Woke up to this. The forecast did not mention the risk of snow right here right now. Pre-climate emergency we could expect winter to last 2 months more on these latitudes.
Now the weather is rapidly changing from day to day even. This winter have been crazier than ever. With heavy snowfall one day followed by heavy rain the next, effectively washing all that snow away.
And with these rapid temperature changes comes icy streets and roads. My trusty Icebug boots are made for walking on proper snow and ice covered ground. Not a paper thin sheet of ice, as there is nothing for the studs to grab on to.
The amount of people that fall and need medical attention has risen a lot this year. And the fact that Swedish society (or rather politicians and public authorities) think it’s a great idea to save money on snow removals does not help.
The cost of medical care and then the price the individual has to pay, not only financially, is definitely higher than a decent snow removal in the first place. Misspent public money, another prime example of it.
The last few weeks the garden has looked like this - yes I know, the clematis is up for some serious pruning when the weather gets warmer -
and on January 20 I even discovered snowdrops in the lilacs hedge. They have now been squashed by snow.
Which feels like a metaphor for the current world affairs one might say.
To snuggle indoors when possible, and as much as possible is very much on my current agenda. I can’t snooze away without a care in the world, that’s a feline feature, but I meditate, read books of various sort, and of course enjoy vegan cooking when the spot prices go down. Then I can at least keep my worries at bay. For a while.
Behold a few plantbased meals I have enjoyed lately.
From top to bottom. First one of my simple favourites - a vegan full English breakfast (sans mushrooms and sausage) with scrambled tofu.
2. Toast Skagen. Didn’t make the Skagen myself, store bought for Xmas but then we got the flu so even the modest preparation felt overwhelming. And the I lost my taste, as I always do at the end of my colds and flus.
It’s really simple to whip one together all by oneself though.
3. Rice porridge aka Christmas porridge as it’s usually referred to in Sweden. The only reason I (rather my mum, she’s not able to cook much because of her bad eyes, but this is still her territory, the rice porridge) make it so rarely (despite loving it) is the time consuming stirring for up to 1 hour…
It is possible to just let the oven take care of the work, but I didn’t think it tasted equally good when I made it in the oven. So that was a one time thing for me.
Chickpea stew with peanuts, banana and shredded coconut. It was a nice idea, but the recipe turned out called for too much sambal oelek to make it a pleasant experience. If I will make it again, possibly using tofu instead of chickpeas, I will omit most of it as super spicy food and I do not vibe.
4. On top of a hummus covered plate I put cold boiled potatoes (left over from previous day), steamed cauliflower, grated carrots and smoked tofu. A dollop of garlic sauce leftover and hoisin sauce. Plus sprinkles of sunflower, pumpkin and sesame seeds.
5. First proper cooking in February was this lovely creamy fish-like soup with saffron, potato, carrot, tofu and dill. Last time I made it was for New Year’s a couple of years ago. The recipe calls for dry white wine, but that’s not something I have at home regularly. Or ever really. So water and lemon had to do. Still a wonderful soup. And I think it’s amazing how dill makes the impression of a fish dish.
Behold My top 9 on Instagram, or rather an educated guess on my behalf as I’ve hid likes since that feature became available. Sometimes I look at the statistics though, and it’s just depressing. The decrease in likes this past year is mindboggling Not to mention new followers that are real people.
And truly astonishing compared to 5ish years ago. The algorithms are rubbish. And so is the reach these days. As I’m not the least bit interested in ’playing the game’ for better reach and more likes, it is what it is. Not much fun.
Gosh, I am so very tired of social media for a gazilion reasons. I obviously closed my former Twitter-account a few months back (and loosing all my followers from 2009), opened a Bluesky account but I really can’t be bothered about my activity there.
Twitter was so lovely in the beginning. And so was Instagram. I have always loathed Facebook and remain pretty inactive there. Have enjoyed LinkedIn a lot because of interesting content and articles, but like on IG I’m really not interested in adjusting myself to fit any ridiculous mold for better reach so my precense there doesn’t feel as rewarding as it once did either.
I’m seriously contemplating closing most of my social media accounts. They don’t give me the inspiration and joy they once did. Most are just a waste of precious time to be honest. And given I have actively decided not to have any account on several of the popular platforms it won’t feel overwhelming to actually just remove myself.
I’m in a desperate need of inspiration, mood boosts and colour after this rough winter. My hair feels more grey by the day, and I would love to do one of my hair colour boosts. The thing is it has become so tricky to dabble with now that there’s no bathtub. It’s just such an effort to make, so until the weather gets warmer and lighter I settle for the look of tired and grey.
I have also come to the stage that I can’t be bothered with neither lipstick nor cover powder or eye pencils, which have been my three must haves for so many years now.
It is not that I’ve made a decision to skip makeup, or follow any natural look-trends (I have never ever followed trends, that’s only for people with a sheep-mentality). But trying to skip powder cover seemed like an interesting thing to try when my skin improved after a year of fresh skincare products.
My cheeks still look flushed and the redness caused by rosacea isn’t gone, but at least the skin looks and feels conciderably healthier. And that’s certainly something to be truly grateful for.
The lack of eye pencil and lipstick is more down to forgetting since my make-up routine used to be short but predictable. When I stopped using the mineral powder I forget the other stuff.
Since this photo I have chopped of a conciderably chunk of my hair. It’s fascinating how that always make things feel lighter and real change possible. And if it’s a DIY it doesn’t cost a thing.
And on the subject real change. Let’s get back to where I finished the post before. My ”mentor” stumbling over a job ad on Facebook and forwarding it to me.
As she herself used to be a sales executive and running her own business the listed sales job obviously felt very reasonable. But for me with basically zero background in sales (never mind I have had to sell my services as a freelancer) the ad did not speak to me.
- All those years with M who was an experienced sales manager, and clashing more than once over the sales subject, I have shyed away from sales related jobs. Not to mention all the bad to very bad sellers you have met in various situations over the years… Ugh. -
What did however speak to me was the fact that the company looking for sellers is a smallish company within circularity, recycling and sustainability. And the fact that it’s located in my suburb within a short bus ride (and biking for those who have bikes that work of course) makes it ticking a lot of boxes for me and what I have been searching for for years now.
The website and its content vibes with me in a way I haven’t felt for eons. It’s just such an incredible match! So I promptly emailed the founder and suggested we had a chat about a cooperation. As a non-salesperson I would not apply for the seller job though.
It may be naïve of me, but given my background, my dedication to sustainability and the fact that I live nearby, I actually thought he’d jump at the chance to have chat over coffee.
A week went by.
I regretted I hadn’t enclosed my CV to the email. And I had also thought about the sales job. As I ticked some of their wishlist boxes and the fact that I would be very proud to work for them I had slowly changed my mind and decided to apply for it.
I then did a follow up email with CV to the founder and said I would try calling this week (have I mentioned how much I hate making these kind of calls?). I then went on to apply for the listed sales job.
I’m still waiting to hear something. Surely given their location and lack of general visibility emails like mine must be extremely rare. I may find the non-existing answer strategy both disappointing and rude, but I also have zero insights in what their priorities are or what current circumstances look like.
I just know I would be an amazing multipotentialite resource for the company. Surely someone MUST pick up on that?!
If nothing happens prior I guess I will have to pick up the phone by the end of the week.
Please send good vibes.
🩷❤️🩷
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