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.

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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.

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.

hello helsinki

A belated birthday trip has taken us to neighbouring Finland and its beautiful and inspirational capital Helsinki, hooray!

For a long weekend of walk a lot, tram hopping, design, culture and architecture spotting, 

not to mention great vegan food and fabulous fika. 

And possibly a Moomin-ishly stylish dress or shoes.

Plus if you are a small sized woolly, everyting is huge and exciting. Even a rawfood chocolate cake. Or two.

Happy weekend!

oh happy rain

Can't help but feeling it's very liberating and refreshing with these past few days of rain. 

Because as lovely as sunshine might be, it does get *a bit* suffocating after weeks of no change in weather. And the rain becomes such a relief.

Variety is the key to perfect weather. As in life.

the prosit berlin office

This was my office view for the week in Berlin that was. Life could be worse.

Because I'm on a long-term project and have to accomplish a certain amount of work every week I can't have a 100% holiday. Perhaps not ideal, but doable. And with wi-fi quality work is possible pretty much everywhere these days. We're rather spoilt, we who can work like this.

So I set aside some hours every day to do work and the rest of the time enjoyed myself and the fantasic city of Berlin. New sights, old sights and an overall lovely time.

But it may have been a lovely trip, it was also a hectic one, relaxing not so much at all. By the end of the week I had a sore throat, which of course turned in to a full blown cold. I'm grateful it didn't show its ugly face until the end of the trip.

I'm thinking it would be really really nice being able to go away like this more often, have a temporary office in a new city for a few days. Change of scenery, get inspired. Maybe one day.

breakfast at the reichstag roof in berlin

On top of the German Reichstag (parliament building) in Berlin there's a cupola - which is a symbol for democracy, transparency and also an environmental project that is a great way to lessen the building's carbon footprint.



And beside that cupola on the roof is a restaurant opened for breakfast (lunch and dinner). If you book your breakfast you don't have to stand in line with the tourists and groups that want to visit the cupola. Still have to go through the same security check as at an airport though, but if your there early its a swift process.

So we had breakfast there at 9 am. And it was admittedly frightfully early for me to get up. And it turned out to be surprisingly difficult to find a nearby parking spot, because there were so many inclosures for unknown reason.



In the end we had to park quite far away, having to walk back in the rain and cold winds. Up on the roof the view over Berlin was spectacular. And being there so early in the morning meant there were much less people around of course. It was a nice experience, but way too early for some. If not others.






The restaurant itself was really nice, open and light - although honestly the toilets smelled quite a bit, they should do something about the plumbing... - and with grand views. Too bad it was such a rainy, cold day otherwise the glass walls would have been open to the terrace.





And what about the breakfast? Well, we accidently ordered three of them for two persons so we didn't exactly leave hungry or with completely empty plates. But tastewise, nothing exciting or supertasty, just nice and forgettable. There are so many better places in Berlin to have breakfast. But the food AND the panoramic view, that's a different story.



The Reichstag is a beautiful, old building (first idea in 1871, but the buidling didn't begin until 1884 and was finished in 1894) and the cupola is a fine, young part of it (built 1995-99). It's a building with a fascinating story, a factual and practical symbol of so much that has affected the rest of the world.







I think it's a nice thing that the place is opened to the public and the symbolism of the dome, the transparency of democracy and that, in the right light, you can look down at the speaker's chamber below where politicans work.



It was an overall good experience, I wish I hadn't been so tired  though, But as it happened, by the end of the week I got a nasty cold - which I haven't had for 1,5 year now - so I guess it was all way for my body to show exhaustion.



Also on our way from the visit suddenly there were a gazillion police cars out and about, new inclosures, the traffic lights not working. Suddenly we were abruptly stopped by police, cars, cyclist and pedestrians alike. Far away in the road I noticed lots of bluelights and even more police cars. Clearly there were some sort of police escort. People started cheering and we had no idea who was coming. So I snapped away and when they passed us close by and waved right at us in the car I realised it was queen Elizabeth and prince Philip visiting.



Needless to say really, despite this unexpected Berlin experience, which granted was a bit fun, I'm still very much a republican. In the European sense of the word of course.

may day åland 2015

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

the annual toy car road trip 2015

today was the day of the annual toy car outing with a couple i only see once a year (which remind me of that post about friends for different occasions i wrote a few years ago 'insert link').

every other year they get to plan the trip and chose the destination the other we do. this year was their's and we got to see a

really cool senior apartment complex. not my cup of tea for various reasons, too modern and soulless being two, but i can see the appeal and positive sides for some.

we popped by an italian delicacy market. which focused too much on body oarts of dead animals unfortunately. but i got three interesting egg free pastas. 

had a really lovely lunch (this carrot and white cabbage salad - divine. this sourdough bread - delightful.) at an unexpected place we'd never gound on our own.

nice asparagus soup, but a bit too creamy and heavy for me. the toasted garlic/herb bread though - heavenly.

this huge wall in the restaurant made of real books and stuff and spraypainted in white. so inspirational!

i learnt that my passion for artisan, small-scale production is bigger that my uninterest in alcohol. the visit of this liqueur, punsch and whisky distillery was fascinating and lovely. and they have a MEAN alcohol-free spicy apple glögg (mulled wine).

however the bobbaloos were less than impressed: too few food breaks in general, no small sized things of wonder and worst of all, no fika!