Freddie

God bless Freddie Ljungberg for keeping us in the tourney. That said, I find football-the-phenomenon more interesting than football-the-game. I forgive the upbeat revellers for keeping me awake most of last night through their sheer unabashed joy. And my three year old niece Zoe for waking us up at 6am, too, out of sheer excitement of greeting another day. Sarah's completed her first Swedish course and are making progress in leaps and bounds. Next course set to start in a few weeks' time, before which we're doing the PADI Rescue Diver course. It's busy work being unemployed, I say.

Otherwise, a new-found interest is Tai Chi which during the summer months is being run in a nearby park, two evenings a week. I have trained various martial arts in the past, but nothing as pure as this. Very rewarding, and I'll certainly look to carry on if I can. If you get a chance to try it, it's a very different, but useful complement to any other sports you may do.

Our friends came and went, and good times were had out at the island. The lads (and some of the lasses, too, no less) got busy chopping down a few trees and recovering with beers in the sauna and chilling dips in the sea. Good food, drink and company

Last week we entertained Sarah's parents here in Sweden for a week; their first visit to Scandinavia. We walked around the prettier parts of town, saw the capital and spent four days at the island, all in glorious summer weather. Hopefully they came away with some positive experiences.