Last day of August

Somehow the last day of August is the last day of summer. 
Kind of melancholic. Not depressing just sad. The sky is bright, the sunset wonderful and the days shorter. The evenings are getting cool. This is the view at 9 pm from the dinner table, still outside on the porch. Not yet with blankets, the Swedish style...


The summer has been great with lots of good things happening and it is now 8 months until the next summer. It s going to be a long wait... But most of all it is time to thank you all for supporting me for already 7 months from countries as Japan, United States, Italy, Sweden, Canada, China, Singapore, Hong Kong and Norway 


Thanks,
Gunn

Apple-cider vinegar

A good thing... 

Organic Apple cider vinegar is not only perfect for the salad. 

A glass with 2 tablespoons of vinegar in a glass of water before the meal, speeds up the metabolism. It is also rich in A,E and C vitamins. Plus some beneficial minerals, such as iron, calcium, magnesium and a few others.

It is also said to to have potassium and that  helps to keep the blood thin and is helpful to control the blood pressure.

I personally use it as a facial toner mixed with a light green tea. I make a small cup that last me through the week.

Try it ! At least it isn't harmful.

Gunn

Can't believe what I see

Was I gone this long ? 

The biggest zucchini ever.

This is the result being away on holiday....when you are committed gardener you should stay home and take care of the garden.

Well, I needed the brake, G

My Stockholm guide

SHOPPING :

Svenskt Tenn -  Is an interior design shop at top class. as they say themselves " a world of magical things"

Norrgavel - Ecological furniture designed by Nirvan Richter and many more objects for the Eco lover for house and garden.  

Iris hantverk - A very special company making natural brushes  and other useful things for a natural house. Many brushes have been produced as is for 100 years, since the company started.
NK - A department store to see.
Garbo Interiors - A contemporary styling of new and vintage. Very well done and makes me want to have an apartment in Stockholm to decorate.
Konst hantverkarna  - A gallery and shop of handicraft. Easy to find a present for oneself or for somebody special.
Blas & Knada - A gallery and shop of ceramic , glass by many well known artists.
Svensk Hemslojd - My favorite stop for traditional Swedish handicraft. Love birch 
Moonsun - A great place for a good facial with ecological products and for shopping.
Rosendals tradgard -  for Lisen Organics natural cosmetic and many other things.
Akademibokhandeln - A book shop large enough to loose yourself for a day ...and pick up some of the latest Swedish thrillers.
Konst-ig  - A very stylish and well assorted bookstore for art and architecture. 




As you can see i never go shopping for clothing in Stockholm although, there is all the best brands. I do my shopping in Paris and Milano or Tokyo at Tomorrowland.

 EATING:


Mattias Dahlgren - If you are well organized you might have a chance to get a table for fine dining in top class. My favorite ! Just look at their site and you will understand.
Ulla Winbladh - Nice atmosphere and traditional Swedish cuisine.
Sturehof - You can't go wrong with a lunch at my favorite fish restaurant.
Ostermalms saluhall - An indoor food market and I always start my visit here. Shopping, eating....enjoying.
Erik's bakficka - Traditional and classic Swedish food with a twist. Can become addicting.
Bla Porten - A casual buffet style lunch or traditional "fika " coffee brake with tons of good homemade sweets. They have a nice courtyard for sunny days.


Gunn

Weekend trip to Gotland

Gotland is the biggest island in the Baltic sea and a very popular holiday place. It also has more sunny days during the year than the mainland. I am giving you the most important info.... the rest you can read yourself on the site .

We biked to the new eco-friendly place called Leva Kungslador for lunch. Wonderful and very nicely made. A bakery, cafe and shops for gardening articles, ceramic and ecological food. I would recommend it at your next visit on Gotland. 

Our favorite fish restaurant was Bakfickan , i guess we had 4 meals in 3 days...

We stayed at Tott hotel , Visby and had some lazy time by the sea. 

Gunn and family

Tivoli

What else can you do when you are taking out a 12 year old lad around town.
Tivoli Grona lund is Stockholms amusement park. My husband offered himself to accompany on all the scary features. ( they are the two in the center ) I managed to go the fun-house with the flying carpet. Fun actually, but an incredible waist of energy.
Last time i visited this park was to see the Bob Marley concert in the 1980. 
I do not recommend it for eco-friendly people....G 

Holiday Stockholm

 I had a city holiday this summer, it might not be the most relaxing and lazy place. But i really enjoyed it and managed to relax and meet lots of friends.

My way of spending quality time in Stockholm is to be at the island Djurgarden, a green park in central city.  Beloved by many. Djurgarden is a calm oasis which has been royal land since the fifteenth century with many fine areas to stroll or having picnic's.

My very favorite hangout is an organic garden called Rosendals tradgardar. A few greenhouses storing many activities . Cafe , plant shop, bread shop , organic vegetable for sale and you can pick your own bouquet of fresh garden flowers and pay by the weight. 

The eco-friendliest way to move around is by bicycle. Stockholm has many rental stations all over the city and well organized lanes.

 I made a visit for tea at a friends gazebo in her garden. It is quite common in Sweden to have a separate little wooden house for rest, good view and shelter from the Nordic rain.

Body brushing

 Linda Redmond, developed this fantastic kit for body brushing to enhance the skin's vitality in a natural way. 

I sell the kits in Un Momento Nordico and I did not get around to use it myself until during my holiday. Believe me... my skin is glowing and I should say that i look at least 10 years younger... well that is not the issue here. 

Her kits includes 2 types of brushes together with a special organic body oil, one for the face and another for the body. It comes with a very descriptive booklet on how to do it the right way. You can also see it on her home page BRITT BEAUTIFUL SKIN I would also recommend it to men as it is a complete tool for well being. Brushing your skin at least 3 times a week increase the blood circulation.

It makes a difference,

Gunn

A special gift

A nice little gifted friend in Hong Kong, gave me this precious present. It is a portrait of Pepe and his mummy Tati. Can you see the collage with tiny pieces ( click for a bigger image ) of black paper creating a nice carachter. My friend is a very young girl and  is very lucky to have a smart mother, who one day said that Barbie had to leave. Tears for a moment and then lots of creativity started to bloom. I wish every little girl could have a kind mother who is thinking ahead.

Gunn

Relaxing bath

The summer is coming to an end, at least in Sweden...where I am spending my holiday. 


The evening are chilly and it is really nice to enjoy a hot bath with lots of bubbles. This time with the Delightly scent of orange, lemon and cloves.


G

Poor little thing....

I completely forgot to put her to bed, blogging away....


Tati is funny, she will wait up and is now curled up , exhausted  in the chair and snoring away in an uncomfortable position.


Time for both of us to say Good night,
Gunn

The beauty and the horror

In the " No impact man " post on the 23rd i showed a photo of a polar bear i picked up from Colin's blog. I kept thinking of the image and about this amazing animal up north and just had to google some more photos. I need to share these with you.

 So now to the reality of the horror they are living today due to our ignorance.

Global warming is the most significant threat to the polar bear, primarily because the melting of it's sea ice reduces the ability to find sufficient food. The male has to swim long distances to search for his food and often drown from exhaustion in the water, not finding enough ice to walk on. He is weak and hungry and can not arrive with food for his waiting family.

See the important book or  the blog by Steven Kazlowski, a wild life photographer.

i also like the environmental blog utne.com/blog for news and information. And further more on Terrapass blog.

Let's keep these images in mind,

Gunn

Art for free

The first thing i do in the morning ( still in my Pj's ) is to let the dogs out and even tough the garden is big and they could run out them self, they depend on me to bring them into the wood for the morning doings. It is actually a very happy time for all of us. I check out the vegetable garden for the news. This very funny zucchini is from this morning. 


The summer time is the best,
Gunn

No impact man

 Are we aware or just faking it ?

Carina, my friend at Nonchalant mom blog , is always very inspiring to me. 

She mentioned the documentary film No impact man , some time ago and I have seen it twice and could ( no, should ) see it again. Just for an inspiration and as a reminder that there is a lot to do at the base, called home.

Colin Beavan and his family are really wonderful and so courageous showing this experiment of a everyday life on film. And what is amazing is that they are in Manhattan. I love when Michelle is going off coffee and seeing "the almost the same/but different" Marc Jacobs bag in the shop window. I sympathised with her...

  

We ( You and me ) should do a lot more. It is a drop in the big sea of problems, but many drops should at least create a lake and so on. We just can not passively watch it in front of us and not act.

Colin is making me place solar panels on my office so the office can be independent for electricity. I am putting up heavy padded drapes for the winter to keep the cold out , just as in old time England. Living in the country it is already natural to live with the natural light

 ( getting up early and snug into bed at dawn), making a daily compost, growing organic vegetable. We are not eating meat in our household. We have fish once in a while and always looking for smaller fish , such as sardines. Our cleaning detergent is environmentally friendly. We store the rainwater in a giant tank under the lawn for the vegetable garden.We buy our produce organically already for 25 years. We only use holistic medicine. I guess there is no need to mention the organic skincare... nara heltnaturligt.

What we do wrong is; driving the car to appointments and i wish there was a way to eliminate the monster some days. Our food is too heavily packaged in our local health store, so we are creating a lot of waste of plastic and paper. Our house is not properly isolated yet, but we are working on it. We hardly have anything in the fridge so we could actually turn it off , at least in the winter season. I could not do without a washing machine for the mega laundry every week. We have a TV screen for the movies... and truly dislike  Italian TV. We do not really use paper towels in the kitchen and I will not comment the toilet paper thing... 

You have to see the movie No impact man, for yourself.

Enjoy it,

Gunn

Finally packed !

Finally... on my way to some summer holiday. 


This time in Sweden and I think it will be mostly in Stockholm and it's surroundings. For sure, the first stop will be a lovely island in the outer archipelago called Sandhamn. It is oddly the only island with sand-dunes and thereof it's name. Mainly a meeting place for sailors. It is a very idyllic, charming and low key summer resort place for families with kids and dogs. Anyway... I am ready for some quality time with friends.

Can't wait,

Gunn

Next to your skin

We make this wonderful soft T-shirt for the nara heltnaturligt brand and I must admit that I did not take the time to wear it before, as all my energy went into creating, developing colours, making and selling it. But I am finally crazy about wearing it directly on my skin and lived in it the whole summer. It is a very light jersey in the softest organic cotton and dyed in natural vegetable dyes.

It is now my favorite piece to wear and I "must" have them in white as well for the winter to come under all the cashmere's.

I made a Big jar for this T-shirt in order to show how tiny it really is and to illustrate that, it is as lovely as my favorite creme for the skin. It is also very easy to store away and a nice look on the bathroom shelf.

I love it,

Gunn