Clik here to view.
Engagement and wedding ring customs from around the world
I have made some edits to this post and am reposting. When I got engaged about four years ago, I posted photographs of our plain gold bands on social media, and almost everyone who was not Swedish...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Clik here to view.
My first ever pair of Dr. Martens
When I was younger, I always used to wear Caterpillar boots because they were cheaper and easier to find in South Africa than Dr. Martens. Even after I moved to Sweden and married a man who had worn...
View ArticleClik here to view.
My, how the postal service has changed…
The postal service has changed completely in the time I have lived in Sweden. The first thing that happened was that most Post Offices were closed down in favour of postal agencies (supermarkets,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Where do English names come from?
Many surnames are taken from jobs e.g. if a man was a carpenter he might be called John Carpenter and because sons very often followed their father’s occupation the surname stuck. Some occupational...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Eggcorns
see source in image The misuse of certain phrases in English is something that really gets my goat. Some examples: baited breath instead of bated breath here here instead of hear hear step foot instead...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Sweden – a land of extreme light and darkness – and Ramadan
Yesterday at 11.13am, Sweden had its summer solstice. From that point in time, the days will get shorter, minute by minute. Until we are tipped into November’s total gloom. It’s at times like this that...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Pants!
George Bernard Shaw famously said that the United States and Great Britain are two countries separated by a common language. You can see the ramifications of this in the puzzle below: My first instinct...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Clik here to view.
Clik here to view.
Too soon! Too soon!
This was in my Facebook feed yesterday – an advert for the 2022 Lookfantastic advent calendar. Themed advent calendars have becoming ‘a thing’ in recent years and there is always a drive to sell as...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Clik here to view.
IKEA bags
For most countries with an IKEA store, the blue IKEA FRAKTA* bag has become iconic. These gems are cheap ($0.99), durable, easy to clean, and great for storing and carrying things around the home. We...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Things in old cars that most people would not recognise today
I guess it depends what you mean by an old car, but even from the 60s you would have manual window winders starter buttons on the floor manual indicators ashtrays cigarette lighters bench seats...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Happy Halloween!
And here are my favourites of the Spirit Halloween memes for this year. Spirit Halloween is a company that has pop-up stores all over the US for the ‘Halloween Season’. People have started making...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Where does Halloween come from?
Halloween has evolved and been influenced by a number of different cultures and religions, the most important of which are paganism, the Romans, the Celts (the people of Ireland, Scotland, Britain,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Remember when?
I think popular colours were baby blue, dusty pink, avocado, and peach. Even the toilet paper, soap, and towels matched the colour scheme. There was usually a shagpile bathroom mat in the same colour....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Clever design
When I grew up, you got money back (a so-called deposit) when you returned glass Coke (and other) soda bottles to a supermarket or café. So when we were on our school holidays we would all race each...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Clik here to view.