Riga, Latvia

This is from my trip to Riga to visit Brian Bickford about a year ago. We had a nice tour around the city and took a train out to the beach. There happened to be a parade of clowns as we walked through the city center.
It was a nice spring weekend, a little chilly. We had a BBQ with his coworkers who turned out to be party animals from Australia. The feel of Riga is very different from Sweden both in architecture and people.

lingon

Well, the job is going great. We are done with the granite but we are on our feet all day. There are still new items coming in and today the perennials will be here. We will take out some more large plant pots and try to make everything look nice as we rapidly run out of room for all these new things. Seems like this job will go through 'til the end of June. I am hoping it is full time until then and even more that they will want me longer.
Today I think I will bike to work with my coworker who lives in the same building as I. It is very convenient to get rides with her and she and I speak Swedish all day.

job news and last years cycling

This picture is from last summer. We took a weekend trip and ended up on this beautiful peninsula. However when we got there we found a gate saying bulls could be penned in there. After a long day of biking we decided to take the chance. I didn't sleep so well. We are getting excited for another short trip this spring and something bigger this summer.

On Monday I got a call from a local greenhouse asking me if I could come in for an interview. Their busy season is early this year due to an unusually warm spring. They don't grow their own plants these days as they used to. This is the most physically demanding job I have had. We moved granite garden fountains all day and my body is feeling it today. Johnny's farm crew was lux in comparison. Hopefully after a couple weeks most of the new merchandise will be in and I can work at the registers as well. I am unbelieveably happy to have work, so I don't mind working so hard. Before this a hard day was doing the dishes. I can't be sure how long this job will continue. They may only need me during the high season, until June. Hopefully they will see my value and keep me on. They are open year round and have another greenhouse in Karlstad, 45min away.