mandag den 31. oktober 2022

Poetry Monday :: Scary Poem

I'm awfully sorry, but my thoughts are all filled up with tomorrow - election day. Photos from a trip to town today:

Scary

Scarier

and probably the worst poem, I ever wrote. Please, bear with me.

Now Halloween is scary
But Hallows eve has nary
A vampire's chance in hell
To scare me as tomorrow will ..
It is election day!

Tomorrow will be dreary
and leave me sad and weary
When all is said and done
and day has had its run
It is election day!

Tomorrow they'll be merry
The jesters. Hot and airy
is every word they say
like animals they bray.
It is election day!

- - - - -
Next Monday: Oatmeal

Poetry Monday :: Halloween :: No Poetry

Today it's Poetry Monday once again. The theme: Halloween!
-- ⋅ -- ⋅ -- ⋅ --
 Diane - who has taken over the hosting of  this challenge - and Mimi of Messymimi's Meanderings - who supplies us with many of the topics - are also writing wonderful, funny, thought-provoking, ingenious and honestly well written verse. Go and read them!
  Karen of Baking in a Tornado has joined us in this crazy pursuit, and promises us at least a poem a month!
  SpikesBestMate often publishes a nice verse in the comments.
  Jenny at Procrastinating Donkey who has been a faithful participant, is slowly returning to blogging after her husband's passing from this world. Let's continue to send warm thoughts, good energy, and lots of prayers her way, now that her mum's health is in need of a prayer too. But still we dare hope that she will join Poetry Monday again.

 
- ⋅ - ⋅ - ⋅ - 🎃 - ⋅ - ⋅ - ⋅ - ⋅ -

I love Halloween and I am happy that it has finally made it to Denmark. There's two reasons for this. The first is a bit grumpy: You see, the shops think we're ready for Christmas decorations on the second week of October, but why? The Autum holidays are always week 42, and Christmas thingies are in the shop from week 41 onwards.
Luckily now the Halloween celebrations mean that the Christmas candy andsuch are living a bit in the shadows at least until tomorrow.

The second reason why we in the Owlery do not mind all the hullabaloo around Halloween is that it is a chance to tell the Owlets of all the saints only known to God, and that they are celebrated in this strange way. Saints are almost unknown in Denmark anyway. That we have an extra excuse to eat some candy, bake a cake or two and celebrate is not a matter of objection :) and here we are against the current as almost always as chatholics, we're totallly atypic here, so all Hallows eve is a nice excuse to tell of Saints - all the known and even more all the unnkown ones to be celebrated tomorrow.

- - - - - 😇 - - - - -

But Poetry Monday ... a poem is expected. I had one this morning, but it left my brain as the alarm sounded ...

While I'm thinking - and hopefully re-create what I was thinking of here's something spooky for you.


søndag den 30. oktober 2022

Sunday Selections :: Søndagsbilleder (30/10)

Vi starter i den gnavne ende. Sådan her ser infoskærmene på stationen ud, når højttaleren lige har fortalt, at toget til Hillerød ankommer, forsinket om 10 til 12 minutter, hvilket det da også gjorde.

-- 🕦 --

We start with a grumpy MotherOwl. This is what the info screens told us at the station this morning. The loudspeaker had just announced that the train to Hillerød was delayed and would arrive in 10 to 12 minutes, which it did!
Denne her tæller altid bare ned.           Men denne her - den skulle opdatere i live-tid, helt af sig selv.
Der er nogen, der skal indtaste           Det er så ikke OK, vel?
noget, før den viser korrekt,
så den er undskyldt.
  -- 🕙 --
This one is just an automatic               But this one is one of those fancy-pants updating in real time
count down thingie, someone            info-media screens.  
has to press some buttons for             This is not OK.
it to be correct.
I did not expect better here.

-- 🍂 --

Ja, vi kom for sent til messen, og kirken var fuld!
På vej hjem havde togene næsten indhentet sig selv. Det var kun sølle to minutter forsinket. Men det er da også nok, når buschaufføren i den bus, vi skal nå, er af "køreplanen skal overholdes for enhver pris"-typen. Vi så bussen køre, da toget rullede ind på stationen.
Så har vi tre valg, vente en time på næste bus, gå hjem (hvilket tager 55 minutter), eller tage en taxa.

  -- 🕤 --

Of course we were late for mass, and the church was packed today.
On our way back the trains still had slight delays - we're talking two minutes here. And of course the bus driver on the bus we had to catch from Helsinge going home, was of the "Go by the rules" kind. He left the station, as the train arrived. We saw it depart. One hour wait, walk home  (55 minutes walk), or take a taxi.

-- 🍁 --

Og nu til de gode og smukke ting. Sommertiden endte i nat. Nu passer uret på væggen igen med mit indre ur.

-- 🕔 --

And now for the good and beautiful things. Daylight sawing time ended tonight. Now the clock on the wall once again fits my inner time.

Da vi tog afsted, tog jeg et billede af vores busstoppested

In the morning I took a photo of our bus stop.



Denne puppe hang der nemlig - gad vide, hvad den bliver til.

This chrysalis was hanging around - I wonder what it'll turn into.

-- 🍃 --

Senere på dagen tog Uglemor på en cykeltur for at se til andemaden i de små vandhuller langs den nye cykelsti.

Later in the day MotherOwl went on a bike ride to check out the duckweeds in the waterholes along the new bike path.

Jeps her gror de.  --- Yes in this one they're growing.

Se hvor fint vandet ser ud, man kan faktisk se bunden noget af vejen. 

Look at the water here, you can see the bottom for quite a way towards the deeper parts.

Her ville andemaden ikke gro, og vandet er uklart og fuldt af alger

The duckweeds did not thrive here. The water is murky and nasty with algae growing between the plants to the left.


Uglemor stoppede øverst på bakken og nød udsigten ud over markerne mod vest (der er lige et hjørne af uglemors cykel med på billedet).

MotherOwl stopped at the top of the bike path and looked out over the fields to the West (MotherOwl's bike can be seen in the lower left corner).

Så fyldte Uglemor lommerne med frø fra grøftekantens smukke blomster, De skal med hjem og sås i det vilde hjørne.

MotherOwl saw some pretty flowers on the banks of the waterholes and filled her pockets with seeds to be sown in her wild corner.

Næsten hjemme faldt Uglemor over denne her svamp, den er gammel og garanteret fuld af orm,, men den er flot (Uglemors cykel er med på billedet igen), og det er ved at blive mørkt.

Almost home again, MotherOwl found this mushroom, old and full of worms, but still pretty (notice the bike here too). And it's getting dark.

I tusmørket gik Uglemor rundt i haven og så: En døvnælde i blomst,

While darkness fell, MotherOwl walked her garden and saw: A deadnettle still flowering,


stokroser, der også stadig blomstrer,

hollyhocks also still flowering,

en kardebolle med masser af frø til sultne stillidser,

a wild teasel with lots of seeds for hungry goldfinches,

et lækkert æble på plænen, men hvad er nu det?

a tempting, red apple om the lawn ... but now what?

Der er vist nogen, der har fundet en genvej til æbler!

Somebody found a shortcut to apples!

Og vores Maria-relief uden én eneste blomst. Undskyld. I morgen, den sidste dag i oktober, skal der nok komme nye blomster.

And our relief of the Virgin Mary, with nary a flower, in October. Sorry, tomorrow, the last day of October, I'll remedy this.

Indenfor huskede jeg også at tage et billede af en træ med masser af tyske klokker.

And lastly inside again, I remembered to take a photo of this 'tree' filled with German bells.

lørdag den 29. oktober 2022

Fredagsfrustrationer - Mere af det samme? -- More of the Same?

Jeg ved altså godt at det er lørdag, men jeg føler mig helt igennem fredagsfrustreret i dag.

Når jeg åbner Facebook, hvilket jeg gør nu og da for at følge mine børn og venners færden, åbner jeg altid i Grupper (jeg er ikke en døjt interesseret i mit newsfeed med alt dets fnidder-fnadder og reklamer). Og hver gang får jeg ustandseligt en masse forslag til nye grupper, som jeg måske kunne tænke mig at deltage i. Men jeg har ikke lyst til at deltage i nogen af dem. FB foreslår nemlig kun grupper, der ligner dem, jeg allerede er medlem af - ofte med de samme medlemmer. Ikke relevant. De grupper, jeg er medlem af, er nok, og de fleste af dem er dem, jeg STADIG er medlem af efter at jeg har forladt en del grupper, når den pågældende interesse ikke længere havde højeste prioritet - de fravalgte grupper er ofte øverst på listen.
   Det samme gælder, når jeg søger efter noget i min browser. Jeg får de samme gamle forslag og søgeresultater som altid - bortset fra nu og da, hvor jeg har glemt at bogmærke eller tage et skærmdump, for så er det lige meget hvor længe eller flittigt jeg leder, siden er for evigt forsvundet i internettets støvede afkroge.
   Jeg ved ikke, om jeg er et særtilfælde eller hvad, men hvis jeg allerede er medlem af tre-fire meget aktive strikkegrupper, er jeg ikke interesseret i at deltage i endnu en gruppe, men måske kunne en hæklegruppe eller en kniplegruppe eller noget helt andet fange min interesse.
     Nogle gange får jeg lyst til at søge efter grupper om marketing, hestevæddeløb, sportsvæddemål, motorcykelpleje, femstjernede hoteller, eksklusiv gin eller whisky eller lokalpolitikere fra et andet sted i Danmark for at få nulstillet min søgehistorik.

--- 😠 ---

Yes I know it's Saturday, but I feel thoroughly Friday Frustrated today.

When ever I open Facebook, which I do now and then to follow my kids and friends' whereabout, I open it in the Groups Window (I'm not a tad interested in my newsfeed with all its hustle and bustle and advertisements. And every time without fail I am given a slew of suggestions of new groups I might want to join. Only I do not want to join any of them. FB suggests only groups totally alike those I already am a member of - often with the same members. Not relevant. Those I am a member of are enough, and most of them are the ones I am STILL a member of after pruning when that interest did not take top priority any longer - the pruned groups being often top selections.

Same when I search for something in my browser. I am given the same old suggestions and search results as always - except for that one time, when I forget to bookmark or take a screenie, then no matter how long or diligently I look that page is lost forever in the dusty corners of the interwebs.

I don't know if I am a special case or something, but if I am already the member of 3 or 4 very active knitting groups, then I am probably not interested in joining yet another one, but maybe a crochet group, or tatting or something could catch my interest. I sometimes feel like searching for groups on marketing, horse racing, sports betting, motorbike maintenance, five star hotels, exclusive gin or whiskeys, or local politicians from somewhere else in Denmark only to reset my search history.

fredag den 28. oktober 2022

Kurt og angsten for den daglige avis - anden udgave

Abstract in English:
In a few days (November 1st) we'll have an election to our Folketing (parliament). Looking at the surveys I see a scaring tendency: The young voters are going to the right wing and the populistic parties. 
Here I ask myself if the uneasy feeling I have in the pit of my stomach when reading the papers or listening to the news in any way can be compared to how the normal German felt in the early or mid 1930es?
Did they turn off the wireless, fold the newspaper together in a hurry, shut up during coffee break discussions etc. hoping it would pass or maybe even get better? I feel like a coward for not screaming and shouting, but at the same time I feel dispirited and despondent.


I anledning af det kommende folketingsvalg genoptrykker jeg dette indlæg fra oktober 2018 i en, som det hed i gamle dage, "forøget og formeret" udgave.

-- ❎ --

Nogen gange tænker jeg på om folk i 30'ernes Tyskland mon havde det lidt på samme måde som Kurt og jeg har det? Foldede de mon hastigt avisen sammen igen? Fik de også ondt i maven af at tænde for radioen? Kunne de ikke rigtigt holde ud at høre andre mennesker diskutere over kaffen?

Nødvendige forholdsregler
Ikke åbne for gaveboden
Fornuftige besparelser
Tvangsdigitalisering
For handelens skyld
Landbrugets krav
Ansvarlig politik 
Scan selv-kasse
Overvågning
Besparelser
Selvcensur
Selvskade
Varm luft
MitID
Bidød 
#metoo
Fedtlag
Besparelser
Burkaforbud
DJØF'icering
Krammeforbud
Utåleligt ophold
Gør det selv-service
Funktionelle lidelser
Hvidvaskningsskandaler
Rygeforbud på matriklen
Arbejdsprøvning med egen seng

Var det også sådan, folk oplevede det i 30ernes Tyskland?
Gik de mon i indre eksil?
Eller ventede de på at det gik over hvis nu ikke de sagde noget eller gjorde noget der kunne få dem til at blive lagt mærke til?
 Håbede de mon bare, at det ikke ramte nogen de kendte, eller deres familie?

Ligesom Kurt har jeg længe haft lyst til at udstøde et fuldtonende AAAAARGH!

-- ❎ --

En ting der kan gøre mig rigtig utryg ved fremtiden, er den seneste meningsmåling.

Det ser nogenlunde ud, når vi ser på befolkningen som helhed:
Man kan kønsopdele meningsmålingen. Det giver ikke det store. Som altid er der lidt flere socialdemokratiske og "lyserøde" vælgere blandt kvinderne.

Men hvis man trykker på UNGE, sker der virkelig noget. Og det er uhyggeligt:


Vi tager den lige i mandater i stedet
ALLE:

UNGE:

Hvad blev der af dem her? (Kilde DR.dk)

Er de mon alle sammen endt her (kilde Kristeligt Dagblad)

- The Long Saturday 5

And finally I have arrived at where I begin using the words!

The words appeared on River's blog this Wednesday and were:


Study
Exercise
Gnome
Cagier
Fountain
Super
Enigma
Sludge


                                                  and this photo. Which I am not going to úse as it on further inspection is way too inhabited to be Unicorn Farm. 

Mary led Anna to the small potions room. "My is in here, and she's happy about this place," Mary said. Anna looked at Mary, but restrained herself and only thanked Mary for showing her the way.
Mary ran off and Anna slowly opened the door. The room looked so much like the old Potions room at the Unicorn Farm, that Anna first thought she had gone back in time. Even the silver stirring rods on the shelves, and the cauldrons lined up below the table were the same.
But it was My behind that table, not Tähti. My looked up and recognized Anna at once. She smiled and put down the book.
"Hello Anna,"  My said, "what a pleasant surprise. I am trying to get this potion made. It's a long time since I did anything as complicated.
"Helge should have come here instead of me," Anna said.
"Is Helge here?" My said. "Great! He and I worked together so well at the Farm, I miss him." My turned red. "Sorry, I did not want that to sound as if I'm not happy you're here, because I really am. But with potions you're not as big a help as Helge or Monica would be."
"I know," Anna answered, "I'll go looking for Helge if you want me to. Do you know why Monica and Olav left? I looked forward to seeing them here, they are always so busy when I see them in Oslo."
"They were homesick," My said. "They have their party business to attend to, and their family.  They are busy as you said, and Monica called them homebodies."
"That was a true word. Let me see. Who's helping you here?"
"These two are Nora and Markus, my eldest grandkids, and their mother, Estrid, who's a darling, but unfortunately not a witch. Then Susan's oldest grandsons. The oldest is called Helgi, and his brother is Andres. Then  it's ... " My took a few steps to the big, white sink, where an elderly woman was washing a small cauldron, totally absorbed in her scrubbing. She gently tabbed her shoulder: "Erm. sorry, I forgot your name. Anna has arrived from Helsingborg, she's to be our potions master, and she'd like to know us all."
"I'm Elanor. My mother is Ida ... whom you know as Lis," she added as she saw My's confused face.
"Old habits die hard," Anna said smiling, "pleased to meet you."
"The pleasure is mine." Elanor said. I have heard so much about you old apprentices that in my mind you are all larger than life. But you do look like a human being."  
"And I am," Anna said smiling at Elanor, "and right now a happy human being. Now I'll go find that wayward cousin of mine and then we'll return an get that potion made like in the good old days."
"Great!" My said, and after Anna had closed the door behind her, My bade everybody take a break until Anna returned with Helge. "I an going to study the recipe once more,"
My settled down with the waterlogged book at the desk in front of her, and Elanor returned to her scrubbing. Estrid asked Nora and Markus to go to the kitchen to see if there was anything edible as yet. They left with Helgi and Andres tagging along. Then Estrid went over to Elanor: "Elanor, I know you're Lis' daughter, and My has told me she was a proficient scribe, I think you should leave the scrubbing to me and go help My decipher that old book!"
"Thanks," Elanor said, "It is a long time since  anyone asked me to exercise my skills and I was afraid to ask."
"The only stupid question is the one not asked!" Estrid said and took the scrubbing sponge from Elanor's hand.
Elanor and My had made good progress with the transcribing of the recipe and the small cauldron was spotlessly clean when the children arrived. Helgi carried a basket laden with steaming hot buns and tantalizing smells rose from the bowls and plates and ewers that Anders, Nora and Markus carried. They placed everything on a table in the back of the room, as far away from magical ingredients and cauldrons as possible. They were quick learners, and My was a good teacher.
"Mommy!" Nora said, "the kitchen was overtaken by ... gnomes, I think."
"Gnomes?" Estrid said. "Even though I have seen more incredible things the last couple of days here, than in the rest of my life, I still do not believe in cooking gnomes, and I doubt the results would be as enticing as this."
"Let's eat," My said, "and then you can tell us of the gnomes while we eat."

torsdag den 27. oktober 2022

The Long Saturday 4

Á ìslandi ... In Iceland is a bad title, as we are not in Iceland any longer (except for the occasional visit to the portals under the mountains)
Now the story is treading new ground, I am going on from the old Á Íslandi 38 as well as from the new one.
Happening simultaneous is the story of Susan going to Shiltach to get Aamu and her husband and son. This part of the story has not changed, and I won't repeat it. It was part of the old chapters Á Íslandi 37 & 38 and can be read here on my Unicorn Farm blog.


"Hi, Mary," Knud greeted the girl, who came walking with a determined mien. "Are you here to sign up for the racing, maybe?"
"Yes," she said. "I hope I am the first. I want to win."
"You are the first," Knud said wondering, "But that does not mean you'll win."
Mary smiled at Anna and Helge. "You just arrived, are you going to try and win the broom race as well?"
"Of course we are," Anna said. "I'm good at it and Helge is not much worse." She turned to Knud. "Please add us to the list as well, you know the details. Maybe Mary could show me where My is? I think she could use some help with the potions."
"You're not that good at potions," Mary said. "You'd do better helping The old lady and Jan set up the obstacles."
"Hey, you might be right," Anna said, "but that's not necessarily a nice thing to tell a lady you never met before."
"Sorry. lady," Mary said, "I'll show you where My is, if you like me to."
"My name is Anna," Anna said. "Yes I would like to meet My again, we were good friends long ago." As they left together Anna was surprised to see Knud nod approvingly.

Knud wrote down Helge and Anna on the list of older participants, and then looked up at Helge: "You do know that you, as the oldest are destined to take over Gylfi's role as senior wizard, or whatever you may call it. I have played the part until now, but that place is rightfully yours."
"By golly," Helge said. "I never realized, but with Sif and Elwin no longer alive, I am the oldest. I don't really feel like ousting you. You live here, you and Susan re-discovered our magic and everything."

"Do you really think Taavi and Tähti felt ousted, or Thora for that matter, by Gylfi being senior wizard back at the Farm? I would welcome it. I am not cut out for being a leader, I talk too much, trust too much. I think you'll do much better. But we can do it slowly if you like. People are used to me casting the Mál sameinast in the morning and cancelling it every night. You do the cancelling tonight, I'll introduce you, no fear. Racing against the other old apprentices won't hurt either. I warn you though. Fiona's going to win, she's been living part time here just ti fool around with Martine on a broomstick! By the way, did we ever tell Anna, and did she tell you that Martine was in an accident?" Helge said: "No, I never heard of that, only that she was the only living of our old teachers and that she lived here."
Knud told Helge the story of them finding Martine in the home, and how she was, nut cured, but much better now. "You'll meet her later, she's still a genius in a broom, but old of course, she won't be racing, even if I suspect she would tie with Fiona for the first place. But tell me some more about yourself. How has life treated you?"

Interrupted by people getting written on the broom racing lists, Helge told Knud about his marriage, work, child and divorce. "We only had that one child, a daughter called Annika. When my wife wanted a divorce, she wanted to leave her former life totally behind, that meant mostly Annika and me. I was given sole legal custody, quite unusual for a father where the mother did not die. My former wife married again, and changed her first name too. She's quite famous now, and I see her name in the papers now and then, and wonder ... I continued my work in the pharmacy, only I worked shorter hours to be at home when Annika came from school. We had a good life, she studied Icelandic, and married quite young to a nice, young man from the same course and have two children, Tony and Emily. I visit them often, as they live near by. After Annika left for the university, I took a part time job as a teacher on the pharmaceutical high school. It soon turned into full time teaching and more as I was made dean of the department. I kept that tenure up until my retirement two years ago. Now I write the books on pharmacology, I dreamt of writing when I taught, but never had the time for. And I have a small summer house with extensive lands - even a small lake - where I normally spend more time than in my apartment in Helsingborg. Annika spends most of her holidays there too with husband and kids, as her in-laws are in a nursing home, Tommy is the youngest of 8 kids. I should be happy, but I am not. Now, after Anna found me again and gave me my old trousers back, I feel better than I have done, but I am still not really happy, I feel like I'm missing something."

"For how long can you stay here?" Knud asked as an answer. "I think you need to do magic, Take responsibility again, lead this school together with me, Susan and My. Let's take a tour of the premises now. I think I can take a break from the listings - else people will have to find me." Knud crammed the papers into a pocket, rose and extended his hand.
Helge clasped it. "Let's go!" he said.

onsdag den 26. oktober 2022

Word for Wednesday -- October 26 - The Long Saturday 3

This meme was started by Delores a long time ago.  Troubles led her to bow out, but the meme was too much fun to let go, and now Words for Wednesday is provided by a number of people and has become a movable feast with Elephant's Child as our coordinator.

  Essentially the aim of this meme is to encourage us to write.  Each week we are given some prompts. These prompts can be words, phrases, music or images.
  What we do with those prompts is up to us: a short story, prose, a song, a poem, or treating them with ignore ...
  We can use some or all of the prompts, and mixing and matching is encouraged.

  Some of us put our creation in comments on the post, and others post on their own blog. This fun meme includes cheering on the other participants.

  And the more the merrier goes here as well, so if you are posting on your own blog then please tell us in the comments, so that all other participants, can come along and applaud.

The words appear on River's blog every Wednesday in October.

We were given these words. I used them for the rewrite of the chapters of Susan's story called Á Íslandi
but I wrote a terrible lot before I came to a place where the words fit in, so no words today, but they'll come.

1. study 2. exercise 3. gnome 4. cagier 5. fountain 6. super 7. enigma 8. sludge and a photo that looks a bit like the coastline of Unicorn Island.

Continuing where I left off last Wednesday.
Honestly, maybe some of the words, that I did not use then or for the Mahogany-chapter can be found here, but I don't remember. Sorry.

In the end only Knud and Eyvind and most of the smaller grandkids were left in the hall.
"What about me?" Eyvind said. "Hilde asked me to stay close, but there's not much I can do to help."
"But you can!" Knud protested. "Most of what's to be done today do not require magic. You are good with your hands and you sure can help keeping an eye on and entertaining impatient small ones," Knud continued. "You're a good granddad, I understand, and keeping the small ones out of mischief and not underfoot would be a really great thing."
"Could we make some woodcraft and maybe have a fire out there?" Eyvind asked, encouraged by Knud's friendly words.
"Of course you can." Knud said. "In fact this is a splendid idea. I think I saw a humongous bag of marshmallows somewhere. Only please do not cut living wood, It can be dangerous here. But the wood piles and all fallen branches are yours to use."

Eyvind rose and grasped the nearest of his grandchilldren: "Did you hear that," he said "We're going to have a bonfire and toast marshmallows. Let's go to the kitchen and find that humongous bag of marshmallows, Knud told us about."
He left the hall towed off by Dora, Elsa and Gregers with all the other kids following them. He was smiling.
As he left, Rósa arrived with Anna and a man Knud did not recognize.
"Welcome Anna. It's good to see you again," Knud said, "But didn't you tell you never married, who is this?"
Anna answered: "But that's Helge, my cousin. Don't you recognize him?"
Knud looked at him, then looked at Anna and back to Helge again. "Yes, now I recognise you, Helge. Welcome back! You really have changed. You're older, no that's not what I mean, we're all older," He stopped, looked at Helge once again and continued: "Mature, grown, self-assured. Something ... I remember you as a lanky youth all arms and legs. And now ... "
Helge smiled, a big, slow smile. "Yes I was clumsy. And yes, I have changed, but we seem to have been interrupting something. Please continue and don't mind me."
"No, it's fine, Knud answered. "I have done this morning's job. I just need to stay here and wait for people to sign up for the broom race. I can do that while talking to you."

Rósa excused herself, she was going to have to have a look at the brooms at once.

Anna looked through the windows, at the garden and meadows teeming with people, at the different groups, and finally back to Knud. "Please Knud, tell me what you're trying to do here and who's who in this -- circus" she said, smiling to take the barb off her words.
Knud looked befuddled at her and Helge, then out of the windows and back again, suddenly seeing the place with foreign eyes. "Yes, I see this can be confusing. Susan and I never got to telling you everything we knew, and since then we have been more planning than looking to the past, it seems. Most of the old apprentices from the Farm are here today, as well as their children, their in-laws and their grandchildren. We're missing Kirsten and Sarah who are incapable of being here. Also Finnbogi, Fiona, Hilde, and her son Rasmus are missing, as an accident has happened to Rasmus' wife in Tømsø. Susan is away too, she should be back shortly with Aamu and some of her family ... And Olav and Monica left for home, their shop needed them, and their children have not even been let in tho what they possibly are ... "

Anna looked even more confused and a bit angry: "You tell me that almost everybody is here, and then you list up nine of the old apprentices and tell me that they are not present. That's about half of those still surviving if I can do the maths."
Knud drew a deep breath and began again. "Sarah is never going to become one of us again if I have a say here; but Sarah's son, who is a wizard, will arrive at some later date with his wife, who's a witch as well, and their four children. Kirstin - you remember her, she's Rósa's cousin - she is severely handicapped after an accident years and years ago. We hope she will be OK, but only time will tell. Finnbogi, Fiona, Hilde and Rasmus are as I said in Tromsø, where they live because ... oh bugger! this is too much to explain standing like this. Please sit, have a mug of tea, and relax." He swished his wand and two mugs came flying through the air towards them.
While Anna and Helge had their tea Knud explained in compact form, omitting all the ifs, buts, and maybes the story of Ella, Walter, who was really David, and Liisa who was Eillen Teresa's daughter. "I never told via mail, because we were afraid someone would intercept the letters," Knud ended his story.
Helge and Anna looked stunned and poured another mug of tea.
... to be continued

Z to A :: Zip through Autumn ~ 5

Now it's over midnight 26th of October, I forgot about Zip through Autumn, but better late than never, I hope.

The theme for this past period was Recommend, Questions for visitors   

Recommend: I seldom recommend anything on my blog. I tell about the things I like and the things I dislike, but only seldom do I recommend anybody to try or do this, or refrain from that. This for me tastes too much of "besserwisser" if you know what I mean

Questions for visitors: I have one question, that I would really like to hear everybody's opinion on:
  • Is it OK to comment on somebody's blog only if he or she commented on your blog first?
I mean, if every blogger adhered to this principle, we would very soon have no-one commenting anywhere. I comment if I think the blogger I'm visiting wrote something good, interesting, or nice - if it makes me think of something I did then I maybe tell this; or if a blogger tells something sad, I leave a word or two of commiserating, maybe consolation; if I disagree with a blogger, I sometimes say so, but mostly I just leave without commenting, because I don't want to start a discussion, and I often feel in the minority.
But the question to answer is:
  • Is it OK to comment on somebody's blog only if he or she commented on your blog first?

--  ✅ --

Here's a link and the list of dates and prompts. So if you care to join, get on board.

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

mandag den 24. oktober 2022

Poetry Monday :: Bathtubs

Today it's Poetry Monday once again. The theme: Bathtubs!

-- -- -- --
 Diane - who has taken over the hosting of  this challenge - and Mimi of Messymimi's Meanderings - who supplies us with many of the topics - are also writing wonderful, funny, thought-provoking, ingenious and honestly well written verse. Go and read them!
  Karen of Baking in a Tornado has joined us in this crazy pursuit, and promises us at least a poem a month!
  SpikesBestMate often publishes a nice verse in the comments.
  Jenny at Procrastinating Donkey who has been a faithful participant, is slowly returning to blogging after her husband's passing from this world. Let's continue to send warm thoughts, good energy, and lots of prayers her way, now that her mum's health is in need of a prayer too. But still we dare hope that she will join Poetry Monday again.

-- -- --

  This sure is a thing worthy of praise, I remember them throughout all my life. The first as long as dad was tall in a cellar rickety and cold. Then later the luxury of a room with sea blue tiles and heating in the floor. Then the small one in our new house, that never turned into a home, the less said about this the better, except this is where I gave our cat a bath.
  Then I left home, and for some years I lived without one. It was hard. and when we went house hunting, one of my demands was: A bathtub! So now we have one once again, and MotherOwl loves her soak after a day in the garden or on the roads.

  I can't make a poem to praise the bathtub - maybe from the first lines above you see that I tried -  because every time I try, this one begins inside my brains.
  I bow to the master:


Bathing Song!
Sing hey! for the bath at close of day
that washes the weary mud away!
A loon is he that will not sing:
O! Water Hot is a noble thing!

O! Sweet is the sound of falling rain,
and the brook that leaps from hill to plain;
but better than rain or rippling streams
is Water Hot that smokes and steams.

O! Water cold we may pour at need
down a thirsty throat and be glad indeed;
but better is beer if drink we lack,
and Water Hot poured down the back.

O! Water is fair that leaps on high
in a fountain white beneath the sky;
but never did fountain sound so sweet
as splashing Hot Water with my feet!
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring Chapter: A Conspiracy Unmasked.


- - - - -

Next Monday: Halloween or your favourite Knock-Knock Joke

lørdag den 22. oktober 2022

Valgplakater -- Election Posters

Man må ikke, som i slet ikke, tegne og male på eller på anden måde ødelægge valgplakater. Og det er altså lige meget hvor fristende de er. Så er det jo heldigt, at man kan tegne på sine egne fotografier af valgplakaterne 😆
     De fleste af dem er nok kun morsomme, hvis man taler dansk (og måske lidt svensk) og er over 30 i hvert fald.
Men alle må kigge.
     De har fået deres egen side, og det kan være. at der pludselig kommer flere.

-- X -- ☑ -- X --

You are not, as in totally NOT allowed to draw on or otherwise harm any election posters. No matter how tempting this might seem.

Luckily my own photos of election posters are not forbidden territory.
I drew, here are the results - most of them are only funny if you know some Danish (and Swedish) and are older than say 30 years, but anyway.

They have been given their own page, and maybe the collection will grow.



Med hensyn tilselve valget er Uglemor meget pessimistisk.Hun forudser, at både Svampebob og Kagekonen*) kommer ind og nok skal sætte deres uhyggelige præg på den kommende regering.

MotherOwl's prediction: The coming election will see more anti-immigrant rigth-wing politicians with a say in the Danish Folketing than before. She is not optimistic. 

- - - - - - - - -

*) nej, ikke fru Bager, hende den anden - gå HER og scroll ned til den 13.

fredag den 21. oktober 2022

Birch Manor :: Just for Fun

I still have some words left over from Wednesday - that's not an exaggeration, as I only used Outside for those three instalments.
Now I also used Spatula, Bridge, Stars, and Rescue.

Donkey
Battleground
Spatula
Outside
Bridge
Stars
Rescue
Scorching


This chapter is called
Mahogany for Rasmus' wand!
It is never going to make it into the book, but this scene would just not leave my brain, and begged to be written out.
If it was to go into the book, it should supplant some scenes in this chapter. Furthermore it is a chance to tell of one of my favourite places in Copenhagen.


Finnbogi rose and went over and placed his big hand on Rasmus' shoulder: "We need you here. We need you to heal Sandra, and your girls, or not to heal, but to help me find the reason they're ill!" He turned his head towards Susan: "Susan get started singing that wand! I'm impatient."

Susan took Rasmus' parcel and unwrapped it. She looked forlornly at the big slab of wood inside It was beautiful, soft and with a nice grain, but it did not inspire her at all. She placed her hands on the slab of wood, it felt nice, soft, but no music emerged from it at all, she tried humming, but to no avail. Disappointedly she said: "Dear Rasmus, I'm afraid this won't do. I can see you making bowls and things from it, but as for making a wand, it's as inspiring as a kitchen cabinet door. I think wand woods have to be alive."
She thought back to Unicorn Farm and to all the wands she had made so far. "Rasmus," she said, "grab that slab of wood and let's find Rósa, I need to talk to her as she might know something I don't. And I need you with me to sing a wand for you."
He grabbed the wood and followed Susan into the library where they found Rósa surrounded by books in smaller or bigger stacks.
"You'll have to come and copy some of the books from the museum," she said after half a glance at Susan. "Some of this is in a sorry state, I have more than enough work for my two weeks' holiday preserving and sorting this mess. Where have these books been stored?"
"At the bottom of an old well!" Susan said looking like an excuse for herself. "But right now I need your help as a wandsinger."
Rósa looked up and noticed Rasmus standing a little behind Susan with the slab of mahogany.
Rósa ran over and looked at it. "No, won't do. Wood for cabinet doors can't be made into wands."
Susan and Rasmus started laughing.
"Oh, please let me in on the joke. Life has not been too funny lately." Rósa said impatiently.
Susan stopped laughing: "No, life is not funny right now, but I said almost the same upon seeing Rasmus' precious mahogany. Cabinet wood indeed!" And she burst into laughter again.
Rósa smiled broadly and added: "Wands have to be sung from live wood, now get out of here, find a nice tree somewhere for Rasmus' wand and leave me to nurse these poor books back to health again."
"Can we leave the cabinet wood here," Rasmus asked, still a bit short of breath from laughing.
"Yes, I won't touch it," Rósa promised.

Susan and Rasmus went out into the garden.
"Now what. Mahogany is a tropical wood, you say. Where can we find this kind of woods?" Susan mused. "No nurseries will sell it, as it would not survive our winters."
Rasmus looked at all the different trees around him. "Do you even have more than one of each, this looks most like a botanical garden."
"Botanical garden!" Susan exclaimed. "That's it. That's where we're going!"
"But," Rasmus said, "We can't just walk up to a mahogany in a botanical garden and start lobbing branches off of it. We'd be arrested, or something ... This sounds crazy."
"No cutting or breaking or anything is needed, and the modern idiocy of tree hugging and such will help us along. Come .." She pulled Rasmus into the main house and up the stairs to the attic. "We found some of our old party clothing in the well together with books and cauldrons. Finnbogi did a bit of a cleaning, so they should be usable. Help yourself."
Susan found a yellow tunic with white and green trimmings and a pair of emerald green trousers made of some felt like material to go with the tunic. A pair of soft, white boots completed the outfit. Then she brushed her hair, wound it loosely up on her head and fastened it with a many toothed clasp made of mock turtle shell. As a finishing touch she grasped a handful of strings of coloured beads and put them around her neck. "How do I look now?" she asked.
Rasmus looked at her and grinned: "Like a left over hippie!"
He dressed in the same style, but more subdued.
"Can you drive my car?" Susan asked. "I hate going into the city."
"I can," Rasmus answered. "I drive lots as a part of my job."
Knud saw the two of them going down the stairs and almost fell of the ladder laughing: "What on earth are you trying to prove?" he asked.
"Rasmus need mahogany for his wand. We're going to get one from the Botanical garden. I'm a tree hugger and tree singer." Susan explained.
"Wonderful," Knud answered. "I hope you pull this off and won't get arrested or expelled or some such nonsense."
"I'm thinking of Kai right now, Heidi's father," Susan explained. "He always said that he was a stage magician because it was the perfect disguise. No-one expected the real stuff. This is a bit of the same."
During their ride Susan told Rasmus some more about Kai. "And that's what made me think of this ruse. When we enter the Botanical garden we walk around a bit, and once inside the greenhouse, we locate the mahogany - I just have to look up its botanical name - and then you place your hand on the trunk, I embrace, "hug", the tree and start singing. If we time it right it should drop a wand before anybody gets suspicious. Your only job really is to catch the wand when it drops. In case of emergency I have a spell."
Rasmus looked at her, "But spelling people is not ... you don't."
"No we don't, normally. But as I said only in an emergency. And this spell is not intruding or harmful, not even cast at the person in question. Its one of the 'green' things. It works best on animals and unsuspecting non magical people. It's roughly speaking the opposite of a calling spell, some kind of  'There's nothing here worthy of your attention'-thing." She thought for a second. "Did you ever read Hitch-hikers Guide to the Galaxy?" Rasmus nodded. "Well, then its akin to the SEP field actually."
Rasmus smiled. "I like that."

Rasmus parked the car and together they walked to the Botanical garden.
"Oh, look," Susan said as she saw the small transportable ice cream parlour, "They have raspberry ice cream, my second most favourite after pear. I'd like one. What about you?"
"Yes why not," Rasmus said, "But I'd like lemon instead, that's my fave."
Susan bought them an ice cream each. It came in small paper cups with spatulas in different, bright colours, Susan got a green one and Rasmus a red, which they took as a good omen. While eating their ice creams they strolled through the Botanical garden, under the pergolas dripping with Wisterias and over the bridge where Susan stopped and pointed out the turtles for Rasmus.
The bridge and a pergola
Picture from Google Maps.

"Now we better get inside The Palm House," Susan said. "I wonder if the bananas are flowering. They are very impressive. By the way, the botanical name of mahogany is Swietenia mahagoni." There's two other species of Swietenia as well, and they are also used for wood, but S. mahagoni is the original one. It should have some funny fruits, called Sky fruits because they look like they grow upwards. I hope they do have some fruits today."
Susan paid the entry fee for both of them and put the tickets into her small backpack.
They entered the greenhouse and turned right, and there were the banana plants, unfortunately not flowering, but with hands of tiny, green bananas growing upwards from the closed, wilting flowers. "I love those small bananas," Susan said in a high pitched voice, "The way they grow, so virile, so impressing!" Some of the other visitors looked at Susan, noticed her flower-power looks and shook their heads.
The greenhouse was labyrinthine, the paths were laid out in concentric circles, and everywhere white, ornate  pillars carrying the upper storey  and at irregular intervals even more ornate spiral staircases leading up or down from the gallery stood next to the paths.
Inside the Palm House
Picture from Google Maps
.
Finally, in the part of the greenhouse hosting the dry tropics they found the three mahogany species. "Ohh!" Susan exclaimed in her high pitched voice, "Here we have the Sky fruit trees." Let¨s see if we can find any. She placed her hand on the Cuban Mahogany, and as Rasmus did the same, she could feel the tree, eager, humming, like a well tuned harp. She nodded in encouragement and said: "It seems so lonely, so far from home, poor tree, all alone of its species." With these words she embraced the rough trunk and quietly started singing to the tree. People passing them, luckily few and far between, looked at them and quickly looked away in embarrassment. Susan did not sing for very long before she felt the small loss of power, that meant a wand had been made.
"Catch it!" she said under her breath to Rasmus, still almost singing, and he did, and as he slipped the piece of wood inside his sleeve a man from the staff came up to them.
"What are you doing here, lady?" he asked.
Susan looked at him: "You have heard about tree huggers, I suppose," As the man nodded, Susan continued. "Well I am a tree singer. I go around in parks and public gardens and hug the trees and sing to them. This here tree looked forlorn, in need of a song."
The man looked at Susan with badly hidden disdain: "I must ask you to stop hugging and singing to the trees in the Botanical garden," he said sternly. "If you continue I'll have to ask you to leave the premisses."
Susan gave the tree a last loving pat. "Bye, bye, old tree, you'll have to do without my singing today." She turned to the gardener. "I'll refrain from more singing, and hugging. But I'm not doing anything wrong by simply touching the trees, am I? And how old is this one really?"
The gardener mellowed, "Touching and feeling the trees are not discouraged, on the contrary. getting to know how trees look and smell and feel are some of the purposes of this garden, but normally only children touch the trees. And if you want to know age and origin of any of the trees, those small metal signs at their bases will tell you all yo want to know."
"Oh, thanks, now I see it. Why did I not notice before? Thanks again," Susan said, bending down to read the sign.
The gardener walked away, turning and looking back on Susan and Rasmus several times, as if he wanted to check that they were not up to more singing.
"I think we should call it a day," Rasmus said. "We do not want any trouble."
Susan nodded, rose and followed Rasmus out through the white double doors. They backtracked their steps through he garden and found the car where they left it.
Once inside Susan drew a deep breath and slowly let it out. "Phew! I thought he had seen us stealing that wand. I was ready to try the distracting spell."
"Strange," Rasmus said, "it felt like he was attracted by your singing."
"Not so strange, maybe," Susan said slowly. " We are not the only wizards in the world. Martine confirmed that they planned on expanding. We were only to be the first wave. We were either living near by the old teachers, or they found us by some chance."
"This opens up whole new possibilities," Rasmus said.
"Yes, and that's why we need you. There must be many wizards out there. Classmates, parents, colleagues, old ones, waiting for a rescue from mundane life."
"Or they might be reluctant to leave the well known and comfy mundane life behind," Rasmus said.
"That too," Susan admitted, "And that feeling should be more common among those never having had a taste of magic. One more thing to talk over in front of the fire in the evening."

They hurried home to Birch Manor and as soon as they were out of the car, Susan pulled off the strings of beads and let down her hair. "Ahh, this is better," she said waving her arms and shaking her head. "I am not cut to be a tree hugger after all."  
"You sure was convincing," Rasmus said. "Are you sure you do not want to follow that career?"
Susan dealt Rasmus a mock blow and told him that being a teacher at Birch manor was career enough for her taste. "Apropos which. Let's get you ant that wand acquainted. Can I see it?"
Rasmus handed her the wand, and Susan looked at it. "Yes, pretty. Let's see if it works too."
She gave it back to him and said: "Now swish the wand through the air like this." Susan showed him the simple move, that made sparks fly. He swished the wand, nothing happened. He tried a couple of times more, but still nothing. Susan put her fingers over his on the wand to check on the placement of his fingers, and could feel the pent up energy in them."
"Relax," Susan said. "Think of how nice it would to become a full wizard. Nana won't be able to tease you any more. And praise the Lord you are not swinging that kitchen cabinet door of a wand you tried to make me sing for you!" Rasmus laughed and swished the wand. Bright red and golden sparks flew from the wand like stars from a sparkler and ended up in Susan's hair and down her dress. Hurriedly she pointed her own wand at herself: "Slökkvið!" she exclaimed, and the sparks died without hurting her. "Fine, job, Rasmus. Now it's back to school for you. You are going to study Icelandic, wand movements, history of magic, transformation, cryptozoology and all that together with my grandkids and your own children."
"My children," Rasmus said. "They are witches both of them, aren't they?"
"You felt their magic, and so did Finnbogi. I'm sure it will awaken, or we'll find out how to awaken it. Study they will."

torsdag den 20. oktober 2022

Á Íslandi 38 - New Edition

Another instalment in the rewrite of these chapters:

In the end only Knud and Eyvind and most of the smaller grandkids were left in the hall.
"What about me?" Eyvind said. "Hilde asked me to stay close, but there's not much I can do to help."
"But you can!" Knud protested. "Most of what's to be done today do not require magic. You are good with your hands and you sure can help keeping an eye on and entertaining impatient small ones," Knud continued. "You're a good granddad, I understand, and keeping the small ones out of mischief and not underfoot would be a really great thing."
"Could we make some woodcraft and maybe have a fire out there?" Eyvind asked, encouraged by Knud's friendly words.
"Of course you can." Knud said. "In fact this is a splendid idea. I think I saw a humongous bag of marshmallows somewhere. Only please do not cut living wood, It can be dangerous here. But the wood piles and all fallen branches are yours to use."

Eyvind rose and grasped the nearest of his grandchilldren: "Did you hear that," he said "We're to make a bonfire and toast marshmallows. Let's go to the kitchen and find that humongous bag of marshmallows, Knud told us about."
He left the hall pulled off by Dora, Elsa and Gregers with all the other kids following them. He was smiling.
As he left, Rósa arrived with Anna and a man Knud did not recognize.
"Welcome Anna. It's good to see you again," Knud said, "But didn't you tell you never married, who is this?"
Anna answered: "But that's Helge, my cousin. Don't you recognize him?"
Knud looked at him, then looked at Anna and back to Helge again. "Yes, now I recognise you, Helge. Welcome back! You really have changed. You're older, no that's not what I mean, we're all older," He stopped, looked at Helge once again and continued: "Mature, grown, self-assured. Something ... I remember you as a lanky youth all arms and legs. And now ... "
Helge smiled, a big, slow smile. "Yes I was clumsy. And yes, I have changed, but we seem to have been interrupting something. Please continue and don't mind me."
"No, it's fine, Knud answered. "I have done this morning's job. I just need to stay here and wait for people to sign up for the broom race. I can do that while talking to you."

Rósa excused herself. "I still have loads to do with the old books and a lot of the other stuff. And please put me on the broom racing list as well."

Anna looked through the windows, at the garden and meadows teeming with people, at the different groups, and finally back to Knud. "Please Knud, tell me what you're trying to do here and who's who in this --- circus" she said, smiling to take the barb off her words.
Knud looked befuddled at her and Helge, then out of the windows and back again, suddenly seeing the place with foreign eyes. "Yes, I see this can be confusing. Susan and I never got to telling you everything we knew, and since then we have been more planning than looking to the past, it seems. Most of the old apprentices from the Farm is here today, as well as their children, their in-laws and their grandchildren. We're missing Kirsten and Sarah who are incapable of being here. Also Finnbogi, Fiona, Hilde, and her son Rasmus are missing, as an accident has happened to Rasmus' wife in Tømsø. Susan is away too, she should be back shortly with Aamu and some of her family ... And Olav and Monica left for home, their shop needed them, and their children have not even been let in tho what they possibly are ... "

Anna looked even more confused and a bit angry: "You tell me that almost everybody is here, and then you list up nine of the old apprentices and tell me that they are not present. That's about half of those still surviving if I can do the maths."
Knud drew a deep breath and began again. "Sarah is never going to become one of us again if I have a say there; but Sarah's son, who is a wizard, will arrive at some later date with his wife, who's a witch as well, and their four children. Kirstin - you remember her, she's Rósa's cousin - she is severely handicapped after and accident years and years ago. We hope she will be OK, but only time will tell. Finnbogi, Fiona, Hilde and Rasmus are as I said in Tromsø, where they live because ... oh bugger! this is too much to explain standing like this. Please sit, have a mug of tea, and relax." He swished his wand and two mugs came flying through the air towards them.
While Anna and Helge had their tea Knud explained in compact form, omitting all the ifs, buts, and maybes the story of Ella, Walter, who was really David, and Liisa who was Eillen Teresa's daughter. "I never told via mail, because we were afraid someone would intercept the letters," Knud ended his story.
Helge and Anna looked stunned and poured another mug of tea.

***

"Hi, Mary," Knud greeted the girl, who came walking with a determined mien. "Are you here to sign up for the racing, maybe?"
"Yes," she said. "I hope I am the first. I want to win."
"You are the first," Knud said wondering, "But that does not mean you'll win."
Mary smiled at Anna and Helge. "You just arrived, are you going to try and win the broom race as well?"
"Of course we are," Anna said. "I'm good at it and Helge is not much worse." She turned to Knud. "Please add us to the list, you know the details. After maybe Mary could show me where My is? I think she could use some help with the potions."
"You're not that good at potions," Mary said. "You'd do better helping The old lady and Jan set up the obstacles."
"Hey, you might be rigth," Anna said, "but that's not necessarily a nice thing to tell a lady you never met before."
"Sorry. lady," Mary said, "I'll show you where My is, if you like to."
"My name is Anna," Anna said. "Yes I would like to meet My again, we were good friends long ago." As they left together Anna was surprised to see Knud nod approvingly.

Knud wrote down Helge and Anna on the list of older participants, and then looked up at Helge: "You do know that you, as the oldest are destined to take over Gylfi's role as senior wizard, or whatever you may call it. I have done so until now, but that place is rightfully yours."
"By golly yes," Helge said. "I never realized, bit with Sif and Elwin no longer alive, I am the oldest. I don't really feel like ousting you. You live here, you and Susan re-discovered our magic and everything."
"Do you really think Taavi and Tähti felt ousted, or Thora, for that matter, by Gylfi being senior wizard back at the Farm? I would welcome it. I am not cut out for being a leader. But we can do it slowly if you like. People are used to me casting the Mál sameinast in the morning and cancelling it every night. You do the cancelling tonight. But tell me some more about yourself. How has life treated you?"

Interrupted by people getting written on the broom racing lists, Helge told Knud about his marriage, work, children and divorce. "We only had one child, a daughter called Annika. When my wife wanted a divorce, she wanted to leave her former life totally behind, that meant me and Annika. I was given sole legal custody, quite unusual for a father where the mother did not die. She married again, and changed her first name too. She's quite famous now, and I see her name in the papers now and then, and wonder ... I continued my work in the pharmacy, only I worked shorter hours to be at home when Annika came from school. We had a good life, she studied Icelandic, and married quite young to a nice, young man from the same course and have two children, Tommy and Emily. I visit them often, as they live near by.
After Annika left for the university, I took a part time job as a teacher on the pharmaceutical high school. It soon turned into full time teaching and more as I was made dean of the department. I kept that tenure up until my retirement two years ago. Now I write the books on pharmacology, I dreamt of writing when I taught, but never had the time for. And I have a small summer house with extensive lands - even a small lake - where I normally spend more time than in my apartment in Helsingborg. Annika spends most of her holidays there too with man and kids, as her in-laws are in a nursing home, Tommy is the youngest of 8 kids. I should be happy, but I am not. Now, after Anna found me again and gave me my old trousers back, I feel better than I have done for years, but I am still missing something."

"For how long can you stay here?" Knud asked as an answer. "I think you need to do magic, Take responsibility again, lead this school together with me, Susan and My. Let's take a tour of the premises now." Knud extended his hand and Helge clasped it. "Let's go!" he said.

Frygteligt flot :: Terrible Beauty

I går kiggede Uglemor grundigt på vejrmeldingen. Nej, der var ikke frost i sigte.Så kom Spirillen hjem .. med rim på hjelmen! Uglemor snuppede lommelygte og lagen og for ud i haven. Lyset skinnede i millioner af smukke, men dødelige iskrystaller. Håbende mod håb lagde Uglemor lagenet over sine squashplanter og gik i seng.

--- ❅ ---

Yesterday evening MotherOwl studied the Weather prognosis. No frost was in sight. Then Marsupilami returned home with frost on his helmet. MotherOwl grasped an old sheet and her bike lamp. The light beam ricochetted form innumerable small crystals. Beautiful, but lethal to her plants. Anyway she placed the sheet over the Zucchini plants hoping against hope ...


I morges skuede Haveuglen ud over sit frosne imperium.

--- ❅ ---

This morning GardenOwl looked out over his frozen empire.

--- --❅ ❅ ❅ -- ---

Og squashene? De var døde.

--- ❅ ---

And the zucchini? They were dead.



Som det kan ses i headeren, dansede isfeerne på engen



And as can be seen in the header the Frost Fairies danced in the meadows.


onsdag den 19. oktober 2022

Words for Wednesday -- Á Íslandi 37 - The Long Saturday 2

This meme was started by Delores a long time ago.  Troubles led her to bow out, but the meme was too much fun to let go, and now Words for Wednesday is provided by a number of people and has become a movable feast with Elephant's Child as our coordinator.

  Essentially the aim of this meme is to encourage us to write.  Each week we are given some prompts. These prompts can be words, phrases, music or images.
  What we do with those prompts is up to us: a short story, prose, a song, a poem, or treating them with ignore ...
  We can use some or all of the prompts, and mixing and matching is encouraged.

  Some of us put our creation in comments on the post, and others post on their own blog. This fun meme includes cheering on the other participants.

  And the more the merrier goes here as well, so if you are posting on your own blog then please tell us in the comments, so that all other participants, can come along and applaud.

The words appear on River's blog every Wednesday in October.

Donkey
Battleground
Spatula
Outside
Bridge
Stars
Rescue
Scorching

                                        And / or this picture


A shorter part for today. I have used only Outside. I promise more to come.


The bell in the  nearby village could be heard over the talking, and after the ninth stroke Knud rose. He clapped his hands, and in the ensuing silence he swished his wand: "Mál sameinast!" he said and continued: "Dear friends and fellow magicians. First of all the promised explanation. Rasmus was sleepwalking, erm sleep-flying you may call it, Helped on by a potion, his wife called hem, and he obliged. We have given him an antidote, but he's still on his way home to his wife. This time by his own volition, and accompanied by his mom, Hilde, and two other magicians, Finnbogi and Fiona to help him.
So even if we had planned the Wandsinging for today, too many of us will be missing. As I told, Hilde, Rasmus, Fiona and Finnbogi has left for their home town, and due to happier unforeseen circumstances - we finally found Aamu" Applauds and cheers interrupted his words. "Yes, we found Aamu," he continued. "And that's why Susan will be leaving in a short while. This leaves us with only 11 of the 19 surviving apprentices actually here today - and among those remaining only My is a somewhat trained wandsinger. Sometimes you just have to admit defeat," he said with a wry smile. "Too much has indeed happened for the last week or so. We have to catch up. We have to plan and organize. And when in a hurry you can lay the track as you go, but not for long. I am very sorry. Wandsinging won't happen today"

In the ensuing break Rósa and Susan looked at one another and rose. Their leaving underlined the seriousness of the matter and silence fell.  

"I think we need a day of restitution and fun," Knud said. Looking over the gathered magical community he saw only patiently waiting, trusting faces and impatient children.
"Instead of wandsinging we suggest a broom-race outside in the big meadow. Everyone who thinks he or she can compete should come to me and have their name and age written on a list. I can't race, as most of you know..."
My and Martine looked at one another and began laughing. A loud, happy noise in the silent Hall.
"Thanks for the confidence!" Knud said in a mock serious tone. "I am indeed better off as line-keeper, judge, and all that jazz. Martine will oversee the setting up of the course, My will be the one fixing the brooms, Heidi, Tage and Lis will man the kitchen, and we need all able and willing to tote, carry, saw, cut, hang, enchant, hex, douse, you name it."
The Hall erupted in applause.
"Now I'd like the old apprentices to rise one at at time and tell me where and with what they need help.
My is first."

My rose: "I need willing hands for potions making. and painting it on the brooms and casting of the relevant hexes. All who think they can do a bit there, come to me."

Slowly the hall emptied as old apprentices-turned-teachers left with an entourage of willing helpers.