my 8000th instagram photo

Behold my 8000th picture on Instagram. And befittingly enough the little illustration has a quote on shoes that's spot on me:

There are an ungraspable amount of choices in life. So sometimes I have to take them both...

Next station, 9000.

Number 5000 - summer feeling Stockholm

Number 6000 - vegetarian food at a favourite restaurant and bobbaloos

Number 7000 - where is that post?

may day åland 2015

Just a lovely day at the Åland islands. Mindfullness was the keyword. And colours. Always.

fishing cat tea strainer

It's not a new tea strainer and it has made its appearance in blog before. Bit still, it's one of my favourite strainers - the fishing cat. It makes tea moments a bit more fun, as if drinking tea wasn't fun enough. And the tea best enjoyed in a big glass, not a cup. Obviously.

This time the tea held the Dutch rooibos green cranberry I wrote about the other day. It turned out to be a lovely lovely flavourful tea. Highly recommended if you're able to snatch it up somehow. Maybe they have a webshop that ships abroad.

I bought the kitty tea strainer on Åland but I'm not sure about the brand, I think it's from Jo!e, the same brand I got the fabulous little red grater from, I'm however not able to find it on their website.

what's in a salad?

I'm grateful for having grown up in a home where vegetables and salads were a big part of pretty much every meal. Perhaps not the snazzy, inventive kinds of salads in those days, but lots of veggies just the same.

Meals with no veggies feels utterly weird and unsatisfying to me. Actually people who don't devour vegetables seem utterly weird and unsatisfying to me. 

At a cafe on Åland the pies are always served with this lovely, crunchy salad. Everytime I say "must do this at home!", so far I haven't. But at least I took a proper picture of it this time, thus I know it holds - lettuce, red cabbage, crunchy lentils (not over-cooked), black beans, radish, raw courgette, cauliflowers, carrot, paprika, tomato and parsley. No dressing, just clean flavours as nature intended.

Soon I will make my own version.

What's your favourite little side salad?
Is it served at a restaurant/cafe or do you make it yourself?
Do tell, I'd love to get some inspiration!

may day åland

A day well spent on Åland. Good for the soul, resting for the mind. Easy on the eye. And as a vegetarian you never need to worry about leaving the island hungry. Behold a wee Åland cavalcade de la snaps.

alpro soy milk and chocolate pudding

Ever since I ended my use of milk in tea (one of my best decisions ever, on many levels) and in that cutting my dairy intake drastically, I've also been using different kinds of vegetable based milk in baking and cooking which of course works a treat. But what I was looking for was THE perfect soy milk to make latte with (or, as I'm not to fussy when I'm at home and mostly drink tea anyway, and for tea honey is my friend not anything milky, on the odd occasion a nice cup of milky coffee).

My favourite place for soy latte is the coffee chain Espresso House - surprisingly good for a chain really, it also offers great places to have meetings and work with wi-fi - where they use this soy milk from Alpro. The professional package I haven't seen at the supermarket here, yet, this one I picked up on Åland (obviously a happening place in different ways). Haven't used it yet, but I hope my milky coffee at home will be nearly as excellent as the soy latte at Espresso House, no weird soy tang which is most often the case with soy latte etc.

Chocolate pudding has never been a favourite of mine, but I had to try this soy chocolate one and I have to say it's rather excellent, chocolatey and light, not very sweet, a nice treat.

Do you have any soy products or
other vegetable based milk ones that you recommend?

vegging on åland

Spent a lovely, as usual, day on Åland. You don't get very many hours there when you take a day trip on the weekend, on Saturday the shops close at 2 or 3 pm and the cafes a bit later so the weather better be good enough to enjoy the outdoors for the rest of the day, but the few hours you do have are always very relaxing and unpretentious - and the food is nice. Granted, they used to have a vegan cafe down by the lakeside which I miss, but there's still a reasonable amount of at least vegetarian options in the lovely cafes and restaurants in Mariehamn.

This was what I had in the way of food this time, which learnt me some lessons. Being that a) I'm not a nachos person, too greasy, too much somehow (I ate about 1/3 of that supersized portion) and I really want my food to be fresher and simpler,

b) you can never go wrong with a piece of åland pancake. And the soy latte was decent although I'd like the coffee to have been stronger.

c) whole wheat pizza crust is great, and to drizzle a bit of garlic mayo on top makes it even better. Although, again, I prefer my food to be fresher and lighter and I'm not a pizza person either.

d) green scrub mittens for vegetables is lovely, although I didn't get any but think it would be a really really great idea to embroider your regular wool mittens up with such a veggie message.

PS I know there may not be such a word as "vegging", but I think the world need such a word, therefore I made one DS

ten teas

one thing i can honestly say i love about autumn is the there's always tea time feeling. myself i'm working my way through some of the teas i've bought the last six months. most of them in helsinki.

some truly delightful, others not nice at all plus some just dull.

from top left to right;

~ wij garden (which one day will have a blog post of its own) rose garden tea. haven't tried this yet. sure a good rose tea is lovely, but to be honest i'm rarely in the mood for it.

~ kobbs rabarberkalas (rhubarb party). this is heavenly! subtle yet pleasing rhubarb. heart.

~ forsman toffee tea. same brand as the wonderful liquorice tea, but this is far from as good. smells nice, lacks flavour.

~ äppelfabriken's äppelfröjd (apple joy). rooibos tea, which i'm generally not a fan of, with apple vanilla cardamom flavour. just like its name it's a joy to drink. new favourite!

~ five o'clock herbata gdanska. sweet and spicy tea with hints of chocolate from (surprise) gdansk. lovely.

~ nordqvist moomin tea little my. lemon flavour. non memorable but sweet package of course.

~ nordqvist summer fruits. smells heavenly but for my palate it's a non pleasing, bitter herb tea. good thing m loves it.

~ stockmann fruit tea. from posh helsinki department store stockmann, bought it as a souvenir - i prefer edible and/or useful ones - but it's quite bland and uninteresting.

~ ekberg tea toom tea. tea from a classic helsinki café - swedish name/last name meaning 'oak mountain' - just tea, no flavour and therefore not very interesting. i'd take yorkshire tea anyday over this.

~ nordqvist moomin tea "kämpa på!" (plug away!). blueberry muffin flavour, rather nice though one has to be supercareful not to let it brew too long then it gets a tang.


so, what will be your tea favourites this autumn?
any new blends?

farewell july

thank you for being such an overall lovely month this year! offering lots of new excitements and rekindling with old ones.

we spent the last day of july on åland, a befittingly sweet end to a sweet month.

welcome august, you wistful month, please be kind ~

meet viola, the open-toed shoes

Time to show and tell a bit about the latest delightful shoes.

Or well, delightful to look at, delightful fit but alas I found that they do lack the usual elastic verve me and my feet are used to with El Naturalista shoes. That special sweet bouncy walk which is a part of the brand's charm and ergonomical features. The sister shoe, the Cork Oak wedge - and I do not like wedges in general, terribly unflattering and difficult to walk gracefully in for most - I adore. They're comfortable for long city walks and have lots of verve.



But since I do, granted, prefer a non-wedge sole I was very pleased when I saw that the new for this season almost peep-toes - and I've been longing for a pair since last hot summer - were of a more regular cork oak heel.

I put them through a tough first test, but most El Naturalista shoes have passed such a test with flying colours. Though after walking all day on city streets on Åland I can say that they may be comfortable in the no-blisters-in-sight way but certainly not in the perfect-support-for-the-sole-of-feet-way. They are more like Swedish wooden clogs, the inelastic kind, and gave me that tiresome burning sensation under feet. It wasn't a lasting burning sensation, when I got home and slipped in to the slipper/sandals all was well in the feet-world again. And my feet were fine when I woke up the day after.



But for long city walks on tar, I will never wear again. The soles simply offer too little support and elasticity. And I never thought I'd say this; what a difference a wedge make!

I guess I demand a lot from the shoes I buy, perhaps too much, one would usually never wear a pair of high heels in the same way/to the same occasion as wellies or sneakers. But in the case of these violet beauties I expected the same excellenct performance as in the wedge-sister...



This particular pair of violet shoes will fill a purpose for shorter walks in the city and possibly longer walks on softer grounds. For festive occasions and little summer outings - quite the opposite to last year's light violet pretty ones, which are suprisingly comfortable to wear for longer city walks, despite their higher heels... - they're adorable to look at - I adore their chunky 1940ies-look! -, love the deep violet colours, and fit really well. Not to mention air the toes. Now I just wish this particular almost peep-toed Cork Oak would come in the more elastic and supportive wedge model too...



Have you purchased any new summer shoes yet?
Are you happy with them?

viva circus nails

there's just something irresistable with painting the (finger)nails in different colours. colour combinations are endless. perky and happy instigating. long live circus nails!

and having bought the crazy number of five nailpolish the other day i couldn't resist trying them all out at once.

from left to right above;
opi nlp16 planks a lot (pale violet) -
opi nlt31 my address is hollywood (oldfashion pink with a hint of shimmer) -
opi nlt26 french quarter for your thoughts (pale grey) -
essie 221A fear & desire (neon-ish orange) -
essie 67 meet me at sunset (deep orange).
they all match eachother very nicely i think. a sophisticated circus perhaps? some colours work well all year around, others are very summery.

what are your favourite summer colours on nails?
perhaps different colours on finger- resp toenails?

the fabulousness of finnish rye bread

i may have emptied åland yesterday on finnish rye bread. sorry. but it really is crazy delicious and good. sure, finnish rye bread is sold in swedish supermarkets too, i've ate them since forever, but i haven't seen this particular brand here. thus had to empty the åland food store's shelves of it.

four ingredients only; wholegrain rye, yeast, salt and water. in this age of all ridiculous and nasty additives i heart that.

top with butter, vegetarian cheese and lots of cucumber. finnish fabulousness.

three nailpolish and two heinies

i give you today's best buy and fav snap in one.

three miniature opi polish (have never seen them before, certainly not available in sweden, small bottles are so much more practical!)

and



two heinies. one bobbaloo, one male human. surprisingly alike. giggleworthy galore.

we have spent another brilliant day on åland. heart.

tuesday things

The randomness of this June Tuesday;

Admittedly I was too tired yesterday too, but today hooray, I managed to get out of bed early and have those blood samples taken. It was a slightly more painful story than usual, I had more close encounters with needles than I had anticipated before it worked, behold photo proof. *Poor me*



And yes, this round of samples will also have a look at possible thyroid disorder etc. Possibly the test answers will come before Midsummer.

As I had already treated myself to all sorts of nice things past weekend the treat of the day was a soy latte. To be able to thoroughly enjoy the flavour of one is an acquired taste, wouldn't you agree? The soy milk flavour in cooking and baking isn't distinguishable. But in coffee it is. And not in a pleasant way. But I feel like a kinder earthling having one. And it is kinder to my tummy. And after all, a latte is a pretty rare treat, the switching to no dairy tea is a far greater thing which has gone surprisingly swimmingly well, I'm sure this will feel just fine one day, if not today.



For some reason I lust after yellow things this summer - the, for me, least befitting colour I never wear in clothes - so I got me a couple of comfy chairs for garden, perfect to sit and sip lemonade in my white corner under the clematis, beside the mock orange. Still contemplating having one of these sunchairs - albeit uncomfy without a pillow support for the back curve - but since it comes in pink too it's a tricky tricky choice to make...

Next week I'm hoping a very special yellow nailpolish will arrive in the mail.

Do you have a special colour you lust after this summer?



Tomorrow will hold a most pleasant day trip to Åland with the mother. I love have you can always get a bargain price - in this case zero cost for the ticket - and have a change of scenery and air going to Åland. Lovely any time of the year, but of course, spending a couple of hours on deck soaking in the sun in the summer... bliss.

The six-ish hours we have in Mariehamn will be spent walking, browsing shops, having only very nice things to eat and drink. The perfect wee getaway. The sun is said to be generous and benevolent. I'm planning to in a daredevilish way inaugurate the new open toe shoes. In case, by the end of day, feet require a patch or two, I've (befittingly) packed Moomin ones.

I hope your week so far has been a good one.
And continue to be so ~

september tea thoughts

With September, and sadly autumn already, upon us here in the northern hemisphere, I will at least drink my tea in style during these dark months to come. It has been a summer of tea purchasing and many new, lovely flavours experienced (and I haven't even tasted them all yet).

I am also a sucker for a pretty tin - old or new - so when it says special tea so-so I always think it's a neat little souvenir. Always.

The two tins above M brought home from his last business trip to China in April. He had a fine time attending a tea-ceremony sampling teas at a tea-house (oh my green envy) and bought these two tins. Both are supposedly fruit teas, I've only had one of them. As is visible it's very pretty too look at and yes it tasted lovely too, however I can deal with the fact that not every tea goes well with milk (it curdled) but I'm rather put-off by tea (or any beverage) that is overly or pre-sweetened. In this case it might be the raisins in the tea. But still, perhaps not the best of ideas.

:: The tea from legendary Berlin department store KaDeWe came in a pretty tin - I have an old one in green ceramics from ten years ago, the earl grey tea in the tin back then wasn't praise-worthy though - I am however very much not a fan or rooibos tea. So I got it for the tin, but the raspberry-vanilla rooibos inside doesn't smell half bad so maybe it will actually be drinkable.

:: Löv organic is strangely enough a French brand (as far as I can figure out from their website) though the word "löv" means "leaf" in Scandinavia (even if we spell it differently in respective country, it is the same word) and they claim to have been inspired by Scandinavian life with this tea and its packaging. Be as that may, the packaging - bright, colourful tins with different flavorus of organic teas - are extremely pleasing to the eye (and heart) and the red fruit tea with raspberry and strawberry I bought tastes fantastic.

Not available in the Stockholm parts of Sweden as yet, if the website information is correct, but their webshop is about to open soon.

:: Not a fan of Starbucks coffee - but I love their free wi-fi, when it works... - but I quite enjoy their fresh, un-sweetened, natural ice-teas on a warm summer day. That said, I got this Earl Grey tea for the tin's sake... Haven't tried it yet, Earl Grey rarely excites me, but I think it might be good for making ice-teas and such.

:: When on Åland - exactly a month ago now, on my last day of holiday, before my month of August crumbled - I found this liquorice tea from Finnish Forsman Tea. I've had a few others of their teas years ago, but they never really appealed to me. I'm not a fan of liquorice either. But, I just couldn't resist the almost tangible scent wafting from this bag. And I have to say, it has been one of the loveliest teas I've ever had. Deep and rich in liquorice flavour, pretty amazing. And soon the bag is empty already, alas.

:: Another Finnish tea brand, that I've had as a big favourite for years now and always get M to buy when he's in Finland on business, is tea bags from Nordqvist. My favourite flavour is Faithful Friend - and not only because it's cat paws on the bag - and Cheery Rainy Day, but most of their flavours are great. Plus, needless to say, I adore their colourful, perky packaging.

Again, not a fan of rooibos, but as I enjoy most of Nordqvist's flavours I thought they might possibly created something drinkable with this. My verdict is - drinkable, but certainly not something I will be buying again. Black and green teas are my cup of teas. But heart to the pretty bags.

:: I will also be enjoying some more cups of the polka tea, there's still some left in the bag.

:: And I did get myself another bag of the chocolate tea from Malmö Chokladfabrik - not only will it arrive in the mailbox of a lucky winner soon, I will get to have a few comfort cups of it myself during the months to come, hooray!

:: Kobbs is an old Swedish tea brand, they sell some lovely teas, but admittedly I don't buy them very often. When I stumbled over an organic elderflower tea of theirs in Denmark (their factory is situated there) I got it though. Elderflower is, for some reason, so very Danish to me. It will be nice to have a cup of warming "Elderflower harmony" and think of Copenhagen this winter.

:: The organic forrest fruits tea bags from Danish Fredsted have been a very nice breakfast tea, though perhaps the flavour is tad too black-currant-tasting for my personal preference.

:: Olof Viktors bakery and café in Glemminge, southern Sweden, seems to be a place people rave about. We visited there this summer and I can safely say we won't be returning. Crowded, screaming children running around, an appaling lack of vegetarian options and very much lacking the cosy, welcoming feel one would have expected with that house and surroundings. I had a nice chocolate cake, but neither the food nor the bread were worth a praise. So imho, or rather in our opinion, very much overrated and not really worth a visit.

Bought three food things there though, one of them a white tea with coconut, pomegranate, cornflower and sunflower etc. Sounds exotic and intriguing, but I have yet to open the bag. I think I will save the opening date until I've finished some of the above teas. I hope it will be much nicer than the other things offered at the café...

:: That I didn't get to take more of TeaGschwendner's lovely ice-teas with me home from Berlin - so not checked off the Berlin-to-do-list - is still something I feel a bit sad about... Thus I will save this 'bottle' for a special occasion.

:: Last, but certainly not flavour least, when in Dalarna for the Bryan Ferry concert at Dalhalla, I found this special blend called Dalhalla tea. The bobbaloos, who are also very proud of their shopping skills, insisted I'd get a bag of it. As I'm very fond of rhubarb and cream tea I concurred. It's a rhubarb, strawberry and cream green tea and oh my, it tastes like a dream. It makes for a heavenly cup of tea, with or without milk. I am glad I heard the bobbaloos' voices that told me to get it.

Sidenote: Overall, one should probably listen more to the bobbaloos. They seem to have the perfect attitude towards life and harbouring a surprising amount of wisdom in their little woolly miniscule beings.

~

So what tea will you be drinking this autumn?