Yoga dressed in olive oil and sundried tomatoes...

Pics by Johanna.


We stayed in a olive grove in Sardinia. A olive grove with all kind of fruit trees, grape vines ,and fig trees...a little earthly paradise. And not only a earthly paradise, it`s also used as a yoga retreat where one can spend a week doing yoga ,eat tha fresh local food and home grown foods, and of course dressed in the olive oil from the very ground you live on. It`s got to be good for you !
Ateeka is a woman of great creativity,vision and energy ,and is as the italian Vouge wrote of her..".the famous yoga teacher from United States ".
She has put up big and comfortable tents on wooden platforms so that she can house groups of 12 to 15 people at the time. The yoga ,eating ,showering,cooking is all done outside in nature so that in practice one is out the whole day and living very close to nature.
And as you can see from the photo, she makes the most wonderful sundried tomatoes ....mmmmm

Sardinia, sardinia...

Pics by Johanna.


Normally we spend the summers here in the north of Europe, because this is where we like it the best this time of the year. But because we have very good friends that very kindly invited us to join them at
Sardinia this summer, we made an exception and holed the whole family along for two weeks on this magical island in the middle of the Mediterranean ocean.
And we had a very hot and sun-filled vacation. We arrived at the time the weather Gods decided to balance up for all the rainy and cool days in the north by blasting some real southern temperatures.
So coming from the cool 12 degrees celsius, we landed in close to 40 degrees in the shade.
A shook to the system it was ,but after a week of this ,we slowly started to get used to it.
Lots of hours on the beach with big umbrellas and big water melons, and a swim in the ocean every five minutes got us through. And as the rain filled up the nordic water reservoirs , Sardinia filled up our
batteries so that we no feel ready for  some cooler times. Thank you very much Sardinia, Ateeka and Ola

Pics by Johanna.

One ,two ,three, pick me a blueberry...

Pics by johanna


The woods are full of blueberries! And it´s a great way to spend time in nature, fill the freezer and contemplate life...berry picking is definitely worth wile doing.
Blueberries is also one of the most health-promoting berries, full of anti-oxidants and of course vitamins and minerals.
It´s also the one berry in our woods that stays for pretty much the whole summer and it´s not that you need to pick it within a couple of weeks, like it is with most other berries . But my experience is that the  berries taste the best when they are young.
We are so lucky that our garden is full of blue berries and whenever we need a cake , smoothie or something really yammy ...we go out and pick some of these blue wonders. Johanna with her favorite "berry picker" in hand , is the racer in our family...also the most motivated to make something sweet and tasty! Here is one of her creations ,specially made for me without gluten. Thank you,  my sweet Johanna!

Pics by johanna

Berlin continues to excite and inspire me. The fusion of resource-fullness, originality, design, green and alternative living mixed with a building mass of old and crumbling facade and interiors is what does it for me. And of course it´s people, our friends, good food, and great shopping...Not to mention the prinzessinnengarten that now has published a book with the same name. I bought it in Berlin, but I´m sure you can order it on Amazon. This is a truly inspiring urban garden project that has reached world fame  in its very short life time.

Infused with luck...

Pics by Johanna

The Red Clover is honoring us with its presence again! And it´s just as well to start harvesting. It will be here to the the very end of fall,bur in order to get enough of this lucky flower to keep us trough a long winter,it´s just as well to start harvesting it early. Bring a bag on your walks and just pick a little on a regular basis,and within the summer and fall you will feel rich and very lucky.
To understand how lucky,check out "Infused with life"  posted the 4th of October, 2011. It will tell you the great qualities of this herb and how to make a herbal infusion that will "infuse you with Life"!
Important to remember when you harvest the flowers, is that they have to be dry when you pick them.
They will spoil if you pick them in wet weather. Let the flowers dry in a airy and dark place on a piece of clean fabric,or dry them in the owen on 50 degrees celsius with the door open for about 7 hours or over the night.

Raspberry leaves, of course...

Pics by johanna It´s Raspberry leaves, as everybody probably guessed... the other most relentless and strong weed in our garden. It pops up everywhere from a amazing underground network of roots, and yes ,it has an amazing capacity to work with our roots too. During my four pregnancies,I drank a gallon of raspberry infusion every day of the second part of pregnancy. Reason being that the Raspberry has such a strengthening effect on the uterus,and thereby makes the uterus work more efficiently in the birthing process. And my babies did come shooting out,so to say,and the births took from one and a half hour to at the longest four hours(the first one). Raspberry leaves contain a alkaloid,fragrine, that strengthen and gives the muscles of the pelvic region more tone, and it is very rich in minerals and vitamins,and then in particular vit C and the presence of vit E, vit A and B complex. High in calcium and iron,phosphorus and potassium. Here are what Susun Weed says; It prevents miscarriages and postpartum hemorrhage from a more relaxed uterus. It eases morning sickness and stomach distress throughout the pregnancy. It reduces pain during labour and after because of a better toned pelvic region. It does not, however, reduce the pain of cervical dilation. It increases fertility in both men and woman ,and in particularly when combined with Red Clover. So an other good reason to go out in the garden and pull up those new shoots of Raspberry leaves and take well care of them. Not that we are all pregnant, but does only a pregnant woman want a strong pelvic region??? I pull them up and dry them on the floor of a dark and well ventilated room. Then I put the dried herbs into paper bags for storage. For herbal infusions,poor two handful of crumbled leaves into a liter, or a quart of boiling water. Put a lid on and leave to steep for a minimum of four hours. Strain the infusion and squeeze the remaining liquid out of the leaves(can´t waste anything of this valuable tonic!) Poor into a glass or glass bottle and store in the fridge. I always bring my bottle with me when I go out in the morning,knowing I have something of real value to drink during the day.