Thursday, March 31, 2011

Culinary Days

I knew the week would start well but I never thought a 13 hour work day could be fun! 
While Luqaz was in charge of lunch and dinner for a group of 12 people and as starter made soup of the ramslök (ramsons according to wiki) we picked over the weekend I got to make cake and cookies all afternoon!
Mondays can be a lot worse, right?

Nothing wrong with Wednesday either! Inspired by the possibility to go out in the forest and gather dinner me and my friend Julia went for a walk, plucked until our fingers were frozen, and made ramslök quiche! I which I could share a picture of the carrot cake we had as starters (while the quiche was in the oven) but there's so little left of it that it would be a rather sad sight :p




Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Read & Smile :)

Good news

Over the last 24 hours our planet continued to rotate around its axis as usual, with the result that the sun went up everywhere on earth.

Billions of birds sang and an infinite number of flowers bloomed.
The Earth was blessed with 340 000 new lovely human babies.

Intelligent, loving and courageous acts were carried out every second somewhere on the planet.
Millions of people refrained from saying or doing something mean.

Hundreds of new, really good ideas were developed.
Billions of people laughed, learned something new, touched others with their kindness, loved life even if it was just for a moment
and refused to give up.




This text made my day - the original Swedish version can be found in a nice little frame at the Waldorf kindergarten here in town.
Love it!

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Random Laughs and Smiles

Taking pleasure in the little things is an art - totally underestimated and not always easy.
For some reason though this week gave me plenty of those feel good moments and reasons for honest happiness.





I don't think an egg carton made me smile before ... while it's obvious why a plate of banana pancakes would ...
Those toska cookies are no more, unfortunately, but guess who knows the recipe ... ;) Mouthwatering/delicious/heavenly - all understatements!

Crispy toast with cheese and cucumber slices has become staple food on lazy days - and this version with baby cucumber (from Gotland!) made it to the list of smile enhancers.


I'm so ready for this new week. My agenda is nicely filled with things to look forward to and my cold is on its way out so things are looking up!
My little project is taking up most of my thinking hours (making any attempt to study very challenging) and will probably be the subject of most of my posts the following weeks ... 
Hope you don't mind :)


Saturday, March 26, 2011

First day at the office :)


Today we went for an other visit to Hamra Krog. Perfect weather, perfect company, perfect pancakes for lunch, and very interesting discoveries!
Thanks to all of you who have shared your ideas with me. I haven't completely made up my mind yet but your input was of great value! I'm so excited about this little project of mine that I'm having trouble sleeping and get up several times a night to jot down new ideas :)

To be continued!

Are you in?

Super cute image from here, perfect for today!

Let's join the dark side!!


Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Brainstorm Request


Finally our plans for the summer are taking shape! Luqaz got a job as headchef at what seems to be a very very cool place.
Burgsvik will be our home over the summer!
Hamra Krog, a “household” name on the island, has been around for 20 years and is now getting a complete make-over and will be opening in June with Luqaz behind the stove! 
The 2 sisters who own it now are bubbling with energy and their vision of their business got us bubbling too :) 
I’ll be a bit of an all-rounder, or a helper in need, but I'm mostly excited about this: 





I got my own office!
The little building in the picture has been everything from jewelry shop to garage and now it's up to me to make something of it.

So here are two questions for all you people:

What would you do with a space of roughly 25m2 (keeping in mind that it should make at least a little bit of money)?
But perhaps more importantly:
If you were on holiday and you stumbled upon this amazing restaurant/bar where they had live music every night and a energetic team of young inspired people taking care of you, what would you expect to find in the little workshop right next to it (visible from the main outside terrace)?

I have some ideas of my own of course, but as to keep your imagination flowing I’ll keep those to myself for now ;)

I’d very very much appreciate your input – so feel free to comment or drop me a line :)


Looking forward to hearing from you!





Monday, March 21, 2011

Bye Bye Blur!

This is absolutely of no importance to anyone really but I just got myself a pair of glasses and I'm so excited about being able to see the details that I missed before :)

Driving will definitely be safer from now on, and people watching & spying on the neighbours so much more fun!

Also in the picture is a book I've been struggling with: Poetry and mythical stories ... in Swedish!
Pure hard work, but possibly the prettiest schoolbook I've ever owned.

Has to count for something right :)

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Mother Nature's Ice Palace


Of course we're all looking forward to spring ... but I deeply enjoyed the ice today - even though it's rapidly melting. Somehow I think this beach will lose a lot of its attraction come summer!



I've neglected my blog a bit this weekend (I actually had a lot going on!) but keep coming back though because soon I'll be asking for your help ...

Have a great Monday!

Friday, March 18, 2011

Ich bin ein Berliner!


These pictures were taken in Berlin this summer, where me and my friend Jamie stayed for a couple of days during our Interrail trip through Europe.

I have of course heaps of pictures of our 45-day adventure ... so there might be more to come ;)

Anyone thinking/dreaming of discovering Europe traveling by train - Just do it!


Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Something Repurposed

Good Magazine, dedicated to the general welfare and determined to be both relevant and entertaining, has a website. I'm a little behind on the facts because the magazine was founded in 2006, but I stumbled upon it and was instantly moved by their projects, such as: Nominate someone awesome, Take a picture of your favourite view, Send a Valentine to women who really need it, and the one I like best: Take a picture of something repurposed.






(works by Lauren Lee, Tibora Bea & Ivy Lane taken from here)

On wikipedia I read: GOOD is a media platform that promotes, connects, and reports on the individuals, businesses, and non-profits "moving the world forward".


In this rather bleak world it's nice to shift the focus on the good. 

Monday, March 14, 2011

House on wheels!

I came across a blog of a man named Lloyd Khan, editor-in-chief of "shelter publications", who's currently working on a book featuring tiny homes.
Tiny homes ...
I usually see myself living in a bigger space but it's so hard not to take off to dreamland ... garage turned into tiny dream home, treehouses, ingenious caravans & campers and how to modify vans for living (enthusiasts should definitely check out this vandweller's blog), living on a sailboat ... one after the other incredible stories - and links that will get you lost in blogosphere :)

My favourite one though:



You can read the original post on Lloyd's blog.

Friday, March 11, 2011

My heart goes out to the world ...

Let's talk some trash!


Not an image you associate with holidays, white sandy beaches & crystal clear water but the bitter reality. 
My mum likes to joke about my recycle obsession ever since I was a little kid so you can understand how frustrated I got when I was forced to throw everything in the same bin on holidays for the simple reason that there only was one!
Unfortunately a lot of trash doesn't even end up in the bin ... as soon as we stepped out of the touristy areas this was a very common sight.

Maybe this was what subconsciously motivated me today. What was supposed to be a walk along the beach turned into a little litter picking.


Here's a little selection: A milk carton from Holland, a juice carton from the American Beverage Depot, a Japanese (?) water bottle, and a German softener container. I wish they could talk and tell me how the hell they got here!

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

It's a dogs life ...


We've all read the articles, and by now understand that it's not really ecologically responsible to keep pets, but when I saw my 77 year old great-uncle running around like a 5 year old, playing with his new Rottweiler puppy Feniks, I like to forget all I've read and conclude that animals can be real life savers.

Is it pure human selfishness? Keeping animals just because they make you feel good, keep you company, guard the house, or help you with things you can't do yourself?




I like to believe we can do just as much for them as the other way around.

Here's a little flower for Ashley from Lucky Dog Rescue Blog.
Annie's story brought tears to my eyes - as I'm sure it did to many others.

Your work is truly inspiring. Don't give up!

***

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Extending the holidays

Back home, back in Sweden, back on the island that I’ve adopted as my one true home.
I feel like I should be unpacking, organizing, making a study schedule and lists of things I have to do but right now I prefer to linger in that oh so wonderful holiday feeling just a little while longer and dream of blue skies and crystal clear water. 


Friday, March 4, 2011

Tourist Education

Lovely flowers on display at Miami Airport - instantly inspiring us to sing ... and keep singing until we boarded our next plane :)

All We Need Is Love!

Visit the artists' website here.


and even better at JFK:


Countless screens showing the trailer for the amazing documentary "Home" by the super talented French photographer, journalist and ecologist Yann Arthus-Bertrand.

Can we all wake up now?

Check out the official website or watch the full movie here.