Curtain

I found this piece of vintage fabric in the basement of my house in Småland last summer. I couldn't decide what to do with it, so I just stuck it in a plastic bag and forgot about it. Somehow that plastic bag ended up in my kitchen and that's when I figured out what to do with it.
With a lot of help from my sister and her sewing machine, the fabric was transformed into a curtain.

In progress

Ta-daah! Pardon my ugly lamp and my mess.

A Feral Kitten

My sister and her fiancé have adopted a feral kitten. The little rascal showed up outside Fredrik's job last week and he was finally able to capture it and bring it home on Friday.

First known photo of the kitten.

They're not sure if it's a boy or a girl yet, so no name has been decided. But they're leaning towards Gizmo. Because the kitten has big ears and reminds us of this fella.

The kitten is shy but making real progress. You can't touch her/him or be too close, but it's ok to play a little. At first he/she was scared to leave the transport cage Maria and Fredrik brought her/him home in, but now he/she is relaxed enough to sleep on the kitchen table or in the little house on the activity tree.

No kitten, photographers do not eat kittens.

This kitten is being spoiled, in a good way. Fancy toys from Lidl, Whiskas cat milk and quality cat food. They've even prepared the balcony for when the kitten is brave enough to explore it.

Maria demonstrates the activity tree. Kitten on the kitchen table.

Kitty house and extra litter box.

It seems Gizmo really has gone from rags to riches.

My Cousin's Wedding

My cousin Lisa got married yesterday. The wedding started at three in the afternoon, but getting ready for a wedding takes all day. It didn't help that I was exhausted from a really intense week at work.

My sister Maria and I started by getting our hair done by Ylva at Kustom Freakout in Malmö. That took a few hours, so then we had to hurry home to eat some lunch, put some makeup on and get dressed.
I live in jeans most of the time, so it takes a little longer to put on petticoats, stockings and a dress.

Ylva working on Maria's hair.

That's a lot of curls.

I forgot to take any photos of the finished hairstyle. I do that a lot.

Lisa and Joakim got married in Stora Hammars gamla kyrka (Stora Hammar's old church). Lisa and I used to work as guides there when we were teenagers, so I can tell you that it was built around 1150 and probably replaced an older wooden church. It's been altered and expanded over the years but still has several features from the middle ages and some really uncomfortable benches from 1688.
It's a lovely church, even with uncomfortable benches, and the wedding was lovely.

Lisa and Joakim outside the church.

Lisa had a lovely veil and looked so happy throughout the day. The reception was held at Ellinge castle, and once we got there I was so busy being a guest and having a good time that I forgot to take any more photos.

The dinner finished sometime after midnight, after many great speeches, toasts and a chocolate and passion fruit wedding cake.

How I Spent My Christmas Vacation

So how did I spend my Christmas? Me and my sister took the train to northern Sweden to visit our mother, the Vicar.

Since Christmas is a very busy time of year for the church, my sister and I did all the cooking. We did a small selection of classic Christmas food for Christmas Eve, since it was only the three of us. All of it is vegetarian, and most of it is quite healthy compared to the classic dishes.

Our veggie version of Christmas.
Click on the photo for a larger version.

The red cabbage and feta cheese salad is so good we declared it a must have dish at Christmas when my sister made it for the first time.

Since Mom has moved really far north it takes almost a day to travel up there by train, and it's really cold and snowy. When we were there temperatures ranged from -17 (degrees Celcius) to -6.
That means you don't leave the house unless you're wearing thermal underwear, a really thick jacket, ski pants, thick gloves and a wolly hat. I was glad I bought new winter boots two days before the trip.

The sun rises at nine in the morning and starts to set at three in the afternoon. The snow is dry and powdery and crunches under your feet as you walk.

View from the porch at 3 pm on Christmas day.

Lots and lots of trees covered in snow.

We also went to midnight mass in Borgsjö church on Christmas Eve. The church is from the 18th century and is really beautiful, with elaborate decor and wood carvings painted to look like marble and gold. There were over 200 lit candles, snow on the windows and a great atmosphere.

Sister studies the hymns before the midnight mass begins.

We had a quiet Christmas, watched a lot of movies, ate candy, went for walks in the snow and did some shopping at Birsta City.
Northern Sweden is cold, but beautiful at this time of year.

I <3 Copenhagen

I had a great day with my sister yesterday. We went across the bridge to Copenhagen for some shopping and girly fun.

Our first stop was Mondo Kaos in Birkegade. We looked at a lot of dresses and tried on half of them. I bought a really pretty black dress with blue sparrows.

Then we popped next door to Rubber Duck for some awsome frozen yoghurt. Maria choose blueberries and Daim chocolate, I choose fresh strawberries and Kinder chocolate. Tasty and really low fat!
Well, not the chocolate but the frozen yoghurt.

Yum!

Then we left Nørrebro and crossed the lakes that separate the area from the city center. The crowds get bigger as you get closer to Strøget so we try to avoid it if we can.
And all the fun shops are on the side streets.
We had lunch at RizRaz and checked out some more shops.

We even had time for ice cream before getting on the train back to Sweden.

My Little Sister's Port Wine Gravy

One of the tastiest things I ate this Christmas was a Port wine gravy that my little sister made. I made her write down the recipe so I could share it.

Try it, it tastes great with both veggie steaks and roasted potatoes.

You'll need;
One cube of vegetable stock
4 dl of water
1 ½ to 2 dl of Port wine
A few tablespoons of creme fraiche
A few tablespoons of currant jelly
Maizena (Cornstarch)
soy sacue, preferrably chinese
salt and back pepper

Pour water and Port wine in a saucepan and add the vegetable stock. Bring it to the boil and add a little Maizena.
When the gravy starts to thicken add creme fraiche, currant jelly and soy sauce untill the gravy has a nice brown colour. Reduce it or add more Maizena if needed.
Season with salt and black pepper to taste.

A variation is to start with a handfull of chopped fresh mushrooms and a smaller amount of port. That way you'll end up with mushroom gravy.

Last night me and my little sister got crafty and made some old t-shirts into halternecks. But first we stuffed ourselves with tapas.

My sister revamped her MCR shirt and I did on old Buzzcocks one.
When I bought that shirt at the Buzzcocks show in Belfast in 2003 a guy with a Manchester accent tried to hit on me. It wasn't until the band went on stage that I realised that the guy was Buzzcocks bass player. I think I still have the ticket stub somewhere. It was a great show, but me and Cormac stayed on the balcony so we wouldn't get crushed by the 40-year old punks who were re-living their prime in front of the stage. Good times.

I had planned to make some other old t-shirts into pillows, but our old sewing machine from the 1970s has finally given up. Not only does it munch up the thread, but it makes all the stitches super-small and wonky. Darn! So the pillows will just have to wait.

But the bananas have been on their best behaviour this week. Good work bananas!