cat herding according to loaf dog

one of many impawtant tasks for little loaf (according to himself) is cat herding.

the cat chosen is, as oh so many times before, generally not impressed.

little loaf and the birdie shower curtain

the duckiest shower curtain in the world has been washed, with the new year just replaced with the most beautiful shower curtain in the world.



still, a bit of change is a spice of life, i spied another beauty with birdies and flowers recently. when spring comes, i'll let it spice up my bathroom.

it has been inspected and gets paws up. best thing according to loaf dog is that the birds on shower curtain are quiet and well behaved, no need to bark at.



shower curtain from h&m home

ginger chews

chewy ginger candy, someone recommended these on instagram last year, looked for them but didn't found them until a couple of months ago in an asian super-market. first i got the original version, ginger only. very, very nice, sweet, hot and refreshing.

it was lovely for the throat when i had that cold in november, finished three boxes of them (i think they contain about 10 chews each), not sure if they were the reason for the cold not being the nasty lingering-for-a-month-kind but a more manageable one, but it was quite a difference from my usual kind of cold. i  will definitely see that i have a few boxes at home in case of cold emergency. it will now share first cold remedy place with veggies in green curry.

later someone said that the peppermint-ginger ones were even nicer. got a box, have to disagree. an unpleasant minty tang that doesn't go well with the ginger as far as i'm concerned.

another thing that i really don't like about the chews is the ridiculous packing, individual wrappings and plastic, not necessary and so not eco-friendly. change that, sina, and i will completely happily continue to buy and eat those delicious ginger chews.



what's your favourite cold remedy? food related or not?

perky things on a winter day

even if the mood inside isn't of the perkiest kind, bright colours always help to lift the spirit. even if, for various reasons, not a 100%, always a whole lot of more than drab, dark, glum colours. un-colours.

i welcome 2013 with a) a touch of circus nails, two pink, one purple. essie big spender (and no, hmf, i do not listen to someone mumbling 'how befitting a name'), a splash of grenadine and se-y divide.

b) stripey loveliness from sock dreams. you can always rely on them to get your colour fix. (and i've said it before, i'll say it again, good socks with a twist is such a great and unpretentious gift.)

how's the colour in your life these dark, winter days?

socks and beanies

the 72 granny squares cardigan will have to wait, since there are orders and wishes that have to be finished and fulfilled. i'm working parallell projects, it's nice to change perspectives and colours.

blue socks, orangey/peachy/black/red beanie. most probably both will be finished within a few days. then more socks, more caps.

hope all your current yarny projects are going your joyous way, happy weekend!

scenes from a swedish home

everytime we visit sister/brother-in-law's house -

which she, wife of m's brother, inherited when her father passed away 1,5 years ago, the house itself is where she grew up and before her her mother and possibly generations before that.

they had their wedding in the garden there a few years ago

- i can't help but think about all the nooks and crannies are like postcards, paintings from the past. stuck in a very charming time warp somehow.

it's not a home that has seen a lot of renovating over the years and even if the upstairs now only have minor works left to be completely updated but still in tune with the house's history, the downstairs is still pretty much the same "as it has always been".

not sure exactly how much of it they'll update and how much will be kept as is. myself i wouldn't be able to live with such dark walls and heavy furniture, but then again i have no connections to it. and oddly enough spending time there does bring nice memories from my childhood too, of old relatives apartments and houses. the furniture, the dark colours, paintings, smells, nooks and crannies, wallpapers.

the house is situated on one of the inner city islands of stockholm, a peaceful residential area with many pretty, old houses and gorgeous water and city views from upstairs. the garden is lovely and lush, it's a gem of a place really. inner city but at the same time a world of its very own.

i thought i'd share some pictures of the interior, most of them are the non-renovated downstairs, just because of its past times-loveliness.

liquorice pannacotta

i think pannacotta is a delightful dessert, but tend to stay away from it since stupid people often make it with non-vegetarian gelatine (to ruin a dessert with that when there are more than decent vegetarian options, like agar agar, mindblowing...).

here's an easy peasy recipe for a vegetarian one, three ingredients only. it was the first time i tried jelly sugar, it worked very well. hopefully you can find the equivalent in a non-swedish supermarket too.


l i q u o r i c e      p a n n a c o t t a

3-4 servings

0,75 dl jelly sugar (gelésocker)
3 dl cream
1,5 - 2 tbsp liquorice powder

whip the ingredients together in a pot. slowly let to a boil. boil for 30 seconds then pour into small serving pots/glasses. put into fridge for 1-2 hours before serving.

it's a delicious dessert, but also very rich so even if it seems like very small portions it will be perfect. promise.

passionfruit or raspberry sauce on top might be a nice compliment to the rich liquorice flavour.

72 granny squares later

befitting somehow, that on january 1st 2013 i finished the very last of the 72 magical granny squares that will hopefully soon be assembled into a cardigan.

the boringness of tying loose ends is of course left to do. but still, i'm nearly there and in not to shabby a time since i began crocheting the first of 72 squares.

colourful, magic, lovingly handmade, pretty much like i would like this new year to be.

wishes for a kind and joyous 2013 ~

To all sentient beings, oh how I wish for a compassionate and loving new 2013,
in which mankind refute its violent, destroying nature.
Love, hugs, colours and lots of veggies to all!

2012 in 12 pictures

I don't feel witty as in 2010, or full of excitement and thoughts as in 2011. But still, a recap of the year that went, with a photo per month is always a sweet thing. Some months, weeks, days better than others, here we go. (And as usual, über-tricky to chose just ONE picture per month...)

January

The month was busy, full of hope and dreams about new beginnings, for Prosit, for me. Pink office pretty much finished and decorated (even if there's always room for improvement). Celebrated all this with a luxurious afternoon tea with a friend (planned for many years but not realised until now. Have yet to be blogged about...).

Blue boots arrived, courtesy of Christmas money, and they were dreamy. If there can be happiness in shoes, surely this is a pair is the perfect example of that. Through ups and downs over 2012 they have always brought a smile to my face with a look at or walk in. Some colours, some hues are pretty special.

I knitted and crocheted a lot, both begun and finished quite a few yarny projects, such as colourful beanies and strawberries. Did a lot of networking, got the first proper Prosit assignment and it was a lovely one, ate good food and loved spending time with Ztina and Zigne, who turned six weeks old by the end of the month.



February

Continued to be productive and enjoyed tulips. Discovered Walk & Talk, got a pink loudspeaker for pink office, but mostly it was a very red month (like in boots, bird feeder, tea, Lovikka mittens, kittens, hearty baking and small neat things). Walked a lot, worked a lot. It was an overall grand month.



March

When winter begun to turn spring the lovely assignment came to an end, Yelp was launched in Stockholm. As an end of project-treat I got myself another pair of red boots (surprise). I knitted some more, like cowls and perky yellow mittens.

I began to feel really very tired and far from my usual self (ack, this is when the bad, still unresolved stuff begun), a tooth filling broke and to round off the month little loaf got ill.



April

Healthwise is was a bad bad month, for me, for M, for little loaf. But the adorable blue kittens were born and mum and I had a pre-booked trip to Helsinki, which turned out to be awesome, despite me being far from well. I stopped using dairy in my tea and in most food (one of my best decisions in 2012!). iPhone was upgraded and oh what a difference that made for photos! It was a strange strange month of both incredible lows and wonderful highs.



May

From May and onwards my 2012 has been a lot about doctor appointments, blood samples, tests, examinations and medicines. (Writing this in the last shivering days of December with no answers in sight. Sigh.)

There were also cherry blossoms and thoughts on shoe lust. Poor little loaf was neutered due to testicle tumour, after the stitches were removed he was treated to a dog cafe visit. May 15 was also the Aday- day. I learnt the two halfs of an avocado-lesson and spent a weekend at a Geek Girl Meetup.

I bought a mock orange for garden and the blue kittens turned eight weeks old and continued to be a pure joy to both eye and soul.



June

It was a rainy and unusually cold month. I continued to feel crappy and looked like a tired, not so little troll and hair was a mess. More tests, more doctor visits. A hellish new passport experience.

But there was also hedgehog 2012, purple peep-toes (that granted sadly broke after a month...), we also managed to get out for a few cab-outings, went to sweet Åland and the fabulousness of Finnish rye bread.

Kitten delight.



July

Still rather chilly, but many wonderful days where had. Circus nails. Frolicking. Frog. Bobbalooing. A fab Yelp party. Summer visit to Gdansk. Blue boys moving to forever homes. Had many many good lunches, dinners, fikas. Found the perfect soy latte, bliss.

Discovered a new lovely cafe (one day, a post of its own...). Had a class in concreting for home and garden, it was such a nice and inspirational experience (one day too, a post of its own...). And another  day trip to Åland.

All and all, definitely one of the best months of 2012.



August

Gardens, gardens, gardens (one day, two day, three day, posts of their own...). Castles. Doctors. Pills. Little loaf turns nine. Museums, art, ice cream testing, goodbye shoes, hallo shoes.

And sorrow as we have to say farewell to Agnes.

Wistful August. Joy and sorrow entwined.



September

Needles. Rushed to the hospital. More needles. Writer's talk (you know, that really deserves a post of its own...). Flower picking. The discovery of days in frames. Blogoversary number seven. First woolly autumn project. Museums, a backpack and sweethearts.

A very strange month. Another one.



October

Many fabulous vegetarian meals, fikas, breakfast, lunches, dinners and one special luxurious afternoon tea. Happy birthday to me. Knitting, crocheting, knitting. Instawalk. A Day in the World the book. A yellow sofa. A very orange month. And doctors.



November

Skyfall. Magical wristwarmers. A lovely facial. Good fikas and afternoon tea. Floating. Walk & talk. Doing the Malte walk. Christmas fairs. Lumberjack cap. Doctors. Add a cold. Birthday boots arrival, the tale of five shoes. Nelly and Carrotboy.



December

Budapest. Loveliness in so many ways. Christmas fair, vegetarian delights, pastries and too many statues. Yes yes, more of later. Snowstorm. Carmina Burana. A Day in the World exhibition. Drac-Ulla. Yarn, yarn, yarn. Doctor. Pills. Floating. Birthday girls. Christmas cards. Icy streets. A touch of sales. Angels' share. Cheers.

~ ~ ~

If the year hadn't held a seven month period of constant health conundrums it might have been that fabulastic year I had every intention for it to be. 
Bye 2012, I have to say I am so glad to see you go. 
2013, be good, pretty pretty pretty please.