Are you happy?

Just a little reminder for all of us

I am happy -

so

I'll keep on doing

whatever I'm doing

Like

buying vegetables and fruit from

our vegetable man

He comes on his bike to our house twice a week

with his big basket full of fresh fruit

This is my basket today

It makes me happy to

admire our kitchen full of

goods from the nature

(Yes, I'm vegetarian:-)

And

make smoothies

for my family

They LOVE it!

Orange, strawberry & banana smoothie

I wish you a happy weekend -

whatever you're doing

Sun is shining

in our Africa today!

I'm siiiiinging in the rain

Playing in the rain

Driving in the rain

Being comfy in the rain

So refreshing

So fascinating

So important

and

we are all

So happy now

for the rain!

Enjoy the weather to - wherever you are

Play dates

Play dates in Malawi in November

is a little bit different from

play dates in Paris and Norway in November

Feed the chickens

Run around in the garden with the dogs

Have an Ice cream

Play some football

Get wet, make a river and play in the mud

All in our garden

in November

Happy children, Happy parents:-)

(Still no rain in sight.

Only on BBC weather forecast...)

Where is the rain?

BBC Weather predicted rain in Lilongwe today

This pictures is from our today's garden

Sunny, dusty, warm and no rain in sight

I wonder -

How can the trees be so green

with beautiful flowers ¨

when they haven't had any water

the last 6, 7 months?

Look who is free as a bird!

Our nine chicks are having

the time of their life

exploring our garden in freedom

They love following us

hoping for yummy food

And if no yummy food

there is always a yummy toe...

Our guard dogs

can't even bother to chase the chicks anymore!

Well, not quite true

A few times during the day we have to run out

because one of the chickens makes to much noise

That's when Sparky is finished resting

and want to play..

"Noooo, Sparky
don't chew on the chicken!"

Look, here he is lying in the shadow
looking at the chickens wondering happy around
until
Sparky jumps on one of them
very proud
and then let them go
until next time

So far they have not tried to eat them

But they want to

very, very much!

The Bougainvillea's is growing

The roses smell like heaven

And we will continue to wait for the rain -

- to wash the dust away

All the copper coloured you see on the ground

is dust

And it is not only outside!

Maybe the rain comes tomorrow?

I wish you a lovely week!

Class Representatives

This is one of the mum's

I became friends with

last time we moved to Malawi in 2005

Her son was in my youngest son class

and we went on every fieldtrip together

and had so much fun

She did not know we where coming back

and was shocked when she saw me outside

our sons classroom in August

after 2,5 years

The two boys are in same class this time as well

and we are together again

as class representatives 

She is one of the most funny mum's I know

and I know it will be

PURE JOY

to help our children's class

this year

I will keep you posted!

Favourite Moment

One of my favourite moments is

just before dark when

the chicks have to be transported to their "bedrooms"

In the poolhouse

I told my gardeners

to put them all in the wheel borrow

And the gardeners just laughed at me

 - again

Then it turns out that it works out perfect!

They are so cute

Almost like they understand

They don't try to run

or fly away

They just sit there

"chatting" to each other

and enjoying them selves

with their little heads popping up

You know,

almost like taking the Metro

home from work!

With guards

The dogs love

to walk next to the wheel borrow

all the way until the chickens are locked in

They are so funny!

London

Best husband in the world

surprised me on our

10 years aniversary

My darling has invited me to

LONDON

Our first trip together was to

LONDON

Our honeymoon was to

LONDON

And now

LONDON Hilton Trafalgar

Thank you, Thank you, THANK YOU!

Mamba in my garden

Oh dear

Look who came visiting our garden

A Green Mamba!

"The green mamba is highly venomous; the venom contains calcicludine and dendrotoxin amongst other neurotoxins. Its venom is similar in composition and action to that of the more famous black mamba but the amount injected is relatively lower, due to the snake's smaller size. Despite this, any bite from a green mamba is potentially fatal and should be regarded as a medical emergency requiring immediate hospital treatment"

Green mambas are highly arboreal and almost never touch the ground

I asked our guard,

who saw it and killed it,

"So where is it

if not on the ground..."

Can you see youngest son relaxing in the tree to the left?

In the trees

Our boys spends time up in the trees

EVERY DAY!

Not anymore

Got to go now

Are busy training the dogs to

not eat the chickens

CHICKENS CHASE SNAKES

One of our gardeners are laughing at me

He thinks it can NEVER happen

You wait and see!

Chickens arrived!

Finally our 9 chickens are here

and...

They gave us one (!) egg

the first day

Gradually the chickens will walk free

in our garden

But for now we decided to put them inside a fence

to protect them from our dogs

Our dogs couldn't wait

to put their teeth in the yummy chickens

I think I will have to work hard

to train them

NOT TO EAT THE CHICKENS -

I will let you know how it goes!

I wish you a lovely weekend!

True Love

10 years ago

I married the love of my life

Everyday

I love you even more

Happy 10th anniversary

Joy of life

Neuroner



I came across a coach named Christopher Treier

He talks about how you can train your self to be happy!

This is in Swedish

I hope Google translate will do a good job

for those who want to read in English

or French

This is what he says about joy of life:

Idag höll jag en föreläsning om livsglädje som det psykosociala förbundet arrangerade i Jakobstad. Det är roligt att få förmedla ett sånt positivt ämne. Brättade många exempel på vad livsglädje innebär och hur man kann uppnå den. Det är omöjligt att redovisa här hela innehållet men jag vill åtminstone framhäva en sak. Det går att träna på livsglädje!

Om en människa är glad så blir ett visst område i hjärnan mycket aktivt. Undersökningar har visat att man kann träna upp detta området på enbart två veckor genom att se till att personen är i en mycket glad stämning minst en timme om dagen. Nätet med neuronerna (se bilden ovan) blir då tätare. Ju mera utvecklat området i hjärnan som ansvarar för positiva emotioner är ju lättare uppnår vi en glad stämning. Man kann alltså nästan jämföra processen med en muskel som blir starkare och starkare ju mera jag tränar.

Men det finns ett stort „men“: Lika lätt går det att träna negativa emotioner. Människor som klagar, gnällar, är irriterad och ältar problem tränar dagligen att komma i negativ stämning. Ju mera de „tränar“ ju snabbare uppnår de en negativ sinnestillstånd.

Jag tycker om att hålla just „livsglädje“-föreläsningen eftersom den får mig varje gång själv på bra humör

New Years eve booked

New years eve is booked

We will go to Mumbo Island

for a few days

Accommodation in luxurious safari tents

Kayak and snorkeling 

Guided hikes and sunset cruise

They told me

the whole camp is built of timber, thatch and canvas

blending with the African bush

to create a ‘Robinson Crusoe’ atmosphere of rustic charm

I have learned that

Mumbo Island is a pristine and deserted tropical island floating on the Lake Malawi

With a maze of massive underwater boulders, innumerable species of colourful cichlid fish

and calm, clear water, the National Park offers what many consider the best freshwater

snorkeling and SCUBA diving

in the world

What a wonderful start

of the the New Year

Lake Malawi is unique and forms a separate bio-geographical province

It is estimated to be between three and twenty million years old

The lake is 600km long, 80km wide and over 700m deep and is the southern extremity of the

 African Rift Valley

I am exited to celebrate New Year in Paradise

No electricity on the island

My 18 year old son is also looking forward to it

I see it as a gift when a 18 year old is looking forward to spend

new year with his parents

I wish you a wonderful new week!