Following a 12 months' house design and construction journey, we are now, since June 2009, living in our new home. We demolished the old house in November of last year, not an easy decision after 20 years of trying to correct a major structural defect. The house had been built on deep clay and had progressively tried to resemble the Leaning Tower of Pisa, luckily from a lower height. Our new house, a bit bigger, is built on the same ground but was pile-constructed. We feel that old memories and new comfort have blended well to accommodate our hearts.

Our year began with a visit to Botswana where we spent time with our son, Moleko, and family, Julia's mother and other relatives and friends. We also went to the Okavango Delta, where we quenched our safari nostalgia. Julia got another chance to visit Botswana, following participation in an IMF mission to Zambia in April. The escape to Botswana considerably helped shorten our first long and dark winter in Sweden. We had gotten used to the milder Washington DC winters. The Swedish sunrises at 9 am (if at all) and sunsets at 3 pm (guaranteed) require a totally new mindset. We are painstakingly adjusting......

As we mused over the fun we had in the southern sun, Moleko and family and Julia's mother decided to visit us in August. Perfect timing! Not only was this year's Swedish summer beautiful, August was superb. Petter, our son, and family returned from their three years' work assignment to Pittsburgh, USA. Their arrival coincided with that of the visitors from Botswana. This gave us the opportunity to have a family reunion with our two sons and their families. Since our daughter, Anna, and family live in Sigtuna and only 5-10 minutes walk from our house, we, for the first time, all met under the same roof.

Added to time spent with our family from Botswana, we had visits by friends from Australia (Betty and Don), and USA (Chris, Rolf and Glenda) and Anna's mother-in-law, Mama Safi, on her visit from Kenya. The visits helped warm up the new house very quickly. We also met with a number of friends in Sweden, through the Botswana-Swedish Friendship Association, invitations by the Botswana Ambassador to Sweden (H. E. Bernie Rathedi), and other contacts.

In addition to scouting the forests around Sigtuna for blueberries and wild mushrooms over the Summer and Autumn, we had outings to other places in Sweden. We went to Gothenburg, where Julia participated in a Toastmaster conference, and Gotland to visit our island friends, Britt and Lasse. Per, now a member of Stockholmsbild photography club, continued to shoot with his camera. This was in addition to staying on his feet by dancing with Märsta Folkdansgille and rising to "stardom" through engagements in TV adverts.

Just as we got tired of the winter darkness, our friend, Mats, invited us to go to Edinburgh for a Mma Ramotswe's Cookbook launch. Mats is co-producer of the book.We also visited, Denise, a friend in Northumberland; David Livingstone's birthplace and museum in Blantyre; and many beautiful castles and other fascinating places in Scotland. We had never been to Scotland-simply splendid! We closed the year by enjoying a concert where Josefin, our granddaughter, was Lucia at Engelbrekt's Church in Stockholm.

Merry Christmas and a Happy and Peaceful 2010