Colour24 ~ March

The colour of March is Olive yellow.

River said she saw this colour as Olive green. I agree so after a bit of photoshopping I present:
Olive green!

Words for Wednesday ~ February 28

This challenge started a long time ago. Now it has turned into a movable feast with Elephant's Child as our coordinator; and the Words provided by a number of people.

The general idea of this challenge is to make us write. Poems, stories, subtitles, tales, jokes, haiku, crosswords, puns, ... you're the boss.
Use all Words, some Words, one Word, or even none of them if that makes your creative juices flow. Anything goes, only please nothing rude or vulgar.

 It is also a challenge, where the old saying "The more the merrier" holds true.

So Please, remember to follow the links, go back and read other peoples' stories. And please leave a comment after reading. Challenges like this one thrives on interaction, feedback and encouragement. And we ALL need encouragement.

-- 🫖 --

The prompts for this last Wednesday in February are provided by Lissa, and made public at her blog.

For today we had these words:
Tomorrow
Coffee
Direction
Echo
Sunshine

I continue from HERE. Initially I would have written more about the Sunday breakfast - as more people asked about it - but I ran out of steam on my way there.

"Live like there's no tomorrow ..." Susan read aloud as she cut off the thread from Heidi's sweater, "... That sounds like a very bad plan, I think. Why are those magazines always so  ... contradictory or watyamacallit? Diets and then four pages further on they have tempting recipes for cakes and pies. Strange one-liners like that one and an article on planning your summer holidays with no stress. I do not really get it."

"Neither do I," Heidi said, "but I get one thing. I can smell mom's coffee so breakfast will be ready very soon. Are you done with the sweater?"
"Yes, I'm done," Susan answered, holding up the sweater. "The mending is almost invisible, and after a wash it will be."
 "Fabulous! Thanks a load!" Heidi said and pulled on the sweater. "If you never make it as a witch, you can open a mend and repair-shop."
Susan was about to become mad, but then she looked at Heidi's face, and realized that Heidi actually meant what she said and was not teasing. Before she could find an answer, Sandra called from downstairs, and the two apprentice witches set off direction kitchen.
They met Tage and Lis at the stairs, still sleepy eyed, but more than ready for one of their mom's Sunday breakfasts. 

The kitchen was filled with delicious smells, coffee, waffles, scrambled eggs, home-made buns, jams and honey all vied for their attention.

They ate until they could not eat any more, and then the kitchen echoed with their thanks and praises, as the four apprentices ran out into the frosty sunshine on their way to lessons at the Unicorn Farm.

Poetry Monday :: Ants :: Updated and now with Poem

Poetry Monday is a challenge, normally hosted by Diane at On the Border. But from Monday, January 8, 2024, Messymimi and I have conspired to keep the chair warm for her, as she's taking a break due to health issues. We will each set the topics for one month, I began with January, Mimi is supplying for February, and so on until Diane returns.
Here's the March prompts:

March 4: Swan Lake (or one of the words)
March 11: Distancing
March 18: Meaning
March 25: Happy News

Today's topic is Ants - now what? Nothing ... or at best a stretchy connection and I think an incoherent post - please bear with me. More to follow I hope. .

Today I biked through the woods once more. I heard the blue tits singing their spring songs, I heard the woodpeckers busy at work and the geese honking from above. I saw the buds on many shrubs, the sprouting plants and the blue skies behind naked trees. I noticed the catkins from hazel and alder and decided to pick some on my way home to test for plant dyeing. I saw the brook with lots of busy and noisy water. I also met several people there - all absorbed in conversation - not with someone at their side, but via mobile devices. I wondered. Are people ever really alone any more? Do they ever notice the peace of the woods? Do they even see where they go?

Ants are social insects - but I think people are not, not all the time at least.

Forest bathing is a new fad, but I think I have been practising this since my youth - and  this reminded me of a poem I wrote back then. Let me see if I can get a translation made - but it won't happen today, as I'm too tired.

This is - not a translation precisely, because the same words do not rhyme in diferent languages - but a re-do of a poem I wrote when I was 14 years old.

When people are stupid
and parents are bad
when siblings are teasing
when I get all mad
I jump on my bike
I go for a hike
I sit by a pond
I look at a frond.
I find my quiet in the forest.

I look at the birds and
I hear their crows
I stare at the duckweed
Like silver it glows
I sit by my pond
I look at a frond
Then after a while
Get back to my bike
I find my peace in the forest.

- - - - -

Next Monday: Swan Lake (or one of the words)

The Joys and Toils of a Week of Biking ~ Thankful

After my surgery my health has improved. I really did not think that I would be able ever go biking again, but I tried ...

• Friday 16, i went for a small, easy ride, 1½ milometers out and then back again. It was not that hard, and even though I rode a glorious 80 kilometres in all of 2023 my speed was in the better half. I was happy.
      ◦ Thankful that riding my bike once again feels doable, even good!
  
  
• Saturday 17, I rode the same trip, only making it a bit longer. On my way I had to stop three times.
    The first time I saw some strange cows in a field, I looked again and realized that it was not cows. It was a herd of red deer on their way to their resting place, they slowly ambled along the fence, coming from the woods and disappearing over a small hill. There was a lot of them.
    Riding back I saw some highland cattle silhouetted by the very blue skies, almost glowing golden in the rays of the setting sun.
    On the last stretch homewards - into the sun like a poor, lonesome cowboy - I heard wings overhead, stopped and looked up to see four swans flying low towards the east.
      ◦ Thankful for the beauty around me.
  
  
• Monday 19, I rode to town, a nice and quiet ride on small byways and through the woods. All in all almost 6 kilometres, slower, but then again biking through the woods on the gravelled roads is always slower.
    When I came out from my errands it had been raining, and I remembered the bad thing about my bike. The saddle! It is over 20 years old, and the plastic is no more in one piece - it soaks up the rain, only to release it when I sit upon it. I went to the bike shop and brought home a new saddle - not a luxury, I think. Then I and the bike made our way home by bus, The bike rides along for free when you pay.
      ◦ Thankful for professional bike shop people and buses.
  
  
• Tuesday 20 was the day of the obstacle race. I left home in time, only just. But our quiet byways were not quiet today. The water company has dug holes since last autumn and works there from time to time, but today was the day. Tubes were rolled out, cars and lorries were parked haphazardly here and there. I carefully wound my way through, thinking: I can still make it on time.
    Into the woods, a turn and then onto the first hill. At the foot of the hill was an elderly man with a dog on a leash - one of those retractable ones, rolled all the way out. I rang my bell, but nothing happened, I slowed down, rang the bell once more, and the dog ran to the left, blocking the road. I had to stop, and finally the man rolled in the leash, letting me pass - and start up a steep hill from zero. I looked at the cyclocomputer (basic one) If I hurried, I could still make it in time, so I sped onwards.
    Next hill in sight and two giggling girls with a dog on a retractable leash - same thing as on that first hill repeated!
    I left the woods, now sweaty and a bit late. As I reached the trains crossing the bell sounded and the barriers went down! Now I was sure to be quite late.
    The home stretch was a path through houses and along a park with a small hill, and of course yet a deaf gentleman walking his dog. I arrived at the PE appointment more than five minutes late, drenched and out of breath.
    After the appointment I drank all the water in my bottle and ate some biscuits. Then I went shopping, piling all the heavy stuff in the saddle bags - after all I was going home by bus, just like yesterday. Shopping almost done -- last shop -- a long line of schoolchildren buying one soda-pop and one bag of candy or a bun each. It took forever, and through the shop window I saw the back end of the bus I had planned to catch. Well, today is a workday, thankfully, there's a new bus in half an hour. I went shopping for some small items I had decided to postpone. The lines were short, but -- you guessed it -- the cashier was inept, people complained ... and I raced to the bus stop, only to once again see the back end of the bus going over the hill.
    I then packed everything nicely in the saddlebags and pedalled home. In all a bit shy of 17 milometers. I was sore all over when I got up from a late lunch.
      ◦ Thankful for forgiving trainers and that I could bike all the way after all!
  
  
• Wednesday we put on the new saddle, and I only went for a short test ride. Thursday I did not go for a bike ride either, not because I was sore, but lots of other things just happened.
      ◦ Thankful for the always supportive Writer and a family keeping me busy.
  
  
• Friday I had a dentist's appointment in another town all of five kilometres away. The bus ride there is of the "take a short ride and wait"-variety lasting an hour - I can walk there faster for Heaven's sake. So despite the tail of Rolf the storm still sweeping over the land, I pulled out the bike and according to the cyclocomputer covered the 5,7 km in 21,43 minutes. Not half bad with a storm, not against, but not behind either.
    I took the slow bus ride home, because the rain had started, and I did not fancy a ride mostly into the storm with lashing rain too.
      ◦ Thankful for a good dentist and buses where I can bring my bike.

I am as always logging distance and time and I hope to improve in the coming months. Already I have more than half of last years distance behind me 😃

Siblings?

Rachel of Hamlette's Soliloquy is hosting a sibling stories week. She kicked it off with these 7 questions.

 

1. Do you have any siblings? - I have a younger sister. We are not very like one another at all.

 

2. Who are some of your favorite fictional sibling groups? - The Melendy family. The Pevensies, The children of Bullerbyn.

 

3. Are there any fictional families you wish you could belong to yourself? - The Melendy family.

 

4. Have you ever read a book that reminded you of your own family? - Yes one -- unfortunately it was long ago, and I do not recall the name of it.

 

5. What fictional sibling would you NOT want for your own sibling? - Any of the elder siblings in tales like Cinderella, The Miller's Three sons and the likes. 

 

6. Are you more drawn to stories about brothers or sisters? - Neither, I prefer mixed sibling groups. And even "extended sibling groups" involving cousins, nieces, nephews and friends as well.

 

7. What makes a story involving siblings interesting to you? - If they are nice to one another and experience adventures together that they could not have doen as single persons.

Fredagsfrustrationer - Alt sammen det samme

Er nogen stadig i tvivl om at varer i de forskellige butikskæder bare er den samme vare hældt i forskellig emballager og til forskellige priser?

Hvis ja, så læs her: Fødevarestyrelsen - Risiko for metalsplinter i chokoladecookies

Hele tilbagekaldelsen ligger som skærmdump på min "brokke-blog", men den vigtige del er her:

In English.
Small metal splinters have been found in cookies from one cookie factory. This leads to practically all supermarket chains in Denmark, and some small "independent" shops too, calling back their chocolate chip cookies.

Can we doubt any more that all produce are the same - just having different labels and prices in the different brands?

Poetry Monday :: Spice

Today's theme for Poetry Monday is Spice.

Poetry Monday is a challenge, normally hosted by Diane at On the Border. But from Monday, January 8, 2024, Messymimi and I have conspired to keep the chair warm for her, as she's taking a break due to health issues. We will each set the topics for one month, I began with January, Mimi is supplying for February, and so on until Diane returns.


Left to my own devices
I fill my food with spices
Some hot, some not
Some mild, some wild
Some growing on the farm,
and some in countries warm.

For pizza slice
for dinners nice
we slice and dice
and add some spices

A spice for rice
and one for ice
to be precise
I tried it thrice

But best of all the spices
If you don't look at prices
Are those that grow
Row upon row
in two'ses and in thrices
In our paradises.

 - - - -

Next Monday: Ants

Søndagsbilleder :: Sunday Selections :: Colour24

Our Graphite Black earth is bringing forth colour - and is a terrific backdrop.

Words for Wednesday :: February 14th

Uh-oh, I'm terribly late, but today the sun is shining, Yippie, and I feel better than the meh! I've been feeling lately from the cold. I had my yummy tea and breakfast, and woo, writing happened.

Now I already used all of the Words given us by Lissa which are:
1. meh
2. woo
3. yum
4. uh-oh
5. yippee

But I won't cheat you out of the story I actually wrote for today. A long time ago - back in March 2019 - I began writing of a weekend filled with Snow Magic (or you can read the whole chapter here). That is, all I ever got to write was Friday evening and most of Saturday. The beginning of Sunday is here, and I hope for more to come. As I've said a few times before -- maybe a hundred or thereabout -- I'm good at beginning, but no as good with endings. Here's to hoping.

Susan woke up in the semi dark even before the alarm clock rang with a happy feeling. Today was Sunday, she was at the Magician's house at Unicorn isle. The weather was still meh, but today she knew better than to agonize and worry over this, Tage and Lis would see them safely to the Unicorn farm via a teleport. Woo, they would not have to fight their way through the snowdrifts with the heavy sleet biting their cheeks.
Quickly she dressed in the cold, awakening Heidi in her bed near the window. "Morning, Susan," she whispered.
"Morning, Heidi," Susan whispered back. "What time is it?"
"Only half past seven," Heidi answered sleepily. "Time to dress an so on before mom's breakfast is ready."
"Yum," Susan said. "I love your mum's breakfast."
"It's even better on Sundays," Heidi replied,  "just you wait and see." She rose and stretched and began dressing. Uh-oh," she exclaimed, There's a hole in my sweater. Old aunt Margit knit it for me, and  I really like it. Bugger, Mom will be sad as well."
"If your Aunt Margit knit it for you, I'm sure she knew you," Susan said with a teasing smile, " ... and if, I'm sure there's a small ball of yarn somewhere for repairs."
"There is," Heidi admitted, it is in my sewing basket, but I'm not good at repairs."
"I am," Susan said. "Sewing, that is mostly repairing holes and zippers, are the only textile skills I'm good at. My knitting is terrible, and my crocheting worse. I drove my teacher and a class mate to despair trying to teach me granny squares. I ended up having woodworking with the boys! But I see the meaning in good repairs. Hand me the thread and a needle. I'll get it done before breakfast."
Yippie! You're a hero, Susan. Here, catch!"  Heidi threw the sweater at Susan.

Askeonsdag ~ Ash Wednesday

Today is Ash Wednesday, Pirate and I remain at home while the rest of the family is at church where they receive the ashes. We're having a cold, Pirate is on the mend, while I just woke up with it today.

Normally you renounce, forsake some thing for lent, in years past I tried sweets or computer time. This year I'm more airy and repeat this piece of every day philosophy:

Time is not time, an hour is not an hour. Think: Waiting for a dentists' appointment ... that hour is interminable, sitting here writing on the other hand it whizzes past. Picking apples, riding my bike, playing or talking with my children, drawing, praying, or making jam, an hour seems to be of the right length.

This lent I'll concentrate on making more of what makes an hour last an hour.

     I dag er det askeonsdag, Piraten og jeg er blevet hjemme, mens resten af familien er i kirke og modtager askekorset. Vi er forkølede, Piraten er ved at komme sig, mens jeg lige er vågnet op med det i dag.
     Normalt giver man afkald på noget i fastetiden, tidligere år har jeg prøvet slik eller computertid. I år er jeg mere luftig og gentager dette stykke hverdagsfilosofi:

Tid er ikke tid, en time er ikke en time. Tænk lige efter: At vente på en tid hos tandlægen ... den time er uendelig, mens når jeg sidder her og skriver, flyver den afsted. Når jeg plukker æbler, cykler, leger eller taler med mine børn, tegner, beder eller laver marmelade, virker en time til at have den rette længde.

I fasten i år vil jeg koncentrere mig om at gøre mere af det, der får en time til at have sin rette længde.

PS:
Words for Wednesday to come, maybe tomorrow.

Poetry Monday :: Toes

Somewhere in the "Rules" for Poetry Monday -- normally hosted by  Diane at On the Border, but for the moment being kept alive by Mimi and I -- I read that you could also cite somebody else's poetry. I'll use this option today, as Toes inevitably make these two pop into my brain and muchly outstay their welcome. Both are repeats from other Poetry Mondays as well.


Winnie-the-Pooh is not a favourite of mine, I think I was too old when first I read the books. But I am a fan of the poems. Today this one is appropriate:

The more it snows, tiddely-pom,
The more it goes tiddely-pom
The more it goes tiddely-pom
On
Snowing.

And nobody knows, tiddely-pom,
How cold my toes tiddely-pom
How cold my toes tiddely-pom
Are
Growing.

The second one I heard it "Singing in the Rain" long ago and wrote one of my earlier chapters in Susan and the Unicorn Farm. (Link) built around this song.

Moses supposes his toeses are roses,
but Moses supposes erroneously.
For Moses he knowses his toeses aren't roses
as Moses supposes his toeses to be.

That's all folks.

- - - - -

Next Mondays topic: Spice

Sunday Selection :: Colour 24

 More optimistic Graphite black.

The blackboard painted door, where normally the meeting times for the Owlets are written.

FERIE means HOLIDAYS

Fredagsfrustration - virkelig vred!

I dagens nyheder er der denne her:

     Hvorfor fanden har vegetarer/veganere den slags rettigheder, når jeg som allergiker og intolerant indlagt på sygehuset ikke kan få noget som helst at spise, fordi der ikke tages hensyn til den slags?
     Undskyld mig, men vegetarer bliver altså ikke decideret syge af at få lidt kød, hvor allergikere faktisk risikerer mere eller mindre alvorlige reaktioner fra mavepine, hjernetåge, svimmelhed, opkastninger til allergisk chock.
     Jeg bliver da nødt til at finde ud af, hvor man får den lovgivning udstrakt til naturligvis også at gælde allergikere, før jeg rammer plejehjemsalderen.

- - - - - 🍆  --  🥩  --  🥗  --  🍣  - - - - -

In English
Vegetarians and vegans obviously have a rights to have vegetarian/vegan food while in hospitals, kindergarten and so on.

This makes me pissed off because I and others like me - suffering from allergies and intolerances - are often unable to eat anything at a hospital.

And bugger it vegetarians or vegans won't get seriously ill from eating something containing butter or other animal products, whereas people suffering from allergies will get reactions ranging from stomach ache, brain fog, dizzy spells, vomiting, to full blown anaphylactic shock.

I'll have to find out where to have this legislation also available for allergies and intolerances before I get to the age where public care is needed.

Why?

Normally MotherOwl is not a political creature, but some news I just have to share

First: The Extinction Day Calendar:

Extinction Day Calendar - Meaning just this. The day on which the given species will most probably be extinct.

Then:
Temperatures and wet.

January was the hottest Janyuary - ever. I know, it's in Danish, but numbers and pictures speak all languages.
And here's one in English.

The tunnel at the station at the end of January. Since then the waters have only risen, ant there's now around 15 cm left until the water reaches the roof of the tunnel.

Words for Wednesday & IWSG February 7

This challenge started a long time ago. Now it has turned into a movable feast with Elephant's Child as our coordinator; and the Words provided by a number of people.

The general idea of this challenge is to make us write. Poems, stories, subtitles, tales, jokes, haiku, crosswords, puns, ... you're the boss.
Use all Words, some Words, one Word, or even none of them if that makes your creative juices flow. Anything goes, only please nothing rude or vulgar.

 It is also a challenge, where the old saying "The more the merrier" holds true.

So Please, remember to follow the links, go back and read other peoples' stories. And please leave a comment after reading. Challenges like this one thrives on interaction, feedback and encouragement. And we ALL need encouragement.

--  --

The prompts for every Wednesday in February are provided by Lissa, and made public at her blog.

For today we had these words:

1. soul
2. brilliant
3. breakfast
4. winter
5. moon

I just made a shortie featuring Sue and Bill, my default couple.

After some soul searching Sue had a brilliant idea. After breakfast she would suggest a winter holiday, where she and Bill went night skiing under the full moon.
 

- - - - -

February 7 question: What turns you off when visiting an author's website/blog? Lack of information? A drone of negativity? Little mention of author's books? Constant mention of books?

My answer:
First the website/blog itself. Pictures or effects that move, sparkle, oscillate or in other ways do not keep still.
Black or dark background with white/light coloured letters. I cannot read because it looks like this after a few lines.

If you do any of this, you will not have me as a reader, sorry.

Contents: If the website/blog is nothing but a showcase for the author's own works, not telling of his/her toils, troubles, joys and everyday life. Or if said tellings are only a thin cover over self promotion.
Blatant feminism, speciesism, in short any  -isms will also quickly turn me off.
Also if the theme of the blog is only books, I will read but seldom.

I love blogs with stories, be it fictional or not. with life lived, with joys and sorrows.

Poetry Monday :: Basket ~ On a Tuesday

Today's theme for Poetry Monday is Basket.

Poetry Monday is a challenge, normally hosted by Diane at On the Border. But from Monday, January 8, 2024, Messymimi and I have conspired to keep the chair warm for her, as she's taking a break due to health issues. We will each set the topics for one month, I began with January, Mimi is suppying for February, and so on until Diane returns.

This is some kind of rhyming, not-quite-haiku string.


     My basket.
On my way to town.
Basket filled with empty bottles
Ditch deposit.

Going home again.
Basket filled with things for living
and for giving

Going to the woods.
Basket filled with bread and candy
Books all handy.

Going home again
Baskets filled with pretty toadstools
Dyers' tools.

- - - - - -

Next Monday's topic: Toes

Getting behind aka Sunday Selections on a Monday

Do you know this: You thougth over some thing, planned and prepared.
And then you go to bed, wake up next morning and realize that with all the planning and preparing, you never got to the doing?
This is what happened to me and the Sunday selections yesterday.
and as a consequense Poetry Monday will be delayed as well.

Graphite black - the colour of February - or its many cousins, dark grey, antracite and so on are very in for the moment.

Just look at these photos, take while waiting for the bus yesterday. So many of the "public space" items are one of those colours.

... also most of the cars sport these colours, as do the bikes

... and my fellow travelers.

I hope to bring happier Graphite black photos next Sunday.