Labels

I have now put every post under a label. That means you can click on the label sign down on the post and you get all other posts with the same topic displayed.
I have so far made labels called; Beauty, Dinners, Grand Prix, Holiday, Illness, Media, Other, Our day off, Our home, Outfits, Personally, Shopping, Tenerife, The question of the day, The work and Vacation.
You can also find them in the sidebar.

My Horse

Clas is preparing the meat for the barbecue and then it's best for me to stay out from the kitchen. If I don't he thinks that I poke my nose into his business.
He is going to do chicken on the grill and with that we will have rice, salad and a special Asiatic sauce, that I will make, and red Vina Norte that I blogged about before.
When I was cleaning the calima dust from the horse today I thought I need to take a photo of it and show it to you. I like it very much and have bought it at Magic Marrakech in Las Americas.
I am sorry the quality of the photo is like crap when I took it with my telephone camera.

Busy day

I have been cleaning half the house so far. Have to have a break! It's really hot!
As soon as I get it ready I will start dancing for an hour or two before I have a shower.
It's lovely to just be at home today. There is so much that need to be done.
We many times do something special , like go somewhere, when we get extra days off. But this time we have decided to just stay at home.

We will have a barbecue on the balcony later tonight so somebody will have to go out and buy some food as well. Hopefully Clas takes care of it. He is doing mastering job on some new songs right now.
It's Any man of mine, Now I know, I fall to pieces, Coat of many colors, Neon moon and If your heart ain't busy tonight. Old good country!

The football party went on to about two o'clock last night. You could constantly here the noise of screaming people and jelling horns.
They said on the television today that 88,6% of the people in Spain were watching the game yesterday. Incredible!

P.S. Don't believe that I'm such a country freak that I clean the house with the country hat on like it looks from the photo!

Congratulations Spain!

Yehaa! Spain won the European champion football 2008!
It's a lot of noise here in Los Cristianos now. When the championship was a fact the people in our neighborhood run out from the houses screaming like crazy and some were hanging out in the windows waving flags.
We live in the Spanish district of the town and one of the neighbors has been standing out on the balcony smoking while the match has been on the television. Looking like nothing is going on. Clas thought he probably has got problem with a high blood pressure or something similar when he didn't watch the game at all. Poor man! He missed out this historical moment!
Many cars are driving around making noise with the horns now and people are constantly screaming with full voices and launch rockets ... It seams like everybody, except us and the man, is in ecstasy! But we are not totally out! We watched the match the last 30 minutes.

We decided to not play tonight. Who would like to listen to us when this is going on? We took a couple of extra days off and start playing Wednesday.

Calima

Now we have got a Calima again and it's very hot.
It's sand and dust everywhere. We have had it for two days so far and it will probably leave tomorrow and then I will have to start cleaning the house again.
Like you see the house cleaning has to go on constantly here! As soon as you get ready you have to start it all over again. This is Tenerife! Dust from the Sahara desert everywhere!


I think everybody who live and work here need help from a cleaner! If you are retired and live here you maybe have time to take care of it but when you have got a job it's just too much.
The air is so filled with sand today that you can't even see the sun.

I have been busy with a lot of stuff since my last post repeating new dances, doing rehearsal of new songs and doing normal home duties.
Clas has been uppdating my computer with a new virus program today so now I'm better protected.
Have a nice evening!

Makeup is my hobby

It struck me that some of you maybe don't know anything about my background when it comes to makeup.
First I decided to keep girly things like makeup, fashion and shopping away from the blog but maybe it's alright to write about it every now and then when it really is a big part of my life.


Makeup has always been an interesting topic to me and when I was about seven years old I started doing my first makeup, for fun, with cosmetic left overs from my mum and aunts.
When I was 21 years old I went to a school called ColorCare in Gothenburg Sweden and was trained in how to apply makeup in a more professional way.
ColorCare is not only a school for makeup. We were also trained in color analytics, which is about to learn to see what different clothes and makeup colors fit different persons. What colors fit together and about different outfit styles, hair styles, accessories, eyeglass styling etc.

When I was ready from the school I founded my own company with a saloon in Finland.
I kept makeup courses for ladies, associations and school classes, gave color analytics to people and gave them hints about how to style themselves and showed them what makeup to use etc.
It was really fun but later the work at the music company Clas and I run together took a lot of my time and the activity in the company decreased.
Now, 15 years later, I am still very interested in cosmetics and styling and read a lot about it and try out a lot of products to be updated.

Day Moisturizer and Night Foundation

I have tried many different makeup creams and the last years these two have been my favorites.
I really would like to recommend them to you!
You apply them to your face to get a nice flat surface to start from.

To get the best makeup result you need to apply a powder on the top of it. And right now the Guerlain Terracotta Moisturizing Bronzing powder, Nr 1, is my favorite. It's long lasting and gives a nice shimmer to the face and helps the makeup to stay fresh longer. Use a big brush!


For the daytime makeup I always use :
Estee Lauder, Day Wear Plus, SPF 15, Colored
It's the Day Wear Plus moisturizer you can rely on and it has got the most comprehensive protection ever—in a sheer, tinted formula.
It helps you prevent the appearance of lines and wrinkles with a powerful blend of encapsulated anti-oxidants, gentle UVA/UVB protection and intensive hydrators.
Exclusive optic technology helps brighten and balance skin tone.
I have used this for about three years now and think it is the best one!
Look carefully to be sure you get the colored one!

For the night makeup I always use:
Dior, Airflash, Spray Foundation, Nr 400
The effect is impressive. It blends beautifully with the skin and creates a smooth translucent layer. It doesn't make your face look like a pancake!
I spray it on a makeup sponge and then apply it to the face.
But you can also spray it in a "Z" down your face and then a "W" across.
Just don't wear any mascara before application and pull your hair back!
This Foundation I have used for about one year and can't be without it anymore. I am soon going to buy my third bottle!

The stars are gone!

All the stars on my world map has disappeared!
Now it looks like I have only had a few visitors! :(
I hope they will come back!

The Finnish Railway company

Clas thought it was comic and took a photo of the ticket.

The Finnish Railway company has now upset the people.
A man went the other day on a train in Finland with a Visa Electron card in his pocket. He didn't know that it's not possible to pay the travel on board the train with this kind of bankcard.
In the middle of the forest the train suddenly stopped and he was told to get off. He asked if he can pay at the next railway station, but NO! He had to get of the train in the wasteland, maybe among bears and wolves!

Something similar happened to us, but in the opposite way, when we visited Finland in December 2006! I know I wouldn't tell this when it will give a crazy picture of us, but now when I heard about this man I just can't resist to tell what happened to us.
You know nobody of us are used to go by train and the most of everything went wrong!

We flew via Stanstedt airport in London to Finland and ended up in Tampere, a town about 250 km from our hometown Vasa.
We had decided to go by train to Vasa, which takes about 3 hours, and had bought the tickets on the internet.
The plane was little bit early and when we came to the railway station we decided to check if we can catch an other train and get home earlier. Good luck! An other train was going to leave in a couple of minutes.
I told Clas to hurry and we started running up to the railway tracks. What track number is it? I asked and he said he thinks it's number two.
When we got to the track the train was still standing there, ready to go, and the stationmaster was standing on the platform. We went over to her and showed our tickets and asked if it's possible to go with this train instead. She told us to get on board because the train had to leave and she took our tickets and said the conductor will take care of them and change them during the journey.

We had a lot of suitcases but after much beating about the bush we were inside and sat down.
I was so happy when we made it and told Clas that this really tells us that we never should give up when something looks impossible. Now we are on the train!

When the train started moving Clas almost jumped up from the seat telling me the train is going in the wrong direction! But I didn't believe him and we started arguing about what direction would be the right one to go to Vasa.
After a while a conductor showed up, with our tickets in his hand, and he looked very worried telling us we were on the wrong train going to Pieksamäki which is in the direction of the Russian border. I started laughing like crazy! We had been traveling for about 25 hours, and were very tired, and now we were going by train in a wrong direction! Unbelievable!
He told us they will try to arrange something to get us back to Tampere in time to catch the next train to Vasa, which would be the last one going there that day.
After a while he came back again and told us the train will soon do an extra stop only for us, at an unoccupied railway station in the forest of Orivesi, and when we get there an other train will come in the opposite direction and pick us up and bring us back to Tampere. He gave us two "free coffee/sandwich-tickets" and told us to have a snack when we get back to Tampere. Very kindly!

We got of the train with all the suitcases but it wasn't too easy. After standing about half an hour in rainy weather out in the forest a small train came puffing along the track and picked us up and we were on our return to Tampere.
Oh, what a journeyl! We usually don't go by train and this was really an experience of a lifetime.
The conductor on this train told us to go down to the service center at the railway station to get new tickets when ours were canceled earlier, when they tried to change them, before they discovered we are on the wrong train. So when we got there we showed our tickets and asked to get new ones but they said thats not possible. I started telling them about what has happened to us and when I said we are from Tenerife the lady smiled and said; `Oh, Tenerife? Then it's okay!´. She knew all about us and the printer started working and we got new tickets to go to Vasa.

When the train finally left for Vasa the conductor was walking around checking the tickets of the passengers and when he came to us he said; -What is this? It said "Ei kelpaa lippuna" on our tickets which means "this ticket will not do" in English. I wonder if they were trying to make fun of us?
I was going to start explaining everything for him but then he started laughing and said he already know everything about us! There had been a bush telegraph going on! It seamed like we were on the internal headlines of the railway company that day?

It was really a trial when all this happened to us but today we just look back and laugh at the memory of it. And our experience of the service and help we got from the railway staff is just wonderful. They made a good job and a lot of arrangements to get us back on the right track!
But to be honest, we sneaked around at the railway station in Tampere on our way back to Tenerife. We felt little bit put on shame and didn't like the staff to know that we were back in town. Maybe afraid it would cause another bush telegraph or warning to go out among them.

Celebration

Oh dear! It sounds like the whole town is celebrating! People are really crazy here now!
All the car drivers are pushing the horns and people are screaming loudly everywhere in the town and rockets are launched and the dogs are barking. What's going on?
Sounds like when Spain is winning a football game! We never watch football and now I don't know anything!...

Oh, now I know! Spain won a football game over Russia!
The people in the town has been screaming constantly for about 10 minutes now! Hopefully the noise don't continue the whole night true! The people are really crazy here now!
What can I say? Congratulations to Spain!

Indian bag

This is the handbag I bought from the Stratovarius fashion shop last week.
It has got an Indian look and I like it so much.
Very good shopping bag! Everything I bought today got room in it!

Zig-Zag walking

After the haircut I started zig-zag walking (shopping) on the way home.
I didn't find much to buy but took photos of the stuff when I got home to show you.
I have been asking in many makeup stores but they haven't got the new Estee Lauder Mascara yet.
The leggings I will use in the spare time with a nice dress that I have bought earlier.

Two soft and cute nightdresses from Sara.

Two tops from Sara and black leggings from Encuentro.

Estee Lauder Face Cleaner, Lancome Hypnose Mascara and a black Eye liner Pencil.

A daring taxi driver

I went to James by taxi today. The saloon is in Las Americas.
The taxi driver was a daring woman, maybe about 30 years old.
As soon as I jumped into the car she made a flying start and pushed the button so that all the windows went down.
Then she grabbed a big apple and started wolfing it down. Yes! Really wolfing! You could without problem hear every chew and bite!
When we got to the big roundabout in Los Cristianos a man on a moped drove up by the side of the car. She knew the man and got so excited that she almost climbed out through the window hanging with half the body on the outside screaming to him and offering him the core of the apple.
I smiled and thought; This is Spain!
We passed the roundabout and on the road between Cristianos and Las Americas she stepped the accelerator and my hair stood up all around the head and even went into the mouth because of the draught. I tried to keep the hair under control but when it didn't help I finally had to ask her to close the windows.
Then when we came to Las Americas she saw an other man on the street and again she crawled out through the window and started shouting at him. The man on the street turned around and then she saw it wasn't the man she thought. Now she started laughing hysterically. Good luck it was almost outside the Patch where James is and I could tell her to stop. I am sure she didn't see where she was driving when she was laughing so hysterically. I couldn't do anything else than start laughing myself.

Had to strip

I had to remove the small Indian jacket and lower the shoulder bands while we were eating tonight. My skin was aching terribly!
I almost started crying when I put the silk stockings on earlier in the night and thought I will never make it.
Last night was like a nightmare and every move a suffering.
One thing is for sure! I will rather stay pale in the future than go true this pain again. One day on the beach was one day too much!
Now enough about this! The life has to go on!
I will go early to bed tonight when I have an appointment with James tomorrow. (my hair dresser)

The outfit of tonight

This was my outfit tonight.
Clas took the photo on the way to Lewinski.

Comments

I don't get many comments here on my blog.
When I read blogs from Sweden the readers are doing a lot of comments. Both positive and negative ones. Some are very comic and makes you laugh like crazy and sometimes the comments are more fun to read than the original post.
If you like to make a comment you just click on the word "comments" in the end of the post and you can be anonymous if you like!
If you like to see how it looks when somebody has made a comment; click e.g. on the post called "Two extra days off" or on "Busy day" in the blog archive to the right.

The breakfast

This is what I had for breakfast today.
We have found a very good bread at a bakery here in Los Cristianos but it's difficult to get it when it' s many times sold out at the time when we wake up.



I look very awful today. I am swollen under the eyes and my face is stiff and aching. Hopefully the makeup will do a trick tonight. I don't know what clothes to wear when I right now only can have a T-shirt on and a pair of underpants that are very soft and goes all the way up to the waist.

SUN - Not for me?

We have been out the whole night eating a five course meal at the beach front.
After the meal we were walking through the town like spies checking out if there are any tourists in the other restaurants but it was quiet everywhere. The most of the restaurants had been closing down early and the ones that have live music had 12-20 guests each. But while we were eating we saw many planes coming in. It's a change over day for the tourists today and tomorrow we will have some new guests again.

The sunburn is really terrible now. We have been laying on the bed with a big fan blowing at us since we came back home. The skin of my face, the stomach, the arms and ankles is burning like in a fire.
I am more burned than Clas who has only got red shoulders.
We will probably have to sleep in the breeze from the fan this night.

I am more and more convinced that the sunbathing isn't for me.
Some times I don't get any tan even when I spend a day out in the sun. Other times I start looking like a barbecued sausage, like now.
Some years ago I decided I will get my tan from a solarium. Quick and easy! I got an appointment and went there.
There was a sign on the wall saying you shouldn't stay more than 20 minutes each time in the tube. I thought 20 minutes will not make any difference on my skin color and payed two fees to the automatic machine, which means I got 40 minutes to spend.
Oh, what an experience! I was red as an lobster and my behind was so burned that I almost couldn't sit down for two days! Not fun at all!

Red as lobsters

When we woke up this morning we went to the beach and we have been there all day long.
Clas stopped at the "Subway" restaurant and bought Chicken subways and when we got to the beach we first started up having a lunch.
Subway sandwiches are perfect for beach lunches and we always by them for that reason.
It has been very sunny today (no clouds at all) and we have both become red as lobsters.
The problem with us is that we hardly can't be attentive to any limits, like it seems, and now we have tried to get 120% of the sun tan in one day! Stupid!
Maybe the beach and the sunbathing isn't meant to be for us?
First we used a sun oil with a protection of number 2, then after a while we changed to number 15 when Clas discovered we are becoming burned, but it was too late.
We are going out for dinner tonight and I will soon start up doing the make-up.

El dia San Juan, June 24th

The Canaries are celebrating the midsummer tonight. The families are gathered around bonfires to eat and celebrate.
The unmarried write the name of the one they like to marry on a small pieces of paper and throw it into the fire hoping their wish will come true. Other run and jump over the fire thinking of the one they like to marry.

Vina Norte

Many different wines are produced here on Tenerife.
We have tried the most of them `Vina Norte´ is now our favorite and our house wine.
You can buy it at Supermercado Trebol or at Supermercado Carolina here in Los Cristianos and a bottle costs about 6-7Euros.
If you like to try it make sure there is a twig of a wine tree on the etiquette when Vina Norte has got many different red wines.



Info about the wine:
The time in barrels has been of six months. The Oat barrels used for the process are from America and French with 225lts of capacity.
It shows an attractive cherry red color, covered and live, with violet tints. Clean and brilliant. Strong fruity aroma with good wood notes. In the mouth it has good constitution, robust, and great body. It has a expressive ending, long and persistent.
The wine comes from the Tacoronte-Acentejo, a beautiful district which is situated in the North of the Island, extending the vineyards by hills and valleys from nearby altitudes to the sea level reaching up 1000 meters. With more than 2500 hectare it is the most extended Origin Appellation with the most vineyard density of the Canaries.

New blog design

I decided to change my blog design again.

Two extra days off

We have got two extra days off now, Monday and Tuesday.
Yesterday when we played it was very quiet again. Only about 30 guests in the whole night and we decided to take a couple of extra days off and just relax.
But to be honest I haven't been relaxing much today.
Clas went in the noon to James to have his hair cut and bleached.
I started cleaning the home while he was gone and got it ready until he came back.

We had a talk about employing a cleaner the other night and he said it's alright if I can find a seventeen old blond one who is good at giving massage. Typical masculine statement!
If we employ a cleaner we do it because we need to get the home cleaned, and if it's a `She´ the first demand will be that she keeps her paws of my husband!
I honestly think I will look for a male instead. I don't like to do everything like people do normally.
A cowboy cleaner walking around here 2 days a week would be little more exotic! Wouldn't it?

Translate my blog

I have got complaints from people in Finland when I only blog in English.
You can get my blog translated to Swedish, Finish or Spanish if you like.
Not perfectly but it will help you to figure out what I blog about.
This is how you do:

1. Go to www.googel.com
2. Write Countrysusanne in the search field and search!
3. Look for my blog site "Susannes blog"(countrysusanne.blogspot.com). You just klick on the text "översätt denna sida" that is written in the end of the headline and it translates the whole blog to Swedish!
This works only when your computer is prepared for Swedish. If it's prepared for e.g. Spanish it says "Traducir esta pagina" and it translates it to Spanish!
Good Luck!


Jag har fått klagomål från folk i Finland då jag har valt att blogga på engelska.
Vill därför upplysa om att det är möjligt att få min blogg även på svenska eller finska!
Språket blir inte helt korrekt, men man förstår vad jag bloggar om.
Gör såhär:

1. Gå in på wwww.googel.com
2. Skriv Countrysusanne i sökfältet och sök.
3. Nu kommer "Susannes Blog" upp(countrysusanne.blogspot.com). Efter namnet står det "översätt denna sida" (förutsatt att din dator är inställd på svenska). Klicka på den texten och hela min blogg blir översatt! Om din dator är inställd på ex. finska blir bloggen översatt till finska istället!
Lycka till!

Grand Prix again

Massa won today.
Second was Kimi and third was Trulli.
Next race is in Silverstone the 6th of July.
Kimi is now on the third place when it comes to total points(43p). Second is Kubica from Poland (46p) and Massa is number one (48p).
Hamilton is number four(38p).

Grand Prix France

It's Grand Prix in France today.
Kimi has got the pole position and it's going to be an interesting race.
Massa starts number two and Alonso number three when Hamilton has to go back ten steps as a penalty when he drove into Kimi at the last race. Hamilton would normally has been number three.

Wall Street by Bond Nr 9

Talking about perfumes...
Bond nr 9 has released a new perfume which smells prosperity!
It will be interesting to feel how that smells!
It sounds a little bit of going too far! Doesn't it?
The producer says it's the first financial smell ever and it will give a smell experience of power, money and prosperity.
Wall Street by Bond No. 9 perfume is for women and it's classified as a fresh, exotic, feminine, flowery fragrance. Fragrance notes: cucumber, leather, marine aroma, vetiver and ambergris.
Maybe something for business women?
Price: 50ml costs about 100Euros.

Hooked on Country

Today I have learned how to dance `Hooked on country´.
It's an old line dance and we sometimes play it in the breaks. Many people know how to dance it and I just had to learn it so that I can join them.
The music is very catchy and I really like it.
It's nice midsummer weather here on Tenerife today and it will for sure be a lovely night out on the terrace at Lewinski tonight.

Roses

Clas is really a lovely husband!
Tonight before we started the barbecue he went out and bought more charcoals for the grill.
When he came back he gave me a bunch of twelve roses! Really lovely!
He has bought a lot of flowers the last weeks. Maybe a bouquet per week!
But don't think that he has got a guilty conscience for something he would have been doing!
No! He is just doing it as a nice gesture!

Our friend John from Trosa in Sweden buys flower to his wife Ann-Mari every Friday.
This couple live here on Tenerife in the winter time and are friends of us. Some of you maybe know them? A very nice couple! (If I say John looks little bit like a Count you will know!)
Clas and John are very close friends and maybe his spirit of politeness when it comes to flowers, has been passed onto Clas from him?
Very nice!

Perfumes

Oh dear! It looks like we don't do anything else than eating when you look at my blog!
Now I will blog about something totally different namely my passion for perfumes.
I like perfumes and use a lot every day. I have about 30 different brands on the perfume shelf and my favorite right now is "Mariah Carey" with the lilac butterfly cap.
I bought my first one about two months ago and about a week ago I bought my second when the first one run empty. If you like sweet toffee smells I would like to recommend it to you!
I also like classic smells like Angel, Opium, Organza, Oscar de la renta, Jadore, Flower by Kenzo, and Escada of which I have had many different bottles.

In the daytime I prefer to use mild ones as Oscar de la renta -summer dew, Eternity summer, Puma woman, Noa and Marina De Bourbon etc. But I also use Mariah Carey in the daytime now, even when it's more warm sensual than mild, only because I like it so much.
I try to choose a smell which fits with the outfit. If I wear a flowery outfit I choose a flowery smell, and if I use an outfit with dark spicy colors I choose a spicy smell and so on. But sometimes I have to compromise when I know the people who are going to be around me are allergic.

In the daytime I spray the perfumes behind the knees, on the hand ankles and a little bit on the clothes. Later in the night when the smell has evaporated I use a stronger feminine and sensual smell and spray it behind the ears, around the neck and a little bit in the hair and on the clothes.
But there is a saying that the best way to spray perfume is to make a big cloud in the air and walk into it. Then you get the best result!
My opinion is that you waste a lot of the expensive drops when you do it.

I am lucky to have a husband who also likes perfume. He uses at least as much as I do or maybe more!
He has got about 13 different smells in his collection right now and some of them are like a complete package with aftershave, roll on or deodorant sticks and after shave balms which means he is really impregnated.
I think the best smell he has got is Obsession. On the second place is maybe Jean Paul Gaultier, you know the blue bottle that looks like a male body. I have myself three different female bodies from the same brand.
A secret is that he owns a very good facial exfoliator for men, from Biotherm, which eliminates impurities in the face. Sometimes I borrow a little bit of it and it's very good!

Our day off

We had a midsummer lunch on the balcony today.
Swedish herrings, prawns, avocado etc.
Later tonight we will have a barbecue.
We prefer to make our meals at home this weekend.
We eat out at Lewinski six nights a week and sometimes when we are off it's just fun to start up the barbecue and make the meals ourselves. It's a good way of doing something together and we both like it.
Clas takes care of the meat and I make everything around it and there is no hurry. It takes the time it takes and it's like a relaxing experience.
Normally we play good country music while we are doing it but today we have been playing Swedish dance band music to get the midsummer feelings right.

The sushi party again

Here is the photo from our Sushi party.
It almost looks like it was daylight outside but the photo was taken about 00.30 in the night and it was very dark.
In Finland there is no dark nights right now.
Up in Lapland the sun stays up the whole night through and many people in our country are celebrating this weekend.
It's a tradition to eat strawberries and we had some strawberries after the meal tonight.
Cheers! And Happy Midsummer!

Cat eye look

I promised to publish a photo of my cat eye look. Here it is!

Sushi Party

I am ready to go to Lewinski now but Clas is still in the shower and I decided to use the time to blog.
It's our day off tomorrow and Clas has been down to the Fujiyama restaurant today and bought a big box of Sushi. We will have party on the balcony tonight when we get home from work. Very nice!
The midsummer starts tonight but maybe we are the only ones, here on Tenerife, who celebrate it?
I will load up a photo of it later on if we just remember to take one.

Busy day

Oh, I am so busy today but I will blog a short one before I continue.
The wardrobe is waiting, the ironing is waiting and I need to do rehearsal of some of the new line dances I am learning right now to not really forget them. There are also a lot of dishes to clean and the apartment starts looking dusty again and the midsummer starts tomorrow!
Some of the blind curtains have been to the dry cleaning and we need to get them back into their place but that demands two people and Clas is busy right now designing a flier for Lewinski.

Yesterday Toos and Humphrey from Holland visited us at Lewinski. They are very good line dancers and now I have got a piece of paper with names of dances that I would like to check out on the internet...and I need to check the Inbox and answer all the E-mails I have got too, and much more!
I wonder how much it would be to employ a cleaner to take care of the daily chores in our home.
It's really tough to live under this pressure! It would be nice if I just could concentrate on the stuff that has to do with our show. Like the shopping, the planning of the outfits, the dance training, the rehearsal of new songs etc.
Then I maybe would get little extra time to snuggle with Clas as well which would be nice.

Wardrobe check

Yesterday I worked with the clothes all day long and tried to make new combinations of outfits.
It was a hard work when many hangers has got 4-5 shirts each and the clothes were packed tight together and you hardly couldn't get them out from the wardrobe.
When we first moved to Tenerife I tried to keep one outfit per hanger but this last year I lost the control of it when the space problem did become worse.
Now every outfit has it's own hanger again but there are a lot of clothes still that need to find matching pieces and I will probably have to work a couple of more days to get the combinations ready. It takes a long time to sort it out when I need to put on every combination to really see how it looks and then after try out the accessories and boots.
A walk in closet would be perfect! If we some day move into an other apartment here on Tenerife that will definitely be a demand, but probably not possible to find.

Next time I go shopping I know exactly what to look for when I have written down on a piece of paper what kind of clothes I need to buy and what color they need to be. I don't have to walk out in blindness and buy a little of everything and it will save a lot of time. I know exactly what to look for and I will scan through a shop in a few minutes.

The only problem right now is that there isn't space enough to hang one outfit per hanger and there is no space for one more wardrobe which means this project will somehow end up with a compromise.
Next problem is that Clas' clothes also need a check. He has got up to 10 shirts or 5 pair of pants, per hanger, and it will be a very trying experience of work to do when the hangers are heavy indeed.

The dinner

Clas is diligently using the camera now.
He takes photos of everything which is good for me when we get a huge selection of photos to use on the blog. I will probably start blogging about things now, only because there is a photo that will match.
Like the dinner we got at Lewinskis´ tonight.
It was really nice!
The photo can talk for itself but I can tell you the fishes are called caballas which means mackerels in English, and the small sauce cup contains Canaryan Mojo sauce.

The small black- gray dress I wear was bought in Finland in December and tonight it was the first time I used it when I totally had forgotten that I have got it.
It's very soft and comfortable to wear and the black flowers on it are made of velvet.

Shopping outfits

Yesterday when we woke up in the noon we first went out for lunch to a restaurant down at the beach in Vista Sur. It's a lovely place and one of our favorites when it comes to lunches.
Then I went out shopping. I bought 4 skirts, 1 shirt, 1 vest and a big white bag with a lot of fringes and a white makeup pencil for the eyes.
I was so happy I could find all the skirts in my size. Many times when I find an article of clothing I like to have there isn't any of my size.
Maybe the most of the ladies have got the same size as me?
If I get time tomorrow I will check through the wardrobes and see if I have got shirts that fit the different skirts. If not I have to go out and shop again.
It's like doing a puzzle to find clothes, boots and pieces of jewelery that match together. Sometimes I have clothes hanging in the wardrobe for months before I can start using them.

Last night I had one of the new skirts on (the photo), but I didn't get time enough to try out what would fit with it and I felt that some of it wasn't `right´(the shirt this time!).
I went through an ordeal on the way to Lewinski not being sure should I run back home and change clothes or not. But when there was no time of doing it I had to suffer the night through.
Clas doesn't make true comments when he see that I am unsatisfied with the outfit, which is nice. He is always satisfied and tell me it looks nice. But to be honest I don't believe him when he says it.

Lewinski 15.06.08

This photo was taken last night.
I don't know any names but think the line dancers are from England.

The cockroaches

We are now in the time of the year when the big cockroaches start flying around.
A couple of nights ago we had a big one on our balcony.
We were sitting and talking and suddenly I saw the big monster walking up the wall behind Clas.
I was first so chocked that I hardly couldn't speak. When Clas sprayed the poison on it, it first took off and started flying but landed finally on the floor and died after a while.
Next day Clas took this photo of it before he throw it away.

I don't know if there is a phobia about cockroaches but I am very scared of them. Many times when I see them on the pavement somewhere it looks like they try to run upon my feet and they almost scare me out of my wits.
And I hate to see their hairy legs when I ones, in Puerto de la Cruz, had one crawling up along my leg and could feel how hairy they are.

Last summer it seamed like they had a date or something at Lewinski.
Hundreds of cockroaches flew into the terrace in the nights and they were crawling everywhere. Even on the guests and some were so scared that they screamed and run out from the restaurant.
I brought my own cockroach spray there and before we started in the nights I sprayed like a "pet stop fence" around the place where we stood and played. Maybe it helped when I am still alive.
The restaurant had to consult expertise to get rid of them.

So far this year we haven't had any problems. I think it's only 5 cockroaches who has wandered into the terrace so far this month.
I hope they will choose an other place for their honeymoon this year.

A tree in red

This beautiful tree is standing outside Lewinski.

Clas took the photo tonight before we started playing.

Our day off

It's our day off again.
Today I have been cleaning our apartment and doing the laundry.
Clas was searching facts about cameras last night on the internet and found one he would like to have.
Today he went out to Maya and bought it.
It's a Nikon and the photos are the first ones we have been taking in the dark. The sharpness will probably be better as soon as we learn how to use it. We got a thick book filled with instructions to read.

Maya is an electronic storehouse in Las Americas.
If you like to buy electronics while you are here on the island I recommend you to go there when it's a place where you get what you buy. Many of the other electronic shops are fooling people with both the prices and the quality.

We have had a night in a genial manner, barbecuing on the balcony like you see.
First we had a plate with Swedish pickled herrings, eggs, avocado, potatoes and sour cream sauce.
Later when the sun went down and it became dark we started up the barbecue and made two small fillet steaks of pork which we had with broccoli, salad and a red wine sauce.
It was really delicious!

It's so nice to have Ikea here on the island when they have got Swedish products like the pickled herrings, lingon berry jam and Kalles caviar etc. And in the Christmas time they sell Swedish Glögg and Julmust(Christmas drinks) and Annas cookies.

I have plans to go early to bed tonight when I would like to get up early in the morning and go out for shopping.

The trees are blooming here now

The nature is very beautiful at this time a year on Tenerife.
The Jacaranda tree behind me puts on a breathtaking floral display.
It has got vivid lilac-blue clusters of trumpet shaped blossoms all over it.
We have also got trees filled with white, yellow or red blossoms here in the town. And they are all so beautiful.
This photo was taken an evening two years ago, on the way to the work.

Hangbag bag

I haven't been interesting in buying handbags in different colors to match the clothes I use because I have thought it will be a lot of work to move all the stuff between the bags.
So far I have only got one black, one silver and one brown handbag.
Tonight I read about an invention that will solve the problem.
A company in Sweden has designed a small bag with many pockets inside in which you restore all the things you normally have in the handbag. When you change color you just move the small bag from one handbag to an other.
Very smart and easy!
I will soon go out here in the town and see if I can find something similar.

My former nightmare

I was looking through some old photos last night and found this one.
It looks like a nest of a magpie! Doesn't it?
One year ago my hair looked like this every morning.
It was really hard to get the brush through it and many times Clas helped me out.
He thought it was so terrible that he took a photo of it.
At that time the hairdressers colored my hair every time I visited them. I didn't know better and let them do that.
Today my hair has got a nice condition since I met James.
I visit James every sixth week for coloring but the most of the times he has only colored the roots to get my hair back into the normal stage.
I can still remember what a nightmare it was to wake up every morning and know I will have to go through pain to get the hair combed.

Blondinbella

Blondinbella(in pink) and her friends before it happened.
Source of the photo: Blondinbella.se

I felt so sad last night when I read about what has happened to BlondinBella from Sweden.
She is 17 years old and has blogged about the daily round of her life and about her opinions for about three years now. She has become one of the most popular bloggers in Sweden.

She went to the WC football match in Kungsträdgården, Stockholm to watch the game with her friends the other day. When they arrived a lot of people started shouting at her and called her a `fucking disgust´. She was really chocked and tried to get away from the place. Then a man about 30 years old throw a bottle at her which missed her head with a couple of centimeters.

How can people be like that? It seams like the `Jante Law´up there is getting worse and worse!
Many people dream about getting rich and famous and when it looks like somebody else is living the life they long for they start hating them.
I don't believe her opinion is the thing that is stiring up the people. No it´s rather the lifestyle she is living that causes a jealousy that now has gone so far that it starts liking to kill.
I believe in spiritual laws and have only one thing to say people who act like this:

"Start blessing the people who have got more than yourself, instead of cursing them, and your own life will become more blessed! You will always reap what you sow!
If you curse other and their prosperity you will be cursed yourself and you will probably never reach the goals and dreams of your life! Good Luck!"

Shopping

It's been cloudy now for 4-5 days. Not any rain but you don't see the sun.
Today I brought two couples of boots to the cobbler again.
I bring him boots to repair almost every month when the rubber sole of the heels flies off when I do the line dancing and jump on them.

I also went to the makeup store when I would like to buy the new mascara of Estee Lauder, but they haven't got it yet so I have to wait. It's called `Sumptuous´and it gives both volume and thickness to your eyelashes in the same time as it curves them. Very interesting! Hopefully they get it soon!
I didn't find much to buy today only some under wears, a belt and a nail polish in silver-grey.

Our secret beach

We have found a `secret beach´here on Tenerife.
Like you see there are no people and very quiet.
We were there last summer and now I start longing to go there again.
Of course, we will check the weather forecast before we leave.

Clas and Me and a Mercedes

Clas is a fan of Mercedes cars.
He has had 5 different Mercedeses so far in his life.
He saw this photo frame when we were out shopping in Chafiras and of course he bought it.
When we got home he made a funny photo of us in the computer and printed it out.
Here we are! driving in his favorite car.

Line Dance Connects People

Me and Frances Lindsey dancing at Lewinski.

"Nokia connects people" is the slogan of the Finnish mobile company.
Yes! They are right! But I would like to say "Line dance connects people" too.

Oh how many new friends we have got through the line dancing the last years! It's just amazing!
They are all so lovely people and we have got a lot of help when they have been telling us what songs to put into the repertoire and provided us with the right music and dance sheets and what ever we needed.
Some have even been taking time to teach me new dances.
The last week a very good line dance couple from Holland, John and Yvonne, have been in our place.
They have showed us what dances they do in Holland which is a new insight for us.
And we have got about 200 more dances to our `break dance list´.
Without the input we have got from the Line dance community we wouldn't be where we are today.
We have now a range of about 400 different line dances!
Thanks a lot to you all!

Grand Prix again

Oh, what a race! This was really chocking!
Hamilton drove into the back of Räikkönen at the exit of the pit stop.
They had both to finish.
Kubica won the race and is now leading the whole Grand Prix.
Next race will be the 22nd of June in France.
We have to go to Lewinski now.

Grand Prix in Canada

Grand Prix in Canada is starting at the television soon.
Hamilton has got the pole position and Robert Kubica the second place and Kimi Räikkönen the third. It will be very exciting to watch it!

How Long

It was really a nice evening yesterday. I was still so excited when I went to bed that I hardly couldn't sleep.
We were not many people in the restaurant but the night went so quickly when we were dancing from the beginning to the end.
Two line dance teachers, Alan and Barb from England, visited us and they are really good dancers.
They did teach us how to dance "How Long", a dance that I have planned to start learning soon.
I was so excited! I tried to remember all the steps when I went to bed but now I'm not really sure and need to get the dance sheet to check it up. But it helps a lot when somebody shows you how a dance goes and it will not be any problem to learn it properly now.
Normally I have to learn new line dances at home. I learn the steps from the dance sheet and after that I have to wait until some line dancer who knows the dance comes to our restaurant and dance it.
Thats because I don't like to start doing a dance public before I know I have got it right or I know there is somebody who know how it goes.
Sometimes I have to wait for a dance so long that I forget how it goes before I get the confirmation of it and it's a little bit frustrating.
I started line dancing 17 months ago and have learned about 40 dances so far.

Please, visit the website of Alan and Barb;
http://www.feelthebeatlinedancing.com

Nice dinner

Now we are back from our trip to Las Americas.
We went there by taxi tonight and walked it through like spies.

I tell you! It was much more people there than in Los Cristianos.
Let's say, if it was 100% there maybe Los Cristianos has got about 30-40%!
As an example our Spanish friends Tony and Raphael at Los Angeles had full house and a really good show going on and it was quite crowded on the streets.
We walked around for a while and finally we ended up at a restaurant called Vila Flor at the beach front.
There we had a nice dinner eating a mixed grill plate for two looking at the sun set which was beautiful.
It was really lovely and we can recommend it to everybody who comes here.
We passed the place a couple of weeks ago and saw it was very crowded and tonight Clas proposed we should go there and give it a try and so we did.
The restaurant is clean and nice and the staff is welcoming and the service was good and the music right (Canary music) and the sea view is awesome and all the ladies got a real rose that I now have in a vase on the dining table.
We got a couple of surprises tonight. Maybe I can tell you later!

The new Cat-eye look

I have got a request from a lady in Kingsbury, England.
She mailed and asked me to show my new look with the cat eyes.
Clas said he will take the photo but first he likes to buy a new camera.
We have got 4-5 different cameras but he needs a really good one to get it look nice.

I don't promise anything but maybe a photo of it will end up here in the future.
I like to see it first before I decide to publish it.
And like he said...He will buy a camera first!
Oh, here has been blogged a lot about vanity and fashion now...
Do you think the 40-year crisis has hit me, in arrears, when the mind is only filled with this kind of stuff?
You blog what is in your mind! Don't you?