22/02/2022

it's one of those auspicious dates. at least according to the internet. and since 22 has always been my number (thanks to my birthday being march 22), it does genuinely feel like it might be. all the woo woo folks on tiktok (there is something i love about how buttery and reassuring this woman's voice is) are saying you should send your wildest dreams out into the universe today, because on this auspicious date, the universe will be listening. i'm not sure i really buy that, but it does seem worth a try.

what's makes me think there might be something to it is that when i went out to feed the chickens and the outdoor kitties, it was sunny and there was a hint of spring in the air. the birds were all twittering like they could feel it too. 

i think what i most want to manifest on this day is positivity. it can be so easy to fall into negativity and complaining, especially when you're a person who says sarcastic or cynical things for a laugh. but i want positivity in my life, so it seems like the best thing to manifest on this auspicious day. so i'm going to be positive and spread positive vibes. when i would go for the laugh with a negative wisecrack or say something shady (also for a laugh), i'm going to be positive instead. sending positivity into the universe will surely bring it back to me - and with it will be all those other things that people manifest, like success and wealth and health and love. and who can't use more of those things? in any case, it's worth a try. 

what are you manifesting today?

daily delights - february 3

 

here we are, just three days in, and already i'm so much more aware of what delights me, so today, there are two delights, both involving food. this morning, i had a perfect avocado and i applied it generously to two pieces of toast. and i thought about how i would eat avocado toast with my grandmother, sprinkled with lemon pepper. i didn't have any lemon pepper, so i used a szechuan pepper and sesame seed seasoning that probably wasn't even thought of back in the day. but i still thought about grandma and that was a nice way to start the day. i even cut my toast in triangles like she would have done. totally delightful.

and then when lunchtime came around, much later than i had hoped, thanks to endless teams meetings, i made two more slices of toast, chopped a red onion and ate the first of the season's stenbiderrøgn. it's a light caviar from a flat fish and it's a sure sign of spring in denmark. you accompany it with a dollop of creme fraiche and a light sprinkle of salt and even though it's snowing outside, you just know that spring is just around the corner. along with good coffee, such a solitary lunch is one of the perks of working from home. and i have enough for tomorrow's lunch too. delight!

feeling blue about old my blue room

i've been in an intense adobe premiere pro course for the past two days. my head is full and i'm quite frankly exhausted. i was searching my flickr for a photo of pretty paper to use to encourage folks to participate in an art journaling workshop this weekend and i stumbled onto photos of my old blue room. and i got a bit, well...blue about it. i miss that beautiful space. somewhere i could leave projects out and where i could have multiple projects going on at once. somewhere to light a merry fire in the wood-burning stove, listen to music and hang out with friends and drink wine. and then cyndy sent me a blog post she did about my blue room long ago, which included a SONG that she wrote about it. i swear i don't think i knew about this song before now. i think that may have been during that period when i was feeling invisible. maybe it's just that the universe knew that today i would need to both laugh and cry at the same time. thank you so much, cyndy. it was precisely what i needed.

100 happy days :: day 82

a delicate moment of serenity.

you grab the happy where you can.

100 happy days :: day 79

i love this time of year, when the rapeseed fields are in full bloom, their mustardy brilliance cutting through even our weirdly dark, windy, rainy, autumnal spring. i couldn't resist this road, lined on both sides by their golden brightness, a straight path, leading somewhere exciting.

100 happy days :: day 4

today's happiness: the return of the light. although this glimpse of sunshine didn't last long (it was actually yesterday morning), just seeing glimpses of that glorious light and feeling the changes in the air and hearing the joyous spring song of the birds lightens my heart immeasurably. where there is light, there is hope. 

* * *

this list of  the least-wanted toys really did make me laugh.

and these shades of winter seem appropriate (tho' slightly less happy).

* * *

the awesomeness of björk.

winter's last gasp (or too little too late)

so, we woke up to this. heavy, wet, springlike snow, falling in more quantity than it's bothered to do all winter long. but it's already melting and it feels like the last gasp of winter. we'll be back in the garden soon, i'm sure of it.

seeking comfort

events of the past week. the past few months for that matter. four days of gusty winds, driving rain and sleet. general uncertainty. it all has me wanting to hunker down. light candles. stir up a real batch of cooked oatmeal - like the kind that you have to cook for 15-20 minutes (jamie tells you how here.) - and top it with blueberries (don't ask about the food miles), butter, real maple syrup and a drizzle of cream. seeking comfort. finding it. and also having it find me in unexpected forms that i only realized were needed after they arrived. life is like that sometimes.

signs of spring

sunny yellow.
small water droplets.
bright green to combat the grey.
signs of hope after a long, dark winter.
relentless winds blow,
belying the impending spring.

...or perhaps bringing it.

* * *

i know, i know, i'm all lego all the time. but i can't help it. the lego movie held onto the top spot at the box office for the third straight week. and these behind the scenes featurettes are so clever, i had to share this one.

i'll leave you with the film's earworm - everything is awesome.
just try to be in a bad mood after you hear this song.
i dare you.

here's hoping that everything is awesome in the week ahead. for you and for me.

signs of spring and sunshine

at long last, some sunshine and signs of spring have begun to show themselves...let's hope it continues! we really could use some warm days so we could open up the house and air it out!

goodbye april

april wasn't kind this year. it was cold. it was long. it was windy. did i mention that it was cold? we were all sick at one time or another. we're all coughing. some of us currently are running a temperature. more than one of us. i'll be glad to see april go. please, please, please let may mean spring.

tuesday blahs

at least we can paint while we wait for school to resume

the teacher lockout continues in this country. if the government hadn't locked them out, they would have gone on strike, so it's sort of a six of one, half dozen of the other sort of thing. the teachers gather and "demonstrate" with smiles on their faces and lattes or beers in hand, hanging out with their friends in the sunshine on the squares of the cities around denmark. i'm not even entirely sure what the dispute is about and i frankly have read quite a number of articles about it. something about not having their preparation time dictated to them (or taken away from them). as it is, they spend only 16 hours in the classroom actually teaching our kids. that seems like not very much to me.

but most surprising is the utter lack of outrage. parents have begun to complain that they don't have any child care options (many are taking their kids with them to work). i haven't heard a single parent who was concerned that their kids are missing out on three weeks of their education and the implications of that. no, it's as if school is a babysitter where you park your kids while you go to work and when you can't do that, what do you do?

maybe it's just that it clouded up again today and was windy and intermittently the sky spat at us, but i feel a little disappointed in people. where are their priorities? where is the outrage? doesn't anyone care about anything anymore?

* * *

when tragedies like the bombings at yesterday's boston marathon happen, the whole internet is awash with sympathy and photos and opinions. and i have a hard time relating to it. i've never been to boston. i've never run a marathon. i don't know a single person who was involved. it all feels very far away (which, in actuality, it is) and remote from my safe little corner of the world. there's nothing i can do about it. i don't have any answers. and it strikes me that people are killed in tragic circumstances all over the world on a daily basis and we don't go nuts on twitter about it. why is one place's tragedy more worthy of attention than all of the others? i'm sorry about what happened in boston, but i feel quite helpless to do, or even feel, anything about it.

* * *

love lisa congdon's nordic adventure occasional series.

i think i need to assign myself a project.

ponderings as the holiday winds down

questions i'm currently pondering:

~ will spring ever come?

~ what is the shape of now?

~ what is the feeling of now?

~ what is the look of now?

~ what do i want to be when i grow up?

~ tho' i've read lots of complaints out there about daylight savings time, i still love it. i'd rather have my light at the end of the day, thank you. it cuts back on television time and lets you sleep a bit longer.

~ what will i read next?

~ will i ever really be able to quiet my mind and meditate? (and will it help if i do?)

~ as much as i think the notion of coaching is a snake oil worthy of p.t. barnum (there's a sucker born every minute) or scientology, do i actually need one? or would it be better to just go running?

~ is it ok to be a snob? 

~ is it ok to assess the blame in order to avoid taking on someone else's bullshit? (husband says yes and i'm inclined to believe him.)

~ how can i introduce play into my everyday? and is there a way make a living doing so? (without involving too many children.)

~ i need more happenings in my life. and pop-up shops. and restaurants. and quality coffee. and organic veggies.

~ how can i be a better friend to me?

~ when will i stop using that essie nail polish that destroys my nails?

~ do you think you are drawn to the things you need, just when you need them?

~ where is the outrage in the danes over the coming teacher lock-out? (it starts tuesday and will last indefinitely.) and what do people do who don't have a child old enough to be left home alone in front of the internet with her iMac?

~ why don't people don't write letters like this anymore?

What is needed is constant work, day and night, constant reading, study, will…. Every hour is precious for it…. Come to us, smash the vodka bottle, lie down and read…. Turgenev, if you like, whom you have not read.

that's not quite true, i have read turgenev. and my bottle of choice is gin.

but of course, chekhov wasn't writing to me.

* * *

how fabulous does this version of alice in wonderland look?

with art by yayoi kusama.

circles are everywhere, i tell you. everywhere. it's the shape of now.

spring equinox: but where is spring?

they've been promisng us snow for days. ominous warnings of meters and meters of snow. today, we finally got a light sprinkling that covers the erantis and the crocus and the snowdrops, but also the grey. but today, the day of the equinox is actually the first day of spring. so it can hurry up and come now as far as i'm concerned. i'm ready already.

winter's last gasp

when i looked out the window this morning at a world covered in white, i exclaimed, "that is total crap!" but i couldn't hold onto that feeling when i stepped outside to do animal chores. the landscape is transformed, clean, beautiful, softer somehow. the air was still, sounds dampened, it was magical.

the chickens run around, lifting their feet as if they're trying out monty python's silly walks.

this little hen is taking a break from sitting on her nest of 16 eggs to bathe in the fresh, clean snow and survey the world.

she's queen of the little rabbit houses husband built so there could eventually be a little rabbit street (oddly, we've never put them into use).

lurking below the fluffy, white surfaces, fat buds, waiting to burst forth.

despite the snow, spring is in the air and the air is full of freshness and that pre-coital bird chatter that happens only in the spring.

even frankie frolicked and attacked falling bits of snow here and there, enjoying himself before coming in to warm his feet and have a morning nap.

the fruit bushes and the garden may be covered with snow right now, but it's fleeting and it won't be long before the bushes burst forth with leaves and blossoms and we begin to work in the garden. the green hope hangs in the very air, still, breathless, waiting quietly beneath the snow, secure that its moment is coming.

the bees are still tucked in, but their work will begin soon as well.

it may be winter's last gasp, but spring is definitely in the air.

* * *

map lovers, check out this.

a spring manifesto

pentax ME super - kodak 800

tara wrote a spring manifesto and that seemed like a good thing...

~ plant things.
~ be more aware of the moon.
~ dare.
~ worry less and do more.
~ eat lunch in the garden.
~ learn to crochet.
~ build.
~ banish negativity.
~ use the stash.
~ do something scary at least once a week (includes phone calls and taking shots only on film).
~ help husband with the garden house.
~ acquire a goat.
~ and more bunnies.
~ shoot film.
~ get in touch with my inner viking.
~ dress up. for no reason.

this is starting to sound a whole lot like resolutions and we know i'm not so keen on those, but i want spring to be full of growth and writing is the new praying, so consider this a prayer of sorts.

ode to a weekend well spent

the beginning of the garden work.

clearing last year's raspberries

with a real scythe 

felt more russian than bergman.

husband away for an evening of port and steak

with the guys. 

that's quite ok.

he needed it.

and it meant i got to spend my evening with a quiet glass of wine

and a book.

and i needed that.

blissful golden sunshine.

bunnies out in the grass.

a cup of tea in the garden.

drinking in the warm sunshine on our faces.

the bunnies did too.

lots of laughing and swinging and chasing away

the barn kitties from the bunny cage.

rejoicing in the light returning.

an orange-pink-purple sunset at 6:37.

the sun taking up a completely different spot in the sky.

as we move in earnest towards spring.

a sense of place: march 1

cold. still. quiet.
silence broken only by the squawk of a pheasant in the distance,
the song of small birds spreading the word about the seeds i just put out.

grey. hushed. crisp.
black outlines of branches
against a sky encompassing the range of grey tones.
even grey can be beautiful.
in the crisp cold silence.

a new month.
a step closer to spring.
and a faint scent of spring in the air.
hello march, what took you so long?

lions and tigers and bears, oh my

they say that if march comes in like a lion, it goes out like a lamb. and since today is decidedly lion-like with roaring wind and driving slush (yes, slush, not sleet, not rain, not snow, but clumps of slush), i'm going to hold march to it come the end.

i'm completely useless for going on a second day. i woke up yesterday with a crick in my neck that got worse all day. i can't turn my head and definitely can't look down without sharp intake of breath and lightheadedness from the pain. we discussed meningitis last night on twitter, but i don't have a fever, i'm my usual cold-blooded below-normal temperature, so i think i've pinched a nerve or something. and this bone-cold day doesn't help. but it's also impossible to sew or knit (i actually tried to knit again yesterday, since one of the things i started long ago would make a great scarf for my new orange coat) (i haven't mentioned my new orange coat, have i?) or crochet (still haven't managed a granny square - won't someone come and teach me?).

i finished life of pi, so now i've picked up stieg larsson's mænd der hader kvinder, which i read a couple of years ago, but i'm still in rereading mode these days. after the bitter disappointment of the end of life of pi, i had to go back to a reread. i've decided that i refuse to believe the end. there had to really be a tiger in that boat. but i am sad that richard parker ran off into the woods. and what was that seaweed island all about? i guess one would begin to hallucinate if one was adrift in the pacific for 7 months.

and speaking of hallucinations, i wouldn't mind hallucinating some daffodils or snowdrops or crocus out in the garden, but there's still snow everywhere, tho' the slush should melt some of it. in all, it's a rather dreary. my favorite gap jeans are on their last legs and i'm not even sure i can patch them.  i found a hole in my favorite wool sock this morning and so did sabin. we're just so ready for winter to be over. i'm thinking of going back into hibernation 'til spring comes in earnest.

spring colors

i love the flickr toys at big huge labs. i like to occasionally make a mosaic of my favorites, just to see the trends, because as you go along, you don't necessarily realize that there is a kind of harmony to the photos you're favoriting (is that a verb now too?). usually, my mosaics are heavy on the turquoise/teals and there is a little of that in this one, but i was surprised to see more brightness and more variety to the palette at the moment. it must be spring--i'm clearly attracted to orange, yellow, light blue and green. they must be the colors of right now. they're just so cheerful and lively. for the photo credits on all of these, go here. it's also interesting to make these mosaics of your own sets, because you can definitely see trends there as well--here's that teal/turquoise thing i was talking about:

i spotted another trend in my faves and among my own pictures. it seems i have a thing with sticks and stones at the moment. who am i kidding, i've always had this:

you can see that many of these belong to the lovely margie of resurrection fern and speaking of stones, you should go check out her latest stone diary post, because it features the stones i sent her! she's doing such inspiring work combining nature and craft. and i just read her profile and realized she's a family physician as well! i wonder how she finds the time for everything!?! people amaze me sometimes.

and on that note, i'll get to work so that i can earn my time to play.