Castle in the sky

Everyone has dreams, whether realistic or not, we dream and I think that it's important to be able to. :) The day you stop dreaming, I wish it will be the day when you have everything you could ever wish for, and live a happy life. <3
Unfortunately, most people who stop dreaming stop simply because they give up the dream. I think that's sad.
Even if it's just a small one, I think dreams are precious. For me, I have many dreams, and I hope you do too! <3 The big dream, the one I don't think will come true but still love to sigh over, is a castle of my own. Silly, perhaps, but why not? If I could have whatever I wanted, I'd build that castle, and I would make it our own world, just mine and my beloved. A private sanctuary, with beautiful gardens, horses and a little lake.

What do you dream about? That secret castle in the sky, where everything is possible?

(Art by Jim Warren)

A warm day

As I woke up this morning, there was no doubt that it will be a warm day today. The sky was the beautiful, pale blue that promises heat, and not a single cloud in the sky.
Stubborn as I am though, I'd decided to pick more wild strawberries. *laugh* I managed to gather a litre before the heat forced me to go home, dizzy as if I'd travelled in an all too fast merry-go-round... Right now I'm drinking lemonade and making jelly. <3
Summer is wonderful like that, don't you think? So much berries and fruit to make jams, jellies, cakes and syrup from. It's a shame we don't have a garden, but have to make do with wild berries. *sigh* We are experimenting with a gooseberry-bush on our balcony though. :) I'm a little bit worried about the winter, but I hope we can protect it so it won't die when the temperature drops but goes on to give more berries next summer.

A lovely morning

Today I woke up to such a lovely, sunny morning! <3 The birds were singing outside and fluffy little clouds promised a lovely day - but I knew better after all the rain we've had! *laughs* So I hurried out on a walk, there haven't been a lot of opportunities lately, armed with a folded umbrella (pink with hearts - what else?) and a plastic bag.
You see, I was hoping to find some wild strawberries - and dear me, did I ever!

This was what I collected before the mosquitos were too happy to see me and I fled, but there were much, much more! Tomorrow I will most definitely pick more, properly prepared with tea tree oil this time... We ate as much of these as we could, and I made jam of the rest.
What a morning!

Midsummer Solstice and take 2

Today is the longest day of the year - the midsummer solstice. :) Do you plan to celebrate it? Here most people are celebrating it on friday, due to work and other responsibilities. Modern time's business have pushed it toward the weekend for practical reasons.
Seeing the cloudy skies today, I hope there is sunshine on friday! :) A lot of people have worried that there won't be enough flowers to dress the midsummer pole, but if nothing else, it will be dressed in green as tradition haves it. <3

I found an interesting piece of fact about the midsummer traditions here. We call the midsummer pole 'Majstång' sometimes (though 'midsummer pole is more common now), which is directly translated 'May pole'. HOWEVER, it turns out that the Swedish traditions were different from the fertility symbol with the same name... Here in Sweden 'Maj', means to 'dress in green', and it was never a fertility symbol at all!
It is a very common misconception, but in this case - the meaning was indeed lost in translation.
The truth is that people dressed the pole in leaves and flowers, and danced around it hoping for the flowers and leaves to give them good crops and grow.
Isn't it interesting how we can forget the reason behind a celebration over time?

(A pretty good American adaption of the Swedish midsummer pole, taken from Flickr.com, however, we usually dress the rings with green too - and some poles have more than 2 rings, and the ribbons are never hanging loose but wrapped around the rings.)

I've started up a second doll, a male one this time. :) Sort of. It's a bishounen so I suppose it's an 'in between' rather than a boy doll. So far only head and body done, will do the limbs when I have the time.

Today I woke up to the sound of rain. It had made its' way into my dreams too... It feels good to know I have no pressing matters to attend to. Just need to buy eggs sometime during the day. :)
Have you ever made your own raincoat? I was considering giving it a try to make a cute one (Swedish designs are oh! so boring...) but I'm a bit uncertain how to make it waterproof at the seams. I think I read somewhere about rubbing them with a candle, or put some proofing on the inside.
I mean, wouldn't it be adorable with a Lolita-styled raincoat? <3 I already have a Lisbeth Dahl umbrella, but you never really avoid all the rain with an umbrella... Even a cute one. Wellingtons have started coming in really adorable designs lately, have you seen? I suppose some would protest, but I do believe there are some wellington designs that do indeed suit Lolita. :) (Of course, shoes to change into when out of the rain is a must! Do you have a bag to protect your shoes?)

And maybe these would suit your taste, Duni? :D I thought of your designs right away when I saw them;

(These lovely wellingtons are from Blue World Gardener )

Wild strawberries

I was so lucky during my walk today! <3 I came across ripe wild strawberries! I picked as much as I could! <3 Unfortunately I got so excited I forgot to take a photo...but...wild strawberries! <3 And lots of them!

Elves and humans

There are a lot of fantasy worlds out there - both in books and unpublished ones - where there are elves and other magical beings. My world where Karla lives are no different... But since I tend to put a lot of thought into detail, I started thinking about why elves look young and live so long.
I'd already decided that humans and elves should belong to two different species, and as such can't reproduce (I'm so tired of all half-half-being better than full stories...). The same goes for all species, pretty much. No half-dragons in my kingdom, no thank you! *giggles*
Anyway.
You know how they often say human cells can only divide as many times? I thought about it. What if elves were another multicellular being whose cells didn't divide, but clone themselves? That would explain why elves live so long, and why they keep looking young. I was also thinking they don't get scars for the same reason, but they are unable to regenerate if there are no cell that can clone - if they lose an arm for example.

I'll give it some more thought...