Sunday, May 29, 2011

Not all endings are bad ...

Tove Adman is one of Gotland's many talented artists ... and one of her many beautiful designs is now ours!!!
I've been drooling over these candle holders for such a long time now and got so happy/surprised/emotional when we got one as goodbye present today!

Thank you again, Anna-Karin & Johan!

Endings definitely don't have to be bad. I'm so energized by this change of location and change of business!
The next couple of days we'll be packing, cleaning and moving. I wish we could skip the cleaning but I really don't mind the rest ... even though I'm slightly shocked about the amount of stuff we own and probably underestimated the work just a little bit :)

Moving from a 60m2 apartment to a single room above a restaurant might be challenging, but how nice will it be to move back into an apartment in 3 months time? I'm sure we'll appreciate the space so much more :)

Check out this coffee table by the way (also Tove Adman): Isn't it completely adorable?
I think I just found something (more) to start saving for!

Saturday, May 28, 2011

And then there was TEA


This little lovely bird will be featured all over my shop in a few days from now.
Pretty last minute, but today I finally made up my mind and ordered 11 different but equally wonderful kinds of Løv organic tea - a selection of black, green & herbal whole leaf teas in reusable tins in irresistible colours.
I had my final exam yesterday and if all went well I am now a Registered Holistic Nutritionist - which means I'll be able to tell you all the health benefits of every single tea I sell :)
... and I thought my studying days were over ... :p

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Furillen in Black & White

 



 For now, this will have to be the last (non-official) commercial I do for Fabriken Furillen.
At the end of the month our contract is up and we trade the North of Gotland for the South.
Time for something entirely different!

During our time at Furillen I don't think I've met one single person that wasn't impressed by this stylishly remodeled factory building and the old limestone quarry - I still have to suppress the urge to take even more pictures every time we're there (which usually fails).




Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Transition Gotland

Last Sunday Leva was the place to be if you wanted to swap your seedlings and plants with others, if you needed help to get your bike fixed, or if you wanted some inspiration for re-using old clothes or do something creative with left over fabric. (check out the "shorts-bag" in the pictures below!)


We met a teacher who uses these "bottle gardens" to teach his students about ecosystems and planetary boundaries and took time to explain the concept to us as well.
A bottle garden is a closed ecosystem which has the essential requirements of soil and water for the survival of plants that are growing inside it. Water is trapped inside the bottle and unable to evaporate. The carbon dioxide from plant respiration is used for photosynthesis, and the oxygen from photosynthesis is used for respiration. 

Quite impressive how these plants grow without any human interference ... Nothing goes to waste, everything is reused. I think commercial agriculture could learn from this ... as well as every single one of us :)


It's impossible to be at Leva and not be enchanted by their garden. Pretty much exactly as impossible to say no to their sandwiches and chocolate pie!
 I expanded my herb garden with some Coriander/Silantro and bought colouring pencils with FSC-label (made from wood from a sustainable source).
In other words, it's also really hard to go into the shop at Leva without buying anything :p

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Born to know each other

That's what my yogi-tea message read this morning. I couldn't find the source online but here's where it came from:

We are not born to judge each other; we are born to know each other
We are not born to hate each other; we are born to love each other.


Let's get to know each other! Let's get to know our neighbours, the baker, the shopkeeper, the mailman, the old man walking his dog past your house every morning ...

You know who I am (at least a little) ... so who are you?

Leave a message and make me smile :)

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Lördag Loppisdag!

It feels like the summer is in full swing now, with more and more flea-markets popping up ever weekend. Today there were 5 that I knew of ... we managed to go to 4! (Great success!)



The flea-market at the Waldorf kindergarten was a feast for the eyes. 
Pretty decoration + pretty people + yummy food + great finds = Awesome start!

 One of those pretty (awesome) people is possibly the most inspiring teenager EVER.
Good vibes all around!!


We met a couple with the coolest live-aboard-bus in the world (with a cotton candy stall at the back!!) and were allowed to peek inside :)




and ate some of the most unhealthy food in the world - what can I say - it was free :)


And we supported a good cause ... 



Gotta love Saturdays :)
I scored a lot of great bargains too. Hamra here I come!

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Feeling almost professional ...




Business Cards!!

There's a point where you just have to make up your mind and stop making changes and I definitely reached that point this morning! 

It took a lot of time and a lot of frustration but now my business cards are ordered for print (on recycled paper!) and although I probably could have spent more time (and frustration) on it, I'm pretty happy with the outcome :)

Honest opinions are always welcome!

One more week of studying and I'll finally be able to focus fully on my shop at Hamra Krog. 
Exams are exhausting! I'll be so happy when it's over!

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Going Green - Helpful Reminder!

50 ways

Super cute informative list of 50 ways to help the Planet. Sure - we know most of these things, but do we implement them as well? You'll have to excuse the fact that it's US-made, but I think all the same goes for anywhere else in the world :)

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Global Sustainability Symposium

Here's what's happening in Stockholm today: 


Planet Earth and humanity, facing each other in a mock trial, with around 20 Nobel Prize winners figuring as judges.
A civil court case to see whether humanity has breached their relations with the planet and to see how to restore that relationship.
A trial where we're invited to judge ourselves with the future generations in mind.


Interesting stuff - you can read the full article here.

It's obvious that just another meeting with another dialogue won't offer solutions, lets hope this "trial" will!

In other - related news (evidence for planet earth to defend her side?):


Vårt grisiga hav - a documentary by Folke Rydén & Ulrika Björkstén (look for our friend Erik Norberg in the end credits!) about the sorry state of the Baltic sea and the main cause of the pollution (surprise surprise - animal husbandry).
Unfortunately only in Swedish (yet?) and only available online until the 15 of June but so very interesting (and scary!).


I don't think I'll do much swimming this summer - a poisonous mixture of toxic algae and manure ... not so inviting!



Monday, May 16, 2011

Optimum Nutrition

"Optimum nutrition isn't a luxury. It's a necessity if you want to stay healthy and happy and keep your mind intact in the twenty-first century."

(From the book Optimum Nutrition for the Mind by Patrick Holford)

So I had Furillen-style breakfast and am totally ready to hit the books and work that mind of mine!

Have a healthy Monday!

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Loppis Glädje

Nobody should have to study Chemistry all day. That's what I though when I decided to go for a little treasure-hunting.
Farbror Fynd it was! I was actually out for flower pots to plant my seedlings in but found some great decorative items for my future shop at Hamra Krog too!
I don't want to post pictures of everything because lots of it is of course "raw material" and needs to be beautified but here's a preview:




Random things that caught my eye today - cute metal cans, tools, fabrics, frames, a sweet little tray, and an old school Kodak camera! They (almost) all fit very nicely in the toolbox I found at another flea-market not too long ago. No idea who he is/was but Ingvar Carlsson made me happy :)


My seedlings seem happy in their new pots ... and I think I'll have a hard time parting with that sweet little tray when the time comes ... 

And that was all for today! I'm going back to my books for some Biology!

Love,

Aina

Back in Business


There. I know we've all seen billions of cherry blossom pictures on other blogs but spring comes later in Sweden so I feel I have all the right to put mine online too :)
Mmm don't you just love the spring?

I must admit I did panic a little when Blogger was unavailable for the last day or so and some of my posts magically disappeared ... I guess I'm a little attached to my blog after all this time so the fear of losing it all didn't feel so nice. Luckily it's only temporarily and everything should be back to normal soon.

If you didn't have a chance to see Zoe Weil's inspiring solution for the future before my post "Humane Education" was removed, watch the video here.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Bunny Love

After the elephant-episode I had trouble putting my easter bunny in a box until next year. Because who are we kidding? Bunnies don't belong in a box! They don't belong in captivity, and definitely not in battery farms!

There was a threat of rabbit battery farming coming back to the UK for the first time in 15 years. The people at Bunnyhugga launched a petition and not without success: all the applications for caged rabbit farms were withdrawn and will be replaced with applications for free range farms. Public pressure does work! (but you can still sign ;))

The next issue is of course eating bunnies ... but lets take it one step at a time ...

Here's a little experiment I conducted: Which bunny looks happiest?


(no animals were harmed in the process but as expected, precious study time was wasted ...)

Scandinavian Weirdness


Last Sunday me and some German friends were introduced to a Swedish ‘speciality’: Fermented fish (Surströmming).
Hard to describe how horrifically foul it smelled – Jamie Oliver’s reaction might give you a clue (skip to 14.12)

Despite the culinary grossness and the lingering smell it was a very pleasant day in the sunshine … you’d almost forget you’d have an exam coming up!