wherein we actually have summer

summer is actually upon us.

that's not always the case in july in denmark.

but we've had an absolutely glorious few days.

the kittens have spent time outside, learning to climb trees and chase frogs.

there's been time for tie-dye projects.

sabin's transforming a brand new pair of white vans into a bright rainbow.

the good bit about our summer is that it's never too hot.

it's actually just right - upper 70s and a nice breeze.

i hate to be one of those bloggers who seems to be bragging about a perfect life.

but it has been pretty perfect for the past couple of days.

what's better than creativity and kittens in the garden?

even my old, faded, scuffed yellow converse got a rainbow facelift.

i can't wait 'til they dry so i can wear them.

rainbows are just so happy and cheerful.

these long summer days stretch out and there's time for everything.

time to wander the treeline separating our property from the neighbor's

and pick a basketful of wild rose petals.

our strawberries are in full production mode.

we picked more yesterday than we've ever picked in one go.

i didn't weigh them, but that's an enormous bowl.

and it was heaped to the top.

a little break during the strawberry picking.

i hadn't put the beers in the fridge, so i just poured it over ice.

that was good too.

a separate bowl of strawberries set aside for dessert.

we're eating strawberries every night right now.

 fresh, fragrant, sprinkled with a bit of sugar and some cream.

i must remember this taste of summer

when the clouds and rain inevitably return.

this is the summer we actually had some summer in denmark.

goodbye, dear frankie

frankie
may 18, 2012 - july 8, 2013

our handsome frankie had to be put to sleep today. completely unexpectedly. he showed up with a sore right paw that he wouldn't put any weight on, so i made him an appointment at the vet today. i could see a puncture wound on the leg and thought he'd been in a cat fight. it turned out his leg was rather badly broken and the vet thought that even if we went for a very expensive specialist treatment, he would still always hobble around on it and it would be months of treatments and pain for him, with a big risk of him not being able to live his carefree cat life when it was all over. so i made the hard choice and said goodbye to him through a flood of tears. it was far too soon, but the life he had was a very good one and he was very loved. and he will be sorely missed. sorely, sorely missed.

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so this is why, despite being a typist, i still love to write by hand.

lego minifigures, like modern baseball cards, without all that stupid baseball

i was in the grocery store and spotted a display of lego minifigures. i've long been familiar with little lego people, as we have many of them around the house, mostly of the kind that came with sets of lego. and one of the ways you can properly judge a lego set is by how many mini figures come with it. but until friday, i wasn't really aware of the minifigure collecting phenomenon.

they come in a sealed package, like baseball cards, in a numbered series and you'll get a surprise one of 16 minifigures in your package for 20 kroner (or 17 if you buy them in fakta, where i did). i spotted a little chicken on the package and decided to grab a couple, thinking in light of my missing chickens, it would be fun to get a lego chicken.

the first one i opened was not a chicken, but this club-wielding troglodyte (which i later found out is actually a cyclops). and i felt a little bit like i can never escape those cavemen, tho' he's also kind cute. naturally, i still had to try for a chicken, but i had bought two, so i had one more to open.

inside the second package was this awesome little forest maiden, who i took to be a warrior goddess who was sworn to defend the forest. plus, how awesome is her hair? i was happy, but it still wasn't a little lego man in a chicken suit, so i picked up another handful when i had to go back to the store anyway for some things i forgot for the party.

next up was a judge. he's very cleverly made - his little red robe held in place by his white wig. no minifigures this cool come with the actual sets. and look at his wrinkles and that expression on his face. this is an awesome level of detailed cleverness.

before my chicken came, i got caesar, complete with little gold laurel wreath on his perfect little caesar haircut. that was cool, but still not a chicken. the chicken only came on my 6th try. but it's so cute it was worth it. i don't need all of series 9, but i would still like to have the hollywood starlet, who looks a bit like marilyn monroe and the mermaid, so i imagine a few more will find their way into my basket the next time i'm in the grocery store.

then we discovered that the local campground (i went there, trying to source ice in a fit of pre-party panic yesterday) had a display with some of the older series - 3-4-5 to be exact. those must be getting pretty rare, so we had to pick up a few five of them. we got this little zookeeper, complete with monkey and banana.

and my fave, a mad scientist, also with super cool hair. the hair on these is WAY better than on the normal ones that come with sets.

we also got kimono girl from series 4. we were trying for the viking that was part of that series, but no such luck.

and who can resist hazmat guy from series 5? look at the expression on his face? he looks really worried!

honestly, i do not need more bits of plastic in my life, but i am definitely a sucker for something that's cleverly done. i even arranged a trade with lost star (she's got warrior girl from series 10 and i had an extra cyclops that she needed). but i'll be able to stop as soon as i get viking girl, viking guy, the little soldier in a furry hat (after all, husband was once one of those himself) and the one in a bunny costume (ala the chicken man who started it all). and then i can quit. really. for sure. i promise.

it's all about the food

a pitcher of cocktails gets any party off to a brilliant start.

this was actually the second pitcher,

as the first one disappeared very quickly.

it was made with gin and rhubarb cordial with sparkling water and plenty of ice.

the people on our road have been holding this annual "street party" for 30+ years.

we made the food ourselves, which was new for them.

they usually order the food from a boring local restaurant.

i love to make people work a little bit for their dinner.

so they had to grill their kabobs themselves.

it made everyone stand around the grill table talking, so it was great.

we also got some ordinary sausages for the kids.

and some exciting spicy ones that i couldn't resist, which were mostly eaten by adults.

we'll be having some of this today as well, as there were plenty of leftovers.
i always make too much food.

i made bread that we used as an appetizer with the welcome drink

and the neighbor, with whom we shared the party duties, made some beautiful bread for the dinner.

i covet her big basket a bit. i'll have to get one of those myself.

a beautiful, simple salad with mixed leaves, pear, cashews and flakes of parmesan.

our strawberries are going strong , so i filled a big, pretty glass bowl with them.

we got the bowl ages ago in istanbul and i don't use it often enough,

but it makes me happy when i do.

some thumbprint shortbread cookies

with frosting flavored with my homemade cordials

strawberry, elderflower and a combination of both.

they were perfect with the coffee.

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it's funny, with an event like this, i love cooking all day to get ready for it, but there's always a stressed out sense of panic in the last hour before guests arrive, especially here in jutland, where your guests are likely to show up as much as half an hour early (true to form, the first ones came at 20 minutes to five last night). there's a mad dash to change clothes into something presentable while doing all of the last-minute chopping and frosting and plating up and preparing. there's usually a bit of sniping at anyone who comes through the kitchen and a frantic vacuuming by husband. it's odd because i actually really don't like the moment when people arrive - if, like yesterday, i don't know them well - it feels awkward and strange and i want to hide in the kitchen (so i often do). but get the first of the welcome drink down them and start cutting bread and telling them about the various spreads for the bread and i relax and begin to enjoy. and it's a bit ironic, because many of my moments of most conscious happiness are spent in the kitchen, preparing food for such a gathering. 

i would never survive a master chef competition. 

cats in scarves

oh the indignity.

i put the cats through today.

for my own amusement.

don't they look wonderful?

in denmark's soil

out in the ål klitplantage near oksbøl, there is a very interesting exhibition going on. there in the forest, in 1946, just after the war, there was a camp with 35,000 german refugees. artist kate skjerning and her husband, photographer niels linneberg (who is a flickr friend of mine) have created an exhibition entitled i danmarks jord (in denmark's soil), that's a memorial of sorts to those refugees. guided by poet agnes miegel's poignant, sorrowful poem of the same name to 4,132 children who died in 1945 on their way to the camp, the 1km route through the cool, quiet forest features larger-than-life photos of 175 contemporary residents of the area, fixed around the trees, as if they're standing there in the forest.

i love that this guy was actually photographed in front of this tree originally - even the bark matches up!

there's something piercing and intense about her eyes.

the portraits are striking, but there's no real connection, other than location, between the people depicted and the german refugees - no indication that they stayed behind and made their lives in the area, producing descendants who are still here.

it was quite funny with this family group, because we had seen them in real life at the beach about 15 minutes before we visited the exhibition.

at the beginning of the route, there are people here and there, one at a time, but then it opens up to a wide area with many people on many trees. the effect is striking and a little bit eerie. the girls said that they wouldn't want to walk out there at night.

mostly, i love the idea of a photography exhibition out in nature and i think it was a brilliant means of accomplishing that. the fact that at least some of the people were photographed in front of the very tree where their photo is displayed is really cool. i don't think all of them were, but on those that were, the effect was somehow strengthened.

but i will say that it didn't provoke me think that much about the german refugees. despite the sorrowful words of the poem guiding our way, i couldn't really conjure them or their ghosts in that place. maybe it just affects me less, growing up as i did so removed from the war. even after all this time, it's just so much more present for europeans than it is for me as an american (not to mention that i wasn't even thought of at the time it occurred).

what it did make me think about is all of the talk of udkantsdanmark - the outlying areas, where it's hard to keep people because of a lack of jobs and opportunities in the smaller towns of the periphery. these faces of those who stayed are a fascinating essay of sorts into which all sorts of sociology could be written. i might have to go back and ponder it some more.

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i've just updated my photo portfolio blog with a cool new pinteresty template.

i'm liking how it looks.

here one moment, gone the next