#blogg100

Mar

2014

Seeing structures and patterns

Broken glass att Tumba C. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2013

I often see things that others don’t take notice of. Like details in things, structures and patterns. Can be the most common things, but when you look close enough… there it is. Sometimes you need to be nearsighted to see the beauty of things.

Wood-pattern on a russian box. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2014

Pleated surface of an IKEA-box. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2014

Soft basket-weave. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2014

Detail of carpet. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2014

Odd way of looking at things? Maybe. Start observing the details and you might be surprised of how much beauty there are. I sometimes wish I had a camera that could go even closer.

Nbr 22/100

Mar

2014

One year with my present sofa

My Karlstad sofa. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2014

A year ago I gave away my former MIO sofa to a neighbor – it was impossible to sell at Blocket which had too many sofas for sale and just as many for free – and bought a new, smaller one from IKEA, a Karlstad 2-seater (the former sofa was a 3-seater, bought for a larger livingroom). I also bought a white cover that I plan to put on over summer.

The perfect place to watch TV. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2014

Both I and neighbor cat Gustav love this sofa. It is a 2-seater, but long enough for two people to sit in, and one to stretch out in – at least if you aren’t all that tall.

Neighbor cat Gustav on my sofa. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2014

Cat-pillow comes from H&M Home, as does the black and white pillow on the right side behind the black and white Ikea-pillow. Ceiling lamp is from Ikea and put in place over the sofa-table with an arm in the ceiling bought from a dedicated lamp-shop that is no more. The black head-pillow in leather is from my former sofa. Kept that one…

Gustav on my old sofa 2011-06-16 Photo: Nini Tjäder

Nbr 21/100

Mar

2014

My family name is Tjäder

Photo: @nini.tjader.2014

My family name is Tjäder. No. Not Söder and not Ceder and not… well, never mind. I always have to spell my name when calling for a taxi or doing something which involves mentioning my name. When I lived in Israel I hade to go phonetical and wrote my name Scheder in hebrew as nobody understood it otherwise.

The picture above is a picture of the bird “Tjäder” which I shot at Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet. These are stuffed birds in a monter. Very well done. I have never seen the Tjäder live, in nature.

Tjäder is a soldiers name and was given to my great grandfather, Jöns Persson Tjäder. Link goes to a page on my website about him and his wife. It was common in those days to give guys in the army a new name if they had a very common family name. There are several families, not related, with the same family name as I. I even have a neighbor with the same family name. Discovered that when the postman left their mail in my postbox. It isn’t that common though.

When I was little and in school I wanted another family name. It was no fun to have a name like a bird. My classmates always made fun of it. But, you get used to it. Nowadays the only problem is that I always have to spell it.

The “Tjäder” is a large bird that lives in the woods. The female bird is smaller and brown. According to Wikipedia:

The Western Capercaillie, also known as the Wood Grouse, Heather Cock or Capercaillie, is the largest member of the grouse family. The largest known specimen, recorded in captivity, had a weight of 7.2 kg.

Scientific name: Tetrao urogallus

——end of quote——

Nbr 20/100

Mar

2014

Pelargonia-love

I love pelargonias. The below ones are from last year.

Click on an image to see a larger version.

All pictures are my own photos and ©nini.tjader.2014

Presently I don’t have one single pelargonia at home. None survived the dark autumn followed by winter. Tomorrow I will however visit the Garden Fair at Stockholmsmässan. Might come home with one or two new ones…

Nbr 19/100

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Mar

2014

Souvenirs

Babushka doll, 10 dolls in total. Bought in the then Soviet Union in 1985. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2014

These wooden babushka dolls ar from Jannes and mine trip to the then Soviet Union in 1985 when we went on the Transsibirian Railway from Moscow to Irkutsk and then onto Tasjkent and Samarkand by plane and back to Moscow again. Not the only souvenir from that trip, even though the tourist shops that we were herded into were the only opportunity to buy something and made shopping difficult.

Like most people who go on a trip I buy souvenirs. They are of all kinds. Reminders of a trip to somewhere. Not always specifically typical for the country or region, but simply something that appealed to me at the time and often still does. Objects small enough to bring home in the suitcase without risk to damage them. Ceramics are tricky.

From Wikipedia:

“A souvenir (from French, for a remembrance or memory), memento, keepsake, or token of remembrance is an object a person acquires for the memories the owner associates with it. The term souvenir brings to mind the mass-produced kitsch that is the main commodity of souvenir and gift shops in many tourist attractions around the world. But a souvenir can be any object that can be collected or purchased and transported home by the traveler. The object itself has no real significance other than the psychological connection the possessor has with the object as a symbol of past experience. Without the owner’s input, the object’s meaning is invisible and cannot be articulated.^“

Seagull from Tel Aviv. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2014

This seagull hangs in the ceiling of my livingroom and has done for many years. Bought it in Tel Aviv in 1991 when I was back after many years absence. It was a very nostalgic trip where I reconnected with old friends that I hadn’t seen for a long time. I stayed for five weeks. Upsetting, nostalgic, and good to be back at the same time as not so good for various reasons.

This handmade glass-decoration that hangs in my bedroom window was bought in Tel Aviv at the weekly arts and crafts market at Shuk HaCarmel, in 2006 when I last was there. Has the typical middle-eastern hand of Fatma in the center. (Pardon the poor quality of the photo). I doubt I will go back to Israel again. It is too many memories and the people I loved are almost all gone. Very few left from then. Both want to go back and don’t. It is complicated. Would like to visit Tedy’s grave again.

Photo: ©nini.tjader.2014

This wooden owl comes from Sicily (2008). Handcarved with a smaller owl inside it done from the same piece of wood. Love it. I loved Sicily. Went there as a brake from all my greek islands, to get a change. Sicily is beautiful and has very good food. Wouldn’t mind going back there. Stayed just outside Çefalu, an interesting old town. Very genuinely sicilian.

Photo: ©nini.tjader.2014

The above glass-objects all three come from Malta (1996). The only beautiful things I found at Malta. Mostly they had kitsch and really ugly stuff. But these glass objects I love. Bought them at the glass factory where they made them. I will never go back to Malta. Terrible food that tasted nothing and not a particularly interesting island. The beaches… well not very good. Yes, I went around the entire island (it is not that big).

Photo: ©nini.tjader.2014

This wooden bird (lives in my bedroom above the bed on a picture list) comes from Lanzarote. Might also come from Africa, but I bought it at Lanzarote (1998). What I loved about Lanzarote was the nature, the volcanos, the lava, the sterile nature… Had a good hotel with five pools where it was impossible to get a poolside sunchair during my entire stay as the Germans booked them from sunup and all day. I am never up at sunup if I don’t have to… Beaches were fine. Food was not all that fun (too adjusted for tourists). That I had a severe cold and was coughing all my stay didn’t make things better…

Then there are all the small objects from Greece, where I’ve been several times. Will show you those another day.

Nbr 18/100

Mar

2014

Really didn’t want that snow…

I really didn’t want to wake up to this white all over this morning. Gustav, the neighbor cat had already been out walking in the snow though according to paw traces in the snow.

Snow, March 17th 2014 Photo: ©nini.tjader.2014

Yes, I know. It is common that it snows in March. And in April. And on May 1st… Still don’t want it to happen. (I actually never want snow. I hate snow.)

Garden utensils. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2014

Photo: ©nini.tjader.2014

My solar-powered lamp there surely doesn’t want that snow… It won’t charge with all that snow on top as that’s where the charging is. Getting wet is no problem though. (Lamp is Solvinden from Ikea). This is its second season. Just took it out the other day. Had one exactly the same for three years. That one got destroyed by hail and rain in the very wet summer of 2011. The hail perforated it…

Crocus in snow Photo:©nini.tjader.2014

And those poor crocus and tulips… They can usually take a bit of snow and cold if it is temporary.

May the snow disappear really fast!

Nbr 17/100

Mar

2014

Mothers old sewing kit

Photo: © nini.tjader.2014

Another thing I inherited from home was my mothers sewing kit. I have seen it all my life. It was always the place to search for a needle and thread when needed. Not that my mother was any good at sewing, she really wasn’t, but during those times you mended your socks and shirts and sew button to wherever they had been lost. That was a necessity as money was short and you just couldn’t buy new things all the time.

The sewing kit is very practical. You can store more in it than its size might reveal.

Photo: © nini.tjader.2014

During one period I though that it was ugly and had some self-adhesive plastic covering it. I later removed that again and found that the original black-and-red color actually wasn’t all that bad.

The insides of it is covered with original green cloth and padding. Just attach the needles you work with to it.

Photo: © nini.tjader.2014

I’ve kept on the tradition to keep all the sewing stuff inside the sewing kit. I don’t do all that much sewing, but… it happens.

Photo: © nini.tjader.2014

In the bottom department I keep wool for sock-mending… Yeah, I think some of it is as old as myself… There presently also are a lot of eyelets in there that didn’t work for one of my door-curtains (the cloth was too thick). I’ll use them for something else some time in the future.

Nowadays I like the sewing kit. It is very useful.

Nbr 16/100

Mar

2014

Do I REALLY NEED an iPad?

Image borrowed from apple.se

For some time now I’ve been trying to reason with myself to find out if I REALLY NEED an iPad… Thing is, I have all those ebooks, mainly free from Dagens Nyheter as a bonus as a subscriber with activated digital subscription. Plus some other ebooks.

I am tempted. And reading a book on an iPad would feel OK – though I don’t want to read magazines/newspapers on screen but then prefer paper.

My present ebooks

When will I read these books without an iPad (the one top left I’ve created myself testing certain software)? I DO have a portable, a MacBook Pro, and nowadays the application iBooks also works on a computer, and not only on an iPad or iPhone. But to carry around the entire MBP to be able to read the digital books on the bus or the commuter train: I don’t think so.

Could of course read them on the iPhone… or? I’ve tried. Painful. The screen is way too small.

Or should I read them on my 24″ iMac? I don’t much fancy sitting in front of the iMac to read a book (just as I don’t fancy sitting in front of the iMac watching movies).

Warning when opening an ebook on a computer with regular OS and not iOS.

And the books are normally not designed for the computer, but only for iOS-objects. They DO work anyways though, but the navigation becomes more complicated, as the computer doesn’t have a touch screen.

Book pages example

If you change the size of the window for the book, the content of the book reflows, and so does the number of rows shown. The smaller the screen, the less content at each page. Some also argue that the layout and the typography of ebooks suffer from the media and that they do not get as visually attractive as a printed book. The techniques for creating them is still in its infancy… But that will change over time.

There are some added bonuses to an ebook compared to a book printed on paper. There can be several levels of information on one single page by links to additional information that is not shown unless you click on the link. Navigation is also more advanced than for a printed book where you just turn pages by hand.

ebookexample

Ebooks can also include animations, video and sound, just click on a link.

Screenshot from Yellow Submarine

Why an iPad and not some other pad? Because I am all Macintosh and have been since 1984. I have three Macs and two iPhones (the older one serving as alarm clock only). So why haven’t I bought an iPad yet? Of the same reason: I have three Macs and two iPhones… Do I REALLY NEED an iPad?

What makes me hesitate is that it costs a lot of money (that I don’t have). I also wouldn’t settle for the cheapest one without 3G and and only 16GB storage. I also wouldn’t settle for the iPad2 which is cheaper. The screen of the iPad2 is not as good as the retina screen on iPad Air. IF I buy, it has to be an iPad Air with reasonably much storage and with 3G (so I can connect from almost anywhere). They are SO nice. I’ve seen and touched them.

It costs to be on top…

Nbr 15/100

Mar

2014

The Office-Chair, Part V

Finally. Made up my mind – after discussing it somewhat with a friend – which chair to buy. And from where. And in which color.

This is the result: A copy Charles Eames DAR Office Chair, in fibre glass, RED (to get som color into my office corner which otherwise is just grey and white). And I ordered it from INFURN last night.

Image is a screenshot from INFURN.COM website.

I like the form of it and it IS comfortable. Sat in its twin last week in town – without wheels there, but to get the feel of how the seat felt.

They’ve now started the production of the chair… Delivery time is long. It will arrive approximately mid July.

Now I’ll just have to wait for it to arrive and hope my old chair won’t fall to pieces before that.

Nbr 14/100

Mar

2014

The use of books

Photo: ©nini.tjader.2014

I read. I’ve always read a lot. Started early. Often had multiple books going at the same time. We didn’t have many books at home. They were too expensive to buy. But I was read to by my father when I was little, mainly Donald Duck magazines… And I got one book a year as birthday present. When I learnt to read by myself, I went to the library and borrowed books. I finished the children’s department at the library by the age of 12 and was then moved to the grownup department by the librarian who had no more to offer me in her department.

I’ve kept on reading and still have multiple books going at simultaneously. I started reading books in English when I lived in Tel Aviv. Had no choice and there were no swedish books around there. Nowadays I switch between english and swedish. I never throw away a book. But I give them away to whichever organization that wants them when I need more space in my bookcases. I’ve had friends who’ve asked me why I don’t throw out a book that I have read. They looked very puzzled when I said that I might want to re-read them. Those friends were not book-readers.

Photo: ©nini.tjader.2014 – As you can see from the titles I read a lot of fantasy among other things.

I sort my books alphabetically according to the authors surname. I also have certain shelves for certain subjects (all books about software for instance have their own shelves). Sometimes they stand up, sometimes they lay down. The latter mainly with pocketbooks, which are small and take up less space laying down in a pile as high as the shelf sometimes.

One thing I really dislike is the trend to color-sort ones books… Looks terrible (in my eyes) and how on earth are you supposed to find something in a bookcase where books are color-sorted? Do those people only have books for decoration and not for reading?

Image borrowed from the internet and resized.

Some other even worse trends in the use of books is using the books to build furniture from them… What a waste of books…

Image borrowed from the internet.

Image borrowed from the internet.

The worst of all is when bookpages are torn out and glued to a wall as wallpaper.

Image borrowed from the internet.

Books are for reading, not for building furniture of, or use as wallpaper. It is such a disrespect to the author of the books to use them for anything but reading. As I see it. When read, don’t throw them away, but give them to any organization that wants them which can either sell them, or give them to somebody else, if you don’t want to keep them yourself any longer. Have some respect for the books and the work by the author.

Nbr 13/100

Mar

2014

Occasional Beauty

Sometimes I just happen to take notice of objects and buildings and other things around me. Usually when waiting for a commuter train, or walking along a path from point A to point B. We can call it seeing the occasional beauty of objects and buildings around you. Here are some examples.

This is the wall of the bike parking at Älvsjö Station towards the rails and the railway platform which you see when standing there waiting for the trains. The house itself is actually interesting for how you park bicycles inside it.

Then there is the northern building at Tumba Station. I kind of like the form of the building. It is something with the arc above the rails… Building is presently closed for renovation but… The southern, main station building, is equally imposing but not as beautiful. I don’t have a picture of it at the moment.

And this beauty… It is a lid over one of the many communal water well and pipes in the Stockholm area. This particular one is along the path between Heron City and City Gross in Kungens Kurva. Iron. Beautiful design and typography, very iconic logo of the city… yeah, I’m a nerd. I admit.

Nbr 12/100

Mar

2014

Things Inherited, part II

Here are some more of my inherited things.

Photo: @nini.tjader.2014

Small box in tin. My father used to keep his cufflinks in it. The single pair he owned, also in tin, is still in there… the letter O, for Oskar, engraved onto them.

Photo: @nini.tjader.2014

When I was a child I was very fascinated by the box as you could see the face of the man looking down if you turned the lid over.

Photo: @nini.tjader.2014

I love this crystal vase with the etched image of a woman with child.

Photo: @nini.tjader.2014

It was done by a known glass designer called Kjellander. His objects are nowadays found in various auctions around the world and are, as I understand it, collectors items.

Photo: @nini.tjader.2014

The bottom of the vase.

Photo: @nini.tjader.2014

Here are my two dalecarlian horses in wood. Got them as a child. They too have become collectors items. Still made today, but it is the older ones, like these, that certain people collect. No, I am not selling ;).

Wilhelm Kåge, argenta vase with dragon, Gustavsberg

Photo: @nini.tjader.2014

Another collectors item is this green vase with a dragon, made by Kåge (Wilhelm Kåge, Sweden, 1889–1960) for Gustavsberg in the Argenta series. The dragon is inlaid in silver.

Argenta vase, Wilhelms Kåge, Gustavsberg

Photo: @nini.tjader.2014

A more recent collectors item are the ceramics designed by Lisa Larson (who is very popular in Japan). I have this bulldog. She is still active doing new things. My bulldog is from the series “Stora Zoo” from 1958 where the bulldog was added later and only produced between 1960-1968. I don’t know which year my bulldog was done, or when it entered my childhood home.

Lisa Larson, bulldog, Stora Zoo, Gustavsberg

Photo: @nini.tjader.2014

Then there is this crystal vase. Small and has some un-readable sign at the bottom. Love it though, Especially when the light shines through it.

Photo: @nini.tjader.2014

To be continued…

Nbr 11/100

Mar

2014

Things Inherited, part I

Photo: @nini.tjader.2014

I think we all have things around us at home that we have inherited from our parents or other relatives. Things that have history and age. These are some of mine.

Two formerly very common ceramic containers that I keep in the kitchen. They are older than me. The smaller one to the left I remember that my mother used to keep butter in.

The bigger one – which unfortunately is broken och glued together by a non-professional (me) – I think they used to keep salted cucumbers in or similar stuff. You cannot keep any liquids in it (other use similar containers for flowers), but it is perfect to put the rolls with plastic and foil in.

The two small silver (?) dogs are butter-dogs. Which means they were used to place your butter-knife on so the greasy side of the knife wouldn’t rest on the table cloth.

I’ve seen both the dogs and the two containers all my life. The small “calendar”-thing also comes from home. But that is more recent.

Photo: @nini.tjader.2014

Just beside those stands my grandmothers and grandfathers huge silver soup-spoon. I actually use it now and then. And polish it now and then… Have no idea if it is real silver or not. This is the stamp on it. I know nothing about silver or silver stamps… Total length 35 cms.

Photo: @nini.tjader.2014

On the back of the handle the initials of my grandmother and grandfather are engraved. It says T o T. D. , which stands for Titus & Tekla Dahlstedt, who were my mothers parents. So the soup-spoon might have been their wedding gift.

Photo: @nini.tjader.2014

Front end of the handle looks like this.

Photo: @nini.tjader.2014

Is it worth anything? Have no idea. Have never checked.

On the wall above these things there is this ceramic wall decoration, also from home.

Photo: @nini.tjader.2014

It is danish and comes from somewhere called Søholm. If I remember correctly (?) my father (or was it my mother?) got it for a birthday. Not sure though. I like it and its colors. If I hadn’t I would not have kept it. And certainly not put it on the kitchen wall. 22 cm x 20 cm in size.

When I started looking around in my home for things inherited from my parents, I realized that I have several. Many more than I thought. So stay tuned, there will be a follow up with some other stuff another day.

Nbr 10/100

Mar

2014

Candle-love

I love candles. Around the year. Not only during the very dark winter season.

Photo: @nini.tjader.2013

I have this group of candles on a tin tray on my sofa-table in the livingroom. They haven’t changed much over the years, but I sometimes change the candle holders a bit. Usually the candles are white, and without any fragrance.

Birds-eye-view of the candle tray. Photo: @nini.tjader.2014

The chain of candleholders in white, around the tray, come from Ikea. They’ve sold them for years and still do on and off. Now seems to be off though… The blue candleholder was one of Ikeas summer specials the other year, sold temporarily with a candle that smelled like lemons in it. Works perfectly for any other candle too.

The tin tray was bought on sale in a shop that is no more. Love it. On the tin tray are two decorated stone-eggs from Afro Art. The bigger candle is surrounded by tiny shells and stones picked by me in various places around the Mediterranean.

I also have other kinds of candles elsewhere, but not on the sofa-table.

Nbr 09/100

Mar

2014

A walk in the woods

Took a walk in the woods yesterday to get som much needed light and fresh air. Went around the dams as many times before. Below are some impressions from the walk. Click image for a larger version.

It is spring according to this bush/tree.

The “ball”-tree beside the sports hall at Storvretsskolan, Tumba. Can you see the slightly green shimmer it now has? Leaves on their way…

Pinetrees

The Big Dam, Tumba. As magical as ever, despite the water presently being brown and smelly.

Waterfall to the left, the dam to the right and the passage over it in the middle.

The Big Dam, Tumba. The water is brown this time of the year. And it presently smells rotten.

The water where it falls down and continues to the smaller dam.

Birches

[Originally this page had as lider that I was experimenting with. I have removed that and made a regular gallery instead].

Nbr 06/100

#blogg100

Seeing structures and patterns

One year with my present sofa

My family name is Tjäder

Pelargonia-love

Souvenirs

Really didn’t want that snow…

Mothers old sewing kit

Do I REALLY NEED an iPad?

The Office-Chair, Part V

The use of books

Occasional Beauty

Things Inherited, part II

Things Inherited, part I

Candle-love

A walk in the woods

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