BLUE BROWN AND BLACK CATS

 Posing without cat.

 Posing next to cat.

 Posing surrounded by cats.

Posing with cat.

Or, cat posing with me, acually.

My sweater is from King Louie, the wool skirt vintage and the shoes from Next from some years back.

WINTER WINDOW

I am staying in town for some time now; it's nice to be here for more than just a quick stop to pick up things or just sleep and leave. The view of open fields out in the countryside may be magnificent but I've always loved the view from our windows in town as well. The kitchen window with it's pine trees always remind me of a Pekka Halonen painting.

THE PIANO

I got a piano to the countryside house!

I had been looking for one for quite sometimes but never managed to get so far as to bring one home.
Whenever I had some extra euros I'd browse online market sites for pianos in the somewhat near areas for sale. My dream was to get a grand piano, as it would fit in the living room, but those euros once planned for that you could say went to my abs instead (-that would be the pilates training).

We also have an inherited piano in the city home that I was thinking of moving out here, but it is old and rather worn; a few of the keys don't sound anymore. The piano man I had over tried to get new ones but the right kind for that piano were not to be found anylonger. Which means you can't really play that piano anymore without losing your mind.

The reason to get a piano was not that I think it'd look good as part of the interior (it can actually be a bit hard to fit in. A grand one would actually be easier I think as it's all BOOM in a room and takes up all attention and just IS there...) but because I really do want one to play on. As you may recall me mentioning it sometimes before I've played the piano for over twenty years.  Or, thirty by nown since I started playing (must remember that I am getting older and start updating my sentences, heh), but as I don't practice it regularly anylonger my technique is a bit rusty. And, ehrm, my nails are too long nowadays for proper playing. (I can still hear the voice of my first teacher at the institute telling me that she can hear my nails click on the piano which back in the days resulted in an immediate consulting with the sciccors...).

Nowadays I mainly just fool around and improvise but I'm always telling myself to get some sheets and practice chords and scales again to get back at least part of the technical skill I had before. Well, that's one on the list along with starting to paint again and brush up my German and French. And a whole lot more of those things you'd just want to do but don't have the time for. But sitting down at the piano playing whatever comes to mind is enjoyable if even just for just a few minutes. So I was very lucky to get this piano for free via a friend of a friend of a relative of mine, who were just looking for it to get a good home! It was definitely one of those mountains coming to me moments.

I'm also hoping to teach Dag some basics, but that will have to wait some years still. Now he is just very much into making sounds as loud as he can on it. Which is just the way it should be.

DOUBLE-DRESSED

I am wearing two dresses on top of another.
In case you haven't noticed me mentioning it already: it's cold.

And while I've actually driven out to my far-away classes – I have a set in a town about half an hour west of the farm, where I teach one evening per week) wearing my dance wear topped with skiing pants (!yes, me. My envy of Dag's thick winter suit grew so strong I decided to be dress-smart for real during those evenings. And damn that's warm comfy! Plus easy. In and out and off and on. – I've also been putting layering into some serious action.

So yes I am wearing two dresses- one for warmth and the other more just for show. Like a cover for all things underneath. It's part of keeping the body warm is pretty much zero I guess, but I like to think that every layer helps.

So the dresses, plus a t-shirt, thermo stockings (that look like normal ones but that are fleece lined), wool shorts (cut off from old stockings...) and long wool socks. And then it's on with a cardigan and shawl before going outside.

Altough now that the minus twenty-something days are gone, even a cold -13C feels rather doable, and all the stufing and wrapping oneself still goes somewhat quickly.

The dress is soft and long and flowing plus, as it seems, one item closer for me to get rid of the polyester-disgust that had developed after too many years in my youth of wearing thick seventies ultra polyester-y shirts and dresses. The ones that just. do. not. breathe. This dress is vintage that I picked up form UFF the other week when actually scouting items for a music video. It is always when searching for items for others, that you find such for yourself. (That could be some kind of consumerist proverb, now couldn't it?)