It's that time of year again

... when we tighten our belts and live on bread and blood pudding. The roads are jammed again as people return to work after yet another summer vacation, that is if they have a job to return to. The road toll of 10kr (US$1.50) to enter central Stockholm has resumed so parking is no longer a problem. Most people can live with that but we have to pay another 10kr to exit the city centre, which I think is plain robbery. Children run wild as schools are still closed for another two weeks. Wallets are empty and tempers short. That, in a nutshell, is what post-vacation August is all about.

New for this year is the almost daily dismal news predicting the imminent fall of the housing market. Will it get as bad as the US one? But that's bad news only if you are a seller. The Central Bank is expected to raise interest rates again to combat rising inflation, or so they claim. Frankly speaking, I don't quite follow that trend of reasoning as surely, any increase in rates would just increase the cost of living, thus contributing to the very inflation which they are so eager to fight.

Oh well, life is too short to bury ourselves in all that pessimism. I, for one, am looking forward to a crayfish party this weekend. I still have the vacation pictures to transfer to my computer so that will keep me out of mischief for a while. And of course, the Olympics are still on for another ten days, so that will keep hubby out of mischief too.

So as my tan fades, I can't help but smile at the memory of this dear creature dreaming away the hazy lazy days of summer.