Zip through Autumn ???

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

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

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

Would any of you be interested in joining this challenge?

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

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

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

Here's a link and the aforementioned list. 

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

Z ~A :: Zip through Autumn ~ 9 - Updated again

Dec 7- Dec  13 ~ Dare, Chance
Dare For once I dare post something political on my blog. We had an election, now over a month ago. The prime minister - Mette Frederiksen. leader of the social democrats - said that her aim was a new government, spanning the middle.
This Wednesday the last real left-wing party left the discussions. Now we're probably in for four years of centre-right government. And although blue is my favourite colour, I'm NOT happy.

If I had the Chance, I would take all the immigrants and refugees in Denmark and their children, and give them 2 weeks of holidays somewhere nice. Preferably starting last Monday (a week ago yesterday)
Because then all those blue nincompoops could see how they really are living off the work of all those people.

There would be:
- almost no cabs to be had
- almost no meals at restaurants - and NO clean plates
- almost no mail
- almost no packages and goods delivered
- almost no care of senior citizens
- almost no cleaning of schools etc.
- almost no fast food to be had either.
- a great lack of nurses and doctors
- architects and engineers too.
and lots and lots of other things.

But I am not really surprised, only disappointed that Mette Frederiksen is living up to my worst expectations.

If you want to know why I am not surprised. I read an interview with her when she still was prime minister. Among other things she said this: 

Source: TV 2 16. marts 2021

Deportation  rules as strict as possible
Mette Frederiksen replies that she hopes her own government and all future governments will do all they can to deport criminals who are no longer allowed to stay in Denmark. 

- I am in favour of as strict deportation rules as possible.

At the same time, she stresses that Denmark is obliged to comply with the international conventions. 

- But I simply disagree with the international conventions in this matter.

Yes, giving in to the radical right is THE way to be a social-democrat in Denmark.

-- --  UPDATE December 13 -- --

Now the last of the non-rigthwing parties has left the negotiations:

'Unfortunately the prospects are pitch-black'
By Frederik Palle

The Radical Left Party (Not a radical party at all, only very moderately left, environmentally aware party) are out of the government negotiations, and thus much suggest that Denmark's future government will consist of the Social Democrats, Venstre (meaning Left, but they are not left at all. Conservative-liberal, agrarian party) and the Moderates (who are not moderate, but a clone of Venstre).

As expected, this is not received with big smiles by SF (Socialist people's party) and Enhedslisten (means Unity/united-list; red-greens).

Jacob Mark, SF's group vice-chairman, calls it "a myth" that a SVM (the one it is going to be) government would be strong just because it has a majority.

- Denmark is about to have a centre-right government led by the Social Democrats, even if there is a red-green majority. It is incomprehensible and I hope that Mette Frederiksen comes to her senses and returns to the majority that has done so many good things over the past four years, he writes on Twitter.

The Greens' political spokesperson, Mai Villadsen, believes that a SVM government will have consequences for the climate.

- Mette Frederiksen has repeatedly said that she only became green because she was pressured to it by the four parties. Enhedslisten, Alternativet, SF and De Radikale. Today, the last of those parties left the government negotiations. Unfortunately, the prospects are now pitch-black, she writes on Twitter.
(LINK)

I'm just happy that the populist, immigrant-hostile parties are also out of the negotiations.

UPDATE 2 -- December 14.
And yes, as I feared, those three Centre-rigth parties are to be our government for the coming four years. Already they have promised to:
- lower the taxes for the richest,
- put more pressure on immigrants to get them working more and earlier,
- incite older people to stay in work life for longer,
- to lessen chance of higher education for the poorest,
- make shorter, more business oriented highter educations,
- make new taxes on agriculture, but only if they do not lessen their rentability,
- restructure the service for the unemployed to save money,
- give more money faster for military purposes,
- give less money to museums and other cultural institutions (Leading to throwing out of exhibits, because they do not have money for storage and repair),
- lower the possibility for part time employment,

And the good ones:
- More money for the hospitals, for the ER, now.
- More money for the mentally ill, mostly children - a commission will be looking into this.

-- 🇦 -- 🇧 -- 🇨 --

*)
Zip through Autumn:
Here's a list of dates and prompts. We're almost done by now.
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

Z ~A :: Zip through Autumn ~ 9 & Tirsdagstips

Dagens tirsdagstips passer med sidste halvdel af temaet for Z ~ A udfordringen*) som er Fortitude, Easy tips. (Moralsk eller åndelig styrke, Nemme tips). Den åndelige styrke vil jeg ikke rode mig ud i at skrive iom, så jeg holder mig bare til et tirsdagstips.
     Wordle, Ordmastermind og lignende skal løses med papir og blyant. Hvorfor nu det? Jo, ser I, når jeg løser en ordgåde som Wordle, eller den danske Wørdle online, sker det at jeg tænker, at sådan et ord bare ikke findes. Eller jeg er bare ved at løbe tør for gæt. Når det sker, er det tid til at finde papir og blyant frem; det er nemlig ren magi, er jeg sikker på.
     Jeg slår fem streger på papiret, en for hver af de fem bogstaver i svaret, og nedenunder linjerne skriver jeg så de bogstaver, der kan stå på den plads. Og så pludselig - KA-BUM - dukker det rette ord frem i min hjerne. Som sagt, ren magi.
     De blå bogstaver på billedet nederst er en kopi af, hvad jeg skriblede på en lille lap papir, inden jeg udfyldte den sidste linje med det rigtige ord

-- 🇦 -- 🇧 -- 🇨 --

The Z ~ A*) prompt for today is Fortitude, Easy tips. I don't know really what to do about Fortitude, ... either you have it or not, and if not, you got to fake it till you make it.

An Easy tip on the other hand. Can do. Try solving Wordle (and it's lookalikes) with pen and paper. It is so much easier.

This needs embellishment, I'm sure. Bear with me for a rambling post, and some Danish - not because I expect you to all of a sudden be able to read it, but because the layout behind all these challenges is more or less the same.

When trying to solve a Wordle - or the Danish Wørdle, notice the ø 😉 - I am sometimes pulling my hair, thinking that no word ever existed using those letters. Then I find pen and paper and write down five  lines like this:
_  _  _  _  _

I then write the letters below the lines in the places where it is possible for them to be right, and mostly ... KA-BAM the right word surfaces in my mind. I am sure that writing with pen on paper is a magical process!
Look at this example - the letters in blue is exactly what I wrote on a slip of paper before filling in the correct last line:

Wørdle November 25

 

-- 🇦 -- 🇧 -- 🇨 --

*)
Zip through Autumn:
Here's a 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

Z~A :: Zip through Autumn 8

The A ~ Z Challenge's baby brother, the Z ~ A Challenge*)  is here again. This time with the prompts

Nov 23- Nov 29 ~ Happy Habits, Goal of your blog for remaining 2022

Happy Habits: Writing this blog is a Happy Habit, it keeps my creative juices flowing, it puts a mild pressure on me with the recurring challenges,  Words for Wednesday every Wednesday, Poetry Monday every Monday (Hello, Capt'n Obvious) and IWSG every first Wednesday of the month. Now and then other challenges come and go: Reading challenges, drawing challenges, photo challenges, I like them all, but my compliance is nothing to boast of.

Goal of your blog for remaining 2022: They are easily told. I go for simple goals in my blogging life:
- To blog every Monday, hopefully with a poem.
- To blog every Wednesday with a story using some or even all the prompts given.
- To blog on the first Wednesday of December using the IWSG prompt.
- To blog in between these days when I have something to say or show.
- To wish everyone a Merry Christmas when the time is right, and
- To end this year's blogging wishing all my readers a happy New Year.

- - 💡 - -

*)
Zip through Autumn:
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

Z to A :: Zip through Autumn ~ 7

The theme for the Z to A challenge*)  for the period of  November 16 - November 22 is

Joy and Job in blogging, Ideas

For me blogging has never felt like a Job. The closest it come to feeling like a job, is when Monday morning dawns, and I realize that once again I do not have a poem to share. But mostly this solves itself while bathing, biking, baking or walking, so that by evening poeming has happened.

Blogging is for me mostly a source of Joy, an outlet for all my crazy writing, a way of sharing what makes me happy, sad, or angry with a lot of nice people, I never ever get to see. This is a great Joy because I have 'met' so many friendly, encouraging and different people with ideas and homelands quite unlike my own.

Ideas: Sometimes I miss Ideas, but then either somebody shares a challenge like this A-Z one, Poetry Monday, Words for Wednesday, or any of the other more or less successful challenges I have been a part of throughout my blogging life, or I see hear or encounters something that makes me happy - like snow, flowers or family - or frustrated - like election posters or buses and their missing timetables.
And no matter what I write or share ...  you - my dear readers - always stand ready with comments, suggestions, praise and criticism. If anything, I miss a bit more of the latter, I know my English is far from perfect, and that I need to improve.

- - 💡 - -

*)
Zip through Autumn:
Here's a 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

Catching up

Words for Wednesday are found on Messymimis Meanderings every Wednesday in November. Today we were given:
bear - debt  - gap  - witness - describe  - reaction
     and / or one of these archaic/semi-archaic words
anon (at once)  - forsooth (in truth; indeed) - wood mad (insane; wild)

- - 💨 - -

Also today is the first day with the prompts Lesson, Know where I have been for Zip through Autumn*)
Very fitting, as I have been taught many lessons last weekend, and of course I know where I've been.

- - 💨 - -

Bear with me for a long post. We met in a big room Friday morning. Then we hung stuff, draped stuff, climbed ladders, carried, pulled, wrote, talked, drank tea, asked for and gave help, Anon the doors to the exhibition were opened - we had to leave one of them open, as it locked itself when it was closed, leaving an unwanted gap in the stream of visitors.
And we witnessed the kindness of our local politician who gave the opening speech.

- - 💨 - -

The next two days we were busy describing, explaining and showing off weaving, paper folding, spinning, woodturning, knitting, felting, plant dyeing bobbin lace ... to curious visitors and to guild members. I was taught how to do reverse crochet.

- - 💨 - -

Now I'm at home again and the reaction is setting in, I'm feeling a bit woozy, starting to do many things, but not being done with any of them. I'll land again, and return to Susan's story, to visiting blogs and commenting; but it might take a couple of days yet.

- - 💨 - -

*)
Zip through Autumn:
Here's a 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

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

Z to A :: Zip through Autumn ~ 4

The fourth instalment of Zip through Autumn is: Ten-year plan, SMART goals

Ten-year plan?
I haven't got one. Heck I haven't even a one year plan, or a one month plan. I have dreams, ideas, things I like and would like to do. I hope to be still alive, married and relatively fit in ten years.
  Because in ten years the Owlets will all be grown up, and have left the nest. The grandparents will probably not be along any more. This will hopefully give us the freedom to travel again as we did when we were young.

SMART goals
The capitalized SMART made me wonder, I looked it up and found:

• Specific.
• Measurable.
• Achievable.
• Relevant.
• Time bound.

This smells of time management, career planning and so on to me. I dislike these concepts, because life cannot be scheduled, and my greatest, most memorable moments, achievements and so on happened when I was not following a plan, but followed the impulse of the moment.

But SMART goals ... lemme see:
Specific:
Aren't all goals if you look  closer.
- Stay alive!
- Stay fit (get fitter)
- Learn, or brush up languages, drawing skill and creativity.
- Write my Susan book(s)

Measurable:
Goals usually are, so:
- Wake up every morning; check so far.
- Track my biking times. Do my PE every day; happens not always, but often enough.
- Use Duolingo every day: or read some pages in a book in a foreign language.
- Use Simple Daily Drawing. As per previous Z-A I'm trying to get back up on this specific horse ...
- One or more pages of "Susan" written or corrected.
- Have something to show each evening; Jam, baubles, knit gloves, 10 kilometres, or more intangible: happiness and knowledge.

Achievable.
Yes they are,
- Well no, not staying alive, not forever at least, but for as long as possible.
- I have been fit, I can be again.
- I have learned several languages, can do.
- I'm sure I can write a book, it's not impossible. Having it published is more of a question. If all else fails self publishing would be an option. And send a copy to all blog friends and supporters!
- I have been good at drawing, can re-learn.

Relevant
... for what?
If for me and my family to have as good a time as possible for as long as possible, then yes.
If for a career or earning money or status, then no!

Time bound.
- All life is time bound, but not for me in a measurable way.

Time is not time, an hour is not an hour. Think: Waiting for a dentists' appointment ... that hour is interminable, sitting here writing on the other hand it whizzes past. Picking apples, riding my bike, playing or talking with my children, drawing, or making jam, an hour seems to be of the right length.
Maybe we should concentrate on making more of what makes an hour last an hour?

Also for me learning and practising arts are timeless skills. I'll hopefully continue to improve for years to come.

-- 💌  💣  ⌛ --

Stepping down from soap box. Well, this turned into some kind of rant. I hope you understand what I mean.

-- 📅 --

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

Z - A :: Zip through Autumn ~ 3

Third instalment of Zip through Autumn is: Variety, Unique to my blog

Variety could be the name of my blog. Here you'll find - in no particular order:
Crafts: plant dyeing, wood working, sewing, basket making, candy wrapper crafts (using tea bags), weaving, knitting and crocheting, fabric making from scratch, ...
Languages: translations, Danish, English, Japanese, Latin and Greek, Italian, German and many other...
Writing; tales and stories: Words for Wednesday, IWSG, Susan's magical stories, tales from the past, science fiction, travel tales ...
Rants: Public transportation, forced digitalization, Blogger's antics, Christmas, maltreatment of plants, food that's not food, public 'services', Daylight Saving Time, censorship and woke-ism, grammar and spelling, ... .
Poems: Poetry Monday (almost) every Monday, Haiku, crazy poems, rhyming poems, free form poems, sometimes even a limerick.
Family things: Owlets (my kids and grandkids), school, Church, shopping, playing, travelling, ...
Gaming: mostly World of Warcraft, Wordle and such.
Gardening: a very chaotic garden, weeds, chickens and bees, my dome-shaped greenhouse, growing, experimenting and wild garden of mostly edibles. but with the occasional ornamental shrub or flower, preferably with a use as well, often dominated by GardenOwl.
Books: mostly older, children' books or fantasy - no romance or stark realism, please.
Drawings: sometimes doodling, InkTober, Simple Daily Drawing - I have to get back up on this specific horse ...
Cooking: baking bread, cakes and muffins, LowFODMAP,  jams and preserves, from scratch, on a budget, fusion kitchen, foraging, Japanese, Italian, experimental, organic and with a sweet tooth.

None of this is Unique to my blog. but I guess the mixture is. 

-- 👅 --

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

Z - A :: Zip through Autumn ~ 2

Second installment of Zip through Autumn is: Xenodochy in blogging, Why blog

Xenodochy ... ? I think I have a fairly large English vocabulary, but this was a new one. Xeno- means something with strangers, but the rest ... ? The dictionary tells me: "reception of strangers; hospitality" Aha, yes this is what blogging is all about. Greeting strangers, inviting them inside your life, making them feel at home and even visiting them. This is one of the reasons my blog is bilingual. Most strangers are not good at Danish 🙂

And as to why I blog, that's an easy one. I love writing, sharing my ideas, teach something, share tips and stories, and a blog is excellently suited to this.

-- α --

Andet afsnit i Z - A-udfordringen hedder Xenodochi og blogs - hvorfor blogge?
     Xenodochi, øhh, jeg kan græsk nok til at se xeno- altså noget med fremmede, men hvad? Jeg slog op og fandt ud af at det betød gæstfrihed, det at tage imod fremmede.
     Jamen, gæstfrihed er jo det, der er formålet med en blog. Tage imod fremmede, byde dem indenfor, forsøge at få dem til at føle sig hjemme - det er blandt andet derfor min blog er tosproget, der er jo ikke så mange fremmede der er gode til dansk 🙂

Hvorfor jeg blogger? Det er meget enkelt, jeg elsker at skrive, fortælle, lære fra mig ...  og her har jeg fundet nogen, der gider høre på mig.

-- β --

The most stranger-friendly language sure must be pictograms. And IKEA of Sweden is famous, maybe even of Herostratic fame (to stay with the old Greeks) for the pictograms in their assembly instruction leaflets.

This is a long detour for me to share the photo of an idea that came to me upon seeing an IKEA tea bag among a gift of tea bag wrappers for folding.

-- ɣ --

Det mest fremmed-venlige sprog må være piktogrammer. IKEA er kendt  - ja måske endda herostratisk berømt (for nu at blive hos de gamle grækere) - for deres instruktionsfoldere og deres piktogrammer.
     OK, det var lidt af en omvej for at dele et billede jeg tog, da jeg fandt en IKEAthepose i nogle theposer, jeg fik foræret til min theposefoldning.

-- δ --

What is inside an IKEA tea bag?  -- ε --  Hvad er der inden i en IKEAthepose?

 
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

Z - A :: Zip through Autumn~ 1

These last weeks months I have been blogging way less than I would have liked to. I have an idea in my head, but when I return home, too many things stand in line clamouring for my attention. When I finally get to sit down at the computer, I usually find that all my nice ideas have turned to broken words lying in heaps around me, not to be salvaged, much like the notes in this old drawing. 

It was like this yesterday. It was Poetry Monday, topic: Field trip. I was at a meeting and going there and back, I had three things on my mind: The meeting (hello, Capt'n Obvious), an upcoming exhibition in the crafters' guild I'm a part of, and a poem for Poetry Monday about me as a homeschooling mother and a terrible field trip to the woods with my children where everything just goes awry. Sons falling into a lake, getting bitten by ants, hit one another with sticks, gathering poisonous mushrooms, getting caught in the brambles, ... and the ending; the very best thing about a field trip is the hot cocoa on your return. But it never got written.

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

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

And agonizing here, I already - almost - wrote the first blog post. Almost, because I can't stop offering excuses.

Here's a link and the aforementioned list. 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