End of May beginning of June this wonderful time of the year and it is starting to be more and more emotional and real that we soon will be packing up and leaving. After this very cold spring it is nice to finally warm up and that the pool season has started. Here in Wittlaer Düsseldorf we have a local pool in Kaiserwerth Freibad Flossenweg where we go to swim. On a normal school day in the afternoon it is not too bad with people but on a hot hot weekend it is very crowded. It is kind of funny living in a place where you meet parents from school and neighbors first fully dressed and then undressed in the pool.  One amazing experience was seeing Düsseldorf Tonhalle from inside where Mila and her school together with four other schools in Düsseldorf had a Sing Pause concert. It was magical to hear them all sing in this old planetarium which has been changed into a concert hall.  My Creative work has been focusing on personalizing Art journals. I bought plain brown paper art jour...

Oh yes I try to do a some sort of year summary each year at least in different fields. To do a illustrated summary is a must and covers important fun fragments of the year. Another one of my favorite list and summary of the year is of my books. I have a target to read one book per month. I love books and take great pride in every book I purchase and read. This year I managed to read more because I have fallen for the listening form of books and can focus better on other things such as washing, cleaning, sewing, drawing and walking if I at the same time listen to a book. And I picked good books this year I enjoyed all of them ! 

In my sketch-book I drew this illustration  In Sweden we have one big celebration 31 April - Valborgsmässoafton  It is a celebration for spring and the normal is to collect lots of people in parks and watch a big bonfire Also students meet up and drink and party a lot in normal times  But in this Corona Pandemic not so clever  So to prevent people to gathering  Lund a city down south of Sweden came up with the idea of spraying the parks with Chicken manure to prevent people from being able to meet up in the parks  How clever!  And I would have loved to hear the discussion amongst beige politicians when some genius cracked this idea

This is an illustration I made a year ago in Örebro. An illustration in my sketchbook on the theme how mornings with small children can stress the shit out of you. Not always but in periods. This year is different as I am not having to make it to a meeting at 8 o clock. But still stressful to get everyone through the door and so this illustration still very accurate. Last week F after being ill did not want to go to kindergarten at all and did everything not to get ready and get through the door. Nagging, begging, threatening and then begging and threatening some more. And then feeling guilty and double-checking so all is good in kindergarten. I guess all parents can relate - or not- maybe is just me ?! Lets hope this week starting tomorrow will be more easy and forward going.

I always have one or two sketchbooks ongoing that I am drawing and writing in. Sometimes one in one format and one in an other format. But I can't have more then two books as I want to have a chronological order in my sketchbooks. These sketchbooks I am mainly using to draw memories from my life and Team Nikolovski´s adventures like I have always done and what this blog is based on. I also like the process of creating the illustrations and then write a short text here on the blog explaining the picture. Lately (a couple of years maybe more) I have not managed to update here that much. Why? Well that is a good question. 1. First of all I would say Instagram as it is a forum which is quicker to publish - but there I am only writing a shorter text to the pictures as my idea has always been to keep the stories here but then not got around to write more here as it feels like I have already used the picture...  2. An other thing is that I have been writing more and more in Swe...

We moved to Düsseldorf in August. New house, new area, new city and new country. New supermarkets, new flavors, new brand of the raspberry jam, new kindergarten or actually it is called kita here in Germany strange enough I thought kindergarten was a German word that we borrow to the English vocabulary and then it turns out it is not even used here ?! Being new is challenging, but that is not what I am going to write about in this post. No this post is about Macbeth and my English studies. So in all this new things on top of new things I had the plan to go back to studying at a Swedish University on-line. Actually my plan still is to add to my MBA pedagogic and didactic in order to be certified high school teacher in business and economics but I thought that maybe it would be good to also be English teacher and needed to add a few courses of English. And so I got accepted to study English B - basically continue my literature and sociolinguistic studies of English that I started su...

Here is a wintery illustration from my illustrated journal. It was a sunny winter crisp day. New white fluffy snow on the ground and on the trees. Great weather to enjoy a walk and pulling the kids in the sledge. The mood was on top. I was holding my head up high in that silly way to really extra enjoy these most wanted sun rays. I walk to the mailbox and then continued and was thinking how wonderful that we can go for a nice fun walk and all in great mood. Kids were singing, smiling and enjoying. Lets walk little longer today as all is really enjoying. Bad decision... From one minute to the next the good mood changed for bad mood. BAD MOOD! Both throwing themselves out of the sledge screaming and complaining about something and nothing. Refusing to stand up. Refusing to go home. Refusing to cooperate. Being unreasonable. At the same time Bozze dog running to chase the neighbor and me screaming like a mad woman without any result what so ever. Feeling stupid negotiating with a withou...

I have a weakness or maybe I better say one of my weaknesses is Cheese doodles. I love these tasty but very smell snack that we in Sweden call ostbåge. Yesterday we celebrated the cheese doodle day ( I don't know since when the snack has it's own day but I don't complain...) I made this celebration illustration yesterday evening and as I was too busy to stuff myself I didn't have time to color it... 

My husband thinks I am crazy when I say I need to spend time in the stable to recollect energy. I understand him when I take a step back and look at my stable life and how it is to have a horse as a hobby I can full see how crazy it must sound in a none horsey persons ear. I go to the stable where I am mocking, making the bed, preparing food, change rugs, carry water etc etc etc and this I call my own time a break from taking care of the kids..... And I go and take care of a 500 kg animal instead and call this relaxation... It sounds crazy but it is good for the soul and I am happy my husband might never fully understand it but accept it and helps me so I can have Qina. For me to just be in the stable and to all things a horse owner has to do and to get to ride a few times per week is where I collect all the extra energy I need. 

This is an illustration from my illustrated journal. I started the illustration in November when my workplace, senior high school in a middle-sized Swedish town, felt more like the wild wild west. I got around to sit in the sofa and color it last night. The story and inspiration to this illustration is a rather crazy period at work. I have in short time as a teacher experienced things that I didn't even think teachers had to deal with. Bitch slaps, incident rapports, expelled students, anxciety, social problems and kid waiting to get deported from Sweden after longtime here. What was bad language when I was a teenager is today not even considered as swearing. Words, phrases and sentences that I and many with me would never dream of thinking never mind saying out load is what teens of today ( of course not all but my students does) call each other and shouts in the corridor.  That every student get their own computer through school is great but also the computer has a lot of ...

I am truly crap in writing lately. Not that I am not creating things or pre-thinking what I am planning to write or lacking funny stories to write.. But I just simply doesn't manage to put pen on paper. I know not end of the day but kind of feel bad if I let go of my blog it is my way of getting me writing and being creative in words together with my illustrations. Ok enough about that... Here is not a vey new post but I never got a round to post it so here it goes.. This is a memory from 2016 Halloween. Last year we were in Ivakino Moscow and the kids were ringing on our door bell every two minutes asking trick or treat. AND I had forgotten to by sweets. It was going on for hours and at first I found sweets that we had got from the company for Christmas the year before but after given away last bits of chocolate, nuts and fruit it felt like a never ending nightmare. This year back in Sweden no trick or treat as we live million miles out in the forrest and no kids can get here....

It is not that long time ago when both my kids fitted in the small portable bathtub without any problems. A few weeks ago I realized that it really is a hassle trying to fit both in it these days. I had to instruct them where to put arms and legs to even mange to get in together. Poor kids but as I had said they could take a bath it was no way I could pull the whole idea off without trying to squeeze them both in. My god they are grown up so fast. It was like yesterday Filip could hardly sit by himself and now he is running around and understands everything. 

You never know and I never know what inspires me to an illustration in my sketchbook journal. Sometimes the inspiration and creativity is gone with the wind and feels like it will never return ( I am sure all you creative souls can relate to that feeling...) and sometimes something normal as an apple can inspire. 2016 has been a real apple year. Not that I have one single apple tree in my garden ( although the cottage next door that we are renting out has one very small apple tree but our tenant has cut it like he was very upset with that tree and it will most probably never carry any apples after that treatment... So it doesn't count as an apple tree anymore...) but at Mila and Filip's kindergarten they have heaps of red very taste Ingrid Marie apples. And people in the stable has brought bags after bags with beautiful and tasty apples of all different sorts. Here is my illustration on the topic in different stages. 

Do you remember your first love? Or love maybe more your first boyfriend ? Ok yes maybe same thing I don't remember if it was love but I do remember my first boyfriend. I was 4 years old ( i think) he was in the same group at my kindergarten. My kindergarten was called Myrstacken (Anthill) and it was the best kindergarten in the whole universe. My teacher Irma was the best kindergarten teacher one can have. My boyfriend was called Gustav. He always used to make jokes about my surname, Book. Every time we were gonna read he was laughing and asking "are we gonna read Cecilia Book?!" Very funny!! NOT! I got sick and tired of these jokes and one day I told my kindergarten teachers that I had changed name to my mothers surname, Folkesson. The teachers changed all my name tags and my mother was very confused when she saw my new name tags but somehow agreed and I change to Folkesson even in all the official registers... Gustav could not understand how I could pick fish and p...

Kids started kindergarten 18 August.... My dad spend first THREE weeks being with them as an introduction. They refused to leave his side and if the teacher hadn't told us that we have to try to leave them there by themselves a little I think he would still spend his days at kids daycare with them ( very carrying granddad indeed)  First weeks (!) I had to pull myself free from screaming and crying kids to get to work. It broke my heart over and over. But worst to come... After this phase came the silent big crocodile tears. Horrible and even more heart breaking. These tears was accompanied with Mila begging me not to leave her and saying "but I love you and I want to be with you" " I miss you sooooo much" "Why do you have to leave me?" "Who will take care of me?" "I also want to be a grown-up so I can come with you to your job" These begging and her being very nervous for being left at kindergarten was more then heart breaking i...

This is a couple of illustrations from my sketchbook journal I made while we were in Moscow from our local park Tolstoy Park in Khimki. The park is great and has all sorts of fun entertainment for kids and adults. Playground, mini zoo, carousels, dance stage, restaurants, cafés, selling corn on the cob in every corner and a sandy beach. Team Nikolovski headed there on a very warm July day. It was very warm and sticky. Me and Mila went for a walk while we left Loren and Filip in the playground. Our plan was to check the beach out. Both me and Mila got super excited that people were in the water so we run back to tell the rest of the team to hurry up and lets go in the water a bit. I was like "we are going to beach hurry up and bring the swim-wear" and Loren replied "Are you insane!!! Who would consider going in the water in a river in MOSCOW??" and I was like "yeah but there is lots of people in the water..." and Loren started to wave hands and speak ver...

Not that I am extra keen on super hot summer weather or that I am complaining because we have had nice warm days. BUT come on it is only first few days into August and it autumn kind of fresh crisp air ( read I don't want to admit it but I have put on heating in the house during the nights...) This illustration from my sketchbook is inspired of what summer is for me and also from one of Mila's favorite book and film character Stella. I colored the sketch while I was in Moscow with my Russian made aquarell set and the colors are very intense and strong base colors and it will take some getting use to but gives a good deep layer. 

I never managed to finish this illustration... It was a very rainy day. But I mean rainy like no joke rainy day. My dad had rented a digger for a project in the garden. Rain and digging machine in the garden = MUDD. 3 dogs and 2 kids = too many muddy dogs and kids. At what age does mudd start to become a pain in the ass and not a lot of muddy fun? For kids I mean I guess for dogs it is a lifelong passion. However one by one I had to lift them in straight to the shower removing mudd and sand. But of course it was boring waiting outside so the whole muddy gang ended up inside on a 3,5 year olds initiative. GREAT more mudd to clean up in every little corner of the house.

I have been good continuing same speed drawing small illustrations in my sketchbook journal, but I am crap in taking photos of them and getting them here in the blog. Bad internet connection and life is just simply getting in my way which is totally ok. Here is any way an illustration of a giraffe from Kålmården ( although according to my mother it looks like a moose..) Mila was asking to see the giraffes as soon as we entered the park and didn't stop asking every two minutes before we finally found them. At the same time my sister was telling us about twenty times that when she was younger and visited the park she pet the giraffes.

I continue my sketchbook journal with an illustration from yesterday morning. I was in the bathroom getting ready to head in to town when the war out on our patio kicked off. My dad had just woken up came over to say good morning and I handed him Filip to look after while I got ready. They were sitting together when Mila came and attacked them with her water gun. To attack granddad and little brother before granddad even had had his breakfast is not a good idea.... He took the water gun from Mila and sprayed her back. AND the war had broken out.. I have never seen Mila so angry.. She came in and screamed "I am gonna hit granddad!!!" "Mamma give the fly flapper I gonna hit granddad with it!!" She was so angry and I know very irritating with a mother who laughs in these situations but it was all just sounding too funny.  After a few minutes all sides calmed down and Mila apologized and granddad apologized and the peace agreement got signed with a hug.