Advent 2017 - del 4

     Det går stadig fremad med vores store adventsvindue. Hver morgen er der en Ugleunge, der hænger noget op. Uglemor har fornyet snorene. Nu ser det sådan her ud.

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Our big advent calendar is still growing. Every morning an Owlet hangs an ornament. MotherOwl even renewed the strands holding up the whole calendar arrangement.

     Vores Jesse træ er i modsætning hertil ikke sket noget med. Uglemor lavede et nyt træ og et ornament til 1. søndag i advent, der hidtil kun har haft selve træet. Siden er der ikke sket noget. Der mangler noget, at hænge ornamenterne på og måske lidt brun maling.

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Our Jesse Tree on the other hand has not seen much progress. MotherOwl made a new tree and an ornament for 1st Sunday of advent - which so far had had only the tree itself for ornament. Since then nothing has happened. The tree needs nails, or pins, or whatever to hang the ornaments, and maybe a touch of brown paint.

PS. ⠗⠑⠛⠝ er punktskrift - der står "regn".  Fordi det altså bare regner i dag. Braille? Bare fordi jeg kan. Jeg tjente penge som punktskriftafskriver engang for længe siden, indtil computerteknologien gjorde mig overflødig.

PS. ⠗⠑⠛⠝ is written in Braille. It says r - e - g - n which spells rain in Danish. Just because I know how to and it is raining. I once earned my living as a translator to Braille for a very short time - until the rising use of computers made me obsolete.

Klassiker-udfordring - Back to the Classics

     Mangler man en god undskyldning for at læse bøger?  Uglemor gør i hvert fald af og til. Men næste år bliver det anderledes. Den gode  Queen of Carrots har gjort mig opmærksom på en udfordring. Den originale, hvor man kan melde sig til, ligger her: Books and Chocolate
12 forskellige bøger på 12 måneder. Det foregår på engelsk, derfor er resten også på engelsk.

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 If you are looking for a good excuse for reading 12 books in 2018, then look just a bit further. The good Queen of Carrots has fund the perfect excuse: Back to the Classics, 2018.
The original post, with rules and a Linky, can be found here: Books and Chocolate 
I'll follow the Queen of Carrot's lead inasmuch as I'll only pick books from our shelves. This should not pose a big problem. We have zillions of books. And as the Queen too, if I began a book, read it from page one over again.

There's more rules than what I cite here, the most important being no reading before January 1st 2018, and all books to be written (not necessarily published) at least 50 years ago.

I'll grasp a d12 on the first of every month and let chance tell me which category is up for this month.
This list will grow, as I go looking for books on the shelves in the Owlery and at bloggers' posts. 

My book list - to be updated as I fill in the holes. I'm too lazy to get up, so titles are given, but authors only when I'm sure of them.

1. A 19th century classic - (published 1800 - 1899). Alice in Wonderland I only read parts of it. Never the whole book.

2. A 20th century classic (1900 - 1968). Glasperlenspiel by Hermann Hesse. I read some of it over 20 years ago. It was a tour de force in ingenuity. I wonder if it stands the test of time?

3. A classic by a woman author. Hard one, I seldom ever notice the authors' sex and often not even the name. I'll have to go and look actively for a woman, and I hate this "turned upside down sexism". This is according to me an irrelevant criteria for the choosing of books.
Maybe I'll just leave this one out, then I'll have omne month's slack for unforseen happenings.
- After looking at other participants' list, I found it! A Wrinkle in Time. I like science fantasy, it sounds intriguing and is written by a lady: Madeleine L'Engle. Now hoping, that my local library has this book (or can find it somewhere in the national library-book-staches)

4. A classic in translation. Easy ;) I have loads of classics in Danish and English. I just have to pick one. Ivanhoe, War and Peace ... Loads I never read.

5. A children's classic. Alle vi børn i Bulderby by Astrid Lindgren. The title means: All us children of Bullerby.
- or maybe try reading Winnie the Pooh in English. I read a few chapters in Danish some years ago.

6. A classic crime story, fiction or non-fiction.
I'm not an avid reader of whodunnits, but I have some Australian ones written long ago. They're describing the Australia of days gone by in a charming way. The Battling Prophet is my choice - Author: ____________ (to be filled in)

7. A classic travel or journey narrative, fiction or non-fiction. something Japanese, sea-faring or Australian again.

8. A classic with a single-word title. Erm, wonder whether it is the English or the Danish title, that counts? The Odyssey (Odysseen/Οδύσσεια) is one word in Danish and Greek, but I believe two in English. I read that one when I was 12. Time for a re-read. In Danish, not Greek.

9. A classic with a colour in the title. We have lots and lots of books with a colour in it. The Purple Pterodactyles and A Study in Scarlet come to my mind.
- Sir Gawain and the Green Knigth, or
- The White Company by Arthur Conan Doyle.

10. A classic by an author that's new to you. Looking at the shelves picking one at random. Difficult, I don't know if I've ever read something by that autor before as I'm bad at names. Decision: If I don't remember the name, that author is new to me!

11. A classic that scares you. Dr. Zivago! I have begun reading ... 7 times, maybe more. It is such a slow starter.

12. Re-read a favourite classic. The Lord of the Ring I suppose .. I have many, many books that fit in this category.

Advent 2017 - del 3

     Tidlig mandag morgen så vores adventsvindue sådan ud. Nu er der blevet hængt op hver dag i 1. uge i advent.
     Og som måske kan ses på billedet, kommer den heldige Ugleunge i dag til at trække den grønne pose og hænge snefnuggne op. Der er faldet sne. Ikke meget, men det er sne!

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Early in the morning today, our window looked like this. Every day in the first week of advent, an ornament was hung in the window. And as can maybe be seen from this photo, today the lucky Owlet will hang the snowflakes from the green bag. Not much snow, but snow it is!

     Uglemor har som sædvanligt fået en idé og foldet 105 thebreve. Hun har bare regnet forkert, og nu mangler hun godt 60 theposer! Suk. Regning er ikke Uglemors stærkeste side.

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As always MotherOwl had an idea. She has been folding and joining 105 teabags. But arithmetics, spherical geometry and MotherOwl never became friends. Now she's missing a bit more than 60 teabags. Sigh.

Advent 2017 - del 3

Vores adventstraditioner - del 3
Our advent traditions - part 3

I Ugleboet har vi en tradition med en kæmpe-adventskalender. Hele det store vindue i stuen deles op i firkanter, og hver dag startende med mandag i 1. uge i advent, trækker en af Ugleungerne en pose, hvor indholdet skal hænges op i det felt, der passer til. Der er ikke nogen poser om søndagene, hvor der i stedet er en lille gave til hver.
     De fleste dage må man trække en tilfældig pose, men nogle datoer har en særlig rød pose med dato på: 6. december, Sankt Nikolaus, 8. december, Maria undfangelse og 13. december, Sankt Lucia. Den 24. er den sidste særlige pose. I de fire poser, er indholdet fast, og er et billede eller ornament, der passer til dagen. Hvis disse dage falder på en søndag - det sker ikke i år - bliver de bare ikke brugt. Der er også en grøn pose, der desværre ikke kommer i brug hvert år. Den er til det første rigtige snevejr i adventstiden. 
     Fra den 17. december frem til den 23. har der også været en lille papfirkant med dagens O-antifon. Det vil Uglemor nok igen forsøge at lave om, for det har aldrig rigtig fungeret.

Our advent window today - Monday in first week of advent.

In the Owlery we have a big advent calendar. The window in our living room is partitioned into 26 squares. Every day beginning on the first Monday of advent - but not on Sundays, where each person gets a little gift instead - one of the Owlets pick a bag at random and hang the ornament contained therein in the designated square.
Some days 6th (St Nicholas), 8th (yhe Immaculate Conception), 13th (St. Lucy), and 24 (Christmas eve), the bags are not random, but red bags marked with the date. They contain an ornament picturing or symbolizing the saint or feast of the day. We also have one green bag for the first snowfall. This bag we do not get to use every year, unfortunately.
From the 17th to the 23rd there have always been a small square with the O antiphons to supplement the other ornaments. MotherOwl is still re-thinking this, as it never worked.

Advent 2017 - del 2

Vores adventstraditioner - del 2
Our advent traditions - part 2

     I dag er det første søndag i advent. Vi tænder det første, lilla lys i adventskransen. Vi får hver en lille adventsgave, og vi spiser masser af slik og kage som en forberedelse til adventstidens afholdenhed.

     Første søndag i advent starter vi også på Jessetræet. Det er en engelsk (amerikansk) trasition, hvor man hver dag fra 1. søndag i advent til 25. december læser en stump af Bibelen, begyndende mad verdens skabelse og frem til Jesu fødsel i begyndelsen af det nye testamente.
     Vi lytter til bibelhistorien, tale lidt om den og finder en passende ting at hænge op på vores Jesse træ.

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Today is the first Sunday of Advent. We lithg the first purple candle of the advent wreath. W all have a small gift and eat cakes and loads of candy in preparation for the abstinence during advent.

First Sunday of Advent is also the first day of the Jesse Tree readings. An English (American) tradition MotherOwl has imported. Today we begin with the tree.