Welcome to the weekend coffee share! Can I get you a cup of coffee? Or tea? This week there’s cake if you’d like some?

It is a chocolate/vanilla/meringue/raspberry cake. It is actually my daughter’s birthday today. She woke up super early, excited for her special day. It has been a great day in every way, but since the family celebration started so early she decided to play with her friends for a while, before we get together for dinner. Would you like to try some cake? There is plenty to go around, everyone already had seconds.

Sunflowers in my garden. It is my favourite flower.

How are you doing? I’d say it’s been a good last week of my vacation. I’ve spent time with my daughter, my cousin, and some of my friends. I’ve been gardening, going for bike rides, picked berries, and prepared for the birthday celebrations today. I also finished the last library book I borrowed for my vacation. I’ve read a total of ten books just for fun during my time off. (They all happened to be in Swedish, so I am not writing down all the titles here.) I am very happy with all three weeks of complete freedom. I got to do all the things I wanted to do and I’ve been feeling great every day. When I work I have more challenges with my allergies compared to when I don’t work, and it’s been wonderful to have a break from that. All in all I am ready to go back to work and school, but in another way I would love to have ten more weeks off :) During my vacation I also cleaned out all our closets, and part of our attic, selling/giving away things we no longer need. I love to only have clothes and things we actually use, I think it makes my home feel calm and inviting, like it represents me and nothing else.

I’d love to hear about your week. Would you like a refill on your coffee? Or perhaps tea? Another slice of cake you say? Sure thing :) Help yourself! Thank you Natalie for hosting the weekend coffee share.

Maria

18 responses to “Weekend Coffee Share – The Last Week Of Vacation & A Very Important Birthday!”

  1. What a delicious looking cake! I would love a slice. 🤤 Happy birthday to your daughter. 🎂🎁🎈

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    1. Thank you! Some cake is coming right up!

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  2. Yes, please, to a slice of that beautiful cake. Did you make it? Sounds as though you had a wonderful break with lots of reading and organizing. A very happy birthday to your daughter! Our philosophy is celebrate early, celebrate often.

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    1. A slice of cake is coming right up! I made it. I don’t bake cakes very often nowadays, but for my kids birthdays it is so much fun. I agree that we should make a thing of celebrating all life’s little victories, and the big ones too of course.

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  3. Beautiful photos Maria! I’m glad that you have glad a wonderful holiday. 😊❤️🇸🇪

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    1. Thank you so much John!

      Liked by 1 person

      1. You’re welcome! ☺️

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  4. Happy birthday to your 14 year-old- daughter. The mid-teens are upon you. It sounds like a lovely day, along with a wonderful three-week holiday filled with tidyingh, reading, socializing, and gardening.

    I have a small business as a professional organizer, and I’ve read The Gentle “Art of Swedish Death Cleaning”. I often recommend it to friends. I’ve also been cleaning and purging to some extend, as my youngest son, now 26 and working in San Francisco, has moved to his own home. I’ve turned his room into a work room, home office for my husband who’s been working from our bedroom since Covid. It’s good to spread out and to have our bedroom “back” so to speak.

    Thank you for the visit.

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    1. Thank you!

      How fun with your business. I think we would have lots to talk about. I’ve helped many of my friends to downsize their lives. I’m very much a minimalist. I love the simplicity of the lifestyle. My oldest son is 21, and he moved to his own home 1,5 years ago, my current projects are related to downsizing after his move. I downsized most of the extra stuff he had and did not want to keep right away, but there were some items, like extra shelves and chairs, that I needed to live a few months at our new place to see if we needed them, or not. My daughter and I now live in a 55 sqm/592 sqft apartment, it has everything we need and nothing we don’t need. I could easily downsize a little more, but right now there is no need too.

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  5. Happy birthday to Miss H! Can’t believe she’s 14, when did that happen?? :D That cake looks over the top, wow! 👏🏼 🥳
    Glad you had a great vacation break, summer is the best!
    Our weather continues to be sunny, dry and not too hot. I revamped a bed today and planted some new plants I bought yesterday at a nursery about an hour’s drive away that I went to with my friends. It’s good to change things up!

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    1. Thank you! Time is a mysterious thing, one they they are toddlers and the next almost adults.

      How fun to visit a nursery with your friends. Looking forward to seeing the new plants. I transferred some plants that I started in pots earlier this week, mostly veggies for my fall garden.

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  6. Looks a very good cake! Glad to hear you had a good summer holiday.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you so much!

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  7. The cake looks fabulous – happy birthday to your daughter!
    Happy for you your time off went so well!
    We’re in northern Alberta, a few hours south of the NWT. Not too hot, not too many mosquitoes (just enough to remind us they’re here!) and all very pretty and pretty quiet. Camping as we like it!

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    1. Thank you so much! Pretty and quiet sounds perfect to me. No smoke from the wild fires? My favourite singer Corb Lund mention Alberta in many of his songs :)

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      1. Corb is great! He’s playing in Calgary this weekend.
        We’ve been lucky so far with very little wildfire smoke. We’ve travelled through patches recovering from last summer. Tough on those people and places…

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  8. Happy birthday to your daughter. The cake looks tasty.

    Congrats on your ten-book marathon during vacation. Of the ten, do you have a favourite?

    Stopping in from Weekend Coffee Share: Espresso Thoughts – Brewing Coffee, Twisting Words & Breaking Pencils

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  9. Happy birthday to your daughter! The cake looks pretty and tasty. Glad you had a good vacation and did what you wanted to fo. Thank you for your weekend coffee share.

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