Some days we have an office dog. He comes in with one of the developers, occasionally, and stays in the office during the day.

A small terrier of some sort, he is small and cute and very non-threatening. He is very well-behaved, quiet and discreet. He is guardedly friendly without ever being intrusive. He goes from desk to desk and sits down and waits for contact. If I stop petting him before he feels done, he sidles a bit closer, but never actually touches me himself.

After repeated visits and cautiously getting acquainted, we’ve gotten to the point in our relationship where he lets me move him and lift him up. The thing is, he approaches me from the right, because there is a wall on my left, but I kind of need my right hand for working. I like scratching him but I do need to keep working as well. I can now lift him up so he sits on my lap and gets scratched while I work.

He is very good for general developer well-being, and I wish he was here more often. Some people have service dogs; hospitals have service animals. I’m pretty sure that office workers would be happier at work if offices had well-behaved office dogs.


Drawing while Instagramming while watching some stuff on YouTube.


Games night at work.

First we played Joking hazard which was a decent warm-up game, but wasn’t really my kind of humour.

We followed it with Betrayal at House on the Hill which was… weird. The scenario we drew ended up taking us three hours instead of one, and we were quite exhausted at the end. We had very conflicting opinions about the game. One of the guys said he would happily start over then and there if he could only get some food and coffee first. Me, I found it interesting but also contrived and fiddly. I imagine that you need to feel immersed in the story to really enjoy it. We never managed to get very immersed because so much of our attention was needed for the endless dice-rolling and counting of points vs other points, and checking which of all the special rules were in effect at any point.

Still, as a social activity it was all fun, and I’m looking forward to the next games night already.


The Ribes (flowering currant) are among the (surprisingly few) failed parts of the new hedge. Two of the three bushes I planted look to be completely dead, with not a single green leaf on them. Some others that at first looked dead (such as a few of the Spireas) have sprouted at least a few puny green leaves after the drought ended, but not these two. I’m very pleased that it ended so well, given the circumstances.


Most of the hedge survived and is even thriving much better than I had expected. The Aronia bushes are full of berries. The Potentilla are blooming, even though they have been on the verge of dropping their leaves, repeatedly. The Mahonias also look to be doing well.


Fresh bread.

I’m a food snob, and bread is one of the foods I am snobbiest about. Most Swedish supermarket bread is barely worth eating – flavourless and with the mouth feel of a dry, loose sponge. Many upmarket “artisanal” breads are no better – expensive and with lots of very crusty crust and lots of big sourdoughy holes, but still without much flavour.

Eric’s breads on the other hand are so good that I can eat them every day and still not tire. Most of them I eat with only butter. There is no need for cheese or anything like that.

The bread in the photo, a scalded rye loaf with sunflower seeds and caraway seeds, is my absolute favourite. There are others that have more yummy things in them, but this one has the perfect balance between everything.


I generally don’t like buying things. But there are some categories of things that I have a hard time resisting, and buy more than I maybe really need.

Books, of course.

Soft jersey dresses with fun and colourful patterns.

Small green bowls. (Although I don’t actually have too many of these since I’ve broken a few.)

And soft, warm fleeces and hoodies in soft, warm colours. How could I possibly pass this one by, when it is snug and silky soft and the most orangey orange that I have ever seen?


He keeps growing taller and skinnier.


Aqua hair on bubbly pillowcase.


It was Ingrid’s turn to make dinner, and she picked one of her and Adrian’s favourites: stuffed bell peppers.

That whole dish has kind of come to belong to Ingrid. Both kids love her version, which is the same every time. If I tweaked it in any way (which I would, if I were to cook it) it could not be anything but inferior.