SEMI-CHAMELEON

Last weekend I was in a sunny Hamburg partly trying to dissolve into the environment.
(I was also in a very rainy Hamburg during the same weekend. But back to that at another moment.)

DOUBLE DENIM

I have this silly thing that I every now and then want to go for some sort of team outfits for me and Dag. As matching dresses are kind of not the thing for us (I still haven't gotten around sewing a dress and shirt in the same fabric as I planned and soon he will be to old to like it anymore I guess) I'm doing it in other ways instead. So this spring we have both been sporting a denim jacket. And he is very proud of it; "Let's go out and wear the jeans jackets!"

And now these double denims are heading on a little voyage across the Baltic Sea. So long!

QUICK FRUIT ICE CREAM

Every now and then I put together some quick and healthy ice cream as dessert for the kids (not to forget myself) that you basically can put together with two ingredients only. I do tend to add a little extras as well.

You may have read about banana as a magic ingredient for this and that, like a substitute for pretty much everything else than the eggs in pancakes (I tried it, never got it to work, just something that reminded scrambled banana-egg...), chocolate (eaten when chilled/frozen for a while. Or so they said in the late nineties at least. I tried it and powdered cocoa powder on to increase the feel. it did not work. But then again I am very serious about my chocolate) and also as ice cream when whipped frozen. The ice cream I can vouch for!

I am often stuck with over ripe bananas that I chop and put in a box in the freezer for later ice-cream use. (Or, to be honest, sometimes I am just lazy and put the banana in the freezer as it is and then peel it frozen with a knife...) I have made this ice cream with room-temperatured bananas as well and frozen berries as the main ingredient for an instant treat -the consistence getting closer to sherbet then- and also by mixing in frozen pear and pineapple etc.

So, here's how to make a quick two-or-very-few-ingredients ice cream:

Put chopped frozen bananas in a mixer and blend. You can also use a hand mixer.
I used four bananas for five persons.

(Note to self: Frozen bananas waiting to be squished in the mixer don't tend to look very yummy on photo.)

Add a bit of vanilla (or some other spice, like cardamom) and blend until fluffy -you could enjoy it like this already if you'd want to.

I like to add a bit of some plant milk (rice or almond) for an even creamier result, but this time I put in a jar of lemon quark and blend it well.

Time for the berries! Any frozen fruit or berries will do - I prefer sour and add a few drops of lemon juice at this point as well. I added a couple of handfulls of frozen cherries from last summer. Tis time I mixed them a little bit only so the ice cream did not turn red but kept the cherries in bits.

*hint: cocoa nibs are a great extra little addition to any banana-blend ice cream*

But it in the freezer for a while to set for a while -
(I am very aware that this, once again, does not look too yummy. It is, though.)

-or serve right away and it is kind of like soft ice
*hint: from a chilled bowl so it does not get very runny too soon*

You can let the ice cream freeze for a longer time too, as long as you remember to take it out and give it a whip every now and then (it will turn very hard otherwise).

Eat and be happy!

THE SIDEWAYS-NO-BACK-COMB-VOLUME-SWIRL

Sometimes ago (a rather long time ago actually) I promised a hair tutorial on how to add a little volume on top by rolling your hair in a sideways swirl. And then I went trough some issues with losing all my images (and recovering them) and then updating my computer and getting some plug-in-issues with my editing software...so it's been a long journey, but, here we are and here's the how to:

Apart from a brush and a comb you will need hair pins, a few clips for when working on your 'do and part of a hair rat / donut. 

Grab one of those hair donuts (that you can find pretty much anywhere) and cut it open into a roll. Cut the top layer open so you get to "un-roll" the roll. Cut a suitable piece of mesh to use as a fill for this do. You can use the thinner roll that is left over for example rolling a faux bang or so (it actually works better that way, when it is not too 'chunky'.) You can also use tulle as a fill, but the mesh is easier to work with.

 As usual, this works best on "yesterday's curls". Or then put in some hot rollers or similar for a little texture. As always it is easier to work with your locks when they have a bit of curl to them, and not just swish-swosh lots of independent straight slippery strays of hair.

Part your hair from ear to ear in a semi-half circle or a straigh line, depending on how your hair works best. I do more of a half circle. Use a rat-tail comb for a straight line; I often separate my hair with the tip of an alligator clip (because it is apparently such a big job to get the comb out of the drawer). Gather the section on top of your head and secure with a clip for now.

Take out the net you just cut from the roll and place it just on the line where you separated your hair. Attach it with a couple of pins. You can fold and push this a bit in place then.

You can make this do without any fill; it works just as well. But you get a litlte extra height from this, and my swirl stays better in place against the mesh.

Brush out the hair on top of your head.

The next step is optional; I do this because I have lots of shorter hairs that easily fall out of my swirl-Separate a strand of hair just above your ear on the opposite side of where you want to lay your swirl.

Attach it with a pin or two back in the middle. If you have lots of shorter hair you can do this on the other side of your head too; you'll notice this when you start to roll your swirl. This also depends on your hair day; in between washes and with the right amount of curl my hair sometimes stay together well.

Then start rolling your swirl! Lift the section above your head and start by rolling straight downwards and then towards your head. You can put a clip in the middle to keep shorter hairs from falling out as that can sometimes be an issue for those with longer hair. Keep a firm hold of the hair you are rolling and make sure the end does not peek out.

When you get close to the head, flip the roll over to lay on one side.

Secure it with pins in the middle. You can stick a pin or two in from underneath the swirl as well.

Carefully smooth your hair out from the swirl towards the other side of your head. Also gently push the swirl upwards and tuck it a bit in from underneath; make sure the mesh is covered. Stick in pins where needed.

Grab your rat tail comb (or clip) and carefully pull the hair on top a bit upwards for more volume, and also to even out the height; before you do this your hair will be a little higher on the side where your swirl lays (since there is more hair there).

Then brush out the rest of your hair and curl the ends of you so like and roll your bangs if you have such.

And you're done!

For variation put the rest of your hair in a ponytail just underneath the swirl and tie a ribbon around the ponytail, or twirl some hair around the base (like in the picture).

Or, attach a faux ponytail of good quality (fibres) - I jsut clip it on top of my poinytail -for extra huuuuge hair!

You can also use the sideways swirl in an updo but we'll look back on that another time!

FOUR THINGS RIGHT NOW

Or actually, turns out, two days ago, when I though that I had pressed Publish.*

Painted my nails five shades of red.

Took a little nap in my little in-house jungle. It's this spot here.

Read up on some pilates and anatomy.

Although right now I'm mainly waiting to get back to another kind of read.
We sometimes read crime novels together with Eddi and the new Kepler one is pretty addictive.

*)Sometimes I find drafts in my email spooking around too that I thought I had already shipped away to their receiver. To the extinct I thought there was something wrong with my account. But I guess it's just me failing at multitasking...

EASTER IMPROVISATIONS

Easter came and went and I had lots of chocolate, pasha and red wine!

As usual I did not really decorate at home other than with last-minute flowers.

And pussy willow branches.

A lot of them; Eddi went out and got a bunch for the kids- which they need for the Easter witch tour - and got a little too many (add " and ") so I filled all the vases we have, both big and small, with branches all around the house. Instant Easter-feel.

Pussy willow branches are a part of the tradition here, where kids go around houses begging for candy and in return hand over a decorated branch, wishing the receiver good luck for the year to come by saying a rhyme. It is a mix of Eastern (Russian Orthodox) tradition and a more western  (the coastal areas of Finland as well as a Swedish tradition) pagan custom about witches flying to Blåkulla (Blockula or Kyöpelinvuori) during this time.

The branches the children hang out are decorated with feather and crepe paper etc. I don't know how I've managed to not do anything about this previous years, but the same morning I realised we had no feathers or other suitable material to pimp the branches with. I had to get a little creative and improvise decorations; I had a set of glitter gift wrapping ribbons left from Christmas which did the trick.

They turned out rather decent. In the back you can see the ones we received that were "properly" done.  Here in the more western parts of Finland kids go on Saturday, whereas in the city we used to (and they still do) go on Sunday. Sunday is the orthodox tradition for good luck and Saturday is the day of the witches. You can read more about it here for example.)

The Easter witch is most commonly pictured flyhing on a broom with a kettle and a black cat. While most kids dress up as witches you can see bunnies and cats too . It is very much like Halloween in that sense, without the tricks.

I had a face painting kit waiting for the kids to make great faces for the walk but I had forgot it at home in the city. More improvising ahead... my make up bag; lipstick, white and black kohl pencil as well as my eyebrow color had to do.

Meoww!
And it turned out pretty good too! Dag's older brother had the bunny hood I made for him some years back which he always wears. I had promised to make Dag a lion ("an Easter lion" - not that it has anything to do with anything at this time of year, but hey, the kid loves lions!) and we had his lion hat and all but as I did not have the brushes or the colours he got to be the witche's cat instead. Which he was happy with in the end. I did some yet more improvising, this time with a muesli box, a black marker and tape and made hime a pair of ears.

Apart from chocolare and the pasha my mother makes mämmi (memma) is a must for Easter. It's actually a rather healthy treat.  Not that all people see it as a treat... I don't have mine the traditional way with cream and sugar but like to have it with something more fresh. This year I had it for breakfast (yes some people think I'm crazy but hey, it's filling and full with fibres and the organic version has no added sugar) together with fresh pineapple and mango and it worked!
I dare any other Finns to try.

THE OWLS ARE NOT WHAT THEY SEEM

One of my all time favorite TV series ever is without a doubt Twin Peaks.

There is just something about the dreamy world of Twin Peaks and it's characters. Not to mention all the small crazy details and jokes that the series were filled of. And, of course, the music of Angelo Badalamenti (a lot of the things
 that Lynch does).
I've watched the series several times over the years and also when it originally aired the first time in Finnish TV , although some of the irony I didn't catch until later; I was still rather young then.  I probably will watch it several times still. I thought Twin Peaks was something everyone had seen, but alas, I was wrong. Some of you will obviously need to correct this matter.

(source of above image: In Twin Peaks)

I had a total crush on Agent Cooper when younger. Well I wasn't alone.

And Bob is of course the scariest TV character ever! To be completely honest, I used to close my eyes in the Bob scenes. He was actually a character that was born by accident as he was a set designer who happened to be caught in a shot.

He totally manages to go all BOB in a  off scene shot too! (source: last day on the set ot Twin Peaks )
I'm sorry if I'm feeding anyones bob-phobia here with the images. I read the late Frank Silva was a very nice guy in person. IT IS JUST TV. Ok yes I still close my eyes in the Bob scenes.

The Black Lodge with all doppelgangers running around also freaks me out.

So, I am of course, very much looking forward to the 25-years-later return of Twin Peaks (next year).
Next week however there is a three-day Twin Peaks spectacle at Gloria (something of a live interactive performance-concert thing), and I am weeping a little bit that I can't attend-  it sold out right away before I even had a chance to notice. Some of our students will be there as One Eye Jack's girls for the setup and I'd totally hop in myself but I have a rather heavy pilate education weekend from morning to night coming up anyway so I'll just have to let that one go (sniff) and stick to my DVD's of the series. And the interwebs.
And Julee Cruise.