Thursday, December 29, 2011

The last days of 2011 ...






The last days of 2011 we spend chilling by the fire - made with wood we chopped ourselves (!), drinking the best christmas tea in the history of man (smells like marzipan and tastes like heaven!), baking Swedish cookies, going for long walks with the dog, resisting the urge to steal the neighbour's oranges, 
and enjoying the sunshine as much as we can.

I hope you also find ways to finish the year in the best possible way :)


Tuesday, December 27, 2011

A Forest of Light!


Inpired by Sonja Vordermaier's Streetlamp forest (a collection of 30 streetlamps from different places and times) I took some pictures of streetlamps in Monaco :)




Soon all the christmas lights will be gone ... so why not see the beauty in the light we get all year round?


Saturday, December 24, 2011

Nu är det jul igen!







To all Swedes out there: 
God Jul!
I have to admit I do miss the julmust and the Janssons, 
and the Christmas stars and lights everywhere ...

There's something about Sweden that makes Christmas just a little more christmassy :)

Enjoy your Donald Duck Special at 3PM.
I'm not sure I'll ever understand that tradition :p


Oh and for those who wonder: the pictures are taken in Stockholm, when I was there on the 15th of December ...

Thursday, December 22, 2011

My digital (borrowed) Christmas card




This year, I'm afraid we didn't manage to plan far enough ahead to write proper Christmas cards. 
To all who expected one - I promise to do better next year :)

In stead I thought I'd share my version of the digital christmas card of Saint Paul's tourist office with all of you.
They did a really nice job, don't you agree?

Too bad there's no snow in real life ... but sunshine and up to 17°C is not bad either :D

Hope you're having fun preparing for the weekend!




Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Location Update





Good morning everyone! I'm back online after a couple of days 'hiding out' in Belgium.
This time I didn't do my usual round of visits but stayed at my uncles place, who probably needed the company most.
(I'll be better when I come back in March, I promise!)

Right now I'm in Saint-Paul de Vence, at home in France, where I will stay until the 4th of January.

It's nice to have so many homes ...
 But nothing beats feeding chickens and cleaning stables :D

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Critical Thinking + Banksy



all images from here

Here's the website of an admirable street artist I'd like to share with you today.

Can we all start thinking critically now? 

Can't we start making informed choices and think about the true price of everything we do, buy and consume and ask ourselves the question "Are there alternatives that do more good and less harm?"

Do we really want to shop until we drop? Can we really stand behind the lifestyle choices we make?
There's so much we never get to know as consumers, unless we ask questions and dig for the answers ourselves.

Here's something new: polar fleece, the fabric made of recycled plastic, is actually a big ocean polluter!
It's really tough to be green, so it seems. (read the article here)

Monday, December 12, 2011

Green Christmas Tree?

from IJM via Emmas designblogg

There are plenty of reasons why people decide not the bring a real tree into their homes for Christmas.
Luckily enough there are plenty of fun alternatives!

In my opinion, a plastic tree is absolutely out of the question (interesting read: "Is a fake christmas tree the 'green' choice?")
I hope we can all agree with the author: the plastic-is-green rationale has more holes than a watering can!


Sunday, December 11, 2011

Project Gingerbread


The Christmas decoration is complete now with our newest addition.
The initial plan was to build a lot higher, but we underestimated the work a little.
Next year though ... ;)

Does anyone know what time does to gingerbread houses? I really wonder how we will find ours when we come back in April ...
Throwing it out before we leave just feels wrong!

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Waiting for snow ...



I'm leaving the island in less than a week.
I want to take a picture exactly like this, but with the rooftops, streets and trees all covered in white.

Hurry up snow!

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Home Sweet Home





Ever since I moved away from home I've been living in quite a few countries, quite a few cities, and quite a few apartments. 
The apartment we live in now is by far my favourite, with our choice of wallpaper, our choice of furniture (for the most part) and even though we don't have a bathtub, dishwasher or garden, for this stage of our lives, it's just right :)

I'd like to introduce you to some of my favourite things:
Hugo, our pet-stag, 
our floating bookshelves, 
my *homemade* driftwood-coathanger, 
and my collection of chicken-wire frames (with Seventytree-postcards :))

I'll have to miss our home for a little while this winter, but the good news is that I'm taking you along! (as long as you keep reading my blog ;))

Who's with me?



Monday, December 5, 2011

My Sweet Little Tray

Luqaz likes to make fun of me for buying things that "we don't need". Like this cute little tray I picked up at the Leva Loppis a while ago ...
This post is proof that it actually is very useful. And that one can never have too many little trays.




My little tray is perfect for pumpkin-soup lunch, made with the 7kg pumpkin me and my last couchsurfers bought for 7 kronor - about 80 eurocents or a little over a dollar (a bargain I'm still proud of!)





It's also perfect for 2 glasses of milk and lussekatter - made according to Luqaz' mum's recipe (with which she got the second place in a Lussekatt-baking competition in Småland!)







My little tray is a loyal companion during tea breaks ...





And even in the kitchen I wouldn't be able to do without it. Here with home made gluten-free knäckebrod (again one of Luqaz' mum's fantastic recipes) of which I make loads of nowadays since that's what Luqaz serves at the restaurant he works at.
And what about these? My homemade version of the mozartkugel, of one of my favourite sweets to eat this time of year - very time consuming to make ... but oh so rewarding! (for you Belgians out there - I replaced the nougat filling with Speculaaspasta - mmm!) What would I have done without my little tray?I think I've made my case here. Trays always come in handy. In fact, I think we need more! :)

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Sustainability's 1st Birthday!

Photo via yellow brick blog

Today, the 3rd of December 2011, it is exactly 1 year ago since I gave in to my urge to express myself in the form of this blog. It took me a while to gather the courage to officially share my pictures and words with the world though ... I've had the blog since January 2010 but never actually posted anything ...

To any of you who are considering starting a blog but who are hesitating, just like I was: just do it.
For me, my blog is an excuse to take thousands of pictures, experiment in the kitchen, read more, go for long walks, try new things, go new places ... and share!

The decision to start writing posts about things close to my heart enticed my curiosity, awakened my hunger for knowledge, and motivated me to be more creative in all aspects of life.

There are days when I forget why I keep a blog (because to be honest, it does take a lot of time!), but then I'm reminded by looking at my blog's statistics how much I like knowing that people all over the globe come and visit to read what I write :)

Thank you! ♥

I wish you all a beautiful Saturday.
Who's celebrating with me? :)

Friday, December 2, 2011

The beginning of the End of Aids


For all of you who want to learn how to quilt but don't have the energy, or time, or patience, this is your moment!
 On this website you can get started and add your own virtual panel to a quilt for a good cause!
The only thing you have to do in return is pledge to do more, for example, give a (red)gift this holiday season or join the one campaign and invite a friend.
The goal is an AIDS Free generation by 2015.

What do you have to lose?
Get stitchin'!

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

E-numbered Creativity



And this is how my village looks after Luqaz and I had some fun with glazing, sprinkles, and -I hardly dare to admit- E-numbers.
I wish I did my research before I ate some of our creations.
According to  wikipedia "food colouring is not really healthy to your body".
Ok, I knew this. I guess I was trying to fool myself into believing the dyes we used were natural ...
But one of the natural blue food dyes is said to be made of butterfly pee (not to mention those made of insects). There really is no upside here ...
We'll just have to stay clear of those chemicals in the future. White glaze is prettiest anyway, right?

Gingerbread Fun!


I'm still a novice in the gingerbread house baking thing ... but since I live in Sweden now and gingerbread house building is like a national sport here, I decided to roll up my sleeves and get going!

Meet my village!




Aren't they adorable?
They even come in black too :) 

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Advent Sunday = Yum!

Sweden is a country of many traditions ... and most of them include yumminess.
Last Sunday we were invited to my very first Adventsfika (thank you Jenny & Kalle!), got a taste of a little bit of everything you're 'supposed' to eat and drink at this time of year, and once again decided that there's no place like my new home :)





Luqaz and I finally started baking too! 
We're a bit behind as we don't even have advent candles yet *shame* but as you can't eat candles I'm not too bothered :)

Monday, November 28, 2011

Advent Adoration




Advent Sunday was rather stormy here on the island so I'm glad I took advantage of sunny Saturday to go into town.
I'm so happy that people not only decorate the inside of their houses!
Now we only need a little bit of snow to transform Visby into a true winter fairytale town ...

***