London, here we come (again!)

It's always a good idea to have something to look forward to, to help you make it through the long dark Swedish winters. So, this Easter we're heading off to London again. As we had such a fab time there last year, we just had to go back for more. Here's a couple of photos from last year's trip - some sweet houses in Notting Hill (don't you just wish you owned one!) and A enjoying a cuppa in some old dive of a cafe that we stumbled across.

A seed of an idea....

Mmmmm. I have the idea for a little project involving vintage fabrics. We'll see how that develops.

I still have to get my camera fixed. It's actually the flash unit that's bust, and as I rarely shoot with flash, the camera is still usuable - although I'm ashamed to be seen in public as it's cracked with wires sticking out in all directions! So I have been getting on with editing some on the many hundreds of pictures I have already taken.

Here's one which was taken on a frosty misty morning in January in Stoke, my hometown while on a visit over Christmas. It's a homage to Stoke's industrial past, showing the top of one of Stoke's hundreds of disused bottle ovens (where pottery was fired). I had set off with my trusty camera and was wrapped up to the nines in woolly items, telling my mother I would be gone an hour. Arrived back after about three hours, with my mother on the verge of ringing the police ("this is not Sweden you know Dawn!"). Sorry Mum. I tend to lose track of time and space when I'm out snapping.

Have a heart.......

Just spreading some love on Valentines Day :)

Boo to Friday 13th

I am by no means a superstitious person usually. I did not realise until the evening that this day was Friday 13th. When I did everything fell into place.

A few crummy minor incidents blighted my day (the details of which I won't bore you with here). But the major upset happened late afternoon. I was out on the veranda photographing some beads and making the most of the lovely natural light. I turned to go back into the house to fetch my gloves, slipped, kicked over the tripod and sent my beloved camera crashing to the ground. So now the flash unit is completely shattered. I also got a pretty nasty electric shock off the thing when I was inspecting the damage. And I have a big bruise on my bum to boot. BOO!

Here's a picture of some cherries anyway. Just for the heck of it!

Out and about again!

With the half term break upon us, a scattering of fresh snow and A kitted out with her new skis (thanks Arne!) off we set for an afternoon of cross-country skiing. This kind of skiing is lovely - the stillness of the forest has a great calming effect on me and it's easy to control the speed (i.e. slow!).

I am such a baby about downhill, as I hate falling and have an aversion to ski lifts. But cross-country is pretty non-scary. It was about minus five that afternoon - a strange combination of being all sweaty but yet freezing at the same time - so we took a flask of hot choc with us. The final score I may add was 2 - 2 (-we both fell twice!)

Appley-cinnamony comfort food

I have been home for the last few days looking after A who has come down with a bout of the flu. So, in an effort to keep cabin fever at bay, I decided to get out a stash of recipes I've been wanting to try out. When I was a kid myself, I remember ice cream being the only thing I really felt like when I was under the weather.

This was pretty simple to do. It's basically apple slices fried in butter (yes!) for a few minutes each side. I then sprinkled about 2 tbsps of brown sugar over them in the pan, added the chopped zest and juice of half a lemon and a sprinkle of cinnamon. The apples caramelize in a minute or two, ready to be served warm with a dollop of vanilla ice-cream.

I just had to show you this. With some Christmas money burning a hole in her pocket, my daughter decided to browse Etsy in the hope of finding something to spend it on. She finally settled on a little critter from morninglori's shop. Lori made "Alice" to order for us with our choice of fabric and Alice is now winging her way to us across the Atlantic as we speak....

Inauguration party

Well, he's now officially installed and some of the US community of Jönköping got together at E's to celebrate in style. Being the generous hostess that she is, E even extended the invite to some non-US peeps, like me.

Beautiful baubles........

I recently bought a small batch of these georgeous blown glass hollow beads. I used some for earrings and sold the rest in my Etsy shop. They have been rather popular -after just a week I only have one lot left.

Lucky cats

Just bought these cute little cat beads, which I'm adding to my shop.