karma come over and welcome june

With only a few minutes to spare before May 2019 turns June, procrastinator Pia realises she should write a farewell May-post. To at sum up these past couple of weeks, of sorts. And somehow try and keep it really short and sweet. *Do I hear sniggers again?*

:: I think I'll skip photos for now, and add them later. It has been such a hassle being without the computer. Luckily it's back and extra super luckily they did managed to save the hard-drive too. But alas it's not doing very well, so they recommended I'd get a new one anyway... Try not to think too much about that for now, and limit my time on it.

Really hate the fact that a computer is considered old after 4 years only, and instead of having a repair, service or update, which clearly would be better for the limited resources of this planet that are constantly diminished as I write, we should discard and buy a new one. The wear and tear society of poor quality is just so completely naueseating. One would think we should have come so much further along on the sustainable road by now.



:: There have been further developments in the mysterious case of little blue-eyed light of mine, Ztina. She finally had hear dental check-up and surgery, confirming FORL, several teeth already gone and then removing several tiny toothies (saved in a box). She must have been in such pain and I feel like a bad bad meowmy for not realising that earlier. One might think the vet should have thought about that earlier too though... It has been a costly and very worrisome path to get here. But then again, cats are so great at hiding pain. And showing weird symptoms.

However, pretty much immediately after waking up from her surgery she was a changed cat. Step by step back to her old self. She is still on pain medication, and have some weird quirks going on. But I feel she's on a strong path of recovery. She may not be her completely old self ever again, but I love her new self very much too.



:: Due to last year's incredibly hot global warming summer the aspen has been in bloom like never before this year. Covering the air and ground with thick whiter fluff lite snow, lint or dandelion seedlings for a week or so. It was a bit magical really.

And so far, touch wood, we've had much more rain and chilly days in May compared to last year. Please, please let that continue. It is so much easier to enjoy the days of sun when it's not tropically hot and dry for months.



:: I've attended four seminars. One on circular design - interesting topic, so-so presented. One on the Naturskyddsföreningen's (The Society for Preserving of Nature) new book "Naturligtvis" (translates Naturally but the word is also a double meaning in Swedish, it can also be Naturally Wise) about how to help insects, animals and biodiversity in your garden - it was great, bought the book of course. But can also affirm that I'm already doing a lot for it by not being a keen gardener, letting it tend for itself and be *a bit* wild is a great thing for biodiversity. And who knew that dandelions and its pollen are great for insects?



Extra plus for the fantastic vegan salad that's included in the lunch ticket at the bookstore that hosts some of these events.



The next seminar was on skincare, and how much of the skincare products sold are just clever marketing tricks and of now use for our skin, often quite the opposite. The writer who talked is a pharmacist and scientist. It was so very interesting, and yes it confirmed a lot of the things I've always suspected about skincare products. Eg that serums and tonics are basically useless for a healthy skin. It's the ingredients that are important, not the product. Yes, I bought that book too, Hudbibeln (The Skin Bible). It's fascinating, in Swedish only but I hope it'll be translated. EDIT: Horay, it's in the process of translation into several languages as of June 2019. Soon in English.

Currently using more skincare products in my daily regime than I've ever done before. But it has been a struggle these past few years to try and regain as much as possible of the once healthy skin of mine. And it wasn't until I began using Dermalogica I felt I was finally on the right track. So now I'm just trying to figure out the best products to continue with, and the ones that haven't made that much difference. I want to get down to a bare minimum. Don't think 2 + 1 + 6 products is viable in the long run...



The fourth seminar was on Rewilding Sweden. I've followed Rewilding Europe on LinkedIn for a couple of years now, and also worked with a client a few years back who was part of various wildlife project in Italy. Such an inspiring project. And also an important part of fighting climate change. The seminar was hosted by a politician in The Green Party and it was held in the Parliament. Some speakers far better than others, and the president of the Swedish Hunting Association was of course pretty nasty and offensive. Void of thinking outside her narrow little box and without compassion. But other than that, it was a really enlightening afternoon.



:: After the reversed job ad I published on LinkedIn a few weeks back I have some interesting meetings booked in the upcoming weeks. To be honest, yes I'm pretty jaded by now, I don't think that perfect illusive job will finally land in my lap any time very soon, even after all my hard work. But I'm curious and open-minded, who knows.

And as the song goes "Karma come over, lean on my shoulder, tell me what's good, I've been thinking about you" (Years & Years, great, catchy song).

This "Trusting in the timing of the Universe", that does take a lot of effort and energy. And frustration. Which could obviously be used in better ways.



:: I've finally bought a pair of lovely white, chunky vegan sneakers. I had a pair of Rombaut Boccaccio high on my wish list, but seriously, I could not defend paying that much for a pair of white shoes. Have not even paid that much for a pair of great quality boots now on their 10th season the upcoming winter. And I seriously doubt a pair of white sneakers will last for 10 seasons, no matter how well I care for them, if I'm honest.

Good thing was that when I compared them to the Matt & Nat pair I think they looked better, more I. At a way more reasonable price. They're super comfy, but it's also a fact that it takes time to get used to how well-padded sneakers work on your feet compared to sturdier shoes. All that softness, I find it... strange. But I'll get used to it, I'm sure.



:: I stumbled over the vegan, organic, natural deodorant Nuud on Instagram. Been thinking a lot about how rubbish pretty much every common deodorant is, and how about all those ingredients, are they really healthy? So I decided to order a bottle and have a try (free postage everywhere, in case you want to try it too). Love the package design, and clever, simple copy too. Have just started my detox, and even though they warned that one might experience extra smell initially during the process, I have to say that it's definitely better after +24 hours than with an average deo. Don't smell a thing actually. Can it be that Nuud is just as fantastic as it claims to be?


:: I've cooked some fantastic meals from the vegan organic food box too. It has been far too long since I wrote a post on that. Soon is the time for one.


:: Got some new solar lights at IKEA, this time three bigger bulbs that I hung in the tree. After only a few hours on a cloudy day they shone brightly the same evening already. Which is a small sign that there are so much free energy out there, waiting to be harvested, at no cost for the environment, the opposite. We should all install solar panels on our roofs, for goodness sake! Which has been high on my wish list too, for years and years.

But for now, I'm contemplating getting 3-4 more bulbs to put higher up in the tree. Imagine how magical that would look when the clematis covers the branches by the middle of summer.


:: I'm using the Bullet Journal every day. Not sure if I'm using it as one "should", perhaps more a simple diary than a planner as such. But I also do monthly and weekly lists and feel the pressure to tick them off more than I did before. So I suppose I'm on the right path at least.

Looking forward to start planning for June, do the monthly log, migrating tasks or deem them irrelevant.


:: In April I read five books. It has been ages since I did that. I had hoped to do the same in May, but I only started with two books and on the last shivering minutes of the month I'm only half way through them both. Too much on my mind, in my May days for reading I suppose. Reading fingers crossed for June.


All and all, I think May has been a pretty glorious month, full of fabulous learning experiences, inspiration and great food. Yes, there have been problems and worries too, but I've also solved most of them with pleasing results. And for that I can feel strong and proud, also on those days when I feel small and troubled (we all have them, if we're honest, no matter how great we are deep inside). Most grateful thanks, May, you've been lovely, mostly kind and caring.

Welcome, dear June, let's continue on this path of goodness and why not add sprinkles of glory, m'kay? An abundance of kindness and gratitude your way, in advance, yours truly.

easter shenanigans in pink

Over Easter I began planning in my Bullet Journal, one of my goals for April and forward was to blog 1-2 per week. I've already begun slacking obviously. At least there are other areas where I've ticked a reasonable amount of boxes. And I honestly think we would be very boring humans if we got A+ in every single thing we aimed for. Life is so much more fun and interesting if we leave room for spontaneity and life's little surprises, wouldn't you agree?

And just as the BuJo principle says, if you haven't ticked the box there's always a new month for that task. Or perhaps it's not important enough, and can instead be removed form the to do lost.

Welcome to my easter shenanigans in many shades of pink!



As if I needed more tea. I got it anyway, easter calls for special tea. Including a refill of the wonderful angel tea I bought after the completion letter session in my grief recovery process group. And as M's birthday would have been on the 19th, and instead his funeral was on the 20th, three years ago, I got it so we could have a cup of tea together of sorts.



As is also obvious by now, is that everything need special snoopervising by special feline lens louses in this household. In the end, everything is about the cats. And more often than not about this redhead.



I picked up the green Marimekko blouse that needed altering, from the tailor. It looked great and I inaugurated it on a museum visit to one of my favourite Stockholm museums, Thielska - which I wrote a bit about 12 (!) years ago - there was a special exhibition on the Dalecarlian design sisters Jobs - behind my beautiful slippers from 2011 - the exhibition wasn't very good alas. (Unlike the William Morris at Millesgården on my birthday.)





But visiting the charming Thielska gallery is always lovely. And I got to visit the magical tower room with it's painted ceiling animals and see one of my favourite paintings, The Knight and the Maiden. The only vegan dish on the menu in the cafe was rubbish though. An overpriced salad in serious need of protein and lots of love. Plus a cheeky seagull that snatched parts of it before I sat down.







I enjoyed my breakfasts al fresco, with my special Easter teas and the vegan Easter muesli. And look, Zigne. Plus speckled eggs nails and dairyfree chocolate bunnies. Wish I had bought more that one jar of that muesli, it was so crunchy and lovely.





There was a simple vegan Easter lunch and too much plantbased candy. Loveliness. I read books, watched movies, went for walks, cleared the garden from the clematis. It's absolutely crazy how it grows and grows and grows every year. Still need to figure out how to get the garden waste to the disposal site. Tricky without a car of your own. But problems are there to be solved.



Remember the vegan hair colours from Swedish cruelty free brand Maria Nila? I saved them for a first use until spring. And what better than try one of them during Easter weekend? I chose pink and I'm happy to say that despite still being predominantely brunette my hair now has now highlights of light pink (thank you greys!) and a pink overall glow. As it's only hair mask and colour refresher it'll only last 8-10 washes, but I think that's perfect to have a play with. Looking forward to try the blue one. And as the pink was such a hit I'm no stranger to find more colours to try.



And the gorgeousness of pink cherry blossom trees in Kungsträdgården happened during Easter too. It was their 20th year of bloom this year. Pure magic as usual. And another year of collecting pictures for my long-term planned book "Men under pink cherry blossom trees".





Here is the blue Kånken my mother went for, ended up replacing the one I bought for her birthday for a blue that suited her better. And look, Zigne.





The vegan brunch I treated her for on her birthday, on Easter Sunday, was lovely. Happy birthday to little mum, and many more to come, I hope and wish!





Got me some lovely soaps from Lush. Miss that Serendipity (you know, my favourite English word, and notion) has been discontinued, but Rockstar and Maypole are other favourites I return to. Plus the scrubby Sandstone is pretty good too. And look, a cat. A photobombing cat. How unusual.



There have been many sunny, beautiful days since I last blogged. But as we're in desperate need of rain to cope with the probable hot summer, and this is just too warm too soon, I struggle to appreciate the beauty amongst climate angst and, frankly, human stupidity everywhere.

- Yes, I also think the fire in Notre Dame is sad. But I think human priorities are just crazy warped when so much money can be collected into the cause of rebuilding it, when the whole world is on fire and desperately needs rebuilding and caring for. There will be no planet to live on, breath on and enjoy architecture and culture on, if we don't stop using and abusing instead of rebulding and caring for nature and species we share this planet with, first. That there are in fact private citizens who have so much money, and so little common sense obviously, to give away and chose to give to such a cause when there are a gazillions more important causes out there, that's mindboggingly distasteful and infuriating, in my opinion. -



But as someone wise said, nature won't thank us for not appreciating the beauty it still offers. Despite its seasons being warped. Who knows how much time we have left, the planet have left. I will appreciate more, I promise, despite my constant companion, melancholia.

I had looked forward to wearing the combo above all winter, when the day finally came, during Easter week, it was too warm, too soon. But yes, at least I have an abundance of colourful clothes and combos I get happy just thinking about combining and wear. And that I appreciate lots.



And colourful, quirky cats with lots of character. Who I am every so grateful for.



Apart from starting the Bullet Journal during Easter - not fully in to the daily process yet though, but I hope it'll help me focus and tick more boxes than before - I also finished that reversed job-ad for LinkedIn, I have no idea if these things actually work or if it's a lot of much ado about nothing. Time will tell I suppose.



As this will be the last post for April, I want to say thank you ever so much, month, for everything colourful, beautiful, magical, pink and kind things you have gifted. And all the amazing plantbased food and drinks. You have not been without struggles and sadness, but you have taught me a lot and for that I am grateful.

Welcome, May, I can't begin to tell how excited, curious,wishful and not least impatient I am over what you will bring! Can we decide that it will only be good, very good, much good things? A gazillion grateful thanks in advance.

this little blue-eyed light of mine and other march stories

Ztina, the epitome of a cool cat, has once again had an extensive veterinarian check-up - remember the unexpected heart scare of last May? - with odd, inconclusive and somewhat scary results. Again. But amidst it all she's a trooper, so confident and brave. Even if her facial expression is also the epitome of "How to tell if your cat is plotting to kill you".



To cut a longer story short. After giving her the heart medicine for some months last year I noticed she acted weirdly from it, like a healthy being getting unnecessary medication. I stopped giving it, as the vet had talked about possibly phasing it out, and watched her carefully. She did well the rest of the year. After New Year's I could tell something wasn't quite right. Little signs of various things that only I who have lived with her quirky features and strong personality for 7 plus years can tell, but which aren't obvious for anyone else.

I suspected it might be her heart issues had returned, but the heart was actually back to normal (cats are magic creatures), but the blood tests showed she was anemic and her kidneys were worn out. That. was. scary. news. We also checked her ears, which she's been extra protective with for a while, for no obvious reasons. A deep cleanse, but the tests showed no abnormalities. And her teeth need scaling.



There were three rough days after that vet visit, she shyed away from me, acting strange and there was zero purring (which is a tell tell sign something is seriously wrong with her. I know cats also purrs to soothe themselves when in pain and distress, but this is a very sociable cat that normally use purring as a sign of well-being). Then on Sunday she tentatively started to purr adn slowly regained her personality. But I also noticed her pupils were suddenly of different sizes. Which is quite distressing obviously.

At the vet check-up we talked about it might being neurological, a stroke, or related to her ear issue (cause unknown still). Her blood tests looked much better and she isn't anemic anymore, more tests have been taken and sent to a lab for cultivation. More medicine and a close eye kept. And hopefully there'll be a clarifying lab result in a couple of weeks to sort this out, one step at a time. Poor little blue-eyed furball.

I'm glad I have insurance, but still, veterinarian bills are expensive (and crazily enough still subject to VAT). Animals are so very important to our health and well-being, their health care should be subsidized. So much stupid and unhealthy things are subsidized in our society, while much more important things aren't. Madness.



No news on the job front yet. The latest was a friendly phone call from the recruiter last Monday wanting to know if I was still interested, and how I felt after the interview. We were now down to two potentials, with very different backgrounds apparently. But the marketing manager had been very impressed by my wide experience, which made me happy and grateful. Now it was time for an inhouse talk and then there would be a decision. Of which I'm still waiting to hear. Have contacted the recruiter again, since I obviously need to plan for my next steps whether yes or no, hopefully she'll get back to me after the weekend.



What's meant to be will be. Since I had given myself until the end of the month of March to find a new path, and this job, this process felt interesting, professional and promising, I've cooled down with other efforts for some weeks. But we're now in the last shivering days of the month M (crazy how fast this month has swooshed by!), and I don't want to waste time no more on futile endevours, on my way to finding my kind of people, so fingers, toes and paws crossed for positve news/clarifications in the first week of April!



What I will also start in April is using my Bullet Journal. I got the book on tracking my past, order my present and plan my future last week and delved into it right away. Makes so much sense, it clicks a lot with my own thoughts on various issues. It's not a light read as such, it demands a lot of thinking, so I've only read about a third of it so far. Thus the usual lists of analogue and digital kind it is still.

Anyone of you out there using the BuJo method? I still haven't met anyone (but the woman that held the workshop) who does, despite it seemingly being such a "thing".



The IKEA interior design workshop "Create your dream room" wasn't very good. The staff that held it really need to work on their enthusiasm and presentation skills. They were not the least bit inspiring alas. However, to learn about the 7 simple steps to design rooms so they work for your personal needs, that was great and super helpful. So I'm glad I went anyway. It only costed a few hours of my time.



And hadn't I gone I might have missed that the excellent IKEA sunbeds are back in stock (very fashionable with the IT colour yellow this year). Carpooled back later and snatched me one. I really do hope this won't be such a devastatingly hot and frightening summer as last year, but no matter what, lounging on a sunbed in the shade with books and music is my favourite way to spend lazy summer days anyway. Even if the bright, clean yellow soon will be covered in muddy paw prints obviously...



Talking about colours, I had waited for a call from the Marimekko store that the wonderful green skirt on my wishlist for some months finally had arrived in store. It came last week and I was pretty excited to try it one. Looked awful on me. So not my style and fit alas. Such a pity on a gorgoeus colour and quality. The  blouse in the same colour looked fab on the other hand, so I got that green gorgeousness in another shape instead. It goes so well with at least three old skirts of mine, thus I consider it a great buy.

The staff also showed me this new delightful summer pattern collection. I'm a sucker for tops and dresses with the sweetheart neckline. Decided to go back and at least try the blouse on a few days later (I'd already dismissed the dresses, foot long dresses are not my cup of tea to wear).

It didn't wowed me, too blousy and fluffy to be flattering unfortunately. But my wallet thank me very much. It probably look better on skinny and/or flatchested women. It feels good to walk away too, after trying something on and seeing it was not my thing, to actively decide, instead of just secretly coveting something and simply staying away.

Also, the staff in the Marimekko flagship store in Stockholm, they're really very nice. And honest, if something doesn't look good on you they don't shy away from saying so. And rather losing a short term sale than a long term customer relation. We had a good long talk about all sorts of design, sales and colour related things last time I went by. Which was all sorts of great. Now I just wish they could open a Marimekko Vintage store or webshop too, I'd be happy to help!



Spring has definitely sprung here now. We've had a few days with around +10 degrees C, but mostly it keeps around +5. Which I'm cautiously grateful for, and while it's lovely with sunshine after a long, dark winter, we desperately need lots of rain to refill the water emergency plants. Every raindrop counts.



I've been reading a few books lately - far from being the book worm I once was, but long term readers know I've been struggling with my reading mojo for many years now, for various reasons, so I'm very happy when I do get so engulfed in a book I finish it within less than a week - finishing the last book in the Me before You-trilogy by Jojo Moyes. It's bittersweet to say goodbye to a character you've followed for so many years, books, don't you think? But it was an enjoyable read.

Now I'm reading "The Little Shop of Happy Ever After" by Jenny Colgan - I'm attending a writer's talk with her and other female writers in May btw, which will be fun and inspiring I'm sure. It's lovely, not least for the wonderful Scottish setting (of which I desperately miss seeing again...).



I also begun reading the last book in the Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children-series by Ransom Riggs, but soon realised I couldn't remember how the prequel ended, so I need to re-read that first. It was some years since I read it, and thus so many other things to remember since. But if you haven't read the series yet, I really recommend it. Very odd, inventive, scary and magical.



I've never bought my Sonny Angels in blindpack, if you collect them and not only buy the odd one on a rare occasion it's quite costly to not know what you pay for. And the only way to be sure you get them all in a specific series is apparently to buy the series times 2, which sounds utterly ridiculous and a crazy sales gimmick. And they've brought me happiness and good times even if not in blindpack, thank you very much.

I did make an exception to the rule of no blindpack recently though, as I didn't want to miss out on the limited edition Cherry Blossom-series (and I didn't get any Valentine ones this year as they sold out in minutes for some reason). Snatched four, kept my fingers tightly crossed there would be a least three different ones... Well, instead of a cat, a bunny, a peacock, a goat or a secret Sonny, I got three goats and a secret one, a Cherry.

Not sure what to do with that result yet. Swap a couple? Or just think that being born in a year of the goat this means I'll be three times as happy and lucky with cherry on top? Time will tell.



Admittedly I didn't have waffles on the Swedish Waffle day last Monday. But I did have a vegan semla on Friday, if that counts (from new favourite, Bageri Passion). Most memorable food experience of the week that was, of the less than pleasing kind though, was the above plantbased cappuccino made with the Swedish pea-based milk Sproud. It really wasn't good.

Coffee made with oat milk or soy milk (soy milk does need a great barista to taste lovely though) are vastly superior. And as much as I enjoy various peas in food, I'm not too keen on it in milk. But at least I've tried it now. Once, but never again.



Last but not least, thank you from the bottom of my heart, March, you've been pretty amazing (mind you, minus the Ztina experience). Brimming with interesting talks, information overload and great learning experiences, colours, sunshine, fresh air, good people and mostly good food.

Welcome, April, I do hope you follow kind, brilliant and inspiring suit. I'll start your first week with picking up new and very special glasses, and two spiritizing breakfast talks (one on planning train holidays, which I'm so excited about hearing more of, as flying certainly isn't on the agenda anymore if you care about sustainability and climate change). I'm counting on you and I to have so much fun and laughter together, okey?