My Pocket

fridays

Fridays don't mean what they used to to me. Every other Friday I go up to college for a weekend of lectures, which I like very much, and I get to go in shops on my lunch break, but it means my weekend is used up entirely. On the Friday I never get that excitement that weekends bring with promises of places to go, time to relax and projects to delve into. On Sunday night however I come back with that distinct feeling of anticipation - can I have my weekend now? No, but how's Monday morning? :o)

The Fridays I have free are more precious to me than they have ever been and I cherish the luxurious feeling of time to my disposal for crafting, walking or spending time in bed. :>) Doing full-time degree studies whilst working has forced me to look at what I want in life. To consciously choose what is worth my attention and live as I go along, not putting things off for later. Of course, I don't always do that. I have periods when I let it all go and pull the duvet over my head, stick my nose in an inspiring book, let my room overflow and tell the world to go away. I know how lucky I am to be able to do that. I have no children to depend on me or a full-time job to worry about.

I've always been a come-and-go person in life. It's what I feel comfortable with, since being a kid. I'll spend time with people but without an escape route I'll get uncomfortable. I was the aloof one: friendly, kind and caring, but if I didn't like it I'd be off like a startled deer. I often think I'll end up like one of those characters in books - you know, the old grumpy man or woman on the corner of the street whose apples you wouldn't dream of pilfering, but once you get to know them they are actually very warm and friendly. I like to keep to me'self, is all.

But I still have to clear up the mess, because it's time to reemerge from that duvet...

room to cook

Last of the rooms, the kitchen. My least favourite room unfortunately. When we first viewed this flat I gasped as we looked into the kitchen with its 70s wooden slat cupboard doors, brown sink and irreparably grotty tiled work surfaces. I need inspiration and inviting surfaces to do my cooking. D was the one to gasp when we got to the wood panelled bathroom sauna - he loves his showers. Since then the kitchen has been refitted a bit, not looking much better, but at least it's clean. I don't feel like showing more pictures of the place though, the window is the best part, a breathing hole in that tiny cramped space. It's a lovely feeling standing right by the open window while cooking, looking down at what is going on in the little open patio below.

We put up shelves a while ago, which made a big difference to how I felt about being in there. Having everything accessible and presentable in old fashioned glass jars just gives me good vibes of quality and simplicity. I think it might partly be due to being Swedish, feeling fussy, I've still not got used to the British standards in accomodation - drafty, poor maintainance and more often than I'm accustomed to: *cough* bad taste. The house in itself is lovely however and there are many old houses here that are wellmade with little flourishes to please the eye and with lasting quality. I love the metal handles on the windows for instance, the small swirl (you can see it better in the bathroom photo).

To finish off I wanted to show you my new lunch box! Isn't it great? I like thermos flasks, I used to bring my lunch in one every morning at uni. I like the autumn leaves on this one and it makes it obvious to people when I leave it in the school fridge that it is mine, no mistake.

room for sleeping

On the other side of the stairs is our bedroom. We both slept on floor level beds before we met, have done so together for years now and we still love it, especially being under the window. I have the sun lighting up the room in the morning to wake me up and at night I might watch the stars for a while.

Actually a lot of things are floor level at our place. We used to sit on the floor to eat our meals or on a cushion in front of the window for a long time before we got a dining table this spring. We've both done yoga for years (though I haven't for quite a while now) so we both have our yoga mats, blankets and props lying around.

I've only recently 'grown up' and felt a desire to have proper tables and chairs and D wanted some arm chairs. Since I was young I've wanted things simple, spartan and tidy. I didn't need reminding to clean my room - I remember age 8 straightening the tassels on my rug, it being the only untidy part left in the place. That's a bit embarrassing... Took me years to relax my standards and for signs to begin to appear in my living spaces that someone was actually living there, using the facilities. :o) As a teenager I removed all furniture except the mattress and a stereo on the window sill to have a room with perfect emptiness. I loved it. White walls, large window and wooden floors. I went through most of high school homework lying flat on my tummy with my books strewn around me.

Nowadays, well it's a different story as you can see from the pictures. I still like having a tidy-up regularly and I like my living area light and spacious, but the cleaning is on the backburner unless someone is coming over and I take silly pride in being a bit cluttered and disorganised, not having been able to do that for so long. Having belongings doesn't freak me out as much though I still have times when I ruthlessly go through inventories in my mind as to what is actually essential and what needs to go to lighten the load. I'll think of Thoreau's quote of men "creeping down the road of life, pushing before it a barn seventy-five feet by forty" and shudder. I'm still very much inspired by gypsies, nomads and the Japanese - having few, simple and functional belongings and very few pieces of furniture, spending much time on rugs or mats on the floor.

I'm so glad D has the same sense of simplicity and quirky sense of interior decorating as I do. I began this stone collection blue-tacked to the wall above the light switch and he has added to it.

And, he doesn't mind my friends hanging around.

room for washing

This be our bathroom. :o) I love the view out the open window in the mornings sitting in the bath tub. Am I the only odd girl sitting down for her shower? Surely there must be others too. I do it because I like it - it's warmer and less splashy. And because I can't stand shower curtains near me, don't like 'em.

The entire bathroom was covered in dark stain wood panelling when we moved in. Not much we could do about that so we just painted the walls white to keep it from looking like one big sauna. It turned out quite nicely, I think. I didn't do any cleaning or tidying for this photo session by the way. Oh, ok so I did do a bit, but not much. The strange blue tea pot on the cabinet is my neti pot, a vessel for pouring salt water through your nostrils in the morning, a yoga body cleansing thing. It's lovely, but I won't try to convince you.

The photo next to the sink is of my summer washing place on the island. It's just around the corner from my little cabin, on a shelf in the smooth rocks going into the water. I can stand there and keep my schampoo and conditioner bottles in little nooks above water while I wash in the water that's up above my knees. The water is clear and not very salty at all. When I need to rinse my hair I just dive in further out and swim underwater for a while. When I'm done I sit on a towel on the warm rock until I dry in the sunshine. My favourite shower ever.

hello september

Goodbye summer colours, light evenings, warm breezes, rustling in the tree tops, bare legs, swims in the pool and lying on the grass.

Hello September, rusty, burning, vibrant colours, high blue skies, fresh breezes, rustling piles of leaves, autumn coat, woollen mittens and dark evenings for cuddling up indoors. I love autumn, I do I do. It inspires me like no other season, thinking what to wear, what new things to learn, walks to go on, places to see, making changes to my life, planning ahead, pouring over books, pulling out my soup recipes, picking up my knitting, wearing my beloved woollen hats again, skipping down the road on a good breezy sunshiny day.

What do you look forward to in autumn?

Some things of summer I bring with me though - I still wear my summer dresses, above the warmer layers, I still wear my sandals for as long as I can, with woollen socks, I wait to put on a coat until I have to because I love wearing only a knitted cardigan or pullover and wrapping my pashmina around me instead. I like sitting on the grass on a dry day, smelling the dry leaves and the soil, lying down to watch the clouds skim by high above, listening to the wind and the trees moving. I want to sit outside to eat my lunch way into October or November, wrapping up warm.

This feels like autumn to me:

"Read me a story inside
Lie if you like
But make the details
True in my mind
We need to feel
Absolutely wrapped
In your glove
Lie back and listen
As I read you my life"

The Wind-up Bird, Tunng

(I know I've recommended that song before, but I'll do it again, it's so sweet.)

Inside, I want to listen to stories, to magic, colourful scenes, details that spring out, seeds planted that grow into dreams. I wish you that and more. Have a good night!

Ile de Re

Warm breeze, barefoot, summer dresses, picnic rug, blue tent, outdoors cooking, green frogs in the bathroom,

freshly baked bread, smell of sunlotion, sultry evenings, palm trees by the swimming pool, sunlight underwater,

laughing at our appalling French, sand between the toes, lost in a book, sound of children playing, tide coming in, making sand castles, lighthouse sweeping at night, evening liquorice and mint tea, snug sleeping bags,

early mornings, French market, sea food stalls, quilt stalls, fruit, vegetables and bread, cycling across the island, salt marshes, egret herons, sailboats snug in harbours, narrow village streets, cobblestone,

colourful doors, whitewashed walls, smiling faces, bonjour, long sandy beaches, refreshing swims, tousled hair, sandals, soft sunset light, smooth rocks,

smell of seaweed, cry of seagulls, salty skin, colourful beach parasols, tanned arms, fresh air, simple life.

the island

Hello! I am not so quiet anymore, just busy again. Trying to finish all my homework before we go on holiday to France on the 22nd. Every previous summer I've spent my holiday on my family's island in the Swedish archipelago so this will be the first summer I miss that. No sunbathing on the warm smooth rocks, skinny dipping in the sea (Swedish style), hanging out by the barbeque with my brothers, preparing lunch salads with my mum, watching the evening glow over the water, feeling the peace of early mornings, seeing the sun sparkles on the waves. It breaks my heart and I miss being together with my family, but I felt this year I had to choose. D and I have never had the time or money to go on a real holiday together, we always either visit his side of the family or mine. Which is lovely, but we need a life of our own too.

Our little cabin on the island won't be empty and lonely though, my oldest younger brother and his girlfriend will live there for a while. I hope they remember to take the hammock out for the tree, it needs to be swung and read in at some point each year.

quiet

Hiya... I'm feeling a bit quiet, as I sometimes do. Life is sweet those times though, somehow it slows down and makes you suddenly realise and appreciate with tenderness all the beauty and love it is showing you. You know? There just isn't much to say about it, it is, is all. :)

Wishing you peace.

Waltzing Along

Help comes when you need it most
I'm cured by laughter
Mood swings, not sure I can cope
My life's in plaster, in plaster

May your mind set you free
(be opened by the wonderful)
May your heart lead you on
May your mind let you breathe
(be opened by the wonderful)
May your heart lead you on

These wounds are all self-imposed
Life's no disaster
All roads lead unto death-row
Who knows what's after

May your mind be wide open
May your heart beat strong
May your mind's will be broken
By this heart-felt song

May your mind set you free
(Be opened by the wonderful)
May your heart lead you on
May your mind let you breathe
(Be opened by the wonderful)
May your heart lead you on,

May your eyes let you see all of disaster
May your heart lead you on, lead you on
(May your eyes be opened by the wonderful)
Set you free
(May your heart lead you on)
Lead you on

James, Waltzing Along

I love this song. The lyrics especially.

I wish for you that today is all that you want and for the weekend to be all that you need. For those I don't speak to very often; I am well and I hope you are too. Take care of yourselves - I think of you!

Monica - hoppas du har det bra! Jag hörde från mamma att du läser min blogg ibland. Vad glad jag blir! Kram till dig!

This weekend I am going to finish the present I began sewing for my friend and catch up on some homework. Most of all I'll want to snuggle up with my boyfriend though, who is coming home tonight after a week of surfing in Portugal. It's wonderful being on one's own for a while, I get to feel who I am just me and move and work in a different way, but after a week I am happy to share my space again.

I hope life smiles at you!

creative imperfection

On the train going down to Paris I nestled up in my seat with a sewing project, something I haven't done before. Excellent! I can look out the window watching the world go by, the way I love, and do something practical and creative with my hands every now and then. I've been wheedling with myself lately, trying to get my flow going because I know how much I need to be creative to keep me sane. I've been pretty stuck for a while now, having everything I need to start up several projects but not getting anywhere. Like a lot of people I suppose, I'm a perfectionist and sometimes, you know, what you create isn't quite what you thought it would become. And then I think, better to stick with my imagination and keep the dream. But life isn't very juicy that way, nothing going through you. Besides, perfect is rather boring and barren.

So, a few small things are beginning to take form and this train project is finished now. D asked for a case to keep his camera in and I really like the colour he chose, rusty orange. I'm fond of this way of fastening buttons but I don't know where it comes from. I've only seen it on parcels coming from Asia, but I'm sure this kind of closure is common elsewhere too. So simple. You just wind the yarn a couple of times around the button and there you are. It's secure too, though you might have to replace the yarn at some point.

Stitching all over the place, yep that's me. :) And I like it that way.