Wednesday 23 August 2017

late summer

I'm not going to lie, this is my least favourite time of year - the last weeks of August. My birthday is over, so there's not that to look forward to. Even if the days are warm, the mornings are so cold and you can feel autumn in every breeze. The swifts have left for the south and every time it rains you feel certain that this will be the last summer rainstorm, the one that blows out the season.



I do like fall - the leaves, the cozy sweaters, the feeling of newness and back-to-schoolness. It's these in-between weeks I can't stand.  Nevermind that I've finished primary school, high school, uni and grad school, every year at this time, as sure as the days get shorter, I can't escape that particular end-of-summer melancholy, that bitter-sweet, deliciously familiar feeling of the season of freedom ending.

Rather than wallow in my nostalgia and regrets for yet another summer gone (I didn't even go swimming once this year!) let us relive the highlights of my season:


In July we went to Carl Larsson-gård (the home of a famous Swedish painter) in Dalarna.






In August I spent a week camping in a meadow in Skåne, at the World Scout Jamboree. I've been in charge of planning one of the activities, about sustainable development, since this time last year. It was so great to actually see the results of all our planning in real life, and spending a week camping in the sun with great people wasn't too shabby, either. Definitely the highlight of my summer.


Welcome to Rinkabyfältet!

it's almost enough to make me want to become a morning person

a scout dog!

in boss uniform, complete with reflective vest and walkie-talkie

view from a tent
The day after I got back we went rambling in an area of Uppsala called Hågadalen. It was lovely but rainy and definitely felt like fall.



I shouldn't fail to mention that in June I finished a quilt top - not quilted yet, though, I'm still looking for a double-wide backing.

my second summer sampler

Somewhere in there I did some kitty-sitting and we went to a wedding at Skokloster - and got to come home via ship the next day, a beautiful trip up Eköln and Fyrisån on a perfect cloudless July day.


<3 you, Uppland


And I did quite a lot of sewing, too. More on that next time.

peter pan collar of my dreams

I was at camp during my birthday so we celebrated a week later with lots and lots of smoked shrimp, västerbotten pie, kräftor, skagenröra - the essentials of a late-summer feast, in other words.



I guess this hasn't been such a bad summer after all!

Thursday 3 August 2017

beans!

I went to visit my garden today. It's in an allotment area a few kms from my house.

a bee getting nectar from a borage flower
bees <3 borage

a small fence with yellow flowers in front of it

Everything is growing a bit slow this summer. We're in a drought, and the first part of the summer was rainy but very cold, so the plants didn't exactly get a head start. Everything is a bit smaller than normally, but still pretty!

a yellow summer squash plant with a squash and some flowers on it
summer squash

borlotto bean on the bush
borlotti

purple spotted green beans on the bush
italian beans


I did manage to get quite a lot of beans today and a few small squash.

beans and squash lie on the grass with garden tools
harvest!

 After all the chores I spent about ten minutes eating red currants off the bush. They're the tastiest!

closeup of a redcurrant bush


When I got home I realised the borlotti beans I picked are not at all ripe! They're supposed to be white and red. But I just cut them up like the other beans and used them to make this tasty salad.

a bowl of green salad with tuna


The recipe is adapted from this one, I also want to try it with proper borlotti!

Bean and tuna salad with parsley

Ingredients:
mixed green beans (enough for two people or however many will eat)
1 tin really good tuna in oil
a big handful of flat parsley, chopped
½ onion, finely sliced or chopped
2 tablespoons capers
1-2 tiny summer squash, or one slightly bigger one, sliced
1 tsp vinegar or lemon juice
a slosh of olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
     
Slice the beans in two or three pieces and boil them for two minutes. Dump them in cold water right away to stop the cooking. Drain when cool.

In a bowl mix the tuna, onion, parsley, capers and squash. They're so lovely when they're tiny! So tasty! Add the beans, a big splash of oil, the vinegar, and salt and pepper. Mix well.

This makes a good filling meal together with some bread.

hej bloggen

Listened to Sandra Beijer today in P3, about being a professional blogger (listen here) and got inspired to start blogging again!

We'll see how it goes this time. I have a new laptop now with an intact keyboard, so I think (hope) I'll be more inclined to blog now!

kram
/Dawn