good mixture with a bit of grapes for sweetness. It was quite yummy and boy, it make things MOVE inside me...not in an uncomfortable way but a really good way! Maya and Dad will plant the wheat grass seeds tomorrow and then I'll be able to start drinking that valuable oxygen! (Cancer doesn't like oxygen.) Along with the milk thistle extract, I actually feel a little better these last two days. (maybe it's in my mind....but....if my mind is happy, my body feels happy!)
While my Dad and I played with the juicer...Mom and Maya were having their own fun unraveling some gorgeous 'fabric yarn' she is going to knit with in her spare time.
Maya danced around unspinning this material...should have used the video function on the camera but I was a little lazy. I have some playing around to do with the camera and reading some of the instructions so that my photos will be a bit better!
We are in a holding pattern here as far as the treatment goes....the waiting is hard but the days seem to go by rather fast despite the fact I'm not doing hardly anything all day long. A rather sudden change in my life style...I used to complain I never had time for anything...now I have the time but not the energy. There's a lesson in that....

The important question they are researching before starting treatment is...where is the source of the cancer. Where did it start growing from....my anal canal or my rectum? In any case....it's all a PAIN IN THE ASS to me!

The receptionist for the cancer department at the Helsingborg Hospital called me back today (I called her yesterday with some requests and questions).

1- the phosphoral ( a top down cleansing for test preparation that Nurse Kelly Sue had recommended) is NOT recommended for me in my condition. It's too strong according to the doctor. So I must use the bottom-up cleansing for my appointment on Thursday. (SCREAM) She gave me the name of suave we can buy at the pharmacy to numb my bum before Bo administers the torture to me. She also said that I only have to do it once before going to them instead of twice. Praise the BUTT GODS!

2- she could not find out about the appointment I was supposed to have with the nutritionist...but said that I will probably get that information on Thursday. (I will stalk them until I get the information!) Although I feel my brother, my husband, and my personal nurse: Kelly Sue have me on the right track with the wheat grass and the milk thistle...and the iron tablets from the doc...but I know there is more to it than that. I will say that my weight is stablizing now at 5 kilos less than I was 2 weeks ago. It was pretty scary there when I was losing 1 kilo a day. (for you metrically challenged that means 2.2 pounds = 1 kilo)

If you look at my photo, you'll probably think..."Hey Lady, you could lose a lot more kilos"...but THIS is not the way to do it...not before I need my strength for the FIGHT!

Well...that's all for now folks! The adults in our house are going to watch a funny movie that my dear brother gave to us! Tell you which one later....(Best of Show)

Thanks for all your messages, thoughts and prayers! Love you ALL!

Winter fun

It's "Sportlov" (sport vacation) in Sweden this week...many families take the time to travel to places where they can dedicate the week to the winter sports. Since we are doing the bathroom renovation just now, it's not a good week for us to leave town....so just luckily we have a gorgeous covering of snow to enjoy this week before it melts. I'm not very good at skiing but I really enjoy it...like hiking with more balance. I'm getting better at it and fall a lot less now.

Cross country skiing self portraitAs you can see from the tracks, there have been quite a few others out skiing and playing golf during the weekend. Our dog, Pepe, LOVES to be in the snow! It's hard to image him being originally from Florida! Maya does pretty well on the skis...only fell a couple of times and she likes the small hills. This kid is not a dare devil!

Basil thinks the tracks are just for him!

Please, let me in, I"m cold!

This is a cinnamon SLUG...it was supposed to be about 20 cinnamon buns but while I was reading the instructions in Swedish, I was also having a heated discussion with my husband about the bathroom renovation in English. Not a good combination...so I ended up putting in 3 cups of water instead of 3 decileters. (over double the amount of water) ...so to compensate I added a lot of flour but was unable to roll out the dough properly. It still tastes good! Reminds me of those apple fritters from the doughnut shop.

Been working on some sewing projects...will show posts later....I'm ready to start machine quilting the twin baby flannel quilts today. I've never done it "properly" but I'll take a deep breath as I begin using the new "walking foot" my brother brought me in December. And my fabric post cards are ready for mailing today too...but I can't find my plastic bags for them! (just like Vicki couldn't find hers!)

Katie's Housewarming Party

Later today I'll be getting ready for Katie's Housewarming Party in Australia!I made an extra batch of chili con carne for her....even opened my special Hungarian Paprika that my friends brought to me over the summer.


Then I think I'll make something Swedish.....it's a summer BBQ in Aussie so....I'll be looking for a typical "mid-sommar" dish to bring to her new place! She's having GREAT Giveaways! So click HERE to find out more!

Journey to Pumpkin Pie

Last year I learned 2 things ...
1- not all pumpkins are for eating (Yuck...see Maya's face below in this 2006 photo)
2- pumpkin sellers will tell you that all the big pumpkins are for eating (or maybe they didn't understand my broken Swedish...)Last year I made the most horrible tasting pumpkin pies ever because I trusted the seller's words....ok, the fresh pumpkin didn't taste right but I thought that maybe the taste would improve with sugar and cooking...WRONG! And now I've been permanently bannished from making pies at my friend's Thanksgiving dinner. How could I go so wrong you wonder? Why not buy a can of pumpkin? Well, it's not available within an hour's car ride of my house. So I've got to do it from scratch! And you've got to have the right kind of pumpkin! Which leads me to tell you how I came about getting the RIGHT PUMPKIN this year! And if my sweetie Swede husband reads this...please forgive me but it's just too funny not to share!

In preparation for today's Thanksgiving celebration I wanted to make fresh cranberry sauce. The recipe I use calls for sugar and one whole orange with skin + two days of sitting. So my hubby takes the shopping list I made for him to the grocery store in the BIG city to buy all the stuff we needed...on the list I wrote 6 oranges with nice looking orange skin (NOT tangerines). He came back with 6 tangerines with nice looking skin. Thankfully he bought everything else I wanted on the list perfectly. But I was ready to make the cranberry sauce right then and there...he went to our local store to get me the orange with nice looking skin. This time he came back with 3 yellow GRAPEFRUITS with nice looking skins! I burst out laughing, then he burst out laughing...then Maya just had to join in because it was so funny that Pappa didn't know what an orange looked like! This time I went to the store! But it was the busy time of the day so to avoid the huge lines I went to a little shop run by an immigrant man....there I found the ONE ORANGE I needed. And then I saw it.....an OPEN pumpkin, one I could hold and smell before purchasing! He cut a large chunk off for me and assured me that I could eat it! This man I could trust! Another immigrant!
Isn't this cooked pumpkin lovely? What color! What freshness! What flavor!
Can't get that from a tin can! No way....this is THE good stuff!
I made a pumpkin pie (with gluten free crust), two crustless puddings, and one Martha Stewart Pumpkin Cheesecake!
Then along came an Indian princess and ate them all up! Well, she actually liked her Farmor's blackberry pie best! But I'm sure she'll enjoy left overs tomorrow!

THANKFUL for an early Thanksgiving

Last night I received an email that makes this Thanksgiving a VERY THANKFUL one! My cousin Wendy's son had a successful lung transplant on Wednesday morning! Stephen is doing well and is already breathing on his own without a ventilator! Isn't that amazing! We are so grateful for the person who left this earth but donated their body for others to continue living! Stephen will have a longer life with healthy lungs. He has suffered with cystic fibrosis all his young life but now he has a chance for a normal life! We love you! Fabric post cards from my FPC group! They are each so fun! What talented ladies! Thanks! Mine are on the way....
Have you ever seen golfing in the winter?! It's quite popular here....as long as the snow isn't too deep. Today the course has a steady stream of golfing groups. Our house sits next to the golf course and we can observe all their activities from our western windows! In Sweden golf carts are not allowed unless you have a physical handicap so that makes winter golfing possible...just need good walking boots!
Here's the red winter hole flag. They don't use the same course in the winter as the rest of the year...they avoid the sand pits and also have little platforms to stand on instead of muking up the teeing greens. Bright orange and red balls are used instead of white ones.
When there aren't any golfers around....we can go sledding down the hills or cross country skiing. Today Maya was only able to sled a few times as there were just enough players to that made it too difficult to be safe!
We could see that someone got up early to go skiing this morning before the golfers showed up! Maybe the snow will stay around long enough so that we can get out our skis too!

This afternoon we'll go to our friends' house to have our first Thanksgiving dinner....I've got the traditional green bean cassarole cooking in the oven! Next week we'll have Thanksgiving at our house with Bo's family and the Carlsson's. Who will you have Thanksgiving with?

Farewell to Summer Party

Most every August we have a "crayfish" party....a tradition in Sweden to end the summer on a tasty note! This year we strayed from the usual food and did our own thing. But we did hang up the paper moons in the summer house's garden! The weather all weekend was marvelous and we were able to be outside most of the day & night! Dad fixed a very delicious salmon with halibut "muffin" roll that he baked in the oven (over water...poaching?). He got the recipe from the Joy of Cooking Book (that was one of their wedding presents from 1952). I'm cooking another batch of these soon...so simple and so good!
Outside Mom peeled the fabulous Göteborg crayfish that Bo's cousin brought to us! Much better than the frozen ones we usually get at the market. Thank you Georg and Victoria!
Maya received this adorable cap made by Victoria to wear to school this fall. Stylish!
It was so much fun to have baby Alexander waddling about the party! Victoria is an excellent seamstress with lots of talent for design. Her 3 children take up most of her time now but she still gets moments to make something now and then. She's one of those people who don't use patterns...she just looks at (or imagines) what she wants to make and does it. WoW!
These are the famous CRAYFISH of Sweden that everyone drools for in August! These were particularly yummy with or without butter! like mini lobsters!
Bo's cousin, Georg, his wife Victoria (from Spain) and their daughter, Desiree dig into the crayfish!
Although these three did eat some crayfish, they were happier playing and playing together!

Didn't take a good photo during the party (and no photos of my dear husband!)....but here's what it looked like afterwards. We didn't party into the night as you are supposed to...when the children are bigger, perhaps!
we

Sunday's trip to the east coast....

About every other fall we take a road trip to the east coast of Sweden....my husband is usually in pursuit of a specific type of apple or pear. The east coast is filled with many family orchards along the coastline's rolling hills. It's a sight to see in the fall while the apples and pears are nearly ripe for the picking! (It's also lovely to see in the spring with all the blooms!) In September there is a HUGE apple festival there with large art mosaics made of apples! One day we'll make it to that festival! Kiviks is the biggiest apple product producers in Sweden...juices, jellies, chutneys, puddings, wines, ciders, etc.....Here is one of MY FAVORITE apple varieties...AROMA....lovely pinky color! Another reason we travel to Kiviks is to eat seafood brought into this little harbor by local fishermen.
YUMMMY....seafood soup!
Maya choose the seafood buffet meal....10 kronor for every year ...that was 60 kronors for Maya's plate. She picked out her own food and ate most of it! That's about $10.oo. One of Maya's most famous quotes (when she was 3 years old) "I'll start with the caviar!" She's a seafood lover!
Couldn't resist photographing this little guy on my Dad's "fresh beer" (unpasteurized, unstrained)....have you ever seen an angel with a beer mug?!

The great thing about having family for a visit....

picking mushrooms! Since moving to Sweden I have learned to pick mushrooms...edible ones with no side affects! ;-) My father-in-law is an expert on them and he has shown us all the tricks to finding the best ones. As a result, my own family is also learning to find the most delicious of mushrooms in the forest by our house (and sometimes, even in our yard!). With the warm temperatures we've had this summer plus the rain, it is turning out to be a FANTASTIC MUSHROOM SEASON! Here's what my family picked while I was at work......mostly Karl Johan now (porchinni) but we've gotten chanter ells too! And the other great thing is.....everyone likes to prepare our meals with mushrooms! Tonight (Monday) Tom will be cooking up something delightful! This is Tom concentrating on the mushrooms on Saturday when it was so rainy! (We didn't go anywhere, it was a cozy day at home.)
Apples are ripening...and dropping from the summer house's wild apple tree. Mom makes a yummy, flavorful apple sauce with all the little apples. It's good on ice cream, yogurt, cereal...alone! I hope there will be enough to freeze for later.
And my Dad....well, I'm so lucky! Every night that they stay here in our house...HE DOES THE DISHES!!!! I"m being spoiled big time!
Guess who I found making out in my kitchen after supper!???? Geez...gotta keep my eye on them! BTW---sunset is around 8:30 pm here so that's why it's light outside after dinner!
It's wonderful to have my family visiting us...and I'm so grateful that my darling husband enjoys their visits, too! All this togetherness feeling has to last long after they leave because it will be several months before we see each other again!