Micro

Taking the micro bus can sometimes be difficult for a Swede with very long legs.
Nicholas is not to happy about having one man in his lap and a behind in his face.

Nepali

Leya spoke Nepali in her sleep.
That means Nepali is a big part of her life.
Amazing!

Nani

The street puppy Nani is visiting us more and more often.
Right now it's raining and Nani and Angel are sleeping in our bed.

Boyfriend

Leya and her boyfriend Karma Sherpa.

Sleep talking

Last night Leya was talking in her sleep.
Guess in which language?
Swedish, English, Nepalese, Nepinglish, Hindi or Hinglish?

Shrawan month

This Monday started the festival of the Shrawan month.
See more photos here.

Monsoon

The rain is here and it's great!
But playing football is not great during the rain.

Not trying to dry clothes either.

But it's OK to ride a motorbike with an umbrella, as long as you're not driving.

Monster basil plant

Today mom Sweetie showed us a basil plant she's been growing on the upper terrace.
It's huge! Compare with the small match box on the table.

Basil

We have grown big and tasty basil plants from seeds sent to us by my mother-in-law.
Now we have to sell them to restaurants so we can grow new.
The weather conditions here are perfect for herb plants.

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Pooja

Today it was exactly one year ago since mom Sweetie's husband suddenly died.
This morning they had a religious ceremony, or pooja, and there has been a lot of people coming and going all day.
The adult sons, in this case Dipendra, shaved his head yesterday as a part of the ritual.

He kept a small tail, just like the Hindu priests.

First Aid Kit

Two young, Swedish sisters. Amazing music!

Ani

I've made a barely noticeable change of my name.
Yesterday I was told that Ani means nun in Tibetan at that feels perfect in my heart.
I've searched for a meaning to my nick name, a name I wasn't completely content with.
The A in Ani pronounces like the A in Ayurveda.

Suzani cushions

Suzani cushions are hand made and each one is unique and a master piece.
Read more about the Suzani technique here.
Click here for more photos.

Aosch!

The other day Leya was cutting a mango and it went pitch black.
She cut her self on the sharp knife and the blood started pouring.
I didn't think it was going to stop bleeding and Leya was crying, crying.
Finally the bleeding slowed down and we went to the local pharmacy doctor down the street from our home.
Lucky he was open! He was about to close when we came rushing for some cleaning and band aid.
Leya was really lucky that she didn't cut off her finger.

Now it looks fine and we have all learned a lesson from this experience.

Hair

My hair is growing, but very selective.

No, being bald is a big part of my personality today, so I'll ask Nicholas to shave it off.

Fun park

Today we went to Fun park with Leya and Eva.
Click here for more pictures..

Exhausted guest

This exhausted guest landed on our terrace this morning.

He rested for a while and went on his journey.

Life and death

The other day a terrible accident happened at a work site owned by a friend to my parents.
A worker was up in a lift and got stuck.
When his friends managed to get him down he was blue and dead.
BUT!
Just weeks before they had passed a course in CPR, so they actually saved his life.
A true miracle and a blessing from God!
Read more about CPR here.

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Leya and Eva

Monsun?

The monsun hasn't started properly yet.
We really need more rain, so maybe we should arrange a frog wedding to please the rain Gods.

Wallhanging

Bought this lovely "Buddha's eyes" wallhanging and put it on the wall outside, so the neighbors can enjoy it too.
It shines so beautiful in the evening when the sun is setting behind the mountains.

My screen

I've finally repaired my computer.
The black blob changed shape, but the last week it was impossible to work.

Buddha's head

I found a clay Buddha head in the market and painted him blue like our bedroom.
I put him on the railing with two typical Nepalese and Indian lights, clay holders with lamp oil.
A beautiful setting in the evening!

Finally!

Monsoon and fever. Talk about weather change!
The temperature is yet again bearable.

Yeah!

Our neighbors on the backside, love football.
Every time a team scores a goal in the EM Cup the whole family is happy, screaming.

Light!

When the power is back after a power break you yell "Botti ai o!".
It means "The light is back!".

Presentation Part 1

I've started a presentation of us on Ilma of Sweden's page on Facebook.
It's exciting to relive what has happened in our lives for the last two years.
Click here to follow our journey.

Monsoon

Hello Monsoon! Where are you?
Last year there was no monsoon when we stayed in Delhi and now the monsoon is already one month later than last year here in Nepal.
I hope we are not involved in any way. We need rain!

Stock sale! Caps

Many designs and very good prices!
See more photos here.

Leya and her friend and sister, Eva, are modelling.

Magnesium

I seem to have a lack of Magnesium, so I'm drinking Magnesium powder.
I've had problems relaxing and my muscles are aching, so I haven't been sleeping properly for more than a week.
Google is a fantastic source for information.

Supermarket

We've found a fantastic supermarket.
We searched for more than two years in India and we never found anything like this store.
Very expensive, but sometimes it's worth the money to buy...for example Heinz Ketchup.
Nicholas is so happy!

Bedroom

Today Nicholas painted our new bedroom.

Kale is not helping much, unless keeping company in a state of coma is considered a job.

Leya did some painting when she came home from school.

Umbrellas

I've never seen so many umbrellas on a sunny day like here in Kathmandu.
Here in Nepal you can buy beautiful umbrellas.

New website

Check out our new website: Maya yarn Nepal.
Click here.

Bedroom

Yesterday our family started to shift the yarn stock to the first floor so we get one more room.
We need to move the kitchen inside before the monsoon starts in two weeks.
Chaos!

Our bedroom to be.

Angel and Kale are just naughty and are not helping at all.

Maya yarn

I got happy chills when I read Joan's blog.
The yarns have arrived to California and they are satisfied with our quality.
Read the blog here.

Fun Park

The other day we went to Fun Park and it was heaven for the kids.
Leya spotted this cute horse.

We passed the ghost house.
I think they have alive ghosts so we didn't enter.

Leya went on this carousel. The horse was very high and it rotated a bit too fast.

Dark cloud surrounded us, but we were lucky that day.
Leya really enjoyed Fun Park, so we will go again.

Leya and Eva are singing on the way home from school

Seaching

At the moment we only live in one room, but we are still spending half of our lives searching for things.
How is it possible?

Oh, no!!

Yesterday I accidentally stepped on my laptop and the electrical cord was stuck between the screen and the keyboard.
I almost started crying when I saw the damaged screen.
When I woke up this morning I prayed it was a nightmare, but it was for real.
Nicholas found out that it's possible to buy a separate screen.
Hallelujah!

Political update

Please read my political update from yesterday.
Click here.

Finally!

Swedes love to barbecue!
We only have a few months every year with warm weather, so we sit outside and eat as much as possible during the summer.
Here in Nepal the summer comes earlier and the weather is more stable.
The local welder has made us a barbecue and yesterday it was premiere.

Father and daughter blow fish, before Nicholas poured a whole bottle of nail polish remover over the charcoal.

The marinated chicken filets are grilling nicely.

This was the moment we had waited for, for so long. It was delicious!

Calle is a pure street dog and we have surprisingly noticed that he is a gourmet when it comes to food, but yesterday he ate everything that came in his way.

Family Shrestha

This morning I was woken up by a lot of voices from the neighbor house.
It was the family Shrestha's monthly meeting.
It sounds more mafia like than it is.
They are discussing loans and other things involving members of the Shrestha cast.
I took a paparazzi photo from our bathroom window.
It felt a little more exciting than walking around the corner on our terrace and click the photo.

Barbecue, or not ...

We had planned for our first barbecue evening, but unfortunately it started raining.
Calle managed to lay under, inside the grill somehow.
Funny little guy!

Ekstra Bladet

Last Monday a small plane crashed in the mountains and two Danish citizens miraculously survived.
Since I want to freelance I contacted the daily paper Ekstra Bladet in Denmark and they had already sent a journalist and a photographer.
We met them at the hotel and since they are going back home tomorrow they asked me to see if I can get more information.
My first assignment. So exciting!

Creativity!

The last week the creativity has been flowing around me and my crochet needle.
I made a table cloth of the silk like banana yarn and bracelets of the cool hemp yarn.

Morning gymnastics

The dog Calle has invented a new form of lazy morning gymnastics.
He is sort of stretching his leg on the stairs.

School girls

Here comes two happy school girls after yet another school day full of new songs and writing new words.

Hemp yarn

Yesterday I decided to try to make crochet with hemp yarn.
It was very difficult in the beginning, but when I got started I truly loved the crochet work.
It's surprisingly soft on the skin.

Love these cool barefoot sandals!

Strike, again ...

Today a lot of people are striking because the government hasn't presented the constitution yet. Or so the rumor says.
So the kids are home from school, again...

Bruised

Yesterday I did a classic dog-leash-overturn.
Two dogs were chasing Angel and she ran behind my back at a speed of a lightning.
I fell so fast on my left side, that I had a super light near death experience.
Two young men were walking behind me and they helped me up.
Yesterday I felt OK, but today I can hardly breath.
I will move very slow today.

Maya yarn

Soon you can buy our Maya yarn multi colored silk and ribbon yarn at "Monarch Knitting and Quilts" in Pacific Grove, California, USA.
Visit Joan's website here.

Strike

Woke up this morning and thought everything was back to normal regarding Leya's school, but on the way to school we were told that all teachers were on strike.
So we just turned around, Leya shifted clothes and then we went to the coffee shop for a morning coffee, or Coke for me since I don't drink coffee.

Happy birthday Buddha!

Today it's Buddha's birthday and national holiday here in Nepal.
Lots and lots of people are going to the Buddhist temple close to our house.
Read more about the celebrations here. Scroll down to Nepal.
I've just finished reading the book "Buddha" written by Karen Armstrong and I can really recommend it.
This photo is from Buddha's, or Prince Siddhartha Gautama's, hometown, Lumbini, here in Nepal.

Party

The day before 1:st of May we celebrate the spring in Sweden.
Here in Nepal it's full summer, but we like to eat good food and invite our Nepalese family to some culinary food experiences, so we had a small, unplanned party on our terrace.