Category Archives: Family

When I were a lad, we ate rocks

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I turned vegan when I was around seventeen, which is now some twenty-six years ago. During that time I have been witness to the comings and goings of different foodstuffs, from pork pies, to quorn (originally thought to be vegan when it first came out), to the relatively new addition of tzay. One thing that has not changed over the years is the availability of fast food. Not that we eat it a great deal, but it is a bit limiting when we go to town and desire something to keep us going.

We are currently in the middle of a trail period here in Stockholm. Two of the biggest chain newsagents (for want of a better word), Pressbyrån and 7-Eleven are, at selective outlets, offering vegan hot dogs to those inclined.

Yesterday, the ladies of the house went to Pressbyrån and tried one sort. Both Freya and Zelda ate a whole hot dog each, something which does not happen so often at home. And today the whole family went to 7-Eleven and purchased a different kind. Freya managed two this time.

Although it will not be such a regular occurrence, it was nice to be able to be “normal”. The main reason for the visits is to support the introduction of vegan food in newsagents. Whether it continues to be so depends, of course, on sales.

Vegan food has definitely changed. For the better.

Hotel Life

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One of the benefits of Jo’s work is that she can get discounts on hotel stays. We have not been so good at exploiting this, though yesterday was an exception. Yesterday, the whole family stayed at the Clarion Hotel Sign.

A normal booking costs about 1500 crowns, though we paid a far more respectable 200. As if this were not good enough, we think we may have got an upgrade, living in a very cool triangular shaped room, which made it more luxurious.

Needless to say, the children loved it, exploring every nook and cranny, taking baths, using the hairdryer and showing a sudden thirst when they saw the minibar. They aslo enjoyed a trip to the fabulous restaurant, Kyoko, where we indulged in home made tofu and vegan meatballs.

This morning we talked about a visit to another Clarion hotel. I (we) cannot wait.

Lucia 2011

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Not the most successful of Lucia celebrations this year. Zelda had been vomiting a few days previous to the big event, so we decided to keep her away from school, lest she infect anyone there. Freya was also at home, as a precautionary measure, but showed no real signs of becoming ill. Yesterday, she was so upset that she was not able to a part of the Lucia celebrations at her school, so we thought it would be low risk to let her go.

Forty minutes before she was to perform, while I was on the train to her school, Jo rang me to tell me that Freya had thrown up.

Freya was not as devastated as I thought when I met her. In fact, she has not even mentioned it. But the end result is still that neither of our daughters got the Lucia experience this year, which is a little bit sad.

Stick Insect Problems Part 2

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After the lingering demise of Spiken, the Giant Thorny stick insect, we were given another Spiken by the place we bought the first. We also decided to get a Pink Wing (Marmessoidea Rosea) to keep Spiken v2.0 company, and increase the odds of at least one of them surviving.

Limey, The pink wing, was (hyper)active for a day or so, then clung to the top of the vivarium. We think it was going to shed its skin, though this is no more than an educated guess. Some time later, we returned to find Limey on its back at the bottom of the cage, and it died not long after that. Our assumption is that it fell whilst shedding, which can be fatal because the new exoskeleton takes a few days to harden.

At least Spiken is doing a better job, and shed its skin yesterday. Spiken must be reasonably happy, since stress can delay the shedding process. It looks healthy, though has not moved a great deal since this morning. We await tentatively to see what (if anything) our giant thorny does next. It is a(nother) crucial period for us, since our success rate at keeping what is generally accepted as beginner stick insects is quite low. Fingers crossed.

When Is A Stick Insect Not A Stick Insect?

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When it’s dead. Yes, just a few days after acquiring “Spiken”, it died a slow and, maybe, painful death. We tried our hardest to assure that it had the correct foliage and food to thrive in our care, but we think we have been mislead, all be it unintentionally.

On its arrival it was probably dehydrated and not in the best of health, being posted as a letter to us. We gave it water and a few sprigs of oak, which it seemed to appreciate. The oak was unlikey to have been sprayed with insecticide, according to the florist who sold them to Jo. We believed her, thinking that, rationally, it would not have been the case. Then we bought some ivy, under the same assurance. But soon after its placement in Spikens vivarium, it started to become less active.

Spiken and its ilk are good at playing dead. Ous worries about inactivity were assuaged by this knowledge, though it turned out that it was the beginning of then end. Spiken had most likely eaten forbidden fruit (i.e. Ivy sprayed with insecticide). Its condition worsened, and our nursing did no good. In the end, Spiken lived its (short) life fighting chemicals that were deemed to kill it. And we feel that we were, in some way, party to its death. Even though we should not.