Small update on Deposit.

I added a paragraph to my deposit-post, but I wonder how many return to read old posts even if they are marked with Updated, so here's the update all by itself:

I just looked a bit further; 8 % of all bottles and cans with deposit marks are not cashed.
8% does not sound like very much -- but it amounts to 140 millions bottles and cans.
Even if all were the lowest rate, 140 million Danish Kroner is a huge sum of money.
It is approximately equal to:
18.800.000 €
20.142.150 US $
16.211.418 £
30.379.594 Australian Dollars
27.072.010 Canadian Dollars.

Poetry Monday :: Hot Air Balloon

It is June, the theme of this Poetry Monday is Hot Air Balloon. It is time for a repost from October 2019.

Poetry Monday is a challenge, hosted by Diane at On the Border.

For October 14, 2019 Diane gave us Our Bucket List, And I wrote: 

 I do not have a written, dedicated bucket list. Of course I have things I would like to do, and see, and try, but it's not the stuff you normally see on such lists.
 Well the theme is set. Ready, start, rhyme!

So many places I have not been,
so many wondrous sights unseen:

  I'd like to find the rainbow's end and win myself a pot of gold.
Because I like to feast and share
I do not like meals to be spare.

  Another thing, I'd like to do: see a new continent - yes I'm bold
Australia would be my choice
For kangaroos would bring me joys.

  And then I always wanted to be a pilgrim, and I'm told
that Santiago used to be the end
of Spain, I'd like to visit there again

  I've never soared through skies above. And I would sure like to behold
My house from a hot air balloon,
On a nice, cloudless day in June.

  But what I want to most of all is to grow oh, so very old.
Because I'm curious, you know,
I want to see my children grow.
And stay with hubby, grow a tree,
I'd be so happy - as you see. 

          -- o 🛤 o --

Next Monday: Red Roses

Danish Deposit System - Updated

The answer to Messymimi's comment on my post on Negativity became so long, I decided to turn it into a post of its own.

Messymimi wrote:

We are blessed with a recycle bin into which we can throw clean paper, paperboard and cardboard, all cans even if crushed to fit more in the space, glass, any solid plastic with the recycle symbol and a number on it, and many such things. Plastic bags and film with the recycle symbol can be taken to the grocery and dropped in their recycle box.

Of course, we don't get paid for this, we pay for the recycle bin along with our garbage bin, and it gets picked up once a week.

If you want to recycle larger metal items, you can take them to a scrap metal recycling center and get paid by the pound.

I'm just glad we are able to recycle so much so easily.

Yes, people throw their trash all over the place, and 've often wondered what they are thinking and why they do it. If i'm driving somewhere and have something in my car that needs thrown away, i take it home and put it in my garbage bin where it belongs.

RECYCLABLES
We have those recycle bins too. Our nearest are 200 m from home, and we can throw paper, glass metal batteries and plastic there.

What does not fit into these bins, like cardboard, wood, larger metal (which we do not get paid for) and so on we have to drive (neighbour helping) to a "big scrap place" 8 km away. As Mimi we pay for this service via taxes and payment for our garbage bins.

And I too am very happy with this system and use it for all relevant kinds of "garbage" And those cans and other crunchables I crunch up to make room for more ;)

Our local recycling bins; from left: Paper, glass, metal, plastic.
On the white fence behind the bins you'll find a small box for batteries.

BOTTLES & CANS
But bottles and cans for beer and soft drinks come with a deposit. If I buy me a soft drink, I pay 4.50 Kr. for the contents of a cheap soft drink and 1 Kr. for the bottle. (1 € is 7.50 Kr)

The 1 Kr. for the bottle is returned to me if I hand in the bottle in the supermarket - either the one where I bought the bottle or any other. Only very few bottles are brand specific. If instead I decide to break the bottle to use the bits for decorative purposes - or just for fun, I lose my 1 Kr.

My cheap soft drink that costs me 4.50 Kr. It contains half a litre of sparkling water with a touch of lemon. If you held it in your hand and turned it around, you would find a barcode and a deposit label looking much like this one.

Pant A means Deposit lowest rate = 1 kr.
     We have a B (1.5 kr) and a C (3 kr.) as well.
     ALU A on top ... is for aluminium.
Sorry I could not find one for Plastic. It would say PLAST P on my hypothetical bottle.

All soft drinks and beers sold in Denmark - and some other things like juice, alcopops, ciders, and smoothies - either come in standard glass bottles (equals Deposit A) or has a deposit label on them,
Only wine and alcohol bottles and those containing drinks with milk are exempt from this system. I never understand the reason why.

The four cans at the bus stop (here without Super Hero vision superimposed) were all marked with Deposit A. But as they were crunched, the deposit machine cannot read the label - or recognize the thing as a can, thus no deposit will be paid back for those four cans.
Free money for the supermarket, an evil for the environment, and a bother to me - or any other - who would have picked up and cashed the cans were they not crunched.

I just looked a bit further; 8 % of all bottles and cans with deposit marks are not cashed. 8% does not sound like very much -- but it amounts to 140 millions bottles and cans. Even if all were the lowest rate, 140 millon Danish Kroner is a huge sum of money.
It is approximately 18.800.000 € or 20.142.150 US $ or 16.211.418 £ or 30.379.594 Australian Dollars or 27.072.010 Canadian Dollars.

And this is what leads me to say that the Danish deposit system is fabulous ... only we need to raise the deposit, discouraging people from crunching up the cans and breaking the bottles. And if we could have the deposit on wine and liquor bottles too and those with milk, it would be just fantastic. A wild dream would be to expand this deposit system to all of EU.


By the way, the pull tab on one of those energy drinks and the can itself seems to be Turquoise Blue -- the colour of the month.

Negativitet - 3 - Negativity

Kan I huske de negative superhelte? Jeg kan godt, men det er selvfølgelig også min drøm og min blog, og i dag så jeg noget der mindede mig om dem.

     Min drøm: Der fandtes superhelte. Negative superhelte. De var så negative, at når deres blik faldt på noget affald i grøftekanten eller et andet sted, hvor det ikke skulle være, lyste affaldet op i negative farver.

-- ♺ --

Do you remember the negative supers? No wonder if you don't, I wrote about them over 6 years ago. But I remember - they were my dream after all - and today I was once again reminded of them.

My dream: Supers existed, negative supers. They were negative, very much so, and whenever their eyes fell on garbage in a ditch, the garbage went negative too.

     I dag falder mine negative superheltes blik på fire dåser fra energidrikke. Det er nye, danske dåser med pantmærker på. De kan bare ikke indløses, for der er nogen der har stået eller hoppet på dåserne. De er helt flade.
     Indtil Irma i Helsinge lukkede, var det i den butik et menneske som tog imod pantflasker og -dåser, og altså også dåser der var mishandlede og skæve. Men nu er der kun pantmaskiner alle vegne, og de tager kun imod hele, fine dåser.
     Jeg har flere gange på denne blog skrevet om at panten var for lav - og det er den da åbenbart, når det er sjovere at hærge dåserne end at pante dem.

-- ♺ --

Today the super vision of my negative supers discovers four cans from some energy drink. Those are new, Danish cans, bearing the deposit mark, but they will never get cashed, as they are made flat by someone standing on top of them. The machine won't accept them.

A bit over four years ago the only supermarket having a human being receiving the cans and bottles was closed. Now we have deposit machines everywhere, and they accept only cans in pristine condition.

More times now I have been agonizing that the deposit is too cheap. I still think I'm right.

Words for Wednesday May 31

Back almost painfree, magazine sent to the printer, garden almost weeded, dome almost rebuilt, now  normal blogging will be resumed. And yesterday was Wednesday. This means time for Words for Wednesday!

Endnu engang undskyld til danske læsere. Der skal nok komme nyt fra haven, om min dome og så videre.

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

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 or even none of them if that makes your creative juices flow. Anything goes, only please nothing rude or vulgar.

 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. 

-- 🇦 -- 🇧 -- 🇨 --

For the last time in May the Words are provided by David M Gascoigne but as always are made public at Elephant's Child's blog.

Lions
Resources
Choice
Course
Systematically
Predator
     and/or
Occasionally
Firestorm
Land
Sight
Reproducing
Humans

This was some tough words. I wanted to continue my story of Susan and the hatching, but Lions, Predators, and Firestorms? Uncanny words at a chicken hatching, I just had to work a bit harder. Here is what happened:

Rasmus suddenly made Susan think of lions, "Lions," she said aloud. "But why does Rasmus remind me of lions."

"I'm sure you'll find out eventually," Granny said, "but now I need your resources to help with the eggs. Which one would be your choice for a prime rooster?"

Susan slowly walked to the hen house. Then she knelt. The wisest course of action was to be as small and insignificant as possible. Susan thought of using the Nothing interesting here spell but decided against it. Slowly, cooing calming sounds, she put her hand under the brooding hen and systematically felt the rocking and chirping eggs.
She thought of a predator, and felt a protective spark from the egg under her hand. Gently her hand closed around this egg and slowly and with many an excusing and calming sound she pulled out the egg. "This one!" she said.

"Hold it in your hands to keep it warm," Granny instructed, "Turn it occasionally, and do not give in to the temptation of helping the chick break out. This might kill him, and I promised my next neighbour a fine rooster."

Susan sat on a log in the sun, warming and gently turning the egg; listening to the chirping sounds emanating from inside and encouraging the small one to break his shell.

Granny also felt the eggs, and gave one egg each to the three cousins with like orders. "She has too many eggs in there," Granny said. "There's not room and air for them all to hatch, and I have been inattentive, letting her incubate this many eggs. She is a sly one and bears watching.

Susan's thoughts strayed from the task at hand, her fingers still gently turning and warming the egg, but her thoughts were far away. Suddenly she remembered the connexion between Rasmus and lions. Elleore, the Lion island as they called it. Home to great and ferocious lions in Susan's mind, but in reality the two lions from The Lion Hunt had been old, and had been shot by sharpshooters during the filming instead of being euthanised in a German zoo.*)
     Every time they went to visit Granny they passed that island, and something in the form and colour of Rasmus' head had reminded her of it. She also remembered falsely thinking a firestorm was ravaging the sland, when it was only the setting sun reflecting off the ice in the fjord.
     Elleore was a fabled island in Susan's mind. Populated by lions, cows, hunters and a king and a queen. Yes Elleore was also a kingdom, a teeny tiny one, almost 4 acres of land in Roskilde Fjord. It was absolutely not an imposing sight, rising only slightly over the calm waters of the fjord. But Susan loved the stories connected to it. She owned several stamps issued by the micro-nation, and hoped that they would, as they had spoken off, be reproducing some of the scenes from The Lion Hunt to be used on new stamps. Normally no humans lived on Elleore, but one week a year the king, queen, government and all the people of Elleore met there to govern their island-kingdom.

A violent chirp and a big piece of the shell, that broke from the egg in her hands let all thoughts of lions and royalty flee from Susan's mind as she focussed on the tiny creature slipping wet and slimy into her hands.

Does Rasmus look like a lion?

LINK

- - - - - - - - - -

The Lion Hunt filmed on Elleore in 1907. Link

Catch Up :: Sunday Selection, Poetry Monday & Colour of May - All on a Wednesday

Time for one humongous Catch-up post.

I went for a walk in my garden, admiring the lushness, the greenness, the colours, the growing, the May in short. And I realized that all this grew, thrived, sprouted, bloomed, because of compost!
Here is my May Green, Sunday Selection, Compost-Poetry all rolled into one on a Wednesday.

Berries,

rhubarbs,

and tomatoes,

Flax, and

grapes - Yay!

and potatoes.

Flowers red, and

white and blue,

Kiwis,

herbs and

(no photo,
as we all know
how weeds look)
all weeds too .

Oh, yes, evrything grow - thanks to compost!
And the stalks and the weed
To my chicken I feed,
so I get all my

EGGS

thanks to compost!

And in almost every photo in this post there's loads of  May Green.

Månedens farve - JUNI - Colour of the Month

Månedens farve for juni 2023 er --  The colour of the month for June 2023 is

Upsi -- Oops

Last Friday (May 19) River asked: Are you okay? No posts for a couple of days has me worried a bit.

I replied: Sorry, Yes I'm fine. Only family from far away visiting, Summer has finally come, a magazine to edit, and a hurting back leaves me not blogging or commenting or answering. Sorry. Sunday is a the last - I hope - in the row of crazy-busy days so normal blogging to be resumed Monday :) Thanks for your concern.


Only one problem. In my haste I did not think well enough. And now Monday with its Poetry and Wednesday with its Words have come and gone.
 
Because ... actally I meant next Monday, Pentecost Monday.  I'll be back 😉

-- ⏰ -- 📆 -- 📅 -- 🗓 -- 🕰 --

Sidste fredag (19. maj) spurgte River: Er du okay? Ingen indlæg i et par dage har gjort mig lidt bekymret.

Jeg svarede: Undskyld, ja jeg har det fint. Jeg har familie på besøg langvejs fra, sommeren er endelig kommet ... et blad, der skal redigeres, og ondt i ryggen gør, at jeg hverken blogger, kommenterer eller svarer. Jeg er ked af det. Søndag er den sidste - håber jeg - i rækken af vanvittigt travle dage, så normal blogging genoptages mandag :) Tak for din omsorg.


     Der er kun ét problem. I min hast fik jeg ikke tænkt mig godt nok om. Og nu er mandag med sin poesi og onsdag med sine ord kommet og gået.
      Fordi ... egentlig mente jeg næste mandag, pinsemandag.  Jeg vender  tilbage

Havefarver :: Garden Dyes

     Uglemor elsker at gå en tur i haven og plukke urter til aftensmaden, rabarber til en kage og altså planter til at farve med. Og selv om jeg har travlt, skal der bare være tid til en farvegryde når alting springer ud.
     Her er hvad jeg plukkede og det endelige resultat.


MotherOwl loves her garden.The rich feeling picking herbs for dinner, rhubarbs for a cake or palnts for the dyepot. And even if I'm super busy., I just have to find time for a dye pot when ecerything is unfolding.

Here is what I picked, and the result.   

m

Frisk fra gryden og stadig vådt  --  Fresh from the dye pot and still wet. 

Vasket og tørt, lige til at strikke med  --   Washed and now dry, ready for knitting.

Og noget af garnet er blevet majgrønt

And some of the yarn turned May Green.

Poetry Monday :: Chocolate Chips

  Poetry Monday er en udfordring, hvor Diane fra On the Border er vores vært. Og nok engang kommer jeg til at undskylde til mine danske læsere. Det er svært at omskabe denne her slags vrøvl til dansk.
     Dagens stikord er Chokoladeknapper. Sære Uglemor elsker kager og elsker chokolade, bare hver for sig, tak! Så min echokoladeknapper ender altså ikke i kagerne. Hvad så?

-- 🍫 --

 Chocolate chips - crazy MotherOwl loves chocolate and loves cakes, cookies and so on. Only please do not mix! What then would happen to my chocolate chips if I had any?

Poetry Monday is a challenge, hosted by Diane at On the Border.


Chocolate Chips
In a pot I pour them
Liquid they become.
First I stir them, mix and fold.
Then I pour them in a mould.
Leaves and flowers, little owls,
Squares and circles heaped in bowls.
Chocolate chips no more
Happily I'll devour.

- - - - - - - - - -

Next Monday: Musical Instruments

Søndagsbillede :: Solfarvning

Sunday Selection :: Solar Dyeing

     Det lader til at solfarvning er det nye sort. Jeg har prøvet før uden stort held. Der skete nærmest ingenting.
     Men nu prøver jeg så igen. Indtil videre ser det lovende ud.

-- 🍁 -- 🥀 --

Solar dyeing is in fashion right now., I have tried before, with disappointing results, nothing happened.

Now I try again, and so far it looks good.

     Her er det lige blevet sat over.
     I glas nummer 1, det til venstre: røde hasselblade, vild kørvel, lyserøde tulipaner med støvdragere og rejnfan.
     I glas nummer 2, til højre: rødbøg, skønhedsøje-plante, birkeblade, en vissen påskelilje, tørrede kronblade og en masse støvdragere fra mørkerøde tulipaner.

-- 🍁 -- 🥀 --

Fresh from the start.
Jar number one, to the left: red hazel leaves, wild chervil, pink tulips with stamens, and tansy.
Jar number 2, to the right: Red beech leaves, tickseed plant, birch leaves, a daffodil, dry petals and a heap of stamens from red tulips.

Glas 1 tæt på  --  🥀 --  close up of jar number 1.

Glas 2 tæt på  --  🍂  --  close up of jar number2.

Glas nummer 2 senere på dagen, bøgebladene farver tydeligt grønligt, og tulipaner/støvdragere grålilla.

-- 🍁 -- 🥀 --

Jar number 2 later in the day. The red beech leaves give off green dye and the tulip stamens and petals a purplish grey.

Og selvfølgelig er nogle af planterne majgrønne

And of course many of the plant parts were May Green.

Ugen her har været så smuk, så her er et par andre kulørte billeder

-- 🍁 -- 🥀 --

This week has been filled with colours. Here are some of them.

Words for Wednesday ~ May 10, 2023

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

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 or even none of them if that makes your creative juices flow. Anything goes, only please nothing rude or vulgar.

 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. 

-- 🇦 -- 🇧 -- 🇨 --

All May the Words will be provided by David M Gascoigne and they will be made public at Elephant's Child's blog.

For today we had these words:  
Little
Application
Care
Companionship
Father
Only
     and/or
Farm
Progress
Hedgerow
Care
Distinguished
Industrial

  I used the almost all te words, only industrial did not fit in, and  as always in the order they were given, for a continuation of the small story of Susan, Granny, her cousins, and the maybe hatching chickens.

Little by little and with the application of much care, Susan woke up her three cousins. She was not sure she liked their companionship in the chicken coop with Granny. On the other hand she was not certain she would have liked to be alone with Granny either. It was as her father always said a nice pickle. One thing she knew. she was really happy to be with her grandmother today.

Outside they went, all five of them. the farm land across the waterway glowing emerald green in the early sun. They walked along the hedgerow, under the apple trees and finally arrived at the chicken coop. Usually Granny and Lena, the youngest of the cousins, tackled Rasmus, the big, beautiful and very aggressive rooster by locking him up inside the coop. But today extra precautions were needed. He could not stay in the chicken coop with a hatching going on, he would inevitably get on the wrong side of one or more of the girls, and his spurs were honed and well used tools.

Granny asked the four girls to hold onto a big wooden construction. A big cube, made from old timber
from the roof and covered in metal netting, only not the bottom part. They had to hold it far enough off the ground for Rasmus to get under it, but not so far that they could not quickly lower it over him, once he was in the centre of the contraption. Granny spread out some grains, and Rasmus went ahead to check them out, as good roosters do for their flock. And was caught.
On Granny's order they carefully raised the cage just a bit off the ground and carried it further away from the coop. He protested wildly, but to no avail, he had to follow along inside the cage. The rest of the hens gathered round the cage, only not the brooding one.
Rasmus was a distinguished rooster, and many of the neighbours wanted one of his progeny to watch over their hens. The fox never had a chance with him nearby, and they took his aggressiveness in stride, grateful over his protectiveness.

... to be continued

Poetry Monday :: Socks

  Poetry Monday er en udfordring, hvor Diane fra On the Border er vores vært. Og nok engang kommer jeg til at undskylde til mine danske læsere. Det er svært at omskabe denne her slags vrøvl til dansk.
     Dagens stikord er Sokker - ud over at strikke sokker og selvfølgelig at have dem på, er det ikke noget særligt sjovt ord. Så jeg fandt alle de engelske ord, der rimer og lavede et rablende vrøvlevers.

-- 🧦 --

  Socks - apart from the fact that I like knitting them, and almost always wear a pair when leaving the house, I have not given socks much of a thought. And rhyming about socks?

Instead I dug up all the words (I hope I found them all) that rhymes with socks, and made them into this rambling nonsense rhyme.

Poetry Monday is a challenge, hosted by Diane at On the Border.


Socks

Fox
Ox
Cox
Box
Pox
Knox
Phlox
Crocs
Rocks
Blocks
Clocks
Docks
Knocks
Locks
Stocks

Once a fox and an ox
Saw four blocks and three frogs
On the docks.

And the cox steers the box
Round Fort Knox while the phlox
Gently rocks.

Oh a pox on the clocks
Say the warlocks and locks
All the crocs.

Guess who knocks out the locks
and who blocks all the stocks
It's the socks!

 - - - - -

Next Monday: Chocolate Chip

Søndagsbillede :: Rødder & Månedens farve

Sunday Selection :: Roots & Colour of the Month

Nu har jeg luget adskillige bede, og det er gået op for mig at jeg kan genkende de fire slemme ukrudter i min have på rødderne alene.

 - - - - -

Now I have weeded several beds, and I have realised that I can recognise the four bad weeds in my garden by their roots alone.

--- 🌿 ---

     Her har jeg i bedste politi-stil sløret forbrydernes ansigter og givet en beskrivelse. Kan du genkende dem. Prøv engang,  løsningen er længere nede på siden.
     Klik på billedet for at se det i større udgave.
- - - - -
     Here, in best police style, I have blurred the faces of the criminals and added a description. Do you recognise them? Give it a try - the solution is further down the page.
     Click on the image to see a larger version.

Gule rødder, seje og lange, med håragtige siderødder - 1 - Yellow roots, thin, hairy, long not breaking
Skøre, hvide, tykke og snoede rødder med siderødder - 2 -  Brittle! white, thick, branching, and convoluted roots.
Lige, seje rødder opdelt i sektioner - 3 - straight, tough and in sections

Lige, let gullige rødder, deler sig lige inden jordoverfladen, solidere end nummer 2 - 4 - Straight roots, only branching near the surface, yellowish, not as brittle as  2


*


**


***


****

Og her er de så blevet afsløret. Navnene på dem står under billedet

- - - - -

Now unmasked. Their names are below the photo.

Brændenælde - 1 - Stinging nettle
Snerle - 2 - Bindweed
Kvikgræs - 3 - Quick grass
Skvalderkål - 4 - Ground elder

--- 🌿 ---

Og selvom det er en formildende omstændighed at forbryderne har månedens farve - majgrøn - ender de nu alligevel som hønsefoder.

--- 🌿 ---

Even though it is a mitigating circumstance that the criminals are the colour of the month - May green - they will still end up as chicken feed.

Krydderurtedag - Herb Day

      Tak til Messymimi for at huske mig på den årlige krydderurtedag, der altid er den 1. lørdag i maj, i år 6. maj, altså i dag. Jeg kan ikke rigtig finde nogen der fejrer den her i landet.
     Sidste år viste jeg mine nylugede urtebede frem. De ser næsten lige sådan ud i dag, så i stedet vil jeg vise et billede af mit  kryddersalt.

--- 🌿 ---

Thanks to Messymimi for reminding me that the first Saturday of May is International Herb Day. This is today, May 6. I still can't find anybody celebrating this day in Denmark.

Last year I showed off my newly weeded herb beds.They look almost the same today, so instead I'll show a picture of my freshly made herbal salt.

Hvad er der så i sådan en tallerken urtesalt? I faldende rækkefølge er der disse krydderurter i.
- løvstikke
- oregano
- nælder
- timian
- esdragon
- salvie
- kinapurløg
Og så en hel del salt.
     Jeg fyldte en lille gryde næsten op med urter, og klippede groft i gryden. Så hev jeg minihakkeren frem - assisteret af Skribenten, der med sine knap to meter kan nå de øverste hylder uden at skulle finde en taburet frem først.
     Der var så mange urter, at jeg var nødt til at hakke dem ad to omgange. Jeg plejer altid først at lave urtesalt i efteråret, men jeg vil da helt klart lave mere snart. Det var meget nemmere at finde fine, friske planter af dem alle sammen. Det må være mit faste arbejde hver dag fremover på krydderurtedagen.
     Og så mangler der rosmarin i urteblandingen her. Det ville være den eneste forskel, hvis jeg havde taget et nyt billede af krydderurtebedet i dag - en død rosmarin. Den overlevede ikke vores fugtige og lune vinter.

--- 🌿 ---

So what's in this plate of herbal salt? In descending order, these herbs are in it.
- lovage
- oregano
- nettles
- thyme
- tarragon
- sage
- garlic chives
And a generous amount of salt.

I filled a small pot almost to the brim with herbs and chopped coarsely in the pot with my scissors. Then I pulled out the mini chopper - assisted by the Writer, who with his almost two metres can reach the top shelves without having to find a stool first.
There were so many herbs that I had to chop them in two batches. I usually only make herbal salt in the autumn, but I will definitely make more soon. It was much easier to find nice, fresh plants of all of them. It is going to be a returning feature of herb day.

Missing in this mix is rosemary. because the only change you would see in a photo taken today, would be a dead rosemary bush. It did not make it through our wet and green winter.

Den sidste Store Bededag

The very last of its kind

Aftenen inden den allersidste Store bededag bagte Skribenten som så ofte før varme hveder, medens Uglemor var flittig i haven og Ugleungerne spillede computerspil og lavede de sidste skoleopgaver.

- o -

The Danish Holiday "Common Prayer Day", that from 1686 until this year has been celebrated on the 4th Friday after Easter has been abolished. I am sad.

We are celebrating for the last time with the baking and eating of hot buns. The Writer as so often before baked the buns while MotherOwl was busy in the garden.

Spelter - hveder bagt med speltmel
Wheat buns made with spelt flour.

Selve den sidste store bededag var blæsende og halvkold, men alligevel var Uglemor i haven om eftermiddagen og lugede bede. 
     Hønsene fik så meget ukrudt at de ikke gad mere.

- o -

The holiday itself was windy and chill, but i the afternoon MotherOwl was in the garden anyway and the hens had so many weeds thrown at them, that even their hunger was stilled

Fordi det var meget blæsende, tog Skribenten ikke sin daglige cykeltur, så jeg overtalte ham til lige at løsne lidt af jorden i mit bed, så jeg nemmere kunne fjerne rødderne uden at overanstrenge min arme ryg. Han var svær at stoppe, heldigvis, og tog lige hele bedet.

- o -

Because it was so windy, the Writer did not go for his usual bike ride. I asked him if he could maybe dig a bit of my bed so that I could pull all the weeds without hurting my back. He was unstoppable and dug the whole bed - what a pleasure.

a

Jomfru Maria fik sine blomster og bønner.

- o -

The Virgin Mary had her flowers and prayers.

      Store Bededag er en fridag, der har betydet meget for mig i de forgangne år. Det er så at sige en "gratis" fridag. Butikkerne er lukkede, så vi kan heller ikke tage på indkøb. Vi får ikke gæster, vi skal ikke i kirke. Kort sagt, vi har bare fri, der er ingen, der forventer noget af os, ingenting vi skal.
     Det kommer jeg i den grad til at savne i de kommende år, det, og så den her lettede, boblende frie fornemmelse, når dagen ender af "Tænk, det er kun lørdag i morgen!"

- o -

The sunset found a tired but happy MotherOwl, and tomorrow it's only Saturday, another day off school! This feeling I am sorely going to miss in the years to come. It is so to say a "free" holiday. Nobody expects anything from us, the shops are closed, so we can't go shopping, we're not having any guests, we're not supposed to go to church (this is a Protestant prayer day only 😉 ),  there's not a thing in the calendar, and when the day ends I always have had this light, bubbly feeling. But regretfully for the last time this year.

Haveuglen kommer også til at savne en ekstra dag hvor han kan herse med os alle sammen.
- o -
GardenOwl is also going to miss this opportunity to put us all to work.

P ~ Photographier

    Hver dag i april klokken 12 (undtagen søndag) kom dagens A-Z indlæg.
     Temaet for i år var Resilience som teamet har valgt, og jeg valgte undertemaet Blomster, træer og forfædre.
     Jeg fik altså kun skrevet om forfædre.

A - Z

  Every day at noon (except Sundays) a new A-Z post went live.
  The theme for this year was Resilience as given by the team, with my subtitle Flowers, Trees and Ancestors. I only wrote of Ancestors.

Det her er måske en lille smule snyd, men Z er altså et udueligt bogstav på dansk. Faktisk er der en af forfædrene, der starter med Z: Zitze Hansdatter  - sådan er hun stavet i kirkebogen - men normalt kaldes hun altså Sidse. Det var hende der var en af rekordindehaverne under Y - længst tilbage i tiden med både dåbs- og dødsdato. Men ud over det og at hun var gift med Ole Hansen og boede i Ulse hele sit liv, ved jeg kun at hun var købmand Rasmus' mormors farmors mor.

Derfor vil jeg i stedet reflektere lidt over 2023s A-Z Challenge.

• Jeg har skrevet flere blogindlæg end noget andet år. Hele 24 er det blevet til
  
• Måske af den grund har jeg ikke fået besøgt mange andre A-Z bloggere - det må jeg gøre i maj. Jeg fik kun besøgt dem jeg kendte i forvejen (Lissa , Messymimi og Black and White), og en ny som jeg kunne lide, Whatever I Think of, der tog mig på et nostalgisk trip med ting fra min ungdom. Ellers var jeg uheldig med dem, jeg besøgte. De fleste var forfattere der var ude på at promovere deres bøger, og lige meget hvor fikst det bliver gjort, kan romancer eller krimier altså ikke holde min interesse fangen.
• Det var skønt at A-Z udfordringen i år faktisk drejede sig om at blogge og læse hinandens blogs, ikke hysterisk om besøgstal og likes. Det gør mig mere tilbøjelig til at lege med næste år.
• Der var en direkte liste. Jeg har først opdaget den nu, og det er jeg ked af, for det var smart. 
• En ting, jeg manglede ved mange af de blogs, jeg besøgte i år, var et blog-akiv. Sådan at jeg kunne læse nogle indlæg, eller gå tilbage i tifden uden at skulle gnaske mig baglængs igennem hvert evig eneste indlæg på bloggen.
  

Reflections

This may be a bit of a cheat, but Z is a useless letter in Danish. In fact, there is one of the ancestors who starts with Z: Zitze Hansdatter - that is how she is spelt in the church register - but normally she is called Sidse. It was she who was one of the record holders under Y - furthest back in time with both baptism and death dates. But apart from that and the fact that she was married to Ole Hansen and lived in Ulse all her life, I only know that she was merchant Rasmus' great-great-great-great-grandmother.

Therefore, I will instead reflect a little on 2023's A-Z Challenge.

• I have written more blog posts than any other year. A total of 24.
• Maybe that's why I haven't visited many other A-Z bloggers - I'll have to do that in May. I only visited those I knew before the challenge (Lissa, Messymimi, and Black and White) and one new, Whatever I think of, giving a nostalgia trip through items from my youth. I tried a couple more, but they did not stick. It was mostly writers promoting their books. And no matter how cleverly it is done neither romances nor whodunnits fascinates me (my fault, not the authors').
• It was great that the A-Z challenge this year was actually about blogging and reading each other's blogs, not hysterically about visitor numbers and likes. It makes me more inclined to join in next year.
• There was a live list. I only realised it now, I wish I had seen it earlier.
• One thing I miss on many blogs is an Archives so that I can browse a single post here and there, or go back to a set point in the blog - maybe even all thw way to the beginnig and read withouh having to read my way backwards through every post the blog-owner ever wrote.
  

A - Z

Og med 24 ud af 26 mulige indlæg synes jeg selv at jeg er en vinder.
And I feel with 24 out of 26 completed posts that I am a winner