It was lunchtime and we were sitting in the stuga, on the Squirrel, watching the TV, eating lunch. Suddenly, the evil Norwegian Forest Cat appeared at the glass door. It was the first time I’d seen it close up. There was a momentary pause, as if the world had suddenly frozen. Then all hell broke loose as the girls launched themselves at the door. The cat was gone in a flash. Needless to say, it was a while before I let the girls out.
It was a very exciting moment in an otherwise quiet day. Quiet for me, I hasten to add. In the house, Harald and Roger worked very hard all day. Scrapping, unscrewing, taping up, painting, painting, painting.
Early on, while giving a bit of a test scraping in the kitchen, Harald discovered another layer of wallpaper underneath the black and white pattern. I didn’t like it. Neither did Harald. Mirinda, when I sent her a photograph, was of a different opinion. She said she might have kept it rather than have it painted.
I think the yellow she has chosen will be much better than lots of little flowers. And, to be honest, I’ve never been much of a wallpaper fan.
Anyway, they were hard at it all day while I spent time working away on various bits and pieces, mostly consisting of computer work. I also jotted down a few things that the stuga lacks. Like, for instance, a cheese slice. Seriously, how on earth did I not think the stuga kitchen needed one? That will be rectified asap, I can tell you.
The weather was beautiful today so, after the incident of the cat at the glass door, we headed out the blue gate, onto the track, up Mount Trosa and, finally, through the woods, for a delightful walk. And we only saw one other person.
He was a grumpy chap. I think he disapproved of the girls being off lead. I gave a cheery hello anyway. He was wrapped up more than I thought necessary and had headphones on, blocking out the sounds of nature. I guess he prefers the artificial to the natural.
I thought it was an odd coincidence that Mirinda was spending the week listening to the sounds of nature while most people prefer cutting their ears off to them. Still, that’s their look-out. For my part, I love listening to the birdsong and the wind in the trees.
Something else the suga lacks is a lot of natural light. The sun doesn’t penetrate it very much. That’s something very different to the house, which is regularly flooded with sunlight. What that means is that the stuga remains quiet chilly while the world outside is quite warm. In turn, that means there is a lot of cockerpoo shivering during the day.
While that would be excellent in the height of summer, it’s a bit of a sea change for me. And the girls. Freya spent a lot of the inside time wrapped up in a blanket. Emma warmed up by chasing a tennis ball all over the place.
At the end of the workday, the kitchen was looking a bit stricken. I tried to ignore the mess in order to take an end of day photo.
I’m not sure why I bothered sweeping the floor after emptying the room this morning.
