Creepy weirdos

Living in a hot climate for many years, we are never getting used to running into various kind of insects, either jumping in the garden or somewhere inside the house where they, under the cover of darkness, have a tendency to break in.

The scariest of them all … tada! … is THE Flying Cockroach. Once, Hanna was quietly sitting reading a book when she heard a screeching sound from the living room.  She then saw Alex running out in panic trying to brush off the rare beast that was glued to his t-shirt. Even when it was long gone, Alex avoided the living room locking himself inside the bedroom armed with a flyswatter.

Then we have different types of spiders. Nasty looking fellas roaming around scaring the living daylights out of Hanna when she accidentally bumps into one. Alex deals with them the old-fashioned way: tries to shoo them out with a broom while standing as far away as possible.

One day Alex got a frantic call from Hanna who could swear that she saw a snake in the backyard. A small commando unit was organized and armed with rocks it arrived at the house within 10 minutes to deal with the poisonous intruder. However, on close inspection the ferocious animal ended up being a small but colorful candy wrapper lying in the grass. Well, better safe than sorry as they used to say.

Sam (our best friend forever) is on the other hand always ready to come to the rescue. He is naturally equipped with all the proper weapons: excellent hearing, sharp teeth and strong paws. As soon as he hears the annoying sound of a fly passing by or sees a cockroach trying to run under the sofa he is on their case faster than a speeding bullet.

What we haven’t come across yet (knock on wood) are real snakes (those made of candy wrappers don’t count, right?) and scorpions. On the other hand, if we did, we probably wouldn’t be writing this right now…

Hello, may I come in?

TGIF

Blogger’s ode to Christmas

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When the snow outside the window falls,

Santa’s little helper eats his last meatballs.

Washing it down with one Coke Light,

this was one hell of a X-mas night.

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– But our blog makes the world go bright,

and miracles do happen on Christmas night.

So if you want to be Santa’s favorite man,

read Samandthedunes as much as you can!

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– Now what is the sense of this rhyming joke,

when all I want is a regular Coke!

– But if you want X-mas to give you the most,

don’t forget to read every single blog-post!

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-Oh, how low can you bloggers sink,

when I want to rest with my little drink.

A few drops of whiskey and a splash of lime,

please stop bothering me with your stupid rhyme.

Dog training

After watching the treadmill for 20 minutes, Sam thought it was about time to go and take a look at the dumbbells

Dog-tired of waiting

Alex has been in Washington for well over two weeks and just as long me and Sam has been sitting in a house (far away in the mountains) waiting for him to come back.  Do I have to mention – time is not flying. Even Sam, who is the master-of-doing-absolutely-nothing, has started climbing the walls from distress.

In a desperate attempt to have more fun and think about something else, I decided to try every DIY project imaginable. Necklaces, bracelets, you name it. But somewhere in the middle of the process of producing an eco-friendly soap (out of pine tree!), I gave up.

In addition to my DIY failures, I suddenly noticed that I’m no longer in charge of my own house. These pictures demonstrate exactly what I’m talking about.

Good Morning! Can I have the standard breakfast, please. Yes, scrambled eggs and bacon. No salt, I have to think of my waste line.

Are you ready soon? I need the shower NOW. You know it takes me an era to dry up. By the way, did you buy a new blow-drier as you promised?

Are YOU planning to exercise yoga now? Well, I’m using the mat so you’ll have to wait. In the meantime, check out my perfect “downward dog” pose.

Don’t ask me…I have no clue where you put your slippers *whistling, looking at the ceiling*

Hello I’m back from the mall. Unfortunately no sale today but who cares, I payed with your credit card anyway.

Oh, I must have fallen asleep. Can you take my basket instead? And don’t forget to switch of the light. Remember you have to take me out early tomorrow morning. Good night!

About us – the truth

Today’s posting kicks off our 2nd year as bloggers and therefore we thought it would be a good idea to review our blog to see how we can improve the overall quality.

First, let’s take a look at the “About us” section. How did we describe ourselves a year ago? Does it reflect the Samandthedunes.com correctly? We are going over the text  (with a big rubber) to see if there is anything that needs to be changed.

“Hanna, a Swede who loves reading Dostoevsky” (Here it’s quite obvious that Hanna wants to portray herself in a certain light. But who is she trying to fool?  Sure, she read Crime and Punishment but on the other hand, who didn’t?)

“Alex, a Russian who knows everything about Stieg Larsson” (Yes, he read the Stieg Larsson trilogy several times but does he really know EVERYTHING about Stieg Larsson? Wait. Oh no. I think we are dealing with a full-fledged stalker here!)

“…and their little dog Sam (he is illiterate)” (Good point)

“…You will get to know more about Sam in this blog but let’s start by saying that he is very social and friendly, even though he has the annoying habit of gently (well, at least by dog standards) biting people’s hands.” (Well, the old lady Sam quite brutally attacked last month would probably not agree. Her entire hand was covered with blo… Oh, sorry, we promised our lawyer not to share the details.)

“Anyway, they love to travel, have stayed in some of the best hotels in the world” (…and some of the worst!)

“Basically they enjoy life, drinking good wine, reading, and spend a lot of time trying to find out what their most fitting sports activity might be (kite-surfing is not one of them).” (The truth is that kite-surfing is not a big enough challenge anymore. Nowadays we prefer skydiving – without parachutes.)

“Most of all they like to plan and plot their next trip…” (Unless we buy ourselves a home, we don’t really have a choice, do we?)

“Separately and together they have visited over 60 countries…” (Hanna visited 3, Alex 57)

“…and dined in places like New York and Chisinau (bet most of you don’t know where that is).” (New York is a big city located on the East Coast of the United States.) 

Sam prefers watching historical documentaries on BBC instead of reading books