SWEDISH GEMS

OK, let's start with the finds, or should I say some
of the finds, since I always manage to get so many
lovely gems every time I'm home in ABBA Land.
You might be surprised that there's a lot of 1970's
stuff among my vintage finds and I don't know how
it happened, I'm not converting from 50's to 70's
but I'm getting more interested in that decade since
I was born back then.
Or it might just be a pre-midlife crisis or maybe it's
because I go a bit 90's Indie every time the leafs on
the trees turn yellow.
(In my hometown Indie kids (me included) used to
mix modern clothes with our parents 70's gear.)
Did I tell you that I got bullied in school for wearing
old and second hand clothes?
I guess I always been ahead of my time...


"Modern Embroidery" from 1972, 30 Kr.
"Pippi Longstocking" from 1962, 30 Kr.
The embroidery book was a gift from auntie.
I saw that someone was trying to flog it for 134.95 and
£177.18 on Amazon!


Vintage bamboo handles, 10 Kr.
1970's poncho sewing pattern, 10 Kr.
The pattern was a gift from auntie, the other stuff
(except the handles) were gifts from my bonus mom,
my cousin and my aunties neighbour.


1960's wicker box, 15 Kr.
I never turn down a wicker box in mint condition.


Vintage fur brooch, 25 Kr.
Another one, couldn't resist, I knew the second I saw
it what to wear it with.


1960's necklaces, 35 Kr and 15 Kr.


1970's boots, £2.
These were a gift from auntie, I only needed to glue one
of the heels and give it a good go with some black shoe
polish, they came out really good.


Vintage bag, 10 Kr.
It needs a new button in the front and some stitching
along the edges so the plastic lining on the inside won't
come off but for that price I'm not the one to refuse.


Vintage bag, 20 Kr.
Never ever used!


1970's knitwear, 10 Kr each.
These are kids sweaters but they fit me perfectly.
The white one is called a Pippi Longstocking sweater
or Iceland sweater.


1970's dress, 75 Kr.
I feel like Cher in this dress, a short fat Cher.

HELLO AGAIN

Hi dolls!
I'm back from my trip to Sweden.
Had a great time with my aunt and uncle and it was
very relaxing going away on my own, I needed that.
I will tell you all about it soon, right now I got a lot of
things to sort out and catch up on.
Meanwhile I'll show you what I'm currently and very
eagerly waiting for to arrive in the post.


Cute, huh?

BYE!

I'm off to ABBA Land!
See you in a while! Bye!

NAME DAY

Today is my name day, or in other words, just another
excuse to eat out and scout for vintage. Ha ha!
My man think it's so exotic to have a name day that he
gladly celebrate mine.

I went into town this morning to pick up some things I
need for my trip to Sweden, I had a browse at Primark
where I treated myself to a few items that was on sale.
Mostly basic stuff for a terrible English winter, like pull
overs and such.
My favorite find was a very cute blouse with rose print
for only £3.





After I got back my man took me out for lunch, Italian.
We also went scouting for vintage.
Sods law, when you get to pick whatever you want you
don't find anything at all.



All I found was a pair of plastic bottles with small dolls
called Kologne Liddle Kiddle for 25 pence each.
They are marked Mattel 1967. Pretty cool.



On the way home we stopped by a big supermarket to
pick up a pair of basic black ballerina flats, my old ones
are rather worn out and I was in desperate need for a
new pair.
I couldn't decide what size I needed so I took two pair
so I didn't have to stress about a decision in the store.
Now to the good part, the guy in the till must have had
low blood sugar or was new on the job, after looking at
the receipt on the way home I realized that I actually
got one pair for free.
(The store chain is huge and they won't cry over £6.)





Oh yeah, I baked again, this time with coconut.
My man wanted some yummy stuff in the freezer just
in case he have friends over for coffee while I'm away.

A RATHER UNUSUAL FIND

I got this little thing for just 1 krona at a flea market
in Sweden when I was over for two weeks in July.
It's an old brooch made out of fur.
I quite like it, a bit unusual, I guess.

Have you seen one of these before?

1 krona = 10 pence, $0.13, €0.10

THE BLING BOX

I don't know about you but when I'm in a bad mood
I rummage through my jewelry boxes.
The magpie in me really lightens up and I feel a bit
smug when I look at all the beautiful pieces of vintage
bling I've picked up over the years.
The Jewish stereotype in me feel even more smug
when I think about how little I actually paid. Ha ha!

There's jewelry boxes everywhere in my bedroom,
more than I can count on my fingers (I can't help it!)
but this particular one is my favorite.
It's a Victorian sewing box (it looks rather Art Deco
but it's not) that used to belong to my man's gran.
It was in a bad state when I got it but I cleaned it up,
oiled it and replaced the old band that you lift the top
part with and I also removed the icky green felt that
was inside the lid and replaced it with a piece of nice
vintage wallpaper.

In this box I only store my favorite bling...

TEA TIME

I'm getting worse and my GP said I just have to
wait this one out and try to rehydrate. Great.
I decided since I'm in a state anyway it can't get
any worse if I try to "detox" on Aloe Vera juice,
nettle tea and fresh fruit for a day.
I had a small bunch of fresh nettle leafs left from
yesterdays yield and I've been very curious to try
nettle tea for a while after reading up on it here
and here so I thought today is the day.

I used about 15 fresh nettle leafs and filled a mug
with hot water and let the leafs steep for about 5
minutes before I removed them.
You can sweeten the tea with some organic honey
if you have a sweet tooth.



It's not very yummy to be honest, it has a rather
grassy taste, much like the cooking water after
spinach is cooked, but with the knowledge that it's
good for you I gladly drink it.



I'm glad to have a lovely man who takes care of me.
Yesterday he got me a big bag of oranges and also
Doughnut peaches for me to try.

L'SHANAH TOVAH!

To my Jewish readers, L'shana tovah!
It's now Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year,
and I've been a busy bee since this morning.
I started the day picking nettles for dinner this
evening. I made Nettle Aloo, same thing as Saag
Aloo but with nettles instead of spinach.
I also did some more baking, this time sugar free
blackberry caves for father in law who's a diabetic
and a batch of sesame cookies.
The sesame cookies are to die for!

If you are curious about the Nettle Aloo I will
definitely recommend it, it was very nice.
I didn't use any measurements when it comes to
the spices so you just have to follow your tummy
and taste buds this time.
I will recommend that you use more spices than
you might think you want, I thought I used a lot
but it didn't turn out as spicy as I would like it.
Note, the spices I used in my dish are in fact my
own personal choice and not really the standard
in traditional Saag Aloo.

You need:
½ carrier bag of nettles, tops or young leaves
8 potatoes
Hot water
Vegetable/Sunflower oil
1 onion
2 garlic cloves
Fresh grated ginger
Curry powder
Ground cumin
Ground paprika
Ground cardamom
Ground black pepper
Salt

How to make it:
Remove the stalk and only use the nettle leafs
since they won't be liquidised.

Dice the potatoes into not too small pieces and
place them into a pot with the nettle leaves.
Cover with some hot water from the kettle and
let them boil rapidly for a little while, then
simmer until the potato pieces are tender but
not too soft.

Chop the onion into small pieces.

In another pan heat the oil and add the onion
and minced garlic, fry till softened, then add the
spices and the fresh grated ginger.
Stir around then remove from the heat to add the
drained potato and nettles.
Stir everything together gently, so the potatoes
don't disintegrate, and add any further seasoning
at this stage.
Continue simmering gently until the whole mass
has lost more water.

Serves 3 -4.


Enjoy! <3


Sesame cookies.


Sugar free blackberry caves.

SWEET TREAT

I'm so bored it's ridiculous.
I'm sick of sitting on the sofa (or laying down in
severe pain) watching TV or surf the net.
I want to train and get on with things but I can't
really go anywhere because the pain is actually
getting worse when I really should start to get
better.
I was rather frustrated today so I decided to do
some things around the house.
I wanted to feel that I accomplished something.
I did two loads of laundry, changed the bed linen,
vacuumed and disinfected every surface possible.
After I was done I was still bored so I started to
bake two kinds of Swedish cookies and one sticky
chocolate cake while listening to The Smiths.
It's after all Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year,
this week so I thought it would be nice with some
sweet treats for once.



My man was a real doll today.
Yesterday as I was running some errands in town
I spotted a winter jacket and a pair of nice unworn
platform wedges in the same charity shop where I
got the floral dress.
I couldn't decide if I wanted them or not so I gave
myself a day to think about it.
As I decided that I wanted them my man offered
to get them for me as he was in town anyway.


Platform wedges, £3.50.
These will go perfect together with this wicker handbag.


Jacket, £4.
Perfect for everyday use.
It needs a little makeover, belt and loops really got to go.
I'm also gonna do a diy dry clean and have a go with the
lint remover.

BAKED APPLES

I'm always looking for a good and easy apple recipe.
Nothing taste as nice as apples and cinnamon during
autumn, and I tell you, I can eat myself silly when it
comes to that combination.

Mother in law got the best darn apple tree there is,
and we're joking, saying the apples taste so good
because they grow within the Eruv.
I don't know how many kilos we'd picked lately but
I sure made good use out of what we got and there's
still have a lot left.

Here's a recipe for baked apple slices that's really
easy and of course, frugal.
Well, in this case they aren't baked in the oven but
cooked rather quickly in the microwave.
I recently I started cooking up apples this way and
now we have it for dessert almost every night.

You need:
4 cooking apples
1 Tbsp brown sugar
A sprinkle of cinnamon
A dash of water

As you slice up the apples, check for their flavor.
If they don't taste good raw, believe me, they aren't
going to taste good cooked.

How to make it:
Peel and slice the apples.
Put the apple slices in a tray.
Add a dash of water, you don't wanna dry cook them.
Sprinkle brown sugar on top.
Add a light sprinkle of cinnamon.

(I don't like my apples too sweet, if you do, feel free
to add more sugar on yours.)



Bake in the microwave oven for about 5 - 7 minutes
on high heat.
I suggest you start out with 5 minutes and testing for
doneness with a fork.
If it needs more cooking time, give it more.
If you use more apples, you will probably need to cook
it a little longer.

When done serve warm with whipped cream on top, or
with vanilla ice cream on the side or just as they are.

Serves 1-2.


Enjoy! <3

KUNGLIG RISKAKA

Yes, this sure is a rice cake fit for a king.
All you need to enjoy this masterpiece is one
organic sesame rice cake, homemade fat free
hummus and lentil & bean shoots.

£3 TREAT

I'm still ill.
It feels like I been eating gravel and razorblades,
the pain is so bad I can't sleep at night.
I'm going to see my GP this afternoon.

Yesterday, despite the pain, me and my man went
to Regent's Park to listen to some Klezmer.
Personally I think it was a huge letdown.
I like traditional Klezmer, like Kroke, but it wasn't
even near as good.
It also said in the programme that there would be
kosher food for sale and all they could come up with
was dry bagels.
If you want Jewish culture you have to come up with
something better than bagels.
My culture has got loads of wonderful food from all
over the world (I'm a huge fan of Eastern European
food) that's not even expensive to make but all they
could come up with was bagels.
Not even a kosher hot dog in sight...
Hope "Klezmer in the Park" make more of an effort
next time.

I was bored out of my mind this morning so I went to
the post office to send some belated birthday presents
and some items from my Etsy shop.
On my way home I had a quick scout in one of the local
charity shops and Primark.
I treated myself to a cute dress and a ring.
Total spend: £3.


Dress, £1. Charity shop.


Ring, £2. Primark.

A DAY IN CAMDEN

Hi my darlings!
I'm on the couch today, ill, drinking tea and
watching Angels in America on DVD that I
scored on eBay for £2.50 including shipping!
Taking a short break to blog...

My man was kind enough to take yesterday off
to go to Camden with me for some well needed
qualitytime together. We had a very nice day.
It was sunny and warm and we were both in a
really good mood.
Camden was busy as usual and for some reason
I didn't feel up for scouting, it was rater stressful
with blaring speakers and shop attendants with
rather bad attitude.
I actually felt kind of old, I mean, I had tons of
piercings and some pretty wild outfits back in the
days, and I've had these tattoos of mine for many
years. It was like "been there done that" and I just
couldn't relate at all to these people who looked
like me 12 years ago.

Anyway, it was lunch time so we went to CTJ on
Euston Road and we stayed there for almost three
hours, eating, talking, laughing.
The food was the best I had in ages by the way.

After a relaxed time at the restaurant we went to
some charity shops along Camden High Street
where I found an amazing 1930's style hat and a
very cute dress.
That was about it really, but it was way cheaper
than the vintage shops at Camden Market and the
money went to a good cause.

We also went to Whole Foods Market on Parkway
to pick up some stuff we needed and I bet that no
one in that store was as happy as I was that point,
I finally found Celestial Seasonings tea!
It was easy to get in Stockholm but over here in the
UK it's been like searching for the Holy Grail unless
you want Sleepytime tea, which you can pick up at
Sainsbury's, but that's about it.
They only had packs of 10 bags but that's better than
nothing, I got two of my favorites, Cinnamon Apple
Spice and True Blueberry.


Started the day with my favorite breakfast.


Hat, £7. (Gift from my man.)


Dress, £3.


My favorite tea!