bring on xmas

Today I just can't wait for christmas. I want fairylights and christmas trees and lussekatter.... This saturday me and my sister are planning a shopping trip to get all our swedish christmas essentials from scandi kitchen. (www.scandikitchen.co.uk) Luckily there are so many good shops to get swedish supplies from in London. Funnily enough when I first moved to london I was indifferent to all things swedish and was more intrigued by the english food culture and traditions. I guess it is natural that after some time away you start miss those of your own uppbringing. I soon developed a weird patriotism where I see all things swedish through thick rosetinted glasses. If I had a penny for each time I utter the words "well it's just so much better in sweden" or "in sweden we do it this way" I would be a wealthy woman indeed.

feist

I can't stop listening.

redundancy welcome

Another nice day. Started off this morning with some freshly baked scones for breakfast. Then a walk down portobello road. I found some beautiful china, teapot and cups in white with blue flowers, just what I want! But my pocket said no. It started to rain, but I didn't mind so much even though my new tights got wet and I was wearing ballet pumps and a super short dress. When we got home we put our electrical "fire" on and hubby cooked us up some nice potato hash with salmon and onions in (odd combo of things we had at home, but it was very tasty).

freshly baked scones (yes, that is indeed sinful cheese on the table)

This evening we were expecting friends over but they never showed up. Is it just me or is that incredibly rude? hmm.. I was a bit miffed.

Tomorrow is Monday and I am already experiencing the should-I-just-quit-my-job-sunday-blues. Depressing.

rise and shine

What is wrong with me, I keep waking up really early on the weekends. I have been awake since 8.30 and have finally accepted my fate and got up. Now everyone else is sleeping, including our lodger on the couch, which means I can't even put the telly on. So I am banished to the computer in the bedroom, trying to type quietly (impossible if you ask me).

Yesterday was a real treat. We started off with a christmas fair in Barnes where we met up with my sister and her male companion (no other term can describe their relationship). The fair was, shall we say small but perfectly formed. It offered us varmkorv - swedish hot dogs, glogg - swedish mulled wine and pepparkakor - swedish gingerbiscuits, so all in all I was happy. They also had a variety of swedish grocery items available but I'll go and get all of that from scandi kitchen in soho another weekend to get supplies for my christmas party in a few weeks.

On the way home we stopped in the pub the North Pole, him a pint of guinness, me a cup of tea.
And then home to dinner with friends, cooked by our flatmate, a lovely mushroom risotto. We decided last minute to join them bowling at all star lanes in bayswater and it was great fun, although I was absolutely rubbish.

bowling (not with our feet obviously)

nice spice

After a long hard day at work (can't wait for this box-packing debacle to be over...) we cooked some warming spicy pumpkin soup together. I use the word together in loosest possible sense - he cooks, I hang around, chatting, occasionally stirring when allowed. It was very tasty and healthy, but best of all, so economical! The pumkin was £1.20. Add to that a couple of tomatoes, an onion, some stock and spices and you're only on £2. This made a filling dinner for two, plus a bowl for my lunch tomorrow. It's all about saving, as I am skint as a bint!

eat my cheese

We seem to be finding it very hard to eat healthily since hubby had his health scare. I have made the HUGE sacrifice of no longer keeping cheese in the house, as it is one of the worst things for high cholestoral. Those who know me will know that I suffer severe withdrawal symptoms on a daily basis without my beloved cheese. I must say it isn't easily replaced either. What else can I put on my toast in the morning (that isn't bad for someone with high cholestoral, risk for diabetes etc...) Jam? high in sugar. Honey? high in sugar. At the moment I am sticking with vegemite (the aussie version of marmite, for those of you not in the know). However it is high in salt and also someone elses property, as I just sneakily steal some from our aussie flatmates each morning. Suggestions welcome.

Since his health scare he seems to have gone the complete opposite way. Last night for example, he came home with beers, pepperoni pizza and sticky toffee pudding with custard for dessert. I mean, really! And on sunday night when some of our guests were smoking out the window he thought it seemed like a good idea to have a couple of fags himself! Cheeky bastard!

delicious

Last night was delicious. After returning from a rather dull day at work I found our flatmates were cooking a sunday roast! A big plate full of sliced roast lamb, a big bowl of roast potatoes, parsnips and baby carrots, green beans, yorkshire puds and gravy. Combined with the company of some lovely friends and endless bottles of red wine it was a very nice sunday evening.

end of an era

Today: hungover and very sad.

I have said goodbye to a dear friend, and though the past year has been up and down for us, I am so sad to see her go, all the way back to australia. Only a few months ago I said goodbye to my other best friend as she moved back to dublin (though I had lost her before she even left). What I will miss so dearly is what we had 2 years ago when there was the three of us, drinking bottles of red wine and eating steak and chips in the Prince Albert every week.

first there were three
now there's only me

I know I shouldn't have regrets, but I have so many I couldn't count them all if i tried.

poo

Finally friday and I've just been informed I need to work on Sunday. Poo.

i have a dream

I had a slightly surreal conversation with someone at my work yesterday. I had read an article that morning about the horrific abuse and death of a little 17 month old child at the hands of his own mother and stepfather. He had been monitored by social services for the last year of his life and had been in hospital countless times with injures to horrific to even describe here, yet the abuse had been allowed to continue and the parents had kept custody of the boy. As I was reading this in the metro, on the tube to work, I was nearly in tears. It is just so incredibly sad that someone would do that do a child, but also so unbelievable that no one social services had acted on the blatant abuse. When I got to work I re-told the story to my work collegues and exclaimed how if our company goes bust (which it just might!) I am thinking of re-training as a social worker. This conversation followed

-but this is just the kind of thing that should make you NOT want to be a social worker!
-eh?
-well their job must be so hard and they probably had their hands tied, blah blah blah

So because a job is hard, because you may need to work to change things and your work may not be appreciated by everyone, you should simply not do it? So we should have no social workers? No one should be willing to take on that job and try and help children and people in general and make a difference in our society?

I am under no illusion that the job would be easy, but I think it is important. Far more important than selling bikinis.

Rant over, I will be late for work!

Happy belated fathers day pappa.

Yesterday was fathers day in sweden, I only realised this today. Not that it makes much difference, I have no way of contacting my father to congratulate him anyway...

babycakes

Today my dear boyfriend had some not so good news from his doctors. He has a history of illness and today received test results which, although they are not acute, are still very bad news. Something I knew was coming at one point or another but was hoping would be later rather than sooner. Something which is inevitable for someone with his history. I am hoping it won't get serious, but it certainly spells the beginning of a period of tests and changes in medications to try and stop his health declining. He was also told he has very high cholesterol, so we must now make a real effort to impove his diet, making it low fat, low salt etc. We all know we love a good fry up on a weekend morning, but I am more than happy to give those up if it means my hubby will be happy and healthy!!

All this has just made me feel like a spoilt, silly girl. The last few days I have had my own crisis over stupid girls drama, I have felt very sorry for myself and very hard done by. Getting these news this morning just made me think what an absolute idiot I am to complain over petty things, when I am so lucky to have my health and to have all the joys I have had in my life. Most of all to have found my hubby and for us to have come though everything that has happened and have stayed together. The ironic thing is that he is probably the happiest person I know, never complaining, always making the best of things. I suppose he appreciates life in a way I don't. All I can hope for is that all this will go away and they will fix him. I am so happy to have him, whether I have him for 5 years, for 20 years or for 60 years, I am the luckiest girl in the world.

fancy that

I have just found out about this clubnight in Notting Hill arts club. Every wednesday Alan McGee (the man who first signed Oasis, in case you didn't know) does a night with live sets by post punk and rock bands. I need to try that out next week. Tonight we are having leaving drinks for a lovely girl who used to work with us, she was the sweetest girl who gave me my "I love tea" mug as gift, no special occasion, just because I love tea!

remember remember the fifth of November...

So last night we went to bonfire night in clapham. I went to the same thing last year in Battersea and it was really good, really well orchestrated, with the fireworks in time with the music. I can tell you that the one last night was quite disappointing. Just a bunch of fireworks shot up willy nilly. But hey, I was in good company so it wasn't all bad! Unfortunately me and my boyfriend managed to have an argument in McDonals first, about a chocolate sundae.... silly us.

Not too impressive, eh?

Me and my sister at the fireworks display in clapham common

My dear sister watching the fireworks, can in hand!

vilken soppa

Butternut sqaush soup it was, accompanied by a french stick I picked up from partridges on the way home, and lots of tasty feta cheese. Then had a nice long bath with muscle soak for my achy back after all the box carrying and packing today at work (November means delivery time in the world of wholesale, not so glamorous). Now I have put some washing on, tidied up our room, had a cup of tea with lemon meringue pie and attempted to hoover the kitchen, but apparantly the hoover smelled too bad (!) In ten minutes the footy finishes and my boyfriend will return to planet earth.

Tomorrow night is Guy Fawkes, thinking of joining my sister and old flatmate (technically still my flatmate, but do I really live there??) at the clapham common bonfire. I am a sucker for the fireworks displays.

Good night people.

what do you expect?

Yesterday he cooked me stir fry with pan fried sea bream. It was very tasty, but this morning I thought he may have given me food poisoning. And then we didn't leave things very well this morning, but that was for other reasons. I can be a spoilt bitch but he can be real wanker.

Onwards and upwards... French onion soup tonight, or maybe butternut squash soup?

stoopid me

Ugh, I think I am still hungover from saturday night... still I feel miles better than I did yesterday. Luckily my boyfriend tried to nurse me back to health by cooking me a fry up and later ordering some delicious indian food (ooh I love popadoms..) We watched pursuit of happyness in bed, just what I needed. The weekend was good, I can't be arsed to go in to detail right now, but I am sure I will later.

What I will say is that no sane person who has just paid a phonebill for £186 decides it's a good idea to make an hour long internation call. I clearly did.