Blog (UK)

In the past few weeks the dominant theme has been, ”adaptation”. Not only must we adapt to the notion that in the immediate future we shall no longer live here but also to the fact that we must return to the Netherlands. Amazingly it’s quite a step. For both of us it is difficult to […]

We enjoyed seeing all the recent visitors. First of all Gran arrived for the Easter week and for Rune’s birthday. During the Easter vacation a birthday party was also given by a child in Vidar’s class. Here it is quite usual for siblings to also be invited along to such parties and so both boys

More action-packed weeks here! Before the next wave of guests arrive from The Netherlands it is time for a quick update. In mid-March Susanna made a short, unscheduled trip to The Netherlands in conjunction with the loss of a dear friend. Whilst there she also met up with her colleagues in Ede and even managed

Since we are well aware of the fact that a number of close friends in the Netherlands are currently experiencing difficult times it has been hard to compile this particular blog. By comparison, our day-to-day activities here in Sweden seem somewhat mundane. However, rest assured: you and your loved ones are constantly in our thoughts.

We can now look back on the two-and-a-half-week Christmas holiday with happy memories. We hope that all our blog readers will have similar happy memories of a relaxed festive season period. For us it remained a happy time but one in which we were more acutely aware than usual that we were missing seeing and

As this year draws to a close it seems opportune to thank all those who regularly read our blog entries for the kind attention devoted to us and to our affairs. It is, indeed, a huge undertaking, so much so that we sometimes ask ourselves: ”What have we taken onboard?” or “What are we doing

The autumn half-term holiday with Gran was special and enjoyable! We took her to see Karlstad where we visited the Värmlands museum. We read together, had cuddles, walked, lit a fire in a nearby wood, had a fika with neighbours and went to a local autumn market. In short: a fun time was had by

It’s become very autumnal. Already in the last weekend of September, when two dear friends spent the weekend with us, we noticed that the season was changing. It was so tough of them to opt to sleep in the camper even when the night temperature dropped to 2.5 below freezing point: they wanted to experience

The boys have now completed 6 weeks at school and Susanna has already been working for 4 weeks. Clearly the lads are now settling down into the daily rhythm of school. Vidar is getting more and more used to his förskola, though we sometimes sense that he’d like to have more in-depth contact with his

The holiday mood continued: Mathijs’s parents visited, it was their first trip to Sweden and we were pleased to see how much they enjoyed the Swedish countryside. It was also great for them to see how we currently live, where the children go to school, etcetera. During their time with us we did a lot.

In our second week in Sweden we soon noticed that we were starting to slow down and feel more at ease.  On Sunday we invited three sets of new neighbours around for a “fika”. On one side there is the lady owner’s brother and his wife whilst their daughter, husband and three children live on

In the last blog we mentioned how time had started to fly and it certainly flew fast! It is therefore high time for another report. From our veranda, in the slowly setting evening sun we can tell you the following.  On the evening of the day that we passed contract we went out for dinner

We have received many kind and warm reactions to our previous blog and it is pleasant and encouraging to realize how various ones are following this project of ours with such interest. Yet again, throughout the whole process this has simultaneously helped us to reflect on the diversity of forms that our relationships with others really

In other words: the village awaits you. That’s the message that the landlord and landlady sent us a couple of days ago accompanied by the splendid sunny photo of their property taken from the path that leads to the lake (see below). What a sympathetic gesture and how delightful to know that our imminent arrival

During the last few weekends we have consciously said farewell to a number of good friends in different and very specific ways, all of which has created yet more precious memories. For instance, together with a good mate of his, Mathijs toured around the Eifel region for a couple of days, both on their motorbikes.

In the past few months we have enjoyed and spent much time with friends and family, all of which has already generated many happy memories. Rune celebrated his 7th birthday with his school friends in Utrecht’s National Railway Museum. Other family and friends joined us to celebrate his birthday at different times on two consecutive

Yet again, in the past month, a number of important steps have been taken. All in all, we have now managed to establish a degree of certainty regarding work, education, transport and accommodation. It is encouraging to know that Susanna’s employer has made it possible for her to continue working – from her ‘home office

In October we intimated in our blog that Vidar was unable to fully grasp all our plans. Things have changed, though, since then. As the matter has become more of a talking point in our household and as we have become more engaged with the Swedish language so, too, he has picked up more on

The time has come: we now know when we’ll be moving to Sweden. Sometimes it still seems unreal; what began as a dream is now becoming ever more concrete.  We have made two reservations for the Kiel-Göteborg sea crossing. The first is for April when the house will be viewed and practical matters will be

After that, things here moved very fast…On Friday 12th January photos were taken of our house – inside and out – which, by then, almost looked like a show property. It was clean, smart and the decks had been cleared. Indeed, that is a point of difference when compared with Sweden where it is not

As already mentioned, within a day of having distributed the flyer in which we made it known that we were looking for a house to rent, we received 9 reactions. That was encouraging! However, none of the proposals fully met our criteria.  After the initial flood of reactions things slowed down but nothing was on

On the morning of Friday, 22nd December there were the usual Christmas celebrations at the children’s school. Since it is a school where parental participation is encouraged, parents were able to attend for part of the time and, those who so wished, could help to prepare the Christmas breakfast. It was good fun but also

Our house, our safe and familiar place: in the 16 years that we have lived here much has happened. Dear family member who we must now miss came to this house: Jonny, three grandmothers, three uncles and an aunt. For six and a half years we lived here with an intense desire to start a

This is a question that many have asked.It is a simple and understandable question but there isn’t a straightforward and short answer. There is no one single factor to explain the big attraction. At the same time there is no one reason for wanting to leave the Netherlands. We need to explain but inevitably it

So, the decision has been made. We are going to live in Sweden. The next steps will involve a great deal of selecting, arranging and organizing… First and foremost, though, the school. In October we were able to register Vidar for the Backa förskola (“pre-school” that caters for children of 6 and 7). Rune is

Salient point: the mission was to find a good school that corresponds with our wishes and those of the boys. It was soon decided that the best time to travel to Sweden would be during the Dutch half-term break so that we could also enjoy a short holiday at the same time. In September we

Gradually the time was ripe for breaking the news to others. First, we shared our plans with the immediate family. We wanted to break the news early on so that especially those closest to us could come to terms with the idea. Around that time, we had also decided to travel to Sweden in the

We are pleased – via this platform – to share with you information on how the preparations for our planned move to Sweden, scheduled for the summer of 2024, are going. There is much to tell and, indeed, many hours have already been devoted to musing on the matter! Many of our closest contacts now