Zip through Autumn ???

The crazy IKEA teabag from yesterday's Poetry Monday originally came from a Zip through Autumn blog post from September 2022.

At that time the A-Z crew thought up an autumnal challenge, a stretched-out A-Z in reverse, that made us go backwards through the alphabet during Autumn.

I found it a great idea, and would have liked them to continue the idea. I do not know if anything will come off it this year. I even asked on the website.

Would any of you be interested in joining this challenge?

Just to show what it was all about, I'll copy paste my old (2022) Challenge post here:

ZIP THROUGH AUTUMN 2022
Now the people behind the A-Z Challenge offers a Challenge in reverse: Z-A during Autumn. A light version of the A-Z Challenge. Let me cite them:

No Masterlist, no forms to fill out, and no special place for links. You might want to share links to your posts using the #AtoZchallenge hashtag, or in the comments of these posts. That's up to you.
Do as much or as little as you like during this reverse alphabet challenge.
Here are some SUGGESTED prompts.
We propose doing two posts a week for this event.

Here's a link and the aforementioned list. 

Sept 21 - 27 ~ Zero excuses, Yearn to
Sept 28 - Oct 4 ~ Xenodochy in blogging, Why blog
Oct 5 - Oct 11 ~  Variety, Unique to my blog
Oct 12 - Oct 18 ~ Ten-year plan, SMART goals
Oct 19 - Oct 25 ~ Recommend, Questions for visitors
Oct 26 - Nov 1 ~ Priorities, Open
Nov 2 - Nov 7 ~ Never blog this, Motivating
Nov 9 - Nov 15 ~ Lesson, Know where I've been
Nov 16 - Nov 22 ~ Joy and Job in blogging, Ideas
Nov 23 - Nov 29 ~ Happy Habits, Goal of your blog for remaining 2022
Nov 30 - Dec 6 ~ Fortitude, Easy tips
Dec 7 - Dec  13~ Dare, Chance
Dec 14 - Dec 20 ~ Balance, Achievements in 2022

Poetry Monday :: Tea Fusing

Today's theme, Tea fusing gave me some trouble. At first I thought it was just an alternative version of infusing, a very peaceful, calming task, but the dictionary did not support this reading. There seems to be more to this fusing business than what meets the eye. Fusing means melting, combining, blending, often using extreme heat.
I can't really see tea doing this.
Now what's the opposite of fusing? Defusing? taking apart? Sundering? splitting up? Nothing tea-ish about this in any case.

As this is the prompt for drawings at the 365 Days of Drawing Prompts and other Arts group, I went there for help with understanding. There's of course lots of drawings of tea fusing there.
Most depicts tea in  the process of brewing, so this meaning is in there even if the dictionary does not give it.
Some depicts the blending of different types of tea in many ways - more in accordance with the dictionary.
One of them depicts something in the line of what I had imagined. Cups, teapot and tea fused into one solid unit by the power of tea.

I do not know if I can link, but I try: LINK. Maybe you won't see a thing unless you're on FB or even unless you're a member.

I also remembered a cup at church saying: Bread & water can so easily be toast & tea. I liked this very much.

And my own craziness, the IKEA teabag:

And I still missed a poem.

I tried:

Fusing tea can defuse
even a tangled situation.

but rhyming on here made me almost pull my hair.

I looked around, outside darkness was falling, the winds were violent and cold, howling, flinging the drops violently against our windowpanes. I'd felt cold all day, closing the windows and shutting the doors. Autumn at its worst. And the news were depressing ... need I say more.

But my kitchen was warm and cosy, the water about to boil, and soon the Writer would perform his magic, and make hot, soothing tea for all of us. I then remembered the Epulaeryu!

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.

When the cold winds are blowing
And troubles are growing.
When the heartaches are hurting
and monsters are lurking.
Put the kettle on,
pour the water.
Tea!

I could even make it rhyme some of the way, which is an optional criterion for an Epulaeryu.

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

Sep 22 Kitchen
Sep 29 Snuggles
Oct 5 Wood
Oct 12 Life
Oct 19 Train
Oct 26 Make believe occupation

Sunday Selections :: Miscellany and Mondegreen Søndagsbilleder :: Blandede bolcher

Vi starter med en fødselsdagssang: ♫♬ I dag er det pavens fødselsdag, Hurra, hurra hurra ...🎜🎝
For  i dag fylder vores nye pave, Leo XIV, rundt, han bliver 70 år gammel.

-- 🎂 --

We begin by singing: ♫♬ Happy birthday to you, happy birthday Pope Leo, happy birthday to you 🎜🎝Because today It is the birthday of our new Pope, he turns 70.

-- ⩹ 💚 ⩺ --

I can't believe that I never, ever spoke of Mondegreens before on my blog. I remember writing about them, sometime long ago. But I can't find a word of what I wrote, so please bear with me if you've heard some of this before - it was back in 2008, so no wonder it's not here after all.

What is a MONDEGREEN?
The term was coined by the American author Sylvia Wright, in a 1954 article in Harper’s Magazine in which she mentioned misinterpreting a Scottish ballad, mishearing the original line:
"They hae slain the Earl o’ Moray and laid him on the green," as,
"They hae slain the Earl o’ Moray and Lady Mondegreen."
She then names such mishearings Mondegreens, after this faithful, but non-existent lady, even maintaining that: "The point about what I shall hereafter call mondegreens, since no one else has thought up a word for them, is that they are better than the original."

I am myself good at making Mondegreens, while I'm not sure they are all better than the original - some are quite absurd really - most of them tells me a bit about myself and my preoccupations. I probably first learned that they had a name in this article. It was an example of a related, but distinct phenomenon, the soramimi, that led me there.

How do you like: "Ghost Writers in Disguise"? I don't really like ghost writers, and then disguised ones - that sounded much worst to my tender ears. But ghost writers are naturally seldom seen out in the open.  Of course the words should have been Ghost Riders in the sky! The rest of the lyrics were quite unclear to me.

-- ⚬ ⩹ 💚 ⩺ ⚬ --

Utroligt nok har jeg aldrig talt om Mondegreens her på bloggen. Der findes vist ikke noget dansk ord for det, andet end det prosaiske fejlhøring - måske "undersættelse" også dækker lidt, selvom undersættelser er med vilje og mondegreens normalt er spontane fejl.

Hvad er så en MONDEGREEN?
     Ordet stammer fra en artikel i Harper's Magazine, hvor den amerikanske forfatter Sylvia Wright fortalte, at hun altid havde misforstået en skotsk ballade og hørt den oprindelige linje:
"They hae slain the Earl o' Moray and laid him on the green" (De har dræbt jarlen af Moray og lagt ham på græsset) som
"They hae slain the Earl o' Moray and Lady Mondegreen" (De har dræbt jarlen af Moray og Lady Mondegreen).
     Hun kalder derefter sådanne misforståelser for mondegreens, opkaldt efter denne trofaste, men ikke-eksisterende dame, og hævder endda, at: "Det vigtige ved det, jeg herefter vil kalde mondegreens, da ingen andre har fundet på et ord for dem, er, at de er bedre end originalen."
     Jeg er selv god til at lave mondegreens, men jeg er ikke sikker på, at de alle er bedre end originalen – nogle er faktisk ret absurde – men de fleste af dem fortæller mig lidt om mig selv og mine bekymringer.
      Jeg lærte sandsynligvis først at de havde et navn i denne artikel. Jeg tror det var noget i kategorien soramimi (der er et beslægtet fænomen), der førte mig til denne artikel, nemlig den tyrkiske sang med en sær dansk "undersættelse" kaldt "Oldemor" (oprindelig "Sen hiç aşık oldun mu?" (Har du nogensinde været forelsket) af Yurtseven Kardeşler (Yurtseven-brødrene)).

Hvad for eksempel med: "Ghost Writers in Disguise" (Forklædte Ghost writers)? Jeg kan ikke rigtig lide ghost writers, og så forklædte ghost writers - det lød meget værre for mine følsomme ører. Men ghost writers kommer naturligvis sjældent frit frem. Selvfølgelig skulle ordene have været "Ghost Riders in the sky!" (Spøgelsesryttere på himmelen). Resten af teksten var ret uklar for mig.

-- ⚬ ⩹ 💚 ⩺ ⚬ --

And now for a photo or two.
I finally found out how to do Italian cast off. The Moebius-thingie is done!

Og så til et billede eller to.
Jeg fattede endelig, hvordan man laver italiensk aflukning - nu uden fejl i opskriften, det hjalp! Så nu er møbius-halsedissen færdig.

I apologize for the strange colours, we have rain and or heavy clouds today, so caught in the lamplight.

Undskyld for de sære farver, der var regn og tunge skyer, så billet her er taget i kunstigt lys.

-- 🎊 --

This photo from some days ago, now with Liquorice-confetti on the loose, show off the real colours.

Dette billede af den endnu ikke færdige Møbiushalsedisse med løsslupne lakridskonfetti rammer farven meget bedre.

We also shucked corn for planting next year. Big Sis, the little Lion and the Gem brought us corn on the cob all the way from Kenya. I hope it'll grow.

-- 🌱 --

Og så pillede vi majs af kolberne for at plante dem næste år. Storesøster, Lille Løve og Ædelstenen havde hjembragt majskolberne helt fra Kenya. Lad os håbe, de gror.

Møbiushalsedissen indeholder som sædvanligt glasbær-lilla.

The Moebius neckwarmer as per usual contains Beauty Berry purple.

Fredagsfrustration Ultraforarbejdede fødevarer Friday Frustration Ultraprocessed Foods

NB: Dette er ikke skrevet for at skyde på eller se ned på veganere/vegetarer. Der findes mange sunde veganske alternativer og mange usunde ikke-veganske.
     Det er skrevet for at fortælle at de store -  og mindre - fødevarefabrikker vil tjene penge på det, vi stopper i munden, også på bekostning af vores sundhed.

-  ✽ -

Lige for øjeblikket er der en overflod af diverse reklamer, sundhedsartikler på nettet og mange andre steder, hvor folk tale om at leve sundere, hvor de dels promoverer kød-og mælkealternativer, dels er meget omhyggelige med at advare mod ultraforarbejdede fødevarer. De to ting synes jeg ikke rigtig passer sammen.
     Jeg gik og kiggede på indholdsfortegnelserne på nogle kødalternativer, og jeg blev faktisk skræmt.

For det der med ultraforarbejdede fødevarer ... det lyder sært, verdensfjernt, industrielt og mystisk. Men det er faktisk let at finde ud af, om de er i det, man står med i hånden. Man skal bare spørge:
KUNNE JEG SELV?
Det er det essentielle - og enkle - spørgsmål, der kan afsløre ultraforarbejdede fødevarer:

Reglen har ligget i mit baghoved længe (læsere, der har hængt på her længe, har hørt meget af det her før, undskyld), men udkrystalliserede sig da 5-ingrediensers-reglen blev promoveret af Anne Tjønneland og hendes kolleger i TV2.
     Det var noget argt sludder og Kunne jeg selv?-reglen opstod som en reaktion på den artikel.
     Jeg  brugte kødboller på frost som eksempel:

Mou økologiske kødboller: Grise- og oksekød (60%), vand, ÆGGEHVIDER, løg, HVEDEMEL, kartoffelmel, rasp (HVEDEMEL, salt, gær), salt, oksefedt, hvid peber. Se det er jo hele 11 ingredienser! Men så spørger jeg: KUNNE JEG SELV?     
     Kunne jeg selv: hakke kødet, røre det med salt, tilsætte vand, æggehvider, løg, mel, rasp (som jeg selv kunne lave), salt, peber og fedt og så koge bollerne i saltvand?
     Ja det kunne jeg godt. Altså er det OK. 

Beyond Meat kødboller, ingredienser: Vand, ærteprotein* (14%), rapsolie, kokosolie, aromaer, røgsmag, risprotein, tørret gær, stabilisator (methylcellulose), kartoffelstivelse, salt, kaliumsalt, krydderier, urter i variabel andel 0,5% (Persille, rosmarin, salvie, basilikum og oregano), æbleekstrakt, hvidløgspulver, majseddike, koncentreret citronsaft, løgpulver, granatæbleekstrakt, emulgator (solsikke-lecithin), farve (rødbederød), maltodextrin, gulerodspulver.
*Ærter er bælgplanter. Personer med alvorlig allergi over for bælgplanter som f.eks. jordnødder skal være forsigtige, når de indfører ærteprotein i deres kost på grund af risiko for allergi over for ærter.    
     Der er rigtig mange - faktisk hele 24 - ingredienser hvoraf Aromaer er på fjerdepladsen, og der er flere, hvor jeg tænker ... hvordan pokker gør jeg.
     Ærteprotein, hvordan får jeg proteinerne ud af ærterne? Ditto med risprotein, og hvad med solsikkelecitin? Eller methylcellulose og kaliumsalt ... (E-461 og E-508 altså).
   KUNNE JEG SELV? Nej. IKKE OK

 ✱ ✻ ✱ ✻ ✱

NOTE: This is not vritten to shoot at, ot disparage any vegans or vegetarians out there. There's lots of healthy ways of being a vegan - and lots of unhealthy ways not to. It's only to show that big business wants to earn money at the expense of our health no matter what.

-  ✽ -

Right now, there is an abundance of vegan/vegetarian dairy and meat alternatives in various advertisements, health articles on the internet and many other places where people talk about living healthier lives. At the same time, they are all very careful to warn against ultra-processed foods. I don't think these two things go very well together. I have been looking at the ingredients lists on some meat alternatives, and I was actually shocked. Ultra-processed foods... it sounds strange, otherworldly and mysterious. But it's actually easy to find out if the food you hold in your hand contains them or not. You just have to ask:
COULD I MAKE THIS MYSELF?
That is the essential – and simple – question that can reveal ultra-processed foods.

This rule has been in the back of my mind for a long time (longtime readers might find this a bit repetitious, sorry), but it crystallised when the 5-ingredient rule was promoted by Anne Tjønneland and her colleagues at TV2. It was utter nonsense, and the Could I do it myself? rule emerged as a reaction to that article.

I used frozen meatballs as an example:
Mou organic meatballs: Pork and beef (60%), water, EGG WHITES, onions, WHEAT FLOUR, potato flour, breadcrumbs (WHEAT FLOUR, salt, yeast), salt, beef fat, white pepper.

That's a total of 11 ingredients! But then I ask: COULD I MAKE IT MYSELF? Could I mince the meat, mix it with salt, add water, egg whites, onions, flour, breadcrumbs (which I could make myself), salt, pepper and fat, and then boil the meatballs in salted water?
Yes, I could. So it's OK.

Beyond Meat meatballs, ingredients: Water, pea protein* (14%), rapeseed oil, coconut oil, flavourings, smoke flavouring, rice protein, dried yeast, stabiliser (methyl cellulose), potato starch, salt, potassium salt, spices, herbs in varying proportions 0.5% (parsley, rosemary, sage, basil and oregano), apple extract, garlic powder, corn vinegar, concentrated lemon juice, onion powder, pomegranate extract, emulsifier (sunflower lecithin), colour (beetroot red), maltodextrin, carrot powder.

*Peas are legumes. People with severe allergies to legumes such as peanuts should be cautious when introducing pea protein into their diet due to the risk of allergy to peas.

There are a lot of ingredients – 24, in fact – with flavourings in fourth place, and ther question Could I make it myself makes me think... how on earth do I do that?
Pea protein, how do I get the protein out of the peas? Ditto with rice protein, and what about sunflower lecithin? Methylcellulose and potassium salt... (E-461 and E-508, that is).
COULD I DO IT MYSELF? No, I could not. NOT OK

Only the Words

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.

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

In September  River will supply us with prompts.

 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.

- - A - - B - - C - - 

This Wednesday's prompts:
Shipwreck
Hook
Unexpected
Buttermilk
White-knuckled
Buggy

I do not want to begin any more wild goose chasin' chapters of Unicorn Farm, so I'm taking it slow, trying to find somewhere where I can cntinue the story, using these words. I need inspiration and ideas.