Hands dyed red of beets.

I’ve been pretty sluggish all day, amused by the simplest things. I’ve gone on a short walk about in my neighbourhood, found my local library and talked to the nice lady in the Asian food shop as I giggling gathered Pocky and ginger-snacks to me. I was proud of my five read books, and then I went and found another 4 to bring home with me. One less then when I started this morning, so I guess points for that?

The last hour I’ve been boiling and scrubbing beets for my warm beets salad with goats cheese I’m going to bring to work tomorrow. I really tried with the gloves first, but couldn’t really get a good grip on the skin, and every beet took forever to skin. So I decided to try without the gloves, and yes, it did go much more smoothly and now my hands match my Pink sofa quite nice. Good of me to do this tonight and not tomorrow. At least I’m going to have another shower and do stuff with my hair before leaving the house tomorrow. That should hopefully take some of the colour out. Otherwise I’m going to get teased at work. Have to shut them all up with my awesome cooking then..

Note to self. Buy better gloves if I’m to do this again.

Teapot came around with a small bookshelf I asked if she could buy for me at IKEA, it being 1 hour away by buss, and she going there yesterday with her mother. She did, and came around with it today. Saying stuff about being inspired by my flat and my taste for the unusual. Made me blush with all those kind words. I’m not sure I live in the prettiest flat, because I can still find things that bugs me. But happy that someone else find as much pleasure in it as I do. I’m one of those people who functions best in surroundings that reflect beauty and reminds me of all the beautiful things in life. Like my passion for books, religion, food, geek stuff. How a pot of tea can be all that one needs after a long day at work. My home should give me a sense of peace, of belonging. And it’s going there.

Now I’m going to bed, hoping to finish the cleaning of the kitchen tomorrow, so that it’s done by Friday since I’m going up to visit my family in the Big Apple. I still need to do the laundry. Only 2 pairs of clean socks left. Need to buy new shoes that doesn’t eat socks.

Here is a song about socks. Because.

Poetry, a thing for brave.

I’ve never gotten the idea of poetry before. It’s never been my thing. Maybe haiku, because they are short and wonderful and I’ve got two tattooed on my body with maybe more to come. I fregging love Basho.

But poetry, as a thing, no, I never. And I think I’ve discovered the secret behind it. One shouldn’t read poetry. One should only be read poetry. To listen to it. to hear the meaning and the tones, it’s like music. Reading them from a book it’s just words on a paper. Whilst read by someone for you, they are filled with emotion and does have an impact on your soul.

Take a moment.

or two.

Not according to plan.

My goals for this weekend were to read the pile of YA novels collecting dust in my bookshelf. And I need to do laundry, and I need to do some bentous. BUT.. I found this morning, that what I really wanted was to play GOD and decide where to hang my frames of pretty pictures and paintings. So spent a great while on that. Then I started to clean. I’m done with the bedroom. Kitchen still looks like a bomb dropped there. And I’m running out of clean clothes. And If I don’t make any bentous soon, I’ll have to eat air and water for lunch at work. So my plan for now is to go pet the kitten directly after breakfast, read half a YA, go by the grocery store, and then make a big lunch for a few bentous, and then another big dinner, for another few bentous, and maybe even a third dish in between? Just because I can. And kinda need. Maybe I’ll even get through the forth Harry Potter-book that I listen too whilst pottering around in the kitchen? I’m thinking tomato-soup with croutons, the Indian variant. I’m also thinking of steak with roasted beets and potatoes. The thirds going to be either a salad or rolls of Ox, depending on what I’ll find at the grocery shop.

I’m not sure about one of the frames, It needs moving just an inch. And another need a paintjob on the frame, but I’ll work on that one later, when I’ve brought the last few frames around and decided on how to make them fit in as well. Now I’ve got a single white wall. But I’m considering leaving it clean for now. The option of a great idea might come to me later. OR, I’ll find a few cheap frames for those loads of photos I still got laying around and waiting for a piece of wall. I think I have to many of them, but I love frames, and paintings and photos.. They are beautiful to surround oneself with. I live and breath beauty.

Gawd, that one painting’s wrong inch is bugging the living hell out of me. I Need to get it fixed. I’m not suffering from OCD. I promise. But it’s annoying. I’ll try to leave it until I need to take down all the paintings because of the vibrations of putting up all the new frames from home, but I won’t promise anything. Maybe I’ll even get by a loppis and buy myself a bunch of other new frames as well? Since I’ve got to many pictures and not enough frames. It’s late. I should stop rambling. The bed awaits.

It’s done.

I’ve done it. My wall is done. The endless hours of waiting for it to dry so that I could continue, the sketching, the painting, the refilling, it’s all over. This afternoon I took some time, and sat for two hours and painted the last bit. My arms are still hurting, but it was worth it. I’m so pleased with both the motif and how it seems to fit both my flat and my soul.

I’ll have many a nice breakfasts here.

A hectic day that ends with a big smile!

Don’t let me start on work and how that had a million and one things to do, made me go into apathy a few times, and kept me on my toes all day. Which is kind of exhausting when one have a long day, working from 8-7. But it was great fun all in all. Even if I had trouble summoning energy for a few episodes.

But all in all, pretty awesome day. And then I got to pick up two packages that I’ve been looking forward to. One with cool t-shirts, one of which says “Legalize gay robot marriage, before they kill us with their laser beams”. Should give you a thought of the rest of them. I’m thinking of wearing one of them to work tomorrow, but not necessarily decided on that yet. I think they need to be washed before that. And I got my two Russian shawls I bought last week. Not only because I’m going to be Baba Yaga for the kids at work a few weeks into the future, but because Russian shawls are pretty awesome. One big black with a beautiful pattern of mostly lilac and blue. And a turquoise with a pattern of beige, yellow, brown and red. I like them both pretty much. And as I’m writing, I’m also wearing one of my new t-shirts.

But the pudding on the cake, the icing on the marshmallow, the fireworks on my birthday, was the quite shy man, who gave me a note as I came out after getting my packages at the store and gave me a handwritten note with the nice words of “You are pretty. I become happy every time I see you”. With a smile on my face I put the note on my fridge, and now I’m going to take a early night, because, even if I’m happy as can be, and giddy from the note, I’m tired, and tomorrow deserves the attention it needs to make it another awesome day!

“Just idag är jag Stark”,” Exactly Today I’m Strong” / Translation – Google. Lazy me.

“Exactly today I’m strong/ exactly today I feel good
I am carried forward by strong winds.
Exactly today I’m strong/ exactly today I feel good.
I have the belief in myself by my side.

I have waited so long for exactly this day/ and it’s so nice that it finally comes.
Waited so long for exactly this day/ it gives joy when it comes.

I watch the escape of the gulls/ I watch the dance of the sun rays.
I look forward to lovely times.
I watch the step of the women /I watch the gloss of the eyes.
I have the belief in myself by my side.

I have waited so long for exactly this day/ and it’s so nice that it finally comes.
Waited so long for exactly this day,/ it gives joy when it comes.

I hear laughing children/ I hear the roar of the sluices.
I belong to the few who can live.
I hear inner music/ I hear the soughing of the winds.
I have the belief in myself by my side.

I have waited so long for exactly this day/ and it’s so nice that it finally comes.
Waited so long for exactly this day/ it gives joy when it comes.”

The big post. As promised. A try. Complaints not noted.

Yes. I did promise a longer post last night. And here is my try to write it.

I had so much fun last night. And day. Finally getting around to see some part of the town, that I’ve never been to before, and yeah, not really getting the point, I’m sorry to say. It’s a small city, and you can walk everywhere within minutes, and there are the cute little design-shop, the bookstore, the boutique that sells clothing, and another one for shoes. That’s about it. A pizzeria in every corner. A cinema, with three choices. Only 2 screening the same day. So yeah. You COULD get all you need in life here.

Maybe I’m not meant for this small town mentality, even though I wish I was. Internet makes the big city closer and thankfully I can order online what I can’t find here, but I’m used to know where everything is, and how to get what I need by just a trip into town. On a Sunday if I wanted to. But here, in the small and beautiful city, Sundays are holy and everything is therefore closed. I need to get my shit together on Saturdays, or wait until the next weekend. That’s quite hard. But yeah, I got my bearings a little yesterday, and by having a native showing me around I got a bit more out of it. I think I could come to love this city. But yeah. without internet I would die within a week. Imagine life without my supply of books, and weird stuff that I can only find in small shops in bigger cites.. Horrible.

After this turn around the city and shaking it’s legs, maybe putting the hoot in the hootenanny, we went back home with the biggest pile of buttons ever bought, and a very nice stool that will look beautiful when I get some green stuff on it. Like plants and other cute green stuff. Will tell you more about it, maybe even give a photo of it, when the idea that is growing will have taken shape and given birth to something beautiful. Right now it’s just a child of my imagination. Not ready to stand on it’s own two feet. Or in this case, since it’s a stool with 4 legs. Four feet.

Also got the paint for my wall mural. It’s going great and I hope that I’ll be done sketching today and can start on the actual painting tonight or tomorrow when I get of early. It’s still to soon to tell, because there are loads of other things I’m supposed to do as well today. So don’t know about time management yet. But it’s up there with the top 5 things to do today. After eating buns and having a great last day with my Panda who will be returning to the big city soon enough.

After returning from ZE CITHEY, we made some nice hot pockets, and before having the opportunity to try them, we were off to my nice co-worker and partner in crimes. She also had a friend over, and as the quartet Mozart wrote music for…

.. it was beautiful. We ate some pasta and then broke out the epic game of Munchkin. The main reason for hanging out. And did we have fun! Me and panda, being the veterans of this game, tried to show the other two girls how to play, and even if it was a slow start, we could begin to play in earnest after maybe a hour of coaching. It’s not a complicated game, as soon as you learn the very obscure rules that me and Panda have learned ourself the hard way, by starting the game with only noobs. But now we are fairly versed in this game of magic and mystic and fun!

And how we played! for about 5 hours we sat and screamed, yelled, laughed and created alliances, that we later broke by cursing each other. Like it’s supposed to be played. Just doing it two people is quite boring, more then 5 and one round takes forever. 4 is quite optimal. But one can never be to many. And we only played the easy game, the beginner game, so most of the obscure rules we omitted, and we never even dared to ask about going Epic with this one (where one plays to lvl 20 instead of ten). But next time, or the one after that. When my partner in crime have had a few more tries, and her friend might have played it again, and Panda is back in town. Then we need to do it all over again! Even the part where the cat keeps distracting us with it’s cuteness, and the candy causing to much stomach ache.

Going home, brushing teeth and then falling asleep. Epic Day.

A great day. Origami. Gossip. Candy.

I woke up. That was a first. I think it was because I took the night of yesterday, so I woke up before the clock, and then took some minutes just to lay about and do nothing and just enjoy my bed. Which isn’t the bed I want to spend the rest of my life in, but at least it does have fluffy pillows and my cover that I love.

Work have been a big part of my day, as every Thursday I work from 7:50am to 7:10pm. Two different places as well. Firstly at a school, where the cutest kids go, and then at the Big Library. Where some of my kids from school actually comes after school is over. Kinda fun. But I’ve been in this strangely good mood today. Singing, Dancing, if not skipping. I’m not one to be skipping. But walking with a smile on my face, that I did. And nodding to all and everyone! Gosh and gee, I was happy as a bee!

I can’t really say what have been different from other days, but I’ve been quite the lark today, just having the best of times, and I hope I’ve been giving away that energy as well, because I have no sad or angry memories from today. Well. until the last few minutes, when I had to restart my computer because of it’s crazy slowness. And then getting real hormonal about old junk technology and hoping to have enough money to buy myself something nice, working and less … irritating. Soon. I love my little laptop, I truly do, but man, this machine knows how to make me want to paint it like a rainbow, throw it at a wall and call it art.

Getting home to freshly baked scones wasn’t that bad either, or going a few extra steps at lunch and buying myself a piece of Candy, just because I wanted some. Another reason for why being an adult is pretty awesome. Candy in the middle of the day, in the middle of the week, and nobody to tell you no. So there you go. I’m going to end this day with a episode of Top Gear, because dammit to hell. I’m worth it!

Pots. Pans. Plants. Payday. Painter. Pasta.

Phew… Today the day started with a amazing shower. And then a breakfast, some shopping with friends where I finally found a wok, and some pretty pots for my flowers, but no lamp for my hall. There was some options, but many looked like the previous owner died in the stone age. So I took a wide turn around those, and went happily home with my pots and my wok, and had a second breakfast. Because having second breakfast when one have a late start at work is more awesome than going to work and just having normal lunch.

I worked, I printed out a Copy from my favourite painter and artist Lisa Rinnevuo, her art speaks to me. And one day I hope to actually own a original. But they are quite expensive. And I haven’t found a place where one could buy like a poster or sanctioned copy of the things she does. So I did print out a copy, and I promise never to tell anyone otherwise. Her art is on my list to buy when I marry a billionaire.

 

I got home, and my friend, the ever present Panda, had spent all day watching Buffy and not doing the dishes. I like Buffy, so I understand why the dishes weren’t done, but at least she made dinner! Pasta Carbonara. Yum! And on my way home I bought a new plant for my new pots, and a ton of new bentou-boxes, so that when my personal slave Panda does the cooking that she have promised, I’ll have somewhere to put it. And a few new candles. Mostly green stuff today. Lime green, darker green, other shades of green. I think I’m having a period of green right now.

Broken. With plans of glue.

Yesterday, unpacking one of my favourite old things I have from my biological mum, I picked up the ancient Japanese teapot, and the handle came of in my hand! The heart skipped a beat while I tried to understand what had happened. Then, shaking, I tried to pick the pot that had fallen down into the sink and was praying to the powers that be, please don’t let the pot be broken to.. And thankfully it wasn’t. ‘Twas only the handle that had fallen off. But I urgently called up my friend who deals with old stuff all day, and said HELP! And today maybe it will be mended. My heart hopes for this. Because even if I don’t use it to make tea in, it is one of the most beautiful teapots I’ve seen and has huge sentimental value. I don’t want it to be broken 😦

After this horrible incident, I had to take a moment to call my heartbeat down. I couldn’t continue unpacking, and as such I still have some boxes left, but less than what I started with. It’s moving forward! I might try to finish one more today. Because then there are not much left. There are three boxes of stuff that I haven’t decided if it’s worth unpacking because it’s not something I really need. Copper pans and pots, tin-drinking cups, some bowls, more than what I’ve already unpacked.. Maybe some other weird shit or another. I haven’t honestly unpacked them since 2011. Maybe I should look through it before deciding to bring it down into the basement..

Ah.. my teapot. Even now, almost a whole 24-hour period later.. I still have trouble thinking about it being broken. It hurts. It’s like something inside have broken with it. EVERYTHING else handled the move (or the second move without being unpacked) fine as far as I can tell. No mugs have lost an ear, no plates have gone into a thousand pieces. Not even a fractured drinking glass. But my beloved tea-pot! WHY is that?! did it single out the most precious thing and went for it with a hammer of mischief?! I am very angry and sad and broken about it.

Another Birthdaycard. Yes. Another.

Did you honestly think that my friend the Kung-fu Panda was the ONLY person born today? You thought wrong my dear fellows! I also have a cousin! Well, I’ve got a few cousins, but he is the only one who also have a birthday today.

I can’t give you a tale and praise such as the last birthday-card. Because I honestly don’t hang out with my cousin that much. We live in totally different world. I guess the one love we do share is travelling places, but his travels and my travels are nowhere near each other in the scale of things. He goes travelling to Alps, and beaches and does amazing stuff with friends and cameras. I go travelling to historic and cultural places and mostly don’t bother to bring my OWN camera, even if I like to pretend to be good at taking pictures with OTHERS cameras. To cheap to buy one for myself, and don’t really want to ask for one as a present when I could get more awesome stuff. Like books.

But my cousin then.. He is kinda known in some circles, because he is damn GOOD with a camera. I’m not saying that because he is family, but rather, because his photos are DAMN crazy good. Even I, who don’t like skiing, boarding, or any other sporty stuff consider them pretty much a work of art. And when he does nature pictures, I’m pretty much convinced he will be famous around the world some day. If you don’t believe me, check his amazing things at his Facebook page. Adam Klingeteg Photography.

Happy B-day crazy cousin!