Sortemis på eventyr -- Blackie the Cat

     Forleden dag da Piraten og jeg stod og ventede på bussen, hørte vi nogle råger, der råbte op. Vi kiggede op i et valnøddetræ på den anden side af vejen og så ...

Some days ago Pirate and I were waiting for the bus. We heard some crows scolding, and we looked up. In a walnut tree on the other side of the road we saw this  ...

     Men hov! En af rågerne er jo ikke en råge. Det er en ualmindelig sort kat, ikke et hvidt hår fra snude til halespids, en rigtig heksekat. Vi har hilst på den før ved det her busstoppested, og vi ved at den bor i huset med valnøddetræet, og at den tit går på eventyr. Vi kalder den Sortemis. Det er måske ikke særlig originalt, men navnet passer til ham.
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One of the crows is no a crow. It's a cat. We've met this cat ealier. It lives in the house with the walnut tree, but we have met it running around in several times before. It is jet black with non a single white hair anywhere. Truly a witch's cat, and we call him Blackie, not so very original maybe, but the name fits him.

     Der samlede sig langsomt flere råger, der fløj truende rundt, skældte ud og lavede et farligt spektakel. Sortemis strakte sig og begyndte at klatre.
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Slowly more and more crows gathered, flew around the tree,  and scolded the cat, They made a big noise and Blackie the cat stretched and began climbing. .

     Piraten og jeg var sikre på at Sortemis ville klatre op og give de frække råger hvad de havde fortjent. Men det var slet ikke det, han havde til hensigt. Sortemis vidste bare at man ikke kunne komme ned ad den gren, han sad i.
     Desværre kom bussen og Uglemor kunne ikke tage filmen færdig. Historien ender med at Sortemis klatre ned ad den anden gren og redder sig i sikkerhed ved at springe ned på postkasserne lige udenfor billedet og derfra videre ned på jorden. Vi fik lige et sidste glimt af en sort hale der rundede hjørnet, inden bussen kørte.
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The Pirate and I agreed that the cat was going to chase away those impertinent and noisy birds, but Blackie id not climb upwards. The many crows had scared him, and he was on his way down. Unfortunately the but arrived and MotherOwl was unable to finish her film.
Blackie climbed down the other branch, and jumped to safety via the letter boxes just outside the picture.
We had a last glimpse of a black tail round the corner as the bus drove off.

Valfart 8, sidste dag -- Pilgrimage 8, last day

     Den sidste dag på valfarten var lige så proppet med begivenheder som de 7 foregående. Efter morgenmaden hos salesianerne gik vi ind til byen.
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The last day of our pilgrimage was just as crammed as the previous 7. After breakfast at the Salesian house, we walked to town.

Don Bosco

     På vej ind mod byen kom vi forbi et loppemarked, hvor vi købte lidt gaver og så alle mulige vidunderlige ting, malerier der passede sig for store paladser, hatte, gammeldags papegøjebure, Knapper, bånd og bændler og en imponerende samling knive. Uglemor blev fascineret af nedenstående spændende kniv.
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On out way to town, we came across a flea market, where we bought some last minute gifts. We saw all kinds of wonders, paintings fit for a palace, hats, parrot cages, buttons and suchlike, a million owls, and knives of all sorts. Mother Owl was fascinated by this one:

En folde-vingårdskniv  --  a foldable pruning hook

     Dagens messe var søndagsmessen i Firenzes domkirke. Den foregik helt på latin til stor fryd for Uglemor og Minimax, der godt kan lide latin. Vi ved ikke rigtig om latinen var til ære for os, eller om det altid er sådan. Skønt var det i hvert fald. Uglemors bønnebog er jo også på latin, og det var første gang at vi fik brug for alle de latinske tekster. Læsningerne og prædikenen var dog på italiensk, men vi havde fået teksterne på forhånd.
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The Sunday mass was celebrated in the duomo, and it was an all Latin Mass with Gregorian chant to the joy of MotherOwl and Minimax, who both love Latin masses. Of course the readings and the homily were in Italian, but we had the texts handed out. MotherOwl has made a missal for the Owlets and this was the first time that we used all the Latin parts of it.

• Alteret i il Duomo efter messen, koret øver stadig. 
• The altar in the Duomo after the Mass. The choir are still practising.

      Efter messen var der heldigvis mere tid til at vandre rundt i byen. På torvet (Mercato nuovo, "nytorv" fra ca. 1550) er der et vildsvin, og traditionen siger at dem der klapper vildsvinet på trynen, vender tilbage til Firenze igen. Vildsvinets tryne er slidt helt blank, og vi klappede alle vildsvinet på trynen!
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After mass we had some time just to walk around in town. We went to the Mercato nuovo (New market from 1550) There's a statue of a wild boar. Tradition has it, that if you caress the snout of this statue, you'll return to Florence. The snout is golden from people touching it, we of course did so too.

Hvad mon vi kigger på -- What's so exciting to the left?

     Så var det tid for en sidste is. Heldigvis fandt vi et sted med indholdsdeklaration på isene igen, så her er et nærbillede af Uglemors sidste italienske is i denne omgang: Hindbær/citron.
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Then it was time for our last Italian ice. We found a place with dairy free ice again. This is MotherOwl's ice, lemon and raspberry - yummy.

     Vi skulle med busser tilbage til lufthavnen i Rom. Denne gang havde de sørget for tilladelserne, der hang fuldt synligt i forruden.
     På vej hjem var det den blå gruppe, der havde dødschaufføren. Vi bad en rosenkrans for deres sikkerhed, og vi nåede trygt til Rom alle sammen. 
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Then we drove back to Rome airport for the flight home. The permits were in place, situated in the windows.
On this trip we had the good driver, and prayed a rosary for the safety of those in the other bus. We all made it safely to Rome.

     I København tog vi afsked med resten af gruppen, afleverede ministrantdragterne og begyndte vores hjemtur. Denne smukke springvandsmælkebøtte tog Minimax et billede af, før alt kaosset startede, og fik vores hjemrejse til at vare lige så længe som turen Firenze-København. Men mere derom i blogposten Et kaotisk døgn, der kommer senere.
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In Copenhagen we said goodbye to the rest of the group, handed in the mass servers' vestments and began our journey home. It was to become as long as the trip Florence-Copenhagen, and deserves its own blogpost - Our chaotic 24 hours - coming later.

Valfart 7, Lørdag -- Pilgrimage 7, Saturday

     Vi var efterhånden ved at være lidt trætte, men vi fulgte alligevel med Skribenten på rundvisning - Firenze i Niels Steensens fodspor. Og vi havde endnu en herlig valfartsdag.
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The Owlets were a bit tired, and MotherOwl as well, but we followed the Writer on his tour of "Florence in the footfirnts of Bl. Niels Steensen". And it was yet another good day of our pilgrimage.

• Skribenten fortæller i klosteret ved San Lorenzo-basilikaen. Her studerede han teologi ved biblioteket på 1. sal, det findes stadig bed folianter lænket til læsepultene som på hans tid. Her lå han begravet i Mediciernes gravkapel, her blev den første - og slet ikke vellignende - mindatavle sat over ham, og her i basilikaen ligger han begravet endnu i dag. 
• The Writer tells about Bl. NIels Steensen in the cloister belonging to San Lorenzo basilica. Steensen studied theolgi in the library on first floor. It's stiil there with big books chained to the shelves as in his days.  He was frst buried here, in the medicean chapel, the first memoral plate is here - the Writer is pointing at it, it does not look a bit like him. Adn he is still buried here.

• Minimax gad ikke høre foredrag, så han balancerede i stedet på gelænderet på kirkepladsen. 
• Minimax was boreb with the tour, and practised his acrobatic skills outside the church.

• Dagens messe ved nådebilledet i Santissima Annunciata. Her blev Niels Steensen præsteviet og læste sin første messe i 1675. 
• Our mass in front of the  Annuntiation chapel in ss. Annunziata. Here is where Bl. Steensen vas ordained and celebraded his first mass in 1675.

• En meget kunstnerisk portion tiramisu. Den smagte ikke fantastisk, men anretningen var det hele værd.
• AN artistic tiramisu. The taste was rather bland, but the looks ...

• Trold fik en ubændig trang til at spille klaver. Heldigvis boede vi på en skole, så Skribenten fik fundet pedellen, og så spillede Trolden. Vi andre stod under vinduerne og smuglyttede. Der blev klappet voldsomt, da han var færdig. 
• Trooli missed his piano after a week. As we stayed at a Salesian scool, it was possible to find a piano in one of the classrooms. A lot of the pilgrims listeden utside the windows, and applauded Trolli at the end of his impromptu concert.

Valfart 6 fredag -- Pilgrimage 6, Friday

     I dag var en anden stor dag på turen. Vi havde jo tilbragt selve jubilæumsdagen for saligkåringen med generalaudiens på Peterspladsen. I dag skulle vi så til Firenze, hvor Streensens jordiske rester befinder sig i en antik sarkofag i San Lorenzo-kirken.
     Niels Steensen døde i Schwerin i Nordtyskland, men Fyrsten af Toscana ville have hans jordiske rester, og fik ham sejlet til Firenze forklædt som en kasse bøger.
     Vi mødtes der med de tyske pilgrimsgrupper og fejrede en højtidelig messe. Bagefter stimlede vi sammen om Steensens grav, fik en særlig velsignelse og en lejlighed til at bede ved graven. 
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Today was another big day. We were going to Florence, where Bl. Niels Steensen lays buried. He died in Schwerin in northern Germany, but the duke of Tuscany had a soft spot for Steensen and had his earthly remains carted to Florence, disguised as a crate of books. He was buried in the Medicean burial chapel, and in 1953 moved to an ancient sarcophagus in a chapel inside the church of San Lorenzo. We met there with the German pilgrim groups and celebrated mass there. After the mass we crowded around Bl. Steensens grave, had a special blessing and a chance to pray at his grave.

 

•      Først et billede fra vores bustur fra Rom til Firenze. Vores chauffør var småtræt, sad og pillede ved sin musik-dims meget af tiden og kunne ikke finde på at tænde for udluftningen. Det var hårdt for os (alle) med sarte nerver, hvilket førte til mange bønner, især fra folk længst fremme i bussen, og for flere med sarte maver. Vi nåede dog Firenzes udkant uden uheld - så blev vi opholdt en times tid, for bussen havde ingen tilladelse til at køre ind i centrum. Vi sad først i busserne, men blev så sluppet ud. Øverst står Skribenten uden for vores "røde bus", den anden var blå. Piraten og Minimax leger under et johannesbrødstræ. Sådan ét havde de aldrig set før. Spirillen har fundet sig et godt sted til at sidde og læse
• First of all a picture form the bus ride Rome-Florence. Our driver was tired, had problems with his music player and generally drove terribly. He also did not want to turn on the air blowers. This trip was hard on our nerves - leading to many prayers - and out stomachs - not leading to any accidents, phew. As we reached the outskirts of Florence we were stopped for an hour, waiting for our permission to enter the city by bus. The topmost picture shows the Writer outside our "red bus" - the one with the terrible driver - the other one was blue. Pirate and Minimax play beneath a carob tree. They were fascinated by the big pods, which they used as swords. Marsupilami found a nice place in the shade and enjoyed his book. (Harry Potter 3)

 

 

•  Messen i San Lorenzo. Steensens portræt er meget symbolsk gemt bag korset. Messen blev holdt på tysk, dansk og lidt latin.  Vores biskop prædikede på tysk, men vi havde fået teksten udleveret ved staren af messen.

• Mass in San Lorenzo Bl. Niesl Steensen's portrait is almost hidden behind the cross. The mass was celebrated in a mixture of German, Danish and Latin. Out Bishop gave the sermon in German (we had a translation handed out)

•  Bøn ved Niels Steensens grav. Det er skik at lægge små sedler med bønner på hans grav. Det gjorde vi også næste dag.

• Praying at the grave. The placing of slips of paper containing prayers or thanks to Bl. Steensen is a local costume. We placed out prayers the next day.

•  Niels Steensens alter. Hjertet fra hans bispevåben er som han selv tegnede det, asymmetrisk. Sådan ser et hjerte ud, og Steensen var jo også anatom. 
• Bl. Steensen's altar. The symbol is from his episcopal coat of arms.The heart is asymmetrical, as a real heart is, and Steensen was an anatomist before he became a priest.

• Dette er orgelet i basilikaen. Minimax er jo lige så nysgerrig som et desmerdyr, hvis motto ifølge Kipling er "løb hen og se" Så han kunne naturligvis ikke holde fingrene fra de flotte knapper på orgelet. Det inkasserede ham en skideballe fra den kvindelige organist, men det afskrækkede ham nu ikke fra at tage dette billede af det fristende orgel, hvorefter organisten stak ham et stort, venligt smil. 
•   This is the organ of the basilica. Minimax is a mongoose, or at least as curious as a mongoose, and he just had to go and touch the buttons on this organ. The organist scolded him, but he was not more subdues than he pulled out his camera. And had a big smile from the organist.

•  Vi havde ikke regnet med at Uglemor ville få ret meget mad, eftersom hun ikke kan spise hverken mælkesukker eller hvedemel. Men det gik faktisk godt. Dette var dagens aftensmad på et nærliggende pizzeria. Carpaccio, tynde skiver råt kød med olivenolie, citronsaft, rucola og parmesanost (der er så lagret, at det ikke indeholder mælkesukker) var en god og mættende spise.
• We had not counted on MotherOwl being able to eat very much in Italy as milk and wheat is off limits. But surprisingly many thing were dairy-free, or at least without milk sugars. Friday evening's dinner was this decorative plate of carpaccio, thin slices raw meat with olive oil and lemon juice, served with rucola and parma cheese. Nice, tasty, and filling.

•  Et stemningsbillede fra aftenslentretur i Firenze, Vi er stoppet på en af broerne over Arno-floden. Det gyldne tårn er Santa Croces tårn. 
• Florence by night, crossing the Arno. The golden tower is the belfry of Santa Croce, the Franciscan church.

Efter stormen 2 -- After the Storm 2

   Tirsdag opdagede vi at også den hvide garage havde taget skade i stormen. To af tagpladerne
 var blæst af, og hønsene fik rigeligt frisk luft.Pladerne stod som spydspidser nede i plænen, så det var nok meget godt at vi havde holdt os indenfor.
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Tuesday we discovered that the old garage where the hens live also were damaged by the storm. A part of the roof had been blown of, had hit a tree and big splinters sat in our lawn. Well and good that we had stayed inside during the storm.

     Stormen havde jo revet en hel del tagsten af Hvalrossens bolig, og Skribenten havde ringet efter Falck, for at de skulle komme og dække af. Onsdag ringede en venlig dame og fortalte at de nok - hvis ikke der kom akutte ting i vejen - ville komme fredag. Det lød helt fint. Undertaget var, så vidt vi kunne se, ikke i stykker, så det ville ikke regne ind, og det kunne fint vente.
     Torsdag hentede Uglemor som sædvanligt Ugleunger fra skole og købte lidt ind, og da hun kom hjem holdt denne her i indkørslen:
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The tree that fell in the storm had swept off a part of the roof tiles from the Walrus' place. We had phoned Falck, our local emergency assistance company. They had phoned back, promising to arrive Friday if noting more urgent came up. This was fine with us. The watertight membrane was intact, and the tree could not fall any further. We were fine with waiting.
Thursday MotherOwl as usual picked up Owlets from school and did some shopping. As we arrived home this sight met us.

     Falck var kommet en dag tidliger end ventet. Heldigvis havde Trolden haft tidligt fri fra skole, og kunnet tage imod dem. De klatrede rundt på taget og svaede grene over med en stor motorsav. Inden de gik, var yaget dækket med en forsvarligt fastsurret presenning. Det var vi taknemmelige for.
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 They had arrived a day earlier than promised. Two sturdy med armed with chainsaws, tarpaulins and rope. They climbed over the tree and up on the roof. When they left the whole house was covered by a securely fastened green tarpaulin. We were grateful that we did not have to find a chainsaw etc. and do the job ourselves. This is when an insurance is helpful.