Easter moods..

And another little princess..

..just as sweet! Thalia in the Flamenco dress Granpa bought for her in Sevilla, Spain.

(Foto: Malcolm E.)

Swedish Crown Princess Victoria..

Pretty Princess.
..and her husband Prince Daniel paid us a visit at Gotland today and I managed to take some pictures of the couple.

Gotland showed itself from its best sunny side and the Princess kept saying how much she enjoyed being here. She spent quite sometime talking to people who ha turned up here in Tingstäde to greet her.

Here they are visiting the Polhemsgården in Tingstäde.

Gotland spring flowers..

A great outfit!

The couple radiated heaps of warmth.
And they seem soooo much in love!

The new islam scores..

..when actress Weena Malik in an orthodox Pakistani TV-programme, is accused of Koran sinning for her participation in the Indian docu soap "Big Boss".
Watch when Weena in an unprecedented rage discharges her mortar shelling on the perplexed mufti Abdul Quavi:


Quavi: "A million watched your programme. 100 % believe that you disgraced Pakistan and the religion."
"I am more outraged with you than you are with me" she retorts. "Today, bribe crimes, murder and theft are all committeed in the name of islam!"

The truth is, that fundamentalism - no matter whether you name it Christianity or Muslim or by any other name - frequently consider itself to possess the capacity/monopoly/priviledge to hold the full knowledge and the fundamental insight
on what "everybody is thinking and how everybody should live and behave" ...
and subsequently have the world to adjust accordingly..

Waching the mini series about the Kennedys..

.. presently running on Swedish television, I suddenly realised that I had once met Rose Kennedy. Mrs Kennedy was in Sweden in the 60´s to pick up a Swedish Guide and Scout Association award and I (a journalist trainee at Svenska Dagbladet-daily conservative) was sent to write a small article on the event.

The type of events trainees are sent to cover.

The trainee. (Or possiby - rowing reporter?)
After the necessary rutines, we sat down and chat. Guess what we were chatting about?
I asked wheather Boddy sang in the shower in the mornings!? (I was a trainee, remember!)
And Rose politely smiled and said: Yes he does! And well too!
I had a strong feeling from the following conversation that he was her favourite son. I think that is quite obvious in the TV series too.
Years later I saw Bobby live, speaking/campaigning from a truck in sunny Oakland, California.
He was so young, suntanned, handsome and full of life.
He was so close I could have reached out to touch him.
Four days after, he was shot dead in Los Angeles..

"In 1968, with the country divided over the war in Vietnam, the Democratic Party struggled to rally behind a candidate. Amid this political turbulence, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, guided by a set of principles and his burning opposition to the war, entered the race. The party establishment reacted with dismay, but his candidacy, coming just five years after the assassination of his brother John F. Kennedy, filled the electorate with hope—a hope that met a violent end just a few months later.."

A freckled boy....

..playing on the beach before the disaster.

This is an oil painting I made some days ago.
The youngster above is a childhood friend of mine and he is playing at a particular Sandhamn (Stockholm archipelago) beach in the 50´s. At this white-sandy pretty beach,
daily swimming lessons for the kids on the island were held through a number of summers, as were many junior regattas..
The old picure is from the beginning of the 1900´s though. "Barnens regatta" has been a big event on Sandhamn through well over a century now.

The thing was that close to this beautiful beach, the island´s sewers led straight out into the sea - untreated. This was the 50´s remember. And this was the days before the polio vaccinations, alas.
Jonas Salk

Some of my friends subsequently caught polio here.
Me and my sister, went to another swimming school on the other side of our island, close to where we lived - with no sewage.
So this is a tribute to "A freckled boy" who caught the dreaded desease, but thanks God, is OK
today.
(And yes, you observant viewer, it is also tribute to Isaac Grunewald, my favourite painter!)

Now when the kitchen starts getting into shape..

..it is time for me to get there too. Hmm. What can you do when you finally have built a cosy kitchen but to start great cooking ?

This is how the 100-year old kitchen looks today.
And this is how it looked yesteryear when I bought the house.

The only window is facing east and provides a nice light here in the mornings.

You can´t have it all but I find the room rather dark in the afternoons and have been working with a number of various built-in light sources-with focus on the great Led bulbs.

I am very fond of open shelves for storage and had those taylored for me.

The staircase leading up to the second floor from the kitchen.

This one says "Flour" in Swedish and is inherited from my Grandma´s huge apartment in Kungsholmen, Stockholm.

The handpainted baskets I picked up in flea markets.

This sign with hooks which is antique is a winning bid at a Gotland auction.

I sneaked in this Shabby mirror above the stove to help a bit with light reflections. The kitchen tools in brass, I bought in Zimbabwe where they used to hang in my kirchen in Richmond Road, Highlands, Harare. The heavy brass pounder was my mother´s.

Now! Let´s start some serious cooking!

I can´t resist giving you darling Julia here:

Just before leaving for..

..a Sunday dinner party which eventually ended up with a nice round of International Gin Rhummy, I found a box of Pastel Crayons/Chalksand just had too try them out. They were absolutely great to work with but it´s dust spilled all over me and the studio. Working in pastels is new to me and I had to turn to the net to find out how to find a fixative to make the colors stick.
I was told that they used hairspray in the old days. But then again, modern hairsprays are quite another story.
I almost was late for the party but I get totally caught up with drawing and painting and lose time-all the time. But later, tummy full of a 3-course dinner and red wine, I won the Gin Rhummy! And I am off in the rain to Visby this Monday morning to get some professional fixative for future pastel adventures!
( OK. I will just check a little for GinRhummyWinningFix too! :-)
This was fun!

Happy Birthday, Pontus!

Many happy returns on your birthday today, dear son-in-law, Pontus, with a big bundle of flowers!
You very first year as a father!
Niki Isabella and her loving father Pontus!
On Grandma´s porch July 2010.

Trouville, Sandhamn last summer.

Soo close you are from the very start!
Hip hip hurrah and have a great year Pontus!

Love is in the air..

Some days ago, I went with my sister to pick up bags of carrots for her carrot-loving horses. I bought a heavy sack for myself to make juice to deep freeze and to make the new favourite: Carrot mousse! (cook pieces like potatoes, add whole cream some salt and pepper and mix to a mash. Delicious! And healthy too - now when we live in the:

"Real-fat-is-IN-era."

This naughty couple was among the carrots I was going to peel today - April Fool´s Day,

and I couldn´t bring myself to kill their cuddly, shy spring love! He really looked like he was making a good pass at her! Had to share! Before the peel-kill!
(And.. give me credit for NOT adding talking bubbles here! Hard to resist though! Could have turned out a bit indecent! )
This is for great laughters! The involuntary "manslaughters" of Autocorrect messaging!
Click here for more!
Have a great April Fool´s day!