Holiday....

No early mornings, no busy days - all last week I just had holiday - and it was wonderful. 

I spent last weekend clearing up and organising cupboards and wardrobes. Loads of things got taken to the second hand shop. I got the house cleaned and even got myself a new rug for our dining room. By Monday our wee home was all organised and looking very cosy and it felt really good.

On Tuesday morning Leah and I were up early. We were going on a girly trip with our neighbour´s Laura and Mia.  We were all off to Sweden for a shopping trip. 

We arrived in Sweden a little after 10am. We found a parking place for the car and then we started to shop amok! What a blast we had! There were sooo many great bargins and the girls were loving it. 

 We had lunch at our favourite place - Redfellas.

After lunch we shopped again until it was time to check into our hotel. We had booked a room for all 4 of us so we could just relax after a hard day of shopping.

 We loved our room and the hotel lobby and restaurant.

After checking into the hotel, we went out shopping again and ended with a cosy dinner in one of the local restaurants.

It was then back to the hotel for our girly night of facials and fun. We played Uno and Ludo. The Ludo bought out the worse in us - we were all so awful to each other, knocking each other out when we each were so close to home - it was sooo much fun.

On Wednesday morning we up and ready for breakfast by 9am! We were looking forward to our breakfast buffet at the hotel. 

We were not disappointed. We had a delicious breakfast.

It was then back over to the shopping centre to shop until we dropped - which is what we literally did! We all needed new winter clothes and we all got what we needed. It was a successful shopping trip, especially since the Swedish krone is so low - so we got loads and saved loads of money.

Around 3pm we decided we would start for home but first we wanted to visit  Ikea, it  was only 5 minutes away.  It was huge and we had a great time walking around it.

We ate dinner at the Ikea restaurant before heading back home to Denmark.

A very successful trip! 

On Thursday Kristian had finally free from work. (Poor man had to work all week, while I had free!) It was such a beautiful day that we decided that we would head out on a road trip and see if we could find a beautiful place to go for a walk - and we did. 

 We walked for ages, we stopped at a cafe for lunch and then we found a new place to walk again.

We arrived home late afternoon and spent the rest of the day relaxing at home. 

On Friday the weather turned bad again and so we decided that we just fancied a day at home. Kristian spent time working on the computer editing some pictures and I spend time out in my studio doing some art work. Poor Leah had to work. 

I made the above picture out of stones and rope. 

On Saturday morning I was up early for yet another girly trip. This time Laura, Pernille and I were heading to the huge fabric shop to check out their Christmas stock again. 

We decided that we would start the day with Egg Muffins at McDonalds to give us the energy we needed to check out all the thousand of fabric rolls that they had! haha

As usual, we had a blast. I bought some new fabric to make a curtain for my kitchen window.

Saturday afternoon Kristian´s cousin and his wee daughter came buy for coffee and cake. We had a lovely afternoon and evening with them.

 Now it´s Sunday evening and tomorrow it´s all back to porridge again. It has been one lovely holiday - a good combination of relaxation and being with family and friends. I really wish I could retire soon - I could get used to days without work!! I certainly would not have a problem filling up my days with things to do! 

Ikea galore

Last Monday found me back in my favourite place - Ikea.

In fact I ended up there 3 times over the last 10 days!! What can I say? Ikea makes me happy :-)

The first time I was there was with my friend Audry. It´s always good being at Ikea with her. We had a fun night with lots of shopping (mostly for Audry) lots of chatter, lots of laughter and a Burger meal at McDonalds!

Second time I went to Ikea was with Andrew and Camilla. They wanted a new dining room table so they had asked Kristian for help in getting it home in the car. I off course, had to get in on the action when I heard it was Ikea they were going to.

Third time I was in Ikea it was with Leah. I collected her from work one evening and since Kristian wasn´t home we decided we would have a cosy girls evening and where better to have that than Ikea! haha

                                                   (Love this candlestick - it´s huge!)

In between all the visits to Ikea I had time to visit some friends. One night I went to see my friend Jette, we ordered Chinese and had a cosy time.  I got to play Granny for an evening. I played with her kids, read them bedtime stories, sang them good night songs and tucked them into bed. It was sooo much fun. (I miss having small kids) Once the kids were in bed, Jette and I spent the rest of the evening chatting on the sofa.

I got to play cleaning lady for my mother-in-law. Her back is still giving her trouble so one day after work I drove down to see her and cleaned her house. Not that it looked like it needed cleaning, but it made my mother-in-law feel good to know it was dusted, hoovered and floors washed. I also got the kitchen cupboards washed down and the bathroom also got a going over.  Kristian came by after work (off course when all the cleaning was done!!) and we sat with his mum chatting for a while before heading home.

Last Saturday I spent the day with my neighbour. Kristian had his last go-kart race (Halleluja!!!) for the season so I made the most of my last Saturday without him. Laura and I headed out for a girly day out. We started at McDonalds with our Egg McMuffins, then we had fun going around furniture and home decor shops. We ended the afternoon  in this huge gardening shop that we love. Every year they do this absolutely fabulous exhibition for Christmas. I wasn´t expecting it to be there already, but it was!! Laura and I got sooo excited! They have like a Christmas village that you walk around and each house has different themed decorations. One house will have all gold decor, another all red and everything can be bought. I bought two new decorations!

We ended the afternoon with hot chocolate and cake.

Now I have holiday!! One whole week off work!! It´s time to get organised and ready for winter. It´s time to also go for long walks, then back home for hot chocolate! I love this time of year!! It´s my favourite!

Birthdays galore....

It has been a couple of weeks filled with birthday celebrations.

Saturday 24th September found Kristian and I all packed and ready for a mini roadtrip. We were going to Århus to visit Sara and Christian. They both had birthdays at the end of September so we had been invited over for a small get together with Christian´s family.

We already know Christian´s mum and dad, however this time we got to meet the rest of his family, his aunts, uncles and cousins. We had such a lovely Saturday evening with them.

Sunday morning we were up early, packed and ready for the journey home again. It was lovely to get to spend some time with Sara and Christian even though it was only for a short time.

 On Tuesday evening Andrew and Camilla invited us for dinner. Camilla made this delicious wok with chicken and vegetables. We had such a cosy evening with them.

Kristian´s mum has not been feeling the best, she is in pain because of her back, so I spent Wednesday afternoon making food for her. I made Lasagne, Pasta Bolognese, Lentil soup, Vegetable Soup and Irish Stew. The different dishes I packed down ready for freezing and took the whole lot down to her, so she wouldn´t have to make any dinners over the next many days. I stayed a while with her and we had a cosy evening watching some TV.

Thursday I was out with my colleague celebrating her birthday. She had invited me to hot chocolate and cake after work. It was a real Autumn afternoon, the sky was gray, it was blowing a gale and raining - just the right sort of weather for hot chocolate. We had a lovely afternoon together.

On Friday evening I was out eating with some more colleagues. This time I had been invited to a fancy restaurant. My colleague just turned 60 so he had invited a group of us out for dinner. The food was absolutely delicious and we had such a fun evening together.  Never a dull moment with the people that I work with. Our laughter muscles really got a work out on Friday evening!

On Saturday I was once again off to a birthday. This time it was my friend Genny that was turning 60! She and her husband have just recently moved to Copenhagen so I found myself on the train heading into Copenhagen for her party. I was looking forward to seeing her new place. It was beautiful and situated in the heart of Copenhagen, close to the water. 

                                    The view later in the evening on my walk back to the train.

We were 10 girls gathered together for her celebration. Even though I didn´t know any of them, except Genny, we had such a great evening together. I got to sit beside a really lovely girl that I just clicked with, so we are hoping to meet up again in the not too distant future. 

Even though it was fun being in Copenhagen I was sooo looking forward to getting back out into the country. It was wonderful to hop on the train and head away from the hustle and bustle of the city. (How I have changed!!)

In between all the different birthday celebrations, we spent some time redecorating Leah´s room. 

 Above is the room before.

Leah was very happy with her room. There are still a few things to hang up on the wall but hopefully that will all be done some time soon.