The start of something new

Merry Christmas / God Jul my Nordic Snø friends and chums :)..... (said in a Antoine de Caunes voice)

It's time for  a new blog post (cue the fanfare) and a slight change in blog title for 2017.

As our Norwegian adventure continues, this year has been slightly busy to say the least, and hence the slight slackness in blogging. For those eagle eyed you will note we are still having our Norway adventure, but have decided to take a slight detour via their/our favourite blue and yellow neighbours.

2017 is the year we finally depart England and head north on a full time basis! Why not Norway I hear you ask?   ...................Well I've landed a job in Sweden and we've decided to start our full time life up north in southern Sweden. I will be working for the people who we spend most of our time shopping with when in Norway! Thats right - IKEA.

Whilst we could change the blog title to maybe 'Adventures in meatballs', 'Allen key adventure' or possible 'Flat pack adventurer' our original Nordic Snø idea of a family adventure is still now even more true then ever, and the farm and barns in Norway live on and continue to be developed and we are still hopeful that we'll start welcoming more visitors. In the words of our 8 year old when she was asked if we should move to Sweden 'we've had lots of adventures of Norway daddy, why don't we start to have some in Sweden as well'..........ok! only need to tell me once.

So Happy New Year and lets hope 2017 continues to be full of adventure in both Norway and Sweden.

Apparently it's ok in Sweden to walk down the street in your dressing gown......

.......ah I see! they were going swimming!

btw. below is a post I wrote when I told my fellow directors and business owners I was leaving and at the time I didn't have a new job to go to.....funny how life turns out sometimes! Excuse the slightly more than usual train of thought ramblings.

(Wednesday 27th July 2016) It's 7.00 in the morning and I've been up since 5.30. The brown terracotta tiles of the waiting room floor provide a great surface for the very loud tapping of the business ladies shoes who's just hustled in looking rather stressed and clutching a very large coffee...'..maybe she should drink less coffee.....or quit her job and move abroad......Whilst I'm sat here looking relatively relaxed waiting for the train to birmingham, the honest truth is that my heart and head are jumping all over the place! 

And the reason? Well last week I handed my notice in (loud fanfare) and since then have agreed a timetable for leaving and methodology for selling my third of the business. So the road map, on which we started has passed a pretty critical stage! But why are you not full of excitement and happiness I hear you ask.  Well the honest answer is that I am! But the chimp on my shoulder is now tearing me apart saying what have you done (queue internal loud screaming). You see whilst we've pondered, planned and mused this scenario for quite some time, it's now finally here!* 

Having never had a run of unemployment or full time education in 43 years, the step, whilst exciting, is also making me feel a little nauseous to be honest! 

As one chapter comes to a very rapidly approaching end (about the same time as we could have a baby in and we all know how quick that happens....(btw I'm talking pregnancy, not conception ;) ) a new one starts to unfold. Albeit the new chapter is not fully planned out or written. 4 years ago when the olympics were held in London there were some often bleak times in our household, however, as a family we rose above those and got to where we are today.....and whilst I know/hope the nausea will pass I'm hoping it will be before the next olympics hit in 2020! 

Now,  on with the new chapter! 

*However, unlike Boris and Nigel we intend to see it through

Some pictures of the waterfront at Helsinborg, Southern Sweden to keep you interested...... there is surf nearby (or so the internet tells me!)