Weekend Coffee Share

Posted byMariaPosted inBalcony Garden, Container gardening, Dalarna, Gardening, Intentional Living, Sustainable options, Sweden, TeachingTags:, , , ,

Can I offer you some coffee? Or tea? If you’d like we could bring it with us and enjoy the beautiful, sunny day outside, or we could sit at the balcony and chat. What do you prefer? How is your week?

I feel like I’m an old record player on repeat when I say that it’s been a great and busy week. We had our first snow on Tuesday, but it only lasted for a couple hours. When the snow stopped, it turned into a very cold rain. We had an evening meeting at work on Tuesday, and when I was riding my bike home in the dark the rain felt extremely cold on my hands. I had the wrong gloves so they got soaking wet (it was 28F and windy that evening.) The rest of the days this week offered perfectly, beautiful cool, but not cold days. We’ve seen the sun on many occasions this week. The sun has been shining all day today. The nights are freezing now. When I was riding my bike around Lake Varpan earlier today, as I usually do at some point in the weekend, it was 32F, and sunny. It was very beautiful! I have great tires on my mountainbike so I’m not worried about patches of ice on the road. I’ve been riding that way so many weekends in a row now that some people are starting to say hi when I ride by their house. I kind of like it! In fact I would love to live in that area, it’s reasonably close to the city, and my work, but still very much the countryside, surrounded by pine forest. I could see myself living in a small house there, with a big garden outside. There are several small farms with horses, sheep, and chickens that I pass by on my ride around the lake. To me it’s just so perfect.

An old stone bridge you have to cross while riding a bike around Lake Varpan. I often stop to admire it.

What else happened this week? My kids have a cold, I don’t. They are on the mend, and I hope they both are well enough to attend school on Monday. My son missed two days of school, my daughter only one. I’m happy they are feeling better. It’s awful to see them sick. 

I’ve spent a few hours finishing up a report about Children in social emotional difficulties, it’s almost done. It’s due on Monday, but I am planning on handing it in tomorrow. The class I am taking (with the same theme as this report,) is of outmost interest, and it inspires my work on a daily basis. I am so happy that I am taking this class. 

I tried to take a photo of the current state of my balcony garden on the 23rd of October, 2021.
In the middle of the photo there are several pots that from a distance looks empty. At a closer look you’ll see these little spikes coming up. It is garlic for next year, planted two weeks ago. I am going to cover the garlic with leaves, to protect them from the coldest cold this winter.
These are greens growing behind me, from where I took the first photo. Considering the nights are freezing now, things look good. My green dreams are alive!

Are you hungry? I have a lentil soup, with the last bell-peppers from the garden simmering on the stove. It’s almost ready to enjoy if you want to stay for a bit and tell me about your weekend. Thank you Natalie for hosting the Weekend Coffee Share! Have a fabulous weekend! 

Love,

Maria 

Published by Maria

It’s all about experiences, and the healing power of nature. Life is about choosing happiness. My gypsy soul have taken me to many different countries, and definitely taught me to be more humble. I enjoy growing my own food, and spending time outdoors. I now reside in the region where I was born: Dalarna, Sweden. I am a mom, a kindergarten teacher, a minimalist and a gardener. Love, Maria

37 thoughts on “Weekend Coffee Share”

  2. Oh wow, I would love to have a bowl of your soup, Maria! I saw the bridge photo on IG this morning, such a beautiful bridge. I kind of cringed when I read that your hands were soaking wet and it’s 28F, not good! It’s sunny and 75 in Vegas today, 75 tomorrow. The summer swelter has gone. Your plants look fantastic, you have the gift! So nice to see you today Maria, have a dandy weekend, and I hope your babies get well soon. ❤️🇸🇪

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  3. I did a quick look around that lake via google maps and wow – you have lakes all around you. Again I need, really need an ‘envy’ emoji. Sorry to hear your kiddos are sick. Never a good time when that happens. And you know me well enough to know that I’m always ready to enjoy lentils done almost anyway. Someone would have to mix in okra or something else indigestible to drive me away. Another great visit.

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    1. No okra in this soup 🙂 Okra is hard to come by here as they require so much sun.
      The multitude of lakes in Dalarna are a treat. Thank you for your visit, I hope you are enjoying a wonderful weekend.

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  4. Sounds like a fantastic ride. I don’t bike very often any more, but I usually stopped late October when I did. Hope your kids feel better! Enjoy the rest of your weekend and I hope you have a fabulous week next week!

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    1. Thank you so much Trent! It was a fantastic ride! I won’t be using my bike every day during the winter, but I am planning on enjoying some winter biking. Have a fantastic new week!

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  5. Riding a bike in frigid weather is challenging… you are made of tough stuff! 🙂
    I hope your dream of a house in the country materializes in perfect harmony for you. ❤
    I love that your balcony is still yielding food. The weather here has up to now has been so mild that the garden where I plant garlic is still flowering annuals, so I haven't planted any until I make space for them. Today I made green tomato relish… great to have for snacks in the winter.
    I planted 100s of spring bulbs at a client's this week. Now I get to do my own. 😀
    One more day and our massive hedge will be finally be finished trimming. We only do a couple hours at a time as it can be so tiresome going up and down the ladder, moving it every few feet. I fantasize about taking the chainsaw to it, hehe, but it does make a nice barrier between us and the road. Not my favorite chore around here, can you tell? 😉
    Have a great week.

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    1. You are working hard lady! I hope the hedge is coming along, so that you can move to more enjoyable tasks. It is wonderful that you do get to spend time gardening so much, this late in the season 🙂 Have a wonderful new week, and take it easy with that trimming.

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  6. My hands ached just thinking of how cold it must of been, lol. Glad your treasures are feeling better. I don’t think there is much more of an exciting discovery than little seedlings peeking through the top soil. Glad your studies are going well have a fantastic week ahead.

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  7. Thank you for the Tea Maria. I love to sit outside and have a chat and a cuppa. We are also now getting colder nights and tonight will be the first one below 0 Celsius. I now have a fleece lined blanket on Biasini and in the daytime he is turned out with another fleece lined blanket that also has a neck . He stays toasty warm . He has two windows in his stall at the barn. One is now closed but the other is still open about 10 inches. Nice to have some fresh air coming in for him. The serious cold will come soon enough and then the windows must be shut.
    I look forward to hearing more about your new course as you are working on it. Have a good week and I hope both kids will be healthy m Monday.
    Thanks for the tea. ( I had a loose black tea : Ceylon Superior It is one of my favorites)

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    1. Tea outside is a lovely thing to share 🙂
      When my son was little I used to take him to a stable I worked at, and we had picnics at the barn with steaming hot tea and cheese sandwiches. He loved to come with me to the barn, no matter how many hours I spent there. He could watch the horses munch on their hay, talk to them, and pet the ones he felt comfortable around for hours at a time. We were both wearing thermo clothing.
      Are you planning on staying in the cold this winter? Thank you for your company!

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      1. This winter the borders with the US are going to be open so we will head down to Florida. I will be training with Belinda there too as she is going as are some of her other students and she also will be taking the horses she has in training.My husband and I will be living the same hermit life we do here in the sense of not eating inside in restaurants and wearing masks in stores. The Covid numbers in Florida are not so good . We are both fully vaccinated but we will still be cautious. Nice to learn about your son and his time at the barn . Our daughter was a keen rider for her teenage years but our son was not so keen to spend time at the barn.

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  8. How lovely, I love lentil soup! It’s impressive that the plants on your balcony are happy despite the freeze at night. How do they cope with the lack of daylight? Or do you have some sort of artificial light for them?

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    1. Wonderful! Some lentil soup is coming right up! There is a light at the balcony, so far I have not used it. I am thinking that the plants are going to rest this winter, and I’ll continue gardening in the spring.

      BTW I’ve tried to comment on a few of your posts these past two weeks without being allowed to comment. I just thought you should know, if it was not intentional. I’ve had no problems commenting on other blogs.

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      1. I’m sorry to hear that, I’ve been doing some work on my blogs this week, not sure if that has something to do with it. Can you try again? I can switch off my antispam plugin on both to see if it makes any difference. Other people have commented! Although there was something weird with my comment reply notification plugin, but that is fixed now. Did you get an error message?

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  9. Beautiful photos of the bridge and your plants, Maria. I hope your children feel much better. The temperatures started to drop here so I add an extra layer and bring my beannie and gloves with me when I go cycling. Stay warm and well! Thank you for linking up with #weekendcoffeeshare.

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  10. Hi Maria!
    Thank you so much for the warm lentil soup. Delicious, I’m sure of that and the coffee afterwards devine. It is definitely chilly there and I know you’ll use your warmer gloves and stay toasty warm on cold days! Oops, I sound like a mom, haha, but my hands were feeling cold as I read about your bike ride! Wouldn’t that be wonderful to get a place on Lake Varpan, and how sweet you are getting those hello’s as you ride by!! 🤩 I love the sprouts your getting and your balcony keeps on giving with new growth, Yay. I hope your kid’s are all better now. Have a wonderful week ahead! ❤️🤠🤩❤️

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  11. Yes I’ll have some lentil soup! And I bet your hands were feeling like ice!
    I hope you get to have a house in the country one day.
    Feel better kids…
    Take care and enjoy the last week in October!

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  12. I’m so happy your weather has mostly been sunny and not too cold. Oh, I hate rainy weather and especially when it’s combined with wind or freezing temperatures. Glad that was only Tuesday though. Also glad to hear your kids are on the mend.

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  13. Kind of felt an analogy or two with the spike of garlic and how you led us to them – not easy to see but then quite visible and a reminder that much of what we do now is truly going to impact next year!
    And on a more literal note – maybe we should start garlic now too??
    -/
    Hope everyone is 100% again and good to have a bike with nice tires! Also – smiled to imagine folks waving – the community builds slowly and can be so nice

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  14. I love that stone bridge….so pretty. My garden attempt this year failed miserably. I was so disappointed, but I’ll try again next year. Hopefully by now everyone is feeling better.

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