The books i read in 2015 and what i think of them

Last year was one of my best reading years in a long time, I read a total of 12 books and i am very happy with that number. But if you are a reader you might think that 12 is quite a low number to read in a year but the reason the last couple of years have not been good reading years for me is because I have been sick. I found out in 2013 that i have ME (Myalgic encephalomyelitis) But i first got sick in 2010. As a lot of you know reading takes a lot more energy than lets say watching a movie or a tv show so it started to get difficult for me to finish books and i got quite frustrated with myself. I eventually gave up on reading for a while. I have always loved to read and in many ways prefer reading over watching something as I feel it gives me a more complex and deeper understanding of a subject, person or a story. i have a tendency to choose heavy and long books that can be quite difficult to read through but are definitely worth it in the end, I guess I became a bit of a snob when it came to my book choices. But last year I decided to try to choose books that are fun and easier to read, this does not mean that these books are any less great. I think I ended up with a nice list of books that are varied in genre, size and style so here is my list.

My favorite things about fall

Why fall is my favorite season. It might have something to do with the fact that my birthday is October 10 and that Halloween is great but what really is fall. It is more time spent inside knitting, reading or maybe watching a scary movie that we love. It is time to reflect on the joys of summer and all the fun we had. Fall is days that are cold enough for a sweater but warm enough for a skirt. It is time for long conversations with family and friends. It is the time for hot drinks and orange things.

My favorite fall things

• Knitting, crocheting or any other crafting
• Hot tea with honey
• Baking
• Going for walks and breathing in the fresh air
• Reading
• Scary movie marathon
• Finding leaves on the ground
• Snuggling with our dogs

Creamy Pea soup

This is one of my favorite dinners it is delicious and quick to make. This soup is very creamy and has a nice sweet taste from the peas. There is no need for dairy products because the potatoes will give the soup its creamy texture. Serves 4-6 people.

You will need

600g frozen peas

one and a half liters of water

2 vegetable stock cubes

1 yellow onion

5 small potatoes

How to make it

1. Chop the onion and sauté it in olive oil. add the two cubes of vegetable stock and mix until dissolved.You can add any other spices if you want i like to add mild curry powder and cumin powder.
2. Boil the water in separately.
3. Chop the potatoes and add them to the onions and coat them with the oil and spices. Then add the peas.
4. Pour the boiling water over and let it simmer until the potatoes are soft.
5. Pour the soup into a blender or use a hand mixer and blend until smooth.
6. Serve with some garlic bread and some sour cream drizzled on top.

Enjoy.

My bedroom

My room has been a work in progress for a long time now. My room was very narrow so i could not fit my wardrobe and my desk in the room at the same time and i did not have a door. So my dad decided that we should make it bigger, There was a lot more work than we anticipated and my dad has built it without any help so it turned out to be a longer and bigger project than we thought. But it is almost done and i almost can’t wait to start decorating. One of my favorite things to do is to decorate and i wanted to start with a clean slate. We decided to paint all the walls and the roof white so the room would feel light and spacious. The only piece of furniture that i already own that is going to my new room is my night stand so i have quite a bit of shopping to do on a small budget. One of the most important things i need in my room is a good work space and a lot of storage. I love to sew, knit, draw and make DIY projects so i have a lot of materials to store away. I am still looking for a DIY desk solution so if you have any ideas please tell me. Here are some of the things i want for my room and some inspiration.

I plan on making a peg board storage solution to hang over my desk.

This is the bed i am planning on buying from ikea

I have a bit of an obsession with brass lamps

I want to make a hanging clothing rack of some kind

This is the chair i plan on buying for my desk

I love quilts and i am drooling over the quilts from Hopewell Workshop

If you have any ideas please tell me 🙂

Amsterdam Pride parade

I wanted to share some pictures i took at the pride parade in Amsterdam. It was a really hot and sunny, I sat at the edge of one of the canals with my sister and our mom. Amsterdam is one of my favorite cities, it is so full of life and beautiful architecture. Our family travels almost every year there to visit friends and to go back to this city that we love so much.

Almond and hemp milk

This Recipe makes about one liter of milk and is good over cereal, berries or just on its own. It will last for about two days in a refrigerator.

What you will need

1dl raw almonds

1dl hemp seeds

1 liter of water

a pinch of sea salt

3tbs of honey or agave syrup

a nut milk bag or a piece of cloth

Instructions

Put the almonds in a bowl of water with the salt and let it soak over night. When the almonds are done soaking rinse them in cold water and add them to the bottom of your blender. You will then add the hemp seeds and the honey/agave. Pour the water in and blend until smooth and frothy. Pour the milk into your nut milk bag/cloth over a bowl and squeeze until there is no more liquid coming out from the bag. Set the milk in the refrigerator for one hour or until it is cold.

Enjoy.

If you try this recipe please tell me how it went 🙂

The garden and our dogs

Krølle our border collie

I spent the day in the garden with my family painting and taking pictures of our sweet dogs. The weather has been so nice to us lately and i want to enjoy it as much as i can, our winters are very long and dark her in Norway so a bit of sunshine and heat is something that is very much appreciated. Our dogs where rolling on the freshly mowed lawn and soaking up the sun. We are going camping tomorrow and we are bringing the dogs so i will try to take more photos then.

Chica our Jack russel terrier

One wild strawberry hiding away in our herb garden.

Picking berries with my sister

Me and my little sister decided to go out and pick some wild blueberries and strawberries. They grow on side of the road where we live and a lot of them where ripe right now. There is something so special about picking wild berries and bringing them home in a little basket, every summer we would walk our dogs and stop every so often to pick some berries and eat them right there while our fingers would turn blue.

Cinnamon buns

This is the second time i have made these cinnamon buns and everyone loves them so i decided to share them with you. they are pretty easy to make and they are great as gifts. this recipe makes 16 buns and takes about an hour to make.

What you will need for the dough

• 150 g margarine
• 5 dl milk
• 50 g dry yeast
• A pinch of sea salt
• 100 g sugar
• 1 egg
• 15 dl whole wheat flour

The filling

• 300 g room tempered butter
• 100 g sugar
• 5 teaspoons of cinnamon

Directions

1. Melt the butter and add it to the milk, it should be lukewarm. Put the yeast in a baking bowl and at a little of the milk and butter mixture until the yeast has dissolved then add the rest of the mixture.
2. Add salt, sugar and egg to the mixture before slowly adding the flour until you have a loose dough. Save the rest of the flour for later. cover the dough with plastic wrap and let it rise for 40 min.
3. Set the oven to 250 c
4. Mix together butter with sugar and cinnamon until you have a smooth and even filling. Roll out the dough and add the rest of the flour until you have and nice and even dough. Roll the dough out in a square that is approximately half cm thick. Evenly spread the filling and roll the dough up. Cut the dough in half and repeat until they are about 4 cm thick.
5. Place them on some parchment paper and coat them with a beaten egg and some sugar. Bake them in the middle of the oven for about 7 – 8 min.

If you try this recipe please comment below and tell me how they turned out or if you have any other recipes or suggestions.

Sol Maria.

Hello!

I thought i should start this blog by telling you a little about myself. My name is Sol Maria and i am 18 years old, i live in the Norwegian countryside with my mother, father, little sister and our two dogs.I love doing creative things such as cooking, sewing, knitting and lots of other stuff. I am also a feminist and a vegetarian. I have always loved reading other blogs and i am not going to lie i have tried this blog thing a couple of times before and it always ends with me forgetting it for a couple of months and then my interests have changed so much that my blog no longer is what i want it to be. So what is so different about this time, well this blog is going to be more personal and i am not going to be so strict with myself. I want this blog to be a place where i can post things that inspire me and the things i experience going through life. I will be posting recipes, DIYs and snippets from my daily life and probably a lot of random things. Our family likes to travel a lot so i will try to document my travels as much as possible on this blog. Well i think this is enough for now.

Sol Maria.