ok, 2022, let's start this off right

it's been a lovely start to the new year. i slept in, then husband brought me a cup of tea and then we went for a long walk in the cool, still, foggy first day of the new year. we went down to give plantage, only encountered a few other people who all said "godt nytår" and then walked back home via the gravel road. it was 10km in total, precisely. then, i made us fresh juices (carrots, oranges, beets, apples, ginger and turmeric) and we had some lunch. 

our mutual resolution is to keep to the 350 grams of meat per person per week that's currently advised by people who care about the climate, but yet are not prepared to go vegan. i want to further resolve to only buy the products the grocery store discounts because they're close to expiration or from the too good to go app. we will buy essentials like milk, olive oil, butter and cheese, whether they're "mad spild" or not. 

i signed up for some challenges through the conquerer app. i'll admit that i'm a sucker for an instagram ad. but, i find the notion motivating - you virtually walk routes like route 66 or yellowstone or mount everest and you earn medals. the 10k we walked today put me closer to macchu picchu, since i chose the inca trail as my first challenge.  i won't have time to walk 10k every day, but even 2-3 will make a difference and i feel like this app and the challenges will motivate me and make me get out there and move, even when the darkness or rain makes it difficult. 

there was even time for a bit of rest and bonding with the kittens before dinner, which was an easy carpaccio (110 grams of that alotted 350). i got a bunch of lemons in a box this week, so i preserved them with chili and salt (inspired by this recipe). and i made a massive stuffed bread with all the leftover cheese i had in the fridge and the excess of eggs coming from the hens (we're getting 4-5 a day, despite the darkness), plus some bacon and leftover spinach. it's still in the oven and will be for a surprise outdoor picnic tomorrow in copenhagen for the corona-stricken birthday girl.  

in all, it's been a good start to the new year. i even managed to start fresh on our novel and write 438 words! yay for 2022!

a bit of light in the dark

i sat at my computer all day. my bossy apple watch kept reminding me to stand up. i didn't listen. i have a lot to do. it turns out that (re)writing an entire website is a pretty big job (thank goodness i have help). two weeks of holiday helped put my head back on straight, so i'm much more able to concentrate and get down to the work. at the end of the day, in the waning bits of light, i finally listened to my watch and went out for a walk. and i'm so glad i did. the nearly full moon was rising and the air was crisp and cool. i walked 4km and it got pretty thoroughly dark by the time i returned, even though it only took about 40 minutes. 

it's kind of amazing how that 40 minutes of fresh air and being in my body means that when i got back home, i'm full of ideas and energy. that's also surely down to the two weeks of holiday. i always feel like travel fills me with ideas and energy. and now i know that taking a walk helps me keep hold of that. 

the problem is that it's the dark time of year and it's going to get darker for another month. since we live in country roads, i can put on a high visibility vest and get out there and walk anyway. my phone has light. we have a headlamp. this is doable. and worth it for the ideas and energy. 

a brisk walk, like shining a bit of light in the dark. 

the view from sunday night or what a week it's been

it's been a full week. there have been tiara-wearing kittens (that got a whopping 252 likes on flickr, which is the most any of my flickr photos have ever gotten).

there were days of rain, and blustery winds, but also glorious, golden light spilled through in between showers, making it ok that it went from summer to fall overnight.

there were more photo sessions with kittens, where i came to understand why they say you shouldn't try to herd cats. they are at their most lovely and irresistible right now. i'm enjoying every yummy minute of them.

there was a bit of early access to the series 12 minifigures, which won't be in stores until october (hence the blurry photo). i've got 13 of the 16 and can't wait for them to be released so i can get the other 3.

there was teenage mutant ninja turtle homework to do. i do love the kind of homework i'm asked to do at my workplace, even tho' tmnt aren't my favorites. this little spaceship was mostly an upside down build, which was new for me. it's also quite a lot sturdier than it appears, which is cool.

we harvested the last batch of honey - boosting our total harvest for the year up to 90 kilos, a much better harvest than last year. now we just need a big box of new honey jars so we can fill them up and maybe even sell some.

and when we weren't eating shark burgers, the weekend was spent discussing the school options. we visited two schools on friday and both have their own advantages. so much so that we've not had a gut feeling that one is a better choice than the other. that's been a bit difficult for me, as i normally rely on my gut to tell me things and in this case, it's told me that we should definitely find a new school, but it isn't obvious which one is the best choice. the child, on the other hand, is sure which one she wants, so pending a couple of questions tomorrow morning, we are going to go with that one - she is, after all, the one who has to make the switch. it's up to us to make the logistics of it work and to ensure that she keeps her social circle intact, as well as building a new one. that one, we're not really worried about so much. probably, we'll ultimately choose the public school, because we pay an awful lot of taxes and education is something they should just get right. and the new school gives a good impression of getting it right (of course, we're currently easy to impress in light of how bad things are at her current school).

and the weekend ended with a long walk with husband in the forest. the rainy weather has been good for mushrooms, both the edible and the photogenic kinds (these are the latter). a long walk has a way of clearing out any last vestiges of restlessness and discontent. and now i'm ready for the week ahead.

* * *

molly has been on a roll (of awesome posts) lately.

* * *

me, probably not making all that much sense, 

in danish, on the radio last wednesday evening.

talking about what danishness is.

(hint: full calendars, booking people two months ahead,

being able to talk to the boss no matter your level in the org. 

and being afraid of conflict)

* * *

i'm liking stuckinplastic

what's not to like? minifigs. life philosophies. lemonade. gratefulness.

* * *

a heartwarming story of love that finally happened after 60 years.

* * *

has amazon gone to the dark side?

a walk in the woods

i'm finally surfacing after a week-long battle with the flu. it was a mean one - i've not been knocked down by a flu like this in years. i didn't even turn on my computer tuesday, wednesday, thursday and most of friday, so you know it was bad. i mostly laid in bed reading harry potter. i was even too weak to sit upright and knit or watch t.v. i didn't even get out the iPad and the netflix, as that seemed like too much trouble. poor husband didn't get a nice anniversary dinner and i still owe him a birthday cake. but perhaps this coming week i'll remedy that.

our winter is quite mild and to clear my head of the last of the lingering germs, husband and i went for a walk on this very still, just above freezing day. the air was cold and crisp and fresh in my lungs and felt like just what i needed. our snow is gone, leaving the world a bit grey, but if you look closely, there are bits of magic here and there.

i hope to keep glimpsing them in the week ahead as i slowly surface from my flu.

a glimpse of what lies beneath

on our christmas day walk, i kept noticing the reflections of the trees in the puddles.
i had a feeling that we had a rare glimpse of things down under the earth,
in to the roots of the trees, to what lies beneath.

and it was a clear reflection of the world above.

they say there is a root below for every branch above, so it sort of makes sense.

it was a strange, almost vertigo-like feeling it gave me,
standing on the edge of that secret abyss below,
through the window afforded by the still, clear water.
it felt like you could slip quietly in and explore what was below.

but instead, we walked on.

and a little shiver went down my spine.
i'm not sure we're supposed to know everything about what lies beneath.

more magical mushrooms

purple velvet on a green carpet

salmon pink

blue velvet 

stones that look like a broken, old mushroom

more light blue velvet

stitched around the edges

perfect stitches around the edge

lipstick

frog and a slug

shell-like

teeny tiny world

once again, i'm not so great at identifying these, but i do love finding and photographing them on a walk in the woods. i'm amazed at the range of colors mushrooms and fungi come in.  next year, i'm going to be prepared to use them for dyeing, but with harvesting the garden bounty and honey and making cider and getting ready to build a new kitchen and such things, it feels like too much to try to tackle mushroom dyes as well.  so that will have to wait. and the pretty pictures will have to suffice in the meantime.

mushroom monday

all of the mushrooms in this post were seen and photographed on a single walk in the woods.

our property is 7+ hectars (17 acres) of land, divided into two - one of about 4 hectars where the house is and the other piece is a forest of mostly birches, but quite a few big pines, about 2 km down the road.

these mushrooms were all growing in our forest on saturday. so i guess the rain is good for something.

and what is it about a sense of ownership (tho' by rights, it's the bank that owns it) that somehow makes it even better?

are we programmed by our culture to think ownership adds an extra dimension?

or is it programmed in our very genetic makeup? a biology of ownership?

i don't have the answer.

but i will say that i felt these mushrooms, in their variety and number, were extra special because we found them in our own forest.

so they were OUR infinite variety of mushrooms. and that somehow adds an extra dimension.

i'd like to learn more about mushrooms. i mostly photographed them, tho' we brought a few home to try to identify them with our various mushroom books. (someone needs to invent one that lets you look things up by color.)

we're mostly too chicken to get very adventurous on eating just any old mushroom. which is probably also a biology of sorts - self-preservation.

so mostly, we just enjoyed the beauty of them.

and i enjoyed getting on the ground and getting up close and personal with the macro lens. devouring them with the camera, if not actually devouring them.

tho' these yellow swamp brittlegills are edible and we found enough of them (that we didn't have to share with bugs and slugs) to make an accompaniment to our pasta dinner.

they have the additional advantage of being difficult to mix up with other mushrooms,

so you can feel safe and secure in identifying them by their bright yellow tops.

they were delicious.

what i learned: monday edition

things i learned today:

: : the porcini (karl johan) mushroom is a wily foe. it ducks when you pass by and is very, very silent.

: : you should not spoil your view of a book by seeking out videos of the author talking about it.

: : late this afternoon, as a treat for my being a good girl, diligently getting all sorts of work done all day, i gave myself time to try to catch up on some blog reading. i chose one of my favorite, but woefully neglected blogs, just a moment of miscellany, and i read all 23 entries that were in my reader. and according to bill, who awoke to what he thought was a spam attack, i commented on 19 of them. i can see why this seemed like spam. but, in fact, it was a really interesting experience, to read nearly a month's worth of posts on one blog in one go. normally, we read blogs post by post, as they are written, leaving each one behind as the next day's post replaces it. but reading a lot of posts at once gives you a different, holistic, more coherent view of a blog. and i have to say that i highly recommend it. and i also recommend you start with bill's blog, as i did. you won't be sorry and you just might learn something.

: : sunlight, falling through a single spot in a dark part of a pine forest can look like artificial light. i assure you, no flash was used in the taking of this picture. because we know how much i hate flash.

: : the child will soon need a new bike. tho' she may want a horse first.

: : if one mushroom has a bitterness that spoils your creamy pasta sauce, you can actually mostly fix it with a little red currant jelly.

i'm sure i learned other things, but these are the ones that come to mind. more tomorrow...