the fortnight diary of a tea-a-holic, part II

Better late than never, here's second post of (technically obviously not) the forthnight diary-thing. But who cares. Late November- December snippets it is.

First of all, a plethora of fabulous (and not so fabulous) teas from a certifiable tea addict deserve a proper post, not just a few snaps and a brief mention, right? So despite the slightly misleading title and good intentions, I'll not write about tea now.



:: Been to the movies twice, one time definitely more enjoyable than the other. Which wasn't the movie's fault but the five teenage girls who kept disturbing the movie - Fantastic beasts, the crimes of Grindelwald - by talking, fiddling with their phones, running in and out from the cinema room during the film, and then leaving a mess on the floor with popcorn and trash. Why on earth pay 145SEK to "watch" a movie when you do anyhing but watch? Plus disturbing everyone else who actually do want to watch. Parents, teach your kids manners, please!

The tricky thing is, if it's not a full theatre with lots of people sitting nearby to react, you have to either tell the disturbers to keep shut, which they most likely won't. Then you have to go out and tell the staff to intervene. Whatever way you react/act or don't, you will have missed a lot of a movie you've paid a hefty ticket price for. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

The other movie was "Mamma Mia, here we go again" which was very enjoyable . Not as great as its prequel, but still. It's fantastic that ABBA's music is still so catchy, clever and moving, it gets me every time. That blend of I want to dance - I want to sing - and then I cry a bit because I'm so impressed by what Björn Ulveaus and Benny Andersson have created, still create. And proud they're Swedes that have touched the whole world with their memorable music.



:: Sweden is full of ugly people these days, if you know the saying "Fur is worn by beautiful animals and ugly people". Because every winter is getting worse, when it comes to these nasty hats with fur pompoms and coats with fur-trims walking the streets. Mainly worn by women. Plus they dress their babies and toddlers in fur trimmed clothes too. So many animals who suffers and die for this vanity. It's shameful, infuriating and heartbreaking. In 2018, when we really should be more enlightened as a specie in general. Instead the winter streets are overflowing with the ugliest of people.

Causes for Weltschmerz everywhere.



:: I've had my first appointment with the physiotherapist. It was good to get some feedback. Which was of the both positive and negative kind. In parts the hand/arm is well on recovery, in others it seems to be a long way to go yet. But I got some more rehab instructions, including squeezing rubber balls - which is why I have a heart in my hand often these days.

Have another appointment in a month and hopefully the mobility and strength will have improved some more by then.



:: The tangible Christmas gift to myself this year was this marvelous Little My sweater, which was worn by the proprietor in one of my favourite shops in town, and I treated myself to an early gift with my alter ego. Supercosy, organic cotton turtleneck in a versatile A-line shape. A happy sweater.

What's you Christmas gift to yourself this year?



:: Now left on my wishlist for Christmas and 2019 - if you don't count the environmental conscious, animal friendly, gender equal, kind, vegan world that we all need - is a job that speaks to my heart, with my kind of people and a decent, regular paycheck.

:: Which clearly would not come from the completely bizarre interview I was at last week. At a world leading niched Swedish company, I'd never heard of beforehand. I just stumbled over the ad on LinkedIn and thought it sounded fun, the role was as global social media manager, within a field that interests me.

The warning bells started to chime when I got a mass-email to an interview with lots of suggestions of times. Add they wanted copies of a) my university degrees and... *drumroll* my high school degrees... Which could have been relevant many decades ago, now it's just... crazy.

However this level of weirdness peaked my curiosity for an interview, so I went.

I really shouldn't have bothered. Because it was one of the most unprofessional interviews I've ever been to - similar of sorts to the 2016 debacle, a case of clearly living in parallell worlds. I wasn't offered a glass of water, tea or coffee, simply ushered into a room where the guy - in my mother's age, who said he had worked all his life in big business and now offered his services where needed. He had never worked with HR. - showed images and talked about how amazing the company was, world leading, outstanding luxuary products, how much revenue and growth they had, how they only hired THE best (even if it took years to find them) yada yada. Not a single word about work environment, well-being and staff turnover.

Then it was time for tests, as usual completely daft personality tests, which have no real scientifical proof of relevance and is simply a lazy way of recruiting. I refuse to let anyone judge and value my competence from such tests, so I don't know why I ended up doing them. And clearly he hadn't read neither CV, application nor those *very important* copies of degrees.

When it was finally time for me to ask all my questions about the company and what they could offer, well then he just thanked me for the meeting and said bye. Seriously. At least I quickly asked how they work with CSR and sustainability - "I don't know, that's not something we've talked about during my 10 years here." I. was. gobsmacked.

That a company in Sweden 2018, which prides itself in being world-leading at that, doesn't take CSR seriously, that's just ungraspable. And totally off-putting.

So the next day I emailed them telling we weren't a good match since they clearly don't see the importance of social and environmental responsability. And a couple of useful links to start working on that. Not that they will, since obviously it's a company solely interest in monetary growth. It has been a privately owned company since start (in 1968) but they plan for introduction on the stock exchange next year. I don't think their lack of CSR work will be a positive aspect for that. Hope not.

I'm pretty sure they wouldn't find me to be a THE best persons-person anyway, but it felt good, really good to say a firm no before that happened. Staying true to myself and my path in life.

The quest continues, for my tribe.



:: A few weeks ago a little surprise box arrived. And in the box was this wee one. A very special pretty little bobbaloo brooch that brightened the day. Welcomed to the Scandinavian Bobbaloo Settlement by Gingerbob, because it's that time of the year. Thank you again for the kindness, D, I'm so touched.



:: If you're looking for some special (vegan and palmoil-free) chocolate pralines for yourself or as a gift I can recommend these from vegandelights.se that I got at the Christmas fair. These are pumpkin spice, delicious, but they have other flavours too.



At the fair they also co-operated with the animal rights organisation Earth for Everyone, which mainly work with rescuing stray dogs in Iran and trying to improve the complete lack of animal welfare laws there. So by chosing this chocolate you also support a much needed animal welfare work.



Now, Happy Advent Third, I hope you've had, are having, will have lots of cosy moments, hygge, candles and tea, and if possible cat snuggles galore.

the vegan ring and other little fabulous christmas fair things

There will be a part two of the last post, but let's pause that for a moment and contemplate the fact that finally this beautiful, handmade, silver ring (and its delightful ceramics ring holder) has moved in with me. Vegan. Because I care. A simple and self-evident statement of compassion, kindness and true environmental engagement.

I first saw the ring in the Instagram feed, by talented ceramic artist Kinga Kremer - yes there's a webshop and yes you can order worldwide - whose clay work I first spotted at one of my favourite vegan cafes Mahalo last year. Because beautifully glazed plates that states "Tofu never screams", brilliant. And I knew the ring screamed my name.



When she told there'll be a Christmas fair with a vegan corner in December, and that the limited amount of rings would make their debute there I knew it was a must. Yes I was the first one in line yesterday, and yes I was the first one skip jumping up the stairs and yes I was the first one at her stall saying "hi I'm here, now I want a ring!".

Since my left hand is still swollen on and off I didn't want to get a non adjustable ring for that, so opted for the right ring finger. But apparently that hand was also swollen that day, since the ring is much too big now. However it now fits the left hand middle finger instead. But luckily all fingers are vegan so that's fine by me. Also a perfect finger to make a certain gesture with I suppose.



When M was alive we used to visit 3-4 Christmas fairs every year, not really for shopping, more for the ambiance. I don't think I've been to a single fair these last few years, no need for ambiance, no urge for shopping and the best ones always seem to time-consuming to get to by public transport. I'm glad this wasn't and I'm glad I went. Not only because of the ring, but also because it was so nice to meet people I follow/following me on Instagram and have a chat. As well as meet new vegan businesses to support and follow.



I got some vegan candles - perfect for the Advent candlestick of course - nail oil and delicious vegan chocolate pralines (where the surplus goes to homeless dogs in Iran). I'll show and tell more about those companies and kind Christmas gifts in a later post soon. If you want handmade, caring, cruelty-free, environmental-friendly, useful gifts and support small business owners you might find something interesting there.



The cafe at the fair had also been taken over by vegans, which was an extra treat. I really enjoyed the spicy Persian saffron tea, and the grilled sandwich was unpretentiously nice but the saffron bun just dry and boring alas. Which made me think it's high time to bake this year's first batch of plantbased lussebullar...



All and all it was the perfect way to spend the Advent first Sunday - early arrival at the fair, spending a couple of hours there, coming home early, being happy about the fine finds, having a reasonably slow rest of Sunday, planning the week, drinking the daily cups of the tea calendar teas and watching movies under heaps of cats.

And obviously, making good use of the new vegan candles. With the usual fire mezmerized snoopervisor, Zigne. If a cat could be an arsonist, I'm pretty sure she would be, little fluffster. Her behaviour always makes me think of this song -



Which I love, not always in the mood for, but every time I hear it this powerful paragraph sticks

"All you have is your fire
And the place you need to reach 
Don't you ever tame your demons
But always keep 'em on a leash"

It may not be a theme song, but words to live by. 

So thank you, November, you were lovely (despite the lack of sun).

Welcome, December, I wish for kindness, sparkles, lights and awe (and the arm to heal and improve well), I hope you can deliver. 

Thank you ever so much in advance.

hello december

Kränku tea advent calendar of 2017 - whatever did you do all through December before you found this brilliance?

Feels like pretty much every month this year calls for a "gosh, really gosh, where did the month go??". December first is no exception. I mean, only a few shivering weeks left of this year, how did that happened? How is it even physically possible?

After 2016 being one of my life's worst years, 2017 turned out to have been one of my best. Not without struggles, roadbumps and backlashes, since life isn't meant to be that way. But all and all, a year full of amazing insights and personal growth, great jobs, fantastic people - my tribe! - conversations, laughters. If last year was more about tears than laughter, taking a day at a time, surviving, this year has been more about laughter than tears. Momentum and moving forward. Pieces of the puzzle falling in to place in seemingly serendipitous ways. The best kind of way.

And there's still one lovely month left, if you can see past the glaring consumerism, people's silly self-imposed stress, gluttony and food waste of December, it's a pretty cosy month. When you can light lots of candles, listen to Christmassy music, drink copious amounts of tea and the odd glühwein, eat vegan lussebullar - just realised I haven't posted the vegan recipe of them yet, but it's very similar to this old one, just omit the quark, dairy and egg and use oat milk instead - and just be.

Admittedly the lack of daylight and sun these past few weeks - with global warming there's less snow and with that darker days - with it getting dark at 1 pm already (I kid you not) have turned me into a semi-zombie state. And it's pretty awful. There's only as much as vitamin D supplements and an overall healthy lifestyle can do to beat that. I basically fall asleep in the sofa in front of the TV every evening, completely tied down by a gazillion cats who think I'm the best human heater in the whole wide world. And I'm so darn cold all the time, because even if it's not very low winter temperatures these days (around +/-0 C) there's some crazy clammy nastiness indoors that not even the heat pump can completely beat. I bundle up like the Michelin man and try keeping busy. Dancing helps too.

On the topic of music I've been listening a lot to Cock Robin lately. Had forgot how much I adored them in my late teens. Looking at the videos is quite embarrassing, incomprehensible and daft like videos from the 80-90ies were. Were they even cool back then? And then there's the fashion, the hair styles. Oh dear. But the tunes have aged well I think. The singer's voice is still amazing, the sense of melancholy and sense of urgency is irresistable (even if he looks like he's going to wet his pants any minute. Watch this video for proof of that.) But as a thumb rule, you should never ever watch videos from the 80ies because they always completely destroy the magic of the music.

As it is December I thought I'd make a little summary of how many of the personal and professional goals I did reach this year. On the personal, merely two, but at least the best two. The skin condition and the new recipe every week. The skin condition, which is not back to normal but still so much better. Stress and worry are most probably a big reason behind it all, and with working a lot with that this year it has at least improved conciderably. Also I believe all that sun bathing past summer played a part of improvement. Plus possibly the recent addition of the Dermalogica Ultracalming serum to my skin regime.

And the try new recipes, well I have the vegan food ambassador gig to thank for that of course. Who knew such a thing would appear late in the year and help me with a personal goal? And the three personal goals I haven't ticked, they have been replaced with other things instead. The grief recovery process trumps everything, it has been worth its weight in many chests of gold.

As far as professional goals are concerned I'm happy to report that I've ticked them all. I may not "commute to work every day", but some days I "commute" so much more instead.

Looking forward to setting meaningful goals for next year. It will be fun. Especially when you see great results from previous year.

Last but not least, when someone you haven't known for a long time seems to know you a little bit better than you know yourself. And by that also pushes you outside your comfort zone. How do you react? Of course there isn't one easy for all answer to that. As it falls in the category of pink vegan meringues - which I've come to think of as an analogy for how much humans complicate things - my reaction now is a whirlwind of emotions, bewilderment being one of them. I don't know how it even is possible, as I don't concider myself an open book. Surely not, not even if you read this blog. Nah, obviously I'm an enigma wrapped in a mystery caught in a riddle.

Yet the fact that someone has managed to decipher me, challenge me, unlock things that have apparently been dormant, it does make perfect sense. It has after all been a year of constant revelations. And as one of my best decisions of 2017 has been to trust the process, I'm doing that in this case too. It's not easy to stop being my impatient self, but it is quite liberating. And as I did make a promise to myself last year, one that I'm not about to break, something I have only told one person, it's easier to be patient, intuitive, curious and a dash pious.

It is after all my Latin derived name. Not a name in accord with my personality, but that makes it just a little more... entertaining and easier to emotionally deal with meringue-wise. Which is more... interesting than being boring. Since it's equally important to be both serious and fun, to grow, but I refuse to be boring. Both on the personal and professional arena.

Welcome, dear December, please be as awesome and amazing as you possibly can be.

goodbye november 2016

As a stark contrast to wonderful October my November has been an uninspiring blah month. The stressful mess of substitute buses, the crazy snowfall, chaos in traffic, icy streets that were so limiting (because even if one works from home it's obviously a must to get out for walks and a bit of socializing regularly. 

But the tension with trying to navigate forward on icy streets, well that's not an option if it can be avoided), the fact that Yelp suddenly shut down its operations all over Europe (so no more Yelp Stockholm events only the options to continue writing reviews and upload photos), the mad outcome of the US election, more sad news regarding climate change and the point of no return. Brooding and mourning. It has certainly been a month for an abundance of that. Reading, watching movies, cuddling cats, drinking a gazillion cups of tea has been my blues remedy, but no inspiration for blogging. Obviously. (And the Schwarzwald thoughts post will be left for another month.)

Though putting together the #november2016 for Instagram I realise it has also held some really great days and stuff. Only overshadowed by all the blah.

So - I will never again complain about reasonably rainy days, because they wash away any icy streets and aren't difficult to navigate only liberating.

The #VeganVikings week with Yelp Stockholm, Oslo and Copenhagen (at least it ended with a bang) - it was lovely. Even if I couldn't take part as much as I would have liked due to those darn substitute buses. But a vegan dinner, a lunch, a breakfast and a wonderful rawfood fika, that was sweet too.

During that week, on its worst possible day - because my bus/train was 1,5 hours delayed and her train 3 hours delayed... - I rekindled with a friend I hadn't seen for 7 (!) years. It was via her and her then boyfriend (who was a childhood friend of M) I met M all those years ago. She and I studied law together back then. It was lovely to meet up again, hopefully our contact will be much regular than once every 7 year from now on... 

- On a side note I learnt that her then boyfriend and M's childhood friend also suddenly passed away in November. Even if we hadn't had any contact for many years and he didn't come to M's funeral it was sad to hear of another too early passing. And how odd that both M and he doing it so unexpectedly and only a few months apart. This year has held so much deaths of good people. And with every passing I hear of my own sorrow surface again. - 

On an especially blah day, when even more snow fell, I decided to make a snow angel in the garden. (Things that is possible to do when you don't have a dog that has hid pooptastic secrets under the snow.) And despite my hair looking scary gray (no of course it must be snow, of course) it was so much fun. Making snow angels it's impossible to be sad.

Then on the last Sunday of the month, first of Advent, the snow unfortunately began to fall again - hello nasty, icy streets - I went to a group seance with my mum. Simply because I'm open and curious. There are so much in this world we don't know about, things we can't explain. I'm all for having a healthy sceptical attitude, there are many charlatans out there, but I also believe it's important to have an open mind. 

You are completely anonymous and whatever message you get there is no possibility whatsoever the medium could have researched you beforehand. I'm deeply grateful I went. I got a personal message, even if it wasn't a greeting from a special person but more general it was so very accurate with details I've never told anyone. I should have taken notes perhaps, but I remember the most important things. And the one thing that made me tear up once I was out on the snowy streets of Stockholm again was the detail that there's a little bright, happy dog that accompanies me. That's such an endearing, comforting notion. Little Loaf with his liquorice nose.

It was an emotional Sunday, but a very good one and it gave me more reason to really trust that everything will be alright, it really will. I will continue to work on my focus, my goals, but it is also high time for this worrying kind to enjoy herself more.

The last Sunday of November also held the purchase of a gorgeous dress. My intention was only to have a wee look at it in the Marimekko store - it's the same fantastic Pieni Pioni pattern as my coat, only in red, grey and white for a perfect winter dress - but when I tried it on it was simply to perfect to not get. Wonderful heavy viscose crepe fabric, brilliant cut. And pockets. As the coat was a symbolic birthday gift for myself, this dress is the same for Christmas. Bring on the good times.

The month was rounded off with a rare movie visit - 'Fantastic beasts and where to find them'. Loved it. A perfect simple way to end a month of much blah on a light note.

Goodbye November, you were a rough month but in hindsight a good teacher.
Hello December, please be bright, kind and awesome.

on advent fourth 2015

I always find it curious that advent fourth sometimes take place well before Christmas, but here it is.

And with a heartbreakingly ominous climate change temperature - +14 degrees C in December, on these latitudes. That's simply not right, not right at all. Poor planet and atmosphere, the human kind has not treated you well. 

This year's fourth candle is for you planet, you can most certainly thrive without humans, we can't without you.

happy lucia 2015

It has been a simple, lovely little Lucia. And third Advent. With the usual Ms Candle Snoopervisor.

The very unusual meet cute with Kalle Kamel (Charlie Camel) at the neighbourhood Christmas fair - I've been so excited to finally meet him, he lives with a camel friend in the vicinity and makes appearances at local fairs - and he was such a gorgeous, fluffy fella. Star of the day.

And the day was rounded off with one of my favourite home-cooked meals: a perfect vegan, fajitas dinner. Very fresh and moreish.

Hope your Lucia has been full of sweetness to ~

happy second advent 2015

The snoopervisor named Zigne has always been (too) fascinated by candles, from Drac-ulla to countless of close encounters of the unhealthy lighted candles kind. Always supervised by humans of course, but still, i would be nice if one could just enjoy the candles without that nose and whiskers so close by...

And true to form she really HAS to, again and again, inspect the advent candles. Which have been, since it has been an incredibly dark and gloomy week, lit quite a lot.

Hope you're having a
wonderful second advent Sunday!

chili-chocolate and fig-port mulled wine

Since it's the first advent Sunday the seasonal bobbaloos thought we should to test these flavoured mulled wines (or glögg as we say in Sweden). Or rather one. I don't like neither figs nor port but enjoy chili and chocolate so we went for that one. I think it was quite lovely. With a strong aftertaste of chocolate it could have done with more chili for a greater oomf.

But to be quite honest, the bobbaloos have a bit of a drinking problem, so they only got to pose not drink. The problem is not of the kind you might think but of the drink-coffee-or-alcohol-and-there will-be-a-state-of-Gremlin. So I try to steer them away from those beverages. Even the lowest percentage of alcohol, as in this glühwein, turn them into more than a handful. And believe you me, a rampage consisting of small sized woollies isn't something you'd like to experience.



From Swedish producer Dufvenkrooks this is low alcohol mulled wine available in supermarkets and grocery stores.

on the third advent sunday

we had a bit of a belated birthday do, for m (april), for malte (august), for me (october), afternoon tea ~ cream tea or since it was advent sunday, 'adventsfika'. any excuse to have a splendid fika is a good excuse.



i made two types of scones, savoury and the cream tea kind. i usually like the latter best, but sadly they didn't turn out well at all today. dry and dull. i changed the sourmilk (filmjölk) to soygurt and the consistency of dough was as it usually is, end result far from. will make another batch soon and hopefully it'll turn out better.

the savoury scones on the other hand turned out better than ever, light, fluffy, moist and perfect. i swapped the dairy for almond milk and accidently used twice as much butter/oil than recipe said. oops. from now on that will certainly be the way i make my savoury scones.



also made those fab polka cookies from last year. most if them is in the freezer, but we had a few of them at the do too. truly yummy cookies. do try them out.

it was a cosy and tasty sunday afternoon.
how did you spend yours?

siri and the kittens

The arrival of the kittens has been such an unusual, lenghty process, quite different from anything I've experienced as far as kitten births before. In different ways exhausting for us all. And honestly I'm not even sure it's completely over yet even. Siri is just a very brave and capable kitty mum - and me, I'm feeling more than a tad bit guilty to have put her through this labourious thing... And I worry, about this, that and then some, because that's who I am. The worrying kind.

So as I'm writing this on a Friday evening there have been two surviving kittens, the two first ones. The firstborn is quite a conondrum. S/he may look white but isn't (for that to happen one of the parents has to be white), but most probably a colourpoint (with time s/he will develop colour, exactly which colour is still unknow, on face, ears, paws and tail).

Which shouldn't be genetically possible with the father and mother in question. So ahrm, we have two options here and to be quite sure I think there has to be a paternity test involved (and a very thorough inspecting of the pedigrees fro possible hidden colour genes). Oh dear. I know I was looking forward to exciting colours, but this might be a bit too much excitement for me.

For now, after days of pretty much non-existing sleep and a lot of worry, I will just sum things up by saying the tiny ones are adorable and have seem quite content and harmonious right from start. Siri is a such a sweetheart with guts and heart. She has done a tremendous job and I now hope the weekend as well as weeks to come will only bring good sleeps and full enjoyment of two new, tiny members of the feline sort. For all of us.

Wishing you a meowy fourth Advent weekend ~

advent sunday week-list

Time for the weekly list. I'm proud to say, that even if it didn't feel like I accomplished much during the week - the wet, grey, dull blanket above is really doing its very best to dampen the spirit! But now we've had some rays of sun on two (!) different days and things feel a bit better - it seems I did.

By no means do I make these public lists to boast about how *much* I do in a week, most of us do the best we can I think, but I've found that if I make very public lists I really feel I have to start ticking things off them. If I only write them down in a notepad, as full of intention-to-do I might be while doing it, it's so much easier to slide in other directions...

So ticked off last week's list are;

~ three bags of stuff to charity Erikshjälpen, four bags of cat related things to one of the cat shelters in Stockholm (they're having a flee market next weekend) and two more for another cat shelter that will be dropped off next Friday

~ another week without snow. Yes it may be darker than usual this time of the year because of that, but really, the problems with the trains running very VERY less than smoothly during winters have been reasonable scarce (touch wood) plus no slippery, icy, nasty streets to worry about. And of course, the electrical bill is moderate.

~ the issues with the web host have been sorted. I'm working on the website. Finally. Though I'm still not all that friendly with WordPress. There are several (possibly minor, but just the same) annoying things that still needs to be sorted before I can officially launch it. But just being able to actually work on it for real - big sigh of relief.

~ and yes, it looks like (touch wood firmly) the problems we had with the registration of business name may be solved very soon. Affirmative phone calls have been made, letters have been written and posted. I am so hoping all these administrative matters will be sorted properly in the next fortnight. (And in this case  due to the special circumstances, of which I'm not going to tell at the moment but it has to do with bureaucracy that leaves a lot to be desired as far as efficiency goes, superfluous matters. Well, bureacracy often lacks in efficiency I suppose.)

~ the cowl is finished. But I need to tweak it, elevate its cuteness if you will.

~ obviously the saffron rusks got baked

~ went to a lovely Thanksgiving party - bringing a special little gift of appreciation to the hostess that I'm pretty pleased with myself - where the highlight of the food was a scrumptious butternut squash gratin. I'm now anxiously awaiting the recipe.

A *wee* fly in the ointment - pre-party, only something I was aware of and disappointed about - was the fact that the lotsa pockets dress had shrunk in the laundry (yes really, cotton apparently does that sometimes...), it didn't fit over my chest area buttoned up. Pure sadness in a dress situation. So yes, mum, the dress is all yours from now on... sigh.

~ I also managed to run a few miscallenous errands, cook a few dinners, vaccinate cats, install the Advent candlesticks and an Advent star in the window - but other than that, I don't do Christmas decorations anymore - and attend a little local Christmas fair.


For the week to come I plan to;

~ go to two different job related meetings, one definitely more pleasing than the other. But both have to be dealt with. Though with the various administrative and practical issues like the ones mentioned above, where I'm unable to really speed things up, I'm not sure what I'll bring to the meetings. Ah well.

~ have two nice lunches and one afternoon tea

~ f i n a l l y  announce the winner of the bobbaloo book - I'm so sorry it has taken this long...

~ prepare for another little blog giveaway, if the things I'm looking for is available

~ bake cookies (and possibly lussekatter)

~ work on the business website

~ start making a new cat breeder website, the old one has been up since the early 00ies and as much as it really needs a serious updating in so so many ways it hasn't been a priority since I haven't had kittens since 2007. But now that will hopefully change.

~ possibly finish that pair of Lovikka mittens

~ making the Christmas cards-list

Feels like it's a rather full week. Mostly in a good way though.

And yes, I recommend making public to-do-lists (of things okey to share), of course they're only ambitions and not set in stone, but I find that they do help my (at times wandering) mind staying focused.

advent sunday winter boy

With all the white and fluffy stuff around these winter days the cats are far from keen on outdoors activities. Lounging on the window sills above the radiators, I'm forced to unfortunately have to have turned on now and then since the heat pump can't work magic when it's well below zero degrees C, are more their winter melody.

And sitting in the windows watching the frantic play of all the birds that come and eat seeds and such in garden. I caught this mild mannered Rutger boy watching me, the loaf and the camera in garden the other day. Rutger is one of those more timid felines in this multi-felined household that rarely makes a blog-appearance. He is indeed a beautiful looking British Shorthair, a gorgeous cat, blue-white, bred by undersigned, but I fear his manners are far too wimpy for his own good. His best friend is Knut, who is quite another kind of kitty character, sadly his sassy manners have not rubbed off on Rutger.

I played with the not so good picture I took of him in the window looking out into the snowy garden and even though I admittedly am not that grand a fan of playing with pictures like this, I think it turned out quite adorable. Rather the perfect winter picture to wish you all a lovely advent Sunday me thinks ~

Happy winter Sunday!

the cat's day

Today, the first of Advent - I hope you're having a lovely one - and coincidentally one loaf dog extraordinaire's name day - the Swedish calendar screams Malte, Malte, Malte on this day of November 28. For that he got a bacon dog-chew - it is the Cat's Day in Sweden.

Instated in 1983 (by SVERAK - Sweden's Catclubs' Association) this is the day to acknowledge the perfect being that is spelled c-a-t, educating, promoting good cat keeping - every cat knows that every day is cat's day, but sadly far from every human do. Only in Stockholm there are many tens of thousands of homeless cats faring badly in harsh living conditions. Especially now, in this grim winter weather... -

and for us cat-lovers simply celebrate that we are so fortunate and blessed with the cats in our lives. Past, present and future.

on advent sunday

Just ordered the Christmas cards, which hopefully will turn out 100% satisfying and not like last year... Because when they're good, they're really very good.

Now I hope for a better week to come, than last week was. My inspiration for writing, really writing, seems to have gone awol. Wish it would return asap, since not having the writing bug or feeling the allure of words begging really makes me blue, dark blue.

Have a good week, the first of December ~

very swedish lussebuns

My own personal tradition says that I will not bake the seasons first - and possibly only. Since as much as one can find immense delight in the right kind of 'lussekatt' - 'lussebulle' it's also a, however nice, seasonal edible thing that tends to get tiresome to have too many of... - traditional Swedish saffron bun aka 'lussekatt' or 'lussebulle' until December 12th to be enjoyed on December 13th aka the Lucia Day. (Read more about that Swedish tradition here as well as here.)

I may not have a lot of musts and such around Christmas - apart from Christmas cards and Ris á la Malta. In fact I'm not a fan of the hullabaloo of Christmas. At least not the very hyped version celebrated in Sweden. But that's another story... - but baking lussebuns on December 12th, now that's something I really like to stick to.

But as it is Advent Sunday in a few days (wherever did November go, does anyone know?) I thought it would be a nice to share the recipe I use for my 'cats' (katter).

For many years I have used a recipe in a rather nice, simple and useful collection of recipe cards I once collected and the yellow buns turn out great every time. Perfect consistency, saffron flavour and very not too sweet. I have however added a couple of tablespoons of vanilla sugar to the recipe as the saffron flavour eliminated the sugar completely when not. And I tend to use less flour than recipe says.

The recipe may not produce the world's largest saffron bun, but something quite, quite satisfying and tastier that serves more. If you'd like to experience a taste of something very Swedish Christmas season, here's the recipe so you can go forth and bake yourself. The shape of the buns are pretty specific, usually an S-shape or a double S crossed over ~



Lussebullar .~.
makes about 40 buns
50 g yeast
150 g dairy free butter (I mostly use the liquid kind)
5 dl oat milk
250 g quark (this is what makes the buns really moist)
0,5 g saffron
1,5 dl sugar
2 tbsp vanilla sugar
1 tsp salt
1,4 - 1,8 L wheat flour
egg (to brush the buns with before baking)
raisins (for garnish)
:: Crumble yeast into a stand mixer bowl.

:: Melt butter, add milk heat until approx. 37°C (finger warm). Pour a small amount of the liquid over yeast and stir until dissolved.

:: Pour the rest of the liquid in bowl, add quark, saffron, sugar, vanilla sugar and salt. Then while mixer is working add as much flour you need to get a smooth dough.

:: Cover bowl and leave dough to rise for 30 minutes.
:: Prepare work surface with flour. Pour dough onto work surface. Knead it smooth and silky. Divide dough into equal portions, then shape them into S:s. Place on baking sheet, cover and let rise for about 20-30 minutes to approx. double size.

:: Brush with beaten egg, squeeze down raisins in middle of swirls.
:: Bake at 225°C for 8-10 minutes.

Let cool on rack, best enjoyed freshly baked but will freeze well.

Ruby Tuesday - Winter Wonderland

Having just celebrated Groundhog Day with what can be perceived as the world's best dessert - raspberries, good quality vanilla ice cream topped with whipped cream - there's of course a longing for warmer, brighter, greener days inside me too. But, when the winter magicians have done their job in a proper way...

...there's really no denying that we're living in a gorgeous, enchanting, picture postcard winter wonderland on these latitudes, don't you agree? And if one finds oneself at crossroads in these neighbourhoods, one just might be lucky enough to meet...

... a real, happy in red crossbreed ("vägkorsning") that will get life back on track. And then, after having experienced the appropriately seasonal Swedish outdoor adventures there's nothing that quite beat the fact that you do live in a warm and cosy house...

... where there's a new sofa cover with red rosebuds, which makes the perfect place for a snuggly snooze oblivion to the cold, harsh, white outside world.

More Ruby Tuesday