Å for Åh

     Her er så denne aprils sidste A-Z indlæg.
     Temaet for i år var Drømme - dobbelthed. Jeg kunne godt lide temaet og Lissas vignet var helt perfekt. Og undskyld forsinkelsen. Jeg fumlede rundt og fik sat datoen et år ud i fremtiden 😕 Åh!

Ⓐ - Ⓩ

  This is the years last A-Z post.
  The theme for this year was Dream - Duality. I liked the theme, and Lissa's vignette was perfect. And sorry fro the delay. I had set this post to auto-post in a year instead of posting it earlier today 😕 Oops!

Å for Åh / Oh, Aww, Oops! (Åh is a truly multifunctional sound)

    Åh, siger Uglemor - er vi allerede færdige. Jeg nåede ikke alt det, jeg havde sat mig for. Kun 15 poster -16 hvis denne her tælles med. Det var ikke helt hvad jeg havde tænkt, men det kunne jo have været værre. Jeg er helt tilfreds med de poster, jeg faktisk fik skrevet, og det tæller vel også.

Oh, MotherOwl says, I did not get to write all the posts I had thought out. I made it to 15, 16 with this one, posts during A-Z. That's not too good, neither is it too bad. And actually I'm quite satisfied with the posts I did write. This counts as well.

A - Z  Å

Åh, se nu her: Uglemor viser kløer - og æg

Aww, look at this, MommyOwl showing off her claws - and eggs.

Æ for Æg

     Her er dagens A-Z indlæg. Årsagen til forsinkelsen vil stå klart sidst i indlægget. Jeg skulle nemlig have heldet med mig for at skrive i dag, og det havde jeg søreme!
     Temaet for i år er Drømme - dobbelthed, så lad os se, hvad der falder mig ind til det tema.

Ⓐ - Ⓩ

  Here's today's A-Z post. The reason for the delay will be clear at the end of the post. I did not know if I was lucky enough to be able to post today, but I was :)
  The theme for this year, is Dream - Duality. let's see what crosses my mind on this theme.

    På dansk er der jo ikke ret mange ord med W, Z,X eller Q. Til gengæld har vi så Æ,Ø og Å. I dag, den 28 er jeg så nået til P, hvis jeg skulle tage bogstaverne i rækkefølge, men til Æ hvis det tre sidste dage skulle være Æ. Ø og Å.
     Og så er det jo så heldigt at jeg lige fik et billede til Æ - Æ for Æg.

Æ for Ægg / Egg

In Danish we haven't got many words beginning with W, Z, X or Q. Tomake up for this, we have three strange letter at the end of the alphabet after Z: Æ, Ø og Å. Today, the 28th it's time for Æ. I was lucky to get a photo to fit in here just a few minutes ago. Æ is for Æg = Egg or Eggs.

Natkamera på ugleTV og man kan tydeligt se to af de tre æg. Tiden siger 21.14, det er bare 20 minutter siden.

Night time on OwlTV.Two of the three eggs are clearly visible. Timestamp 21.14 just 20 minutes ago.

O for Ookie-pookies & Owls

     Hver dag klokken 12 (undtagen søndag) kommer dagens A-Z indlæg hvis der altså kommer et.
     Temaet for i år er Drømme - dobbelthed, så lad os se, hvad der falder mig ind til det tema.

Ⓐ - Ⓩ

  Every day at noon (except Sundays) a new A-Z post goes live - or no post today.
  The theme for this year, is Dream - Duality. let's see what crosses my mind on this theme.

O for Ookie-pookies & Owls

  Some days ago Messymimi had the right diagnosis for one of the things bothering me: The Ookie-pookies. This is a general feeling that the universe is conspiring to make you as miserable as possible, with things you can't help, nor really complain about without sounding ungrateful and whiny.
  Something like this: Everything is just plain old stupid. News, friends, family, social media, the nature around me, and even myself - everything is drab, boring, stupid. Nobody ever listens, Nobody ever understands anything. Everybody but me is going places and having fun. The one day I want to go to an outdoor event, is the one day it rains in a long row of sunshiny days. When I go to bed I have to go for a pee. When I go shopping the items on my list are sold out ... You know the feeling, I'm sure. This time I just have it bad, and each time I begin getting out, something new comes along and hits me over the head.
  Now I'm trying to chase the Ookie-pookies by telling about the Owls.

Ⓞ

We go back in time to February. The Owls have arrived, inspecting their nest and digging it deeper.

DaddyOwl has been Hoo-hooing and showing off the nest for hours on end each night, serving fat rats and mice for MommyOwl, and finally ... eggs are laid, and MommyOwl is incubating and emitting small complacent sounds, with DaddyOwl diligently and encouragingly hooting and bringing in food every night.

But then ...in the middle of the night an unwelcome visitor arrived. A marten. MommyOwl and the marten fought a long, furious battle, lasting for ten minutes, and ending with them rolling over the edge of the nest and down the almost man high drop in front of it. MotherOwl did not return, and a bleeding, wounded marten made off with the eggs.

The text says: And runs away with one of the eggs.

Then the nest was empty for days. Why MommyOwl did not return to defend her eggs after the tumble we'll never know.

The text is written by Klaus Dichmann - nicknamed Owly Klaus - our resident expert. He was surprised that a marten dared attach an European Eagle Owl on its nest and even got away with it. She has scared a fox off some years ago.
Next morning (March 24, 2022 10.52 am) he wrote: The female owl was sitting on 3 eggs in the nest. One of the eggs was cracked during the fight and the marten took one of the other eggs. The last egg has become cold, and will not hatch.
It looks like only the marten was wounded during the fight, we can see blood on its left side and right ear.
The owls won't try hatching again this year, but we hope for them to return next year.
(Cut off):We'll let the camera run a bit longer to look for the owls.


Some days later, we were treated to this sight:

MommyOwl testing the nest with DaddyOwl inspecting and hooting encouragingly. He also served several rats.


And this last one from today: MommyOwl incubating 3 new eggs. What was not supposed to happen, actually did happen.

The text is an egg-counter telling us that the first egg was laid at Wednesday, April 13, at noon. Great European Owls are incubating for around 32 days, so we hope for no more unwelcome visitors and for owlets in May.

- - - - -

All photos are stills from the Owl-Webcam. Courtesy of DOF (The Danish Ornithological Society). Here you can follow the nest in real time, and find links to YouTube videos from previous years: Owlets being ringed by Klaus; MommyOwl chasing the fox away; DaddyOwl serving rats; and even Br'er Fox making off with the owlets one year.

April 27 - The Words

This month Messymimi is providing the prompts on her Meanderings.
She tells us:

It's my month to provide the prompts for Words for Wednesday.  Since it becomes Wednesday in some parts of the world while it is still Tuesday here, I am providing the prompts today, so you can work on them and post them when it's Wednesday where you are.
This week the prompts are the following words:

Behavior
Comfortable
Bubble
Pluck
Share
Ton
     and/ or
Bear
Conversation
Line
Action
Quality
Carrot

Poetry Monday :: Brother -- Maybe also A - Z: N for Never!

   Maybe I am now at N in the A - Z Challenge. Maybe I dropped out. I'm having a serious case of "The Stupids". This is a self-invented, and I suspect self-inflicted disease. Everything is just plain old stupid. News, friends, family, social media, the nature around me, and even myself. Nobody ever listens, Nobody ever understands what I say. It's raining when I want sunshine, when I go to bed I have to go for a pee, and what I go shopping for is sold out ... I think you all know this and can continue the list.
  Maybe I just miss me a Brother.

  Because it's Poetry Monday today.  Diane - who has taken over the hosting of  this challenge - and Mimi of Messymimi's Meanderings - who supplies us with many of the topics - are also writing wonderful, funny, thought-provoking, ingenious and honestly well written verse. Go and read them!
  Karen of Baking in a Tornado has joined us in this crazy pursuit, and promises us at least a poem a month!
  SpikesBestMate often publishes a nice verse in the comments.
  Jenny at Procrastinating Donkey who has been a faithful participant, is slowly returning to blogging after her husband's passing from this world. Let's continue to send warm thoughts, good energy, and lots of prayers her way, now her mum needs a serious prayer too. But still we dare hope that she will join Poetry Monday again.
  The prompt for today is Brother! I always wanted a brother when I was a small one. All the others, I knew had brothers. Brothers were a good thing, they could pull splinters, repair broken things, buy candy for you, and much more. I also wanted a brother. They seemed the solution to most of my problems!

Often I asked my Mother:
Oh, please give me a brother
A big and a strong one.
All handsome and fun

To help and defend me
And money he'd lend me
One to push me on my trike,
Mend my zippers and bikes

But no matter how I tried
And even how I cried.
My evil, scheming mother
Never gave a big brother

When waiting was done
And the days were gone
I had a baby sister!
Hey what happened mister?

But there was no return
And to love her, I learn.
Now I was the bigger
And repaired trikes and zipper.

 - - - - -

  Next Mondays topic is: Babies.
  I hope for better times, better health, better weather, better tempers, in short a better version of the world next Monday.

Poetry Monday :: Juggling & M for Marmorkugler

     Hver dag klokken 12 (undtagen søndag) kommer dagens A-Z indlæg hvis der altså kommer et. Me igen i dag er jeg sent på den - vi skyder skylden på det gode havevejr.
     Temaet for i år er Drømme - dobbelthed, så lad os se, hvad der falder mig ind til det tema.

Ⓐ - Ⓩ

  Every day at noon (except Sundays) a new A-Z post goes live - or no post today. But again toiday I'm late, I blame the good weather and weeds with long roots.
  The theme for this year, is Dream - Duality. let's see what crosses my mind on this theme.

M for Marmorkugler / Marbles

    Langsomt er der opstået et nyt koncept. De dage, jeg ikke allerede har et ord, tager jeg en random ord-generator til hjælp. I dag fik jeg: Marmorkugler. Derudover er det Poetry Monday, hvor vi skriver et digt om et forud opgivent emne. I dag er temaet Jonglering.
     Jeg drømmer stadig om at lære at jonglere. Jeg har prøvet at lære det ved hjælp af bøger, videoer og endog engang af en fra cirkus, men uden held. Jeg kan jonglere med to bolde, men tre? Nej. Det er så let ud, og det er det bare ikke! Jeg har investeret i et par jongeringsbolde, der ikke hopper, ellers bruger jeg hele tiden på at jagte bolde, altså!

Ⓜ

  Slowly a new concept has emerged for my A-Z Challenge. For those days, where I do not already have a word, I consult a Random Word Generator. Today I had: Marbles.
  And it's Poetry Monday:  Diane - who has taken over the hosting of  this challenge - and Mimi of Messymimi's Meanderings - who also supplies us with topics - are writing wonderful, funny, thought-provoking, ingenious and honestly well written verse. Go and read.
  Karen of Baking in a Tornado has joined us in this crazy pursuit, and promises us at least a poem a month!
  SpikesBestMate often publishes a nice verse in the comments.
  Jenny at Procrastinating Donkey who has been a faithful participant, is slowly returning to blogging after her husband's passing from this world. Let's continue to send warm thoughts, good energy, and lots of prayers her way, now her mum needs a serious prayer too. But still we dare hope that she will join Poetry Monday again.
  The prompt for today is Juggling! Juggling always impresses me. And I still dream of mastering this art. It looks so easy and it so is not! I have tried learning with books, videos and even once in a circus, but so far without any progress. I can handle two balls, three is beyond me. And I need to juggle non bouncing balls, or I'll spend all day chasing dropped balls.

When you learn how to juggle
It's a toil and a trouble.
But once you can do it
you can go just a bit
Harder by choosing your ball
In a size very small.
And the hardest - it sparkles
Is to juggle your marbles!

 - - - - -

Next Mondays topic is Brothers.

Haleluja!

GLÆDELIG PÅSKE

Kristus er opstanden - Ja, Han er sandelig opstanden. Halleluja!

HAPPY EASTER

Christ is risen - He is risen indeed. Alleluia!


Χριστὸς ἀνέστη! - Ἀληθῶς ἀνέστη!

K & L for Kirke & Langfredag

     Hver dag klokken 12 (undtagen søndag) kommer dagens A-Z indlæg hvis der altså kommer et.
     Temaet for i år er Drømme - dobbelthed, så lad os se, hvad der falder mig ind til det tema.

Ⓐ - Ⓩ

  Every day at noon (except Sundays) a new A-Z post goes live - or no post today.
  The theme for this year, is Dream - Duality. let's see what crosses my mind on this theme.

K for Kirke / Church & L for Langfredag / Good Friday

    Langsomt er der opstået et nyt koncept. De dage, jeg ikke allerede har et ord, tager jeg en random ord-generator til hjælp. Det blev ikke nødvendigt for de her to, det passede jo med tiden. I går var det langfredag, og både i går og skærtorsdag var vi i kirke, og det skal vi også enten i aften eller i morgen tidlig.
   Og jeg nyder hvert år at tage del i påskens triduum: Skærtorsdag med Gloria og fuld orgellyd, klokkeringning og sang, og så stilheden derefter, fodtvætningen, alterets afklædning, vågen ved "graven", improprierne og alt det andet. Den nøgne andagt langfredag, med  præsten,der lægger sig udstrakt på gulvet ved liturgiens start, korsets hyldning og bønnerne for hele verden.Og sidst, men ikke mindst påskenat, den mørke kirke og lyset, der langsomt breder sig fra den ene kerte, Exultet, sunget medens kerterne stadig oplyser kirken, læsningerne derbringer os fra skabelsen frem til langfredag. Og så Gloria igen, lyset tændes, messeklokker og kirkeklokker stemmer i, og vi synger med i overstadig jubel over den opstandne Frelser.
     Bagefter spiser vi chokoladeæg på vejen hjem - de ligger allerede i min rygsæk - mens vi ser frem til de kommende dages fester.

Ⓚ - Ⓛ

Slowly a new concept has emerged for the A-Z Challenge. For those days, where I do not already have a word, I consult a Random Word Generator. Today this was not necessary, as the liturgical year handed me the clues. Yesterday was Langfredag / Good Friday, and both yesterday, the day before yesterday and again tonight we're off to Kirke / Church.
  And every year I enjoy taking part in the Easter Triduum. Maundy Thursday with the Gloria and full organ sound, the ringing of the bells and the singing, and then the silence afterwards, the washing of the feet, the stripping of the altar, the vigil at the "tomb" and everything else. The naked devotion on Good Friday, with the priest prostrate on the floor at the start of the liturgy, the celebration of the cross and the prayers for the whole world. And last but not least the Easter Vigil, the darkness of the church, the readings bringing us all the way from the Creation to Good Friday; and then the light slowly spreading from the one candle, the Exultet, sung while the candles still light the church, and then the Gloria again, the thimbles and bells joining in, and we sing along in exuberant jubilation at the Risen Saviour.
 Afterwards we eat chocolate eggs on the way home - they are already in my backpack - and looking forward to the celebrations of the coming days.

Words for Wednesday - April 13

As I told Wednesday, this months prompts are given by Messymimi at her Meanderings.
This week she told us: 

It's my month to provide the prompts for Words for Wednesday.  Since it becomes Wednesday in some parts of the world while it is still Tuesday here, i am providing the prompts today, so you can work on them and post them when it's Wednesday where you are.

This week the prompts are the following words

prize
conversation
smell
citizen
vegetable
fail

and/or the following phrases

mountain out of a molehill (to make a big deal out of nothing)
a cut below (something inferior to the surrounding others)
a cold fish (someone who lacks empathy or emotion)

Please use these as a springboard, not a chain, and if you write a story, leave a link in the comments today or tomorrow so we can all come visit.

I went back in time to the first summer at Unicorn  Farm, to the everyday teaching and getting to know the apprentices, which is necessary for the story. I did not use all the prompts, citizen just did not fit in. I  know what to use the last two for, but this will make the story tooo long. Maybe in the coming days.

***

The transformation prize was the talk of the day for the apprentices. Jon and Taavi had gathered them all in the yellow room under the roof. Then they had announced the transformation test - with a prize. The apprentices stood in small groups in the yard, trying to find out more about the test. Heidi was unperturbed. "I'm sure you're going to win," Susan said, "Or are we competing free for all, it seems a bit unfair. Some of the older Icelandic apprentices have been using their magic for so much longer than the rest of us. And the older ones like Tage and Lis, too, It's kind of unfair."
"Tage and Lis are actually only one year older than you," Heidi said, defending her elder siblings, "But Sif and Elvin, they're old."
"And Helge and Harald, the two Swedes!" Susan said.
"Yes, but they're not in the purple group either," Heidi said. "My worst competitor will be Ingrid, she's good and have lots of practise. She's more than half Saami, and almost as old as Sif and Elvin. Even if they're Icelandic both of them, they are not that good at transformation."

The smell of delicious food reached them and the lunch-bell rang. All apprentices streamed into the barn and waited for the professors to come along.
For some time only munching and soft whispers asking for this and that was heard. Magic was hungry work and the Nisser were great cooks all of them. But as appetites were stilled, the transformation test once again surfaced.
"Are vegetables still alive, when they're not growing any more?" Susan asked, looking at the left over lettuce leaf on her plate. "I mean could we be asked to transform a lettuce leaf like this one into say a match or a paper umbrella."
"I'm sure we could,"Lis answered, while Tage, still chewing, just nodded.
"I'm sure I'm going to fail the test," Susan said despondently.
"So am I" Veronika said. "It would be easier to find a paper umbrella than transforming one."
"Yes, and even easier to call a mouse or two to then eat that lettuce leaf for me," Susan added.
"You're making a mountain out of a molehill," Lis said. "the test is not a big issue, even if I would be happy to win, of course."
"What is the prize?" Fiona asked. "Does anybody know?"
Nobody did and Jon rose and clapped his hands.

J for Japansk

     Hver dag klokken 12 (undtagen søndag) kommer dagens A-Z indlæg hvis der altså kommer et.
     Temaet for i år er Drømme - dobbelthed, så lad os se, hvad der falder mig ind til det tema.

Ⓐ - Ⓩ

  Every day at noon (except Sundays) a new A-Z post goes live - or no post today.
  The theme for this year, is Dream - Duality. let's see what crosses my mind on this theme.

J for Japansk /Japanese

    Langsomt er der opstået et nyt koncept. De dage, jeg ikke allerede har et ord, tager jeg en random ord-generator til hjælp. I dag fik jeg: Japansk.
    Jeg blev nemlig enig med mig selv om at fortsætte hvor jeg slap, så kan jeg altid springe nogle af de væmmelige bogstaver sidst i alfabetet over 😇

Ⓙ

  Slowly a new concept has emerged for the A-Z Challenge. For those days, where I do not already have a word, I consult a Random Word Generator. Today I had: Japanese.
  I did finally resolve to carry on where I left off. That way I might have to skip some of the problematic letters at the end of the alphabet 😇.

    Her står der Japansk på japansk  日本語  means Japanese in Japanese.

     Uglemor har studeret japansk i mange år. Det er næsten fem år siden, hun glad fortalte om at læse første side i en læsebog for 1. klasse.  Jeg er nået en lille smule videre i dag, men normal samtale eller bare en bog er stadig en utopi. Her, som på så mange andre områder er der brug for en indsats.

Ⓙ

MotherOwl has been studying Japanese for many years. Almost five years ago I jubilantly told of reading the very first page in a first form reader. I am a bit further along now, but general conversation or a normal book is still beyond my level.  I am a work in progress here as in so many other areas.

Words for Wednesday - The Words

This month Messymimi is providing the prompts on her Meanderings.
She tells us:

It's my month to provide the prompts for Words for Wednesday.  Since it becomes Wednesday in some parts of the world while it is still Tuesday here, i am providing the prompts today, so you can work on them and post them when it's Wednesday where you are.

This week the prompts are the following words

prize
conversation
smell
citizen
vegetable
fail

and/or the following phrases

mountain out of a molehill (to make a big deal out of nothing)
a cut below (something inferior to the surrounding others)
a cold fish (someone who lacks empathy or emotion)

Please use these as a springboard, not a chain, and if you write a story, leave a link in the comments today or tomorrow so we can all come visit.

I am not up to writing. Easter holidays have begun, and as always we're busy with family and church arrangements. Plus my neck. It's not hurting so much any more, but still making me dizzy.

My A-Z Challenge writing is also suffering ... How do you tackle this: continue where you let go - in my case with J - or the letter of the day?

Poetry Monday :: Pets & A- Z Challenge Letter I

If you want to read some better  poetry,  Diane - who has taken over the hosting of  this challenge - and Mimi of Messymimi's Meanderings - who also supplies us with topics - are writing wonderful, funny, thought-provoking, ingenious and honestly well written verse. Go and read.

  Karen of Baking in a Tornado has joined us in this crazy pursuit, and promises us at least a poem a month - may  we hope for more!

  SpikesBestMate often publishes a nice verse in the comments.

  Jenny at Procrastinating Donkey who has been a faithful participant, is slowly returning to blogging after her husband's passing from this world. Let's continue to send warm thoughts, good energy, and lots of prayers her way, now her mum needs a serious prayer too. But still we dare hope that she will join Poetry Monday again.

Today's topic is: Pets

First of all thanks for all your well-wishes last Monday. The neck is still hurting me, in spite of wishes and even a rhyme. I hope it will soon listen! The pain stems from an old accident involving me, a mini-trampoline and a stack of mattresses. Instead of turning a somersault and landing on my legs, as I had done hundreds of times before, I landed bang on my head. As a result one of the small bones in the neck is out of bias, and hurts me now and then. PE and a chiropractor helps, but right now it's just bad. Pain, tinnitus, dizzy spells ...  Urgh. End of misery and complains. Sorry.

A poem ... Pets and even A-Z Challenge commanding I as a letter. There's not many pets with I. And even not that many animals: Ibis, Iguana, Impala, Isopod, Inchworm ...  Inchworm! Gilvi, Susan's favourite teacher at the Unicorn Farm, had an Inchworm. Maybe it was not directly a pet, more like a magical tape measure, but it's the closest I come. I re-made the Inchworm poem. I'm sure you know it.

Inchworm, inchworm,
Measuring our magic wands
Come and tell me
Just how big they are.

But I'm equally sure Gilvi did not say his incantation in English when calling Lirfan, his inchworm. This chapter is not online, but  a part of my book editing process. You have met Lirfan shortly in an installment of the Broom Racing chapter, where it helps controlling the wands.
I'll give it a go in Icelandic, my magic language: 

Lirfan, Lirfan,
mæli töfrasprota okkur.
Komdu og segðu mér
hversu stór þau eru.

If anybody know Icelandic better than me (not hard, as I know hardly any) and read this and find errors (sure to be there). Do please tell me!

H for Historie

     Hver dag klokken 12 (undtagen søndag) kommer dagens A-Z indlæg hvis der altså kommer et.
     Temaet for i år er Drømme - dobbelthed, så lad os se, hvad der falder mig ind til det tema.

Ⓐ - Ⓩ

  Every day at noon (except Sundays) a new A-Z post goes live - or no post today.
  The theme for this year, is Dream - Duality. let's see what crosses my mind on this theme.

H for Historie / History

    Langsomt er der opstået et nyt koncept. De dage, jeg ikke allerede har et ord, tager jeg en random ord-generator til hjælp. I dag fik jeg: Historie. På Wikipedia er der to krigsrelaterede noter i dag:
1865 - I den Amerikanske borgerkrig kapitulerer Sydstaternes general Lee til Nordstaternes general Ulysses S. Grant ved Appomattox i Virginia, og borgerkrigen finder omsider sin ende.
1940 - Kl. 04.20 om morgenen meddeler den tyske gesandt i København, Renthe-Fink, den danske udenrigsminister P. Munch at "tyske tropper netop nu overskrider grænsen". Danmark var blevet besat af Nazi-Tyskland. - Tyskland besætter Norge. Oslo, Bergen, Trondhjem, Kristiansand, Egersund og Narvik blev angrebet, og efter to måneders kamp var hele landet besat.

Hvis man kigger i den engelsksprogede udgave finder man en hel del flere krigsrelatedere årstal i dag: 
1784 - Paristraktaten, der blev ratificeret af USA's kongres den 14. januar 1784, ratificeres af kong George III i Storbritannien, hvilket afslutter den amerikanske revolutionskrig. Kopier af de ratificerede dokumenter udveksles den 12. maj 1784.
1917 - Første Verdenskrig: Slaget ved Arras: Slaget begynder med et canadisk korps, der udfører et massivt angreb på Vimy Ridge.
1918 - Første Verdenskrig: Slaget ved Lys: Det portugisiske ekspeditionskorps bliver knust af de tyske styrker under det, der kaldes forårsoffensiven i den belgiske region Flandern.
2003 - Irak-krigen: Baghdad falder til amerikanske styrker.

Hvor længe endnu før 2. verdenskrig relegeres til de samme støvede hylder som disse andre krige? Jeg havde håbet på at det var sket efter jubilæet for et par år siden. Der er ikke længere noget levende menneske, der har deltaget i den krig, og efterhånden er det også småt med folk, der virkelig kan huske den.

Ⓗ

Slowly a new concept has emerged for the A-Z Challenge. For those days, where I do not already have a word, I consult a Random Word Generator. Today I had: Historie - History. At the Danish  Wikipedia for today I find two war realted items:
1865 – American Civil War: Robert E. Lee surrenders the Army of Northern Virginia (26,765 troops) to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, effectively ending the war.
1940 – World War II: Operation Weserübung: Germany invades Denmark and Norway. (Much longer and high-strung in Danish).

At the English Wikipedia I find several more:

1784 – The Treaty of Paris, ratified by the United States Congress on January 14, 1784, is ratified by King George III of the Kingdom of Great Britain, ending the American Revolutionary War. Copies of the ratified documents are exchanged on May 12, 1784.
1917 – World War I: The Battle of Arras: The battle begins with Canadian Corps executing a massive assault on Vimy Ridge.
1918 – World War I: The Battle of the Lys: The Portuguese Expeditionary Corps is crushed by the German forces during what is called the Spring Offensive on the Belgian region of Flanders.
2003 – Iraq War: Baghdad falls to American forces.

I had hoped that the Danish high-strung interest in WWII had ended with the jubilee a few years ago. As all the people active in that war has now died, I would like it to be relegated to the same dusty shelves where all these other wars seem to be stored.

G for Glasskår

     Hver dag klokken 12 (undtagen søndag) kommer dagens A-Z indlæg hvis der altså kommer et.
     Temaet for i år er Drømme - dobbelthed, så lad os se, hvad der falder mig ind til det tema.

Ⓐ - Ⓩ

  Every day at noon (except Sundays) a new A-Z post goes live - or no post today.
  The theme for this year, is Dream - Duality. let's see what crosses my mind on this theme.

G for Glasskår / Broken Glass

    Ingen regel uden undtagelser. I dag kommer dagens A-Z forsinket. Jeg skulle lige ud og tage et par billeder.
     For langsomt er der opstået et nyt koncept. De dage, jeg ikke allerede har et ord, og det er ret få faktisk, tager jeg en random ord-generator til hjælp. I dag fik jeg: Glasskår.
     Glasskår kan være rædsomt irriterende. For eksempel når man møder dem på cykel på vej til byen.

Ⓖ

  No rules without exceptions. Today's A-Z appears with a delay. I had to shoot a couple of photos first.
  Slowly a new concept has emerged for my A-Z Challenge. For those days, where I do not already have a word, I consult a Random Word Generator. Today I had: Glasskår - Broken Glass. Broken glass is a P.I.T.A when you meet them here on a bike ride to somewhere.

     Lad os lige kaste et lidt nærmere blik på dem. De her var en fin flaske i går eller for et par dage siden, nu er de en trussel for min arme cykels dæk.

Ⓖ

Let's have a closer look, shan't we? This was a nice bottle yesterday, or the day before. Now they pose a hazard to my poor bike.

Men hvis nu vi lader dem ligge i havet i et par årtier? Så ender de med at se sådan her ud. Og så er de lige pludselig flotte, ja måske endda noget at samle på.

Ⓖ

But if they're thrown into the sea and left there for a decade or two they end up like this. And that's another cup of tea entirely.

Jeg samler på dem, og håber på at blive god nok til at væve til at lave et gardin som det her.

Ⓖ

Now I collect them and hope to become good enough at weaving to make a curtain like this one.

F for Forår

     Hver dag klokken 12 (undtagen søndag) kommer dagens A-Z indlæg hvis der altså kommer et.
     Temaet for i år er Drømme - dobbelthed, så lad os se, hvad der falder mig ind til det tema.

Ⓐ - Ⓩ

  Every day at noon (except Sundays) a new A-Z post goes live - or no post today.
  The theme for this year, is Dream - Duality. let's see what crosses my mind on this theme.

F for Forår / Spring

     Langsomt er der opstået et nyt koncept. De dage, jeg ikke allerede har et ord, tager jeg en random ord-generator til hjælp. I dag fik jeg: Forår. 
     Forår - drøm - dobbelthed. Et billede siger mere end tusind ord.

Ⓕ

  Slowly a new concept has emerged for the A-Z Challenge. For those days, where I do not already have a word, I consult a Random Word Generator. Today I had: Forår - Spring.
  Spring - Dream - Duality. A picture is worth a thousand words.

Words for Wednesday and IWSG

The Words for Wednesday is a movable feast, celebrating writing.

And this is a The more, the merrier kind of endeavour, so Please, remember to follow the links, go and read other peoples' stories.
And please leave a comment after reading. Challenges like this one thrives on interaction, feedback and encouragement.
We ALL need encouragement.

In April you'll find the Words for Wednesday at Messymimi's blog. Today she has given us:

Opinion
Shell
Clue
Seed
Attention
Sit
    and/or
Story
Makeup
Corn
Emotion
Mess
Circle

This turned into a re-write of a bit of one of the first chapters of Unicorn Farm; my magical autobiography, and once again I took up the additional challenge of using the prompts in the order they were given.

"In my opinion," Susan said, "it is not possible to make  shells into plates. Not nice plates, anyhow.
"Susan," Heidi said, "you really haven't got a clue how transformation works, do you?"
"Oh yes! Of course I have. You swish your wand just so," Susan said and suited action to words, swinging her wand impatiently through the correct move, "and the you tell those stupid shells to turn into plates. Only they don't!"
"Listen, Susan. Inside every thing, every shell, button, or whatever, there's a tiny seed of being. A thing that makes a plate a plate and a shell a shell. You have to sort of push this seed into wanting to be a plate, then the rest will follow."
Heidi had Susan's attention now, her anger at Heidi's lecturing gave way to puzzlement. "Say what?" she said. "Can you say that once again in normal Danish?"
"Sit down," Heidi said and sat down at a big stone herself. Susan followed suit, and Heidi picked up a shell."Look at this shell, every scar and imperfection tells a bit of its story. It is not totally alike to any other shell on the  whole beach."
"Just like snowflakes?" Susan interrupted
"Uh-huh," Heidi said nodding, "something like it. Every grain of sand it ever met, every wave, is a part of its makeup. Pick up another one."
Susan picked up a shell. "Look at it," Heidi said. "Look at the shell-nes of it. Now imagine a cob of corn, all those small shallow holes where the corns have sat. Can you see the similarities?"
Susan nodded.
"If you notice the details of  what make a shell a shell and a corn cob a corn cob," Heidi said, "you can change one into another much easier than by forcing the change."
Different emotions cursed through Susan. Frustration that she was not able to do even the simplest transformation. Envy at Heidi, who could transform shells into plates or corn cobs or anything not alive. Gratitude that Heidi always willingly and patiently shared her knowledge - Susan never realized that she shared just as generously when she was in the know.
Susan said: "I'm tired of trying. My brain has turned to mush. Everything inside my poor skull is one mess. I can't even tell you if the plate I was supposed to think of, is a circle, an octagon or whatever."
"You need an ice cream cone!" Heidi said. "Let's walk up to the bridge and have one."
"Yes!" Susan said. "Doctor Heidi is right. Ice cream cones, and those from the parlour at the bridge in particular, are the medicine of choice to all evils."
Laughing and singing and skipping along the two apprentice witches went along the summery paths leading to the far away bridge with its famed ice cream parlour.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

April 6 question: Have any of your books been made into audio books? If so, what is the main challenge in producing an audio book?

MotherOwl's answer: Nope. None of my books have ever been made into audio books.  And as I love reading books on paper, and never ever have even tried an audio book, I would not know how or where to start doing this.

E for Enhjørningegården

     Hver dag klokken 12 (undtagen søndag) kommer dagens A-Z indlæg hvis der altså kommer et.
     Temaet for i år er Drømme - dobbelthed, så lad os se, hvad der falder mig ind til det tema.

Ⓐ - Ⓩ

  Every day at noon (except Sundays) a new A-Z post goes live - or no post today.
  The theme for this year, is Dream - Duality. let's see what crosses my mind on this theme.

E for Enhjørningegården / Unicorn Farm

Enhjørningegården, hvor alle Susans eventyr starter, findes faktisk i den virkelige verden også. Da jeg var lille, var vi ofte på besøg hos en moster i hendes sommerhus -  ja det er hende fra historien - omend hun nok ikke ville kunne genkende sig selv ;)
     I nærheden af sommerhuset for enden af en stor, bølgende kornmark, lå der en lang række træer. Bag de her træer, lå der en gammel, forfalden gård. Den så spændende ud, men vi børn havde fået at vide, at det var strengt forbudt at gå derhen. Og i modsætning til Susan holdt vi os faktisk fra at gå derhen, men ikke fra at kigge. Vi sad ofte på et af træerne, der var væltet og hvis grene var blevet til hestelignende stammer og drømte om de eventyr, vi kunne opleve der på gården. I vore drømme var der smuglere, guldgravere, skjulte skatte på lofterne og sådan noget - i stil med De Fem-bøgerne.

Ⓔ

The Unicorn Farm, where all Susan's adventures start, actually exists in the real world too. When I was little, we often visited an aunt in her summer house - yes, that's her from the story - although she probably wouldn't recognise herself ;)
     Near the cottage, at the end of a large rolling cornfield, was a long row of trees. Behind these trees, stood an old, dilapidated farmhouse. It looked interesting, but we children had been told that it was strictly forbidden to go there. And, unlike Susan, we actually refrained from going there, but not from looking. We often sat on one of the fallen trees, whose branches had turned into horse-like trunks, and dreamed of the adventures we could have on the farm. In our dreams we conquered smugglers, evil gold miners, or found treasures in hidden rooms in the attic, and so on - very much like The Famous Five.

D for Dråber

     Hver dag klokken 12 (undtagen søndag) kommer dagens A-Z indlæg hvis der altså kommer et.
     Temaet for i år er Drømme - dobbelthed, så lad os se, hvad der falder mig ind til det tema.

Ⓐ - Ⓩ

  Every day at noon (except Sundays) a new A-Z post goes live - or no post today.
  The theme for this year, is Dream - Duality. let's see what crosses my mind on this theme.

D for Dråber / Droplets

     Jeg var løbet tør for  ideer med D, men en random ord-generator gav mig Dråber. Så dem må jeg fortælle noget mere om.
     Dråberne har deres egen blog. Regnbuedråberne  Her fortæller En lille forhistorie om hvem de er. Men ikke om, hvordan de er opstået. Dengang vi flyttede ind i huset her, var der et gammelt æbletræ med meget sure æbler. En dag vi sad og tegnede, tegnede Storesøster en lille, dråbeformet fyr, og fortalte, at han altså boede ude i de sure æbler. I lang, lang tid derefter fortalte Uglemor en fortsats-godnathistorie om Dråberne, deres eventyr og kvaler.
     De blev tegnet, og de blev også brugt til at lære Trolli, Spirillen, Minimax og Piraten at læse og regne, noder, klokken og mange andre sære ting. Mestendels ved at Dråberne kom ud for små uheld eller hjalp dyr og blomster i haven.

Ⓓ

  I was - already - out of ideas for the A-Z Challenge. A random Word Generator gave me Dråber - Droplets. I got to tell a bit more of them.
  They have their own blog, The Rainbow Droplets. Here a How it all began, tells of who the Droplets are. But how they came to be is not in it. When we moved in, we had an apple tree in the garden, carrying very sour, inedible apples. One day, we sat drawing, BigSis drew a small guy with a drop as a head and told me he lived inside the sour apples. After this day,the good night story was an instalment of the Droplets' adventures - often very similar to what The Owlets had been up to. 
 As the family grew, the Droplets took on responsibility. They helped Trolli, Marsupilami, MiniMax, and Pirate in their reading and counting journey. They taught music, moral and many ohter things.Of course never explicitly, but hidden in a good story.
.

     Her er den første side i Regnbuebogen EN FED GED! Beregnet til at lære om det bløde D i udlyd.
     Min drøm var at skrive en serie læsebøger,  der var logisk opbygget og med søde og uskyldige historier, der fik Ugleungerne til at lide og grine med Dråberne mens de lærte at læse uden at tænke over det.
     De virkede faktisk, Ugleungerne blev gode til at læse. Men jeg kom aldrig videre med ideen.

Ⓓ

This is a dummy of the first page of A Fat Goat. Written in simple, short words and with lots of them ending in D, which at the end of Danish words is [ð], an almost voiceless sound much like th in this.
  My dream was to create a system for beginner reading, build logically and with happy, innocent stories, making the Owlets suffer and smile with the Droplets while learning. 
   My idea worked, all the Owlets turned into good readers - some of them despite their teachers doing their worst - but I never got any further than writing 8 of around 24 planned books.

C for Cykelsti

     Hver dag klokken 12 (undtagen søndag) kommer dagens A-Z indlæg hvis der altså kommer et.
     Temaet for i år er Drømme - dobbelthed, så lad os se, hvad der falder mig ind til det tema.

Ⓐ - Ⓩ

  Every day at noon (except Sundays) a new A-Z post goes live - or no post today.
  The theme for this year, is Dream - Duality. let's see what crosses my mind on this theme.

C for Cykelsti / Bike Path

   Lige siden vi flyttede til vores lille landsby, har vi drømt om en cyklelsti til stationssbyen, hvor vi også køber ind. Det forlød, den ville komme snart - for nu 30 år siden.
     Snart er åbenbart nu, for nu sker der noget.

Ⓒ

  Ever since we moved to the village where we live, we have been dreaming of a bike path to the town where we go shopping, and from where we catch the train. We  were told Soon™ 30 years ago, when we moved in.
  And Soon™ seems to be now. Because something sure is happening.

     Her står jeg og venter på bussen ved den farlige vej, vi IKKE cykler ad, når vi skal til byen. Vi cykler gennem skoven, når der altså ikke lige er faldet sne, eller det har frosset, eller er for mørkt. Så tager vi (I hvert fald jeg og Ugleungerne - Skribenten er mere hårdfør) bussen i stedet.
     Men nu bliver cykelstien så lavet. Noget af vejen ... To bidder: En ude fra et større vejkryds og ind til os. Og så et fra der hvor skoven ender, og ind til byen (hvor man i forvejen kan køre en bagvej ind til stationen) ... så forventer de, at folk vil cykle gennem skoven indtil de - hvornår mon, om 30 år mere? - laver det sidste stykke, som nok er det mest nødvendige.

Ⓒ

  Here I stand, waiting for the bus on the dangerous road we do NOT dare bike on when going to town. We're going through the woods. At least when it has not been snowing, or freezing, or is too dark! Then we (at least I and the Owlets, The Writer is tougher) go by bus.
  But now a bike path is made. Some of it at least ... Two stretches: One from a crossroad further from town to our village. And one from where the wood ends and into town (where you could choose quiet roads all the time).They then expect people to bike through the woods for the missing part - where the road is really dangerous - until they make this stretch too, but when? 30 years from now?

Poetry Monday :: Imperfection

If you want to read some better  poetry,  Diane - who has taken over the hosting of  this challenge - and Mimi of Messymimi's Meanderings - who also supplies us with topics - are writing wonderful, funny, thought-provoking, ingenious and honestly well written verse. Go and read.

  Karen of Baking in a Tornado has joined us in this crazy pursuit, and promises us at least a poem a month - may  we hope for more!

  SpikesBestMate often publishes a nice verse in the comments.

  Jenny at Procrastinating Donkey who has been a faithful participant, is slowly returning to blogging after her husband's passing from this world. Let's continue to send warm thoughts, good energy, and lots of prayers her way, now her mum needs a serious prayer too. But stilol we dare hope that she will join Poetry Monday again.

Today's topic is: Imperfection

I'm not good at rhyming, well I feel I'm not good at anything rigth now. My neck,which I hurt as  a young one, is causing trouble, and it's raining. Sigh! Just look at this:

But still it's Poetry Monday - Imperfection ... 

Imperfection is what we got
Imperfection is not hot.
But if we contemplate
the alternative
I have to tell you, mate
it's great to be alive.

- - - - -

Next Monday's topic is one we've seen before in different variations: Pets

B for Bog

     Hver dag klokken 12 (undtagen søndag) kommer dagens A-Z indlæg hvis der altså kommer et.
     Temaet for i år er Drømme - dobbelthed, så lad os se, hvad der falder mig ind til det tema.

Ⓐ - Ⓩ

  Every day at noon (except Sundays) a new A-Z post goes live - or no post today.
  The theme for this year, is Dream - Duality. let's see what crosses my mind on this theme.

B for Bog / Book

Jeg har altid drømt om at udgive en bog. Jeg har været med til at skrive fagbøger, jeg har oversat flere bøger, men sådan helt min egen bog ... det drømmer jeg stadig om.

Ⓑ

I always dreamt of publishing a book. I have been co-author on some how-to books and a translator of several more. But my very own book is still only a dream.

Det her er min første drøm - en bog, eller vel rettere en serie bøger med Dråberne. Her sidder Hvide og læser i den om ham selv.

Ⓑ

My first and oldest dream. A book, or rather a series of books about The Droplets. Here White is reading the one about himself.

Og her står Susan fra Enhjørningegården og drømmer, måske om sin bog.

Ⓑ

And here Susan from Unicorn Farm stands looking over the ocean. Maybe she's dreaming about her book.

Hvis jeg nogensinde får udgivet min bog, er det Olga Godim, der kommer til at lave forsiden. Hun skriver charmerende og spændende historier om magi, sværd og fantastiske mennesker på sin blog.
     Sidste år havde hun valgt fiktive bogforsider som tema for A-Z udfordringen. Jeg tog mod til mig og foreslog hende Susans historie - Enhjørningegården, og søreme om ikke hun lavede en forside til min bog. Det er da fantastisk.
     Man kan se en masse af hendes andre flotte og spændende forsider på Deviantart: HER.
   Bemærk at det er Susan, der står som forfatter (med sit ungpigenavn - Upsi). Uglemor foretrækker anonymitet indtil videre.

Ⓑ

If I ever get to publish it, Olga Godim is going to make the cover for me. She writes really well written fantasy and speculative fiction on her blog. As she says herself, she writes about "magic, swords, and the wonderful folks of her imagination."  And then she makes covers!

For the A-Z challenge last year she published made-up covers for books. I pulled together all my daring and suggested Unicorn Farm as a possibility for a cover. As Olga Godim had already covered "U" she kindly made a cover just for me - how lucky can you be!
  Look up her collection of fabulous covers at Deviantart: HERE

Please notice that the author is Susan (with her maiden name - oops), MotherOwl prefers to remain anonymous for some time yet.

A for April

     Hver dag klokken 12 (undtagen søndag) kommer der et A-Z indlæg hvis der kommer et.
     Temaet for i år er Drømme - dobbelthed, så lad os se, hvad der falder mig ind til det tema.

Ⓐ - Ⓩ

  Every day at noon (except Sundays) a new A-Z post goes live - or no post today.
  The theme for this year, is Dream - Duality. let's see what crosses my mind on this theme.

A for April

  Always on April first one of the fountains in the pond in the nearby town is made into something more or less funny. Some years ago  a  friendly whale lived there for some days, the last couple of years  the figure has been advertising some local sports club.
  But this year well the theme is almost obvious.

Ⓐ

     Altid den første april er springvandet i vores lokale gadekær klædt ud. For nogle år siden  var det bolig for en venlig  blåhval, men de senere år har der bare været reklamer for lokale sportsklubber.
     I år - selvfølgelig, havde jeg næsten sagt:

Dualiteten her er Syriensflygtningene. Da de kom hertil, var der bøder for at samle dem op, folk der hjalp dem var uglesete, og Venligboerne blev både kaldt for kaldt for landsforrædere og "væmmeligboere"

Ⓐ

The duality here lies in the contrast to the reception of the refugees from Syria. You got a fine for picking them up and driving them somewhere, people helping them were called traitors and compared to the German-friendlies during WWII.

Taleboblerne siger: -Jeg er en flygtning -Jeg er også en flygtning.
Og de drømmer nok om det, alle flygtninge drømmer om: Fred og en chance til at genopbygge deres land.

Ⓐ

The speech bubbles say: I'm a refugee. I'm a refugee too.
And they probably dream of what every refugee ever dreamt of: Peace and a chance to rebuild their country.

Fredagsfrustration -- MitID

The continuing story of MotherOwl's fight with digitalization.

-- @ --

     Så var Uglemor oppe på borgerservice og blive opdateret. Bortset fra et par små, sjove bump -- så som at Uglemors vinger altid er for tørre til at aktivere en digital skærm - løses med håndsprit i disse tider - og at rullen med numre ikke mere spyttede nummer ud, så jeg måtte gætte mig til, hvornår det var min tur -- så gik det hurtigt og smertefrit. Efter ca. fem minutters snak med en flink dame, så var Uglemor opdateret i de digitale systemer, og hun fik oven i købet en nummerviser med hjem. Klar til kamp!
     Så gik Uglemor på indkøb og dernæst hjem og fik MitID på computeren. Heller ingen problemer. Uglemor kan nemlig både læse indenad og bruge en computer.
     I indbakken var der så en besked fra en forening, "Vi kan se, at du ikke har betalt dit kontingent.Vil du fortsat være medlem, så indbetal ..."

     Jo,m det ville Uglemor da gerne. Frem med MitID-nummerdimseren igen. Ind på netbanken. Der kom en blå firkant Tryk her for at logge på med MitID, men lige meget, hvor meget Uglemor  klikkede på den blå firkant, skete der bare ingenting. Uglemor ringede til banken, og fik fat i en flink, kompetent , ung mand, der fortalte, at Uglemors browser ikke duede til MitID. Suk. Firefox burde kunne.
     Åbn Firefox, tast brugernavn, adgangskode, nummer fra nummerviseren og så vente, vente, vente. Uglemor blev smidt af. En gang til forfra. Og igen, og igen, fjerde gang lykkedes det at komme ind på netbanken, men da hun tastede adgangskode og nok et nummer fra kodeviseren for at godkende betalingen, gik systemet ned.
     Forfra og om igen. Femte gang lykkedes det hele vejen. Men da havde Uglemor så også tastet brugernavn 6 gange, adgangskode 8 gange og kode fra kodeviseren 8 gange - godt den ikke løber tør, ligesom et kodekort.
     Uglemor forsøgte naturligvis også undervejs at få lov til at bruge NemID i stedet, men næh, nix, nej, det kan man ikke, når man først én gang har fået MitID.

Et e-brev til Digitaliseringsstyrelsen opklarede på sørgelig vis Uglemors problemer:

      For at bruge MitID på din computer, skal du have et operativsystem og en internetbrowser, som understøtter brug af MitID. Pr. 17. januar, 2022, er følgende kombinationer understøttet på computer:
     Microsoft Windows 8.1 og 10 med seneste udgave af Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, og Microsoft Edge internetbrowser.

    Uglemor kører med Windows 7 og Pale Moon som browser. Der er nemlig nogle programmer, hun bruger tit og ofte, der ikke kan køre på højere end Windows 7. Så hvad nu?
   Uglemor synes faktisk at hun har læst al information fra Digitaliseringsstyrelsen og banken ret grundigt. Det her har der ikke stået noget om. Så nu kan Uglemor se frem til ikke længere at kunne læse sin post fra det offentlige eller gå i banken hjemmefra. For hun vil altså kunne bruge sin computer i det daglige.