"A day without sunshine is like, you know, night." ~ Steve Martin

Today was a beautiful autumn day here in Orrefors.  I woke up to frost on the ground for the first time and a pretty damn chilly walk to school but it quickly became sunny and bright.  It was still cool, but it was fitting to October and the leaves changing and etc.  I am concerned about surviving the real winter since it is already at freezing in October... but maybe that means lots of SNOW?!?! We will see I suppose.

So, this weekend I went o Norköpping for the weekend to see Eva (aunt), Anders (uncle) and Björn and Magnus (cousins).  It was really nice to be with some family for a few days.  Don't get me wrong, I feel loved and very accepted here in Orrefors but it is not the same as family that is actually happy to see you.  On Saturday night I went to a birthday party with Björn for two of his best friends.  It was a lot of fun and entertaining.  His friends were very nice but didn't speak much English, but Björn filled me in on what was going on and in general kept an eye on me.

 This was the smorgos-tort for dinner.  I think that is what it is called.  It is bread layered with tuna salad, salmon, caviar and everything else you see there.

 Here is Björn (in the middle) and the birthday boys.

 Swedish cupcakes! Yum!

 The birthday boys opening Björn's present.

 All smiles and celebrating.

 I think this is Björn dancing with one of the birthday boy's Mom...

And, here is the general Swedish dancing hilarious-ness.  Can you see the chick with the blond poof hair in the leopard print dress?  She looks like someone you wouldn't see in real life I thought.  It was a good time and we danced until 3 something in the morning, argued with a taxi driver who refused to drive us, took another taxi back, ate liverpaste sandwiches and then passed out.  I heard though that the party continued until 6 AM! 

On Sunday I drove around with Anders in the car they are loaning me for about a month.  He showed me how to turn on the lights and etc and I think he became comfortable with my driving and isn't too worried about the car with me! We also had a wooooonderful dinner of pork and potatoes and I felt like I ate a ton of food,and dessert of icecream, strawberries and some almond brittle (yum).  Then I drove all the way back to Orrefors.  I saw a beautiful sunset (they last much longer here it seems... and the moon seems bigger too...) and saw TWO MOOSE! They were grazing in a field on the side of the road, one with big horns and the other without.  They were pretty far away so I am still not getting the whole huge-ness experience but it was still fun to see them! Apparently, my dear cousin, Björn is off to kill more moose this weekend. Hopefully he doesn't kill them all before I see one up close!

Today, I spent the morning in the cold shop.  I decided that I wanted to make birds, there was a cool pattern in the back of the book.  Rosanne pointed out that I have a habit of skipping all the practice patterns and going straight for the hardest ones... but they are the most interesting!  Tove suggested that I do some practice on a cup to try to make some feathers... I haven't used that cutting wheel and turns out they were tricky!  Here is what I worked on:

 Here is a practice bird... was supposed to look like peacock... it is eating a coffee bean sort of thing...

 Here is a sort of a rooster...  His hair was a big hit around the cold shop.

 A humming bird that I tried to make with little planning.  I think it has real potential maybe...

 Here are the birds that were actually in the book that I am trying to finish.  They still need a beak and legs and some leaves and flowers on the twig.

 There are 4 on this plate.

I thought it might be easier to see without the flash... not sure if it worked but I can't wait to finish it tomorrow!

After lunch I worked in the hot shop with Rosanne.  She worked on making creamers and I made more bowls with the Swedish foot.  Here are my things from Friday (my day of mass production with Stig-Allan):

 My best creamer I think.

 I didn't count how many there are... but it was a lot as you can see here (all mine).

 That is a Swedish Foot.  It is a blob of flattened glass at the bottom of, in this case, a bowl.

These 3 are my bowls.  One pink (tom left), one with a blue rim (my favorite, top right) and one in clear (on the bottom right).

I only made, maybe, 2 today.  It was hard for some reason.  I guess my fingers just weren't really working, also it was Rosanne's first time helping with these feet.  So, she didn't always gather enough glass for me to use but it was still good to do.  It was a good time and tomorrow we decided that we would do really well and be on the ball with our hot work! I think my optimism is wearing off on her finally! haha

After school I decided to enjoy the nice weather and went for a jog.  Today, for the first time since arriving in Orrefors, I was able to run the whole 2.5 km track.  I guess it is a little longer with the run to the track... but I walked back.  I was really pleased with myself though! I am feeling more and more in shape.  I haven't noticed much of a change in my muscles or anything though... I guess that is what you get for not having a lot to work with in the beginning.  Oh well, maybe I will have killer calves when I return... look good in high heels?  Maybe some glass ones? haha