100 happy days :: day 96

sunshine at last.

man, have i missed it.

proof of sunshine

lots of rain today, but the sun came through during the golden hour. and despite the rain, there were many moments of conscious happiness. picking currants. making juice. filling jars of honey. holding yet another baby chick in my hand. slicing mushrooms and bacon for the pasta for dinner. pouring a glass of wine. it felt like life was precisely as it ought to be today. right here and now.

here's hoping you feel the same.

*  *  *

this is interesting reading.

i have viking fireplace envy

you can find viking markets here and there in denmark all summer long. there was one recently in jelling (where we keep our horse). there are people who go around from market to market, dressed up as vikings, living in the viking way - cooking over fires and dressing up in homespun garments. i envy them a little bit. and i wish tho' that they had a bit more of the viking spirit of trading, or even just selling stuff at the markets. because i so want some of this viking cooking equipment, but sadly, they never seem to want to sell it when you ask them about it. i think perhaps market doesn't mean what they think it means. or maybe it doesn't mean what i think it means. someday, i will get my hands on some of this stuff. and when i do, we will have REAL nordic food.

lovely shining monday

we took a little family outing to the west coast today. as we drew nearer, the sun came out and since it was about 10°C (or 50°F), it was downright balmy, despite the strong winds blowing in off the north sea.

 and the light. oh, the light.

an afternoon of sea and sand and wind and golden light has completely realigned my very soul.

i am definitely ready for the new year now! bring it on!

light

i am not my house.

my car.

my job.

my kitchen.

i breathe in golden evening light.

and a calm comes over me.

the very air itself shimmers golden.

liquid gold.

and realize that light is all there really is.

rays of sunshine

i'm a bit absent today due to these rays of sunshine...more soon.

let them eat lego

the weather makes a very huge difference...on saturday, it would have been easy to sit around moping about how our visitors couldn't come after all. but somehow, because the sun was shining, we didn't let it get us down. on a whim, we decided to drive over to visit our best friends near the lake where they live over on the so-called devil's island (shh, it's the one where copenhagen is located). we needed to go check our house over there anyway, so we decided to go a day early.

i packed up a jar of rhubarb syrup, a bottle of hendrick's (polly, please bring more when you come in july!), a loaf of freshly-baked bread and a bowl of hummus and we were on our way.

we arrived just in time for dinner and to enjoy the last few glorious hours of sunshine on what was simply a perfect summer day. we had great conversations, good burgers, awesome cocktails and loads of laughs. husband declared that international aid to promote democracy is wasted until everyone has clean water, enough food, shelter and legos. and we laughed. i think even he was surprised that he had added legos to the list, but we had spent most of last week at hotel legoland, so perhaps it wasn't that surprising.

sometimes it's good to give in to spontaneity. life is short. and so is summer.

alliums!

one of the good things about moving in spring is that there are surprises everywhere around the garden. i'm happy to report that there are lilac trees and elderflower trees and plenty of tulips. there are 24 different hostas underneath the beautiful red maple tree. and while i was away this week, these beautiful alliums showed their lovely heads. i'm looking forward to seeing what's next of the summer flowers.

despite the beauty of the garden on this glorious day, i'm a little bummed, because elizabeth's son got sick and so she couldn't visit today with her family after all...we were really looking forward to their visit, but now it will have to be another day.  so i'm sending these glowing alliums their way and thinking healthy thoughts for lars to get well soon...

domestic decay or dead tulips can look good too