breakfast habits

I am definitely not a person who always stick to the same kind of breakfast - unlike my grandparents who really couldn't deal with the concept of variety and always came visiting with their own food. Yup, really. - 

but the breakfast combo mostly eaten is some kind of bread (often toast) with cheese and veggies, orange juice and tea.

It has been quite a while since I had the soygurt, fruit and seeds breakfast - which  I used to eat often, probably so often so it turned boring - but the other day I did. Plain Alpro soygurt (I do prefer flavoured) with frozen raspberries, a sliced banana, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, goji berries and chia. It was really lovely and refreshing for a change. I have now stocked up on flavoured soygurt and plan to do this more often. And vary the fresh fruit topping.

Do you have any special breakfast habits? Are you rigid with breakfast routines or do you like variation? What's your favourite breakfast and what do you usually have?

new swedish banknotes 2015

On October 1st we got new banknotes in Sweden and they are quite lovely - but the loveliest is definitely the 20 SEK note with Astrid Lindgren and Pippi Longstocking.

It has also been paw inspected and, given the interest, highly approved of.

whisky coffee lip balm

I think this wee jar of lip balm might be one of the funniest little useful gifts I've ever recieved - Glen Moray distillery's coffee whisky lip balm. 

M has spent a week in Speyside with friends visiting 19 (!) distilleries - I could definitely do without the whisky part, but oh how I miss Scotland... - and this is one of the things he brought home. It only has a faint scent of whisky, which is good as far as I'm concerned. I like the quirky idea lots. And I'm sure a coffee and whisky lover would see this as the ultimate skin care product.

project occupy human continues

Just your average watching-TV-evening in this residence:

At least two cats occupying human in sofa and at least one watching the scene jealously. And so the project occupy human continues.

little fox earrings

From being an avid (semi-addict) earring wearer I rarely use them anymore. That doesn't mean I can't be smitten by them now and then. And these fox ones from Swedish hippstory.com were even as smitteny it seems as I had to buy them. Foxes are so autumnal, don't you agree? 

I got my pair at Liljevalchs museum shop (which has a great range of lovely old and modern souvenirs and gifts) but they also have their own shop here in Stockholm plus webshop of course. I'm sure you can find the brand at others retailers too.

the heritage of vegetable eating

My mother looked through some old family photos and found this. Apparently it was THE thing to pose with vegetables in the late 19th century. I'm glad to see that I obviously stem from a long line of proud vegetable eaters - it's my great grandfather to the left in the back.

Beetroots rock.

how i learnt to love rooibos tea

Once upon a time I couldn't stand rooibos teas, I found the taste really off-putting. But then I tried it flavoured with fruit and berries or vanilla and found it was rather nice. And then I bought the tin to the left at Berlin department store KaDeWe in 2010 - rooibos raspberry vanilla - and I simply loved the round, distinct flavour. 

After that I slowly began choosing flavoured rooibos over black teas and found several new favourites. And these days it's pretty much always rooibos for me. Even without additional flavour sometimes. Now I love how you never have to deal with theine or tannin, unlike black and green teas the rooibos tea is always round and kind.

Unfortunately the tea flavour that made me love rooibos isn't sold by KaDeWe anymore, and the caramel cream I got last summer there isn't as good. But that doesn't matter much, I have so many other rooibos favourites now. And continue to discover more. Will forever be grateful for that raspberry-vanilla tin.

What's your favourite rooibos tea?

the blue-white keepcup

Who says you can't have more than one keepcup? It may have been a slightly impulsive move to buy another one with my tasty oat latte, despite having this awesome red-pink one, but that doesn't mean it was a bad one.

Because a) the large red-pink one is perfect for a large soy latte at Espresso House - I'm sure you could use it at any other coffee place too, despite the logo, but for me that's the only coffee chain / cafe where I know they can handle soy milk and always make a great latte with it.

b) the blue-white is medium sized and perfect for the oat latte I always get at just that place, Johan & Nyström - which apparently has been named Sweden's Best Cafe 2014 by Whiteguide and also Second best cafe in Europe by Alegra Awards. Not sure if I agree, because my kind of best cafes need to have reliable excellent service and always friendly staff (no matter if the guest is concidered to be of the *right* sort) plus be very much more cosy and quirky and less posh hipster. That said I do enjoy their oat latte, buy their teas often and is a rather frequent guest on my way to and from the train. So yes, I do recommend the place and enjoy lots of what they offer, but from that to The Best it's a long way to go...

Now I simply have to remember which way I'll take on a particular day so I bring the right keepcup, for the right coffee.

And yes, I find the blue-white colour combination rather dull - especially as Espresso House has lovely new, perky colours in their keepcups - but for some reason that's the only colour they have. However as they have a cafe in Helsinki now too the colour combo is very Finland befitting so that might be the reason. 

I do know that I'll not forget to bring this new keepcup with me to Helsinki when we got there in November. Can't wait! Even if the cup itself isn't the major reason for my excitement, believe it or not.

my favourite book by henning mankell

I was so sad to hear about the too early passing of Henning Mankell. A man so much more than a great crime novelist, also a human rights activist. 

Of course most known for his books about Kurt Wallander, but for me first and foremost (and yes I've said so before) 'The Man from Beijing' is the book you should read. Well-written, ingenious and  brilliant in so many ways. A book that will most likely blow your mind and make you a more well-informed and curious person. 

Do you have a favourite Mankell-book?

world animal day

It's not only Cinnamon bun day on October 4th, it's also, and more importantly, World Animal Day.

For important reads/audio on the paradigm shift regarding our fellow earthlings I suggest you read/listen to the three pieces I've listed the other day.

And always choose compassion and kindness towards those who have no human voices but still have, at least, as much right as the human animal to live a natural, cruelty free and loving life.