A Cat`s Tale - The Story
My name is Ulf Nyback. I live on the Åland Islands between Sweden and Finland. I have set up this homepage to honour the memory of my wife Annukka and to sell her handmade earrings.
Annukka and I met in 2012 and we lived, our first four years, in Espoo, Finland, nearby Helsinki, before we moved to my homeplace, Geta, in the northern part of Åland. Annukka then worked as a kindergarten teacher and I as a special education teacher in secondary school. We got married in 2014.
Annu was always busy doing her jewelry stuff. She had to do something with her hands, she said. Forms and colours was something that inspired her throughout her life. She was a visionary maximalist esthete. Besides the handicraft work she also painted and wrote poetry. We also did some songs together. Annu`s future dream was to start a company of her own to sell her products.
I fully understood her need to create earrings. She grew up in a leastadian family, where it was forbidden to go to movies, listen to rock music, go to rock concerts, watch TV and wear earrings. When we met she already had left the religious movement, and was ready to taste the new path towards freedom.
Annu unfortunately died in 2022, in a rare form of cancer, and never got the chance to see her business dream come true. The summer 2023 I started to build the cabin, that now is the company store of A Cat`s Tale. It stood ready in 2024. In the cabin, which also functions as a gallery for her paintings, I will sell her earrings and my books. In Spring 2025 I also became a certified peer to peer grief educator by David Kessler at grief.com.
I hope that you like Annukka`s handicraft. I surely do. Every pair of her earrings are unique. There is just one of them.
Yours sincerely
Ulf
Annukan runo:
Joku vetää
hatusta kaniinejä
minä ompelen
yhden kerrallaan
pisto kerrallaan
täytän ne ilmalla
minulla on 7 luukkoa
simpukoita
annan ne kaneille
arkku
mummoni arkku (LYYLI)
Löydän mummin arkusta
7 sulkaa
mummi pyytää
etsimään kenelle se luukun
ja selvittämään
mitä ne haluavat
kertoa
Annukkas dikt:
Någon drar
kaniner ur hatten
jag syr
en i taget
ett nålstick i taget
fyller dem med luft
jag har 7 luckor
med musslor
jag ger dem till kaninerna
en kista
min mommos kista (LYYLI)
Jag hittar i mommos kista
7 fjädrar
mommo ber mig
hitta den där luckan åt någon
och ta reda på
vad de vill
berätta
Annukka`s poem
Some people are pulling
rabbits out of the hat
I sew
one by one
one nailstitch at a time
fill them with air
I have 7 gaps
with mussels
I give them to the rabbits
a coffin
my nannies coffin (LYYLI)
I find in nannies coffin
7 feathers
nanny begs me
find that gap for somebody
and find out
what they want to
tell
The cabin
Here is the story of how I built the cabin:
June 2023
Cabin put together, except for the doors.
July 2023
October 2023
November 2023
Dug the holes for the cornerstones.
Had myself a dance floor.
Started with the roof beams.
Tried Annu`s paintings on the walls.
June 2024
Placed all in angel and filled the ground
and the holes with shovel.
Roof done from the inside…
Mango inspecting.
Protection paint to keep the walls in good shape.
Started to insulate the inner ceiling…
First wall all done!
Accidents happens…
Pipelines for electricity.
A friend helped me to finish the roof.
Electricity on its way in.
And spots set up by an electrician.
Did the ground floor and the insulation.
Then it was time for the walls.
Electricity at last!
First painting on the wall.
Painted the outside.
June 2025
Midsummer Eve and roofing party with
my brother.
…and the outside.
Cabin put up.
…and the walls.
Then it was time for panelling.
…but shame the one who gives up.
Everything clean and tidy.
I nailed mouldings.
Paint It White!
And grey.
More paintings.
Did the stairs.
Light in the darkness.
Annu`s paintings
Welcome to the online gallery:
The paintings are not for sale!
Links:
Our mesothelemia cancer journey:
My music webpage:
Grief Educator Certification:
