Cats, handbags, jewellery, calligraphy & other essential things

I’ve been neglecting my blog these past few weeks I think. It’s been quite busy time for me, a lot of things have happened, both good and bad. But first of all, Prunella and Qlara seem to be adapting very well to their new home. Prunella more so, being of strong personality and inventive nature, and Qlara being a little more on the shy side of things. But adoring her bigger cousin and slowly following her around the house. So I hope there’ll be more improvement in that area soon to come.

Also Qlara’s sibling (litter-sister) Qrimhild has moved to a new home to test things out there. She moved to a family who bought a cat from me seven years ago. Unfortunately they had to put their other cat to sleep quite recently and now their seven year old, HUGE, brit boy lacks furry company. I thought they should try a while with little Qrimhild. Even if I believe it to be a good thing for her (and us) to move to a new home, I’m not sure how well she’ll adjust “on her own” in that environment. Let’s keep our fingers crossed!

It’s amazing how sort of quiet things have become with these three girls moving out! I still have my fair share of cats in the household, but still things have sort of calmed down lately. Perhaps due to the fact that Q’s mum was a bit tired of her daughters never leaving home…

Although I have done my best to fill the void, my darling Greta did get two kittens a couple of weeks ago (on my birthday! Happy birthday to me!!). The birth unfortunately didn’t go well all the way, but I’m happy to say that mum and her two blue-white bicolour boys are doing just fine now. Rupert and Rutger are theirs names and they’ve just opened up their baby blues and are simply adorable little balls of fur. In the picture they're one week old.

I’ve also had a jewellery-showing, which did go quite well. In fact so well that I’m finally able to actually buy that crazy-expensive handbag I’ve had my eyes on for such a long time… Yesterday I thought it was time to make the investment - guess what, the handbag in “my” colour had just been sold before I got to the boutique *eech*! Now the boutique will call me when the next shipment comes in… But will I be able to wait….

I’ve also been to an intensive course in the noble, and sadly neglected, art of calligraphy. Something I’ve been meaning to do for ages but never really gotten down to. But now I did and it was just such great fun, really relaxing and a way to concentrate on the “now”. Meditative really and inspiring. I do think this year’s Christmas cards will look extra good.

I’ve also been quite involved in setting up a brand new website for cats!! Well setting up is perhaps to say a bit too much, but writing articles, doing a bit of layout and most of all being the host of this new and, might I had, friendly, great part of a larger Internet community.

Everything is now ready and going up, now we’ll just have to work out a strategy to find as many new and interested new members as is possible. That’ll be a bit of work I suspect… Please have a look at http://katter.ifokus.se/ and you're very welcome to join us! Though the website is in Swedish only....

Saying goodbye is hard to do

Yesterday I took two of my little darlings (cats) to their, hopefully, new home. It certainly was with mixed feelings I did that journey... I never planned to keep them, they are cousins from my two latest litters and I haven't found any suitable new homes for them, until now. And now they are 1,5 and 1 years old. Kittens usually leave home when they are at least 12 weeks old...

Especially one of them (daughter of my big, red sire and looking just like a miniature of her dad) had found her place in our gang of four- and two-legged creatures. She's such a cool cat, with lots of style and personality. She's also a great friend of my dog (as seen on a photo below). Her cousin, who also moved now, is a more quiet and if not shy at least a bit wait and seeish kind of cat. But really sweet, and those two are great friends so I thought it was a good move if they got a new home together. I do have plenty of cats to take care of and these two I hadn't planned to keep as breeding queens or anything, but still having lived with them for over a year it's a bit sad to see them go...

Ah well, I know they'll have a good new home were they are now, and I do hope everything will turn out as their owners-to-be (after having these darlings as a test for the next two weeks to come) plan for.

In the pictures above you can see little blacktortie Qlara Quarter in the ever popular kitten basket with her black brother Quirk Quiech. And in the other picture a 3 weeks old Prunella Penshurst, even then she was stylish....

A girl's best best friend...

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....doesn't have to be diamonds but with a piece of jewellery you can never go wrong.

better late than never, here comes the dog

My cutie loafie, newly trimmed Norfolk terrier boy. Happy, energetic, cuddly, stubborn and super-friendly - Malte, 2 years old.

Chaikhana teahouse

Following an interesting recommendation at the website Matlust iFokus, I visited the Chaikhana teahouse for the first time today. The teahouse opened in 2004 and is situated in Gamla Sta'n (Old Town) in Stockholm. The café has a very calming atmosphere, the interior decoration clean and with no frills. The menu isn't very extensive, but nevertheless very mouthwatering.

My friend and I decided to share some things, one being the English Afternoon tea menu (140-170 SEK depending of the type of tea) which included a pot of tea, 3 miniature sandwiches, 2 scones with jam and whipped cream and a cake from the cake-trolley. The other being a Florentina warm toast with smoked salmon and spinach plus another pot of tea.

Everything was just so lovely (and English-like!), the salmon-spinach toast delicios, the cream tea scones yummy in my tummy (although I would have preferred strawberry jam instead of the orange we got) and the cake just wonderful; a raspberry and white chocolate mousse cheesecake with a lovely, creamy texture and just perfectly sweetened to match the crispy raspberry flavour.

And the tea tasted fantastic (with milk of course!), one pot of an orange pekoe and the other with flavoured vanilla tea.

The teahouse also, of course, sell lots and lots of teas in an extensive price-range. I bought a, for me, new sort of strong tea that I'll taste this evening. And I'm already looking forward to my next visit to Chaikhana teahouse - then I'll try a pot of the luxurious white tea, that costs up to 350 SEK per hectogram...

Their website with a great design you'll find att www.chaikhana.se

The photo show a newly trimmed, super-intelligent (?) Norfolk terrier - my 2 year old Malte who can't wait for me to get down to the important things in life i e to play with him...

Earrings from dusk til' dawn part II

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Earrings from dusk til' dawn

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I don't know why...

...but updating this blog mostly involve grading food-experiences...
This time around I'll comment on a few new places visited and tasted recently. First out is Restaurant Sjöjungfrun (Mermaid) by the sea in Hammarby dockside.

The reason we ended up there for lunch was that Coffeeclub café in Hammarby sjöstad was closed for unknown reasons that day. We also wanted to eat outdoors since the weather for a day in Stockholm in the middle of October was absolutely fantastic!

My mum choose perch with couscous, vegetables and creamy mint-sauce. I tasted the sauce and found it really good and with lots of flavour - not for the ones who don't like strong flavours and spicy food though!

I choose vegetarian pasta with spicy red tomatoe sauce and parmesan. It was quite ok in taste, and really hot, especially for a lunch alternative! But since tomatoe sauces aren't one of my favourites (not counting in the fantastic one I got at Carrabba's Italian Grill in Fort Lauderdale...heavenly!) maybe I'm not the right person to comment on this dish really...
One thing I really appreciated though, was the strong flavours and not the bland, non-salted dishes you usually get at lunch-time in restaurants.

For dessert we walked to Nytorget and 7 knop café. We had great caffee lattes and a lovely raspberry-toffee pie with whipped cream. The sweet toffee mixed perfectly with the sort of sour raspberries - yum! We sat outdoors in the sun and chatted some time away.

BIG WARNING for this café though, if you're not a fan of screaming babies in huge prams with parents who don't really know the word "consideration"...

In that case you should visit the 7 Knop at S:t Eriksgatan instead, the cakes being equally good, sadly not the coffee though...

The other day we ended up at Café Kladdkakan (in lack of a better word, Café Sticky-cake) in Gamla Sta'n (Old Town, the beautiful very center of Stockholm), Stora Nygatan 32.
It was a mixed experience, but mostly a positive one I think. I didn't find anything appealing vegetarian food-like, so to accompany our jumbo latte (served in a huge pink or lightblue ceramic mug, yummy!) and smoothie (lovely, creamy, icy raspberry) we shared a cinnamon bun (a bit dry and too sweet for my taste) and a raspberry pie (lovely home-made looking, but with with a strange bitter tang). They had so many appealing cakes, pies and puddings, so maybe something else would have tasted better... Amicable staff and a nice interior I might add.

Today is the first really chilly Autumn day here, and what fits better than a picture of some colourful, warming hats. Time to put the thinking-caps on!

Sturekatten & other cats

I finally got to meet my friend Anne the other day, and we headed to the old classic café Sturekatten (Riddargatan 4, Östermalm, Stockholm).

The place has been a favourite of mine since my high school days. The establishment is situated in two floors, with many small rooms on each floor. Each room filled with old furniture and paintings like an old granny's home. In order to get there you have to climb some steep staircases from the street.

So when you order your lovely tea and cakes or whatever you feel like, you think you've really earned that burning some calories on the way up anyway. You keep filling your teacup over and over again, chatting away and perhaps feeling like something more to eat after a while. They do serve baked potatoes and grilled sandwiches etc too.

This time I took the applepie with custard and it was as usual lovely. Accompanied by several cups of tea as it should be. We had a nice time chatting away and she actually left quite happy with one of my one-of-a-kind necklaces/bracelets, a sort of misty pink-grey number with Brazilian agate flowers, rosequartz and rodonite. One of my personal favourites I might add.

Ending with something cat-ish too, in a couple of weeks I hope to have such little darlings in my household once again, can't hardly wait!

More on Café Sturekatten here

Outings on a sunny October Monday

After my regular Monday morning appointment the other day I met my mum for lunch. We thought about Seaside café in Hammarby Sjöstad, but since we've been there quite a lot we opted for another, new place this time.

- I can really recommend a visit to "the Seaside" though, especially if the weather is good and you can enjoy your coffee and generous feta-cheese sandwich outdoors. Take the bus or the Tvärbanan and get off at the end station, then walk about 500 metres. -

So we took the Saltsjöbanan to the end station Saltsjöbaden.

- and at the same time I re-lived some of my high-school memories taking that train. I used to attend the Nacka high school and travel that way with either Saltsjöbanan or buses 5 days a week for 3 years - in the stone ages... -

There we headed for conveniently situated Stationshuset (The Stationhouse) restaurant/café/shop, owned by the well-known Swedish chef Renée Voltaire. On offer was many interesting ingredients and food "solutions" and it was difficult to choose what to have...

But in the end I took the broccoli and lentil soap, with sallad and bread. The soup in itself was very tasty and creamy, though it looked like something in a baby's nappy... The bread too was very good, though the hoummus on top was so strange and tasted like grass. The sallad was very ordinary and it tasted of far too much lemonjuice.

For dessert we shared a cinnamon bun with pistachio nuts and a banana-chocolate cake, unfortunately non of them can be recommended. The bun was very small, tasted of yeast, had no sweet cinnamon flavour at all and hadn't been in the oven the proper time. The cake looked very tasty but was very doughy (and no, a banana cake doesn't HAVE to be like this!) and the dark chocolate was very bitter and all of it lay in the bottom of the cake strangely enough. The caffe latte was nice though. The prices were very high and even if the atmosphere and personnel was nice I don't really recommend a visit.

A pity when flashy ideas and innovative thinking just end up with: "what meets the eye isn't matched with what meets the palate...."

No blog without a Pia K-photo - and what can be better than a lovely, warming mohair shawl now when the chilly Autumn has begun creeping up on us here in northern Europe?!

Fresh from the garden

Without no fancy layout - and I wonder why the pictures aren't in the order I upload them... I really hate the technical part of the computer... - I bring you some freshly taken pictures of the feline & doggy adventures in the garden on a lovely, sunny Sunday afternoon.

From top left you can see:

- my oldest cat, isn't he adorable?! His name is "Emil" (IP & CH S*Solfläcken's My True Lollipop) and he is a colourpoint Persian 14,5 years old.

- some flowers in a second bloom. Amazing, this being October in Sweden!

- S*Luddkolt's Prunella Penshurst, redspotted British shorthair girl 1,5 years old, and her friend gargoyle Gollum.

- "Malte", Norfolk terrier 2 years old, inspecting the work of the garden gargoyle mower.

- Agnes (GIC S*Rövarligan Agnes), blue-tortie and white BSH girl 2,5 years old, joining him with the inspection.

- Agnes with flower pots.

- Eulalia (IP & EC S*Luddkolt's Eulalia Eilean Donan), cream BSH 7 years old girl, with little Pelle (S*Javeliner's Pelle Svensson), creamspotted BSH boy 5 months old, enjoying eachothers company.

- And finally, Malte not being really satisfied with the gargoyle mower's work, he decides to water him...

autumn driving

Yesterday we had a little drive around a lovely autumnal part of Sweden called Södermanland. First stop was the tiny little place - and rather boring I might add... - of Flen.

I've heard about a second hand store in Flen - from my hairdresser who's a real expert on second hand/vintage findings - that's suppose to be so good. A place for great findings like old designer bags - how about an authentic Gucci bag for around 50 sek? - etc.

Unfortunately I must say it was quite a disappointment. I suppose that since it has been written about in magazines, more people have found it and if you don't live close to Flen - about 2 hrs drive southwest from Stockholm - there's no chance you can visit the store regularly for those "amazing findings".

We had lunch at a rather nice restaurant/motel in Flen called Loftet (The Loft). The vegetarian selection of food is reasonably good, their complimentary salad buffet is even better and also the home-made breads. So I opted, like I tend to, for a herbal vegetarian steak with vegetables and (as it happened, overcooked) potatoes.

We then made our way through really lovely little villages, countryside and lakeside in Södermanland. We toyed with the idea ofpopping by the so called cake-castle of Taxinge. In my humble opinion more than a tad overrated, for a really good meal (with dessert) I so do prefer the small, cosy, family-run establishment of Taxinge Krog (Taxinge Inn) close to the castle.

Instead we made a quick stop at the shop/café Mångfaldens hus (The House of Multiplicity) in Turinge. It's a big two-storey house absolutely crammed with interior decoration stuff, many niceties but also a lot of cheap looking stuff with a pricey price-tag. The café unfortuntaely didn't offer anything interesting. Was is to be a Saturday afternoon without coffee and cake? Ah, the disappointment!

When we came to the southern outskirts of Stockholm M suddenly had the bright idea of café Lyran. A fantastic looking old wooden villa from 1867 in the suburb of Bredäng - where I actually spent most of my childhood, ah in those days when it was actually idyllic to live in Bredäng... - originally built as a summer house. The villa is situated on a cliff overlooking a gorgeous view of the lake Mälaren and sitting on the veranda you can see the whole way to Stockholm city! It's just so. very. lovely...

When I was a child we often came there with my old aunties, grand-parents and so forth and I remember THE thing to eat then was either the shrimp sandwich or the yummy apple cake with custard, or perhaps both if it was a special occasion.

I also used to visit the place regularly with friends when in high school - it was in those days my inclination for afternoon tea was born - but I hadn't been there for many years now. It was really very nice to come back to that charming place, and now you're also allowed up in the old tower which has of course an amazing view!

Though, unfortunately, the cake I chose (Tosca pear cake with custard) very tasty; too sweet and it sure would have benefited from a little more toffee tasting Tosca-topping. M's big slice of the old time Swedish favourite Princess cake was really good though. And being spoiled with a big slice is always nice!

My tummy didn't act up too bad during all this eating, which I'm so grateful of. So I hope I'll be able to meet a friend for coffee/tea this week to come. I've actually having had to cancel on her twice as lately due to these problems...

And talking about this issue, the gastroscopy tests turned out to show nothing strange. Sigh. I suppose I just have to live with this and have my good days and my bad days and do the best I can with food.

The photo above has absolutely nothing to do with the autumn drive or cakes at Lyran, it's (once upon a time) three weeks old sweetie S*Luddkolt's Quintus Quex, red spotted British shorthair. Picture taken by Åke Sandström.

Raindrops keep falling on my head

Waking up to a gloomy, rainy day. Maybe the Autumn is finally here? On the other hand the flowers in the garden are still in bloom and doing just fine.

Yesterday I got a new retailer boutique for my jewellery! In Uppsala, some miles north of Stockholm. At the last minute - having heard that before anyone... - my old problem, the tummy, acted up again and my M had to stand in for me at the meeting. Obviously he did just fine, even though his skills as a driven sales manager normally don't include girly jewellery...

The problem with selling through retailers compared to direct customer selling is that the prices have to be changed, a lot... And since my jewellery isn't the cheap kind of high street store-thing to begin with, that means the potential customers have to be v e r y inclined to invest in jewellery.

So alas, I suppose somehow, one has to limit ones artistic boundaries and materials used if one wants to sell the stuff in the end - isn't that too bad?!

Or maybe it's a matter of finding t h e right customers for it. Which isn't always the easiest thing...

Above is a picture of some of my new multi-wearable necklace/bracelet in greenish colours. Very happy Autumny I think!

Analyze this

I thought I would dwell a bit on the old-time favourite subject, that's always a hot and interesting topic: relationships and the interpretation of the signals we send, conciously and sub-conciously.

Recently I got an e-mail from long-time friend who had been to a high school-reunion. It had been much fun and he'd also met up with an sort of old girlfriend of his. They'd had a lovely time at the reunion and on her initiative decided to go out for dinner some day soon. They'd spoke on the phone a few days later and it had been a long, fun conversation. Some weeks down the line the guy called the girl to see if that dinner was on, and then she suddenly after some small-talk just said "I had fun at the reunion but I prefer to leave it at that"..... The guy was really confused about her behaviour and also hurt. As he said " I just wanted to go for a dinner and have some conversation - you think I'd asked to change a person's life. I don't understand why people can't be more honest upfront - is that so difficult? Funny, I thought we were all adults."

Of course I had to put my (over) analyzing-skills to use here! - This is an occupational disease of mine.... Typically lawyer-thing, and it doesn't make things less heavy that we (my dad and I) also used to discuss and analyze a lot at home when I was younger...

Anyway, perhaps analyzing in a foreign language is like trying to be witty in English. It isn't always the easiest thing... I think that's one of THE big problems when speaking or writing in another language than your own, the sense of humour can really get misinterpreted or just completely misdirected. I see that in friends who have immigrated from abroud when speaking Swedish, it can be quite difficult when joking - or perhaps they're just boring... - and it's the same thing when speaking with foreign friends. Especially when we both don't have English as our native language...

Back to the analyzing thing then - the poor guy didn't know what hit him from the other side of the Atlantic.... - a really, really amateuristic-shrink-point of view! I think it's a far too common problem, that with what signals we do send out, what signals we think we send out, and what signals that are interpreted and received. Subconciously and conciously and all that. Maybe the girl thought that he where looking for a serious thing, with the prospect marriage and 10 children along the line. And maybe, even if I know, I know the logic says something completely different, deep down he thought of something like that. Maybe she picked up on that? And didn't want to be that one for him, wasn't ready for it or, well whatever...

"Honest up front", well that's sometimes easier said than done, if you are honest enough to say your searching for a life partner, want children or all that then you might come of as desperate or well, a bit strange I suppose (even if it's what many people do look for...). If you meet someone at a reunion (or some social thing) and get talking it's so easy to just socially say "let's meet for dinner" and mean nothing with that. Most of the times I suspect that phrase doesn't lead to anything. It's easier to just say "Fun to meet you again, good luck with your life!" and at least I wouldn't be offended by that, but somehow the other phrases are used more often...

Over the years I myself have at least have grown in that area, and when meeting new or old acquaintances at gatherings I never ever say "hey let's meet for coffee!" if I don't really mean it, and I would never ever give someone my phone-number if I didn't feel like be social with them again. In a more relaxed, daily situation with dinner/coffee you probably see if that new/old friendship is something to work with or not. But all people aren't grown up with this, I know. And even if I am in this particular situation, I'm really not (or don't feel like that anyway...) in other situations...

I do understand it hurts, but in the end (oh I know this sounds so mature and the right thing to say, and it's so much easier to give good advice to others than follow them yourself... But still there's a bit of truth in it...) it'll stop and just be a life-lesson that makes you wiser.

I think the blue friend of mine did misinterpret my analyzing a bit though. I promise I didn't mean it literally with that phrase of "marriage & ten kids". What I meant was that what we conciously think and know in our head is reasonable and "normal" (who wants to be normal?) is one thing, and what we subconciously think, feel incl our dreams is yet another. Therefor the signals we send can be confusing.

I suspect life would be a lot easier to handle if we were like cat's in mind, a lot of sleep, then eat, toilet, play and cuddling and then we'd be satisfied and wouldn't have to deal with a lot of thoughts and interaction with more or less annoying matters/people...

Yummy, yummy

Today I treated myself with a cake from the lovely little family-owned bakery Dalpojken (at Rörstrandsgatan in Stockholm). They have amongst other great cakes, buns, bread, cookies also Stockholm's best tasting "semla" (the superb Swedish special cream bun eaten during Lent)! But today I opted for the great tasting vanilla-butter wheat ring-shaped bunloaf. With a nice cuppa Yorkshire gold tea with milk - heavenly!

Although through the years I've become more and more intolerant, or rather my stomach that is, against dairy products and gluten, so in the end after having feasted on something like this I mostly have to pay for it....

I've recently done this horrible medical examination called gastroscopy (one of the absolute worst things I've ever done... But I'm really proud I managed to do it without sedatives or tranqualizers! It's rather quickly done but really awful to do...) and I hope I'll get some explanatory test-results this week.

I've been a vegetarian for ages, so I do eat healthy and varied, but now and then you really have to feast on something nice like sweets and desserts I think. An some desserts, or even bread, wheat, ice-cream etc can lead to quite a lot of pain in the end. It's not always easy to find a good substitue for wheat and other gluten-products, so it's sort of a constant battle.

Anyway, to top this day's blogging of is a nice picture of some lovely flowers I got this summer in one of my tea-cups. Tea is a big important thing in my life! Served in large cups with lots of milk...

Indian Summer in Stockholm

It's been a few days, nothing really exciting or interesting has happened in my world...

Today though, it has been a fantastic Indian Summer day and I've had a good walk in the city and a nice lunch at Café 7 Knop (close to S:t Eriks plan in the centre of Stockholm). They make a very nice, wholesome Health-plate (Hälsotallrik) with vegetables, rice, different toppings like tuna or feta-cheese, cottage-cheese and egg. Also some nice fruit-smoothies can be ordered.

And if you aren't satisfied after that meal they have several lovely cakes to choose from, like Pecan-pie, chocolate-cake, fudge-cakes etc.

What I don't recommend though, is their caffé lattes, for some reason they have always tasted really chemical and bitter.

If you do want a caffé latte, they serve good ones at for example the chains Wayne's Coffee and Coffee cup. On the other hand, the food/sandwiches at Wayne´s aren't always very good though, in my opinion. The bagels at Coffee Cup are always very tasty though!

Now to something completetly different.
If I've failed to mention that I also breed cats of the breed British shorthairs as an hobby (since 1992/93), I mention it now. In average 1 litter/year, so I try to keep it a small affair. Attending cat-shows are also a part of the hobby, well it used to be a rather large part of the hobby. But alas, through the years you get more and more chastened and realise that far too often it isn't necessarily the best cats that win...

And rather than the cats being judged it's the owners/breeders/handlers of the cats that are "judged" i e it's in large parts a mutual admiration society and it's never wrong to be really friendly with judges and be "well-connected"...

Almost everyone in this arena knows this, but oh if you mention it loudly or even try and complain about it, of course you're just a bad looser and a jealous one at that... But in my experience, if you want a hobby including a fair play, this isn't the arena you should opt for! Well, I suppose this sort of reflects other parts of society, a sense of fair play is often an odd quality than a regular one nowadays, don't you think?

Do I have to mention that I've cut down drastically at the cat-showing? Well I really have, it's no longer my cup of tea. Now and then I still show cats, just to be sort of updated on the arena. But unfortunately I don't find it fun at all really anymore, if I want to meet the breeders that have become dear friends during the years, we can meet elsewhere than at cat-shows...

Having said all that, I also have to mention that I actually showed my youngest little, cat lad last Sunday. It was his very first show and he was a sweetie and did get great comments and good judging. He is a creamspotted boy, with the pedigree name S*Javeliner's Pelle Svensson, Pelle on a daily basis.

His name is also really special to me; his breeder always name her cats alfabetically after athletics (English names). This being the P-litter, I immediately thought the Swedish nick-name Pelle would be cute. With me being totally uninterested in sports I though maybe the breeder knew of some Swedish athlet with that name? Yes, Pelle Svensson, a Swedish wrestler, in his prime even world-famous.

And, of course, after his wrestling career was over, he became a lawyer! I ask you, can there be a better name for a brit kitten for me?! Pelle is the name I wanted, Svensson is a really common Swedish surname, looking like a chubby wrestler is THE thing for a British shorthair cat, and then the lawyer connection is just too good to be true!

He is really a sweetheart, my little Pelle, and above you can see a picture of him with my older sire Knut (pedigree name being Eu Ch S*Luddkolt's Knut Knebworth, redspotted in colour) playing in the cat scratch-tree.

Having a koala-day

I e having had a very slow day, weather being cloudy and chilly and me being tired... I've just pottered around, tidying this and that getting nothing done really... Well you have to have days like that too, huh?

I should be making some new jewellery, since I'm off to some shops this week to show some of the collection and also having some showing at a few companies. But some days I just want to be a couch-potatoe and don't feel very creative nor innovative...

And for me, in the situation I'm in right now, the jewellery-making, knitting etc are just as much as I can fit in both physically and mentally. And the selling-part of it isn't really my cup of tea, so that takes such an effort on my behalf!! I wish I could have a little sales-person who could explain about, show and convince the boutiques and customers that a unique piece of Pia K Stockholm-jewellery is just what every woman need and wants!

A little sales-person who share my idea of the right boutiques and right customers for my jewellery, who loves calling up strangers on the phone selling things, who wants to run around town and country finding those shops and convincing the boutique-owners that these jewelleries are THE thing to sell. All this while I'm being creative and looking for the right pearls here and there and everywhere. Ah what a bliss, "only" having to be creative and not having to deal with the actual business of it all....

Above you can see some creative examples from Pia K Stockholm (I really don't like the layout of it, but not being a computer-wizard it'll have to do for now I guess...). Every piece is uniquely made only once (who wants to wear something "everyone else" wears??) and mostly of lovely semi-precious stones, pearls, authentic Venetian glass and vintage glass. If you find anything interesting or have questions, please feel free to contact me!

A day without koala-bears

Today I rose early - hadn't slept well at all due to a Swedish crime novel I couldn't stop reading. Actually I don't find it all that good but easily read... When I finally put it aside and turned off the lights I couldn't stop thinking about the book though, therefor I'm quite tired *yawn* today - for a doctor's appointment.

I was then suppose to go and see the cute koalabears at Skansen - only visiting for a limited time - with my mum and my older half-sister. But after having lunch at a pizzeria at Timmermansgatan, Ricardo's (does superb thin pizzas! I'm not much of a pizza fan, but when it's done well, either very thin or a good pan-pizza it's yummy:-) I just felt like going home sleeping... So alas the koalas didn't get a visit from me today.

But I'll be sure to see them before they are returned to whatever zoo they come from, I've loved koalabears for as long as I can remember. They seem to be of such sweet nature, that slow pace and cuddly nature - and of course their adorable looks!! - really does appeal to me.

When we were on our fantastic holiday to Florida last October I had the opportunity to see live manatees, and they appeal to me the same way as koalas do, apart from the size and cuddly-factor then, their gentle, slow nature combined with being vegetarians. Inspirations for a better world perhaps?

Finally at home again I was met by my very own sort of koalabear - my cuddly, friendly but not so slow natured Norfolk terrier, Malte (and for sure not vegetarian, though I wish...). After having played with his toys in the guestbed beside the computer he's now fast asleep looking simply like a cuddly toy:-)

In the picture above you can see him posing in his red-white striped D-shirt (D=dog), in badly need of a fur-cut...

Thoughts on a Swedish Sunday afternoon

Looking out of the window you can still enjoy a green and lush garden, the colourful glass lanterns hanging in the trees (from last weekends garden-party) makes a lovely addition to it. I just have to remember to take them down before the frost comes...

The photo though, shows a garden nearly as nice as mine:-), the famous garden of Sissinghurst Castle in Kent, UK. We spent a wonderful morning there in July this year, due to the fact that the rain was pouring down we had the castle and garden almost to ourselves! And the multitude of photos taken turned out really well too, despite the rain.

My cat herd also enjoy my garden, sharing it with not only flowers, bushes and trees but with a tasteful - a matter of opinion I suppose.... - bunch of garden gnomes, gargoyles, fairies and other ornaments.

Right now I'm contemplating whether to continue reading a new book I began with last night, or watching a movie while knitting yet another shawl or perhaps finish some new Pia K Stockholm necklaces... Ah, isn't it wonderful when the mind has to wrestle with such important, world-changing matters?!

Talking about books, I also finished this fantastic philosophical, crime novel last night "La caverna de las ideas"/The Cavern of ideas. You can't read very much of it at one time, you have to think and interpret a lot while reading it, but at the same time try not to think and interpret too much... It's quite nice when you have to really t h i n k while reading a crimenovel! I still marvel over it.

Girlie shawl & flower hairclips

.... was a huge success with my friend's daughter Annie, 2 years old. She never wants to wear anything in her hair says her mum, but the two little crocheted hairclips she absolutely refused to take out even when going to bed:-) And the shawl looked so very pretty, and I actually got the size perfect! Unfortunately I didn't have my digital camera with me, so the pictures taken are still in my other camera.

Before having dinner in the evening at home, we visited a café in their new hometown of Eskilstuna (Kafé Kaka = Café Cookie) who had these amazing cinnamon buns, yummy yummy and the size of a dessert plate... If you ever happen to be in the small town of Eskilstuna (150 km southwest of the Swedish capital Stockholm), I really recommend a visit to this café!

By the way, the picture doesn't show the tired girl who doesn't want to take out the hairclips, but one of my breeded cream-coloured British Shorthairs - S*Luddkolt's Angus Ardvreck.

Knitting Away

Tomorrow it's Saturday and we're off to visit a long time friend of ours. J and I studied law at Stockholm uni together and it was through her I met M years ago. But after the studies work took her to other cities while I stayed on in Stockholm and we drifted apart for different reasons. She got a daughter a couple of years ago, but I actually didn't meet that little darling until last weekend...

Anyway, I've been knitting a lot this past year, it's quite therapeutical, soothing and lovely to combine different yarn, materials, colours and models to create a personal style! I mostly make shawls in mohair and wool, but also some hats, handbags, hairclips and brooches. I used to knit cardigans and sweaters, but I seldom find them good enough or the way I want them... But the shawls I'm quite satisfied with and I use them a lot myself, give them away as presents and sell them too.

And now I've knitted this cute little thing for my friend J's daughter which I hope will fit perfectly! It would be lovely with a sort of mother-daughter thing with shawls, don't you think? As you can see, my little cat-boy (British Shorthair) Pelle Svensson also finds the shawls very appealing...

From Sweden With Love

As this will be my very first try on blogging and contribution to the blogosphere, I'm not really sure how or where to start....

But a cool picture of a very cool British Shorthair gentleman of Swedish origin can never be wrong, huh? And I promise I have more of that to show too.

Writing this it's late in the evening, the wind is blowing outside in the garden, the wind chimes are hard at work. The weather and temperature for this time of year in Sweden is really lovely, though perhaps Greenhouse-effect-unusual, and mild. One ought to make the most of it, try and enjoy the outdoors and discover new lovely areas, perhaps cafes and restaurants in Stockholm one hasn't been to before...

Anyway, with my blogging I just wish to share some thoughts on different issues like cats and the dog, travels, films, books, music, the odd food recipe, photos, everyday Swedish life, beauty products, skin care, jewellerymaking and crafts to mention but a few. Hope you'll find something of interest now and then. Welcome to my little part of the blogosphere.