happy 10th birthday, littlest ågot

 

It’s hard to believe, but Ågot is turning 10 year today. So 10 years since my very last British Shorthair litter. She still looks, and in many ways behaves, like a kitten. But yes, on April 4, 2012 she was this tiny.

And back then I thought she was a boy, like her brothers. So for the first few weeks she was called Ågaton Alnwick, instead of Ågot Alnwick (the Å-litter - Å comes after Z in the Swedish alphabet - but there are obviously no British/Scottish Å-castles thus A it was).

Since old age and sickness has sadly diminished the furry gang during these past few years her only friend is sister Ztina. But Ztina prefers to sleep, eat or occupy me, while Ågot is more active, curious and playful still. Which she manages to combine with loud cleaning sessions, yawning and stretching a lot. She is after all a pretty little kitty.

A while back I bought a sourdough loaf. It was love at first sight. But a very short love story that was, as I soon sliced the bread and put it in the freezer.

Brought back memories of her cuddling Little Loaf though. I think she’d love to have a little doggie friend again.

She likes to chase suncats in the mornings. And follows me to the bathroom for extra cuddle sessions when I’m on the loo. She inspects the bathtub (just like her daddy Pelle). As it’s still winter temperatures our garden time is very limited, so we have play time indoors instead. And sometimes even Ztina joins. She’s great at just sitting pretty too. Or cuddle up in a sleepy little fur ball and snore loudly.

She’s Ågot and she’s turning 10 today. And she is much loved. Happy birthday darlin’ and many more to come! 💙🤍❤️

PS Today also happens to be the International Carrot Day. As a proper carnivore Ågot is far from a fan of carrots, but Malte loved carrots just as much as I do. And Ågot loved Malte. So here, Malte in classic carrot style many years ago. You’re welcome. DS

 

goodbye sweet october, hello november

 

Another small, restricted month in a world where the new normal is abnormal is over. My month. October, that both begun and ended with a blue full moon A month when nature offers a bonanza of sparkling colours, in a very much less sparkling world.  

If I was religious I'd say that Armageddon is upon us. As I am an atheist, I'd say that Armageddon is upon us. Every day something new and scary, nature showing its full force (human induced obviously) or mankind rearing its absolutely ugliest head full of hate and completely void of sanity, intelligence,  kindness and compassion.

It is really really REALLY very hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel now, wouldn't you agree? 

I loved the positive vegan vibes, the innovative ideas, the entrepreneurial force of the Vegoforum last Saturday. It was both exhausting, infuriating and uplifting to plan the event. One day I may write more of what aspects were exhausting, infuriating and uplifting with it. But I'm doing my best to keep this monthly roundup post short-ish. So let's leave it at that for now. I'm already working with the two last forums for the year. Had a Friyay feeling about it last evening, so I worked late and felt very inspired. 

It's been quite consuming of mind and time, and to be honest I haven't been able to study as diligently as I had planned on with the Sustainability Science class alas. The exams will be an home essay (of which we have no details yet) that we have to hand in on December 20th at the latest. The last forum is on December 5th, then I have two weeks to really dig in on that essay. We have four optional quizzes before that, which counts for 20% of the grades. I've done one, and was pretty shocked about the results as it seems I've misconstrued quite a bit. A few of my replies were quite the opposite to the correct ones, which seems weird. But there you are. The focus need to be the essay.

On a personal level, during these extraordinary circumstances times for us all, well at least for us who aren't cavalier and take responsibility for how we behave and act, I think October has been a pretty good month for me.

Despite the ups and downs with the Vegoforum planning and executing it has also been a good thing to keep my wandering mind off worries, unhappiness and sorrows. To just focus in the now and then enjoy the walks, the fikas, running small errands, buying, cooking and eating good food. And of course, having intelligent conversations with the cats. One desperately has to concentrate on what can be done and enjoyed, and not the enormity of all the things one miss. One day at a time. And hey, say buy to another week. Another month. Seven and a half months, people, seven. and. a. half. months. And most likely at least as long before we can possibly, perhaps, maybe can get back to something similar to what used to be normal. See, I'm not very hopeful. 

Accepting and adjusting to how things are, sacrificing and coping, those aren't really mindsets who put you in the best of hopeful or positive moods. Yes, I've learnt a lot these months, of which I'm grateful for, but jeez, living in limbo, some sort of forced half life is rough on both body and mind. 

I did trip and fall at the beginning of the month (as seems to be my new annual tradition that time of the year). My left knee has been pretty sore on and off for the rest of the month, and both my wrists were for the first week or so. The reason for tripping, no obvious one at all. On rare yet regular occasions I'm clumsy and have been so since I was a kid. But the older one gets, the scarier it is, a broken arm due to slipping on a cat vomit isn't all that fun so I'm trying to be extra cautious all the time these days, to avoid situations like that. Yet, they happen anyway.

I haven't had much time to read books during October. But somehow I seem to be on the right track with my 55 books 2020 challenge anyway. I now need to finish 16 books before December 31st to reach that goal. Think I can do it?

Even if I most certainly don't relish the notion of being a year older (but we have already decided that 2020 doesn't count right?), I did enjoy the quiet birthday celebrations a lot. I also got myself a very orange tunic/dress - I though it would look snazzy and stylish, but albeit lovely it does confirm my granny toddler style. Embrace and flaunt it. Or maybe, possibly not wear the tunic with a pair of old cat leggings? (Suitable for a not so crazy cat lady.)

I got some lovely old, never used embroidered by my grandma cotton sheets and two old Maria Lang-books (as I've mentioned earlier I want to collect all of her books, 45ish of them), now I have 15. In times where you can't visit thrift stores or second hand book shops that's tricky. Of course you can get them online, but it's difficult to find a bunch of them from the same seller, and then you end up having to pay a lot of postage from several seller instead. No fun. Loved that she recently happened to get these books from a friend of hers (Malte the pug's old mum, who happened to be a librarian before she retired), read them, then gave them to me.

2020 was also the year I finally unsubscribed to the regular phone line. Most people just use their mobiles these days, but I'm not all that comfortable with just a smartphone and no other means of communicating in an emergency etc. So I've kept the phone subscription as a security measure, even if I still used the smartphone 99% of the time. Which means I've paid a hefty price for something I'm not really using, haven't used for these past couple of years.

First I planned to unsubscribe and get a cheaper provider, but then I couldn't be bothered. It's better to get another cheap and basic mobile phone as a backup instead. Now I'm thinking of upgrading my iPhone, in an ideal world something this expensive and also not very sustainably produced (but oh so good for working and photography), would last for at least 10 years. Which obviously is pure dreaming. My iPhone is 2,5 years, and it's slowing down and acting up a bit lately. A nuisance. But hopefully I can keep it as my backup phone, instead of selling it. 

Though as life isn't what it used to be (duh) the project of getting a new one, but not being able to go into a store and talk with an actual real life person and getting technical help etc, also seems quite overwhelming. I always have a screen shield on my phones, I can't understand people who don't, and they're so tricky to attach it's easier to get the store do it. Dread doing it myself. Ah well, one step at a time. Spending precious energy and time worrying about this is useless.  

I have two other technical issues that annoys the heck out of me, firstly the Swedish television broadcast not being analogue anymore which means that of you don't have a TV younger than born in 2009 you're either forced (if you think you need a TV) to get a new one altogether or buy an additional digital box. I helped my mother with getting a brand new TV in September and managed to install it myself, first time ever, and I'm quite impressed by and proud of myself for doing it. The manual wasn't very good (understatement) but I'm persistent enough to keep at it until I've figured it out. A little victory for September.

Myself I've so far settled for watching TV via the Apple TV, not all regular channels, but the most basic ones can be watched that way. I also have free subscription for a cable channel for a year, which has a lot of movies, TV-series and documentaries. Somehow it's quite liberating to more actively chose what to watch this way. Unfortunately, after watching some great series and movies initially I now have high standards for what I what to spend time watching and most options quickly fall flat. So many rubbish, generic, ridiculous series and movies out there. 

Second nuisance is the fact that for some crazy reason the community association (97 properties in my hoods) voted for installing fiber network in our neighbourhood, despite only about 30 houses had signed up for it. An overwhelming majority had not. Yet they managed to get a go ahead. And begun working two weeks ago, streets, parts of flower beds and shrubs have been mauled and they have yet to restore as promised. The sales tactics from the internet company  (with a very questionable reputation) have been quite aggressive too. They're suppose to finish the extensive work next week. And then we can all enjoy the damage they've caused the whole neighbourhood for the questionable benefit of about 30% of the residents.  

Well, this post wasn't as short and sort of sweet as I planned. I might as well have written more extensive about the exhausting, infuriating and uplifting to planning of the Vegoforum event. But one done, two more to go. There will be a perfect time to write a summary about the ups and downs once those are done.

Thank you October, my friend, you were pretty and you behaved overall benevolently. You were quite enjoyable, despite the circumstances. I'm grateful for that, sweetie.

November, I know your general reputation is dull and dark, uninspiring and overburdening. Shall we not agree on changing that this year of many many burdens already? Okay? Agreed!

And to friends and readers across the pond, VOTE VOTE VOTE. Please put a firm and active stop to this mayhem and madness that has been allowed to pervert and deeply stained the very idea of decency and democracy for these past four years. You need to heal your country. We all need to heal the world. Together.

happy birthday to me 2020

A year older, a year wiser but definitely not a year happier. But who is after such an epically miserable  year as 2020? 

So either I’ve aged 10 years instead of 1, or I’ve cancelled the aging process altogether and will save getting older to next year.

In this now small and restricted world it’s obviously been a quietly good day only (which isn’t bad) without a vegan proper cake though - no such bakeries around here and I just didn’t have the inclination to bake myself.

Little mum and I did get this feast from the thai foodtruck on Friday though, shared the fries and half a dish (two with tofu, two with Oumph), then saved the rest for today. And still have leftovers for tomorrow.

And on Thursday I had this vegan Snickers pastry (that actually IS vegan, as opposed to that time before...). Got two to go, so we at least could have something sweet and special with the tea.

With the fabulous vegan bake book I should obviously had baked myself, but with organizing the Vegoforum AND trying to study for sustainability science class as well as other stuff going and life itself on I’ve been to busy, too tired for that. I’m hoping I’ll be able to bake something this upcoming week though.

As for the digital Vegoforum on Zoom, it took place yesterday afternoon. For various reasons I had worried (as I am the worrying kind as well as have my moments of imposter syndrome) a lot about it. But I turned out so awesome that I was both touched as well as very happy. And proud of my work. And my passion. From the vegan food companies, entrepreneurs, innovators to the panel of politicians - three hours just said swoosh and we could have filled much more time. I see it as a very good birthday gift, that also were a great gift to so many others. The day was recorded, it’ll go up on YouTube as soon as I have figured out the editing. Though mostly in Swedish of course. I’ll add the link when it’s ready.

If disappointment had a face, Ågot’s would be it though. The kitties were totally miffed over how I treated the sacred Caturday yesterday. Not everyone was pleased about a day well spent. 

Two more forums to go, in November and December.  Vego och djurrätt i journalistiken (Veg and animal rights in journalism) resp Vego i politiken (Veg in politics). But as I now have a structure from setting up yesterday’s forum I expect the project managing to be somewhat smoother. Fingers crossed.

As for special treats for myself there’s this Marimekko oversized anorak. Little mum think it looks great, but ’it’s not really you, it’s too sporty!’ - well, you’ll never see me wearing it with jeans or anything else remotely sporty hence I will not sport a sporty look in it!

I also got a lovely orange tunic/dress. No pretty 55 year old like last year, which would have been a dream, but those are extremely hard to find, so there you are. 

I also did a Maria Nila colour refresh, blended the last dollop of Bright Red (as I did last October too) with Pink Pop. It’s more red than violet IRL though, but I kinda love it! Last year there was still some shimmer left in late December (almost three months later) so I’m thinking it’ll be just in time for another perky colour pop up for New Year’s.

Now I’m going to get a big cuppa, have dairyfree nicecream, watch a movie (What If always lift my spirits) and have a foot bath. 

As for an epically miserable year, it has still been filled with so many important lessons, and online meeting interesting people in a very different way (still find it quite awkward and exhausting though). And I liked my birthday treats, especially the work-related one. It was serendipitiously good actually. 

As I’m writing this on the iPhone and not the computer (because I loath how limiting that is when it comes to photo publishing on Blogger these days), I have now idea how the photos will turn out when I hit publish. Decent I hope. (Or I’ll have to tweak it computerwise later...)

Apart from REAL climate action, a vegan norm and kindness everywhere my wish for MY new (but remaining the same age) year remains the same as it has been for these past few years - a great job, with my kind of people, working for a better world. 

Happy B-day to Me, Myself and I the 2020 version!

the prettiest 55 year old

The reasons I rarely buy second hand clothes are that I'm rather particular when it comes to quality, design and fit. If the brand isn't well-known and already loved, the quality, design and attention to detail have to be outstanding. Also, if you're not a tiny size the supply tend to be considerably smaller. Plus really, it should be easy to wear and wash.

Something that ticked ALL these boxes appeared in a Facebook-group for buying-selling Marimekko the other month. (Clearly one of the rare positive things from Facebook.)

This dress. A shirt dress. With pockets. In a reasonable size. The most amazing thing though, is that it's made in 1964 in Helsinki and the only tiny visible wear and tear under one arm, after 55 years of wear and countless of washes. Obviously it screamed my name loud and clear. It moved in with me a couple of days ago, as a birthday gift for myself (today, hooray!).

A dress older than myself, in almost mint condition, with my name written all over it. A dress and a gift which obviously hasn't added to my carbon footprint. I absolutely adore it. And if it was possible to ONLY get fantastic vintage dresses like this one I would immediately go all in second hand. And what an amazing testament to the quality of the brand as well as the cotton back then. It's truly a gem of a dress, in every aspect. Another 55 stepping boldly into my life.





So what has this one year older, one year wiser, currently very redhead birthday gal been up to these past few weeks then? Well, alas nothing quite as spectacular as the hair colour.

A couple of art exhibitions that were both lovely; Edward Burne-Jones and the Pre-Raphaelites, the other Hilma af Klint & co, painting and spirituality.

A couple of events on sustainability; the work and projects done on the path of what MUST happen - a ban on single use plastic. And a sharing & circular economy meetup, this time on consumer goods (remember the super interesting one on sustainable fashion in August?). Both great in their own ways.

Had a very wonky video interview for a very interesting job (head of marketing in a foodwaste startup), but as there were 150 applicants I'm not counting on being one of the last few they call for the next step in the process. Have applied for a few other interesting positions. Currently doing some gigs in the meantime, while I'm STILL figuring out what my next step leading to the dream job shall be...

Currently reading "The Universe has your back" too. As I loved the talk between Marie Forleo and Gabby Bernstein on being a super attractor (which arrived in my inbox JUST when I needed it...).



But even if I firmly believe that what's meant to be will be etc, I find the book somewhat... very... American? I may concider myself spiritual, but obviously in an Atheist way, and all this praying is just... icky to me. But there are also things in the book I can relate to, so read on I will. And then on to "May cause miracles". And syncronicity, serendipity and not least The Flow ftw. Meditation, finally, is also on my immediate agenda.

Finally I did go through all that is needed to get an appointment at a skin specialist doctor in Sweden. Even if there has been a dramatic difference since I a) went fully vegan, and b) began using Dermalogica, and even more so after finding the exact products that work for my skin, I'm still not quite where I want to be. Plus I also want to get a medical opinion, which hopefully will be another crucial piece of the skin puzzle.

Unfortunately a little snag appeared, it turned out the doctor couldn't examine my skin with me wearing makeup though. So I had to get a new appointment in December. You might think I was stupid to not realising that myself, but well, I thought the examination would be more high-tech than that and I would have appreciated that information beforehand. Ah well, live and learn, at least I'm finally within reach of getting an answer to something that has been such a big part of my life for too many years now, and even more so these past few years since M's passing.

Apart from welcoming the prettiest 55 year old to my home, I had a super-nice pedicure yesterday, today I'll have a cosy day in the city running errands, having a special fika, buying vegan pastry to take home and enjoy during the weekend. And next Saturday I've booked a vegan afternoon tea which I'm looking forward to so very much. As November 1 also is the anniversary of when I removed the cast last year, I suppose you can see that occasion as a celebration of that too, rather than a birthday thing.

Thank you so far, October, for the good, the bad and the in between, I'm grateful for the lessons, but now I'm truly ready (again, still) for the truly great stuff. Oh how I would appreciate that. Truly.

pia's vegan power blend, god's disobedient rib, the job that wasn't meant to be and other non-foolish april stories

Hello again, there seem to have been a case of a slight blog hiatus. It's only the old "the more you have to write about the more of a struggle to get going there is".

And the more you'd want to really dive into each subject, the more overwhelming it seems. So I've decided to keep each step reasonably short - do I hear sniggers of disbelief?



Started my April by picking up my new cat frame glasses. That style has never fitted me, but I think the looked pretty cool when I tried them on. It's a new collection from Smarteyes called The New Femme Fatale, and this particular model is called Confidence. For those days when you need a little extra boost perhaps?

I remember when I first begun wearing glasses, late teens (but then I could still get away with not wearing them and see reasonably well if I squinted a bit. As I prefered to do, since glasses weren't really I back then). Then they were just terribly expensive, in fact I think one pair costed as much as my four pairs now set me back. And I still had to had my eyes checked regularly and new prescriptions, and the frames weren't of better quality, only more expensive.

Now there are a gazillion optician chains competing for us spectacle snakes's attention. Glasses are cool and have sneaked up as fashion accessories. For better or worse I suppose.



On April 1 I also inaugurated The Trousers. And I don't think I looked like an April Fool's joke. They were comfy and felt weird at the same time. Being a 99,5% wearer of dresses and skirts I guess that was a very normal reaction. But as the weather has been unseasonably cold - which I'm grateful for in these global warming of our times - they were also rather perfect. Hopefully there'll be some more days of wearing them before summer hits.

As is probably evident by now, my wardrobe is full of patterns, stripes, dots, flowers, birds... And as much as I love to mix and match colours and patterns, sometimes you just want one special pattern shine. Which, for me, is difficult. I don't even have one plain white T-shirt. True story, believe it or not.



So for months now I've been trying to add a few good quality basic neutrals and block colours. Which, for someone who is so in love with colours and patterns, is no mean feat.

But behold two gorgeous, happy pieces I think will serve me well for many years to come. The green blouse is the one from Marimekko I wrote about in the last post. It needed end incisions to fit me in more ways than one, so for the first time ever I decided to go to a tailor to have it done. Will pick it up tomorrow and I do hope it looks great.

The yellow knitted sweater (in cotton and linen) is from Bric-a-Brac. It's cosy and oversized and pretty much goes well with the same skirts as the green blouse. Now a white T-shirt, preferably V-neck, and I'm all set for having a gazillion combinations for summer.



And how about my little blue-eyed light? Well, I thought she was well on her way back to normal (normal for her, not any other cat,as she is a little odd character), the antibiotic for the not-sure-what-it-is-but-some-sort-of-bacteria-infection seem to had done its job, but she went back to not being herself again. Back to to vet, which obviously both annoys and worries me, it's not particularly fun to a) knowing something is not alright with her, but b) the vet not being able to determine, nor very strategic in ruling out things, what it can be and then charging me for it...

I thought the iron supplement for her initial anemia had worked, and it turned out she was once again slightly anemic. So back on that. So far some days are better than others. I'm glad she has a great appetite for wet food, not too keen on the usual dry food, and eats lots. But she also sleeps much more than usual and well, isn't her old self in general. I'm actually thinking it might be borrelia. It was a few years since I saw a tick on her, but then again the longterm effects of those nasties can take time. One day at a time. And patience I suppose.



I really hate early mornings. And not having to deal with rush hour behaviour on a regular basis is one of the huge benefits with running your own business mainly working at your home office. Nevertheless, breakfast seminars is clearly something I do reasonably often, and as I know they're more often than not rather enjoyable I keep attending. Despite every morning thinking"well, this seemed like a good idea at the time but now naaah...".

Thus I've been to three these last two weeks, very different, all good. One on service driven communication - great vegan breakfast -, one on Train holidays - poor vegan breakfast, it's not very sustainable with avocado and then the avocado not even being ripe... But it was a bookstore than arranged it and I suppose their main goal is to sell books, not paying attention to all those details like making the who event sustainable... -

(at which I got the book above. It's very inspirational, stories on train holidays within Scandinavia, through Europe, to Japan and Russia. And going on holidays by train instead of flying really has a HUGE impact on the environment. Still, it seems to be a long long way until it offers the same comfort and covenient booking system as flying does- And as long as governments and authorities still don't take their responsibility and make train travel the norm and not least maintain the railroads,I fear our need for travelling will continue to have an enormous impact on the planet...)

and then a seminar on making the most of your brand platform. With the best vegan breakfast by far. All vegan and very colourful. Simple as that. Just stop mollycoddling meat-eaters. It won't kill them eating plantbased, in fact quite the opposite.



In the end I didn't get the job I went through three interviews for. But really, the process was great, the feedback was brilliant. And the guy the choose in the end had a very different background than I, less creative, less social media and technical savvy, but more knowledgeable within this very specifical industry. And somehow they thought I would get bored quickly because the job wouldn't be challenging enough. But words like "had it been another company I would have chosen Pia for the job any day of the week!", I went happy and stronger from the process and that's fine, more than fine, by me.

In fact I thought the whole process was so different, professional and respectful, than most of the recruitment processes I've ever been involved in, that I wrote a piece about it on LinkedIn. Which seem to have stroke a cord within the recruitment and HR-industry. It's much nicer to tell a great story about people who know their job, than the frankly, gazillion times they don't. I could write a thesis about HR people and recruiters with zero respect for the candidates and as much professionalism as my thumb. Alas I can only write a small piece on the positive experience, but that is on the other hand much nicer to do. Dare to compliment.



So back to, if not square one, at least another square than I had planned to be on April 1st. Still looking for the perfect job, and my kind of people. I KNOW it's out there, that they are out there. Though in what shape and form remains unknown still. For now I'm tinkering on a reversed job-ad for LinkedIn that I want to have up and running this week.



My mum's birthday is coming up during Easter - and this Wednesday, three years ago M passed away and his birthday would have been on the 19, but instead his funeral was on the 20th, so that might be the reason my mood is swinging from high to low currently... - and I really want to make Easter happy again this year. Let's make Easter great again.

I'm getting her a blue Kånken, which was the first colour she had when I was a child, and we're having vegan brunch. The problem with the blue Kånken though, is that it now comes in almost a gazillion versions. It took me a long time to chose, and far from sure I made the perfect choice I thought we could go back and possibly swap it for another before her birthday so I showed it to her the other day. And as cute as it may be, we will indeed swap it for another type this week.



At my boring bus stop there's a large flower bed that last year was full of purple crocuses in spring that then turned into red tulips. It's just gorgeous and so mood lifting. And no photo can make it justice, but here's a glimpse of the gorgeousness anyway.

I've just finished reading the BulletJournal-book, it took a while since it needs one's full attention. It was great, I could relate to a lot of things, others less. But the main thing is that now I'm ready to start getting real with my own BuJo, and adapt it to my own need and wants and plans. And it will not be an embellished version, I like to keep it simple and effective (hopefully).



The littlest one, Ågot, turned 7 last week. It's hard to believe since she definitely looks like a kitten still. And seven years, how much that have happened during those years..., since she was born with her brothers and I thought she was a boy too.



Theatre isn't usually my cup of cultural tea, it's just too theatrical and I much prefers movies or great TV-series. But when the Royal Dramatic Theatre, which can only be described as a stronghold for patriarchy and too many #metoo stories, had a play called "Guds olydiga revben" (God's disobedient rib), the bible read from a feminist view, which mixed actors and the impressive acrobats from Cirkus Cirkör, one kind of had to go.



So very glad I did. It was magical. Upsetting - since reading the bible from a woman's point of view will never be anything but upsetting obviously - funny, sad and inspiring. So different from anything else I've seen. Cried, laughed and got angry. Unfortunately taking photos was strictly forbidden since it could pose a life danger for the acrobats, but the old interior was a beauty too.

The playhouse is currently also under extra scrutiny from the Arbetsmiljöverket (the Work Environment Administration authority), since there have been too many cries for help from women working there that have been silenced for many many years. There have been several female managers over the years, but it feels like the work culture is so infected that nothing has been done against numerous assaults on female staff by male actors (the so called geniuses).

The last straw was probably a very moving and upsetting Swedish documentary about the much loved singer and actress Josefin Nilsson, who died much too young some years ago, apparently due to aftereffects from years of mentally and physically abuse by one of those "male geniuses" lauded employed by Dramaten. The documentary is still shown at SVT Play (only in Sweden, but I'm sure you can find the story itself in English).

Conclusion, one might live under the illusion that Sweden is a gender equal country (even if the Swedish Academy debacle showed it isn't), but even if it's much better than many other countries, there is still a too long way to go. Humans in general, and in this case, men in particular, should know better in 2019. Much better. So. much. better.



After the play we went to Wagamama, which I used to frequent quite often some years ago. Now not so much, but I always love the food when I do go there. Even if I most always end up with the vegan yasai pad thai and carrot-ginger juice, despite the vegan menu being much extended these days. This time we shared a bowl of edamame, which never disappoints in its simplicity. Unfortunately we ended up so full from the food that neither had room for dessert. Alas. As a great dessert is literally the cherry on the sundae.



But after my annual dentist check-up - which got all thumbs up and the third year in a row without cavities, huzzah! - I did have a gloriously lovely vegan lunch salad which did leave room, just, for dessert. And oh what a dessert it was. Creamy, smooth mango mousse with crumbs and fresh blueberries. So much flavour and very moreish. Very much deserved for being a good dental hygiene girl.



It didn't manage to keep this a short and sweet post, your sniggering was on point. But now, oh now, last but definitely not least, ta-da, behold the very special Pia muesli!



After my one year consumption of mymuesli-prize in 2016 I was rather tired of muesli in general and mymuesli in particular. Go figure. And then the Stockholm store moved to a remote suburb, and later was shut down altogether. So ordering online is the only option. And if you don't want to pay a hefty shipping fee you need to more tubs than you'd necessarily want here and now. Most of my old favourite mueslis have been discontinued alas, plus the completely vegan (no honey) mueslis aren't all that tasty to be honest, but for overnight oats.

But I've found that their porridge oats are pretty great for making just overnight oats. And I noticed their Easter muesli is all vegan this year. So I placed an order a while back. And for the very first time mixed my own mueslis. Which you can name and chose tube design for too. And write a description for.



Which I obviously had to do. I've only tried one of my own blends so far, sprinkled on a lovely overnightoats made from the mymuesli turmeric-orange porridge oats. Perfect crunch and flavour, so pleased to say I did good.

And no, I haven't forgotten I did promise a post of various suggestions for lovely, simple vegan overnightoats. It'll come when you least expect it.



April, you have been just as capricious as one has come to expect with age and a reasonable amount of wisdom, there have already been both tears and laughters, worry and stress, but also inspiration and gratitude, spring flowers and bird song. But can you please, pretty please, be just kind, benevolent and joyous from now on? Many grateful thanks in advance.

another year older, another year wiser - the 2018 edition

so, what did happen during my last week as a xx year old, followed by my first week as a xx year old, a year wiser?

:: i decided that when the purrfect dress wasn't meant to be, surely a sausage dog cardigan in organic cotton would be the perfect birthday gift to self instead? from palava (same source as the delightful budgie skirt). i spent a lot of time figuring out the best size (ordering online when you don't know a brand well is tricky, no matter careful measuring). talking to the customer service too.

decided to go up an extra 1-2 sizes, wanted it roomy. it arrived gorgeous but also way too big. so had to be returned (add hefty trackable postage) for another one smaller. opted for one size smaller, so i hope it'll be roomy, but not that oversized.

and as the swedish postal "service" is notoriously crappy it was quite the kerfuffle at the post office since it turned out they didn't have the means to print the waybill *insert rolling eyes* so i had to pop over to the library to pay for a print of it.

i can see it landed in england yesterday, so hopefully i'll get my new cardi later this week. fingers crossed it'll be a purrfect fit.

even if some think it's pure treason to dress in dog prints obviously.





:: watched the powerful documentary "the devil we know" the other week (still available on svt play in sweden) about teflon and C8. and how it has been poisoning the world since the 1940ies, and continue doing so because of greed alone. the company DuPont and its spin-off company Chemours certainly are the epitome of dirty, evil, greedy and powerful big business. i knew teflon was unhealthy, but had no idea about the extent of it, how basically noone can escape its consequenses.

just another proof that humans don't deserve this earth.

first thing i did next day was to buy a stainless steel frying pan (pots i already have). trying to figure out where i can get rid of the teflon pans in a sustainable way.

didn't feel very sensual (despite its name) buying the pan at ikea. but it has been great (and comes with a 25 year guarantee). noticed that at least 95% of the pots and pans at ikea are teflon coated though. and much cheaper that the few stainless steel ones.

so much cheap stuff that have been poisiing and littering our planet for decades. heartbreaking and infuriating.



:: "så mycket bättre" (so much better) is a swedish reality show with that has been aired for 9 years now. the premise is that 7 swedish artists meet up on gotland where they each have one day where the other artists interpret one song each from the hosting artist's repertoire.

admittedly i've never watched the series until now, not very interested in watching "the club of mutual admiration society"ish reality shows. plus none of the previous artists have been favourites of mine. but this year eric gadd participates. and i used to love his music, especially in the 80ies and 90ies.



and i adore linnea henriksson's version of his song, "the right way".

here's gadd's original version.



and albin lee meldau's version. his vibrato voice is so cool. a touch of antony and the johnsons.



:: on the bday, which was a wonderful, sunny and crisp october day, we visited millesgården, art museum and sculpture park (one of the true gems of stockholm you shouldn't miss), for the william morris exhibition. i didn't know that he besides being an amazingly talented artist, architect and designer also was a radical political activist. an overall very impressive, inspiring human being.







:: the museum visit was followed with a lovely vegan lunch at the new place VeganHouse. tasty butter bean and black rice burgers with fries and delicious chipotle mayo.



i did of course have the obligatory piece of plantbased cream cake later that week. (from bagar'n hornstull, my old childhoods.)



:: in my first week as a xx year old i visited my accountant for the second annual meeting. after a worrisome year - mainly thanks to the dodgy client and unreliable team mates, and myself for being to trusting of people that clearly had other motifs - i knew i'd already manage to save my business, with a last minute solution which i'm ever so very grateful for, but it was still a rather uncomfortable visit. but being greeted with a long bark of excitement, followed by a good lick and cuddle by the cuteheart office dog maya was the best kind of start.





turned out to be a lovely day. minus the 3 x 2 hours of public transportation to norrtälje. plus me forgetting to bring bread for the ducks and getting a good disgruntled quack by the city ducks of norrtälje.



:: then on world vegan day the arm was finally relieved of the plaster. rejoice!



i had expected the left arm to be thin and weak. instead it turned out to be thicker and the hand swollen, and weak. an ugly sight. and there'll be a lot of work with physiotherapy at home. the muscles are shorter, the broken, cured bones rigid and un-cooperative. i'm basically still the one-armed cat vomit slip woman. but i'm working on it. and it's such a relief to take a decent shower and not having to worry about getting the plaster wet.



:: world vegan day, a reminder that as long as we continue to eat the flesh of innocent beings the world will continue to be a violent place. meat eating is of course not only violent and unhealthy, but also one of the largest contributors to climate change. and yet it continues to be the elephant in the room that politicians and individuals alike refuse to seriously address.

make the connection, please.



:: the arm in freedom needs a lot of TLC, apart from physio, so i got it some handscrub and handcream at lush. and look, the amazing snow fairy scent is now available in body spray too. swoon.



:: and for world vegan day there was also a special price on fabulous, swedish, vegan haircare brand maria nila and as i've almost worked my way through all my old haircare products it was a perfect time to get some.

with the buying came the option of getting it delivered, included in price, instead of having to pick it up at the post office. and with the one hand issue i thought that would be good. turned out to be not merely a good, but a great solution. the company budbee home delivers between 5pm and 10pm, with an estimaated delivery time. after 5pm you get updates in real time and you can follow the driver's progress on a map on the phone. with moments of "oh no, you should have turned left there!".

how many of us haven't wasted days waiting for deliveries from the old, giant delivery companies that obviously don't really care about customer service "we'll be there sometime between 8 am and 5 pm"?



if budbee follows labour laws and has decent salaries - of which don't know, but start-ups can be notorious for not heeding to that... - i think they have a great and highly service-minded idea.

and as sharing is caring someone loved the box the products came in too.



dear november, if you could please continue to be just as great as you've started, i would be ever so grateful and happy.