Started the week with a third veterinarian visit with Ztina, her breathing had become quick and shallow again last week and maybe the dosage needed changing.
The veterinarian was very hopeful at the first check-up a couple of weeks ago, that it was the infection that had caused her heart problem and that her heart medication could possibly be phased out. But alas it turned out she needed to get back on diuretic because she showed signs of lung oedema again. Hopefully this in combination with her heart medication will get her back in normal shape.
She's such a trooper. Grumpy sweetie.
I finally got the much awaited news about the job I applied for a few weeks back. They were happy with the interview but had decided to go with the candidate with more social structure experience. That's their choice obviously, and noone can say it was the right or wrong choice. I'm sure it was a great candidate with fine communication skills. And there was absolutely nothing I could have done differently, my skillset is what it is at this moment in time. Nothing to dwell on, just moving on.
I think it was pretty brilliant I was one of the final three candidates in fierce competition. The job just wasn't for me. My kind of people, my kind of organisation is still out there to be found. And after I had put the phone down I applied for two other jobs that I've had an eager eye on too, but held off applying since I focused on this one. One door closes and who knows what will open instead? That's exciting. And now I'm still open to more gigs and new clients, that's awesome too.
And for the very right and special client I might even, on occasion, wear a read nose.
Then I ended the day with cooking, what turned out to be, one of the tastiest vegan food box meals to date - okonomiyaki with pickled cucumber and hoisin sauce. It was actually mindblowingly good. The okonomiyaki consisted of grated carrots, sliced white cabbage and spring onions in a batter of chickpea flour and psyllium seed jelly (what a brilliant binding agent!). Here's the recipe in Swedish.
Now I'm going to listen to music, cuddle my poor little fluffster on a summer evening sun chair, acknowledge how much in my life I'm truly grateful for and great doors unknown I'm looking forward to see opening soon.
Regularly for me means about once or twice per month. Since I find vegan food, cats and such more fun to photograph than myself. And I'm really not keen on seeing other people obsessively posting selfies either - thank goodness for the new IG mute-button... You can unfollow without unfollow, now, how brilliant is that? - so why should I contribute to that I wonder.
But then sometimes I'm pretty pleased with a particular outfit. And I'm even more pleased when I'm able to thrift something in my own wardrobe that match, the idea I have in my head.
So when my two year old budgie skirt from Palava was finally altered last week I couldn't wait to take it for a spin of course. And this is what I came up with day one.
The blouse is about eight years old, organic cotton in a folklore model, with little birds embroidered at the neck, from Gudrun Sjödén. Haven't used it for years because one of the cats tore a hole in it and I being lazy as usual when it comes to mending, altering and such only just recently mended it. (I will never be a pro on mending, but at least I can wear it now.)
The blue organic cotton cardigan I got in the Marc'O Polo store in Berlin 2011, since I tore a hole in another cardi I had with me, and it has been a faithful, much worn summer companion ever since. It's such a lovely blue hue. And I love how there often are endearing memories attached to specific garments. In this case a bit wistful, I miss Berlin and I miss M, but it was a lovely trip with good memories, as always.
And the shoes are one of my favourites, the yellow El Naturalista Tesela mary-janes from 2010. At least I can never be accused of not being consistent in style. And how utterly fab is it that these shoes, eight plus years later, still are great to look at and walk in? Quality and comfort trumps everything.
Never mind my messy hall, cat food bags and heaps of paper recycling is life too.
In 2013 I bought the Impi dress from Marimekko. I still think it's one of my best garment purchases ever. It's such a carefree and happiness instigating dress - and being very A-line you can indulge in how many cakes your heart and tummy desire without the dress showing, if you are so inclined - which I've had so much fun in over the years.
And since I happened to wear it when I stepped in to the Marimekko store a while back and their new fitting rooms are perfect for outfit selfies I snapped one. Same cardi as above, sandals of 2015 from ART shoes (still super comfortable too) and obviously the Re-Kånken. It's so sweet how no matter what colours you choose you can match everything with that dress.
Since I think it's a perfect summer dress (and yes, it has pockets) I've been meaning to turn that model into other dresses with old, pretty fabrics. But well, since I wasn't able to alter the above budgie skirt until two years had passed that is a major project I don't see come to fruition any time soon...
And since all good things come in three, here's a third outfit that makes me happy - apart from that time an idiot (clearly) snapped a selfie of himself and the seminar audience in which I looked like a super-sized, striped and unflattery fluffy pastry. And posted it on LinkedIn. Oh the joy - the fabulous Marimekko Tasaraita dress, a classic pattern from the 1960ies which is a symbol for equality. It's a very Little My-esque power dress in cotton poplin, and I hope and think it'll be an awesome dressy companion for many years to come.
Even if one of the features that makes it special, the drawstrings, gave me a slight headache a while back. One day I noticed that one of the strings had mysteriously disappeared in to the waist tunnel. And then the other one did too. I couldn't for my life figure out the construction, so I ended up having to go back to the store asking for help. Where I was fortunate enough to stumble on a clerk that had experience with the same issue.
Turns out the two pesky little strings go from left to left side and right to right side, meeting inside the waist tunnel. Which is elaborately designed below the button-up chest part of the dress. I thought the strings where one front and one back. But no, the dress is designed like those ol' gymbags with drawstrings you had in school.
Well-made and interesting, but not the easiest concept to grasp at first. In hindsight it's very logical, but not there and then. Now I can at least sort the issue myself, if it would appear again.
So at the end of this post, my question is of course, are you already dressed for happiness success in colours or are you now inspired to?
Time to say bye bye to June as well as another cosmo geek week. With plenty of cat cuddles. Given the amount of oxytocin I constantly get refilled like this, one might think I should always be happy and content. Alas, life isn't as simple as that. But as with vitamin D supplements, who knows how I would feel without it?
:: I really enjoyed the Lars Lerin art exhibition at Liljevalchs. But as brilliant as he is as a painter, and award-winning writer, with a sweet and very likeable personality, I'm really glad Mondays are free entrance to the museum. Because unlike the Spring Art Salon, where you could spend hours, this exhibition is a rather quick thing to walk through. And 20 minutes were spent listening to an introduction. I do recommend a visit, his art is fantastic, but I would not recommend paying a hefty entrance fee for it. So go on a Monday.
:: Since the exhibition was a rather quick thing we could leisurely enjoy one of my favourite transportations in Stockholm on our way back, the Djurgårdsfärjan ferry boat. On a day with perfect summer weather it's such a mood lifting treat.
:: Followed by vegan lunch at a favourite place, Légumes, which has opened up on a new location, super conveniently located near the commuter train station. And we caught a ride home well before rush hour. It was such a lovely, unpretentious way to start a new week.
:: I had the second interview for the job that sounds great. It was a really nice ambiance and I felt it went very well. But as always, who knows who I compete with. What's meant to be will be. If it was up to me, I'd love to get the position, it still sounds amazing in so many ways. You know, that delightful blend of being able to contribute lots as well as learn plenty and have a very varied role. I will know this week. So, once again, fingers firmly crossed, dear internetz.
:: On the not so bright work front is the fact that one of my coaching participants has turned out to have a really troublesome attitude. I guess that was bound to happen sooner or later, but it's exhausting and infuriating and I don't get paid nearly enough to put up with things like this. So I've decided this will be my last round of coaching, it doesn't give me that warm and fuzzy feeling no more and I've helped several individuals already. And learnt a lot. There's a time and place for everything, and my involvement in this has come to an end when this round is over (with a last meeting in November).
The face of Ztina above is a perfect illustration about how I feel about this right now.
:: A well-known fact is that the Swedish summer begins with the season premiere of Midsomer Murders - unfortunately it ends with the last episode too... - which happened this week. I also stumbled over the perfect new flavour for it, the classic vegan Singoalla biscuits (now sans palmoil, so I can actually enjoy them) with strawberry-rhubarb cream. Perfection with a cup of tea.
Alas the episode itself was a really bad one (The Ghost of Midsomer Abbey), I do hope it picks up for next week. After all these years the plots get more and more strained, but I guess most of us watch for the picturesque settings and quirky characters not because it's a clever story.
:: A couple of years ago I wrote this guide to Stockholm. I've edited it a few times since, and it's still a work in progress obviously. But if you're coming to Stockholm this summer it's worth a read and keep for smultronställen not to be missed!
:: Almost two years ago I bought this beautiful budgie skirt in organic cotton. It didn't fit as expected alas. But I decided to keep it and alter the waistline because of its dreamy qualities. It *only* took two years but now it's done! With the help of a neighbourhood dog lady the skirt is now finally wearable. And the pockets are kept so it's perfect in every way. Now I just have to decide what to wear with it, perhaps a yellow blouse - which will pick up on the yellow budgies - or just a plain white T-shirt. Such a happy birdy skirt!
Current music crush is this - I'll be there with Jesse Glynne. What an amazing voice. I don't like the video (apart from the pink water) though. And doesn't it look like there's something wrong with a couple of the horses legs? That's just saddening, I hope I'm mistaken.
Thank you, June, you ended on a better note than you started. You certainly have been eventful, enlightening and helped me grow, and for that I'm grateful.
Hello, July, let's be awesome together, okay? Thank you kindly in advance.
Made this potato salad for Midsummer - recipe from Årstiderna vegan food box - and not being a fan of neither vinegar nor mustard I was a bit sceptical. But again, the flavour was amazing. And it's really a great eat in season summer dish.
new potato salad 4-6 servings
1 kg new potato
1 spring onion
3-4 tbsp vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar, I'm sure any will do)
0,5 dl rapeseed oil
1 tsp strong mustard
salt, black pepper
Boil the cleaned potato for about 10 minutes, until done. Let it cool in its water.
Chop the spring onion finely (both onion and haulms).
Whip together a dressing with vinegar, oil, mustard, salt and pepper.
Chop the cooled potatoes into 2-4 pieces, add the chopped spring onion and blend it with the dressing.
Enjoy!
It went really well with seitan sausages and a salad of white cabbage, green beans and cherry tomatoes.
A few months ago I stumbled over a really great article about a new book called "Vi är vad vi köper" (We are what we buy) written by a professor in PR and advertising and a cultural anthropologist. We are basically trapped in the consumerism pattern of the market economy and not at all the independent and rational beings most of us like to think we are. We buy our identities and personalities with the brands we buy.
I haven't bought the book yet, but I've listen to a few of their podcasts and they are really interesting. I'm well aware I too buy things to reinforce my personality. As a LOHAS, as someone who love colours, patterns, good design but still care deeply about the environment. I could obviously do much better, stop buying anything but food and consumables. Haven't reached that point just yet though.
With the thoughts from the article fresh in my mind I visited the newly renovated Marimekko flagship store in May and saw this quote above from the founder. To sell a lifestyle, I've never really gotten that concept. Or rather, I've never understood why some people just want to fill their homes and lives with most everything (they can afford) from one or a few brands only.
Sure, I love some brands for their design, quality, durability, environmental efforts too, but I would never, even if I had the money, let myself and my home be a walking advertisement for the brand. What a sad void of personality and independent thinking.
Pick some key pieces, mix'n'match with second hand and old things you love - and not everything old and loved need to reach the point of falling apart... -, that's my way of being what I buy.
Which brings me to the pod part 3 "Gisslan" (Hostage) about the clothes we consume, fast fashion vs slow fashion. Did you know that people in general buy 50 new clothes pieces every year? And that the average Swede have 160 pieces in their wardrobe?
I most certainly have a lot more than 160 pieces in my wardrobes - and I even had a massive clean-out about 15 years ago - which I suppose is rather embarrassing. On the other hand I have a lot of things I love to chose from, to mix'n'match with. I always sell or give away to charity more than I buy every year. Plus I most certainly don't buy anyway near 50 new garments annually, in fact I was even gobsmacked by that number. How is it even possible to justify, if the circumstances aren't very special?
So how did I justify what was in this box? A snazzy cotton skirt (with pockets of course) and a pair of at least as snazzy sneakers? To be honest I probably can't, more than I have lots of old loved things to combine them with, they are of great, long lasting design and quality, design that makes me happy. Which in the big scheme of things aren't reasons enough. I know. But sometimes you just, for various reasons, have to...
And yes the purchase was vegan. The pretty Unikko flower sneakers are made of rubber and recycled cotton canvas. And as you can see by my little red feline photo bomber (with her tongue out!) they have been paw approved. Looking forward to wearing them on a non-rainy day in a not too distant future.
We are what we buy, so what does your purchases say about you? Are you proud of it or are you on the path of change?
High time for some more vegan food inspiration, don't you think?
The dish above is a delightful chickpeas in korma curry with tomatoes and almond cream (the cream is more like milk, but it does tastes lovely in the curry instead of coconutmilk). And since I made it on the Swedish national day the other week I also decided to play with our flag's colour. Plus there's always a snoopervisor close at hand lending a helping paw as a finishing touch.
Meze with za'tar spiced hummus, grilled aubergine and squash with a topping of red onion, tomatoes and parsley. Served in pita with fresh cucumber. Delicious!
Vegetable wok with noodles and miso dressing. Nice but basic.
Chili sin carne with borlotti beans and avocado. Nice but basic.
Portobello mushroom burger with fried onion, avocado and relish. Had it not been for the fact that the mushroom turned tiny when fried it would have been great. Plus it lacked potato fries etc to be a filling and satisfying meal.
Vegetable lasagna with sunflower seeds served with a cabbage-spinach salad. Unfortunately this one was really dry since it didn't have the usual generous amount of bechamel sauce. It was a nice touch to make "cheese sauce" with boiled potatoes, carrots and sunflower seeds, but it just wasn't enough moisture.
Pakoras with sweetpotato and squash served with cabbage salad and tomato-chili salsa. Looks rubbish but tasted great. I'm just not a skilled enough pakora maker.
Yoga pot with turmeric, blue peas, broccoli, carrots, tomato and sweetpotato. Enjoyed the flavour but not the hard texture of the blue peas. Would have been much nicer with chickpeas.
Corn pudding with caramelized onion and spinach-tomato topping. Delicious! The recipe said corn bread, but obviously that was not going to happen with these ingredients, the pudding was lovely though and left overs on day two were even better.
Noodle salad with green beans, spring onion, broccoli, sesame seeds and peanut dressing. Lovely! Sesame seeds is such a gorgeous, simple thing that add extra oomph to any dish.
Green pea soup with asparagus and sprouts. Lovely! As the soup is made from scratch and dry green peas it's not sweet and the fresh, grilled asparagus on top is just amazing.
Buckwheat stew with black beans, portobello mushroom and coriander. Not a favourite. I usually love coriander, but here it wasn't nice at all, neither were the tomatoes. That omitted and it would have been nice.
Seitan sausages with potato wedges, pickled cucumber-red onion and marinated red cabbage. Lovely and very satisfying. Simple to cook but with a lot of flavours and textures. And pickled vegetables, what a great thing!
Congee pot with portobello, red onion, celery and peanuts. Much ado about not so much, the portions turned out very small and the tamari sauce made it very salt. The crispy, fried celery was a nice, new experience though.
Quinoa-amarant salad with ovenbaked beetroot, red onion and sunflower seeds. I do love beetroots but this was just too much with both raw beets in the salad and the ovenbaked ones.
Pitabread with spicy cauliflower, caramelized onion, marinated red cabbage topped wih coriander. This, my friends, was amazing. So much flavour and textures, the cauliflower and onion was ovenbaked in a generous amount of rapeseed oil and it was so lovely to soak that up with the bread. Perfect picnic food.
And the recipes (in Swedish) at Årstiderna website (or in the app). If you're keen on a translation of a specific recipe, or have any questions, please let me know in the comments.
Chanting. Job interview. Circular economy breakfast seminar. My very condensed week that was.
I've been meaning to start regular meditation routines for many many years, but somehow life went on without it. And when an old fellow cat breeder told me about her having practised chanting for many years, last year, I thought I should look into that. It took me a year of thinking, but now I've had a glimpse of it.
First of all, I shy away from anything with a whiff of religion - as far as I'm concerned, the root of so much evil in this world - I may be spiritual and philosophical but I also concider myself an atheist. I also believe everything is connected, in serendipity, magic and that there are more powers at work in this universe and world than the human brain and intelligence can ever fully understand. However I firmly don't believe such thoughts have anything to do with worshipping bearded or bald men existing above the clouds.
My only religion is kindness. Which obviously embrace every (kind and innocent) living being and fellow earthling.
When I attended the chanting and meeting I had no preconceptions, only an open mind. And five days later I'm still not sure what I felt about the experience. It was interesting to hear that so many of the things I believe and live by, the above mentioned but also the concept of Karma, Law of Attraction, to be responsible for the energy you put out in the world, happiness and that you grow into a better person by hardships, difficulties, sorrows are things firmly rooted in Buddhism. And it's not often you find yourself in a group of nine strangers being urged to share your experience of philosophical questions (that you had no idea was on the agenda).
But I also know I'm an intro/ambivert and I prefer one on one interactions before group activities. I do prefer to have a solitary think before I speak on new topics. And overall it was a bit... too much for me. Dare I say slightly suffocating? I will however read up on the concepts and chanting, because doing it as means to find inner peace and growth is something that appeals to me. Simply a part of me being braver this year. Without group activities.
The bonus of the meeting was I got to meet another British Shorthair than my own ones. She was such a sweet and social little soul, 14 years old but didn't look it.
The job interview went well. It seems like a really exciting position, with a lot of pieces of the puzzle being in perfect match with my particular background. As the interview was with a recruitment company I can now only have my fingers very firmly crossed that the organisation also want to meet next week. And yes, it would be darling if you could hold your fingers kindly crossed too, dear internetz.
The breakfast seminar on circular economy was interesting and enlightening. I had some good talks with people. However I was admittedly deeply disappointed about the fact that a company that works with sustainability issues and sustainable businesses only served sandwiches with both meat and dairy. That's just crazy, and neither credible, sustainable nor inclusive in communication. It's not the first time this has happened at seminars, despite mentioning "vegan" when I sign up. But it's *a bit* more remarkable when it's that kind of company and that kind of talks.
And no, "you can remove the meat, cheese and butter from the sandwich" is simply not an acceptable suggestion in 2018.
Most everyone gets happy and satisfied with a vegan sandwich for breakfast, plus it's healthy, sustainable and cheaper. It doesn't have to be more complicated than that.
I had a glass of orange juice and a pear. And then I had to go to a favourite cafe for a lovely vegan sandwich and oat latte in order not to faint from a lack of bodily nourishment, before I went home. Imagine if this gorgeous, simple hummus on rye had been the seminar breakfast instead...
At the end of another week, collecting my thoughts and hopes for a new one, it's difficult to grasp that it's Midsummer by the end of next week, and then only one left of June. Time continues to fly and the only thing we can do with that knowledge is to grow and learn a little more each day, each week, each life. Be kind and stay true to ourselves.
My days lately, well these past few months really, have been overshadowed by my (these days) constant companions of stress, worry and sadness. One would be enough, two is a crowd, the third one is bound to follow. This situation has also meant I've struggled with what to blog about. To write about bright and beautiful things, which there are too, and inspiration, felt false.
To, on the other hand, write about how partly Weltschmerz really has become a firm fixture in my life, and partly how the battle I've been fighting back and forth for two plus years now still feels uphill, well that's depressing. Sometimes, many times, writing down your struggles help you figure out solutions though. So here goes. Some worries and stress are for very tangible, personal reasons, others are for the state of the world, how we treat animals, the environment, eachother.
Since I can't solve the state of the world on my own - but continue to make healthy, kind choices every day. Peace begins on your plate and in your daily choices. - , or today, I need to focus on how to solve my own personal situation in the parts they need solving. I'm rather (understatement of the year) tired of short term solutions, I'm looking for longterm ones now. To stress and worry less.
Everything is figureoutable, as someone wise said. So in order to figure things out, as best I can, I've written every little (or not so little) worry and problem down. And possible solutions.
Came to the conclusion there were eight main things and areas of worry. Some of them have been solved already, others I can't do anything about but wait, while others I'm still in the process of figuring out.
I'm happy to report that Ztina, poor little kitty, is doing fine on her medication. We had a check-up at the veterinarian the other day and he said her heart looked almost normal. Possibly, for unknown reasons, it was a serious infection that caused the heart condition and fluids. I will continue with the heart medication for some weeks and then return for another check-up and hopefully talk about phasing the medication out. Fingers crossed.
On the not so happy side is the realisation that both my ex-team mates knew fully well that the client hadn't paid the December invoice. Yet they decided to not disclose that information with me, instead let me work hard all January too not knowing there was a real danger we wouldn't get paid. That they chose to be so negligent with their own money and time is one thing. That they decided for me too is not in any single way decent behaviour. Had I known, which I should have, I would not have continue to work in January until that invoice was paid. Since I had lost my trust in the client well before Christmas already.
Very short story - the January invoice never got paid. The client decided to declare bankruptcy. And start another company the next week. Plus take the employees for a recreational trip to Italy. True story. I'm really not sure this is even legal. Ethical and fair it most certainly isn't. And their business reputation is obviously below zero.
Still figuring my next move here. I'm sure Karma will do her bit too.
The non stop sunshine and heat for six weeks with no rain whatsoever was really rough too. Climate change is so obviously real. Yet most people seem to live their lives like there's no tomorrow, well obviously there won't be. But still, all the car driving, meat eating, shopping, flying, the overall egotistical behaviour from people who refuse to see they too are part of the problem the whole planet is facing. It's exhausting. Once you see the patterns and connect the dots there's no going back.
The refreshing rain for a couple of hours the other week just wasn't enough to drench the thirst of nature. Neither was last night's.
This week I have three things booked on the path of that quest. First a job interview for a position that sounds amazing within a really interesting sustainability organisation that works both nationally and internationally within Europe. Needless to say Ms Sustainability 2018 is very excited about this opportunity.
Second I've been thinking a lot about meditation but never gotten around to practising it with focus. Now I've rekindled with a fellow British Shorthair breeder, via LinkedIn of all places, whose practising chanting and meditation. And she's hosting a drop-in tomorrow. I'm going with an open and curious mind.
Thirdly I'm going to a breakfast seminar on circular economy. Which is bound to be interesting and inspirational.
Currently listening to Haevn's Hold on. This is only an excerpt, but it's a lovely taste of the song with the orchestra and strings. And hold on, move on and open mind are now my focus areas. Much better than stress, worry and sadness. Some days I'm better at it than others. Work in progress still. As life is.
