this little blue-eyed light of mine and other march stories

Ztina, the epitome of a cool cat, has once again had an extensive veterinarian check-up - remember the unexpected heart scare of last May? - with odd, inconclusive and somewhat scary results. Again. But amidst it all she's a trooper, so confident and brave. Even if her facial expression is also the epitome of "How to tell if your cat is plotting to kill you".



To cut a longer story short. After giving her the heart medicine for some months last year I noticed she acted weirdly from it, like a healthy being getting unnecessary medication. I stopped giving it, as the vet had talked about possibly phasing it out, and watched her carefully. She did well the rest of the year. After New Year's I could tell something wasn't quite right. Little signs of various things that only I who have lived with her quirky features and strong personality for 7 plus years can tell, but which aren't obvious for anyone else.

I suspected it might be her heart issues had returned, but the heart was actually back to normal (cats are magic creatures), but the blood tests showed she was anemic and her kidneys were worn out. That. was. scary. news. We also checked her ears, which she's been extra protective with for a while, for no obvious reasons. A deep cleanse, but the tests showed no abnormalities. And her teeth need scaling.



There were three rough days after that vet visit, she shyed away from me, acting strange and there was zero purring (which is a tell tell sign something is seriously wrong with her. I know cats also purrs to soothe themselves when in pain and distress, but this is a very sociable cat that normally use purring as a sign of well-being). Then on Sunday she tentatively started to purr adn slowly regained her personality. But I also noticed her pupils were suddenly of different sizes. Which is quite distressing obviously.

At the vet check-up we talked about it might being neurological, a stroke, or related to her ear issue (cause unknown still). Her blood tests looked much better and she isn't anemic anymore, more tests have been taken and sent to a lab for cultivation. More medicine and a close eye kept. And hopefully there'll be a clarifying lab result in a couple of weeks to sort this out, one step at a time. Poor little blue-eyed furball.

I'm glad I have insurance, but still, veterinarian bills are expensive (and crazily enough still subject to VAT). Animals are so very important to our health and well-being, their health care should be subsidized. So much stupid and unhealthy things are subsidized in our society, while much more important things aren't. Madness.



No news on the job front yet. The latest was a friendly phone call from the recruiter last Monday wanting to know if I was still interested, and how I felt after the interview. We were now down to two potentials, with very different backgrounds apparently. But the marketing manager had been very impressed by my wide experience, which made me happy and grateful. Now it was time for an inhouse talk and then there would be a decision. Of which I'm still waiting to hear. Have contacted the recruiter again, since I obviously need to plan for my next steps whether yes or no, hopefully she'll get back to me after the weekend.



What's meant to be will be. Since I had given myself until the end of the month of March to find a new path, and this job, this process felt interesting, professional and promising, I've cooled down with other efforts for some weeks. But we're now in the last shivering days of the month M (crazy how fast this month has swooshed by!), and I don't want to waste time no more on futile endevours, on my way to finding my kind of people, so fingers, toes and paws crossed for positve news/clarifications in the first week of April!



What I will also start in April is using my Bullet Journal. I got the book on tracking my past, order my present and plan my future last week and delved into it right away. Makes so much sense, it clicks a lot with my own thoughts on various issues. It's not a light read as such, it demands a lot of thinking, so I've only read about a third of it so far. Thus the usual lists of analogue and digital kind it is still.

Anyone of you out there using the BuJo method? I still haven't met anyone (but the woman that held the workshop) who does, despite it seemingly being such a "thing".



The IKEA interior design workshop "Create your dream room" wasn't very good. The staff that held it really need to work on their enthusiasm and presentation skills. They were not the least bit inspiring alas. However, to learn about the 7 simple steps to design rooms so they work for your personal needs, that was great and super helpful. So I'm glad I went anyway. It only costed a few hours of my time.



And hadn't I gone I might have missed that the excellent IKEA sunbeds are back in stock (very fashionable with the IT colour yellow this year). Carpooled back later and snatched me one. I really do hope this won't be such a devastatingly hot and frightening summer as last year, but no matter what, lounging on a sunbed in the shade with books and music is my favourite way to spend lazy summer days anyway. Even if the bright, clean yellow soon will be covered in muddy paw prints obviously...



Talking about colours, I had waited for a call from the Marimekko store that the wonderful green skirt on my wishlist for some months finally had arrived in store. It came last week and I was pretty excited to try it one. Looked awful on me. So not my style and fit alas. Such a pity on a gorgoeus colour and quality. The  blouse in the same colour looked fab on the other hand, so I got that green gorgeousness in another shape instead. It goes so well with at least three old skirts of mine, thus I consider it a great buy.

The staff also showed me this new delightful summer pattern collection. I'm a sucker for tops and dresses with the sweetheart neckline. Decided to go back and at least try the blouse on a few days later (I'd already dismissed the dresses, foot long dresses are not my cup of tea to wear).

It didn't wowed me, too blousy and fluffy to be flattering unfortunately. But my wallet thank me very much. It probably look better on skinny and/or flatchested women. It feels good to walk away too, after trying something on and seeing it was not my thing, to actively decide, instead of just secretly coveting something and simply staying away.

Also, the staff in the Marimekko flagship store in Stockholm, they're really very nice. And honest, if something doesn't look good on you they don't shy away from saying so. And rather losing a short term sale than a long term customer relation. We had a good long talk about all sorts of design, sales and colour related things last time I went by. Which was all sorts of great. Now I just wish they could open a Marimekko Vintage store or webshop too, I'd be happy to help!



Spring has definitely sprung here now. We've had a few days with around +10 degrees C, but mostly it keeps around +5. Which I'm cautiously grateful for, and while it's lovely with sunshine after a long, dark winter, we desperately need lots of rain to refill the water emergency plants. Every raindrop counts.



I've been reading a few books lately - far from being the book worm I once was, but long term readers know I've been struggling with my reading mojo for many years now, for various reasons, so I'm very happy when I do get so engulfed in a book I finish it within less than a week - finishing the last book in the Me before You-trilogy by Jojo Moyes. It's bittersweet to say goodbye to a character you've followed for so many years, books, don't you think? But it was an enjoyable read.

Now I'm reading "The Little Shop of Happy Ever After" by Jenny Colgan - I'm attending a writer's talk with her and other female writers in May btw, which will be fun and inspiring I'm sure. It's lovely, not least for the wonderful Scottish setting (of which I desperately miss seeing again...).



I also begun reading the last book in the Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children-series by Ransom Riggs, but soon realised I couldn't remember how the prequel ended, so I need to re-read that first. It was some years since I read it, and thus so many other things to remember since. But if you haven't read the series yet, I really recommend it. Very odd, inventive, scary and magical.



I've never bought my Sonny Angels in blindpack, if you collect them and not only buy the odd one on a rare occasion it's quite costly to not know what you pay for. And the only way to be sure you get them all in a specific series is apparently to buy the series times 2, which sounds utterly ridiculous and a crazy sales gimmick. And they've brought me happiness and good times even if not in blindpack, thank you very much.

I did make an exception to the rule of no blindpack recently though, as I didn't want to miss out on the limited edition Cherry Blossom-series (and I didn't get any Valentine ones this year as they sold out in minutes for some reason). Snatched four, kept my fingers tightly crossed there would be a least three different ones... Well, instead of a cat, a bunny, a peacock, a goat or a secret Sonny, I got three goats and a secret one, a Cherry.

Not sure what to do with that result yet. Swap a couple? Or just think that being born in a year of the goat this means I'll be three times as happy and lucky with cherry on top? Time will tell.



Admittedly I didn't have waffles on the Swedish Waffle day last Monday. But I did have a vegan semla on Friday, if that counts (from new favourite, Bageri Passion). Most memorable food experience of the week that was, of the less than pleasing kind though, was the above plantbased cappuccino made with the Swedish pea-based milk Sproud. It really wasn't good.

Coffee made with oat milk or soy milk (soy milk does need a great barista to taste lovely though) are vastly superior. And as much as I enjoy various peas in food, I'm not too keen on it in milk. But at least I've tried it now. Once, but never again.



Last but not least, thank you from the bottom of my heart, March, you've been pretty amazing (mind you, minus the Ztina experience). Brimming with interesting talks, information overload and great learning experiences, colours, sunshine, fresh air, good people and mostly good food.

Welcome, April, I do hope you follow kind, brilliant and inspiring suit. I'll start your first week with picking up new and very special glasses, and two spiritizing breakfast talks (one on planning train holidays, which I'm so excited about hearing more of, as flying certainly isn't on the agenda anymore if you care about sustainability and climate change). I'm counting on you and I to have so much fun and laughter together, okey?