Last week was amazing. Düsseldorf got sun and summer temperatures. We sprung to life. It is a life after winter after all (although mild winter here it is still winter) Nature is waking up. Birds, bees and flowers are busy. The Grüne Mitte park just a cross the street from us are full of happy kids and happy parents all afternoons. And all the Magnolia and cherry trees are blossoming and it is all so beautiful. That I had to buy antihistamin for the high pollen count doesn't matter. I have been able to sit outside in the backyard in t-shirt and shorts zipping coffee and threading my Easter bunnies. I am tanned like I have been on vacation for a week. Lets enjoy this. Lets enjoy nature and the small things that makes you happy. To look away from screens and depressing news and enjoy the nature and when brown and grey becomes green in many cool nuances. 

I might sound like an old lady but I don't care ( as Mila would say..) my dream was to go and see the big colorful Tulip fields in Keukenhof in the Netherlands this year. I had planned that I might first go with a friend and then also bring the family along. I had already last year checked the dates for when the Tulip fields will blossom the most and when the special tulip gardens will open. But hey Corona came made people skick and closed the borders. I thought no big tulip fields experience for me this year. Until I was scrolling through Facebook and found that our next-door neighbor had newly taken picture of the family in front of a huge colorful tulip field. I asked them tell me where they've been and it turns out that these big fields are from here in Germany only 30 min from Düsseldorf in a small place called Grevenbroich. I was very excited to check it out, take pictures and show the family something beautiful and pretty unique for this area. When I shared my plans wit...

I made this illustration a couple of months ago. Spring came early here in Düsseldorf. It was warm and t-shirt weather already in February-March. Trees were blossoming and everything going from brown to green. But May has been a very cold month and we have been using down-jackets and gloves again and Summer feels far away. 

Spring has come to Düsseldorf - trees are blossoming and trees are faster and faster transforming from brown to bright lime green. The garden has a lot of spring flowers and yes this season is pretty magical. On the flower theme I made these big (A3) colorful illustrations some time ago. I love when I get an idea and the illustration comes out so easy and fun without having to think. I like the fantasy and playfulness in these two floral worlds. 

It is so hard to remember how small babies are. When Filip arrived and I got him in my arms I was chocked just how tiny a newborn really is. And it is even more chocking how fast babies and kids grow and grow up ( a statement which I didn't believe when Mila was just born but proven to be right..) Filip has already grown 3 cm & like 0,5 kg. Like I did with Mila I have now made prints of his small little cute feet. Instead of adding color to the feet I put oil on and then use watercolor over the oily print to make the footprint to show up. Great memory indeed. Here he is enjoying mormor Mi's view from their summerhouse Me and Mila also likes to make prints of our hands and fingers. Here is a bunch of cute finger figures in different moods. We make little stories about them as we go along. 

If I don't get a chance to draw, paint, sew or illustrate I will become crazy. But I am mean like crazy crazy and not very nice crazy.  So I am happy and the rest of my team probably even more happy that even our newest little member gives me some time ( not a lot but at least a little time here and there)  Here is a memory of May illustration I have made lately The illustration started like this   And with some more color like this.. I will go through the memories 1 ) Mila started sometime ago to ask me like a billion times a day about all sorts of objects " What does this sound like?" Not a problem when she ask about sounds of cat, dog, horse, car etc even though sometimes she doesn't agree of the sound that I make ( she is asking me even though she knows and will correct me like she is checking me on my sound intelligence...) The problem is that she also ask about noises of very quiet objects like a sandwich, a cucumber, a leaf, a tree etc. Somet...

Here is a sign that I am still around even though very much in the baby bubble combined with entertaining a 2,5 year old, a building project and million other things that needs to be done. Busy indeed but not complaining and so far things is really working better then expected. Baby Filip is a sweet baby and as baby number two he has to come along on different activities from day one or at least from day five. Loren has been back in Moscow working but are here this week which is great that we are all together. Today I am home alone with baby Filip who currently is sleeping and when he is not sleeping he is eating and/or farting. Mila & Loren are having a daughter-father date day at IKEA Örebro buying a bed for Mila, a PINK bed she has ordered ( I am keeping fingers crossed that they won't find a pink but a white...)  Mila is sharing my drawing & painting interest and it is amazing to follow her development and techniques. Here is a self-portrait combined wit...

Last day of April, an old Swedish celebration called Valborgsmässoafton. Witch craft, fire and a lot of drunk people if I would make a very short summary of what this tradition represent. This year it was very windy and pretty cold so we decided to give the big public outdoor fire and fireworks a miss and instead enjoyed a nice warm fire inside at my mothers summerhouse. Loren tried to recovery from a nasty cold with a good book, honey, lemon and paracetamol. I tried to sit and do as little as possible hoping the baby would want to enter the world. And Mila enjoyed hanging out with mormor and Sofie at a horse show. Also we took the opportunity to take our pony Spot for some nice hacks in the forrest. Spot is 35 years young and still full of energy and happy to have a new little rider ( normal ponies are lucky if they make it to 25...) Mila was super excited and managed very well on this crazy old pony and I managed to walk in his power speed to make sure little rider would be safe and...

Yes spring is here and the green explosion has started It is a special season after a long dark and cold winter here up north and especially for Team Nikolovski who experienced a long cold Russian winter for the first time We have had great sunny weather this last few days and it feels great apart from that 2/3 of Team Nikolovski is full of a cold and I am feeling pretty heavy with this big baby bump. Here is some of our pictures from last weekend when we went out enjoying Sweden's most important spring sign the white flowers, vitsippor, I think anemones in English.

The sun was shining on us since we arrived to Sweden. Amazing spring sun after a long winter Spring in the air with shy flowers starting to bloom Yeah finally spring time here to stay And so on Saturday we woke up to this winter wonderland So we headed to aunty Bi and spent the weekend with her in her apartment  trying all her cloths on, relaxing and eating good

Big part of Team Nikolovski will be out of town for sometime now when finally the beautiful spring season is coming to Moscow ( no not bitter that we survived the ugly cold winter season and will miss from what I have heard the best season in Moscow) We have done I don't know how many pro and con lists what to do and came to the decision that we will use our Sweden home as base for sometime while baby number two will be born. Logistic reasons and to have family close when we go from three to four is the main reasons behind. We have during these few months after Christmas managed to get more use to our Moscow life and so it feels a bit strange to leave for a while. But also great to be able to have the best of two very different worlds.  What I have learned from our time in Moscow so far is: - All the Russians I have met is much nicer, helpful and service-minded then my expectations - In the playground all kids are everyone's, babushkas will make sure that the kids are dres...

Here comes a little spring illustration I made a couple of years ago just to hurry things up a little. Here in Moscow you can feel the spring in the air and yes most of the snow has melted but still quit a lot of icy and ugly traces here and there. No sign of spring flowers yet that I have managed to spot anyways but I have limited places to find them at as I am not that close to nature where we live. I will check in Gorky park later this week. Feels good to leave February behind and I am welcoming March with open arms.

Yes today I could feel the spring in the air here in Moscow. I know that this normally happens in February and that you get terribly disappointed when the winter comes back as a boomerang. But hey lets nit be to negative about it and enjoy the spring signs instead. Me and Mila walk to Gorky park where we enjoyed the sun, coffee, danish smörrebröd, play ground and nice big puddle of water.