Do we ever really understand the gift that the people in our life are to us?

Do we ever really consider where we would be without them?

I have been thinking about this a lot lately and it seems the answer is, nowhere.

Or at least very far from here.

In the last year especially, I have observed the essential role of those closely around me, sheepherding me as I find my way into myself and the world at large. I have been shaped by these people, protected, loved and tested. So much of who I am is because of you.

Thank you.

I love you.

Look at the person next you, the one making toast, or humming a tune while they facebook, or cook you dinner, or a cup of tea, or.... and ask yourself, what do these people allow in you/for you?

Do they play a part in your life that no one else can fill? How well do we understand the wisdom of their company, care and chaos?

This is an ode to those people in our lives who make us who we are.

This is a dedication to those people in our lives who without them, time would be empty.

I feel the presence of the souls who have made this place a home.

Pink is the colour!!

Rose and I drink one freshly made vegetable juice every day. Living in Sweden this limits us to the winter veggies we find available, which are mostly roots. One can love roots when one is creative with them! So the juices we make are often of the colour PINK, since beetroots are high in season here (they store well!). Our juices also contain carrots and apples, cabbage and ginger, pear and orange sometimes. I swear, I have never lived as healthily as here. (And I was an eco freak per se before I moved to Sweden!!). But here I learn to live in a truly different way, not a eco freaky but eco friendly, fun and stylish lifestyle. Not necessarily the typical Swedish lifestyle, but a way of living that I feel is timeless and placeless, it should be in any household at all times, that's what I mean!
Rose has one of the best juicers there are, and a blender for smoothies will be bought as soon as she can afford to. Did you know you can make banana ice cream in a juicer? Well, I didn't before I saw Rose do it last night. The frozen bananas go into the blender rock hard and come out as sweet and creamy, icy delight without anything added to them but pressure and some sharp teeth of the juicer. Wow!
You bet, we are looking forward to the Spring!! With fresh leaves, herbs, celery, and so on... But I can do with more pink juices for a while still. Spring comes late in Sweden, but when it does, it really does, that's what I've been told. The colour will be green then, for sure!

Nothing like a beautiful fire on a Sunday night!

This is an expression of gratefulness to our fireplace.

When I open your door, to put in more logs
you meet me with indescribable heat.
Round heat. That waves and bulges out of you!
On to my cheeks, into my eyes,
Dry heat.
Perfect heat. Real heat.

You are better to watch than a washing machine
you replace my TV. You adorn the living room wall
more fulfilling than any great art piece!
Watching you is being close to something real,
but far enough to be comfortably safe.
When your logs are in such instant heat,
when I pull out the lever to let in more air
and everything combusts at such a frenzy
that it doesn't have time to let off smoke
nor blackens the glass door, that I just cleaned before.

You make me happy.
Chopping logs to kindling is worth the effort
for seeing you -
Fireplace -
perform your great task.

While researching Extra Virgin Olive Oil we found Jamie and he seems to love it too, have a look at his videos and you will notice. Is there anyone who uses the words more often than him?

Saturday Evening with Kolja

The first entry is about fish! Kolja.

Today we are eating fish. Not just any fish, but ecological fish, with the name of Haddock, or Hake. In Swedish they call them Kolja and they live in the open ocean, North Atlantic as Wikipedia describes, at 40 - over 100 m depth.
Fish is good for us. Especially its B Vitamins, Potassium and 24.24 mg of Protein it nourishingly provides us with when we eat it.

Rose is dressing the fish at this very minute with ginger, garlic, lemon and lime juice, parsley as well as salt and pepper, of course with drizzles of extra virgin olive oil, in Swedish: Extra Jungfru Olive Olja. Also the organic kind.

We will be eating the fish in combination with lettuce, baby spinach, avocado salad and rice on the side tonight (all ecological quality) .