Swedish Lingonberries - and Clogs! (A Review)

Flag of Sweden

I've never been to Sweden. I've been to Iceland, but that's besides the point. I used to be so enamored with all things Swedish. When I had to do a report about a country for school one time, I chose Sweden. I don't know what the appeal was, but now, as an adult, there are a couple of Swedish things that have found my favor.

The first (and only) time that I visited an IKEA store, I ate lunch there. I had Swedish meatballs with a sauce on it made from lingonberries, and it was good.  Lingonberries taste a little like cranberries, with a tart, yet sweet, taste. Whenever I can find it, I buy lingonberry jam. Someday, I hope to make some of my own, because I'm growing lingonberry plants here at Our Little Acre.

Lingonberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea)

I purchased the plants from Miller Nurseries last spring, and planted them in a mostly shady area of our garden, where they only get a little morning sun. Shady, because they naturally grow in the pine forests of Sweden (among several other places in the world). We've got alkaline soil here, which isn't their favorite, but I'm  mulching them with pine needles in the hopes that they do like that. They've not grown much yet, but they still look like healthy plants!

Earlier this spring, I got a chance to try out another Swedish thing - Cape Clogs. I'd come across them online and the owner generously offered two pairs of them to try, free of charge. I chose a pair with flowers on them, (of course), and then looked through their other styles to see what I might want.

Cape Clogs have been around for five years, in fact, they're celebrating that fact right now on their website. Most styles are made of leather and yes, they have wooden soles, and they are made in Sweden. I'll admit, when I first thought about wearing these shoes - before I ever saw them for real or tried them on - I didn't think they could be that comfortable. How can a shoe with a wooden sole that doesn't bend be comfortable?

"Spring Bouquet"

Well. The shoes arrived and I put them on. Oh my goodness. I'm not sure how they've done it, but these shoes are very comfy! They have an arch support and they fit my feet so well that I started choosing my outfit for the day to match, just so I could wear my new shoes. I'm not kidding.

For the second pair of shoes, I chose the cranberry red patent leather style with a strap. When I first saw Cape Clogs, the floral ones were the ones that caught my eye, but I have to tell you, these shiny red ones are my favorites.

And every single time I wear them, I get comments like, "Oh my gosh, I LOVE your shoes!" and "Where did you get those shoes? I love them!" I wore them when I went to Arkansas for Garden2Blog at P. Allen Smith's and Mary Ellen, his social media person, loved them and tweeted about them.

I've started wearing the floral ones to work. I'm a dental hygienist when I'm not in the garden or traveling to garden events, and I have an assortment of colors of uniforms. These shoes go with all of them! This no-strap style seems to run a bit bigger than the ones with a strap, but with socks, they fit fine.

Thank you, Pamela at Cape Clogs, for allowing me to try these shoes. I love them and sing their praises whenever I wear them. I love the black and white polka dot ones I've seen on the site and I might just get a pair of the boots for winter, too!

You can buy Cape Clogs directly from their website, or in a number of other online stores, including one of my favorites for gardening shoes, Garden Shoes Online. They are now appearing in several bricks and mortar retail stores, too.

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As I said in my review, both pairs of Cape Clog shoes were sent to me free of charge. I was under no obligation to write favorably about these shoes. I really do like them. A lot.