Today it is exactly two months before Christmas. I used to be like "The Gringe" not a great fan of Christmas. But now I like the run up for Christmas and all the traditions so much that I am even looking forward already in October. Here is some small Christmas illustration I made last year. 

In my sketchbook I started an illustration on the theme Mila loves horses. I know I am really bad in drawing horses in general and in drawing horses legs in particular. And so Mila gave me a helping hand and finished my drawing. Great cooperation,  right :) 

What happened already October!! Autumn is here, Yes I love this season but it kind of hit me the darkness.. "It is still night!!" Mila says when I wake her up the days we need to go to work and daycare. although we don't get up crazy early. It is split feeling this going towards darker and colder times. I love it and hate it at the same time. Last weekend I felt very tired and as I was getting a new cold before recovering from the last one. It doesn't happen very often but I had a Sunday when everything felt horrid everything I normally like feels stupid and boring . I hate these kind of days, but I guess we all have them and need them and that I am lucky who gets one only here and there. I went to bed early and woke up like myself positive and fresh again. Pictures from my weekend I have strict sofa rules.. No eating and absolutley NO animals in the sofa !!!! But somedays my rules are override BIG time!! Sunday breakfast with candles welcoming the darker times  ...

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...

So much fun this horse of ours.. First couple of weeks tense like a ticking bomb and of course with our collected experience from the professional and international circuit we are being careful and taking things steady. Add that we are older, wiser and with two kids each. We are not only careful but maybe even chicken at the moment before we know our lady. AND that is totally ok. I am impressed this week I feel more secure on her and she gives such great great feeling. She moves great and are very balanced although green, weak and will take  a lot of training to build up muscles and endurance. Only in a couple of weeks she has learned a lot a really gives a good feeling. Yesterday I made a few jumps with her and she really jumps. Yes I am already in love with this mare

We headed to Spain last week. Family collected in a warm sunny place what could be better? Flight down went well even though we had to get up at 3 and be at the airport by 4. Nice warm weather met us and we were all very excited to have time off together and to enjoy the sun and mormor's pool. Such luxury to be able to borrow my mother's and Göran's very nice house in Puerto Banus costa del sol. Going away but still feeling a little home or at least familiar and have every day things to do such as laundry, cleaning and feeding the cat ( I know sounds crazy that I like washing and cleaning on vacation but I do) Loren also loves supermarkets and cooking so great combination of vacation but business as usually kind of. Don't get me wrong we also enjoy being lazy drinking beer by the pool or eating avocado and prawns in the harbor. Even though it is only our second time here we already feel like we know what we are doing and know our ways around. One day we did a long ...

Yes it is sort of life changing this with me starting working again. It feels good that I started on a nice level with 3 days a week even though these days are very intense. New carrier path as a teacher is no walking in the park, but I like challenges and to learn new things so I guess this is just what I needed. I am trying to stick to my mantra to do things good enough. That doesn't mean that I don't care or that I am doing things bad it just simply means to do things good enough and not to stress over things or striving to be perfect. Already now I have problems not to over work or over think things but hey it is hard to teach an old dog to sit. Kids and their granddad has been at daycare introduction for 3 weeks but I will write more about that in other post. Last week not only did we buy a new car we ( read me) bought a horse. Yes it is true I BOUGHT A HORSE. I am sharing it with a friend with great knowledge about horses and who also have worked professional with h...

So my new carrier and job path has started. I am back at school and still very excited after my first week. Great introduction days. Tired and little stressed to get all planning done before the students starts. 

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...

While I was going throw my Moscow studio and arranging for moving everything end of the summer I found this map of Prague which I started but never finished when we moved from there. It was indeed a very emotional move leaving a place that we all loved and with great friends around us to the unknown life of Moscow. This map illustration I was planning to have on the wall as a memory of Prague and our cool group of friends. But because of all the emotions I think I never managed to get it done back then. It is on A3 so pretty big and I will try to get it finished and framed when it will get here in Sweden.