The elm and the alder...

Budvaser

2012-02-18T12:47:00.001+01:00

A pair of vases. Elegant form. Very light in weight and an irregularity e.g. In the fluted edge that suggests hand made? Beyond that I'm struggling to put a date on them, though I saw a similar type described as 'mid-century'.

Any ideas?

A stitch from time

2012-02-18T09:02:00.001+01:00

I've been thinking of getting a sewing machine for some time. Nothing fancy but something that would be useful when sewing by hand is a bit too much.

After passing it by in the window for several weeks I eventually went in and bought this Elna series 1 machine - a little piece of history.

First made in 1940, this was the first domestic 'free arm' machine (you can take your material under the sewing bed). It was made in three different versions until 1952. This one's the middle version and dates from 1946.

Having got it home it seems to run well, but there are no bobbins with it and the rubber drive belt is split and needs replacing - so I'm currently searching for spares... (there's a place in US but I've not found anyplace closer)

Decanter

2012-01-31T20:37:00.001+01:00

Another from the local charity shop, a decanter. Barrel shaped with three triple neck-rings. As far as I can tell its early to mid 19th century... but I'm no expert. The only sad part is the stopper- very similar in style but not a very snug fit so probably not the original?

Artistic rubbish

2012-01-08T22:59:00.002+01:00

Seen on Hornsgatan...

Drawers

2012-01-02T19:29:00.002+01:00

A natty small chest of drawers from the local charity shop _ inexpensive, but a bit tired and scratched. A light sand on the top and a good rub in with teak oil and it's good to give away to it's new home...

Welcome to Paradise

2011-09-26T21:38:00.001+01:00

Open ten to three... And somehow I thought there would be more people.

A wing and a prayer?

2011-09-21T17:42:00.001+01:00

This cute ensemble appeared over the weekend on a wall near to home. ...

Mushers

2011-09-20T06:51:00.001+01:00

Hand picked out in the woods round Mariefred. Yummmm.

I love zebra crossings

2011-09-16T08:08:00.001+01:00

Something to bring a smile in the mornings...

Creamed Nettles

2011-07-14T16:40:00.002+01:00

Weed?

Upon a winters day

2011-02-13T17:03:00.001+01:00

A daytrip to the coast at Nynäshamn... A long walk through the snow in the sunshine, and a well deserved lunch at Lövhagen. :)

Reflections 3

2011-01-07T17:52:00.001+01:00

Sergels torg...

Reflections II

2010-11-23T23:07:00.000+01:00

Admiring the view on Långholmsgatan...

Reflections

2010-11-21T11:27:00.000+01:00

Out in Tyresta national park... Grey and damp, but still beautiful :)

Abstract reality

2010-07-24T07:53:00.000+01:00

It all depends on how you look at things...
This is Stockholm Central Station.

This little piggy...

2010-07-21T08:40:00.000+01:00

I've been on the look-out for a wooden chopping board... Something rustic and old fashioned...
This little piggy was in Stadsmission för the princely sum of ten crowns. It wasn't quite
what i had in mind but after a light sand and a once over with olive oil I think it's quite sweet ;)

All the fun of the fair

2010-07-19T19:54:00.001+01:00

Now you might think that you go to the funfair to ride the Big Dipper or shoot ducks.... But in that case you're missing all the fun....
Saturday is salsa at Gröna Lund :)

Wired...

2010-07-01T09:21:00.000+01:00

Doesn't everybody's breakfast table look like this?
(I'm fixing a cable for the boat..).

See how my garden grows

2010-04-09T08:41:00.000+01:00

New balcony... and with it this fine artistic urban sculpture

First bloom

2010-04-02T17:34:00.001+01:00

Today was the first tea break out on the new balcony... as well as installation of the first flowers of the season. Spring!

Budapest

2010-03-10T21:10:00.001+01:00

Work... But still, It can't be so bad waking us to a view like this. :)

White stuff - reprise

2010-02-20T08:31:00.000+01:00

Two months on... Still snowing :)

The hole in the wall

2010-01-25T20:01:00.000+01:00

They came today and fitted the hole... And they were kind enough to put a door in too. :)

Home delivery

2010-01-10T21:20:00.001+01:00

Its a good bit past -10... And here am I wandering round town with a cupboard?!

Road rage..

2010-01-03T13:14:00.000+01:00

Again.. . with the right picture!

Road rage?

2010-01-02T16:51:00.000+01:00

While shepherds washed their socks...

2009-12-31T08:24:00.000+01:00

Christmas Eve in snowy Lincolnshire :)

White stuff

2009-12-20T10:31:00.000+01:00

Who put that there?

Soggy bottom...

2009-11-29T18:14:00.001+01:00

Life is full of surprises... like the bottom falling out of the chair while you are sitting on it. Reconstruction on the other hand is rather more a game of patience - and glue and tacks!

Bill Posters

2009-11-21T13:10:00.001+01:00

... is innocent ;)

Roadkill?

2009-10-05T07:16:00.000+01:00

This unusual motorcycle accessory was snapped at Market Rasen Food Fair :)

Brekkie

2009-10-04T09:35:00.001+01:00

Durham pikelets... buttered, with Lincolnshire honey

The man in the street

2009-09-19T15:00:00.001+01:00

Under cover

2009-07-18T19:00:00.001+01:00

The day is done. Time. to light the barbee..

Raising the roof...

2009-07-18T11:35:00.001+01:00

Somewhere in a Swedish forest...

Sunset over Riddarholmen

2009-07-11T00:13:00.001+01:00

Summer Pudding

2009-06-23T20:57:00.001+01:00

Midsommar's delicatess was summer pudding - one of those English classics that you forget how good it is until you dust off the recipe again.

And the recipe goes a bit like this...

Take soft summer fruit and berries - whatever is in season - and add about half their weight in sugar. Bring to the boil and cook for a couple of minutes until it is all 'juicy'.

Line a basin with white bread with the crust removed. Make sure there are no holes! Put the fruit into the lined basin.. Cover the fruit with a layer of bread... Put a small plate on top the fits in the basin and put a weight on it. Leave to stand in the fridge overnight.

For mine I used a mixing bowl as the basin and 1.5kg of fruit... Raspberries, blueberries, tranbär, blackberries and strawberries. Fresh is best, but I cheated and used frozen fruit for about half of it..

When it has stood check the bread is juice soaked all over. add a little more juice to any white patches and give it a chance to soak in. Mine got a good dose of fruit smoothie as an emergency remedy - the only fruit juice to be had on a bank holiday morning!

When it's time to serve it, go round the edge with a knife to loosen the pudding and turn it out onto a plate.

Serve with plenty of whipped cream ....

Sitting Pretty

2009-05-12T17:42:00.001+01:00

'Money for nothing, and your chairs for free'
I found it in a pile of other junk put out to scrap on Sundays cleaning day... It rocked a little on three legs and had water stains on the seat, but it looked too nice to send to the tip...

So now it's had some TLC - padding in the base of two legs so it (almost) sits square, and a light sand down.... Plus a going over with 'bänk olja' - a mix of turpentine and beeswax - and it looks great! I'm just wondering though where I'm going to find another one to match?

Worth every penny ;-)

Machiatto Mannen

2009-03-22T17:23:00.001+01:00

Lunch at Primo Ciao Ciao...

Sounds new...

2009-03-21T16:46:00.004+01:00

"Speak with me girl, speak to me darling -
You're not a princess and I'm not Prince Charming"

I was out to the boat today to start the preparation for the summer (Doesn't that sound good?). On the was back I stopped off to browse in Micke's - a second hand record shop around the corner on Långholmsgatan.

So now my disk collection is swelled with a number of new titles....
Graham Parker - Struck by Lightning
R.E.M - New Adventures in Hi-Fi
Pointer Sisters - So Excited
Kim Wilde - More of the best
Gerry Rafferty - Ona Wing and a Prayer
Robert Palmer - Don't Explain

...with change over from the price of a new CD.

Lemon Curd & Lipsynch

2009-03-04T20:19:00.005+01:00

"Gonna have fun in the city... be with my girl she's so pretty."
I stumbled across a video clip of the Easy Beats singing 'Friday on my Mind' while browsing local blogs on 'Bloggkartan' (on the wonderfully eclectic Dewdrops of my mind).

And then managed to find this Gary Moore variant.. Live in Stockholm!

Unjustice: Read this please

2009-02-28T08:37:00.006+01:00

Jag brukar inte blanda in politik på det här blog... men idag vill jag att Er - alla mina svenska vänner - ska se den orättvishet som regeringen ha nu skapad i Ert namn.

Texten är hämtad från Rick Falkvinge's blog och pratar om det nya IPRED lagen. Att han kanske ha egen agenda ändra inte faktum att detta lag driver en stor lastbil genom rättslighets principer. Då be jag dig läsa vidare.

Om du tycker det här kommer bara att påverka krimineller som fildelar jag vill bara påpeka att det handlar till en stor del om de som betalar Internet-abbonemanget - inte de som satt vid datorn. Att ge möjlighet utan prov att straffa en person för en annans brott är orättviss och helt ofattbart.

Fran Rick Falkvinge om konsekvenser av IPRED-lagen.

Till att börja med får Lobbyn - och när jag skriver Lobbyn, så menar jag upphovsrättslobbyn - göra privata brottsutredningar. Det har varit skitförbjudet tidigare, men de har haft tillfälliga undantag. Nu skrivs det uttryckligen in i lagen att de, just de, får göra privata brottsutredningar. De är undantagna från personuppgiftslagen som säger att privata intressen inte får göra sådant.

Sedan får de tvinga en internetleverantör att lämna ut personuppgifterna för den person som ligger bakom IP-numret de spanat på, och som de anser fildelar. Det kan inte ens polisen få ut. Lobbyn får alltså mer långtgående befogenheter än den svenska polisen. Läs den meningen igen: Lobbyn, en privat industri, får mer långtgående befogenheter att kränka vanliga medborgares privatliv än den svenska polisen. Det är bland annat därför som det här har kallats för privatpolislagen. (Ed: En brott måste ta en visst fängelsestraff för att polisen få be om sådana personuppgifter. Det gäller inte här).

Därefter får de frysa bankkontot och beslagta huset för en person som de misstänker för fildelning. I klartext, så är det den som står för abonnemanget bakom ett IP-nummer. Ja alltså, personen och familjen får bo kvar där, men det är belagt med så kallat “kvarstad”, vilket innebär att det i allt väsentligt är taget i beslag. Notera nu att det inte ens gäller personen som är misstänkt för fildelning, utan istället personen bakom det abonnemang som har använts.

Sedan kommer de och knackar på och gör husrannsakan. Det är först då man får reda på att ens bankkonto är frysta. Formellt heter det inte husrannsakan, utan intrångsundersökning, men det är precis samma sak med ett annat namn. Då går de igenom alla datorer, alla backuphårddiskar, alla MP3-spelare, allt. Har du nakenbilder på datorn? Varsågod att titta, Lobbyn, säger riksdagen. Har du privata dagböcker? Varsågod, Lobbyn. Privat surfhistorik? Politiska åsikter? Sexuella preferenser? Kom, kom, ta för er bara, Lobbyn. Inte bara på dina datorer, utan för alla i hela hushållet. Riksdagen är generös, den som inte har något att frukta kan inte ha något att dölja. (Ed: det är inte polisen här... det är ett privat intresse som samlar beviset på detta sått - med stöd från Kronofogden).

Därnäst kommer de med ett utpressningsbrev. Då kräver de dig, eller den barnfamilj som de gjort husrannsakan hos, på tiotusentals eller ibland hundratusentals kronor. Vi vet att det är så, vi har sett deras utpressningsmallar.

Skadeståndet de kräver behöver inte vara pengar de förlorat. Lagen går ifrån en grundprincip i svensk civilrätt om att man bara kan kräva igen faktiska förluster. Lagen tillåter Lobbyn att sätta skadeståndsnivån utifrån “industrins intresse att det inte upprepas” — i klartext, så högt att det skrämmer folk. I allt väsentligt privata straffböter, alltså. Men på hundratusentals kronor i stället för, som är brukligt, hundralappar.

I “vänlighet”, så erbjuder de sig att inte gå till domstol om du betalar halva beloppet inom tio dagar. Om det går till domstol, så hotar de med att du dessutom måste betala deras rättegångskostnader på ytterligare massor. I Danmark, där det här systemet har funnits ett par år, så blir de flesta så rädda att de betalar för att bli av med problemet, oavsett om de har gjort något fel eller inte. Konceptet “rättssäkerhet” existerar inte. Lobbyn är inte ett dugg intresserad av att personen som faktiskt fildelat betalar, de är intresserade av att någon får agera syndabock. Om det är rätt person är inte så viktigt.

Sedan kan man gå till domstol om man trots allt kräver någon form av rättvisa och inte vill betala, utan vill bevisa sin oskuld. Bevisa sin oskuld. Det är inte längre en straffrättslig rättegång, utan en civilrättslig. “Oskyldig till motsatsen bevisats bortom rimligt tvivel” gäller inte. Men — aha! — Lobbyn har ju frusit ens bankkonto. Så det finns inga pengar till försvarare. De pengarna som finns kommer man inte åt.

Slutligen, efter de har dömt någon till enorma skadestånd (eftersom man inte har råd med försvarare), så kan den anklagade barnfamiljen tvingas att själv betala en tidningsannons för att berätta att de blivit dömda. Det här är också något helt nytt, en återinförsel av skampålen, som den dömde dessutom tvingas att betala för. (Ed: Personligen jag tycker det här strider mot Artikel 5 av UN Declaration of Human Rights som lägga förbud mot 'degrading treatment or punishment')

Några hävdar att den bygger på ett EU-direktiv; att Sverige skulle vara tvingade att införa det här. Det är ren lögn rakt upp och ner. Det har varit hela vägen uppe i EG-domstolen som har tydligt sagt att Sverige inte inte inte måste införa de här galenskaperna. Det är bara regeringens eget ansvar och de har inga att gömma sig bakom.

--------------

If the justice system is unjust what is left?

Pre-creation

2009-02-18T19:23:00.005+01:00

So here I am, trying to get my act together.... to get a straightforward system worked out for camera to disk, disk to album/editing, computer to web, web to blog... and then repeat all of the above for mobile phone instead of camera. Then... hopefully... I might be back online a bit more often.

In praise of the cow...

2009-02-12T19:24:00.004+01:00

Tonight I'm baking (for 'fika' tomorrow in the office) and I needed a few things for the recipe so off I went to the local supermarket - to get those and a few things for breakfast. As I unpacked my things onto the belt I started to notice a trend...

Milk, butter.. yoghurt,
Bregott spread..
cheese...
creme fraiche...
marscapone...

..and not such a lot else.

Is it any wonder then that I couldn't resist adding cream filled semlor to the pile???

Routine Maintenance

2009-01-21T20:15:00.003+01:00

It's a new year, and yes.... it's been a bit quiet on the blog front recently. What should I write about?

Well.... its 2009 already, and I had planned to do another quick photomontage of the year just gone. That's not happened yet - but I did get wheeled in for another eye operation on Monday. That means I'm back kicking my heels at home trying not to do anything that involves being too active - or is hard on the eyes... which covers most things as it happens!

The good news though is that they decided things look OK in there and topped me up with gas instead of oil - which with a bit of luck means I won't be needing another operation... though I'm not opening the champers on that one for a few weeks yet.

In the meantime, it's plenty of time at home flicking through the record collection....

Eyes front

2008-11-05T19:29:00.003+01:00

So how is it going on the eyes front? (I hear you ask..)

It's bit over a month since the last operation and everything is pretty much healed up thanks. I was at the docs in the week and my sight is a tad better - although that still means that with my right eye I can't read the first line on the chart unaided. And everything is stable so I can go back to life as normal. Great!

But.. and just a small but.. the last operation only tackled part of the scar tissue thats stretching the retina so they want me to come back for another operation (or two) in the spring. Which I guess is better than them saying "naw, you're on your own chum".. Kind of.

So I'll be the one wearing sunglasses round town in February.

Forbidden Pleasures

2008-10-26T22:30:00.004+01:00

Today I've been indulging in something that would be illegal back home in England.... Well actually, making it and consuming it would be quite legal - it's just the main ingredient that is banned... So, when I saw it on the shelf in the supermarket I couldn't resist!

Browned in the pan, a few root vegetables and then three hours slow cooking in the oven and it's delicious stewed oxtail for dinner.

All of which means that if in fifteen years I develop Creutzfeldt-Jakob's disease you know just what to put it down to...

Living dangerously or what!

All at sea

2008-07-26T22:12:00.004+01:00

It was a fine evening so I took a stroll down across the park and along the waterside by Årstaviken. And, passing one of the boatclubs there, I saw a Folkbåt out on the water.. just a jib up, slowly going nowhere in the evening airs.

They're coming in I thought, I'll stop and watch.. but it soon became apparent that they weren't going anywhere. Jib-sheets appeared and got attached.. with the ends taken straight to the cockpit.... and the foot of the jib, a foot off the deck - Is it actually attached?

Hoist the main? .. well let's take the jib down first and untangle the halliards...

And setting the sails? Well.. you get the picture?

It was a fine looking boat, and it looked like they'd not had it long and not done a lot of sailing either. I so much wanted to offer to show them how to put things right.. but they were too far off to hail, and the jetty was locked in behind a gate and barbed wire.. so I watched them sail off.. slowly.. with the jib backed...

But I hope they persevere, and learn, because it really was a nice Folkboat and she was built to glide oh so sweetly through the water on that light evening breeze...

The Summertime Blues

2008-07-26T21:00:00.006+01:00

Summertime.
After all those long winter nights and the snow and cold now is the time you've been waiting for. Hot sticky weather and evenings that glide slowly into twilight sometime around midnight. Except this year's been a bit different. Eleven weeks since my first operation and I'm still avoiding all the things that normally fill those summer days - meaning mostly sailing and dance...

Life is rushing by at a snail's pace.... last weekend was a washout - strange things happening in my peripheral vision resulted in another visit to the hospital and the advice to go home and take it really easy until I saw the surgeon again (last monday)... so, knowing that a detached retina can get worse quickly, I spent a worried weekend playing hermit. Which I suppose I've got used to, except that just this weekend I had tickets to see Van Morrison and Joan Armatrading at the Stockholm Jazz festival.. and then on sunday to see John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers. Three wannasee concerts (for which I had tickets) and I'm home keeping the teapot company!

The good news was, if you see what I mean, that I needn't have sat home, and probably could have gone to the concert. My eye wasn't (quite) as bad as I thought. The retina is though very tight stretched round one edge which means there's still a risk it will split again... so it was amber rather than green this time.

But... better than another operation and starting over. And good enough I reckon to ring Annika and say YES to Sailsalsa. True I have to abstain from the dance AND the sailing, but I will at least get out among the islands, with book and beach, and hopefully some sun to go with it....

So... the ferry goes tomorrow...

The key's in the door....

2008-06-20T12:11:00.003+01:00

And a little photo montage from the first few weeks 'i stan'. (don't forget to click to view the album!)

In the party mood

2008-06-20T12:01:00.003+01:00

Pre-move party

It's old news.. but I'm catching up, slowly. Here come the picks from my 'pre-move' party - way back in the spring before life started going all fuzzy...

With me old cock linnet...

2008-06-10T07:36:00.001+01:00

Yesterday was the day. After a weekend of stuffing boxes and finding yet more things to stuff in boxes yesterday was the day the lorry came to pick up life in Kallhäll and dump it all down in the city.
So now there's just the unpacking to do. My furniture is in and the bed is back in one piece and it would all look quite normal were it not for a sea of boxes...
Unpacking - looks like that's a game I'll be playng for a few weeks to come.

Second Opinion

2008-06-08T21:29:00.001+01:00

A bit over a week ago now I was back in the hospital. My eyesight was improving but I was getting a lot of 'floaters'... Things floating in my field of vision, and out to the right.. Well there wasn't anything out to the right. I could think of a number of plausible reasons, but one of them was that my retina wasn't as fast as it should be. so, rather than wait for my next checkup I took me off to the hospital to sit in the queue.
He didn't exactly suck through his teeth, but after a good look round the doctor said there was fluid under the retina at the edge, and please come back on monday so the surgeon can check it over...
So for two days I was really walking on egg-shells and somewhat morose - but monday morning bright and early I was sat outside the doctors office.
and the verdict was that there was no fluid.. And seeing nothing out to the right is OK because they used lasers to close the holes, and that causes local damage.. which should improve a bit with time - but not much I reckon.
Still, all in all, I prefer my second second opinion.

Location, location, location

2008-06-01T08:32:00.004+01:00

As someone that's recently bought a flat here in the City of Stockholm I was interested to find an article on the world's most expensive property.. a flat in London selling for a mere £115 million.

Or just down the road and a little cheaper - £20 million for a flat at One Hyde Park? At £6000/sq. foot that works out at a tad over 825 000 kr/kvm.

Cheap at half the price?

I think I got a bargain :-)

Home is where the toaster is...

2008-05-16T05:01:00.001+01:00

Life, aside from the medical complications, is a little nomadic right now. Two homes or none?
Two places to live at least, but which is home?
Kallhäll still has all my furniture - all but the basics - and music, videos, books and most of my clothes, but with packing started it has an air of impermanence. Hornstull has enough to get by and being here, camped on the floor, means thoughts & plans for the future (albeit mostly things needing decorating or repair).
Each trip back here I bring a little more... This trip a cookbook, a candlestick, my tea cosy, toastrack and toaster. Breakfast at least belongs in town..

The world is flat

2008-05-15T21:59:00.001+01:00

It's true, it's official! The world is flat. At least it is in my eyes!
Stereo vision lets us see the world in three glorious dimensions but to get it needs two eyes and right now I can't muster much more than one. Monovision. Depth disappears and the world is flat.
It's an unexpected handicap. My spatial judgement is up the creek. I go to close a cupboard and miss the handle, misjudge the depth of a step.. and stand like drunk at the door, the key circling in on the keyhole. Pouring from the kettle? Cutting veg. Just shaking hands. New challenges.
I'm taking drops that dilate the pupil and relax the eye.. which means no focus regardless of what my eye might otherwise manage. Looks like I am going to have to get used to it - this flat earth.
Excuse me while I - carefully - pour a beer...

You should have seen the other guy...

2008-05-13T10:37:00.001+01:00

It's Tuesday and I'm home after an unexpected stay in hospital. Strange goings on with my sight proved to be a detached retina so they kept me in to have it operated on the following day.. and I then spent all night lying just so so that it wouldn't get any worse beforehand.
Yesterday they wheeled me away to fix me up with lasers and elastic bands and now they've let me out again. Not that I have my sight back. It will be about a month before I get back to something like normal - so if I walk past you on the street without saying hi it's just that you're on my blind side... Right now my right eye is just a blur..
And for now, no lifting, driving, swimming, flying - or dancing. (Wot no salsa?)
So it goes...

BIG thanks to the staff at St Erik's. It's nice to be in good hands!

Out of sight

2008-05-13T09:44:00.001+01:00

We take it for granted that how we see life tomorrow will be pretty much how we see life today, so it's an unpleasant surprise when from one day to the next one eye just ain't doing all it should.. Blurred and out of focus, and missing bits round the edges. That's how on a Sunday I come to be sitting here in the waiting room at St Erik's Eye Hospital.

We forget how wonderful our bodies are, the things they do for us day in & day out. .. And we mostly take it for granted that when it's broken it can be mended - I'm kind of hoping my faith is not misplaced on that one.

Room with a view

2008-05-06T02:54:00.001+01:00

It was a lovely sunny afternoon when I finally got back to the flat with the keys - after rushing around town for a customer meeting. Just a short visit to get a feel for what I've bought.
Two rooms and a kitchen as they say.. I've seen it all before but this for real. Home to be. :-)
Sunshine floods across the boards, a warm welcoming amber glow. There's good light and air. But the big echoey empty rooms are still just that bit smaller than I remember... or more probably, than I'm used to. The memory plays tricks.
There are cracks here and there, and seen naked the living room paintwork looks tired and in need of a refresh. Jot that on the list.
And the floors slope. I've never lived in a house where the floors slope. Not a lot, but it takes you by surprise.
The kitchen is a treat.. I'm looking forward to getting back to a gas hob and a proper drainer.. New inspiration at the table, and then dinner with guests? Though maybe that will have to wait till the furniture gets here?
Kallhäll has been beautiful these last days, and starting to pack sad, but today I get to taste a new flavour of things beginning.
It tastes good!

In Tablets of Silicon

2008-04-28T22:40:00.001+01:00

Starting the day with the BBC. A genuine taste of England piped to the bedside..

Turn the pages on a Sherlock Holmes adventure, whiling away the minutes on the bus.

Scribbling notes, composing mails and writing blogs..

Showing off the latest pictures of the boat. Flick through the music and choose what to play...

I've bought this new computer thing.. A Nokia N810 (don't tell the boss). Not a phone, but a tablet PC - a genuinely pocket sized computer which unlike my BIG PC doesn't take ten minutes to boot (which makes it eminently useable).

I like the flexibility, and the real-audio internet radio (for the Beeb), the offline blog editor, and even the ebook reader. Smaller than a paperback but room for a complete library :-) And with Pidgin loaded all those chat messages come to one place on the coffee table. 'Pling' - is that you?

Of course I could use it for MP3s but I have the phone for that but it is the new remote for my music server ;-)

As for the practicalities? WiFi is a whizz.. and coupling up on the move works well via bluetooth to the phone.
The keyboard - is OK. Thumbing is not as quick as the real thing.. But the screen is much more practical for surfing on the move than my mobile even if it does get a bit hard work on pages with a lot of content - like Facebook!
Still, as a window on the web it has a lot going for it... Time to open the curtains?

Thrift

2008-04-27T05:37:00.002+01:00

Out on the balcony spring has come. The albeit short garden walk has come alive with colour - most obviously with the pansies, now getting established and more prolific- but also now with daffidils and grape hyancinth. Aquiligia is up, and the quince is ready to burst into bloom, the lavender has survived the albeit mild winter, the houseleeks have found new vigour, and yes, the thrift is bursting into bloom.
YES!

Done & dusted

2008-04-19T07:45:00.001+01:00

I'm moving... It's official!
On Thursday the bidding closed, and in that slighly scary Swedish way we gathered straight away to sign on the dotted line.
From the beginning of May I have my new place on Söder - and from the middle of June I close the door on life in Kallhäll. I will miss it.. sunshine on the balcony and nature unfolding outside the door. But it's time for a change - and less time idling from place to place on the train. Ironic really as that's where am right now...

What am I bid?

2008-04-15T19:02:00.001+01:00

The weekend was a busy one. When I wasn't tidying and cleaning for
sunday's viewing I was working on the boat - which went well albeit
slower than expected...
But the flat did get cleaned, and the viewings went ahead in spite of
the rain...
So now comes the interesting bit. Who wants to buy?
One bidder is enough to sell... but it will be nice if there's at
least some competition!
Well gentlemen, what am I bid

Pristine

2008-04-02T07:01:00.000+01:00

Cleaned, washed, polished, tidied... Fresh planted pansies on the balcony, tulips on the kitchen table. ...(while what was my kitchen table stands in pieces in my storeroom). The windowsills are strangely bare without the straggly plants and the forest of cuttings.
Spring cleaning with avengeance...
The estate agent is coming to take pictures (..& get my name on a contracţ). The apartment is looking its best and the day is sunny, and the balcony is warm & inviting...
Paul.. Enjoy it while you can!

The man sings..

2008-03-30T21:48:00.005+01:00

Buying the tickets was one of those spur of the moment things... I'd heard him on the radio but never quite got around to buying the music - not even after I had the tickets on the shelf.

And so on a chilly March evening months later I was in Globen filing into Hovet to see.... James Blunt.
No preconceptions, no hype... Nice. I like it that way - not least when it turns out to be really GOOD. Good music - great voice and an impressive multimedia show alongside... all the more impressive as it was mixed live from two cameras by the stage.

And absolute best for me was 'No Bravery' - a song based on his time in Kosovo, played with video footage from the conflict in the background...

Moving, as good art should be.

Moving the view..

2008-03-18T17:41:00.007+01:00

Life has this habit of going on as usual... most of the time...
but just of late it's been anything but.

After four years living out in Kallhäll watching the ducks dabble and the sun setting over Mälaren it is time for a move. Not without reservations, I've decided to up sticks and head for the big city. After wrestling with just what and where and how much, hours spent surfing on Hemnet, and several frantic days running between viewings it is finally settled. I'm moving...

And compared to England things move scarily fast. Exchanging contracts? Weeks of due diligence by two different solicitors? No... Three hours from bid accepted to wet ink on the paper.

So home, once I've sold this one and unpacked the removals truck, will be in Hornstull on Södermalm - an airy (albeit smaller) apartment on a quiet sidestreet by Högalids Park. Shops round the corner, both bus and underground more or less on the doorstep... and just a few minutes to most of my usual haunts.

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...not to mention the island of Långholmen just a short walk away for when I feel like watching the those ducks dabble and the sun setting over Mälaren.

The Earth moved...

2008-03-06T15:04:00.003+01:00

Sometimes the improbable becomes a reality and it shows how out of touch I am with life in England that it was not until I rang home to mum that I heard that Britain had been hit by the largest earthquake recorded there in over twenty years… and that Market Rasen – where mum lives – was at the epicentre.

Fortunately, at 5.2 on the Richter scale, it’s not a major cause of panic & mayhem – but it is big enough to be felt across the country – and when you wake up in the middle of the night with the house shaking you don’t actually know how big this is…
But, as you can see below there are actually quite a lot of earthquakes around if you know where to look...

Seven days: Image by United States Geological Survey

Re-cycled

2008-03-04T09:51:00.003+01:00

There are those that have.. and those that don't, and today I just jumped from one side to the other. After twenty years as a motorist today I'm back to shanks' pony -my humble bicycle, bus and train

Since I moved here my car has been an indulgent luxury - and being right hand drive a momento of that different life in England. But as the car has got older I've used it less and less and it's been more a liability than an asset.

So it's goodbye to the car
...and road tax, and insurance, and parking fees, and service, inspections and repairs. And hello to a new car(e)-free me :-)

Far from the madding crowd?

2008-03-03T10:35:00.004+01:00

I've started thinking about moving... No that's not quite right - I've been thinking for some time. Thinking has moved on and now I'm looking at what a move to the city might mean.

Home right now is bright, spacious and well planned in a beautiful area right by the waterfront - at a price that buys very little in town. But... I seem to spend a big slice of my day on the train and not so very much sat enjoying the view. So being 'nearer the pulse' has an increasing attraction. Which is how I came to spend my sunday going round town looking at apartments - a loft conversion in old Södermalm, a basement flat near Stureplan, and fantastic views from high above Medborgarplatsen (with sky high monthly charges).

First taste says that hitting the right place might take a while....

Daybreak

2008-01-28T17:40:00.001+01:00

Outside the sky is already fragile blue, dawn breaking behind the
treetops. Inside, the newly awakened wonders what happened to the
alarm?
Shower shave dress pack coat shoes and out the door... and into that
fresh bright dawn, the frozen ground crisp beneath each hurried
footfall.

Somewhere among the trees a woodpecker is drumming. Is it spring already???

The woodpecker pecks

2008-01-12T09:51:00.000+01:00

Breakfast, and outside in a grey january morning the woodpecker is picking it's way round the old branches in the elm. Windless and still, it's one of those days when the sky blends seamlessly into the lake, the only colour the yellow tinge of the reeds waiting patiently on the shore..

Winter as you may have noticed, is remarkable in it's absence. The New Year snow is gone, leaving just the gravel littering the roads and paths, and ice for skating is still just a faint hope.

Oh yes... the New Year. A GREAT party... and then back to reality. Work is uninspiring, though with a reorganisation coming there's prospects for some improvement.

And the car's not working.. which doesn't matter too much as I'm planning to get rid of it anyway. Goodbye to parking, insurance and the petrol pump! Which leaves only a few small questions - like how am I going to get my assembled rubbish to the recycling centre?

It's a boat Jim...

2007-12-02T20:37:00.000+01:00

..but not as we know it.

Think of a boat.. any boat you've ever been on that's made of wood. And take away the nails.
What have you got left? Hmmm.. not a lot..

Keel bolts, clinch nails, trenails and iron spikes. Simple, but extremely effective for holding things together - which is what makes the Cheops boat so special (apart from being four and a half thousand years old). It's held together by string...

All lashed together. Frames, stem post, planking, keel - everything. Quite extraordinary.. It's actually a technique used in arab boatbuilding until quite recently but it is still impressive to see the ingenuity and skill it took to build something this big.

I saw the Dover Boat when it was first discovered - a well preserved bronze age plank boat that is built with similar techniques - but Cheops is twice as large and a thousand years older.

Amazing...

The sands of time

2007-12-01T18:25:00.000+01:00

It is hard in the minds eye to take away today... the tourist busses, the straggling crowds of onlookers and the persistent hawkers - and the city sprawl only a few hundred yards away -untidy streets and poverty.

But take a step back and see how these majestic structures dwarf us as we stand impotent at their feet. Four and a half thousand years old and still they draw crowds that wonder at the skill, inventiveness and resource of their creators. At least I did.

The pyramids are the only remaining structures left from the ancients seven wonders of the world.. and were ancient when that list was created. But without a doubt they are wonderful... Just a quick read about them shows what amazing structures these are. What a privilege to stand on the desert sand and look up at a structure that for over three thousand years was the tallest building in the world.

But.. while I am bowled over by the pyramids, and think the Sphinx was wonderful there is one other must see if you are ever there.

The Cheops boat...

Metropolis

2007-12-01T17:18:00.000+01:00

The world is big... and has a lot of people. You know that of course - but it's hard to understand just what that means. Now, looking out the window from the plane as it descends you start to understand.

Cairo stretches as far as the eye can see... a dry patchwork of apartment buildings jostled together crawling slowly out into the desert. Eighteen million people in one city.. twice the population of Sweden compressed into just one town. We will stay in the part that looks like any other city... an international hotel, with marble foyer, fountains and pool in a well-to-do district. But this is not Cairo.

Cairo starts beyond the barrriers, the bollards and the security guard, out on the street. Follow the raod and soon it's busy, dusty and full of people.. cars heading all ways, a jostling mass packing the roads, filling the air with the sounds of motor horns. Old Ladas and nearly new Mitsubishis... Vans loaded high with hay, or cauliflowers, a pickup with two camels.. a lorry load of cows, standing tethered, looking balefuly over the side. A mini-bus, with people hanging out the door, pushing for space in the the throng. Inquisitive faces staring up at the tourists looking back.

Cairo is the forest of satellite dishes atop the crush of crude apartment blocks.. where the dark unpaved alleys lead off between. Emaciated donkeys pulling a tired old cart.. Stately mosques overshadowed by the modern sprawl.. and the megaphonic call to prayer.

But maybe this is also Cairo.. where the night skyline is broken by the neon graffitti - Hyatt, Marriott and the rest declaring - this is my turf now..

Entropy on the kitchen table

2007-11-18T14:27:00.000+01:00

An old wallet, grey and dead.
Six nails.
A bowl with fruit,
Apples four and banana black.
Iron, glass & stone
Frame a candle.
Light from a friend.
A letter - from the bank.
Cuttings in black plastic.
Pots. Wrinkled leaves, fresh & deepest green.
Geraniums on long legs
Reaching for the sky.
Travel, a history in paper
Ready for a reckoning.
Marmalade - ginger.
A fragrant ball of wizened quince.
Trainspotting & USB
Still here from Halloween.
A stapler
and access from Japan.
A yearbook from STFen.
Ringits & Kontakt
and the bill for the electric.
Showergel, breakfast
and the tracks of my days...

Genoa calling

2007-11-10T09:34:00.000+01:00

You know how it is... the plane arrives and the taxi takes you to the hotel. And after breakfast another takes you to the office, and then later back to the airport. Where was that exactly?

So here I am in Genova.. and ready to see something of the city for a change (not to mention trying a little latin dancing :-). I've moved out of the Sheraton - big modern and anonymous on the edge of the airport - and moved into the Hotel Verdi. Yes, it's right by the railway, and the rooms are smaller, but it's also on the edge of the city centre and walking distance for most of the sights. So when I've finished here it's off into town for a wander round .. most probably stopping off in the old port to check out the maritime museum and to check out the timetable for boats to Porto Fino for tomorrow.

A trip to Dramaten

2007-10-11T15:12:00.000+01:00

Bereavement, romance, infidelity, unemployment, gambling addiction, alcoholism, authoritarianism, croneyism, child abuse, ... never a dull moment..

It was one of those modern plays that had you always waiting for what came next.. though sometimes squirming uncomfortable in your chair not quite wanting to know..

Challenging and thought provoking but somehow managing to remain entertaining. Definitely worth seeing:

Fördold av Lars Norén
showing at Dramaten until December

Turning Japanese

2007-09-29T07:59:00.000+01:00

Despite the highrise, the traffic and the bustle I enjoyed Tokyo.. not that I really got to see that much between the office and the hotel. But I am left with an unexpected affection for the Japanese.

Sitting on the plane on the way home I was thinking why was that?? It's a funny place really with all that formal bowing and smiling... but the bowing and the smiling is infectious and sincere, and really what can be better than spending your day smiling??

Life is a carousel

2007-09-24T10:11:00.000+01:00

The sky darkens slowly towards dusk, the city horizon a darker highrise shadow now sequinned with shining windows. Blue neon rings a ferris wheel starting another slow turn as cars on the big dipper are caught, briefly, silhouetted against the sky. Below, people swarm like ants across the lit plazas of the Tokyo Dome.

From my room on the 18th floor (the hotel has 43) I look out across the Tokyo city skyline, and hear the rumble of the cars and the gay screams from the fun-fair. It all has that existential timeless feel that comes from too little sleep.

I got in this morning - just twenty hours after leaving home and my body still doesn't know what time it is... except it must soon be time to sleep.

.........

Pity my camera's not working... :-(

Hot beer and cream...

2007-09-22T15:44:00.000+01:00

You take the highland and I'll take the lowland... an islay from Scotland before you.. for me and my friends
...are at the Stockholm Beer and Whisky Festival!

Swedish porter, czech dark lager, weissbier, stout, and bitter. It's my first time at this annual tribute to grain, malt and hops - sipping my way round the exhibition with a group of salsa friends ... including not surprisingly a large contingent from the British Isles (a term which neatly includes Dublin as well as all parts English).

Dancers are of course renowned for not drinking.. (aren't they) so it was a very sober evening ;-) which finished in best Swedish fashion with an 'after-party' - at which I learnt how to follow in salsa... and how to dance bug AND foxtrot. If I could only just remember...

Sill & Nubbe

2007-06-24T23:26:00.000+01:00

Midsummer... long lazy days when the sun barely seems to set before it is up again. Surely it is something to celebrate?

..which this year I managed to do in fine style.

First in Dalarö for traditional folk dance around the 'midsummer-pole' - a short walk to the beach and then back to the marina. We are heading for the archipelago :-)

Björkösund, and the island of Ornö is the destination, with an open invitation from Anders & Ilya to come and celebrate midsummer. The location you can only envy - a lovely old-fashioned new house perched on the cliffs with views out onto Mysingen. Add four boatloads of dancers, plus most of the neighbourhood and you have yourself the makings of a fine party.

Herring, snaps and boiled potatoes. Strawberries, and sticky chocolate cake. Blend some tradition food with a some spicy music, mix thoroughly with the guests and simmer until the small hours.

It was great!

Thanks Anders! 'You're a diamond geezer' - (as Ilya would say).

School's Out

2007-06-14T17:32:00.000+01:00

Breaking up from school. No more hanging around in the old art room or feet up in the lounge at Baysgarth (..they tore it down long ago for a new sixth form centre.) No more teachers, no more rule books.. No more Alice Cooper on the radio.
Summer, and then university.. and good friends spread to the four winds.

Did we celebrate? I can't rightly recall.

Idas Studenten

Today, and here in Sweden it's another thing however. Schools out! And we're going to party! Bigtime!

At this time of the year the city gets a rude awakening as gymnasium finishes and thousands take their 'Stundenten' - rushing out from class to be met by their family and friends, before disappearing off into the streets to party.

This week it was Ida's turn (Karin's daughter). The weather was good.. and I had my camera in tow, both at school and back home afterwards. Lots of pictures in this one...
Grattis Ida, och jag önskar dig en lycklig framtid!

Heja Sverige!!

2007-06-07T15:29:00.000+01:00

One of the those quaint and intrinsically English things is the summer fête... or so I thought.

Yesterday was Sweden's National Day - a relatively new invention of national fervour. No-one's quite sure how to celebrate it, though like May Day the extreme left and right wing seem to think it's a good excuse for a scrummage in in the city.

Görvälns Slott

Out in the sticks we have more modest ways of flying the flag... which is how I came to take a walk out through the woods to Görvälns Slott with Peter and Karin my neighbours to sample what was, for want of a better word, a village fête: stalls selling handicrafts, a stage with people jumping somersaults, or between times playing folk music, rides on a horsedrawn cart, fresh baked waffles, or just a chance to lie out on the grass.

There was even the obligatory 'loppis' - a stall selling jumble. Since re-use is better than recycling I felt obliged to do my civic duty, and after a determined rummage I came away with albums by the Cranberries, Manic Street Preachers, U2 .. and of course some salsa for the princely sum of 40kr. Plus a burner for a Trangia spirit stove (to an old design I'd not seen before) - which is great, because two years ago I bought a stove that had no burner :-)

Patience they say, is a virtue...

By the way.. can I get a day off for Trafalgar day?

On the water...

2007-05-27T21:28:00.000+01:00

I suppose I should have said earlier... but if you're looking for sailing that's all in another place. Two for the price of one. What a bargain!

See how my garden grows

2007-05-20T07:36:00.000+01:00

It's a few weeks now since the winter wraps came off the balcony. A quick inspection showed quite a few casualties to the winter so my shopping trolley was quite full after the annual pilgrimage to Plantagen.

That was then, but with more TLC than usual the plants seem to have got off to a good start... Even the lettuce I found sulking in the fridge is looking good after planting out in my 'shrubbery'. But as they say.. a picture is worth a thousand words!

Updated: More photos added 27th May

Czech it out...

2007-04-22T19:45:00.000+01:00

One of the things I miss in Sweden is spring... it comes late and gallops along with undue haste to catch up... so it was a pleasant & relaxing change to sit in the taxi going into Prague and see the fresh green face of spring.

It is a lovely city, with fine old buildings and winding streets - plenty enough of both for a couple of days of touristing, seeing the sights and taking pictures (check them out - click on the picture). But it's not a city break we have come for, but a salsa festival... so the weekend brings a distinct change of pace.

Lots of people from half of europe (the eastern half!) thronging a capacious building not far from the city-centre. Lessons: salsa, rueda, bachata, cha-cha, footwork .. & more salsa, and in the evenings; simply dance, until the wee small hours. After all, practice makes perfect... (but it's going to need a lot of practice!)

Ahhhh... the joys of spring :-)

Just arrived

2007-04-12T08:17:00.000+01:00

The taxi stopped to let us out right in front of Marks & Spencers, over the road from C&A and Debenhams. It gave an unexpected feeling of déja vu. This isn't Coventry or Harrogate... it's Prague!
...and we're here for a salsa festival. With a bit of time over to look around first.
Time I got started!

Down to the water's edge...

2007-04-01T19:31:00.000+01:00

The clocks have changed, and the equinox has passed and spring is in the air - all of which means, among other things, that I have my sunsets back.
And that's so nice! You only have to see to understand - and so see you shall.

From Kitchen Views

Not all this album is from my window - I cheated just a little and took my camera down to the water's edge. But you get the picture... :-)

Ancient and Modern

2007-03-20T15:36:00.000+01:00

From the city walls, looking out in the late afternoon sun, you can watch the boats sailing for Finland and Sweden, and imagine an earlier time when stout cogs weighed anchor and set sail in the stiff spring breeze - bound for towns as far afield as Lübeck or London.

I've traded Stockholm this weekend for Tallinn and a different taste of Baltic life... The walls of the Hansa city still ring the old town and from their vantage point you look out over the rising towers of the new centre. Ancient charm giving way to modern ubiquity?

The old city does hold the charm... within it's cobbled streets and alleys, behind the medieval facades we find plush and eclectic coffee shops for herb tea, or rich hot chocolate, and the hushed chambers of an exclusive restaurant. How sweet, how fine...

And what's not food for the body is food for the soul. Rachmaninov and Schubert .. and art, as old and as new as this lovely city.

All in all a lovely weekend - even if I was feeling very ancient..

Tänan tien Eha!

No salt in the porridge..

2007-03-09T20:40:00.000+01:00

February is 'sportlov' - and half of Sweden it seems takes time off from work to go skiing. After six years the itch finally got to me and this year I joined the crowds bound for the slopes. Not for me though the 600km trip to the Swedish fjälls. I have that last minute place on a bus to the Alps instead. A mere 35 hours rolling down through Sweden, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland...

So by saturday afternoon the great unwashed are rolling into Serre Chevalier, set for a week on the slopes. Somehow it all looks a lot bigger than the slope at Sollentuna!

Villeneuve is quite small - a tourist resort for the ski trade. The UCPA hostel sits at the foot of the slope, a short walk from the nearest ski lift - and with fresh snow and guided skiing all week can you ask for more? Even the food was good - in a 'copious quantities to keep body and soul together' sort of way. (I did hear complaints of no salt in the porridge, but as porridge is a french concession to swedish taste what do you expect?)

Skiing they say is a bit like riding a bike.. and i guess that's true - but if I got on a bike after ten years abstinence and fell off as much as I fell down this week I think I'd throw it under the hedge and walk. But, after surviving the first few days, wearing my legs ragged and practicing improptu aerobatics at every turn I did eventually get back the knack and manage to keep up with the lovely ladies

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And after skiing it is of course time for Aprés-ski.. which seemed to consist largely of swedish pub bands in the local hotels playing an eclectic mix of easy listening and hard rock - with those lovable swedish favourites thrown in for good measure. And if it's not swedish bands it's English one's pretending to be Swedish... a raucous evening of pseudo-ABBA. Wake me up for breakfast will you?

It's hard to put a week into a few words - so I'll leave it to the pictures instead to tell the story - above a selection of pictures by Lasse Sunden out on the slopes and then below an 'axplock' from my pictures out and around Serre Chevalier. Clicking on the pictures opens the web album... or just enjoy the show!

But now for breakfast! Where did I put the salt?

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Forecasting snow?...

2007-02-18T18:20:00.000+01:00

It's less than a week now and I'm off skiing. In something of an impulse purchase I took over Anders' booking to go down to France and ski with Lena and Annette. So, when I'm not dancing I'm trying to work out what I need. Ten years since I went downhill skiing. You kind of forget...

Which I why it was good today to get in a couple of hours on the ski slope in Sollentuna. With my neighbour Karin for company I spent a happy couple of hours being dragged up the slope and then skiing down. We could have gone to Bruket - which I can see from my window - but the slope there is short and steep and they don't hire out equipment. Horses for courses...

I was pleased to find I'd not completely forgotten everything.. and two hours was enough to get a taste for trying the real thing. Next week - in Serre Chevalier!

Looks like I might need to pack a good sweater :-)

Chips and dips...

2007-02-18T17:00:00.000+01:00

Saturday night and the winter cold is warm with latin rhythms... the apartment is full of dancing feet and glad chatter. I like it like this :-)

On the excuse that it's six years now I've been in Sweden I gathered a few friends.. made some tasty bits to eat - cracked a bottle or two, pushed back the furniture and set on some salsa. A genuine home-grown party - and quite a good recipe if I do say so myself. Happy smiles all round.

And now... some pictures even..

Hemmafest feb 07

The best laid plans..

2007-02-15T21:46:00.000+01:00

..of mice and men, of cabbages and kings

Well, I got home all prepared to do some baking in advance of the party on Saturday (err... yes - a party on Saturday, didn't I say?). ..but as it turned out the filo pastry I bought wasn't. It's something nearer to shredded wheat - and I'm sure I've got a recipe somewhere that can use it - but it's not much good for salmon parcels.

So I got on with my 'filo-cigars' using the other filo from the freezer.. but strangely enough this recipe for 30 only lasted to thirteen. Oh dear. I feel a re-planning on the catering front coming on.

Still - I got the music sorted. Mostly salsa -as you might have guessed - but life would be dull without a little cha-cha and merengue don't you think? A little reggae, and some reggaeton - calypso, disco, some soul and something very "drum machine" off that 'Trainspotting' album John gave me. Perfect.. There's always the fast forward button :-)

Gone skating...

2007-02-12T08:17:00.000+01:00

Ice. Smooth, black and hard like glass. See the bubbles and fine cracks as you look down into it; the breaks where a crack runs right through, the white schism going down to meet the water below.

Ice. White and marbled, rough and rugged. Upwells of lake water, refrozen meltwater? Ice like cobbles beneath the skates.

Ice. Ground together, or pulled apart. Long scars tracking to the horizon. Windblown ripples frozen fast. New ice meets old. Broken ice refrozen; tesselated- grey, white, black...

Today's ice... still there after yesterdays skating. :-)

The New Ice Age

2007-02-03T10:44:00.000+01:00

The ice has come.. last weekend in fact. One day it's a little bit hemmed in behind the reedbeds, with flocks of tufted duck swimming out around the jetty and the next morning the waves are gone and the icy sheen stretches to the horizon.

Pretty to see - but skatable it is not. The following day it snowed, a pristine white blanket, and then thawed , and now it looks grey and uninviting and certainly not strong enough to take the weight.

Temperatures are up again. Will we get good ice?
Winter just isn't winter...

Salsa Genovese?

2007-01-26T12:03:00.000+01:00

Pesto should be the answer. (Genoan sauce?) - but in this case you'd be mistaken. Not sauce but dance. With a few tips from my boss I find my way to disco club Chango' to see what Italians do on a Wednesday night.
I was expecting a throng of stylish Italians showing off their best routines - but that wasn't quite what I found. Perhaps on a week-end it's different but this was a small crowd in a large club - relaxed and casual & plenty of space for dancing.
Cuban style was the order of the day (that and Bachata) - which is not my strong suit- but they do say that practice makes perfect - even if it's going to take a ot of practice!
It's strange dancing with people that don't understand a word you say (apart from grazie) but at the same time it's nice to be accepted even as a complete stranger.
But is it like this every wednesday? Well... I can't rightly say.. I didn't find anyone that understood the question!
Ciao!

The Italian Job

2007-01-26T11:56:00.000+01:00

Liguria is just like home.. .. you see the english flag everywhere. - unless of course the Ligurian flag happens to be a red cross on a white background?
Genova is northern Italy - a town pressed in between the mountains and the sea. It sprawls along the coast for about 20km and wraps itself around the foothills so that at night they shine with a web of lights. It's not a tourist town. People live here...
The centre is old - fine imposing buildings in what I'd call 'renaissance' style - though in truth they're probably later. Broad avenues, fine facades, gushing fountains and tiny twisty side- streets.
and this week I'm staying in the centre - on the waterfront. I forewent the pleasure of the airport hotel - walking distance to the office - to be in town and enjoy the feel of the city. Not a choice I regret.
Of course that means getting to and from work. But as chance has it the #1 bus takes me right to the office. Twenty minutes watching the changing view of the city. Harbour, port, shops, flats and businesses - the railway and an ugly elevated road scoring through the city. Cars juggle by and mopeds appear in swarms and buzz off again.
How do i know when to get off?

Pennies from Heaven

2007-01-16T17:45:00.000+01:00

Well not quite ... but I did get an unexpected windfall from upstairs.
Karin donated some old change to me she'd had from her mother - including a selection of pre-decimal coins dating from 1966 way back to 1906 ... and from four different monarchs - Edward VI, George V, George VI, and Elizabeth.

So I thought I'd share them with the world, in pictures.

Half a crown is about the same as 12,5 pence in modern currency - which makes a British crown worth about four Swedish crowns (kronor).
You always wanted to know that.. :-)

Blue sunday

2007-01-15T11:24:00.000+01:00

It was snowing and blowing on the walk up to the station. Squally chilly weather coming in off the lake.. but the train is warm on the way in to town ..and not so very long after we are meeting up in the bar at Akkurat getting warm with a pint of traditional English winter ale. (..a pint of "Reinbeer" please!) me, Karin (my neighbour), Pål (needs no introduction(?)), Alexandre & Annelie (salsa friends)

Akkurat is one of the better pubs in Stockholm - but tonight it was not the wide and international selection of beer that was the attraction - not even the hundreds of different whiskies or the tasty mussel specialities on the menu. It was blues - in the form of Paul Jones & Dave Kelly - better known in the guise of the Blues Band perhaps. ..or for Paul Jones - his spell, long ago, with Manfred Mann.

But to be honest I'd come because a friend at work had said it would be good. And my friends were there because they believed me when I told them the same. ..and fortunately they were not disappointed. Two sets - the first with just Paul & Dave playing Mississippi blues on harmonica and guitar - and a second with a backing of sax, bass and drums with a more uptempo mix. Different in character but both really good.

Professional musicians who know their stuff seen at close quarters.. good tunes lovingly played - sweet slide guitar - and harmonica as good as it gets! Priceless! ..and free!
... errrr. Yes - I enjoyed it :-)

Cooling in the kitchen..

2007-01-14T17:46:00.000+01:00

Marmalade, as of course you all know, is a word deriving from the old french name for the quince... and although there is a quince growing on my balcony it has in fact nothing to do with the marmalade now cooling in the kitchen.

..and now is just the time of year to find the Seville oranges that you need for good orange marmalade. But, I was too lazy to go all the way into town to see if they had any in the only place I know that might so it's not that that's cooling in the kitchen either.´

So this year's brew is 'Three Fruits Marmalade' - orange, lemon and lime.. with a little ginger and green pepper to warm up the taste a little.

And whether it's good or not I can't say - but it will make a nice change from Konsums best!

Come back at breakfast... :-)