Nice Summers on Tenerife

I was so happy and thought Tenerife is the best place to be; Sun, sun and sun...
But suddenly the sky was covered with clouds and now the sun is gone again. *sigh*
We also have like a 'winter' on Tenerife even when we are lucky to have one of the best weather in the world.

Today I have started contacting some of the private tour operators in Scandinavia giving them information about the apartments.
I don't think it will give any hits anymore this season but it's important to spread the word everywhere when you like to start building up a clientele.
The Scandinavian tourist season here on Tenerife is going to an end already after Easter and then it's mostly Britain, German, Dutch and Spanish tourists here in the summertime.

It's really a shame the Scandinavians never get to visit Tenerife in summertime when the weather here is just perfect.
From May-September we have a temperature of 25-30 degrees and the sky is blue every day.
It's seldom the temperature goes over 30 degrees when we get a smooth calm breeze from the Atlantic ocean.

I wish everyone would get the possibility, at least ones in a lifetime, to visit Tenerife during a summer.
Many go to the mainland of Spain, Greece and Turkey where the temperature can reach up to over 40 degrees and they have to stay inside the hotel during daytime to not become burned by the sun.
Here in Los Cristianos - Las Americas we never get that problem even when it can be very hot up in the mountains.

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No Boyfriend!

Every now and then people ask me if I have got a new boyfriend yet.
In the beginning, after the divorce, I didn't really like to answer the question when I thought it was too personal. But people still keep asking and I understand it's quite an interesting question for many.
The answer is NO!

It's tough to go through a divorce and I am not even interesting in having a boyfriend at the moment. I am still confused and need time to get back into a normal life and become more stabilized.
I never thought I would divorce Clas. I believe in lifelong lasting marriages, but suddenly I just had to change my mind and when that happened I totally lost my footing.
To be honest with you I can't trust anybody at the moment.
I will now have a time on my own but of course I am interesting in finding somebody in the future.

It's the same like I told you about the business; He has to come to me! I will not go out hunting!
I strongly believe there is somebody with who I am a 'match made in heaven' and when it's the right time he will show up.
I will patiently wait until it happens.

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I Like Business

A 'Hot top', quite similar to one of the models I sold.

Last night was nice.
First I went out for dinner to Little Italy.
(Sorry, Clas has borrowed my camera and because of that I haven't got any photos).
There I met a man from Italy with who I probably will do some business in the future.
Without knowing each other we just happened to meet at the same restaurant a week ago when I was having dinner there.
We started to chat and the man is now interesting in me joining one of his businesses. We will meet again Monday and after that i hopefully know more about how it will be.
Later in the night I went over to Scandibar for a couple of hours and came home around 12 o'clock in the night.

Before i met Clas I was more like a business woman.
I have always loved to do business but this disposition has been put on hold the last years and I have been more into music, which also have been nice.
I think 'to everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven' and I don't regret anything. If you do things in the right season you will always enjoy them and I will, irrespective of what I'm up to, always be a singer too. I love to sing!

Anyhow, I now start feeling for doing some business again.
I will for sure become more active as soon as the right projects crop up.
I have decided the projects have themselves to come to me.
I will not 'look for them by using candles and lamps', like we say in Swedish.
If there is a business that is meant to be done by me it for sure will come to me in the right time and the doors will be opened and it will be successful. I am not interested in forcing myself into anything when i know if it's not meant to be it will just cause me problems and a lot of effort and it will not bring the prosperity i hope for.

About twenty years ago I was a partner in a company in Finland called Malax fastigheter Ab.
We bought apartments, houses and business properties, made renovations and sold them out. This business came to me in a supernatural way.
I was just sitting in a bar drinking coffee and some of the most well known businessmen in the area showed up at the table next to me and asked me to join them in their new company.
They said they needed me because they thought i was such a skilled salesperson and I was even offered to be the chairman for the board of directors which I felt was too much. I was only 25 years old at the time and thought they all had more experience than me, but decided anyhow to give it a try and joined the company.

I was at the time running two businesses.
One was a makeup/color analysis company in which I imported make up in the right shades from Germany, that I sold to my costumers. I made analysis on the customers and told them which colors would fit them + gave hints about makeup and hairstyles, taste in clothing, jeweleries, eyeglasses etc.
I also arranged makeup classes and kept shows in different associations and the local television and the ferries that traffic between Sweden and Finland even made special cruises with my business as a theme.

The other business I was into was that I was selling non-corrosive 'Hot tops' for the chimneys to the property owners.
A 'Hot top' is like a wind weather vane that among other things avoids the smoke to get back into the chimney, protects it from the rain, causes a stronger draught and is saving energy, which means money. Rain + soot = acid which causes the chimney to start decomposing.
I sold a lot of Hot tops and they were a hot topic in the discussions between the men.
When you were driving the car through the villages you could see who had it or not and I turned out to be a little of an ' chimney expert' with who the men gladly discussed the chimney.
He,he! I have been climbing up to the chimney of many houses, with the house owners, just to look at the 'problem' and to help them install the 'Hot top'!!! That was sometimes a part of the 'sales show'!

The property business that I joined also turned out to be prosperous and Tor Knuts, who is a well known business man in the area where I come from, was like a mentor to me.
He knew how to run this kind of business and I enjoyed so much to work with him.
It was so exciting to do speculative purchases and it's for sure one of the must fun businesses I have ever been up to. The gambling in it makes it very exciting.
Later I met Clas and we started up a recording company and I didn't have much time to do property business anymore and before we moved to Florida I sold my shares in the property business company to the other owners.

Oh, I get so excited when I write about these lovely memories.
Hopefully I will soon be into some business again.


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Nice Weather!

Sorry I haven't got much time to blog right now.
However, the weather here on Tenerife is again nice and sunny.

Line dance tonight and I really look forward to it. Have to get a short nap before I start preparing for the night. Haven't been sleeping much lately...

Tomorrow is a night off and i would like to do something special. What I haven't decided yet.
I have a business appointment in the afternoon but in the night I probably will go out and just have some fun.

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Rain and rain and rain...

I tell you, It's a quite tough life to live a single life!
Yesterday I slept the whole day to become normal after being out with some single friends on Monday night.
We visited three different bars and I got home around 4 o'clock in the morning.
I will not become a party princess but sometimes you just have to go out and have some fun.

Its cloudy with scattered showers here on Tenerife today and we still don't know if we can play tonight or not.
Its not good for our sound system if we play during heavy rains and the electricity here on Tenerife is not safe built either, which means it could be dangerous to stand in water and sing.
We will probably get an extra night off tonight.

If we do I will spend the night on the internet answering all the mails I have got and check out my Facebook. I haven't had time to be on the internet lately and it will take hours to catch everything up.

Oh, it's raining cats and dogs now! Poor tourists!
And a new heavy storm is expected on Friday!


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35.000 Visitors

I am happy its still about 100 visitors per day visiting my blog even when I haven't been blogging much lately.

The daily life goes on like normal here and I haven't had much to tell you.
I am in a good mood and think the life is in any case quite good.

Today I have been visiting my dentist and he built a teeth that had been broken.
I am so happy knowing my mouth is now 'tip top' and I can have a bleach again.
Last time I bleached my teeth was about 4 years ago.

Now the new Stradivarius jewelery collection has arrived.
I was out shopping the other day and bought the pieces on the photos below.

Two rings and earrings.

Bracelets.


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La Karina 06.02.2010

This video clip was made last night at La Karina.
It was Saturday and a country and dance night and we were very busy.
The guests were dancing all the time and it was so fun to play.

In the beginning of the night it despite to everything was quite stressing when the artist in the neighbor restaurant was so loud that we hardly could hear what we were doing.
We even stopped playing for a while waiting for the problem to be solved.
Our restaurant owner had to pay two visits there before they turned down the sound a little bit.

Before that Clas had to take up our sound to a level where we never had been before.
Our speakers are pointed toward the stage where we stand, to avoid the sound to interrupt the neighbor, and my ears started aching terribly.
I thought the eardrums would break. It was hurting so much and I still feel a little bit deaf.

We normally keep our sound on a level that allows our guests to talk with each other but in the beginning of last night that was not viable.
The neighbor artist stopped anyhow quite early and after that we could take down the sound.

The problem is that our neighbor right now keep the speakers out on the lawn and they are in addition directed toward us. The artist there has to be extreme loud to hear what he is doing.
If he just would get the speakers pointing into their own restaurant and to himself the problem would be solved.
Sigh! This is Tenerife!

Please, click on the arrow to watch the video clip.
It was made after the sound war.

Photos

I took some crazy photos of me last night before
I went out for dinner.
Please click on the little arrow to watch them.

I had sushi at restaurant Fuijyama.
It felt a little bit unusual to go out for dinner alone,
but one of the waiters, a guy from Latvia, kept
me company and I even learned how to eat with
the Chinese sticks.

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The Dance Agenda

Mondays and Fridays are our nights off.

Tuesdays and Thursdays it's only line dance and we play country music and some of the latest pop hits.

Wednesdays and Saturdays its normal dance and we only play country music and popular dance hits + some Scandinavian dance music.

Sundays are a mix depending on the audience.
If we get many line dancers we play line dance, if we get many of the other dancers we play the music that fits them or a mix of everything which sometimes can cause some disorder on the dance floor.

This agenda is valid till the last of April.
Then the 'winter birds' leave the island and our audience change.
May- September we mostly play line dance, pop music and the newer country music.
June, the beginning of July and the month of September have been real line dance months the last years.
Many dancers from both England and Holland tend to show up during these months.


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Crowded Nights

Watch Expedition Robinson at tv4.se.

We are very crowded in the nights at La Karina and its very fun to play.
Last night it was at least 100 people out on the street who couldn't get in.
It feels frustrating to see people have to leave and I can understand how frustrating it is for the people themselves when they have planned to come and spend the night with us.

We need a restaurant with at least 300 chairs this time a year and that's not easy to find.
We also need a bigger dance floor so that everybody could dance in the same time.
As its now we have to play dance music and line dance music on separate nights to avoid collisions on the dance floor.

To be sure you get in I recommend you to arrive before 8 o'clock.
If you like to be sure you get a table out on the terrace you need to be there around 7.30.
We start playing 8 o'clock and at that time the restaurant often is filled.

The waiters are very busy taking care of all the guests in the nights and it has lately happened that guests have left the restaurant without paying the bill.
It many times happens when there are bigger groups visiting us. Then its some couple in the group who forget to pay.
If the other people at the table not take care of the unpaid drink bill the waiters themselves have to pay it. The waiters have assumed the full responsibility, to look after that everybody pay, which is not easy when the restaurant is so crowded.

If you suddenly remember you have forgot to pay the bill nobody will judge you if you come back and sort it out. Sometimes people come running back the same night paying but it also happens that the bills are left unpaid which is unfair to the waiters.

We are off tonight and I will spend the night watching The Swedish Caribbean Robinson over the internet.
Have a nice night.

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Divorced

I am sorry I haven't been blogging lately but I will now try to do my best and make a new start.
When and how often I will blog I haven't decided yet, but I will anyhow keep you updated if something special happens in my life.
(Hawk...I mean if it's not far too personal....)

I am now living alone here on Tenerife.
Clas and I applied for divorce already in December 2008 and now we have got the final paper from the City Court of Helsinki that says we are not married anymore.
In Finland you get a reconciliation period of up to one year before its over and that's why it took us such a long time.

The reconciliation is now over and we are still friends and will continue singing together like normal at restaurant La Karina in Las Americas.
We have all the time been entertaining like normal since the separation started 14 months ago.

Our daily life the last year has not been much different from how it has been the last years. We have spent all our spare time together, but now after the move we will take the next step and begin spending our spare time away from each other.
He,he! To continue like before would for sure make us singles for ever! Don't you think so? No, I'm joking!

Clas has moved out to an other apartment and I will continue living here where we lived before. We are both very busy preparing our 'new homes'.
I have been cleaning my apartment the whole afternoon. It was really dirty and messed up after all the boxes and stuff were carried out, but now it looks better and I feel so satisfied and will soon go to bed.

This is my first night sleeping alone since I came to Tenerife.
I am very tired which means I for sure will fall to sleep directly when I get into bed.

Good Night!

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Blog Break

I will continue blogging in February.
God Bless you all,
Susanne

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas

Girly Comments & Graphics

Before and After

It's amazing how much makeup and photo retouch can do.

Back On Stage

We started playing again last night. It was so fun.
I like to play and could have started already last week.
The terrace was full in the beginning of the night and it was really a surprise when we knew there are not many tourists here now.

Thanx a lot to all of you who visited us. You made our night!
Some of the Norwegians will leave the island around 4.30 this morning but they still came to see us. Unbelievable!
Now I just look forward to play again tomorrow.
It's much more fun to be on the stage than to be off, but it takes a lot of energy and you have to rest and recharge the batteries every now and then.

I have got some of the latest pop songs now in my Mp3 player and I like them so much that I hardly can't sleep in the nights when I have to listen to them again and again.
I will for sure start singing some of them next summer if I stay in the business.

Last night I went to bed around 3 o'clock in the morning but I didn't fall to sleep before after 7 o'clock, only because of these songs.
My diurnal rhythm is really out of order now and I will try to pull myself together and get to bed earlier this night.

To you all;
Have a nice Sunday.

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Day 7 (Sunday)

Today I have been in the home the whole day.
I decided to check through all my jeweleries and sort them into different baskets that I bought at Ikea yesterday. They are now in a nice order and it will be so easy for me to find what I'm looking for.

Clas was replanting these three cute cactus flowers that he bought at Ikea.


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Vacation day 4, 5 and 6 (Thursday, Friday and Saturday)

I haven't been home much lately but tonight I decided to not go anywhere but stay home on the computer.
I'll later watch a few series on tv3.se/play and tv4.se/play.

Thursday


Our friend Paul, from England, visited us in the afternoon and we sat chatting out on the balcony.
In the night we went to restaurant Tarahales in Los Cristianos to see Paul again + Maives and Jack and an other English couple.
We had so fun and were even doing some line dancing.


Friday
Clas, Katharina (Kattis) and I went to Ikea, Alcampo for shopping.
I didn't buy much but when we went home the car was so packed that we barely could get into it.


Saturday


I was out shopping in Los Cristianos and in the afternoon I went over to Scandibar.
Carina and Lasse were leading the community singing there.

Paul also showed up at the 'singsong along venue'.
To Patricia in England; Greetings from Paul!

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Vacation day 2 and 3 (Tuesday and Wednesday)

It's really nice weather on Tenerife now.
A clear sky and about +25 degrees in the daytime.
I have been sunbathing on the balcony a couple of hours the last two days and tomorrow I have plans to go down to the beach and lay on a hammock the whole afternoon.

I have been doing a lot of Christmas cleaning in the apartment but there's still some work to do.
We have been out eating in the nights and been at the Scandibar with the Scandinavians.
Tonight we had homemade pea soap there and it was so lovely.

Friday I will go shopping to Ikea and Alcampo with Catarina and Clas.

Vista Sur Tuesday night.
I haven't seen the sea so calm before. No waves.

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Vacation Day 1 (Monday)

The first day of the vacation is now going to an end.
The whole day I have been cleaning the apartment and the balcony for Christmas.
I decided to start refurnishing the living room in the same time as I clean everything, even when I haven't started painting the walls yet, and a part of the room is still in a mess.
I'll continue tomorrow...
It will for sure take a couple of more days before the cleaning is ready, but then I will start relaxing.

After I have written this blog I will watch a program over the internet at tv4.se/play.
It's called "Bonde söker fru" ("Farmer looking for a woman").
I started watching this soap opera because one of the farmers in the program, Janne, is from Järvsö in Sweden.
That's the same place from where our friends Pernilla and Per are. ( The couple who were married here on Tenerife a few months ago).
When they told us that their "neighbor" will be in the program I decided to watch it as soon as it would be broadcasted.

Many tourists have been asking us the last nights about what we will do during our vacation.
Normally we go to Finland this time a year, but we have decided to not do that and we'll probably just take it easy and relax here on Tenerife.
We both like to just stay home and have a normal life.
We would just feel stressed to have to start packing the suitcases and start traveling somewhere.
I have only been looking forward to get time off, that I can spend in my home doing whatever I like to do with no appointments.

Right now I am busy preparing the home for Christmas but I will for sure go at least one day to Sta Cruz for shopping and if it's nice and sunny I also would like to spend a couple of days on the beach with somebody. We'll see!

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La Karina 06.12.2009

We are now going for vacation and will be back at La Karina the 19th of December.

Our last night was a very busy night, like it has been the whole autumn, and the dance floor turned out to be too small again.
Many line dancers and couple dancers liked to grab the last chance to dance and the floor was sometimes so over packed and messy that we felt a little bit worried about how it all would end.
But fortunately everything worked fine and no fights came up.

It's not often people start fighting but it has happened when somebody, time after time, has been pushing somebody else in a bad way.
The most of the times the involved parts have started screaming bad words to each other.

There are rules about how dancers should behave on a crowded floor and the most important rules are that you try to give space to each other and avoid pushes.
The restaurants here on Tenerife don't have any uniformed men and we musicians have ourselves to act like the police when the floor gets messy.

When we see it gets too crowded we first always try to split the dance floor in two spaces.
One area for the line dancers and one for the other dancer. Sometimes people however are too drunk and they forget to stay on their space and it has happened that couples have been jiving in full speed straight into the line dancers so that they almost have fell over or been hurt.

Clas and I don't like that to happen and we have an agreement that we will stop the music immediately, even in the middle of a song, if we see this starts happening.
That's better, because it would not be fun if somebody would be hurted.

Please click on the arrow to watch the video clip.

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Update

Las Galletas.

I have been quite busy the last days and because of that I haven't had time to blog.
Not much of interest has happened, but I will give you a short update.

I know it sounds stupid but I don't remember what I was doing on Wednesday...
Maybe I only was out shopping...?

Thursday I visited a small town called Costa Del Silencio, with some friends.
We visited the Arico flea market that is located there but I only bought a nice copper plate.

Friday ( our day off) I was invited to Catarina.
We sat and chatted on her balcony and had some homemade chocolate "scrap" cake with champagne. Very delicious!
After that we went over to the Scandibar and later Catarina, Clas and me went by taxi up to a small mountain village called Adeje to have dinner at restaurant La Rambla.

Saturday I was doing some Christmas cleaning in the apartment + laundry.

Sunday I continued the Christmas cleaning in the apartment...

Beautiful Nails

I had an appointment with the hairdresser today and he colored my hair and cut it.
A new thing at the saloon is that you also can have your nails done in the same time now.
I decided to have a French manicure and my nails turned out to be so beautiful that I thought I just have to show you a picture.

He,he! Clas will have to do the dishes now. My time at the kitchen sink will be shut down for a while, but I think that's fair. He is too spoiled!
It's my turn now to just relax and get everything served like on a silver plate.
I will for sure go on a spree and not bother about all 'must dos'.

No, the truth is that I can do whatever with these nails!
I did not put on acrylic nails this time.
It's only my own nails that are painted like acrylic nails. That's why they are so short.
I am a practical girl and to have too long nails would just make me frustrated when there is always so much that has to be done.

The life will for sure go on like normal...!
Oh, such a sad story this turned out to be!!!
Don't you think so?

By the way, I bought the two silver rings yesterday when I went out on a quick shopping tour with my friend Catharina.
She inspired me to start painting all the walls in the apartment and I would like to start doing it directly. Clas don't however like me to do it so I have to wait til after Christmas.
Then I will for sure start renewing everything!!!
I will also put up big golden ceiling strips and rearrange all the furniture.


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Snowball Fight

He,he! I think these JibJab videos are quite fun!

Please, click on the arrow to watch the snowball fight.
The gang on the top of the roof are two of the waiters who work at La Karina and the owner of the restaurant.

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!


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Dance Show

Please, click on the arrow to watch the dance show.

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!


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New Married

Our friends Anne and Mauricio were married in Chile a few weeks ago.
Now they are back on Tenerife and we were invited to their wedding reception last Saturday and went there after we finished the work at La Karina.

Congratulations, wishing you guys the best life can give you.


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30.000 Visitors

Thank you for visiting my blog.

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Christmas Glögg

It's unbelievable that the Christmas is drawing close when we have sunny weather in the days and a temperature of about +25 degrees.
The autumn has been very warm this year and for me it feels like we are still in September or October.
However I had my first Christmas Glögg tonight, when we got home from work, and when you start drinking glögg the Christmas feelings will soon start circulating.

Glögg is a popular hot drink, in the Nordic countries, during the Christmas season.
It's, among other things, made of sugar or syrup, spices such as cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, cloves etc. and some people top it with vodka or red wine.
I had a little of red wine in mine tonight but the most times I drink it as a non-alcohol drink.
The drink is served with raisins and blanched almonds.
Some people like to have gingerbread, with a slice of blue cheese on, with it. That's very delicious and I had it that way tonight.
Here on Tenerife you can buy glögg from Ikea in La Laguna, Sta Cruz.

We are off again tomorrow and I will be busy cleaning the apartment.

Annas pepparkaka.
A Swedish ginger bread.
Also from Ikea.

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An Unexpected Guest

The Swedish coffee Gevalia has a slogan that says

you'll start getting unexpected visitors if you just buy it.

He,he! Somebody knocked on our door a while ago and when Clas opened there was a Swedish man on the other side wanting to come in and have a chat!
It was about 11.30 in the morning and I am still dressed in the 'Baby doll' sitting here in the studio blogging.
Normally I don't wake up before twelve when we have late nights and don't get to bed before three or five in the morning, but fortunately I was awake earlier today.
It wouldn't have been fun if I still would have been in the bed.

I am lucky Clas was clever enough to not bring the guest into the studio (because of my outfit) and I have now been hiding here for about half an hour while Clas has spent time with him in the kitchen and out on the balcony. He left a couple of minutes ago.
I'll soon have a shower and then dress up with some normal clothes.

We normally never let uninvited people in when that soon could cause us having people here every day. We know so many tourists here and some of them would like to spend time with us during the days, chatting and having a couple of beers.
I can understand it when we don't have much time to talk with people in the nights.
We have only two short breaks and then we are busy selling CDs and being DJs for the dancers etc. It's seldom we get time to sit down and chat with our guests.

Every now and then we also have guests at the restaurant who invite themselves to come and visit us in our home. They can for an example be interesting in to see how it looks in our studio where we do the recordings or they just like to meet us and to get to know us better etc.
We have tried to keep our home address a secret but it happens every now and then that tourists who are out strolling end up beneath our balcony and like to see us.

The tourists have all the time in the world but we work much and have to save some of the energy for the nights. We prefer to keep our home as a free zone from the tourism that surrounds us when our work is in the middle of the tourism.
To move the tourism into our home would in my opinion be too much and it's normally only our nearest friends who visit us in our home.

I wish however that I would have time and energy to spend time with everybody who wants it.
It's interesting to get to know new friends... but I think you have to put up some limits and allow yourself to also think about yourself.
There is just not time enough to socialize with everybody!

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The Present

Last night when we played at La Karina a woman from a jewelery shop suddenly walked into the restaurant and handed over a present to me.
I got the beautiful watch on the photo above.

He,he! Maybe somebody thought I have a secret admirer somewhere, who is sending me gifts?

The gift was from a Swedish couple who have been here on Tenerife the last two weeks.
They had bought the watch to me before they left the island and asked the lady to bring it to me.
This is for sure not something that happens every night!

The watch is really in my style and it will fit so well to some of the new outfits I have bought lately.
Thank you so much!


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