Thinking, Challenges, Keeping it up?

As usual, as I look back on my blogging year, I also look at the Challenges I have participated in or set myself

I can repeat much of what I said two years ago:

The turning of the year as always have me thinking ~ Challenges? Why? How many? Which ones? And so on.

For the last many years, challenges have come and gone on this blog and in my life in general. Some I liked, some not so much. Some were fun, some were not.

This past year has been an ungentle year ... I once heard the saying "waiting for the other shoe to drop", well for me 2023 was a centipede. Much - among those my family, this blog, all kinds of fun challenges, my garden, oh so many things - have been suffering from my lack of energy and joy in anything ...

Like 2023 and 2024 12025 has been an ungentle year of the millipede variety. Deaths in real life and in in blogland, sad stories everywhere ... the less said the better. But as for the blog challenges this day at the close of the year is a fine day to reflect a bit. Which ones are keepers, which ones are not?

Keepers
Words for Wednesday  - hosted by Elephant's Child until her demise in October, it's a perfectly enjoyable writing Challenge, whish I so much hope will continue.

Poetry Monday - Normally hosted by Diane. Mimi and I have taken over while Diane enjoys some family time and travels the world. Link to Mimi - Poetic fun where for some time now the clues have been taken from from 365 Days of Drawing Prompts and other Arts group. This is a Facebook group with a prompt for each day of the year, but no worries, the prompts will still be here and at Mimi's blog.

IWSG (Insecure Writer's Support Group) - Link - A question to answer every first Wednesday - can do!

Sunday Selections - Link - good photo fun. I will continue participating in the coming year, but maybe not every Sunday - and I'd like to combine it with

Colour of the Month - Link -  It did not work out as intended, but it has grown into something different. It's a keeper.

365 days of drawing prompts - Link - Yes the same one we use for Poetry Monday. It has a Facebook group, that's neither very supportive, nor very talkative, but on the other hand quite active. The prompts are different enough to be mostly inspiring, and not too woke. And it is not streak-oriented, which is a huge positive for me. You won' see much of this on this blog, but I draw almost every day and on my dedicated drawing blog, something happens sporadically.

Birthdays - of people known and not so known, mostly poets and writers. I like to cite and celebrate.

Sleepers
Fredagsfrustrationer / Friday Frustrations - A way to vent my grumpy so that it does not pervade the whole blog. This too has been suffering - and the grumpiness is spreading as a result -  but it's going to stay.

Tirsdagstips / Tuesday Tips - Suffering, but not totally abandoned.

Duolingo* - Link - studying Japanese, Italian, and a couple of other languages this way is good fun. I'll return, as this has been suffering, and try to keep it up.

Wørdle* - the Danish edition of Wordle. I  like this kind of games. They have also been suffering. Only recently I started again, now also regularly solving Minute Cryptic, a tough nut, and Lingule, where I almost never hit upon the exact language, but often enought the correct sub-family of languages to keep me interested.

Maybe-keepers
 A to Z Challenge* - very stressing but also very fun. For the first year ever, I finished the challenge in 2924. I suppose. I might do a light version without signing up in 2025. I bit off a great deal more than intended with Susan's co-apprentices, but it was fun.


Not keepers
Wordle, Spelling Bee, Strands, Connections, and Tiles* - I have enjoyed solving these four for the past three and a half years, I even based this year's A-Z Challenge on Wordle, but now it's over. Tiles, The Mini Crossword and Letter Boxed are only for subscribers as of September 1st. I know that Wordle, Strands and Connections are still free to play, but for how long? For me making Tiles pay to play was the last straw.

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

* Many of these Challenges are centered around maintaining a streak (participating on a consecutive series of days) the longer, the better.

For such Challenges I regularly skip a day on purpose so as not to accumulate long streaks. I do this because keeping a streak in any streak-oriented activity is a big stress-factor for me. I  know I'm strange this way and that this streak-business keeps many people focussed, but I really, really hate it and wish that I could opt out of it being counted.

All the Colours of 2025

I feel like it was only a month or so ago that I told of my new idea to find a photo from a blog, mine or yours and show these photos here with a coloured square, colour code and name and the blog from where the colour was taken.It was one of those ideas that seems smart when describing them, but in the long run it became a chore instead of fun.
I am not giving up on the monthly colour, but once again it will be a randomly generated colour.

What did I do in 2025?

The colours were:

And my use of them:

And the colour of January 2026 - Random palettes courtesy of coolors.co

Poetry Monday :: Sitting on old Chairs

Poetry Monday - what's that? It is a blogging game, that Mimi of Messymimi's Meanderings and I have taken over the hosting duties, mostly the supplying of the prompts - only temporarily we hope - while Diane at On the Border is taking a break for health and relaxation, travelling the world with her husband as far as we can tell.  We just hope she's going to take back over once she returns home.

The prompts now come from 365 Days of Drawing Prompts and other Arts group. This is a Facebook group with a prompt for each day of the year, but no worries, the prompts will still be here and at Mimi's blog.

Sometimes, also today the prompts are better for arts/drawing, than for poeming, but we have to try.

Today's prompt: Sitting on old chairs

This poem contains a bit of synaesthesia, because for me - like for Susan - the names of the seasons have colours too. If you're curious, the chapters are here: Synaesthesia & After the visit to the minister..

Sitting on old chairs, that is what we do,
and at old tables we're sitting too.
Drinking tea and chatting all through Winter's day
'cause when Summer's coming we'll be on our way.

Sitting on old chairs in our garden too
And at old tables, that is what we do
Working in the garden all through Summer's day
Old chairs mark our seasons, green, white, blue or grey.

-- 🪑 --

Hvad er Mandagsdigtet? Det er en blogleg, som Mimi fra Messymimi's Meanderings og jeg har overtaget - midlertidigt! - fra Diane, der slapper af og rejser verden rundt med sin mand. Vi håber hun er parat til at tage over igen, når hun kommer hjem.
     Stikordene kommer nu  fra 365 Days of Drawing Prompts and other Arts. Det er en Facebook-gruppe, der udgiver et stikord til hver dag i året, men bare rolig, stikordene vil stadig være at finde både her og på Mimis blog.

Dagens stikord er: Siting on old Chairs - At sidde på gamle stole. Nogen gange er det næsten alt for tydeligt at det er stikortd til at tegne efter, også i dag. Men digtes, ja, det skal der!

De gamle stole her er let symbolske. Og for mig - som for Susan - er mange ting karakteriseret ved at deres navn også har en farve. Læs mere her: Synæstesi & Besøget hos præsten.

Sidder på gamle stole her ved vintertid,
og ved gamle borde, hygge-snakke-tid.
For når det blir sommer løber vi omkring
Ude, inde hjemme, laver mange timg.

Men vi sidder også ved et gammelt bord
når vi drikker kaffe på vor plet på jord.
Gamel stoe tæller hver en dag vi har
grønne, hvide, brune, hver en stol er rar.


- - - - - -  - Coming Themes  - - - - - - - -

taken from the 365 Days of Drawing Prompts and other Arts group.

Jan 5  Favorite Animal
Jan 12 Glacier
Jan 19 Piece of clothing
Jan 26 That one time
Feb 2 Bamboo
Feb 9 Carousel

Glædelig jul ~ Blessed Christmas

Med dette juletræ fra Helsinge - der nu igen er et ægte træ - ønsker jeg alle en glædelig jul

With this Christmas tree from Helsinge - once again a real tree - I wish all of you a blessed Christmas.

Poetry Monday :: Fungi

Beklager, ikke noget på dansk i dag


Poetry Monday - what's that? It is a blogging game, that Mimi of Messymimi's Meanderings and I have taken over the hosting duties, mostly the supplying of the prompts - only temporarily we hope - while Diane at On the Border is taking a break for health and relaxation, travelling the world with her husband as far as we can tell.  We just hope she's going to take back over once she returns home.

The prompts now come from 365 Days of Drawing Prompts and other Arts group. This is a Facebook group with a prompt for each day of the year, but no worries, the prompts will still be here and at Mimi's blog.

Today's prompt: Fungi

Mushrooms are fungi,
but fungi aren't mushrooms
at least not all of them
Cause yeast and mould are fungi too
And eating them I will not do
Toadstools are fungi
But edible they're not
And mostly they're pretty
with colours bold and hot.
We like to depict them
on cards at Christmas time.
Be careful, don't pick them
Enjoy them in their prime.

- - - - - -  - Coming Themes  - - - - - - - -

taken from the 365 Days of Drawing Prompts and other Arts group.

Dec 29 Sitting on old chairs
Jan 5  Favorite Animal
Jan 12 Glacier
Jan 19  Piece of clothing
Jan 26  That one time
Feb 2 Bamboo
Feb 9 Carousel

Dagens gæst ~ A pretty Guest

 

Jeg tror der skal købes flere fuglekugler i dag.   I think I'm going to buy more lard balls today.

Vintersolhverv og 4. søndag i advent

Winter solstice and 4th Sunday of Advent


Fra nu af bliver dagene lngere, det er lige straks jul og det hele er nok ike så slemt alligevel.

From today our days grow longer, very soon it's Christmas. Everything is not that bad after all.

Words for Wednesday December 17 ~ So far only the Words.

The original Words for Wednesday was begun by Delores and eventually taken over as a moveable feast with many participants supplying the Words.
    When Delores closed her blog forever due to other problems, Elephant's Child (Sue) took over the role of coordinator.
    Now, after Sue's demise it is still to be discerned who will take over this role, River is doing it for the rest of 2025, but maybe Lissa will eventually be our new coordinator.

No matter what, how, where or who the aim of the words is to encourage us to write. A story, a poem, whatever comes to our mind.

This month the words are supplied byWiseWebWoman and can be found at River's blog.

If you are posting an entry on your own blog, please leave a comment on River's blog, then we can come along and read it and add a few encouraging words.

 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.

We were given these words:
Greek  
Salad  
Sausage  
Concrete
    and/or:
Peninsula  
Symphony  
Pinafore  
Pirate

Kokosnødder eller ejPoetry Monday :: Coconut or not

Dagens tema er Kokosnød. Men når jeg tænker på et vers om kokosnødder dukker der en af to sange op i mn hjerne. Enten:  Far, jeg kan ikke få hul på kokosnødden ... eller den nyere: A coconut is not a nut... Lige meget hvad er det ikke til at skrive et digt. Derfor en lille tosset historie i stedet.

Far, jeg kan ikke få hul på kokosnødden er en af de allerførste sange, jeg nogensinde hørte på grammofon. Vi havde en samling gamle plader og en sjov pladeafspiller, der havde en indretning, så man kunne stable op til ti plader ovenpå hinanden. Så faldt den ene ned, når den anden var færdig og så videre indtil man havde hørt dem alle. Så måtte man fylde op igen, enten med nye plader eller bare ved at vende dem om. Vi havde - ud over den der med kokosnødden -  En sang - garanteret hamrende politisk ukorrekt - der handlede om lange vinternætter på Grønland. Green Door, White Christmas, To mennesker med Ved kajen på den anden side - drivende sentimentale kærlighedssange, og et par stykker til - alle sammen omkring 30 år gamle hvis ikke mere, men det var sjov at se pladerne falde ned og afspille sig selv, så det gjorde vi med jævne mellemrum

..  --- 🥥   🥥 --- ..

When I think og vriting a poem with coconuts one of two songs surface in my brain. Either the Danish version of I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts - the Danish version is totally nuts (!) and tells the story of a child, telling his dad about his trying to open a coconut, making ever growing disasters, breaking the hammer, hurting himself, and mum, ruining the table, the doors ...  in the end blowing up the house with dynamite. Every verse ending with the refrain "... but the coconut looks just like its old self."

The new one is known to most of you, I think:

The coconut nut is a giant nut
If you eat too much, you'll get very fat
Now, the coconut nut is a big, big nut
But this delicious nut is not a nut

It's the coco fruit
Of the coco tree
From the coco palm family

It's the coco fruit
Of the coco tree
From the coco palm family


Neither of these songs are conductive to poeming anything, so I ask to be excused today.

- - - - - -  - Coming Themes  - - - - - - - -

taken from the 365 Days of Drawing Prompts and other Arts group.

Dec 22 Fungi
Dec 29 Sitting on old chairs
Jan 5  Favorite Animal
Jan 12 Glacier
Jan 19  Piece of clothing
Jan 26  That one time

Sunday Selection Sunday Gaudete ~ Søndagsbilleder, Gaudete søndag

My forage into ancestry is still not done. And while it's difficult in some ways, it's easier than I thought in other ways. The Sundays in days of old had names. Dominica Oculi, Dominica Lætare, Dominica Judica. And while some of those were new to me, Judica for instance, others were quite normal, like Lætare and the name of today, Dominica Gaudete. 

-- 🕯 --

Christmas celebrations in the Owlery is only just starting. Of course we have an advent "wreath" not wreath shaped, but it's there. Today we light the third candle, it should be rose coloured. Maybe even  Trash Pink - my colour of the month. Some said it was a ind of shocking pink, and today's message is shocking. The one rose coloured candles one among the purple ones, tells  us to be joyful. It's Sunday Gaudete. REJOICE!
     It has its name from one of Paulus' letters, where he says:"Gaudete in Domino semper: iterum dico, gaudete." Which means in English: Be joyful in the Lord always, I say to you, be joyful!  And yes it's an order, (the imperative plural form of the verb gaudere, to be happy, to rejoice and similar).

Saint Paul orders us to rejoice! It's a tall order, actually. It's not always easy. We're busy, stressing out and hurrying around. It's dark, dreary and cold. And if we look further afield there's chaos and terror and idiocy enough to make every one NOT the least  bit positive. But throughout the ages on the third Sunday of advent, we've been met with this command: Rejoice.

Today a small child was baptized during mass. This is the true reason for our joy. We are the children of God - End of sermon.

 -- 🕯 --  Gaudete  -- 🕯 --

Min slægtsforskning fortsætter stadigvæk, mere eller mindre intenst men stædigt gnasker jeg mig igennem kirkebog efter kirkebog for sydsjællandske landsogne. Noget af det er forbløffende svært, andet lettere end jeg troede. For eksempel hed mange af søndagene noget før i tiden. Dominica Oculi, Dominica Lætare, Dominica Judica og sådan noget. Og mens jeg aldrig havde hørt om Judica eller Oculi, var andre helt normale navne som Lætare, og navnet på i dag, tredje søndag i advent, også kendt som Dominica Gaudete.

 -- 🕯 --

Juleforberedelserne her i Uglebo er så småt ved at gå i gang. Vi har selvfølgelig en adventskrans. Og egentlig skulle dagens lys være rosa, som man ser det her på billedet. Tre lilla og et rosa lys (Måske skal det lige frem være Trash Pink - min månedens farve. Det er vist en slags shocking pink, og dagens budskab fra det rosa lys er da chokerende: GLÆD JER! Det er det, søndagens traditionelle navn, søndag Gaudete, betyder.

Og det er en ordre. Gaudete er bydeform (imperativ flertal af gaudere, der betyder at glæde sig)
Paulus beordrer os til altid at glæde os. Det kommer fra et af Paulus' breve, hvor han siger: "Gaudete in Domino semper: iterum dico, gaudete!" Det betyder: Glæd jer altid i Herren Jeg siger igen: Glæd jer!
     Det er ikke let at glæde sig nu for tiden. Vi stresser rundt og kan ikke nå det hele. Det er koldt og mørkt. Løfter vi blikket, er det heller ikke opmuntrende, klimakatastrofer, terror, krig, idioti, hele vejen rundt. Men hver tredje søndag i kirkeåret har ordren gennem tiderne lydt: Glæd jer!

I dag blev et lille barn døbt under messen. Det er grunden til vores glæde. Vi er Guds børn ~ Slut på prædikenen!

 -- 🕯 --  Gaudete  -- 🕯 --

I've not been busy taking pictures of other than old church registers, not interesting for most people, or "practical photos" to study, to remember or to tell of something specific.

My Sunday selection will be at bit strange, bear with me.

 -- 🕯 --

Jeg har ikke taget særligt mange billeder det seneste stykke tid, kun af gamle kirkebøger, og de er ikke hverken dekorative eller interesante for de fleste af os. Ellers har jeg taget "instruktive billeder", taget for at huske noget, lære noget eller vise noget specifikt. Derfor bliver dagens søndagsbilleder lidt sære.

A deer, woven in bark. Could we re-create it? - we could.

En hjort, vævet i bark. Kunne vi finde ud af at lave en? - Ja vi kunne.

A mast, put out to improve mobile phone reception in our village. Is it very ugly and disturbing?

En mast, der skal forbedre vores mobildækning. Er den meget grim og forstyrrende?

Yet another modular star. Is it prettier in white?

Endnu en origami- eller modulstjerne - er den pænere i hvid?

What's up, Blogger

For some time now I've noticed Blogger renaming my posts.

Sometimes when I have a post open, I close it, and open another one to edit that one. And then afterwards I re-open the first one to finish my editing job there.

If I do this, my first blog post sometimes get renamed to the name of that second one ... confused? I sure am, and maybe you were too today, when my Words for Wednesday post suddenly looked like this:

I don not know why, and I do not know how to avoid this either. .

Words for Wednesday December 10

Luscious 
Motel 
Wheelbarrow 
Jogging trail
    and/or:
Suspicion 
Speedboat 
Graveyard 
Iris

The ending - at least for now of the story of Susan and the strange, demanding bird. I only used the struck out words.

Susan looked sternly at the bird. "OOP-OOP-OOP!" it screamed.
Susan lost her temper and squawked back at it "Oop-oop-OOOP to you as well, stupid bird! I cannot help you if you won't collaborate and tell me where those dratted eggs fell from your nest!"
The birds looked stunned at Susan, raised its luscious, yellow crest and said Oop-opp-ooop, varied and softly, and in the scrying water Susan saw a tree she knew, The tree with the old wheelbarrow down below, near the beginning of the jogging trail to the beach.
"Now I know where," Susan said, looking once again squarely at the bird. "Meet me there!" With those words she turned around and ran down the stairs from the attic room.

Down by the tree the bird was waiting for her. It oop'ed softly, and Susan picked up the eggs , she found ten, light blue but dirty and carefully collected them in her hanky. Then she looked questioning at the bird, she could see no nest in the tree above her at all. The bird raised its crest again and flew as slowly as possible up along the trunk and disappeared into a hole near the top. Luckily Susan was a wizard, and she simply gathered the hanky in one hand, swing her wand with the other and gently soared up to the nesting hole. She placed the eggs in the soft moss - but what a smell! She peered into the nest, but she saw nothing that did not belong in a bird's nest, moss, a few feathers and leaves. The bird quickly placed herself over the eggs, and Susan noticed that the stench became more pronounced as the bird settled. "I'll keep an eye on you, Opp-bird," Susan said and carefully descended from the tree. She could hear the bird answer with soft Oop-oops.

Home at The Farm, Susan washed her hands thorougly with Martine's mood soap that changed colour and smell to suit the needs of the user. Today it was a deep brown coffee soap, perfect for removing the penetrating stench from the nest.

She then went to the library and found out that the bird was an hoopoe and that the fetid stench was an anti-predator measure, exuded by the brooding bird. "Phew," she thought to herself, "I'm happy that my suspicion about something rotting in the nest was wrong. Anyway I am going to keep an eye on that crazy bird. But now I'd better go back to my writing."

She put the bird books back on their shelves and hurried along the corridor and up the short flight of stairs to the room in the attic. 

Verdens måske bedste vanter

med god pasform og asymmetrisk afslutning.
 ... med noter, forklaringer, et par regnestykker og småsnak.

As promised a pattern - in Danish only - for the probably best mittens.

Den oprindelige opskrift er: Give a Hoot fra Kelbourne Woolens (hvor mønsteret ikke er tilgængeligt længere) via Jorun Holmens blog  til Statistrikks blog. Her dog strikket uden hverken ugler eller statements.

Materialer
2 nøgler uldgarn.
Pinde ½ - 1 nummer mindre end angivet på banderolen.
Omkredsen på din/modtagerens håndled.
Dine hænder, eller (et omrids af) modtagerens hånd.
En hjælpepind, maskenål, maskewire, en rest tråd eller lignende.
Maskemarkører.

Strik en prøve på pinde ½ nummer mindre end på banderolen og strik rib 2 ret 1 vrang et par pinde og derefter glatstrikning. Se om det ser pænt og tæt ud. Hvis det virker for løst, så trevl op og prøv med 1 nummer mindre. Når du er tilfreds, regner du din strikkefasthed ud - altså hvor mange masker, der går på 10 cm.

Antal masker - regnestykke
Regn ud, hvor mange m der skal til at nå rundt om håndleddet. Rund ned til nærmeste tal i 3-tabellen og læg en til.
Jeg bruger normalt 37 m, derfor er det brugt som eksempel i denne opskrift.

Begge vanter
Slå det beregnede antal masker op, for eksempel 37.  
Strik så første pind fra vrangen *en ret, to vrang* og slut med en ret. Det bliver naturligvis til to ret, en vrang på retsiden, og der er altså en ekstra vrangmaske i den ene ende.  Når maskerne så sættes på strømpepinde for at strikke rundt, strikkes den første og den sidste vrangmaske vrang sammen på 2. omgang. Der er nu et antal m deleligt med tre på pindene, for eksempel 36.  
Strik rundt i rib  2r, 1vr indtil der er strikket mindst 6 cm.
Strik 5 omgange ret. Hvis selve vanten skal have en anden farve, så skift efter 2. omgang her.

Tommelfingerudtagning:
Denne form for udtagning er lidt kringlet. Det hjælper at kigge på et foto af vanterne.
<
Her er den venstre under udførelse på min hånd.

Venstre vante
Udtagningen til tommelfinger.
Der tages ud ved at tage en m op i forkanten af masken på forrige omgang. Se tegningen hos Statistrikk.
Tag 1 m ud som beskrevet, strik en maske og sæt en maskemarkør på pinden.
Fortsæt med at tage ud i masken lige inden maskemarkøren indtil der er taget  (1/3 af maskeantallet) m. ud. Jeg tager 36/3 = 12 m ud.
Strik to omgange ret
Sæt de (1/3 af maskeantallet) efter de udtagne masker  på en hjælpepind. Se mit foto. Det lyder ulogisk, men er det, der giver den gode pasform. Anbring en maskemarkør 3 m efter tommelhullet på venstre hånd.
Strik videre i glatstrikning til midt på knoerne.

Højre vante
Tag en m ud i bagerste del af masken på pinden under - for at gøre det, er det nødvendigt at strikke masken først. Se tegningen hos Statistrikk.
Gentag til der er taget i alt (1/3 af maskeantallet) m ud.
Strik 2 omgange glatstrikning og sæt de (1/3 af maskeantallet)  før de udtagne masker på en hjælpepind (lige så ulogisk som den venstre). Sæt en maskemarkør 3 m før tommelhullet på højre hånd.
Strik videre i glatstrikning til midt på knoerne.

Bedre plads over håndryggen:
Når man når til midt på knoerne, strikkes der en venderække: Lad håndfladens masker hvile og strik en venderække over håndrygggen.
Maskemarkøren er "grænsen" mellem håndryg og håndflade og man strikker venderækken over håndryggens halvdel af maskerne - hvis det ikke går op, skal de overskydende masker strikkes med. (For eksempel hvis man har 33 m i alt, strikkes der 17 m).
Vend og slå om, strik vrang tilbage, vend og slå om. Strik nu rundt igen og strik omslagene sammen med de masker, der ikke blev strikket. Maskemarkøren skal blive siddende.

Strik nu videre indtil vanten er ca. ½ cm kortere end yderste led af lillefingeren. Mål på dine egne hænder eller på tegningen.

Asymmetrisk aflukning:
Bemærk at højre og venstre vante er spejlvendte. Vær opmærksom på, hvilken side, der er lillefinger- og tommelfingersiden og hvilke pinde der er håndrygs- og håndfladepindene.

Venstre vante
Fordel maskerne jævnt på 4 pinde, sådan at masken lige efter maskemarkøren er 1 maske på 1. pind.
 - Pind 1 og  2 er håndrygspindene. Pind 2 er lillefingersiden
 - Pind 3 og 4 er håndfladepindene. Pind 3 er lillefingersiden  

Højre vante
Fordel maskerne jævnt på 4 pinde, sådan at masken lige efter maskemarkøren er 1 maske på 1. pind.  
 - Pind 1 og  2 er håndfladepindene. Pind 2 er lillefingersiden
 - Pind 3 og 4 er håndrygspindene. Pind 3 er lillefingersiden

NOTE: Hvis maskeantallet ikke går op, er det igen håndrygspindene der skal have de 1 eller 2 ekstra masker.

Tag nu ind på lillefingersiden på hver anden omgang sådan her:
Strik de to sidste masker på pind 2 drejet ret sammen. Strik de to første m. på pind 3 ret sammen.
Gentag denne lillefingerside-aflukningsomgang på hver anden omgang indtil der er så mange masker tilbage på håndfladesidens lillefingerpind som regnestykket herunder angiver.

Asymmetrisk aflukning - regnestykke:
Del antallet af masker på en håndfladepind med 2 (jeg har 9 m pr. pind: 9:2 = 4,5)
Fjern eventuelle halve (4,5 = 4)
Læg 2 til (4 + 2 = 6)
Tag ind på lillefingersiden til der er (resultatet af regnestykket) m tilbage på håndfladesidens lillefingerpind (for mig 6 masker).

Næste gang der skal tages ind på lillefingersiden, påbegynder man indtagningerne på hver omgang på tommelfingersiden. Det vil sige, man tager ind sådan her:
 - Strik de to første m. på pind 1 ret sammen. Strik de to sidste masker på pind 2 drejet ret sammen. Strik de to første m. på pind 3 ret sammen. Strik de to sidste masker på pind 4 drejet ret sammen.

På næste omgang tager man kun ind på tommelfingersiden:
Strik de to første m. på pind 1 ret sammen. Strik de to sidste masker på pind 2 drejet ret sammen.

Gentag disse to indtagningsomgange til der er 2 m. tilbage på håndfladepindene - der kan nu være 3 og 3, 2 og 3 eller 2 og 2 masker tilbage på håndrygspindene, det er helt korrekt.
Bryd garnet og træk enden gennem maskerne.

Tommelfinger:
Fordel m fra hjælpetråden på 3 p, og saml 2 ekstra m op i mellemrummene i alt 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - m. Strik r til tommelen er ca ½ cm kortere end din/tegningens tommelfinger. Tag ind ved at strikke 2 ret sammen hele omgangen rundt. Træk tråden gennem de sidste m og stram til.
Hæft ender.

Poetry Monday :: Peace ☮

Beklager, ikke noget på dansk i dag


Poetry Monday - what's that? It is a blogging game, that Mimi of Messymimi's Meanderings and I have taken over the hosting duties, mostly the supplying of the prompts - only temporarily we hope - while Diane at On the Border is taking a break for health and relaxation, travelling the world with her husband as far as we can tell.  We just hope she's going to take back over once she returns home.

The prompts now come from 365 Days of Drawing Prompts and other Arts group. This is a Facebook group with a prompt for each day of the year, but no worries, the prompts will still be here and at Mimi's blog.

Today's prompt: Peace ☮


I was a child and young in the 70es - peace movements were a part of my everyday life back then.
I have a hard time taking peace seriously. And when hearing the word peace, up comes posters in big psychedelic letters.
"Make Peace, not War" or even  "Fighting for Peace"

And now, feeling the vibes and mourning that on this day forty-five years ago (1980) John Lennon was shot outside his own house, I can only hear Give Peace a Chance for my inner ear:

Ev'rybody's talking 'bout
Bagism, Shagism, Dragism, Madism, Ragism, Tagism
This-ism, that-ism, is-m, is-m, is-m

All we are saying is give peace a chance
All we are saying is give peace a chance

Hit it
C'mon, ev'rybody's talking about
Ministers, sinisters, banisters and canisters
Bishops and Fishops and Rabbis and Popeyes and bye-bye, bye-byes

All we are saying is give peace a chance
All we are saying is give peace a chance

Let me tell you now
Ev'rybody's talking 'bout
Revolution, evolution, masturbation, flagellation, regulation, integrations
Meditations, United Nations, congratulations

All we are saying is give peace a chance
All we are saying is give peace a chance

Ev'rybody's talking 'bout
John and Yoko, Timmy Leary, Rosemary, Tommy Smothers, Bobby Dylan, Tommy Cooper
Derek Taylor, Norman Mailer, Alan Ginsberg, Hare Krishna, Hare, Hare Krishna

All we are saying is give peace a chance
All we are saying is give peace a chance

All we are saying is give peace a chance
All we are saying is give peace a chance


- - - - - -  - Coming Themes  - - - - - - - -

taken from the 365 Days of Drawing Prompts and other Arts group.

Dec 15 Coconuts
Dec 22 Fungi
Dec 29 Sitting on old chairs

Modulstjerner igen

For my English readers: This is more speculation on Modular stars from my Blogtober. I found out that I was right after all; 16 mocules are the maximal number.

Det er efterhånden en del tid siden, jeg så ideen hos Bellas bedrifter, men ind i mellem går tiden for hurtigt. Den dag, jeg læste hendes blogopslag, var jeg ikke spor i julehumør, og jeg var ved at rydde op - og derfor let at distrahere. Det, jeg ryddede op, var gamle turfoldere og kort, og det kunne da mageligt blive til en stjerne. Jeg kan nemlig lide stjerner året rundt.

Dengang skrev jeg:

     Fordi Instagram ikke kan lide mig, og fordi jeg godt kan lide skrevne vejledninger, valgte jeg at følge den norske bloggers anvisninger (jeg har ingen problemer med at læse norsk).
     Hvad jeg ikke lige havde set, var at både Bella og den Instagram-vejledning hun anbefalede, foldede en stjerne med ni moduler, hvor den norske kun havde otte. Så jeg snuppede en gammel kortfolder, delte den i otte og foldede løs. Det var ret enkelt, kun lidt bøvlet at sætte den sammen.

Videre fortalte jeg om det maksimale antal moduler, man kunne bruge:

     Modulerne kan altså skubbes tættere sammen eller hives ud, så de danner en mere åben stjerne. Hvor mange moduler kan der mon blive plads til, hvis man skubber dem helt tæt sammen? Jeg gættede på 16, det dobbelte af de minimale 8 moduler. men jeg kunne kun få plads til 15 lige meget hvor meget, jeg skubbede.

Senere fandt jeg ud af, at jeg havde ret. Jeg pillede stjernen fra hinanden og glattede alle folderne med et falseben - en teske eller lignende kan også bruges. Og så kunne der lige præcis blive plads til 16 moduler:

     16 moduler er måske lidt i overkanten, og 8 lidt vel lidt.
     Siden har jeg foldet et par stykker til. de fleste af dem har ni takker som den grønstribede, men der er også flere med otte og enkelte med et andet antal. Der kommer nok mere om dem senere.

De to er foldet i tebrevsposer, som jeg jo har en overflod af.

De kan foldes i næsten alt papir, men man gør det afgjort lettere for sig selv, hvis man limer den lille flap bagpå fast på det første modul, når man forsøger sig med de helt små.

Trekanten markeret med gult, limes fast inden jeg folder færdig.

Verdens (måske) bedste vanterPossibly the best Mittens ever

My how to knit "Norvegian" asymmetrical mittens are ready to be posted in their third and hopefully perfect version in a few days. This is a preview.

Lige nu er jeg i gang med at strikke verdens måske bedste vanter.
Den gang jeg startede på det, kaldte jeg dem mine norske vanter.

     Den særligt norske ting var den måde, tommelfingeren er lavet på. I stedet for en kile, er det  ... tja sådan lidt kræmmerhusagtigt.
     Men efter at have forfulgt sporene fra Statistrikks blog over Jorun Holmens blog til Give a Hoot fra Kelbourne Woolens - hvor mønsteret ikke ligger længere ... så er det lige før, jeg må sige at de er mere amerikanske end norske, altså!
     Men derfor måtte jeg nu prøve alligevel.

Men jeg ville ikke være mig, hvis jeg ikke lavede om på opskriften. Næste forsøg var den asymmetriske aflukning i toppen.

Nu er jeg i gang med endnu et par forbedringer - mere plads over knoerne og lidt bedre asymmetri ... det vil sige, at jeg efter at have sat tommelfingermaskerne på en hjælpepind, sætter en maskemarkør 3 m efter tommelhullet på venstre hånd og 3 m. føre tommelhullet på højre hånd. Det gør at asymmetrien passer bedre til tommelfingerens placering i forhold til resten af fingrene.

    Opskriften kommer om et par dage, når jeg har strikket den anden vante færdig og dermed testet opskriftens læselighed.

Words for Wednesday & IWSG

The original Words for Wednesday was begun by Delores and eventually taken over as a moveable feast with many participants supplying the Words.
    When Delores closed her blog forever due to other problems, Elephant's Child (Sue) took over the role of coordinator.
    Now, after Sue's demise it is still to be discerned who will take over this role, River is doing it for the rest of 2025, but maybe Lissa will eventually be our new coordinator.

No matter what, how, where or who the aim of the words is to encourage us to write. A story, a poem, whatever comes to our mind.

This month the words are again supplied byWiseWebWoman and can be found at River's blog.

If you are posting an entry on your own blog, please leave a comment on River's blog, then we can come along and read it and add a few encouraging words.

 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.

We were given these words:
Ambulance
Bluebell
Sacristy
Fountain
    and/or:
Magnificent
Connemara
Castaway
Trumpet

I used the first set only, and as usual in the order they were given, to continue my tale of Susan and the strange bird.

Susan heard the siren of a far off ambulance, and remembered the "day of the Bluebells" when Kirstin fell and hurt her leg. At that day she had learned how to listen to bigger mammals, like cows and horses, and they were about to practice bird talking when Kirstin broke her leg, and the lesson was prematurely ended. They had not yet arrived at the subject again since, and remembering her bouts of synaesthesia after talking to toads*), Susan was loath to try bird talking unaided. But she had to do something, she had to try. The strange bird in front of her was seemingly agitated over something!

"Wait here!" she told the bird. It Oop'ed once, softly and seemed to understand. Susan ran down to the stable, where everything concerning animals, and everything too big to be placed elsewhere, and everything somebody might need during classes - in short almost every thing imaginable except books were kepi at the Unicorn Farm. Susan tiptoed to the corner where an old holy water fountain now contained their supply af scrying water. It still smelled of old books, incense and snuffed out candles from the small sacristy where she had helped fetch it. The smell made Susan feel better, more calm and with a thankful thought she opened a nearby cupboard an took one of the small bowls. Then she poured  a tiny amount of water into it.

Quickly she returned to the bird in the deserted classroom. She took a deep breath, concentrated on the spell, the bird and the water. Then she swished her wand and said "Vötn tala" She looked at the bird, who began with its Oop-opp-opp once again. Susan looked at the water, she saw a series of pictures seen from a bird's eye. Big, grey wings nearing, the Oop-bird getting scared and leaving its nest with a big jump, then the eggs from the nest, falling to the ground, lying in the grass, getting cold! Susan understood the urgency and tried to tell the bird to lead her there. But it just went on screaming OOP-OOP-OOP, creating flickering pictures of grey wings, falling eggs and cold! in the water.

What now, Susan? Time will tell ...

*) If you're curious, the chapters are here: Synaesthesia & After the visit to the minister.

- - A - - B - - C - - 

December 3 question - As a writer, what was one of the coolest/best gifts you ever received?

My reply - With the danger of repeating myself. The best gift, I was ever given was an old typewriter when I was around five years old. There was no special occasion, it was just old, decrepit rather, and my mother needed a new one. I was given the old one, and wrote away on it for years. I still regret throwing it out in a move.

You can see the typewriter and read a poem written in its honour here: My partner in Crime.

Colour of the Month :: December :: Månedens farve

I had written this, and pre-published it for yesterday evening. Mysteriously it has disappeared insteead of publishing. Strange things happen in the 'web.

--  🩷  --

Jeg havde skrevet og planlagt Månedens farve til i går aftes. Men i stedet for at udgive sig selv, synes det at have slettet sig selv. Jeg har ledt, både i slettede opslag og på mine andre blogs, det er bare væk. Så nu prøver jeg igen.

--  🩷  -- 🗑  --  🩷  --

Already back when I began the year, I had decided on the colour for December, the one that began it all.

--  🩷  --

Allerede tilbage i januar havde jeg besluttet mig for december måneds farve, nemlig den, der gav startskuddet til denne serie.

Poetry Monday and Catching upMandagsdigt og nyt

Today is December 1, We're given Moles eye view as a prompt. It's the opposite of Birds eye View it seems. I got this mixed up with "Making a mountain out of a mole hill" and wrote a haiku.

If you are a mole
every mole hill really is 
big as a mountain.

-- ⼭  --

I dag, den første december, er vores stikord: Mole's eye view. Det betyder frøperspektiv. Men jeg fik det blandet sammen med det engelske ordsprog "Making a mountain out of a mole hill (gøre et muldvarpeskud til et bjerg)" altså En storm i et glas vand.
     Men de der muldvarpe blev ved at spøge og det endte med dette haiku:

Er du en muldvarp
er et muldvarpeskud jo
så højt som et bjerg.


- - - - - -  - Coming Themes  - - - - - - - -

taken from the 365 Days of Drawing Prompts and other Arts group.

Dec 8 Peace
Dec 15 Coconuts
Dec 22 Fungi
Dec 29 Sitting on old chairs

   -- 🕯  -- 🕯  -- 🕯  -- 🕯  -- 

And now for something entirely different: Advent. Yesterday was time for lighting of the first candle, but poor MotherOwl had been busy and was not prepared. Bustling through our Advent and Christmas crate she found four only slightly used purple candles.

Some clay, found during cleaning, had become hard as a brick and was left out in the frost and rain to turn soft and malleable; and it actually was - sticky in the extreme, but serviceable. The same cleaning had also procured some decorative mushrooms. Greens came from a hedge in the vicinity - yes The Writer asked first - and voila Advent decoration ready for tea time.

-- 🕯  --

Og så til noget helt andet. I går var det jo første søndag i advent. Men Uglemor havde haft travlt, og været slatten, så der var ingen adventskrans. Dalsgaard i Skivholme belærer mig ganske vist om at det ikke er en adventskrans, hvis den ikke er rund, men det tager jeg ikke så tungt.
     Ved at stå på hovedet i vores advents- og julekasse fandt jeg fire kun let brugte lilla lys, måske tre år gamle, måske mere.
     Udenfor i en gammel bakke, havde jeg lagt noget ler, fundet under oprydning og hårdt som sten. Det endte derude i håb om at regn og frost kunne blødgøre det, og søreme, det var blevet til ler igen; mega-klistret ler, men ler der kunne bruges. Under samme oprydning havde jeg også fundet nogle pyntesvampe. Men der skulle også noget grønt til. Vi kiggede på vores gamle juletræ, helt fra 2016, men blev enige om, at det kunne fældes og genbruges i år. Så kiggede vi på naboens hæk og på hinanden. Skribenten greb en rosensaks, og efter at have vekslet et par venskabelige ord med naboen, kom han hjem med pyntegrønt. Så vores adventskrans er altså totalt genbrugs i år.

Godt nytår ~ Happy New Year

Nej, jeg er ikke blevet senil og roder rundt i år og måneder. Men i dag er det jo 1. søndag i advent. Kirkens nytår. Vi starter på et helt nyt kirkeår.
     Jeg fik også pudset det store vindue og gjort andre ting, men billeder må vente. Jeg tøvede, og pludselig var det for mørkt.

-- 🕯 -- 🕯 -- 🕯 -- 🕯 --

No, I have not yet turned senile and is mixing up days, months and years. But today we began a new liturgical year. A reason to celebrate,

I also cleaned the big window and did some other thing, but pictures will have to wait. I forgot, and suddenly it was too dark.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate!

Words for Wednesday ~ November 26

The original Words for Wednesday was begun by Delores and eventually taken over as a moveable feast with many participants supplying the Words.
    When Delores closed her blog forever due to other problems, Elephant's Child (Sue) took over the role of co-ordinator.
    Now, after Sue's demise River at Drifting through Life has taken over as our new coordinator. Thanks!

No matter what, how, where or who the aim of the words is to encourage us to write. A story, a poem, whatever comes to our mind.

This month the words are again supplied by Sean Jeating, who thankfully stepped in when our regular supplier was MIA, and can be found at River's blog.

If you are posting an entry on your own blog, please leave a comment on River's blog, then we can come along and read it and add a few encouraging words.

 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.

We were given these words:
Bird
Window.
Wings
Span
Open
    and/or:
Time
World
Laugh
All
Get

The words led me astray. I had sworn not to. I started a new story about Susan. Earlier; I thought I did so because Elephant's Child urged me on. Now I don't know any more ... Maybe she still does. Sometimes I felt like I wrote my stories for her alone, when time were tough and hot in Australia. ... I still miss her gentle presence in the blogosphere ...

A bird was pecking at the window. At first Susan did not notice, busy as she was with today's assignment on transformational magic and herbs. But as the poor creature beat its wings in time with the pecking, Susan noticed the sound. She looked up, and in the short span of time she noticed that it was a bird, she had never seen before and then a span of great, grey wings hovering in the near background. She jumped up and opened the window.

Now she had all the time in the world to look at the bird. It sure was a strange one. A bit larger that a blackbird, but cinnamon coloured, with black and white banded wings, a long, slender beak and a feather crest reminding Susan of a stegosaurus. The bird folded its crest onto a long, tapering plume with a black end. It looked at Susan with one of its black eye, then turned its head and looked with the other eye.
Then it opened its beak and squawked Oop-oop-oop.
Susan did not laugh at it, but she smiled widely. "What did you say?" was all she managed. Once again the bird opened its beak
"OOP-OOP-OOP!"  it said loudly, clearly impatient now.
"Sorry bird, Susan said, " I don't get it."


And as always now having used all the words in the order they were given, this is where I stop and hope to continue next Wednesday.

The bird in this chapter is an Eurasian hoopoe, a rare guest in Denmark. and the bird of the day on my Birds of Denmark calendar day before yesterday - today it's the blackbird.

- -  A  - -  B  - -  C  - -

     Bloglegen Words for Wednesday blev startet af Delores og udviklede sig til  en flytbar fest med mange deltagere, der leverede ordene. Da Delores lukkede sin blog for altid på grund af diverse problemer, overtog Elephant's Child (Sue) rollen som koordinator.
    Nu, efter Sues bortgang, er det stadig uklart, hvem der vil overtage denne rolle. River gør det i resten af 2025, men måske bliver Lissa vores nye koordinator.
     Uanset hvad, hvordan, hvor eller hvem, er målet med ordene at opmuntre os til at skrive. En historie, et digt, hvad end der kommer os i tankerne.

Denne måneds ord bliver leveret af  Sean Jeating og kan findes på Rivers blog.

Hvis du poster et indlæg på din egen blog, så skriv en kommentar på Rivers blog, så vi kan komme forbi og læse det og tilføje et par opmuntrende ord.
      Det er også en udfordring, hvor det gamle ordsprog "Jo flere, jo bedre" holder stik.

Så husk at følge linkene, gå tilbage og læse andres historier. Og skriv gerne en kommentar, når du har læst dem. Udfordringer som denne trives med interaktion, feedback og opmuntring. Og vi har ALLE brug for opmuntring.

Vi fik disse ord:
Fugl
Vindue
Vinger
Spændvidde, vingefang, omfatte,
Åben, åbne, åbn
    og/eller:
Tid, gange
Verden
Latter
Alt
Få, fatte, forstå

Ordene lokkede mig. Jeg havde lovet mig selv ikke at gøre det. Men ... jeg begyndte på en ny historie om Susan. Tidligere troede jeg, at jeg gjorde det, fordi Elephant's Child ansporede mig. Nu er jeg ikke sikker ... Måske gør hun det stadig. Nogle gange følte jeg, at jeg skrev mine historier kun for hende, når tiderne var hårde og varme i Australien. ... Hendes stille - eller ikke såå stille entusiasme var nogen gange nok til at bringe mig til tasterne.
     Jeg savner stadig hendes blide tilstedeværelse i blogosfæren ...

Eftersom jeg skriver på engelsk først, og så oversætter til/gendigter på dansk, er nogle af stikordenen uigenkendelige. For eksempel span i dette afsnit. Jeg oversætter det med vingefang, spændvidde eller omfatte, men det kan også bruges om tid, ligesom det gamle danske et spand af år. Det blev bare til i det korte øjeblik på dansk.

En fugl hakkede på vinduet. Først bemærkede Susan det ikke, hun var opslugt af dagens opgave om transformationsmagi og magiske urter. Men da det stakkels dyr også begyndte at slå med vingerne i takt med sin hakken, bemærkede Susan lyden. Hun kiggede op, og i det korte øjeblik, det tog hende at bemærke, at det var en fugl, hun aldrig havde set før, så hun også et par store, grå vinger i baggrunden. Hun sprang op og åbnede vinduet.

Nu havde hun god tid til at se på fuglen. Det var en meget underlig fugl. Lidt større end en solsort, men kanelfarvet, med sort- og hvidstribede vinger, et langt, slankt næb og en fjerkrone, der mindede Susan om en stegosaurus eller en punker. Fuglen klappede sin fjerkrone sammen til en lang, pids fjerting med en sort ende. Den kiggede på Susan med det ene sorte øje, vendte derefter hovedet og kiggede med det andet øje.
     Så åbnede den næbbet og skreg Uup-uup-uup.
    Susan lo ikke ad den, men hun smilede bredt. »Hvad sagde du?« var alt, hvad hun fik frem. Fuglen åbnede igen næbbet
»UUP-UUP-UUP!« sagde den højt og tydeligvis utålmodig.
»Undskyld, fugl,« sagde Susan, »det forstår jeg ikke.«


Og som altid, nu hvor jeg har brugt alle ordene i den rækkefølge, de blev givet, stopper jeg her og håber at kunne fortsætte næste onsdag.
Fuglen i dette kapitel er en hærfugl, en sjælden gæst i Danmark og fuglen i min kalender »Danmarks fugle« i mandags. I dag har vi en solsort.

Poetry Monday :: Pot of Tea for Two

Beklager, ikke noget på dansk i dag


Poetry Monday - what's that? It is a blogging game, that Mimi of Messymimi's Meanderings and I have taken over the hosting duties, mostly the supplying of the prompts - only temporarily we hope - while Diane at On the Border is taking a break for health and relaxation, travelling the world with her husband as far as we can tell.  We just hope she's going to take back over once she returns home.

The prompts now come from 365 Days of Drawing Prompts and other Arts group. This is a Facebook group with a prompt for each day of the year, but no worries, the prompts will still be here and at Mimi's blog.

Today's prompt, Pot of Tea for Two, inspired me to write an Epulaeruy - long tome since I last wrote one.

The Epulaeryu poem is about delicious food (The name is, I think, a mixture of Greek and Japanese).
It consists of seven lines and thirty-three syllables.
The form is 7/5/7/5/5/3/1 syllables, and the seventh line ends with an exclamation mark.

We lay the table neatly.
cups, knives, plates, and spoons,
crackers, chese, and haw's jelly,
everything just rigth.
But don't forget the
centre piece:
Tea!


- - - - - -  - Coming Themes  - - - - - - - -

taken from the 365 Days of Drawing Prompts and other Arts group.

Dec 1 Moles eye view
Dec 8 Peace
Dec 15 Coconuts
Dec 22 Fungi
Dec 29 Sitting on old chairs

Sunday Selections ~ November 23 ~ Søndagsbilleder

Although we've had some sunshine this last week, it's been cold and the skies have only been a watery blue.

-- 🩵 --

Godt nok har solen skinnet den seneste uge, men det har været så lkoldt., at himlen ikke har være rigtig himmelblå, kun vandblå.

-- 🩵 -- 🩵 --

On the other hand I picked the last of the flowers from the Fern-leaved beggarticks before putting them into the renovated shed for the winter. I tried an ecoPrint again.

-- 🩵 --

På den anden side fik jeg plukket de sidste blonster fra min havebrøndsel, før jeg satte den til overvinting i luksus-skuret. De blev til endnu et PlantePrint.

-- 🩵 -- 🩵 --

Fresh from the dyepot  - 🩵 -  frisk fra gryden:

And dry  - 🩵 -  Og tørret

I'm so sad, I can't make those vibrant, autumny colours stay.

-- 🩵 --

  Jeg er ked af, at jeg ikke kan få de klare efterrsfarver til at komme over på papiret.

Words for Wednesday 19 November 2025

The original Words for Wednesday was begun by Delores and eventually taken over as a moveable feast with many participants supplying the Words.
    When Delores closed her blog forever due to other problems, Elephant's Child (Sue) took over the role of co-ordinator.
    Now, after Sue's demise River at Drifting through Life has taken over as our new coordinator. Thanks!

No matter what, how, where or who the aim of the words is to encourage us to write. A story, a poem, whatever comes to our mind.

This month the words are again supplied by Sean Jeating, who thankfully stepped in when our regular supplier was MIA, and can be found at River's blog.

If you are posting an entry on your own blog, please leave a comment on River's blog, then we can come along and read it and add a few encouraging words.

 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.

We were given these words:
Squad 
Cemetery 
Flowers 
Painted 
Cross
    and/or:
Barely 
Money 
Eat 
Freedom 
Courage

The election yesterday gave the expected outcome. So excuse this dreary monologue. My municipality is as yet undecided, but it'll be right-wing and nationalistic. 

The squad I expected to be in, is in and the powers of the dark dance at the cemetery and kick the flowers away. The crosses are painted dark or red and white (national colours of Denmark).

The powers that be share the fame and the money among themselves, growing fat and bloated like the tyrants of old, while poor people barely have enough to buy something to eat.

We need to find the courage to once again fight for our freedom, for the nature, for the needy, and for the future.

Poetry Monday :: In a CaveMandagsdigtet :: I en hule

Poetry Monday - what's that? It is a blogging game, that Mimi of Messymimi's Meanderings and I have taken over the hosting duties, mostly the supplying of the prompts - only temporarily we hope - while Diane at On the Border is taking a break for health and relaxation, travelling the world with her husband as far as we can tell.  We just hope she's going to take back over once she returns home.

The prompts now come from 365 Days of Drawing Prompts and other Arts group. This is a Facebook group with a prompt for each day of the year, but no worries, the prompts will still be here and at Mimi's blog.

Today's prompt is In a Cave. Sometimes I think it is too obvious that our prompts are really drawing prompts. This is one of the occasions. But well, Poeming must happen.
I do not often talk politics on my blog, but tomorrow is election day for the local elections.
Election days are per tradition Tuesdays in Denmark.

Sometimes I would like to live in a cave
Tomorrow's election, and we must be brave.
We must venture out, cast a vote on our fave
Alas I am fearful, the future is grave
Too many mean ones, too many to stave
with my single ballot, but I must be brave
If I just do nothing the way I do pave
For evil, pollution and slave.

- -  A  - -  B  - -  C  - -

Hvad er Mandagsdigtet? Det er en blogleg, som Mimi fra Messymimi's Meanderings og jeg har overtaget - midlertidigt! - fra Diane, der slapper af og rejser verden rundt med sin mand. Vi håber hun er parat til at tage over igen, når hun kommer hjem.
     Stikordene kommer nu  fra 365 Days of Drawing Prompts and other Arts. Det er en Facebook-gruppe, der udgiver et stikord til hver dag i året, men bare rolig, stikordene vil stadig være at finde både her og på Mimis blog.

Dagens stikord er: In a Cave - I en hule. Nogen gange er det næsten alt for tydeligt at det er stikortd til at tegne efter, også i dag. Men digtes, ja, det skal der!

Jeg drømmer nu om at bo i en hule
Jeg frygter i morgen, jeg kan ikke skjule
at valget i morgen med alt dets ballade
er over os. Jeg frygter for skade
på marker og enge og fugle.
Det skræmmer en granvoksen ugle!


Det her er et eksempel på det, der skræmmer mig  -- 😟  😶 --   This poster scares me

Smuk farve - skræmmende budskab   -- 😟  😶 --   Beautiful colour  - scary message

This message translates roughly to: "There's most of us."
The party behind this poster advocates for remigration and
more freedom for farmers.
I hope there's more of the rest of us, but I really fear for the future.

- - - - - -  - Coming Themes  - - - - - - - -

taken from the 365 Days of Drawing Prompts and other Arts group.

Nov 24 Pot of tea for two
Dec 1 Moles eye view
Dec 8 Peace
Dec 15 Coconuts
Dec 22 Fungi
Dec 29 Sitting on old chairs

Sunday Selections ~ Søndagsbilleder Dagur íslenskrar tungu

I dag burde jeg skrive mit opslag på islandsk, da det er det islandske sprogs dag, og islandsk, der jo er magiens sprog på Enhjørningegården, altid har haft en stor plads i mit hjerte. Men jeg tror jeg afholder mig, dels ville det nok tage mig resten af dagen, dels ville det nok være så fuldt af fejl, at det ville være næsten ulæseligt.
     Så jeg nøjes med at sige til hamingju með daginn íslenskrar tungu - tillykke med det islandske sprogs dag.

Today, I ought to write my post in Icelandic, as it is Icelandic Language Day, and Icelandic, the language of magic at the Unicorn Farm, has always had a big place in my heart. But I think I'll refrain from doing so, partly because it would take me the rest of today, partly because it would probably be so full of errors that it would be almost unreadable.
So I'll just say til hamingju með daginn íslenskrar tungu - Happy Icelandic Language Day.

  ---  💙  --- 

Tilbage i januar 2024, da jeg fik fjernet min galdeblære, spurgte jeg om jeg kunne få stenene med hjem. Jeg havde ingen idé om, hvad jeg ville med dem, hvis jeg fik dem. Jeg fik én, den største, på 2½ x knap 2 cm, resten var for smuldrende ... men der var mange. Lige siden har den ligget i en pose på mit skrivebord, ligget i vejen, er måske det rette ord, for hvad skulle jeg egentlig med den? Jeg ville ikke bare smide den ud. Endelig i går, da det var smukt, klart vejr, og himlen en fortryllende lys himmelblå, plantede jeg en lægealant i et hul ovenpå galdestenen. På engelsk har planten meget sjovere navne, elvertidsel eller heste-helbrederen. Det tiltaler mig, og nu håber jeg på at blive stærk som en hest 😃

Back in January 2024, when I had my gallbladder removed, I asked if I could have the stones. I had no idea what I would do with them if I got them. I got one, the largest, measuring 2½ times just under 2 cm; the rest were too crumbly ... but there were many. Ever since then, it has been lying in a bag on my desk, getting in the way really, because what was I to do with it? I didn't want to just throw it out after all the trouble.
Finally, yesterday, when the weather was beautiful and clear, and the sky was an enchanting light sky blue, I planted a plant in a hole on top of the gallstone. The plant was an elecampane also known as elfdock or horse-heal. I hope to grow healthy as a horse now 😃

Den historie tæller også som månedesn farve Plantekassen øverst til højre er ikke helt ved siden af i hvert fald

--  💙  ---

This story also counts towards the colour of the month. The plant container in the upper right corner is not much off.