random midsummer reflections 2026

 Look, I managed to add photos to a blog post again! Well done me, still haven’t figured out how to do it every time, but slowly getting there…

This post will be a random selection of photos and happenings that has made me happy/grateful/intrigued during May -June 2026 (so far).

First out is the vegan Midsummer lunch on Friday. Kept it simple with potato gratin, smoked tofu and a green salad with kind ingredients that fills me with joy. 💚 

It’s one of the first hot summer days here, this year (the year that will turn out to be the on average coolest one from here on?) so I don’t have the instand energy to match the text to all the photos I’ve uploaded already.

I’m uploading the post after this photo. But you are welcome return to read more words added later.

🩵

The floral scent of sweet mock orange has been my summer favourite since childhood.

There was a huge unruly delightful shrub at our summer country cottage. 

And in the suburbs I lived in back then the municipality had planted a lot of hedges with it’s irresistable scent. So on the way back home from the underground the summer evening air was filled with the heavy scent of sweet mock orange. 🤍

At the usual street I take when I walk from home now, to the nearby grocery store/pick up point there is a stretch with these gorgeously scented hedges too. 

A few sniffs of these and it is the perfect assurance that everything will be alright.

A little perfect corner on this Prettiest Time of the Year forming a Little Pocket of Joy.

This is the perfect Plantbased version of the classic Swedish cream cake Prinsesstårta (Princess Cake), that we treated ourselves to for Midsummer dessert. Ordered from favourite bakery/cafe Bageri Passion. Very moreish. (And it was a treat not having to bother making a decent cake/dessert myself.)

💚

After the pandemic years when I fully embraced the (mostly) fun (and sometimes frustrations) of selling and buying second hand on Tradera (Sweden’s eBay) I have now moved on (partly because their customer ”service” department has become greedy stupidity personified. When you team ridiculous AI with ignorant humans you get this mess 🤦🏻‍♀️) to more selling on Vinted.

The platform currently serving Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Poland. I’m still sceptical about several of their features, the very low pricing and ridiculous haggling being one, but so far so good I’ve been overall pleased with my sales/purchases. Fingers crossed that will continue. 🤞🏻

One of their features are very small packaging, it’s not always you have very small boxes or bags at hand. So creativeness regarding that is now my (and others) new speciality.

This was a book I picked up the other week. Books of all things you would expect to be easy to pack in a simple way, right? This was hilariously wonky done. But book was in excellent condition, so no harm done I suppose. 

I try to shy away from bottled water for environmental reason. An I’ve never been a fan of fizzy water/drinks. And I love our tap water! 

But was desperate for water that day and the Coop sparkling water with raspberry watermelon flavour turned out to be really lovely. I can actually see myself enjoying one now and then this summer. 

As the Swedish recycling system is overall great. So I can cheat from my principle a bit without bereating myself too much

The gorgeous pansies in flower boxes outside Bageri Passion, made me both happy and sad.

Love the pretty flowers, the abundance of colours (different colours in the four different boxes), sad because I have still not been able to find replacement boxes for my kitchen window iron flower box holders. They broke beyond repair a few years back and apparently their measurents are unheard of 😵‍💫 I wouldn’t mind if they were slightly shorter and smaller, but it has proven hart impossible to find both a reasonable length AND width. So no flowers boxes for me this year either. I miss them. A lot. Both my usual pansies followed by petunias. Sad face.

This was my first vegan nicecream cone of the year 2026. In fact it was well over a year since I last had one. 

It was quite pleasant, although I found the dark chocolate cover too sweet, but the vanilla nicecream was very smooth and lovely.

In April we had truly delicious strawberry cream buns (vegan bun of the month), in May they were lemon Morning Buns - which neither of us enjoyed sadly because they were too salty (!) - in June they are Sun buns with custard or raspberry.

Mother’s Day (or Father’s) has never ever been celebrated in my family. Just a commercial spectacle, like Valentine’s or Halloween as far as I (and my parents) were concerned. Of course something creative/handmade as a gift gets my stamp of approval, but for those lucky enough growing up with loving, caring parents, there are 365 days per year to show our appreciation. 🫶🏻

Here a three colourful finds off Vinted. A flowery puzzle, perky measuring cups with an added bonus: a cup Cup. We don’t do cups in Sweden with our metric system. And I get really annoyed every time I need to translate Cup into decilitre (I think it’s ~ 2,3 dl) so I appreciated a proper Cup cup that I can (hopefully) rely on.

It was a long time since I did puzzles, but I thought it would be a nice relaxing thing to have a go at. And hopefully 👵🏻 can brain engage with them too. I even got a nifty little puzzle mat for them.

Zeina is a famous Swedish TV-chef (with roots from Sierra Leone if I remember correctly. Much, but not all, of her cooking is about flavourful green dishes. This cookbook is all traditional vegan dishes. 

If I was a very structured human I would start my way on the very first page an then work my way through every dish this summer. I’m afraid I’m not wuite that structured with my cooking. Or with my life for that matter.

Still on my quest to thrive and shine again. How? Where? When?

Ztina changed her bed and night routines a month before Ågot died. Before that she mostly have enjoyed sleeping by herself in the sofa. While Ågot loved sleeping in my mum’s bed. Suddenly Ztina moved into the bed too, and she has remained ever since. 

In fact it’s were she spend most of her days sleeping now. Our usual sofa routine is more or less gone. Which is sad of course, but we all grow old and change habits and routines. I just want her to enjoy life the way she wants, on her own terms, however long and precious time she have left in our life.

She obviously still sports her purrfect resting bitch face. My little precious Queen of Fxxing Everything.

The things below ⬇️ are also Vinted finds. The berets (8 of them, unused, for a very pleasing price) are for little mum. As berets are her favourite headgear and she could definitely do with a bunch of new colours. They actually arrived in time for Mother’s Day, but as we don’t do that in this residence (see above) let’s call it preparing-for-autumn-gift. The nicest ones are the purple, red, light grey, magenta and peach.

The puzzles were my two first ones, the Scottish castle that was Eulalia’s surname, featured in several movies and a visit from us on one of our plentiful Scotland car holidays (oh another life that was…) and then a Yorkshire harbour town.

Memories abound.

Haven’t begun laying any of them yet, the colourful flowers I have slowly began to though. It speaks to me more loudly right now.

This is me in the library elevator, on my way to the obligatory 5 hours irl course for election worker in the upcoming Swedish  election in September. 

It was exhausting, and my brain was overloaded afterwards. Not because guarding our democracy is complicated per se, but it was a long time since my work revolved around meeting and dealing with a lot of people at once, plus administrative routines. Brain overload. We also got access to the PDFs so there are plenty of time to refresh over summer until September of course.

This is obviously a purely a non-political work, just a municipality provided service to our society and guarding democracy.

That said, I can’t wait until we have removed this deeply corrupt (never have Sweden had this astounding level of corruption in a prime minister and his inccompetent ringt wing/nazi affiliated minion as we have seen these past four years) government. 

Long gone are the days when party leaders (social democrats) got sacked for comparatibly miniscule offenses (like buying a Toblerone chocolate with the wrong credit card…)

We need Sweden back on its track to leading climate action and humanitarian initiatives. More solidarity and connecting the global dots of positive change.

If anyone might me interested in the slowfashion OOTD I’m wearing here 👆🏻 it was mostly Marimekko stuff (duh) in organic cotton (Unikko denim jacket, sweatshirt and skirt, the latter bought second hand). The cloud scarf is +10 years old Danish design, tights from beloved Snags, the vegan sneakers are Matt & Dan from 2019 and the bag from German Vaude (Berlin bought in the 2010ies).

My second year of (Naturskyddsföreningen) Max 5 challenge is going swimmingly so far - one new garment only at this time: organic cotton skirt from Marimekko. In some areas it’s pretty great to be predictable, wouldn’t you agree?

My old, quite old, coffee/tea press pot suddenly broke into pieces a few months ago. Even if I have plenty of pretty tea strainers I’ve come to thoroughly enjoy my not heavy and easy to clean glass pot over the years. And especially since little mum moved in.

So I began researching where to get an affordable new one. A second hand one would be neat, however a) we don’t have a nearby second hand shop here and b) given how much strain a glass pot will have been put through already when it appears in a thrift shop and probably be near its breaking point already. Thus opted for a fresh new one.

Only glass, steel and wood details. My old one had a plastic lid and handle. Unfortunately the wood lid had a big breakage right across, so I got a new one (and didn’t have to bother returning the broken one). Swift and easy customer service! As it should me.

I do have an old ceramic pot, well used when I did have plenty of tea party oriented gatherings back in the days. But it’s heavy and bulky so I love my small glass one.

Side (and sad) note, have been forced to drastically cut down my tea consumption this past year-ish since with menopausal symptoms apparently comes other… peeing routines. And tea/coffee is very diuretic. 

So from gulping down several big cups per day (incl late in the evening) I’m now down to a big morning one, and possibly a smaller rooibos one in the afternoon.

Club of interest taking notes I’m sure… 🫖☕️

When Philadelphia vegan cream cheese was finally introduced to the Swedish market (just prior to the pandemic I think?) I wasn’t that impressed. The Oatly one was just as good I initially thought. But then I saw less and less of it in the grocery stores (not sure it even exists anymore). 

And the plantbased Philadelphia cream cheese has certainly grown on me. Like an addiction even. I would much rather avoid anything from evil corporate company Mondelez, but given little mum prefers her breakfast sandwiches with cream cheese rather than hard cheese it is what it is…

What I never do though, is buying the boxes at the ridiculous full over price they have. Luckily there are regular discount campaigns in several grocery chains, so I keep my eyes open to that and stock up when possible.

Same goes for my regular vegan Violife hard cheese. I’m a simple gal when it comes to my vegan cheeses (and I was the same when I still consumed dairy) only a few basic ones appeal to me, topped with veggies they suffice galore.

Give me one of these two and hummus, add decent, fiber rich, healthy bread regularly and my breakfasts are sorted forever and ever.

bye may, welcome june 2026

For a brief moment I logged in and hey, uploading photos worked! *Must remember the steps I took*

When I tried to make changes suddenly it did not work again.

And Ztinas grumpy face perfectly illustrates how I feel about that. 🤦🏻‍♀️

To sum up my May - loosing Ågot was/is devastating. One of the two precious last Luddkolt’s cats left. Now there is one.

The sprained ankle that followed healed.

The Mulberry Bayswater I’ve had for sale since November last year finally got sold. And my financial strain eased for a while.

Got a job as election worker during the general election on September 13. Spent an afternoon doing a course with my fellow election workers. Left me exhausted and stressed, as once upon a time this was my life, common work tasks, it has been a long time since it was everyday work. 

I know it’ll be great. And I know this feeling was just temporary, but it came as a shock. Oh how the mighty have fallen.

But guarding our democracy has never ever been more important than now, so I’m grateful I was selected to be one of them doing it. 

September 2026 will be when Sweden will get back to being a reliable beacon of light in a disturbingly violent, capitalistic world in lack of solidarity, compassion and decency.

May has been a beautiful green Spring month, it is after all the prettiest time of the year. The cherry blossom trees where followed by tulips, bird cherry trees and everything else bright and beautiful. This was my lilacs 2026, brief and gorgeous, the bloom is now over alas. 

And even if we have been spared from the devastating heat wave in south Europe, the weather has changed there’s no doubt it’ll be another summer of heat and too hot days. Every little day offering cooler weather is a blessing.

I began my month in my natural grey-ish hair, ended it in pink. Finished the last bottle I had left, because hey, let’s start summer season in colour an style! Onwards and upwards. Keep on fighting the good fight. Let thrive season begin. And let a plethora of good books be read. And fantastic news arrive, m’kay?!

💚🩷💚

farewell april, farewell ågot 🩵

So what happened in April, in the World According to Pia?

On April 4 Ågot, the littlest of my cats, turned 14.

On April 28 she passed away. During the night in the comfort of her familiar surroundings shepeacefully fell eternally to sleep in her home.

She was a sweetheart, timid, well-behaved kitty and didn’t make much fuss about anything, obviously not even her own death. She loved sunny spots, food and cuddles, naturally sleeping more than playing the older she got. She will be remembered fondly and missed for her sweet disposition.

It feels so very strange to only have one cat now. The last time that was the case was in 1990 (shocking I know!). 

I also know I will never be able to afford having another pet again, as the venture capitalist funded veterinarians in Sweden have completely ruined the market for fair and reasonable prices for pet owners. Despite having a pet insurance. Pets are only for the very rich in Sweden these days apparently. And how truly sick and twisted is that?!

Ztina will continue to be so loved and pampered as long as we are blessed to have her of course. But then my days with forlegged family members will be a closed chapter. Which is a realisation that is absolutely 💔💔💔 of course. But there you are, life in Sweden 2026.

The only thing on my Easter plan-list that got ✅ was the reading my Easter crime ”påskekrim” novel. It was a treat. And I’ve finished two more since then. 

Did not even begun to knit the last remaining arm to finish my 🍓 sweater project (4 years later) 🤦🏻‍♀️

Did not sort out the ”upload photos on blogger” issue alas.

So yes, yet another photo-less blogpost, you are welcome.

The softening up of the vegan chunky loafers did not happen. The shoes were impossible to soften. The customer ”service” was the worst ever, but at least the return procedure was simple and without fuss. The model was gorgeous. But not for me. Saved my money for more important things, like food, too.

For the first time since 2019 I visited the magical cherry blossom trees in Kungsträdgården again - and gah am I miffed I can’t upload any photos to prove it… - and it was such an immense treat, after 7 (!) years! 🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

We did it on little mum’s birthday on April 21, followed with a vegan fika treat at favourite Bakery Passion. And some much needed food shopping. All and all think she enjoyed her 2026 b’day. 👵🏻🎂

Managed to spot and enjoy cherry blossom trees in bloom at three more places, our local ones included. It’s such a little pockets of joy perfection to see them. However did we survive our Springs without the plethora of them…

Otherwise my mood and focus is surviving day by day, week by week and hope things will finally magically change for the better.

Did have a mishap in the garden last week. Sprained my ankle. In the most stupid way. I’m such a klutz. 😵‍💫🤦🏻‍♀️

Didn’t feel any real pain during the first 1,5 days, but I knew there would be bruising. 

Then came the bruising, swelling and pain. Been hobbling around indoors for a few days and resting as best I can. 

Have a stretch bandage for support now, which I have to figure out how to use properly. The initial pain subsided yesterday, but the bruising and swelling mostly remains obviously. 

Went out for errands today (and need to do more of that before Sunday so I hope it’s much better by then), it really was no fun. No fun at all. The pain of just putting on shoes, locking the feet in and the hobbling outdoors. Ah the stupid things we do to ourselves…

April you offered a lot, from pink bliss to deep, unexpected sorrow, from ever present problem-solving to small new beginnings and possibilities, from kindness to pain when you least expect it. Thank you, you left me both grateful as well as disappointed. 

Enough of this slow and sadness, can we please please PLEASE move on to greatness, thriving and joy now May, the prettiest time of the year you! Thank you in advance. 

xox 🩷💚🩷

i hope your easter 2026 will be kind and peaceful ~

Most of us don’t have a lot to be happy about these days. So let’s settle for gratitude about the fine things that we do have in our lives. And for Easter kindness and compassion. Hopefully some great animal free food and lots of vegetables. 

Myself I’m going to prepare a vegan burger with oven roasted potatoes. Had planned to bake a cream cake and cinnamon buns. But I think the plantbased burger preparing will suffice for my energy levels admittedly.

My Easter plans also had

* finishing my 🍓 sweater project (4 years later)

* start reading my ”påskekrim” (Easter crime, originally a Norwegian concept for reading at Easter)

* sorting out the ”upload photos on blogger” issue

* softening up a pair of new shoes (I have certainly been an A✨ participant in the Naturskyddsföreningen max 5 challenge from November 2024, first year I did only get 4 new pieces of garments/shoes. Since then I’ve bought neither new produced or second hand. Until now.)

High on my wishlist have for many years been a pair of vegan chunky black loafers. Had a rare opportunity to get a pair that arrived just before Easter. They are gorgeous. But also the material demands a lot of softening and preparing indoors.

As the weather has turned into miserable winter with snow, from one day to the other, there is zero incitement to venture outdoors anyway this weekend.

 🖤 Let the shoe softening commence!

Wishing you a fine, kind and caring Easter filled with good things, good people, good food, good moments only 💛

💚🐥✌🏻🌱🐣

spring equinox frustrations, and sprinkles of gratitude

This will be yet another post without photos.

I still can’t upload any photos to Blogger. And as I basically do everything on my phone these days and changing the Google account settings on the phone obviously is not working, no matter how much I try to follow instructions.

At this stage even my frustration is getting frustrated.

This post, like others before, would be much more pleasing if accompanied by photos. But it is what it is.

The struggle is real, but one day I will have it sorted.

This day is not today. But here are a little compilation of little good things that have happened lately. 

I do not retract anything from the previous blog post. But sometimes small things can lift the overwhelming blah. And give you energy to continue to fight another day, week, possibly month…

I just wish life wasn’t so much a fight, for very basic things. 

Back to the good things list:

:: Sold a very pleasing amount of, mainly, clothes and shoes on Tradera and Vinted last week Which was a much welcome surprise (especially after the Danish woman who scammed me a few months back - didn’t loose money per se, but it was one of those occurances that chipped away on my trust. And left me wasting energy, time and lost potential sales. And whatever was her end goal?? There were zero things to gain by that behaviour. Zero. 🤦🏻‍♀️)

:: Returned the last library book I had at home. And plan to focus on finish at least five from my old book heap before I borrow any more again.

Never underestimate how accomplished such seemingly insignificant, trivial things can make you feel.

:: Treated myself to an oat latte (two months ago since) and a bakery levain last week. 

And bought a bunch of vegetables at reasonable prices, which was a long time since that was the case. Grocery prices are ridiculous here too, thank you so much for that Orange Idiot, Genocidal Terror State and East Invasion Dictator. 

So every opportunity to get grocery shopping done at a reasonable price must be seized. Who knows what will happen next.

:: Last week was all about the sun. And I decided to finally have a go at an outfit I’ve wanting to try ever since I got my Marimekko Unikko jacket last year. But weather confitions haven’t allowed me since now. 

A woolly sweater under a denim jacket, surely that would be perfect? As I haven’t had a decent denim jacket since my early 20ies, every basic combination feels like a revelation of flair and ingenuity. 

And yes it turned out great. Not too cold with the denim jacket and the woolly sweater added the perfect warmth without being to sticky on a sunny, early spring day.

However yesterday turned colder, and today it rained. Tomorrow there’ll be morersin and then there have even been rumours about snow again. 🥶

:: This past weekend was the last weekend of semlor (plur.) being sold at favourite Bageri Passion. As there had been zero semla in this residence this year, a visit to get 4 vegan semlor was practically a must.

We enjoyed a couple of them immediately upon returning home. They were perfection! Decided to put the remaining ones in the fridge and enjoy for Sunday breakfast.

Turned out to be a bad decision, the buns were dry and the whipped cream had kind of evaporated over night. Wish we had gulped them all down on Saturday. Well, at least one semla experience 2026 was perfect. And well deserved.

:: The other day I was approached by someone claiming to be an executive recruiter from a US company. For obvious reasons I’m very… hesitant to have anything to do with US companies these days.

And not to mention the recruitment fraudsters having become even more sophisticated with the rise of AI.

The job presented sounded amazing. Though the salary range was kind of obscene to be true. And does working in such a corporate setting really align with my values? And best use my skills, let me do good for change and shine in the right way. 

There is no time for business as usual. And apart from the unheard of salary range (for a Senior Communications Strategist position) there were other little warning signs that surely this was just too good to be true, that the set up was fake, so I decided not to waste my time and pursuit it.

We are living in even more precarious times than ever and my trust in people and opportunities have definitely been chipped away already over the years.

It is sad that dark forces, evil, greedy people, capitalism, ignorance, stupidity and violence have caused so much harm to this world. When we all would grow and be happier, healthier decent human beings with more solidarity, equality, caring and compassion.

Stay safe, be kind.

💚💚💚💚💚

how do i thrive and shine again?

The problem with uploading photos to Blogger returned, shortly after I published my last post. And no matter all the suggestions from Google/Blogger I’ve tried to rectify it nothing has worked alas.

Which feels like a perfect symbol for my general life currently. I am stuck.

It does not help seeing old white greedy genocidal clinically insane or senile men ruling the world and bringing us to the brink of World War III. 

It really does not.

It does not help I still haven’t found a new regular, reliable income source again. It doesn’t even have to be THE illusive dream job or dream client. I just need something/someone stable I can trust and hopefully shine and thrive from again.

I miss feeling joy. 

I miss feeling hope.

I miss the feeling of thriving and shining.

I miss feeling appreciated.

I miss meaningfulness.

I miss uploading photos to Blogger.

I miss my creativity.

I miss my pre-menopausal hair, skin, body. But that’s just a blimp compared to the other things I miss. My energy is better spent on other matters.

It’s difficult to do and feel otherwise in this timeline we call now. How do you thrive, not only survive these days?

When people around you have either gone awol basically since the pandemic, choose to remove themselves from your life - 

and you can’t be bothered to try and reconnect since they clearly for reasons unknown have moved on with their lives but opted out from including you in those lives - 

or you yourself have realised you don’t have much in common with the people you once called friends anymore.

Connections have been lost, and I simply don’t have the energy to care anymore. Have you?

When the lack of money and resources is so draining you basically only have the energy to read, watch TV, cook simple things, cuddle cats (the only reason for surviving), take naps but rarely sleeping well all through the night.

When the ridiculously high energy prices this freezing winter forces you to settle for sub par indoor temperatures, merely focus on surviving another day and a constant longing for warmer days again.

When the fact that the combination of a master degree in law and extensive experience in various communications fields plus a lifestyle/interests dedicated to sustainability, kindness and compassion means xxxx all when you search for meaningful new paths in life.

Well, then you have reached the point where it is truly truly truly difficult to see the meaning of it all. And that feeling is not something I’m familiar with. 

Even trough tough times I’ve been able to trust in hope, solutions and bright new beginnings and kind endings. Felt joy in small everyday miracles, beautiful things and beings around me.

I do suspect I’m not alone having finally reached this point after some rough years, where it feels like we’ve been through a tumble dryer on high speed time and time again.

Where is the beauty? Where do I go from here?

Where do you? Where do we?

🌱🐞🌱🕊️🌱🦋🌱🐝🌱

how i help the blackbirds sing & other little small joys of the week

It took a while, even for my fairly web savvy middle aged brain, to realise the easiest solution to upload photos to the blog again was to switch web browser.

So bye bye Chrome, hello again Ecosia. 

The little positive things (on a personal Pia-level, as the world continues to be a misogynist cesspool of daily lowpoints) from the cold cold week that was have been; (because semi-colon’s day, congrats dear ; !)

A very good keep cup of soy latte.

Even if I desperate long for spring to come, I continue to be grateful that I was lucky enough to snatch this gorgeous Marimekko faux fur up when I did. It’s reliably warm (but quite heavy) and I love its blue colour.

And given the winter weather this year, every day with time spent outside is faux fur day.

I’m fairly certain that the birds in my garden aren’t 100 % happy about the food supplies here. The peanuts I had in thebird feeders last year was much appreciated. But I haven’t found any in nearby stores this year alas. So the feed has left a lot to be desired.

However, my most loyal birdy friends have been fed seeds and apples fairly regularly. I think they are magic little, friendly birds. And I do hope they will find good places to nest in this spring, so they can continue to sing their besutiful songs when spring finally comes. 

Surprisingly enough I realised we had finished a lot of tea this winter, and it was time to stock up again. As my favourite tea merchant in Stockholm turns 110 years old this year, they have different treats when you place an order of a certain value. I ordered som ol’ favourites and new flavours and the home delivery arrived this week. 

It was a box of gloriousness! 

One of my new favourites to have for a quick, satisfying vegan lunch or even dinner (the lines are v e r y blurry in this residence) are a moreish edamame-chickpea spread on sourdough bread from local bakery. Topped with grated carrots and a big cuppa.

I also made a very good loaded bulgur salad with airfryed smoked tofu, carrots, pickled red onion, corn, tomatoes, pomegranate and plenty of seeds that I topped with the above spread. 

I love colourful food that makes you happy and is kind and compassionate to the planet and the sentient beings we share it with! If that isn’t obvious by now…

Continue to stay safe, stay warm, be strong, be kind, be a decent human.

💚

farewell veganuary 2026, you have been a very mixed bag of life lessons

EDIT: 6/2 switched by web browser and uploading photos is back! Here’s a photo of a lovely lentil soup to prove it.

This will be a post void of photos. Because Google/Blogger won’t let me do it (for very very very unclear reasons) I might be able to figure it out tomorrow morning (Feb 1st already!). Fingers crossed.

As for Veganuary/January this year, it has really been a mixed bag of sweet and sour treats.

- After a fairly decent first week+ there have been non of the aha/yay/wow/finally I can see light at the end of a dark tunnel moments I had hoped/manifested/meditated/worked for.

That has been deeply disappointing. Not going to lie and say otherwise. The transformational change the 21-days meditation promised did not lead to any positive transformational change, alas.

For better sleep I do continue to put on sleep meditations every night, and if I wake up during the night I put a new session on,  since I’ve realised they are like drug-free sleeping pills for me.

- The new mobile phone provider I changed to at the beginning of January has so far been great. I’m so glad I finally researched which provider would better fit my needs and would save me money.

- I was scammed on the second hand site Tradera last week. Didn’t get paid by the buyer, a Danish woman who bought 6 garments (for a fairly high sum). Never replied to messages. And I was forced to report her. Turned out she had apparently done the same to other sellers and is now overall blocked from Tradera for 1-6 months. 

I have no idea why anyone sane would think this was a smart idea to behave. Even if no-one was frauded off things, as no-one sends anything before they get paid, everyone she had her ”fun” with did loose both time, energy, trust as well as presumptive serious buyers.

And for some of us the money would have been very welcomed. (And very much in line with my daily manifestations…)

- As circumstances would have it I haven’t cooked as many new vegan dishes in Veganuary as I planned. But I did baked overnight bread for the very first time, and that was a repeat hit.

As was the fact that I discovered those fantastic heathy plantbased date snacks from Dave & Jon’s. After the two first ones, I’ve tried several other flavours. I loved Salted Caramel Peanuts, Cinnamon Bun and Chocolate Ball. But not everyone has been lovely, there have been a couple of horrid ones and a few blah ones. But, tastes differ, they most likely appeal to other taste buds.

- The third book I finished this year was the last one I borrowed at the library last year, and concidently a wonderful one. Fresh Water For Flowers turned out to be one of my best reading experiences of 2025 🧡 

And I’m only at number 3 on my at least 55 reads goal of the year. 

It may not be a reading experience for everyone. And the writing style take some time to get used to. The non-chronological set up is not my favourite style. But there is so much love, sorrow, humanity, (the good, the bad, the ugly) slowness and beauty with sprinkles of quiet laughter between these 500+ pages that it is worth the initial stumbles.

- For now I only hope and manifest for a joyous, positive beginnings and passionate opportunities filled February. As well as the perfect time to figure out how to upload photos to Blogger again. Being gentle and caring to myself (although I’m screaming inside) are also important. 

And a kinder, compassionate, caring world, which January also sorely lacked.

Stay safe. Be kind. Everything is connected.

💚🍀💚🍀💚🍀💚🍀💚

1/3 through veganuary 2026

 

Surely I’m not the only one feeling that trying to get trough the days like everything is as ”normal” as it was (not counting the ever present climate emergency and ongoing genocides) is like playing normal in a world going completely bonkers. Taking showers, get dressed, going outside, seeing people, going to the grocery store, and for those who has to go to a workplace away from home, feels like playing a role in a theatre production. Pretty much everything feels surreal.

And then I’m not even living in a country that has gone full blown crazy (yet). But as everything is connected, as well as everyone, it still feels completely bizarre how the world has turned in 2026. And how angry, hateful, bitter and violent too many people have become.

I felt the craziness began during the pandemic. And then it has only gotten worse, conciderably worse. It’s like evil infected too many brains and then those brains, those sorry excuses for human beings, or possible the very human beings finally have stopped acting like they care. 

Have you read the Dean R. Koontz book (its name escapes me right now) where troll creatures have taken over human bodies, and are only seen by very few people, while most still see them as humans doing exceptionally evil things? And the catastrophies are suddenly stacked upon eachother in a previously unpresidented speed?

That is exactly how I feel in this day and age. 

There are so much evil and stupidity around, big and small. In times where there is plenty of information around to do better, do less harm, make wise, moral, ethic choices. And yet, people are more stupid than ever, more uneducated, more gobsmackingly ridiculous.

That said. How’s Veganuary going for you, 1/3 along the way?

What I’m extra grateful for this far (and it’s not all about the vegan food experiences) are -

- the money we were forced to borrow from a childhood friend’s mum to get us through the end of 2025 bills (and how hard it is to even realise you have to ask for help, how deeply ashamed you feel when you don’t have your finances in order at this time in life…), were simply waived with the words ”you have given us so much things and help over the years”.

That generous gesture was overwhelming. The sum may not be a very large sum in the big scheme of things, but for us right now it meant so very much.

- I finally decided to change my mobile phone provider to a new one, as their prices have increased in a ridiculous way over the past few years. And would get even worse in March. It was a long time overdue doing this, but the switch was done a couple of days ago and it works very well, so far. Let’s hope it’ll continue to do so. It will certainly save money, about 70% less compared to the previous provider.

- That I have sold some more high end garments, boots, handbags (even if not the two most expensive ones, yet) and antiques over the winter months have also helped the situation a lot). Thank you, Universe!

- Just before the New Year’s I realised that ”no, I’m going to continue to fight for my business as a sole trader and freelancer!” The feeling of having wasted my years, energy and money was overwhelming. 

Just because it has been a struggle since the pandemic years (and 2025 being the worst) it’s a new year and new opportunities will come knocking on the door!

So yes, prositordochbild.se will remain in communicative business, in the shape and form it has been since 2012, but with a more distinct sustainability focus. And no AI and much less social media.

- Also very grateful for my kind accountant who lets me pay my invoice in installments. She’s gold!

- On Jan 1st I started listen to a new podcast with sleep meditation & hypnosis for positive change. You’re supposed to listen to the same episode for at least 21 days. I most often listen to sleep meditation to get to sleep, began doing so during the pandemic, held up after a while, but started again last year since my brain was full of troublesome thoughts that kept me awake at night. 

Slept really well the first 3-4 nights but lately my (menopausal?) brain has begun keeping me awake again. Not from worries, but more because I can’t stop thinking and mulling things over. Hopefully that will change back again.

With the Swedish Veganuary weather being as it has been, my cooking and eating has mostly been about old reliable favourites. 

But for these Swedish vegan date snacks from Dave & Jon’s I got when I ordered supplements recently. I generally don’t like dates, even if raw food desserts at cafes often are very nice. But I thought the Xmassy flavours Candy Cane and Gingerbread sounded interesting so I went for it. 

And what a lovely surprise that was. Especially the candy cane flavoured ones were borderline addicted. So very good, and not the least bit of date flavour. The gingerbread ones were nice but not at all as strong flavoured or addictive.

Put an order for some of their other flavours recently, as these two were sold out, and hope they will be as the good. It’s so nice to find something vegan as a healthy-ish Swedish palmoil free snack that changes your mind about an ingredient you’ve never really fully enjoyed. 

A very nice rekindling in 2026 so far has been the Moroccan Rose Superfood Facial Oil from Dr Botanicals. We’ve been on and off friends since 2017ish. It was lovely to meet again. The smell is still fantastic. And it works well with my surprisingly basic vegan, Swedish skincare cream I began using a year ago. 

I do hope it’ll continue to work well and that the duo will continue to save me both time and money. And finally giving me the hassle free skin I’ve been trying to get back for so long now.

The Swedish organic apricot marmelade to the left is my longtime favourite. When I was a kid I remember we bought a fantastic cherry marmelade at a nearby Coop store at the country cottage. Probably Polish as they are great at cherry products.

Have searched in vain for a cherry marmelade as great as that one over the years. I thought this one might be a good, new to me, one. Claims to be ”a taste of Persia”, have no idea if they are suppose to be well-known for cherry products. 

But this so called cherry marmelade turned out to be no marmelade with no cherry flavour at all, but a very sticky, overly sweet syrup with bits of mysterious fruit. Such a disappointment. 

- On the positive plantbased food side; you can always trust a lentil soup, when so called cherry marmelade lets you down.

Onwards and upwards, Veganuary as well as 2026, let’s bring the truly good stuff only!

veganuary 2026 et al

 

I really truly wanted to start the brand new year, with all its promise of new positive beginnings and glorious opportunities, with an inspiring post on How is Veganuary going so far?

Instead we have experienced a vast amount of snow fall all over Sweeden and snow storms mainly in the Stockholm area. So no matter how beautiful it looks, it has been hellish to venture outside, or even impossible, since the snow ploughs can’t keep up with clearing the streets for walkers.

Grateful we got a food delivery prior to New Year’s as well as having a pretty full freezer, fridge and kitchen cupboard. I have even baked proper bread myself (eons ago since the last time) 

No-knead overnight rise bread rolls. They turned out great for a first try!

One of my goals this year is to  f i n a l l y  bake sourdough bread. But these fancy looking, simple baking rolls aren’t alas. Still great texture and very tasty. Perfect for breakfast. There are a gazillion recipes out there on the internetz, but I might share this one, if anyone is interested?

However disturbing and debilitating the recent snowstorms have been - it is after all an annual thing in Sweden, even if this was heavier than usual due to climate change (which really is real…) - 

nothing is as disturbing as seeing a braindead president - that he still, barely, is able to walk and doing his usual uneducated toddler talk, is a daily surprise for most of us - invading a sovereign country and kidnap its president (whom is a dictator, I know) for completely made up reasons known to us all (who care to educate outselves).

The audacity, the stupidity, the lack of functioning brain cells and decency, to do this is mindblowing. As is the lack of spine in most every other prime minister/president of other Western countries. 

I am so ashamed, but not the least bit surprised, of our Swedish, truly incompetent, government and its statements regarding this gross behaviour. 

International law is real. 

And should be upheld by any and every decent country. Period. You do not invade countries on a whim and kidnap other presidents, you imbecille orange nincompoop with cronies. 

And yes, Greenland is still and will remain a part of Europe. Period.

Given there is still an ongoing livestreamed genocide in Gaza, (and a mindboggling impunity for the perpetrators) and zero interest in facts, history or the law, it should not come as a complete surprise that the beginning of 2026 is unfolding like this. Yet it somehow is. 

The very opposite of democracy. Of safety. Of working for a better future for us all. For a livable, breathable, healthy planet.

Not to mention the Nobel Peace Prize laureate (who should never have gotten it) now saying she’ll hand it over to the orange joke… FFS. We are living in a real life Twilight Zone. With mental toddlers in charge. 

Capitalism. Colonialism. Fascism. Propaganda. The astonishing lack of decency and what used to be called common sense, solidarity and compassion. This is not what 2026 should bring.

Anyone else feeling the year certainly started in a way that get us off focus and personal goals for the year? All because senile white old men with megalomania… 

That needed to be said. 

Now it has. 

So how is Veganuary going for you? Are you eating old favourites or venturing into new recipes and ingredients?

Myself I started the year the same way I ended 2025, with this wonderful seafood inspired saffron tofu bowl of stew/soup with root vegetables. 

After that feast my kitchen has lacked a few ingredients (snow caused) to try new and exciting recipes alas. So old favorites and more basic cooking has been my Veganuary tune so far.

May the rest of the month bring more, so much more, joy and positivity, laughter and decency for us all!

💚