as close as i'll ever get to colin firth in a wet shirt

One of my favourite castles in the whole wide world, Skokloster, currently has an exhibition called 'Jane Austens värld' (Jane Austen's world), with original clothes from 'Pride and Prejudice', 'Sense and Sensibility' and 'Emma', with focus on women's roles in society back then (late 18th - early 19th century). And as much as I adore the television and movie adaptions of Austen's books, oh my am I grateful I live here and now...

The guided tour was really good but I have to say that this particular piece was the highlight of the exhibition. For all of you who, like me, swooned over a certain someone in a certain scene in 'Pride and Prejudice' - you know why.

After the tour we could play dress-up and try on regency clothes, for some reason it wasn't a popular feature for the visitors in my group. But I decided to try on some hats at least. With an ever present Colin Firth.

It was the wonkiest mirror ever which made me in an A-line dress look even wonkier and as much as I love playing dress-up it's not much fun when you just look weird and there's noone around to laugh with, but a stern Colin. - Oh why couldn't you have smiled just a little bit during our brief moments together?

All in all a lovely day though. You can't go wrong with castle + waffles + tiny dog company. And a close encounter with Mr Darcy's once very wet shirt.

PS On August 19 they apparently host a Jane Austen ball at the castle, tickets sold out, but it does sounds pretty fabulous, wouldn't you agree? DS

friends not food

Remember the precious trio of pigs at Wenngarn castle I met when we picked sunflowers a while ago?

Today we rekindled. They had a new, smaller pen, but unlike the other, in the sun. I guess they have an indoor dwelling during the colder time of the year.

I really do hope with every fibre of my body that they get pampered and live to an old age. But I have serious doubts. They are probably seen as things to entertain the visiting kids during the summer months and when winter comes they're only seen as food. 

It breaks my heart how anyone on two legs can consider it acceptable to eat these sentient, smart, funny, precious beings. 

We fed them apples which they loved. Adorable and excited behaviour very similar to a dog (so much like Little Loaf). 

Friends always. Food never.

sunflowers, pizza and pigs

Well, October, you certainly know how to kick things off the right way!

+15 C, castle park visit, sunflower picking,

one of the best vegetarian pizzas I've ever had in one of the most charming pizzerias I've ever been too - more of later -

meeting three adorable pigs - friends not food, right? RIGHT - and getting some promising emails.

Plus it was the World Vegetarian Day and even if it's going way to slow for the millions of suffering animals out there I do feel that a paradigm shift IS coming. That there are even more compassionate and powerful forces at work than ever before. Time to say goodbye to specieism. Have you seen these two articles?

The British shadow secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs is vegan - can we get a WOW!

Mainstream media writing about how industrial farming is one of the worst crimes in history - second WOW! - "Tens of billions of sentient beings, each with complex sensations and emotions, live and die on a production line. The march of human progress is strewn with dead animal."

And the powerful speech by the fantastic Philip Wollen - Animals should be off the menu. "When we suffer we suffer alike." Be prepared with lots of tissues.

So how has your October started?

coffee walk in winter stockholm

Stockholm delivered today. 

Gloriously so. 

Lots of vitamin D was tanked. 

And coffee drunk. 

And talk talked. 

downton tabby

This might be one of the most clever, brilliant, awesome books I've ever read. It combines one of the best TV-series, Downton Abbey obviously, with cats. Or rather it shows the conspicuous similarities with the then behaviour and life of the upper class with the always ones of cats. 

A very thin book but brimming with hilarious observations for all of us who love cats and Downton Abbey. And wonderful illustrations. I've laughed and giggled myself to sleep a few nights now.

And of course most of the posh and not so posh Downton Tabbies are British Shorthairs. Go figure.

Oh I fear I sat the standard almost impossibly high for my reading year 2015 beginning with Downton Tabby.

Which is your first book of 2015?
Enjoyable or not?

christmas castle concert 2014 with rongedal

What a lovely way to spend a Lucia evening -

Christmas concert in Skokloster castle church
with the fabulous brothers Rongedal and choir.

Admittedly I did miss singing and outstanding moves like this, that would have set the audience on metaphorical fire!

Happy Lucia one and all ~

farewell september

Oh September, I had such high expectations on you. Sadly you have not lived up to them. August was such a blah month, thus I had so hoped that you, September, would refill my happy account in a big way. Can't say you have really. At least not in the grand way I had every faith you would.

On the blah front: job related stuff has sucked once and twice and third. Things seem to happen, I'm getting excited and then they fall flat. It's indeed rather tiresome. The Swedish election outcome was a rather disappointing one - or perhaps it'll work out in an unxepectedly good way somehow.

On the good front: then arrival of Sheldon and Dymphna and then Nerdle and Ruby. Sunflower fields and castles. Blog turns an amazing 9. Good food, good fika, good talks. I began taking a course in storytelling for change - admittedly I'm a bit behind, but getting there and it's an interesting journey. There was an innocent discovery in the grocery store. There was a pretty amazing Indian summer day and gargantuan balloons - but after that the weather turned rather chilly. Scandinavian Autumn as it is has arrived. My reading mojo is definitely back. And I had a really lovely evening in Gothenburg in the company of ABBA music and stories. And there is a new computer. And a pleasing amount of work during the month that was you, September.

But despite the good stuff I'm feeling rather blah, uninspired and wistful just the same. I'm really, really, REALLY hoping that October, my birthday month will show a benevolent face and offer lots of amazing surprises of the very best kind. Because seriously, I do need that. My happy account could use a decent deposit of the rosiest kind.

Bye bye September, welcome October,
you month of complete and utter awesomeness!

the amazing bobbaloos and their magic castles

for this weekend i was very much in need of refilling my happy account. it has been a topsy turvy week, in unexpected ways, both good and bad and with far too little sleep. thus happy account as well as good sleeping needed refill.

i do believe the mission has been accomplished. yesterday was sunflowers and good. today we enjoyed the last day of toy car outing 2014. and the summer weather lingered on. plus we made the bobbaloos very happy. they got to rub shoulders (and pick nose) with royals - though of course, like me, they only enjoy castles for their fairytale charm, certainly not in any monarchy or hoity toity way.

and castle spotting. not only one, but two. it could have been three but i fear that would indeed have been too much excitement for small sized woollies to bear. (besides they did get to visit a castle yesterday too, the one with the sunflowers galore.)

svartsjö castle and drottningholm castle (a bit of versailles in stockholm).

and we had a pretty great apple-astic brunch too. at favourite place äppelfabriken (the apple factory). all and all a fine round-off to the toy car season. and the weekend. and the bewildering week. all set for a week of many splendid things to happen now.

september sunflowers

just a few sights that made me a very happy bunny today. september saturday sunshine!

roundabout bluebells and other artsy matters

A supersized button and a cat trio on a bench. Delightful and inspirational diy in Krakow.

Yarnbombing is always the right thing (yarn shop, Enköping, Sweden).

Pretty fabulous roundabout bluebells (Katrineholm, Sweden).

Cute shoe painting trio (Säfstaholm castle, Vingåker, Sweden).

Friends, rabbit and fox sculptures (Djur/Animals exhibition, Säfstaholm castle, Sweden).

French bulldog meet cute shoe per diem (Djur/Animals exhibition, Säfstaholm castle, Vingåker, Sweden).

Have a happy, artsy, creativity flowing weekend one and all ~

the summer cordial club in session

I may be an avid drinker of tea and tap water. Add to that fresh fruit/vegetable juices from my own kitchen and special smoothies. But I rarely drink cordials - possibly a hipster one now and then - they're just not my cup of tea. Obviously. Why have cordial when you can have tea?

However a really hot summer can change habits and I do enjoy getting speciality food items from lovely gardens/cafes visited. So behold the summer cordial club of 2014. Inspected and paw approved.

Rhubarb nectar, rhubarb cordial and apple juice from Äppelfabriken
Apple juice from Kullamust
Elderflower cordial from Nibble Gård
Apple juice from Gripsholm castle

Today I enjoyed a big glass of rhubarb cordial (small amount of cordial, lots of water and ice-cubes, just the way I want it, I loath sweet cordials) while I worked. It was de-lovely, refreshing and very Swedish summerish.

What's your number one summer drink of choice?

oh the waiting game

This week I was suppose to start a new rather exciting copywriting project -

sadly not the one I was/am really passionate about, but very interesting just the same. And to be honest, as it is such a curious and serendipitious thing I do suspect that for reasons I can't tell, they're connected in some way. Because I don't believe that *coincidences* like this just happen, for no reason and without connection -

but as things look now it seems like the project won't start until mid August. Oh this waiting game, in different shapes and sizes! I truly feel I've been playing it for too long now. Waiting for other people to come to the right place and mind in time, the not being able to influence the decision-making-stage, just waiting for others to...

About high time something fabulastic happened on a professional level, because seriously, hard work, determination, skills and a passionate attitude with a dash of creative madness should pay off. Period.

Until the Universe, which works in mysterious ways as we all well know, see it fit to let those dreams to come true, well I'll keep working on less exciting but billable stuff and at least have time to enjoy the summer and the weather. So I'm not complaining as such, although anticlimax, it's such a nuisance. What is it good for, absolutely nothing.