mandag den 13. oktober 2025

Poetry Monday :: Contrast (Blogtober 13)

Kontrast ... det kan man sikkert spinde en ende over. Men det her digt, nærmere en slags taledigt eller rap, opstod nærmest af sig selv i mit hoved i går morges.

For flere år siden skrev jeg en
"Omvendt bucket list" over hvad jeg allerede havde gjort, og en af dem var: "Played guitar in a country band". Vi sang også moderne protestsange og ballader. Den tid kom tilbag til mig, da dette vers opstod i går, det kunne vi godt have sunget ved en eller anden demonstration dengang.
     Verset har ikke vildt meget med kontrast at gøre - hun måske mellem hvordan vi synes, verden burde være og hvordan den er nu?


Lad os prise, lad os takke vores færdselsbetjent,
vi kan faktisk heller ikke være andet bekendt.
Han fik smadret sit knæ
og bankede ind i et træ,
men han stopped' idioten - en i forvejen kendt

Og nu ligger han og lider på et hospital,
mens "den  kendte" - idioten, som er bindegal
smadrer sin detention
og koster en million.
Hvordan pokker går det til at den her slutning er normal?

 -- A  --  B  --  C --


Contrast ... you could probably spin a   tale here. But this poem, more like a kind of rhythmically spoken lines or rap, just popped into my head yesterday morning.

A few years ago, I wrote a
Reverse Bucket Listof things I'd already done, and one of them was: ‘Played guitar in a country band’. We also sang modern protest songs and ballads. That time came back to me with this verse yesterday morning; we could have recited it at some demonstration back then.
The verse doesn't have much to do with contrast – perhaps between how we think the world should be and how it is now?


Let us give to our traffic cop the praise that we own
Yes you have to do it - and if not you're made of stone
He smashed up his knee
and crashed into a tree,
but he stopped the drunken driver - who was previously known.

And now he's lying in an ICU,
while ‘the known one’ - the DUI - completely blew
smashes up his humble cell
costs a million and a bell.
How on earth did we end up with an ending this askew?


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

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

Oct 20 Side profile of a person
Oct 27 Journey between stars
Nov 3 Funeral
Nov 10 Dismembered
Nov 17 In a cave
Nov 24 Pot of tea for two

søndag den 12. oktober 2025

Elephant's Child once again
Sunday Selections ~ Søndagsbillede

This might very well be the strangest Sunday Selection I ever posted. But I'd like you to know, and I think Elephant's Child would agree.

Tomorrow, Monday 13th at 12 o'clock Canberra time Sue Goldberg, whom to most of us was known as Elephant's Child will be buried. Her burial will be livestreamed, see the link is below the obituary.

Please note that 12 o'clock Monday Canberra time is:
3.00 (3 am) Monday Paris time - my time, I won't join.
21.00 (9 pm) Sunday New York time
22.30 (10.30 pm) Sunday Newfoundland time.

Actually if you click the link, it will tell you when it is in your own time, that's quite helpful.

Sue's Funeral livestream LINK

Seeing Sue's birthday gave me a shock. She was only three years older than me!

And I do not know if this is blasphemous, inappropriate or a last nod from Elephant's Child to us, but the flower in her obituary also contains

lørdag den 11. oktober 2025

Praise - and the opposite - for Blogger - Updated
Ros - og det modsatte - til Blogger (Blogtober 11)

Det seneste stykke tid har jeg kæmpet ekstra meget med Blogger når jeg har skullet redigere billeder. Det er ikke altid billedredigeringsværktøjet popper op, når jeg klikker på et billede. Det er heller ikke altid, det virker
     Der er også andre særheder, mest i HTML-koderne, så dem vil jeg ikke trætte jer med.

Til gengæld bliver al spam nu sorteret fra og alle normale kommentarer går igennem. så jeg har fjernet min spam-meddelelse i toppen af siden.
     Det er jeg særligt glad for på Elephant's Child's blog, hvor jeg åbenbart som tilmeldt til kommentarer får revl og krat. Men alle spam-opslagene er der ikke, når jeg kigger. Flot! For der er ikke meget, der er mere deprimerende end en forladt blog, hvor kommentarfelterne er fyldt op af alverdens heksedoktorer, casinoer osv.

  -- ✅     ➗     🆗  -- 


Lately, I've been struggling a lot with Blogger when editing images. The image editing tool doesn't always pop up when I click an image. It doesn't always work either
  There are other quirks too, mostly in the HTML codes, but I won't bore you with those.

On the other hand, all spam is now filtered out and all normal comments go through. I have removed my Spam notification from my header.
  I'm particularly happy about this on Elephant's Child's blog, where I apparently get a notification e-mail about all comments after ticking the "notify me" box. But all the spam posts are gone when I look. Well done, Blogger! Because there's nothing more depressing in Blogland than an abandoned blog where the comment fields are filled up with witch doctors, casinos, etc.

And there I jinxed it. The first spammer got through. Do they really think we go there when they're spamming a loved one's blog?

fredag den 10. oktober 2025

Kikkoman (Blogtober 10)

Her i Uglebo spiser vi mad fra store dele af verden, også Japan, og en af de ting, jeg rigtig god kan lide, er at Kikkoman - dem der med soyaen - har lavet nogle særlige flasker med fine motiver på. Desværre opdagede jeg det lidt sent, så jeg har kun de tre seneste, men den fra 2023 passer altså lige nu.
     Se bare, gyldne ahornblade, der daler ned under fuldmånen og en gylden bro. Det bliver ikke meget mere efterårsagtigt.
In the Owlery we eat a lot of food from all over the world, also Japanese. One of the staples of my Japanese cooking is soy. And Kikkoman has made the perfect bottle.

For the last few years (since 2020), they have even made special editions of it. I was a bit slow finding out, I've got only the last three. But the one from 2023 is perfect for now. Golden maple leafs slowly falling under the full moon and a golden bridge - can it get any more autumny? 

-- 🍁 --  🍥 -- 🍁 --

For øvrigt er denne flaske en af de bedste eksempler på designkunst, jeg har oplevet. Den er flot, stabil, rar at holde om og hælde af, den drypper ikke og er nem både at vaske op og fylde igen. Jeg troede det var et lykketræf, indtil jeg fandt det nedenstående på Kikkomans hjemmeside (mens jeg ledte efter "årgangsflaskerne")

-- 🍥 --

This bottle is by the way one of the best designed pieces, I ever saw. It is pretty, stable, easy to use, does not drip and is easy to clean and refill. I thought it was just happy chance until I discovered this piece of prose on Kikkoman's homepage (while looking for the limited edition bottles):

Celebrating our beloved dispenser
In Japan, until the late 1950s, soy sauce was usually sold in large 2-liter bottles. At home, people would have to pour it into small pitchers to use it as a condiment at the table. That process was awkward, and the pitchers would inevitably drip and make a mess at the table. 
   So, Kikkoman set out to create a modern solution to this centuries-old problem: a reusable, dripless dispenser that would make life easier for consumers. 
   The company hired a talented young man named Kenji Ekuan—who would eventually become one of Japan’s most famous industrial designers—to take on the challenge.
   Over the course of three years, Ekuan and his team developed nearly 100 prototypes until they finally found the solution: a perfectly balanced bell-shaped bottle with a flared opening that was easy to refill and a signature red cap with two spouts (one for soy sauce to pour out of, the other for air intake) that created a smooth, steady pour and put an end to the problem of dripping forever.
   The Kikkoman dispenser debuted in 1961 and went on to sell in the hundreds of millions.
(Dansk oversættelse, se helt til sidst)

-- 🍁 --  🍥 -- 🍁 --

Bemærk venligst at Kikkoman's fine flaske og jeg er lige gamle. Jeg leder stadig efter den fødselsdagsflaske (som måske aldrig blev fremstillet) og de tre andre, der er vist nedenfor. 

-- 🍥 --

Please note that this bottle and I were born in the same year. I am still looking for the jubilee bottle - I do not even know if it was ever made - and the three others shown here below.



- - - - - - -  Oversættelsen - - -
Vi hylder vores elskede flaske
I Japan blev sojasovs indtil slutningen af 1950'erne solgt i store 2-liters flasker. Hjemme måtte man hælde den over i små kander for at kunne bruge den ved bordet. Det var besværligt, og kanderne dryppede og svinede bordet til.
   Derfor satte Kikkoman sig for at finde en moderne løsning på dette århundredgamle problem: en genanvendelig, drypfri flaske, der ville gøre livet lettere for forbrugerne.
   Virksomheden hyrede en talentfuld ung mand ved navn Kenji Ekuan – der senere skulle blive en af Japans mest berømte industrielle designere – til at tage udfordringen op.
   I løbet af tre år udviklede Ekuan og hans team næsten 100 prototyper, indtil de endelig fandt løsningen: en perfekt afbalanceret klokkeformet flaske med en udvidet åbning, der var nem at genopfylde, og en karakteristisk rød hætte med to huller (den ene til at hælde sojasovs ud af, den anden til luft), der skabte en jævn, stabil stråle og satte en stopper for problemet med dryp for altid.
   Kikkoman-flasken kom på markedet i 1961 og er solgt i millioner af eksemplarer lige siden.

torsdag den 9. oktober 2025

Trying to enjoy Autumn ~ Forsøg på at nyde efteråret (Blogtober 9)

Blogtober og efterår.
     Jeg vil forsøge at bringe et positivt efterårsbillede hver dag, hvor der ikke foregår andet her på bloggen, For jeg har det altså stramt med efterår og kortere dage. I år prøver jeg virkelig på at kunne lide efteråret.
     Forleden fandt jeg denne her løber. Den skal bruges!
Blogtober and Autunm.

Every day where nothing else - like Poetry Monday, Words for Wednesday, or Sunday Selections - is happening on my blog, I am hopefully going to post a positive photo and text. This is hard, as I really do not like Autumn and shorter days. I'll try to stay positive and "hygge" this time around.

Some days ago I found this table runner in a second hand shop. I'll use it!

Og de er så lidt Månedens farve over det også ~~ Even matching the Colour of the month.

onsdag den 8. oktober 2025

Words for Wednesday (Blogtober 8)

Scroll ned for dansk  

 
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 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 by Sean Jeating 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:
Visited  
Chewing  
Nudging  
Saw  
Point  
    and/or:
Side  
Honey  
Companion  
Silent  
Loudly

Hmm, I do not really feel like writing. I lack energy. I just sit and read old blogs or books. But then ... it was a nice evening. I did not look at the Words before writing, but fortunately some of them fit in.

Slowly I feel like returning to life, very slowly. Last week I visited the dentist no less than three times, and tomorrow I'll visit her again  for the fourth, and hopefully last time for some time. Chewing has been tough with first one tooth hurting, being repaired and finally extracted, and then another tooth acting up. Hopefully it'll get fixed tomorrow, else I'm going to disappear into thin air - I think I lost 4 kg already, which is NOT healthy as most of it is probably muscles from not moving, not fat.

But this evening, just before sunset (it is dark now at five past seven) I took the basket and collected all the fallen walnuts, fed the hens some grass, weeds and chicken feed, then I hung out the laundry while the bats made their impressing and silent acrobatics over my head. I spread the walnuts on the floor of our outhouse (not the new shed) to dry. I looked for, and found! my spare bicycle key that has been lost for weeks. After looking through all the imaginable, and two unlikely pockets, I was looking at the hook where it usually hung. I asked under my breath, Where is that key? And the answer came to me. It's in your new saddlebag - and it was.

Then I put the bike back into the shed. Today I did not bike to town, as biking in murky, cold October woods and a toothache is no good combination, but I brought my bike by bus to help carry the shopping. After putting the bike back in place, I closed the door to the hens, who had gone to sleep and once inside I took out the pulled pork from the oven, where it had stewed since noon, and turned up the heat, so that the bread could bake soon.

Back in the living room I filled a glass of honey, scraping the crystallised honey out from the bucket, I bought it in, scooping the softer honey into a glass. We call this to mine a glass of honey 🙂

Soon dinner will be ready. And I have enough words left for a follow up later.

- -  A  - -  - - - -

    Oprindeligt blev Words for Wednesday 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 til sidst 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 er 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
:
Besøgt 
Tygge 
Puffe 
Så (eller sav) 
Pege  (eller pointe eller spids)
    og/eller:
Side 
Honning 
Ledsager 
Stille / lydløs
Højlydt

Hmm, jeg har ikke rigtig lyst til at skrive. Jeg mangler energi. Jeg sidder bare og læser gamle blogs eller bøger. Men så ... var det en dejlig aften. Jeg kiggede ikke på ordene før jeg skrev, men heldigvis passede nogle af dem ind.


Langsomt føler jeg, at jeg vender tilbage til livet, meget langsomt. I sidste uge har jeg besøgt tandlægen ikke mindre end tre gange, og i morgen skal jeg derhen igen for fjerde og forhåbentlig sidste gang i et stykke tid. Det har været svært at tygge, fordi først gjorde den ene tand ondt, blev repareret og til sidst trukket ud, og så begyndte den anden tand at gøre ondt. Forhåbentlig bliver det ordnet i morgen, ellers forsvinder jeg i den blå luft – jeg tror, jeg allerede har tabt 4 kg, hvilket IKKE er sundt, da det meste sandsynligvis er muskler på grund af  manglende bevægelse, og ikke fedt.
    Men i aften, lige før solnedgang (det er mørkt nu, fem minutter over syv), tog jeg kurven og samlede alle de nedfaldne valnødder sammen, fodrede hønsene med græs, ukrudt og hønsefoder, og så hængte jeg vasketøjet op, mens flagermusene udførte deres imponerende og lydløse akrobatik højt over mit hoved. Jeg spredte valnødderne ud på gulvet i vores udhus (ikke det nye skur) for at tørre dem. Jeg ledte efter og fandt faktisk! min ekstra cykelnøgle, som havde været væk i ugevis. Efter at have ledt alle tænkelige og to usandsynlige lommer igennem, kiggede jeg på den krog, hvor den normalt hang. Jeg spurgte lavmælt: »Hvor er den nøgle?« Og svaret kom til mig. »Den er i din nye cykeltaske« – og det var den.

Så satte jeg cyklen tilbage i skuret. I dag cyklede jeg ikke ind til byen, da cykling i mørke, kolde oktober-skove og tandpine ikke er en god kombination, men jeg havde haft cyklen med bussen for at hjælpe med at bære indkøbene. Efter at have sat cyklen på plads, lukkede jeg for hønsene, som var gået i seng. Inde i huset tog jeg den hjemmelavede Pulled pork ud af ovnen, hvor det havde simret siden middag, og skruede op for varmen, så brødene snart kunne varmes.

Tilbage i stuen fyldte jeg et glas honning ved at skrabe den stivnede (krystalliserede) honning ud af spanden, jeg havde købt den i, og komme den nu bløde, flydende honning op i et glas. Vi kalder det at mine et glas honning 🙂

Snart er middagen klar. Og jeg har ord nok tilbage til en opfølgning senere.


tirsdag den 7. oktober 2025

Regnvejrssysler ~ Rainy Weather Doings (Blogtober 7)

Stormen Amy nåede lige at baske til os med halen. Den bragte store mængder regn og ruskede masser af valnødder ned fra træerne, og mellem bygerne var jeg ude og samle op. Mens det regnede pillede jeg de grønne skaller af (og fik meget brune fingre) og spredte valnødderne ud til fortørring, puttede dem fra forleden i tørremaskinen, kogte vindruegelé og æblemos og strikkede lidt.
The tail end of Amy the storm hit us gently. It gave us lots of rain and shook loads of walnuts from our trees, and I collected quite a bit in one of the non-rainy intervals.
Then, as it rained once again,  I removed all the green outer husks (staining my fingers a nice brown) spread out the nuts to pre dry, put those from Friday in the dehydrator, made grape jelly and applesauce. I even knitted a bit.

mandag den 6. oktober 2025

Poetry Monday :: Water (Blogtober 6)

Dagens stikord for Mandagsdigtet er vand. Regn er også vand, og i lørdags lovede jeg at måske komme med en engelsk gendigtning af Cirkelines Regnvejrssang. Den er så her.

-- 💧 --

This week's prompt for Poetry Monday is Water taken from the 365 Days of Drawing Prompts and other Arts group.

Rain is also water, and Saturday I posted this:

promising that maybe an English translation would follow. Well here it is.

It is a song from my childhood, from TV for kids. The elf Cirkeline, and her friends the mice Frederik (blue stripes), Ingolf (red stripes), Susse and Musse had lots of adventures in the garden belonging to the house of the Artist, who drew them. Cirkeline slept in a matchbox on the desk of the Artist, and kept it nice. Every chapter started with her cleaning the desk and then going down by a rope attached to a thumb tack on the edge of the desk.

The songs were simple tunes children could sing along with - and make more verses for if they felt so inclined. Listen here:
The two digging ones are called Mr. P and Mr. B.
The Danish text tells you that you are only allowed to watch this video on YouTube. To do so, click the link.

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

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

Oct 13 Contrast
Oct 20 Side profile of a person
Oct 27 Journey between stars
Nov 3 Funeral
Nov 10 Dismembered
Nov 17 In a cave
Nov 24 Pot of tea for two

søndag den 5. oktober 2025

Søndagsbillede ~ Sunday Selection (Blogtober 5)

Dagens billede tog jeg i forgårs, mens det stadig var klart vejr. Det er en havebrøndsel. Den er i familie med skønhedsøjerne, og man kan også bruge den til farveplante ... eller bare til pynt, for den er da flot. Jeg håber, den er vinterhårdfør, og den skal nok komme ind i vores nye skur sammen med yuzu, laurbær og de andre sarte væsener. Og så dekreterer jeg at den passer til månedens farve: Græskar-orange.

This is a Beggarticks, a fern-leaved beggarticks even. It is a distant cousin of the tickseed family and can be used as a dye - or like here for ornamental purposes, it sure looks the part.
I hope it will survive the winter, and it will be placed in the new shed together with yuzu, bay laurel, and other non hardy types as soon as frost is closer.
And I declare that it fits the colour of the month; Pumpkin orange.

lørdag den 4. oktober 2025

Blogtober (Blogtober 4)

I am the densest blogger alive, I think I never heard about Blogtober until today when Lucy @ Attic24 told about it on her new blog (force-moved, since Typepad closed down). And it's already too late, I "lost" as I did not blog yesterday at all. But I'll be trying. Bear with me, with stupid, inane and colourful blogposts during Blogtober.

-- 💧 --

Er jeg mon den langsomste blogger i denne verden. Det er noget, der hedder Blogtober - blog hver dag i hele oktober - og jeg har allerede "tabt" fordi jeg ikke bloggede i går. Men jeg prøver nu alligevel, så I kommer til at trækkes med tåbelige, intetsigende og farverige indfald her på bloggen den næste måneds tid.

-- -- 💧 --💧 -- --

Dagens tema: Vejr. Vi bringer en vejrmelding - Today's theme: Weather, here's the Weather forecast:
Ja, det er på norsk, jeg bruger yr.no  ~  It's in Norwegian, as I use yr.no for my daily weather forecast.

-- 💧 --

Udenfor ser det sådan her ud ~ Looking outside it looks like this:
Men pludselig begyndte Cirkelines Regnvejrssang at køre inde i mit hoved. Så måske burde jeg bare synge og gribe chancen til hyggelige indendørssysler.

-- 💧 --

But all of a sudden I heard this happy Rainy song inside my head. So maybe it's time to enjoy the wet and storm and have a cosy Saturday filled with autumny doings. A translation might follow, but it's something like Winnie the Poo singing about snow, just this elf and rain instead ;)

torsdag den 2. oktober 2025

Words for Wednesday ~ on a Thursday

The original Words for Wednesday was begun by Delores and eventually taken over by a moveable feast of participants. When Delores closed her blog forever due to other problems, Sue of Elephant's Child took over the role of co-ordinator. 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 by Sean Jeating 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 so we can come along to 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:
Hear
Modern
Influenza
Physical
Organs
Original
Pea
Human
Rather
Size

I'm not in a nice temper in these days. It's not only Elephant's Child that died recently, others did too, touching upon my circles. On top of that I have a game leg and a toothache - grumpy is a mild word for to describe how I feel. My outpourings may be touched, just a teeny tiny bit, by all this grumpiness. Read at your own risk. 


We hear about Covid now and then, the modern influenza that impinges on our physical wellbeing, attacks our organs and make us generally miserable for days, if not weeks on end.
I think we need to focus more on the digitally transmitted diseases, that make our brain shrink to the size of a pea, and even make us forget that others are as human as we are.
I'd rather we all had old-fashioned flu that modern brain rot.

onsdag den 1. oktober 2025

Words for Wednesday October 1st (Updated with the Words) & IWSG

For a long, long time - ever since December 2017 - I have written these words, or words to that account, on my blog almost every Wednesday:
Word for Wednesday is a challenge that was started a long time ago. Now it has turned into a movable event with Elephant's Child as our coordinator; and the Words provided by a number of people.
But now no longer. Never again will she give us the prompts with a gentle reminder about remembering to have fun, correct my errors, praise my tales and ask for more.

Elephant's Child is the main reason I ever made it this far with my tales about Susan, and if I ever get to publish them, she'll be having a honourable mentioning in the book!

Today the Words, provided by Sean Jeatings, should have been on her blog. But they are not.

If they show up somewhere, a story might be written, but so far - emptiness.












Elephant's Child's death leaves a big, empty space in the Blogosphere and in our lives.

UPDATE

River has, since I wrote this post, published Sean Jeatings words on her blog. They are:
Hear
Modern
Influenza
Physical
Organs
Original
Pea
Human
Rather
Size
Let me see if any writing will happen

- - A - - B - - C - - 

October 1 question - What is the most favourite thing you have written, published or not? And why?

My answer - This is a question that for me is impossible to answer. I never published anything and what I like to read - written by others or by myself - depends on my mood. But right now, still discombobulated after Elephant's Child's demise, and some private matters (non-lethal, just a royal P.I.T.A) I'd go with the piece about the naming of the dragons.