a scarlett thomas trio

I'm now a very happy owner of three unread Scarlett Thomas books. All with gorgeous cover design, in the style as The end of Mr Y and PopCo. It was the cover design that drew me to her books in the first place and I'm so grateful it did, because her later books are indeed wonderful, important, clever reads.

The sweetest crux right now is, which one to being with?

the one who has the power to change the weather is you

Behold the face and the look of someone who clearly thinks I alone have the power to change this dull-even-for-cats-weather. Sadly I don't.

But I know that +11C degrees in November in Sweden isn't by any means okey. And if I had the power alone to stop climate change and people's immense stupidity, ignorance and heartlessness I would a) make every single one become vegetarian or vegan - because needless to say the meat/dairy industry and animal flesh eating is one major cause of climate change. And violence breeds violence while compassionate, kind choices breeds kindness - and

b) I would make people stop using their cars as much as they needlessly do - come on people, you don't need a car to get you everywhere all the time and you certainly don't need to be alone in your car, carpooling is da thing. And guess what, walking, cycling and using public transportation is good both for the health and the environment. Plus it does good for the wallet - and

c) I would put a ban on consumerism and the endless hunt for far too cheap products - because this planet can't do with more bad quality, short-lived stuff being produced, bought, used for a while then thrown away. And it's so very obvious that somewhere down the production chain of cheap products neither the environment nor the people are treated fairly.

If I had the power over the environment alone I would do that. But sorry, littlest kitty, I don't, the weather I can't control but the amount of food and cuddles I can. I hope that is satisfying enough for you and you paw friends?

an industrial estate sunset

The proof that a sunset can make even the most listless of industrial estates - I'm an avid loather of them since they are clearly some of this planet's most uninspiring and ugly places. Always. They always make my heart sink and I try to shy away from them as much as possible - can be pleasing to they eye at certain times.

In the middle of the estate is a pond and two fountains. There is also a little island with a wee bridge. Apparently there are more reasons to that than meets the eye at sunset.

A) When the estate was inaugurated in the mid 70ies the Swedish industry company ASEA (now a part of the ABB group) had factories here. One of the company's largest share holders was one of the Wallenberg family (prominent Swedish industrial dynasty, of which I have no idea who's who apart from Raoul Wallenberg of course). For the inauguration he and the Swedish king arrived in a helicopter for the ceremony. They landed on the small island in the pond. For the island isn't an island as such it's in fact a helipad. Though that was the only time ever it has been used as a helipad. Conclusion: the ridiculousness of the rich and famous knows no boundaries.

B) The pond and the fountains have an important task, they are in fact part of a clever cooling system for the adjacent manufacturing production. No longer the place of ASEA ABB factories obviously, but other industries. To be honest I have no idea if it's industries which produce environmental things this planet really needs or not, but I think the cooling system pond and fountain is rather an ingenious way to solve that need.

It's probably a reasonably common way for cooling systems at industrial estates - since I try and spend as little time as possible at them I didn't learn about that until now. It was a day of learning something interesting and new as well as something ridiculous and new. It was a day of a beautiful industrial estate sunset.

pink and green lovikka mittens to be

I know, there've been a lot of yarn-related post lately, but it's that time of the year. And with a long summer without any knitting or crocheting I'm a bit overwhelmed by the delightful sight of yarn and everything you can knit with it.

Yes I need to become better at actually finishing yarn projects, but really, sometimes you simply can't resist a little purchase of something spectacular. And whilst I didn't buy everything irresistable in the yarn shop last Friday I did get this. Lovikka yarn from another brand than the one I usually buy from, in a perfect green hue AND a magenta pink/cerise too.

I have a couple of wristwarmers to finish to order, but after that I will be making myself two pairs of Lovikka mittens. Because I'm worth it. And because you can't have too many Lovikka mittens. Or so I tell myself. It's a way to survive the Scandinavian winter, knit and wear a lot of colours. Funny how very often the answer to a question is colour.

The colour hues are very much like the yarn I bought before Christmas 2011 - they were turned into two caps. In other words, these mittens already have their perfect woolly match waiting for them when the weather turns cold.

How's your yarn project/s of 2014 going so far?

world vegan day

This was my simple dinner on this World Vegan Day - guacamole and tortilla chips. For perfection the avocados should have been more ripe, but it was nice just the same. And no animals were harmed in the making of this dish, that certainly trumps any avocado ripeness.

Apart from avocado, yellow onion, tomatos and a dash of lemon juice the guacamole also includes salt and black pepper. The bobbaloos made sure just the right amount was used.

What did you have for breakfast, lunch and dinner on World Vegan Day?

colourful halloween

If one doesn't carve one's own pumpkin one can take pictures of other people's pretty lanterns.

If one isn't in the mood for cooking, one can eat other people's awesome vegetarian meals.

If one really doesn't need more yarn one can always swoon over, take pictures of and add to the wishlist all that beauty.

If one is lucky enough to have the cutest redhead in the whole wide world living under your roof, by all means cuddles galore.

Have a lovely, colourful 

Halloween weekend ~

do you take almond milk, honey or a cat with your tea?

For some reason I haven't gotten around to trying plant based milk in my tea since I stopped using dairy. I went straight for honey (or sometimes nothing at all) and have stayed there. I've feared that plant based milk would interfer with the natural tea flavour, whilst honey simply enhance it.

I got a tip about a certain coconut milk that would be lovely in tea, but since I haven't found it in Sweden I've just let go of the idea somehow. But then someone recently tweeted about a certain tea in combination with almond milk. And it sounded great, "pear glow" and almond milk, surely that would taste awesome together?

So I bought the tea - that didn't smell anything in tea shop but I thought it was because I'd just had the facial with rather strong herbal scents and I didn't smell a thing but those herbs and lotions - and the almond milk I use and looked forward to a new flavour sensation.

Brewed the tea, which turned out to neither smell nor taste anything at all, to be honest I think the shop sold me old tea. Which is a shame, even if it's a measly amount of money per se I'm certainly not tempted to buy more tea from them. But with the almond milk it was actually quite a drinkable cup of tea anyway.

Just a very faint flavour of almond, not overpowering at all. I do believe almond milk will be my new almost-best friend for a decent cuppa. With a better tea with stronger taste of course.

Honey or almond milk, them cats doesn't care much which, they just know that when I cuddle up in the corner of the sofa with a cup there's also time for a cat cuddle, as far as they are concerned. They know me too well.

red rosy beanie and red boots

Behold the pretty wonderful beanie I go for myself as a birthday gift. It was another case of almosst-sold-ot-but-I-managed-to-snatch-one. And every time this happens with colourful clothes I wonder who buys them, but me, because I never see those colourful items being worn by other people. At least not in Sweden. Perhaps clever, colourful tourists buy them?

It's from Swedish brand Gudrun Sjödén and made from organic cotton with a dash of mulesing-free merino wool - I'm glad they actually made a thing of the wool being mulesing-free as I never buy merino because of its often immense cruelty in production - thin and perfect for chilly but not very cold autumn/winter days. But most of all it's a lovely rosy, colourful piece perfect for the long, dark and glum season.

And no it's meant to be worn on a human head, not used as a supersized sleeping baf for small sized woollies. Despite what the picture might suggest.

The boots that match the beanie very well is from the same brand - also a case of  sold-out-but-we'll-refill-the-stock-so-please-order - but not mine, but my mother's. Not my cup of tea in style, but I love the bright red colour called 'cranberry'. I'm sure she'll look great in them for many winter seasons to come!



How about you, 
something old or something new 
on head and feet this winter season?

the magic granny square cardigan to be

Looking forward to finally see these 72 granny squares turned into a cardigan. Can't say I'm looking forward to the tying the loose ends and sewing them together though. 

At least it's a Sisyphean task with and end. If there ever was one. 

It will certainly be a cardigan of many colours. A magic one. I'm sure.

dermalogica ultracalming skincare

Better late than never, I've just begun using Dermalogica skincare. Hopefully it'll be the perfect companion for dry, dull winter skin.

When I had a facial last week - and got told I had a really great skin that didn't need such facials. Oh dear, I had to mention that again, didn't I? - I was, as usual, curious about the products used. And since my Kiehl's Skin rescuer bottle is nearly empty (and it wasn't a successful match for me during the colder time of the year. Neither was the Kiehl's centella recovery skin salve. Time for a new brand) I was open to new suggestions to try.

The beauty therapist used this Dermalogica kit of four on me during the facial and it felt like a good option with natural ingredients only. So far I've only used the serum under the above mentioned skin rescuer. And only a couple of times so I can't really tell if I find it good or not. I'm also crap at keeping strict and regular skin regimes, some days I do that, other days I do this and some days neither this nor that.

The skin did feel lovely after the facial though. And I haven't experienced the usual dry patches this time of the year recently. I will update this post when I've used the products more thoroughly. It would be lovely if I could then say it's one great product (or two, three, four).

But for now, but favourite facial product is still bareMinerals original foundation. It has been very very kind to my skin for five months now. I hope it'll be good during the harsher, cold months too.

Dermalogica seems like a company with strong ethics when it comes to animal testing and most of their products are suitable for vegans. I also really appreciate that they have a foundation that supports and empowers women and communities all over the world. Like all the best companies have (best as in the ones that produce/sell ethical products, not the ones that use philantropy as an alibi for their unethical or unhealthy product).

For now, I'm pretty certain my head won't fall off from using the ultracalming range. And if it does at least I can join the bobbaloo deity and spread the word of kindness while soaring.