If we were having a fika (essentially Swedish for coffee and a conversation,) I would offer you a beverage of your choice; coffee from the french press, ice tea, or a smoothie. I’ve incorporated a new healthy habit into our summer routine, every evening I prepare breakfast smoothies for the next morning. Right now I’m having a smoothie with; baby spinach, avocado, banana, pear, pre-soaked chia seeds and almond milk. It’s really good, and there is an extra one for you in the fridge if you’d like to try. My daughter likes to prepare her own smoothie, something I encourage. She had mango, strawberry, banana, and almond milk this morning.
Would you like to enjoy our beverages at the balcony? There is slightly more space there now. My plants were growing so much that I had to find new homes for some of them this week, they were taking over. I put an ad up on a local sale site, (sort of like craigslist.) It didn’t take long to sell the plants I wanted to sell. One lady that came over to purchase plants offered me to come to her house and take some cuttings from her blackcurrants, and gooseberry bushes. I am going to take her up on that. I’d like to have more perennials, and berry bushes are wonderful. There is still a lot of plants at my balcony, and soon it will be crowded again, but for now there is room for our feet. LOL. How is your week so far?
There are several lakes around where I live, and with the lakes comes a lot of seagulls. They are very loud, especially at night, during the day you only hear them occasionally, but at night they are really loud. I’ve been sleeping on a mattress in my daughters room several nights this week, because its slightly more quiet there (more in the middle of the house.) Whatever works, right? The loud seagulls is a very small matter, overall I am happy, relaxed, and enjoying my vacation immensely. My children are also enjoying their well deserved summer holidays, which makes me very happy. Both of them have worked really hard this past semester. My son had a birthday in June that we celebrated, and my daughter have a birthday later this month. I’ve spent some time this week planning things for her birthday.
What is the weather like in your area? This summer have offered even temperatures, it’s been between 73-77F most days for several weeks. It looks like today is going to be around 77F. The lakes have temperatures around 70F now, and it is very comfortable. We like to go swimming, and playing in the water. Yesterday we went to Gullnäsgården, the place you can see in the photos. It is a ten minute bike ride from our house, and a very nice place to relax at. The property belongs to one of the local churches. They allow people to spend time there, even if they don’t visit the cafe (it’s a very nice cafe and worthy of a visit,) or rent a cabin. I like that they don’t allow wild parties, making it appealing to visit with children even in the evening.
Thank you for joining me for a fika today, and thank you Natalie for hosting the coffee share! We are going out to look for some blueberries this weekend, rumour says they start to become ripe, what are you up to?
Love,
Maria
GreenDreams 
Great photos, Maria, 73 degrees is very comfortable. The lake is beautiful too. Las Vegas will see 113F today and 115F tomorrow, a seriously dangerous heatwave in progress! I’m sure you don’t miss the heat!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much! The light was great yesterday. Stay safe in that heat! Phew, no I don’t miss it one little bit.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I didn’t think you would! It’s brutal and dangerous… 😱
LikeLike
Your weather sounds so pleasant compared to our stormy weather. We’ve had over 7″ of rain just this week and hot, humid days. But better than drought, right? I read that the north of Sweden is seeing 90ºF weather? Such temps above the Arctic Circle makes me so worried. Permafrost and sea ice melting is a scary thought!
Your lake looks so inviting and how nice that it is a close a ride for you. The long days are so wonderful this time of year! Do you find you stay up later, too? Lastly, are the seagulls breeding? They must be taking advantage of the long days as well. 🙂
LikeLike
It has been pleasant, more humid than my childhood summers. I’ve read that it’s likely due to climate change as well. This week, and last week the coastline in northern Sweden had the highest temperatures in the country, that is NOT normal. I watched a documentary about the wildlife up there, how the large number of elks might be in trouble if the temperature keep going up.When it’s more than 40F it’s hard for them.
I do stay up much later this time of the year, but since I am not working my days aren’t as intense. I’ve done a lot of relaxing, reading books and hanging out with Ms H. At the moment she wants me to tell her stories from my life all the time. I really like that she wants to hear them, and I remember the stories my grandma used to tell me and I cannot see how my stories could be anything near as interesting as hers.
The seagulls had chicks about a six weeks ago. I don’t know if they are breeding again. They are super protective about their chicks, and can be very aggressive if you happen to walk somewhere close by without seeing them hiding in the bushes.
I hope you are enjoying sa beautiful weekend ❤ Your flowers look gorgeous ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hello my friend.
I must confess to being quite jealous. Gooseberries! I had them when I was in Germany as a child. I have not found them in the states yet. I have looked for years…
Glad all is well. Beautiful photos. Have a wonderful, wonderful weekend!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Dinah! I know that gooseberries was banned in the US for a while due to them being a host of white pine blister rust. I don’t think it’s still like that, at least not in every state.
Thank you for your kind comment ❤ Enjoy your weekend!
LikeLiked by 1 person
🌺😳🌺 Thanks for the information! I didn’t know that! 🌺😊🌺
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love that there’s a word for it. fika. How fabulous. English is so limiting….I find German and Finnish often sum up things nicely (though the Finnish is often impossible for me to say.) It is grey and rainy here so your lovely lake photos made me smile. Good luck on the berry hunt, may your endeavours be fruitful! (See what I did there? Boomtish!) #WeekendCoffeeShare (or #WeekendFika)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Fika is important 🙂 I cannot understand any Finnish at all, the other nordic languages I can understand most of a conversation, but Finish none. I hope you have a great new week!
LikeLike
Your lake, cafe and beach outing looks great. I hope you get to pick lots of ripe blueberries, yum! Coincidentally, there’s a FIKA cafe in Toronto that I was going to visit this summer (their web site is fika.ca). Thank you for your #weekendcoffeeshare.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Natalie!
That cafe looks lovely, you should go! 🙂 They even have the dala horse. When you work for a Swedish company you usually get a 15min fika break around 3pm, on top of your lunch break. Unfortunately I work for a Norwegian company..LOL. Enjoy your weekend!
LikeLike
There’s nothing like a Swedish church café like that one! Other than the fact they basically never have anything for me since I’m coeliac. The summer café we had in my church did, though. In whatever case, those cafés are always so nice and cosy, and the location for this one is stunning!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I know, right! Mom had some favourite summer cafe’s spread out all over the country that she would take us kids too in the summer. Those times were important highlights 🙂
LikeLike
The smoothie sounds delicious! You seem to be doing very well this summer 🙂 I did some of your photos earlier. Very beautiful. It reminds me a little of far northern Maine. Enjoy your weekend and I hope you have a wonderful week coming up.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Please have one, they are delicious 🙂 Thank you for your kind comment, yes I am doing great this summer. It’s really nice to have some time off. Have a wonderful rest of your weekend!
LikeLike
I’d be with you, perhaps with feet up, enjoying that smoothie Maria. I think I’d also love to visit that place near the lake. It looks so relaxing and peaceful. I can already feel the stress just draining away.
Thanks for sharing it with us.
(Even more) blessings.
LikeLiked by 1 person
A smoothie coming right up, and then maybe a bike ride to the lake? Spending time near water is something we do a lot in the summer. It is very relaxing. I like to sit next to the water and read, talk to the kids and just be in the moment. Thank you for sharing that moment today 🙂
LikeLike
Lake Varpan photos are beautiful. The berry plants would be fun.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much! It is a beautiful place, very peaceful.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I could easily sit on the balcony or look out over the water there. I am having a Swedish Fika with you virtually! So enjoyed seeing these photos and remembering how beautiful Sverige is in summer!
LikeLiked by 1 person
You are welcome to join me any day 🙂 So happy you enjoyed the vistas!
LikeLiked by 1 person
🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lovely photos! That’s a great habit about making breakfast smoothies the night before. I wish it was warmer here – it’s winter and I don’t deal well with the cold. And especially when it’s raining like we had the last couple of days. Hope you have a lovely week ahead!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much! I’ll send some summer your way 🙂
LikeLike
Those are perfect temps! And what a great little cafe.. I’m in love with anything lakeside.. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, it is very nice to have water close by. I hope you are enjoying summer! Have a great new week ❤
LikeLike
The lake is beautiful! Right now the weather in Los Angeles is 89 degrees which is not bad. I enjoy starting my day with a smoothie too.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much Julie! We’ve spent 6hours swimming there today. 89 degrees sounds pretty OK. I hope you get to enjoy some time off this summer.
LikeLike
Looks and sounds like a lovely summer break. Enjoy.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you som much! It is fabulous so far!
LikeLike
I so miss Sweden….no chance of visiting this year, and we were supposed to go to a wedding in August too. I have to convert all these Fahrenheit temperatures 😉 it is winter here and today it got to 10C which is cold for us!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hopefully things goes back to normal soon, and you can visit. It’s 25C here right now, we’ve spent 6hours swimming in the lake today. Have a wonderful week, and stay warm 🙂
LikeLike
I learnt about Fika a while ago (even included it in a blog post: (https://www.crestingthehill.com.au/2020/02/slowing-down-appreciating-life.html) because I loved the sound of it. I also really envy all those who live near lakes – we don’t have anything like that near us, so I tend to watch those Lakeside Househunter type shows on TV now and then to feel like I’m near one! I didn’t know about seagulls being loud at night – something to think about if I ever move closer to the beach! Glad you enjoyed your holiday (despite the seagulls!)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Awesome Leanne!
I bet seeing lakes on TV is uplifting for the spirit as well as being near one. I often look at places in the countryside for sale, and that makes me happy, almost like if I were there. I hope your new week got off to a great start!
LikeLike
Thank you for this fika and a view into your week. Smoothies are so refreshing and such powerhouses of nutrition & energy!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for coming over!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love your photos and those temps are the kind of summer temps I like. We’ve been experiencing higher than normal temps in the PNW. I also love summer smoothies. So good. Have a fun rest of your summer.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much! I hope you are enjoying pleasant temperatures this week. It is actually slightly warmer here now, it’s 88F today.
LikeLike