from july flowers to august powers

Apart from a scarf on my birthday and basic underwear, I hadn’t bought any new clothes for a year without making an effort really, I kind of put a few things on a wish list and forgot about most of them). 

And with a pandemic, all the pretty dresses, and a very different life with very different priorities, it's hard (for most of us) to justify clothes shopping and other luxuaries. Food, books, skincare and tea are always considered essentials obviously.

But as you know a leopard can't change her spots. And if she's human it will take time. So this was the dress on my wish list since well before corona entered and changed the scene called life as we knew it, I couldn't get out of my mind. 

So here it is, the only big treat to myself during the infamous summer of  2020. Marimekko obviously, duh. In one of my favourite prints, Pieni Pioni, the same as in the flowery happy coat of 2016. (My garden peonies may not be abundant, buy I love them and I'm no stranger to wearing them.)

What can I say, it's simply gloriously lovely. And seriously paw approved. By my trusty snoopervisors.

And hopefully there will one day, and for years after that, be time to love and wear it to other outings than the regular walking-to-the-garbage-bin-wearing-a-pretty-dress. Soon I hope, very soon. And then, at least another year will pass before I think I *need* to invest in a new piece. Fingers crossed, and not to lie. 

Right now I spy with my little discerning eye, a long walk and a vegan fika to welcome the wistful month of August in style. In flowers. With power.

Thank you July, you weren't exactly brimming with unlimited summer fun, but restrictions and a smaller life bring other insights, inward gazing and growth. So for that I'm grateful. And for the rain, all the life-giving rain, that oh so magic meet cute and the back to uni news. And books, never forget the joy that books bring. And purrfect cats in their boxes.

Welcome August, please bring sparks, light, hope, encouragement and golden opportunities. It's about high time you bring all those wishes and hopes at the beginning of this topsy turvy year called 2020 to fruition, wouldn't you agree? Many deeply, grateful thanks in advance, dear August.

thursday thoughts, july 2020

I had planned a little thoughtful post of things that has been swirling in my mind lately, but now I'm pretty empty. Apart from the fact that it's crazy that tomorrow is the very last day of July. And it's not that I've felt it's been a slow month as such. Only a very uneventful month, compared to a normal July, when the world was very different. But, let's save those wistful thoughts for tomorrow.

Today the rain has been pouring down, pretty much nonstop since 3.30 pm. Just managed to get home from a walk before it got totally crazy. But, as usual, much deserved for nature. And apparently it's suppose to be a heatwave over the weekend. Phew.

In a couple of weeks I've booked tickets /(free) for two miniature local outdoors cinema experiences. 50 *seats* only. I'm very curious how they'll do the setup, as you can come both with and without car. Sounds fun in theory at least. We'll bring a picnic and if it's a shambles we can always leave, without losing the ticket money.



For today's walk I had some specific photo plans, but before the rain began to pour the wind was crazy strong, so it was impossible to accomplish that mission. But the books were slightly more cooperative. Taking ones Haruki Murakami books for a walk, as one does... I never do (promise), but I wanted to take a different book photo, instead of my usual cats and books, fika and books, in the garden, on the sunbed, in commemoration that I've now finished the second book of Killing Commendatore. Not sure it was the best of ideas (pun! for everyone who has read the books) to take it slow with that read, contrary to book one. It kind of killed the momentum and magic somewhat. But, great book/s, magic realism is da thing!

Still, my very first read of his, "Kafka on the Shore", which I bought for the cover alone, 13 years ago, is still my number one favourite of his.



Was contacted by a recruiter of freelance content editors/managers/writer on LinkedIn the other day. Not The Dream Job - or even Dream Gig - but to keep an open mind to offers is a good thing. At least until one understands that the recruiter (fot the umpteenth time) is unprofessional, inexperienced and hasn't really read my profile properly.

And then don't want to/can't answer basic and valid questions. Oh my, how tired I am of this well spread behaviour - of which LinkedIn sadly is a serious culprit, or perhaps is a willing platform for it. How come so many people (not least recruiters) don't take any pride in their work and in being professional and decent anymore?

The search continues. And the trust in the Universe too. It's August soon. A new working year is about to begin. Now is the time for amazingness, ne s'est pas, Universe? Surely a brilliant sustainability dedicated company/organisation with likeminded my-kind-of-people must be in dire need fo a communications manager or alike right NOW? And I'm pretty sure, convinced really, that it IS me you're looking for!



Long term readers might remember those shoe buying bonanzas I had in Berlin a few summers. It seems like another life. And it very much was so really. Anyway. These green El Naturalista wedges I got in 2010. Have never liked the look or feel of wedges. Until I tried these on and they turned out to be really comfy. And as apple green is my number one shoe colour, who could walk away NOT getting them?

Wore them lots for several summers. But haven't worn them fore some years now. But as my feet have enjoyed the vegan wedges lately, I thought I'd give these a go today. The were pretty great. Once again, how enjoyable isn't it to thrift in your own wardrobe?



Slowfashion, OOTD and shoe per diem:

Organic cotton/linen sweater, Bric-a-Brac Stockholm
Denim skirt, Levis
Green wedges, El Naturalista
Re-Kånken, Fjällräven
Unikko Umbrella, Marimekko

Block colours, gott love them!

And thank you brain, thank you fingers, once again, for actually getting to work when I start. writing.

solar roof dreaming

So. Of the 97 properties in my community association it seems only one (1) have a solar (panel) roof. 

Something which has been on top of my house wishlist for years, but for many reasons I haven’t been able to install one. Yet. And after the leaky roof incident, plus everything disappointing that happened after that, that's still my first priority (alongside other annoying house related issues that have been popping up these past few years... Gah!). And a solar roof is still a dreamy dream.

Obviously, unlike for my neighbours, it has zero to do with prioritizing luxuary renovations like gutting fully functional bathrooms, kitchens etc etc etc. Instead of making slow, sustainable, reusing materials renovations, many (like Swedes in general...) of them seem to have out with the old, in with the new regular cycles (from what I've seen with constant major renovations, not upkeeps, over the almost 20 years I've been living here). It's just depressing.

The vast majority of the households also have several cars and then  there's a lot of complaining about the *lack of* parking lots, instead of everything is connected-connecting the dots of having max one car, park in the garage and use the excellent public transports (pre-pandemic). Or even better, there should be a car-pool instead, and a bicycle-pool. It's well over-due that we all look past our own selfish convenience, and simply strive to be better earthlings. Cool down, my melting brain.

Quite many are also lazy/ignorant/selfish enough to not bother with recycle/source separate garbage (something EVERY Swede is bound by law to do, but too many chose to not give a sh*t about). So pretty much every time I go to our shared garbage bin, I see things that should have been recycled and not thrown in the garbage (glass, paper, plastic, tin). Be still, my rolling eyes.

.

That has little to do with not having solar panels on your roof obviously, per se. But those issues are still part of The Problem. And just another proof that the majority in this reasonably affluent middle-class neighbourhood give f**k all about the role they play in the most important matter of our time, which we are ALL facing now: the climate emergency *insert many red exclamation marks*

I have no idea who lives in the inspiring solar house on the corner. But it made me really happy to see the dedication and insight they show (and of course, at least equally dispiriting to see the other 99% ish non-solar roofs), to be part of the solution! Might need to put a nice note in their letter-box.

And my dreaming continues.

the summer book

It's difficult to believe, I know, but I have actually begun reading "The Summer Book" (Sommarboken) by Tove Jansson (the woman behind the beloved Moomins, wonderful exhibition in October 2016) countless of times over the years, but never gotten through it. But there you are.

This summer of 2020 is THE summer to finish it though! I'm now 6 books behind on my 55 books reading goal, so I must step things up. Have nearly finished two more books, but I'd like to be before schedule asap. Thinner books is the answer, but unfortunately I have so few of them in my to read-pile. But this one is reasonably thin, so it's the next one to read. And finish this time.

What's your best summer reading of 2020 so far?

organic vegan food inspiration, part 11

Just like last time and everytime before that, the recipes (in Swedish, but easily translated) on Årstiderna's website, scroll to find Veganska matkassen's recipes (as they're organized per year/week, it might be tricky to find, if you want any help, let me know!).

The previous posts are linked at the bottom of this post.

Dish above was pretty and delicious, but rather lacked in substance and long term satisfaction. but of course, make more and add carbs is the solution to that. Oven-baked beetroots, red onion, roasted chickpeas, baby spinach and apple salad.



Creamy pumpkin gnocchi with mangold and pumpkin seeds. Lovely.



Potato salad with parsley, cucumber, aubergine and rye bread croutons. It was nice, but let's just call it a bit too much work for the satisfaction level it brought.



Italian burger with red basil, aubergine, sage and oven roasted potatoes. Most plantbased a pretty great, so was this. But you should definitely add some good dairyfree dressing or sauce.



Millet salad with tarragon, mangold, pear, selleri and squash. Good flavours but a bit whishy-washy.



Pizza with cherry tomatoes, red onion, sage, red kale and nutritional yeast. Fennel salad. Very good, as usual.



Chili sin carne with onion, carrots, selleri, borlotti beans and lime. Not a great fan of chili, so I found this pretty basic. Very filling with all the beans and root veggies.



Coconut-miso rice with tofu and fried ginger marinated zucchini-paprika. Lovely!



Special rye bread with hummus and tomato-red onion salad (svedjerågbröd, can't find a decent English translation, bu it's some old, healthy, sustainable grain). It's not exactly a proper, filling dish, but eat a couple of sandwiches and load them with hummus and you're all set.



Potato-leek croquets with quinoa-watermelon salad. Good one.



Quesadillas with black beans, carrots, tomatoes, baby spinach and nutritional yeast. Served with that delicious water melon left-overs. Delicious dish. I love making vegan quesadillas!



Butternut squash with blue peas, black cabbage, spinach and Greek basil. I'm just not a fan of bean stews, and I found this one pretty blah as well as much ado about nothing much.



This was supposed to be tahini-fried aubergine on rye bread with bulgur, cucumber and padròn paprika. But of I remember correctly the aubergine was missing in the box, and I prefer zucchini anyway and I really enjoy hummus instead of bulgur. Not a fan of padròn paprika though, I find green paprika bitter and unappealing, so is this one. So hummus and tahini-fried zucchini on rye bread with padròn paprika is this.



Pizza with tomato sauce topped with zucchini marinated in parsley and kale oil. Salad with carrots and the rest of the zucchini. It was suppose to be parsnip instead of carrots, but this was lovely too. Interesting thing to bake a simple tomato sauce pizza and add a cold topping.



This was a super-lovely dish! Warm potato salad with tomatoes, green beans, oregano, rye bread croutons and mustard vinaigrette. I preferred to over roast the potatoes instead of making a classic potato salad. It was a great move.



Daal with different peas, sweet potato, ginger, onion and topped with cucumber. Pretty good, but not wow.



Noodles with kimchi-marinated winter radish and carrots with sesame oil and gomashio salt. Lovely dish. Fried tofu would have added some extra oomph.

Until next time, bon appetite!

Previous inspiration posts -

Organic vegan food inspiration 1
Organic vegan food inspiration 2
Organic vegan food inspiration 3
Organic vegan food inspiration 4
Organic vegan food inspiration 5
Organic vegan food inspiration 6
Organic vegan food inspiration 7
Organic vegan food inspiration 8

Organic vegan food inspiration 9

Organic vegan food inspiration 10

vegan haircare

After decades of trying my way through a lot of haircare products, I have now settled for three vegan favourites. But only two are easy to buy and find at reasonable prices in Sweden, so I won't write about Aveda. That's just a very rare treat.

Paul Mitchell is a brand I've returned for many years. Mainly the Awapuhi shampoo and the Detangler conditioner (carrots, baby, carrots!).

And for some weird reason it took me a long long time to try my first Maria Nila Stockholm products. But I love them, these big green bottles have lasted me basically 1,5 years now. I've come to realize my hair prefer that I don't use both Soft shampoo AND conditioner at the same time, not Volume shampoo WITH conditioner. The hair gets either soft and flat, or frizzy wire wool. But if I Soft + Volume or Volume + Soft, then it's a perfect combo.

And you know hos much fun I've had with their colour rinse this past year - it's just very sad that 2020 didn't turn out to be as full of pink magic and green insights as I had wished and worked for... And now it's only five months left of the year that begun with so much promise and hope...



As the Soft green set is almost empty, and the pink one is about half full, I stocked up on a new set the other week, as the cats in boxes showed. I'm thinking they will last at least 1,5 years, probably longer, so at least I don't have to think about buying haircare anytime soon now.

It's a seemingly silly little thing, but these days those seemingly silly little things sorted can be a huge relief.

And as the combo pink and green is my favourite colour combination in the whole wide world, I also enjoy seeing these bottles color matching prettily on my bathtub edge. Which also is a silly little thing that makes me smile a bit.

still a hardcore cat

Six years later, the remote control coma cat still has a penchant for just that, remote controls. My darling little weirdo.

every other day, good or bad now

From a waiting game - corona times point of view, this past week has been intense. The magic, the good, the uplifting and the heartbreaking, dispiriting deeply saddening. And in between there's the really annoying and infuriating.

Today consisted of the latter. I spent hours getting to understand why on earth the annoying Swedish (well, merged with the Danish company in 2011, so it's a Nordic state-owned company since then) postal company PostNord (or as we call it in Sweden PostMord as in PostMurder because they are definitely going way out of their way to offer non-service and unhappy customers) has decided to hold my parcel with Palava facemasks and put customs fee on it, despite it being an order handmade, sold and sent within the EU. And any order from England will not have any extra fees on it until January 1 2021. Period.

First they claimed it comes with a customs declaration form on it - which I seriously doubt, since no package sent from England, Palava or not, has never ever had any customs declaration form attached. Then they lied and said it was sent from China. Seriously, they made that up, as If I'm so stupid I can't read the ID-number on the package and not been following its route from England to Sweden.

Then finally they showed me a photo of the sender's info. Which for some weird reason was a filled in customs declaration form. The CN22-form shouldn't be used within the EU. The one who sent the package from Palava must obviously have made a mistake, so that mistake must be easily fixable if you're a decent, professional, service-minded human being, right?

Well, those kind of human beings do not work at PostMord, at least not in the customer *service* department.

The customs fees must be paid, even if there isn't a customs fee that SHOULD be paid.

I've emailed Palava five times about this, I will most certainly not pay those fees (ie my order would be almost twice the price). I have done absolutely nothing wrong here and shouldn’t be penalized for someone else’s mistake. Either they will have to pay for the fee due to them using the wrong form, and the PostMord idiots refusing to bulge from the fees that legally shouldn't be, and get my package (which has been held by PostNord for 1,5 weeks, but wasn't told about until yesterday...) or the whole package needs to be returned and I want a full refund.

I will never get all those hours back, that I spent dealing with this stupidity. But seriously, imagine all the money based on wrongful claims that companies as detestable PostNord can reap if people don't question, react and say no. Sometimes you just need to chose a seemingly small battle, because idiot people and idiot companies simply shouldn't be able to get away with it, every time.

Fingers crossed that Palava will act decently in this. Some companies do, while others don't. And I've found that you never know which one will, until unnecessary things like this happen. Even companies that seem really kind and caring, can surprise you.



Went for a walk, bought some more of that excellent  vegan nicecreams from last Tuesday. Muttered to myself about mindblowing idiots all the way back home. Had a bowl of plantbased goodness and a cup of tea, felt somewhat better. Though still angry. No Friyay mood in sight.

---



Cat tee in organic cotton, People Tree (full image here)
Skirt, Marimekko
Vegan shoes, El Naturalista

savouring a good day during corona

With all the heartbreak, sadness and worries - five months of  limbo life during corona, and extra intensely yesterday - it's more important than ever to fully experience and savoring every little detail of the good days. Like day before yesterday's magic meet cute. And a day like today.



My mother desperately needed to get out of her apartment, now dramatically void of the comforting pitter patter of tiny furry feet and lovable purrs. So we went for a walk down to the suburb center again. This time the goal was simply a fika at the new location for the cafe we visited on that rainy Friday a couple of weeks ago.

The new location is this house, Villa Skoga, built in 1926. Back then my suburb, Kungsängen, wasn't a suburb of Stockholm, there was no highway, no train station, just a pretty rural area a few miles north of Stockholm. It's really fascinating to look at old photos from back then. And also quite dispiriting, given how many lovely nature areas and farmland that have been destroyed for consolidation of dwellings and industries.

A lot of nature resources have been demolished only these almost 30 years I've been living here, and looking at the pictures it's difficult to grasp all the changes, with little or no respect for nature that has happened since then. And the human species obviously still don't connect the dots, as financial growth just isn't possible in a world with shrinking and and limited resources. It's 2020, and we're still heading straight into climate catastrophy on high gear...

But I digress. It wasn't at all this I was going to write about. The climate emergency we're living in is just constantly present in my mind.



The area of Villa Skoga is obviously densely populated now, with mostly charmless block of apartments, businesses and conveniences. The villa itself is still pretty, its location not. But I think the renovation is rather nicely done. It's suppose to become a blend of offices for small companies, a coffice, cafe, and a business hub basically. It can be a good thing.

The interesting thing, for me personally, is the fact that my grandfather actually worked as a landscape gardener at Villa Skoga back in the beginning, many many many years before I was born, before everything changed. And now his grand-daughter lives here. And today she enjoyed her first fika in the garden, he once designed, but which doesn't look anything like it anymore.



The fika was however very enjoyable. I'm glad they had at least one vegan cake (sticky chocolate cake), which was very good. No dairy-free whipped cream though. And only one boring looging plantbased sandwich. Plus a vegan bowl with non-specified ingredients. Ie, a lot of room for improvement to veganize more things deliciously. We need to have a chat, I have suggestions!



I also had my first coffee in five months. Oat latte. It was nice, but the espresso needs to be stronger for perfection. As I've become so sensitive when it comes to drinking black tea, and alcohol, it's very difficult to get to sleep when I do, I have an inkling it'll be the same this evening after coffee. WOrth it though.



Apart form a good fika and a lovely long walk - no walking nazis this time - to clear the body and mind, the best thing today was the weather. On the chilly side, windy and +17C but with the warming sun it was the perfect combination of refreshing and summer.

Hot, stuffy weather just makes me feel sick these days. I find the sun so much hotter and difficult to cope with, as well as inhibiting compared to when I was a kid. Back then we didn't dealt with global warming and a collapsing planet in the same way. It was easier to breathe. Easier to live and feeling hopeful and carefree. It's truly difficult imagining how it must be to be a child today, only having a very bleak future to adapt to, given the rapid pace we're heading there. Sorry, digressing again.



All and all, it was a good day, a simple yet much needed soul soothing day to be savoured. And lo and behold, I didn't really dress like a granny toddler.



Slowfashion, OOTD and shoe per diem:

Blouse, Marimekko
Denim skirt, Levis
Vegan sneakers, Adidas
Re-Kånken, Fjällräven

And nature was green and full with pops of colours, bird twitter, insects buzzing and butterflies fluttering. It doesn't get much better than that, right? Right.

one week, two losses

I can't believe I'm writing this, but today my mother's other cat passed away too. Just one week after his brother. He suddenly started to throwing up in the middle of the night, went wobbly and week. Little mum took him to the vet in the morning (and we agreed that we shouldn't put an elderly cat through examinations and tests) and he suggested  X-rays and ultrasound - 

but after everything I had to go through with Ztina, over these past couple of years, and how costly that has been, when it was caused by her teeth, something I should think would be pretty basic for a vet to do a thorough check of before doing extensive and expensive tests, I get a distinct feeling he always try to add as much as possible to the bill, not doing things in the interest of the animals or the owners. Unfortunately. I really really really miss my old best vet, but she sadly closed her practice years ago. This one is the only one close enough to walk too. And I was really grateful for the emergency treatment Zigne got back in 2016. So it is what it is, when you don't have a car.

- for a 15 year old cat clearly in pain and not at all himself anymore. We decided the only merciful thing was to put him to sleep.

This is really an extra sh***y thing to happen right now. When life is so restricted, and beloved pets bring so much important comfort, companionship and cuddles when social life with other humans is down to about 5% of what it used to be.

Unexpectedly losing Waldemar last month, was tough, but not nearly as traumatic and unexpected as losing the only two cats one has within a week. I feel heartbroken for my mum, she's devastated.

I hope that she'll be able to land in this, and not feeling guilty about the decision (because you always feel guilty as a pet owner, whatever you decide or didn't notice or could have done differently...), and look forward to hopefully find a couple of shelter cats that need a new, caring home.

I'm not sure how the process would be amidst a pandemic with zero possibility to visit shelters, but when it's possibly they at least let elderly people adopt non-kitten cats if someone younger can sign a responsibility agreement.

Unfortunately I don't seem to have a lot of photos of Rupert uploaded to Flickr, but here's his hiding under the hosta in my garden, some months before he moved. With Pelle in the middle and my now long gone Agnes.

Thank you for all the years you spent in our lives, Rupert Royal Pavilion, and mostly for bringing  cuddles and companionship to my mum, like only kitties can, it was a joy to bring you up and get to know you. Much love.

magic meet cute and other tiny stories of the day

Remember the three TBE shots I took last year? They needed to be topped up this year and after that it's every fifth year - whether or not the planet will exist in a state that calls for TBE-refill-shots in five years, that's another story... So as things are, I was very grateful there are several mobile vaccination centers doing the rounds over the summer here.



So today I took a walk to Lidl's parking lot, which was the vaccination bus's stop for the day. When I was getting closer I saw something that, in my vivid imagination, looked like a guy who'd lay down on his back in the tall grass and was taking pictures of the trees and the sky. (I know, that's such a weird thought...).



Then suddenly a roe deer appeared on the path and stood looking at me. I was so worried she might turned back to the road instead of heading in to the woods, but she crossed the road. Moments later a little fawn appeared, and also stood looking at me for a while, before s/he followed the mama.

Pure magic. And as I was the only human around on the walking path this moment was truly mine alone, with a roe deer and her baby. Three is a magic number.

As you can only do so much with the iPhone camera, if you're not close enough - and I wouldn't dream of zooming because heavily pixelated photos are awful -, this is what I got. And with a smartphone camera the distance to the photo-object gets significantly prolonged compared to the reality, so the meet cute was quite a lot closer. You'll have to squint and imagine the beautiful sight. (Or click on the image and zoom on Flickr.)



I got the vaccination, so now I at least don't have to worry about tick-borne encephalitis - I have enough to worry about, thank you very much -, quite common in these part of Sweden. One of the judges at my previous work, 20 years ago, got it. And that man, so full of joie de vivre before, never was the same again. Living with cats and dogs also obviously makes it more likely you might get it. I love most animals (as opposed to humans, they're impossible to love as a species), I can coexist with the others, but ticks, they're just evil and only cause pain and destruction. Like too many humans I suppose.



Then I got this vegan nicecream from Danish plantbased company Naturli, at Lidl. To be honest I haven't been a fan of the brand since I first tried their vegan butter spread, awful thing that completely destroys a pleasant sandwich experience. But the flavours sounded delicious and it is palmoil-free, so we decided to try a couple of them. Little Mum and I.



Happy to report they are both absolutely delicious, so much flavour and great creamy texture with crunchy bits. I'll just have to go back and get some more tubs and also try the liquorice flavour. It's good to find new favourite products, when old ones break your heart.

As this evening also held the very last (forever? Which if so is sad, since I thought the last season definitely picked up in quality plot-wise) episode of Midsomer Murders, the dairy-free icecream was a perfect treat for that too. The Swedish summer season generally both starts and ends with MM (would be a pity if it ended in late July already, but nothing is given with global warming, the seasons just aren't what they used to be...), so maybe this treat also was a a farewell to the summer of 2020. Hope not. Fingers crossed it will be with us until early September, as the summer it once was.

With the smaller, more restricted lives most of us are currently living, most things that used to feel nonsensical and just one of those everyday things you see, do, experience without really noticing, are suddenly very meaningful, rich enough to be savoured, to feel gratitude over - or deep irritation for that matter - and write a little blog post about. 

Today was a good day. And I'm grateful, for every little bit of it. But most of all that magical meet cute, that crossed my path. Thank you, Universe, for a new treasured experience and loved memory.