-
Food Hallelujah Amen | Vrångö, Sweden
SVENSKA – Älskade La ska gifta sig! Såklart att hon måste få en möhippa. För att fira i Las anda krävs det följande: umgås med fina vänner, skratta mycket (några tårar är absolut tillåtna), äta en massa god mat och mest av allt: njuta av naturen. Las väninna Tove hittade det perfekta stället som möjliggjorde allt detta: Kajkanten på Vrångö utanför Göteborg.
ENGLISH – Lovely La is getting hitched! Of course we had to throw her a bachelorette party. Celebrating La-style means hanging out with great friends, laughing (crying is ok, too), eating a ton of food, and most of all: enjoying nature. Her friend Tove found the perfect location for this shindig: Kajkanten on Vrångö, one of the islands of the southern Gothenburg archipelago.
DEUTSCH – Die liebe La heiratet! Da darf ein Junggesellinnenabschied natürlich nicht fehlen. Feiern à la La bedeutet mit lieben Freundinnen abhängen, lachen (weinen ist auch erlaubt), jede Menge essen und vor allen Dingen: Natur genießen. Las Freundin Tove hat dafür den perfekten Ort gefunden: den Kajkanten auf Vrångö, einer der südlichen Schäreninseln Göteborgs.
Kajkanten, Vrångö – Our home for the weekend. | Unser Zuhause an diesem Wochenende. | Vår hem denna helgen.Emma has an eye for detail: not only did she make us delicious chicken salad, she also saw to it that we ate from lovely retro paper plates. Thanks! | Emma hat nicht nur leckeren Hühnchensalat gemacht, sie hat auch dafür gesorgt, dass wir ihn von schicken Retro-Papptellern gegessen haben. Danke! | Emma lagade inte bara mumsig kyckling salad, hon såg även till att vi åt ifrån trendiga retro papperstallrika. Tack!La’s bachelorette weekend was like La herself: full of love & life, a ton of fun & laughter, and real pretty, too. | Las JGA war wie La selbst: voller Liebe und Leben, jede Menge Spaß und Gelächter und sooo schön. | Las möhippa var som La själv: fylld med skratt och glädje, en massa liv och kärlek och otroligt vackert.SVENSKA – Tack La för att du finns och berikar våra liv med ditt ljus – inte bara denna helgen. Och tack att du har så fina vänner! Tack Tove att du fixade ett härligt boendet (och massa mer). Tack tjejer för en underbar tjejhelg. Och tack Håkan för Kajkanten. Vilken glädje att få uppleva hur det känns att få se solnedgången på ön och sedan vila huvudet under ett vackert tak. Helt klart bättre än att behöva lämna ön med sista färjan.
ENGLISH – Thank you, La, for being La, and for shining your light on us – not just this weekend. And thanks for having such wonderful friends! Thank you, Tove, for scoring this awesome accommodation (and so much more). Thank you, ladies, for a great girl’s weekend. And thank you, Håkan, for Kajkanten. What a dream to be able to see the sunset on Vrångö and laying our heads to rest under such a pretty roof. Much better than having to catch the last ferry to return to the mainland.
DEUTSCH – Danke La, dass es dich gibt und du unser Leben mit deinem Licht berreicherst – nicht nur an diesem Wochenende. Und danke, dass du so tolle Freundinnen hast! Danke Tove, dass du so eine tolle Unterkunft organisiert hast (und jede Menge mehr). Danke Mädels für ein tolles Mädelswochenende. Und danke Håkan Kajkanten. So schön erleben zu dürfen, wie es ist, auf der Insel den Sonnenuntergang zu sehen und sich unter einem so schönen Dach schlafen legen zu dürfen. Viel besser, als mit der letzten Fähre nach Hause fahren zu müssen.
-
Day 1 | Before
This is what it looks like in our living room this morning:
-
Indestructible | Plant life
The deal with the house has felt so right and so real the whole time to me that making the down-payment (this past Monday) doesn’t even seem like that big of a milestone. The house has felt like ours the whole time.
Not even the fact that we’re still waiting for an appointment with a chimney sweeper (who, we hope, will tell us that everything is OK because otherwise things could suddenly take a turn towards pretty pricey …) can change that. Like I’ve been saying: I have come to the conclusion that I’d rather be excited about things than worried even if not everything is settled yet. If everything works out, then great – I did not waste any time worrying. If things don’t work out – then at least I had those moments of excitement and happiness. Anything can change at any time anyway, so.
The plants in our apartment, which we once again abandoned for a trip up north, remind me how powerful and amazing life is. If these little guys can bounce back like that, so can I if for some reason things with this house don’t turn out as I imagine …
Tuesday night … They actually looked a lot better already a few minutes after watering them. I just didn’t really bother to take any more pictures until this morning. If I can just get one tomato from these I’ll be happy. Yes, that is a plant pot with the O’boy logo painted on. Don’t ask. -
Let it grow
Our little oasis. While we are spending more and more time dreaming about our new home, and especially the prospect of being closer to nature, we still do enjoy our balcony. Especially now that the plants are growing more and more, and you can see a change every day.
The nasturtium is blossoming, … … the morning glory is spiraling its way up along the string I put up, … … and I wonder how far they will make it until it is time for us to pack.
We’re not there yet, though, so in the meantime …
… we make the best of it. Like delicious, colorful salads. The blossom came from our own nasturtium, the little flowery sprinkles you see are an herb mixture by Sonnentor. Love! Even when it’s hot outside, I like to drink my „lupin latte“ – also with sprinkles from Sonnentor (Flower Power). I guess that’s what the Swedes call „Adding a gold rim to the everyday“. -
Favorite places | Kretsloppsparken Alelyckan
On Tuesday we paid a visit to one of my favorite places here in Gothenburg. Yes, it is a thrift-store – but the most amazing one I’ve ever been to. They have one huge building where you can find supplies you could probably build several houses with – doors, windows, appliances, the works. Then there is a regular thrift-store with books, and clothes, furniture and all that.
The thriftstore And then, there is the café …
I want to live here! And I want one like this! Not for sale. I asked. Figures, it would have been gone a long time ago … I cannot stress enough how much I want to live here. How cool is this? Just not very useful in a city where it rains so much … This part is sort of a little boutique where they sell earrings and bags and whatnot. All handmade. And gorgeous! Wheelchair? I am dragging pretty much anyone who comes to visit me to this place. Yeah, these pix aren’t from Tuesday either. … … But although it’s a little late/early for Christmas decoration I still liked the idea. Like, a lot. They sell used bikes, too. Really cool ones, too. Took these winter-y pictures when Gesine was here in January. Like I said: I make a lot of people go here with me … Finally some pix from Tuesday – of my purchase, that is. I almost didn’t want to go because I was afraid I would buy too much stuff. Luckily, I got away with 40 SEK (4,80€ | 6.30$).
I just couldn’t resist this enamel beauty. Bright yellow – floweriness | Spring in my heart -
DIY | Knitting Café
Last night I went to a knitting café for the first time. I had walked by the store the week before and had seen their sign that read „Knitting Café | Mondays 5pm – 8pm“ (well, ok, it said that in Swedish). I obviously didn’t happen to have my yarn and needles with me, plus I was on the way somewhere else. But I hoped I’d remember until this week – and I actually did!?
If this isn’t fate: I had a bag from the store where the knitting café was held. A really pretty bag, too. Ironically, the „project“ (= yarn, needle and instructions for a sweater jacket, no actual work started yet) I took with me was a birthday present that Peter had gotten me from that place. Two and a half years ago, ehem. It wasn’t even the same owner anymore, so technically I didn’t have to tell her that story and thus embarrass myself … oh well.
It’s going to be sweater when it’s big. I hope. There were four of us (including the shop owner), and although I’m afraid I was too busy counting in the beginning to be social and join in the conversation, it was nice. There were even sandwiches, and one of the ladies had brought cake since it was her birthday. When I joked that I had picked the right night to show up, I was informed that last week, another participant (who wasn’t there yesterday), had sort of „kidnapped“ them to her own home where she had prepared an entire dinner for the group. I am liking this already.
I even have the perfect buttons for the jacket. Yep, another thrift-store find. I was also relieved to find that these wonderful ladies weren’t judging me for being an amateur who has to look down at her project the whole time to see what she’s doing. Also, I am slow. I mean, I didn’t seriously worry about not being allowed to „play with the pros“ if I wasn’t on their level. I guess the competitive part of me kind of did worry exactly about that, though. Frowns and eye-rolling. Luckily, that part of me is just paranoid, and was obviously proven wrong.
This is the yarn Peter gave me. Organic wool with 15% camel hair. Better not mess this one up, huh? Oh yeah: Between all the chatter, coffee, sandwiches and cake, I did get started on that sweater jacket.
This is what I am hoping it will look like:
Here are the instructions, in case you want to beat me to it:
http://www.garnstudio.com/lang/us/pattern.php?id=3676&lang=us (you can change the language on the page)
A great site with lots of free patterns, by the way.
Does this make you sad because there are no knitting café near you? Well, how about starting your own? That’s one thing that struck me last night: I didn’t technically have to wait for this to happen to me. I could have done that myself. You know, invite a bunch of your friends, everybody brings what they want to work on, you take turns with the snacks, … Simple.
And if you want to go pro: Decorate according to the theme, like in Pyssla Duka Bjud.
-
Jewelry | Sternenkind Creations
I did it! Just sent in an application to à la London – Gothenburg Design market. Now I better get busy making more jewelry. I’ll post pix and all things related on the Sternenkind Creations page rather than as a blog post. Feedback – yes please!!! Wish me luck!
Related posts:
-
More than words
Today started out …
… pancakey. I wasn’t very patient with the camera here, so it’s a little hard to see but …
… I hope you do see that THERE WAS A LITTLE FLOWER IN MY TEA. Later my day turned …
… outdoorsy. Met up with La at Trädgårdsföreningen. Couldn’t get over how nice it was with the sun out and all. And it ended …
… kladdkaka-y. At Dina’s. My second mud cake this week. The chocolatey tastiness was preceded by a most delicious dinner. Thanks, Dina! Lucky (imagine me saying with a Napoleon Dynamite intonation).
-
Spring fever…ish
I thought I had posted this last night but I guess I was too tired from work. Found it under „recent drafts“ just now. So this is „yesterday’s jam“, as Roy from the IT Crowd would say.
The days are getting longer, and most of all: lighter! It’s not until you see the sun again after a very long winter that you realize how much you’ve missed it. I know I did.
When I left the house this morning there was still ice on the ground … … I was greeted by the moon and a pastel sky so pretty it even made our neighborhood seem beautiful. The sun came out during the day … … and suddenly, spring seemed like a possibility. Nothing against these „guerrilla art cherry blossoms“ – but I can’t wait for the real deal.
-
5:57 pm – and still light!