random bits

i just opened the windows to get some heat in. the house is so cold! yesterday and in the night was changing weather, occasional rain and a bit windy. and that we feel to our bones.

i went running and got myself to 18K today. had hoped for 20k, but the dirt roads were so muddy i had to jump and go off trail quite a lot and by the end i was so exhausted i started to be afraid to fall flat into the mud, in which case i'm not sure i would have been able to get up again. so i walked the last two kilometers. and now i need to figure out how to wash these trainers properly.

yesterday i got a drawing. this guy hates to draw. he'll pick up pen and a paper once in a blue moon. this one was created very reluctantly. he wanted to play on my iphone, but his evil mother demanded payment up front: first a drawing, then the iphone... muahaha. so he made me a family of flowers. *sigh*. what a girl's got to do to get flowers, eh?

randomly for the weekend

i have been eating so much spinach lately you wouldn't believe it. i think my face might turn green soon. if not from the spinach then because of envy of all those women out there who can make be fat braids. i just will never be able to do that with my scandinavian, fine hair (big sigh). i can only dream - and draw.

that fish-like thing up there was in the aquarium in copenhagen. i wish i had filmed it. i don't think you get to say cute about a fish that often, but this really was the cutest thing ever (i am now wondering if it's considered a fish at all?) it went up and down oh-so gracefully like a little ballet dancer. then i would have watched that little film clip now.

we got a new car this week. a volvo. but until i started this post i didn't even think of taking a photo of that car. cars are just not that interesting, are they? but for some irrational reason i feel good about it being scandinavian.

i would, though, take a photo if that lamp up there was mine. but it's not. it's hanging in my brother and his girl friend's apartment in the building where i used to live. i guess i took the photo anyway :)

and by the way, the spinach i'm eating these days is just a simple soup kinda thing. I defrost some spinach leaves, fry a bit of finely chopped onion, add some water, the spinach leaves. add some salt, then a bit of cream, and finally some nutmeg. sometimes i add a bit of feta on top or parmesan, but mostly just super simple and so tasty. (can you eat too much spinach?)

have a nice weekend.

4 days for 40 years

november came and she brought colder weather and last week even rain and thunder. now the un is out again, but the season has changed. the nights are cold, the air dry and crisp. we even pulled out the heavy winter duvets.

the other day i picked the kids from kindergarten in heavy rain and we walked home. i was without a car, so it wasn't out of choice, but i decided to make it fun and so i didn't even try to make it home with dry kids. we walked through the dirt roads, all muddy and full of puddles. i don't think we missed one as they jumped (and fell) into every single one. when we came back we were all soaking wet, but laughing. and we were treated with hot cocoa and pancakes by my mother who is visiting.

the desktop up there is the october treat from geninne. and of course november is ready now, beautiful as always. i have it already. november is my month, the month i was born.

today my dad will arrive and tomorrow i'm off with the husband, leaving the kids behind to be terribly spoiled by their grandparents.

we'll leave for 4 days and i'll turn 40 in paris. 

happy easter - hag pesach sameach

wishing you all a very happy easter and pesach.

we're enjoying the time off, at home, in the garden, with friends, family and each other.


xo

drawing feathers

back to the feathers, now on stones too. there's something very calming and peaceful about drawing feathers. and there's something fascinating and magic about feathers themselves.

the boys know i like feathers. whenever they find one they give it to me, like a flower. so i have quite a collection going on here in denmark by now. will have to set them free soon.

we're going to tivoli now. i equally look forward to it and dread it. but hey, we're in copenhagen, my kiddos are half danish, and we cannot put it off any longer, so here we go. and hey, i can always go home and draw a few feathers afterward to restore the inner peace.

now

this friday's word is "now". i wanted to participate, but the time to come up with something never seemed to appear (i told you, it's an intense time right now in this house).

this morning i kept on thinking about it, and it bothered me that i cannot find the time to be creative. how important it is to take the time, or as aimee of artsyville so wisely says: make time for your art. now, and not later. and so i decided to participate.

i wanted to draw something that related to this idea about taking the time right now. i am not sure i succeeded in that. i was in a hurry. but that doesn't matter, because something much better happened: i drew something out of my style, something new to me, because i had to do it right now, without much thought.

so, this is my advice: what ever it is you want to do, do it now. you might not have the time, but then do it the best you can, do it in another way than you originally thought it should have been done. be creative. you might like it.

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the word was chosen by hanna of hanna-happening. and thank you for that, hanna. it pulled me back in and on to something new. for more "now", hanna leads the way.

now i am on to something else - and remember now - have a wonderful weekend :)

story

sometimes you just need to stop and listen, the stories unfolding from our memories, triggered by a sound. true to what was and an inspiration to what will be.

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wordweek is back. this week it is story. for more participants, go see the beautiful space of rachel.

i am so happy this started again, and i hope it will help me get into a creative mood after a little dry spell. but mostly i am happy to "meet" the weekworders, old as well as new.

so, off to a bit of cleaning. my parents arrive today, and i like to pretend we don't live in a dirty mess :)

corner view - spring

spring - it's pretty, fresh, young, blooming, energetic, sweet and full of promise. it's rain and sun on a blue, blue sky, it's cold breezes and warm spots in the sun. it's short sleeves and woolen shawls, rubber boots and bare feet in mud puddles, it's empty branches with dots of illuminating greens and pretty pink, purple, white pastels. full of cliches and so darn irresistible.

and right here and now, spring is a serious cleaning just finished, a house sparkling clean and filled with good times, a friend visiting, a husband who passed his deadlines, it's pesach vacation, sunny days, bbqs and children running bare feet in the garden. indeed spring has sprung.

more spring time via the gorgeous jane of spain daily - enjoy!

right now. and looking forward

:: little succulents and vintage bed sheets

:: a drawing/collage i forgot about (and now like much better)

:: my granny square blanket project - moving steadily (though not so fast) ahead, with new colors being added now and then

:: that this little plant i have in my living room (which i always forget the name of), a plant that i never before managed to keep alive, is growing so fast and furious - and now it is even blooming, something i never saw before (it's almost ridiculous so proud that makes me feel :)

:: that our nana (mint) is growing crazy this spring. last year they didn't do so well, so we moved the sad little stubs that were left after a burning hot summer to a new spot. and they are just all over the place now.

:: looking happily forward to this wednesday where my friend and her youngest son will come visit us. yay! i need to tell her to bring rum for those mojitos.

hope you're looking forward to something good too :)

a sense of something far eastern

i had a yoga class this friday morning. when it was done i went home and had sushi for brunch, because D had brought me the best sushi (from miyako in tlv) when he returned home in the wee hours of the morning. he's working late these days. i suspect i will be an (almost) single mom until pesach. important deadlines.

anyway, i had sushi and after that an amazing homemade chai based on this recipe. i used a bit more spices than listed. i don't recommend spicing it up unless you like it sweet like i do.

then i drew a little feather i found on the way home, and i had to decide which of my four japanese masking tapes i wanted to use to place the real feather in my sketch book. you know, important decisions deserves absolute devotion, so i took the necessary time. sometimes it's ok, even good, to just focus on the - seemingly - irrelevant things, right?

i am currently in the middle section of elizabeth gilbert's eat, pray, love. this part is set in an ashram in india. i have been carrying a lot of thoughts around from that book, and since the landscape around me is full of trees dressed in pastel color blossoms, i sensed an eastern theme to this day. not bad at all...

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my dad is leaving in a couple of days. i will need to practice some breathing, so i can stay zen-like cool and calm in the coming kind-of-single parent weeks. om and out from here - wishing you a calm and sensible week.

digging in

i love how children just are out there, leaving it to us, the adults, to fight the worries of thorns on the ground, snakes in the grass, ticks in the trees, too little clothes, too much sun, and on and on. but they don't have concerns, only the moment.

for the past week they have had a blast down by the field where some workers fixing a water pipe left a huge pile of dirt.

it's a slide, a mountain in the jungle, a plain, you name it. their clothes are dirty when the sun sets and we drag them to the shower. and we have had an incident of me getting...upset (to put it mildly) because they disappeared just before we had to leave the house for dinner this friday. and i found them, in the jungle, sliding down the mountain, looking like they really had been living in the jungle for weeks, dirt all over the clean, nice clothes, i had just managed to get them into. deep breath.

but later i smiled, because i really do love how they dig into it, the dirt, the ground, the outdoor life, my bare feet boys.

good company

we had a great time up north, D and i. and the kids had a great time with mormor and morfar as well, so everyone was happy. it was windy, clouds and rain one minute, sun and blue sky the next. i like that.

we rested, had good food, went for little walks (and drives), and read. i'm reading eat, pray, love. i really like it, but not sure it's the healthiest book for me these days: next thing you know i might be on my way to india to hang in an ashram... but it does inspire me in terms of searching for my own path - in baby steps at least :)

today is stormy with rain here and there. the children are home from kindergarten, my mom is leaving in a few days, so it's all about cozying up and enjoy those last few days with her. and yesterday i finally got a hang of the granny square crochet project - yay - and i am hooked (pun intended).

my dad will stay for another two weeks. i like that they overlap, it's nice to have them here alone too. and i think they like it too. not just here, but also being at home, in silence. i have that from them: i also always liked to be on my own (preferably when you know exactly when it will end). but for now, i will enjoy the company of my parents together with the little ones.

wishing you a weekend of good company, with yourself or those you love.

little ladies

"probably one of the most private things in the world is an egg until it is broken." m.f.k. fisher 

every time i collect our eggs, i feel like i am holding beautiful perfection in my hands. 

wishing you a perfect weekend :)

feeling light

i went to the beach, and it was full of drift wood, shells and other beautiful treasures after the rain and storm last week.

the beauty of a feather becomes so much more apparent when the perfection is broken. curls, waves, irregularities.

my mom is coming tomorrow. i am so happy. the kids too. they have been counting the days. or rather asking every morning, is she here now? will she come today? i play the part of the patient soul - no, just a few more days. she'll be here before you know it. i think i am comforting myself too :)

fading out from here with some beauties picked in the garden a few days ago. the light seems to have brought a love for yellow :)

falling

it's dark, stormy and rainy. and i didn't sleep well last night. something about the sound of stormy weather that makes me restless.

i had lots of stuff planned for today, but i tend to drift away, thinking about other things. i look forward to tonight where i can close my eyes and fall asleep. daydreaming about sleeping...hmmmm :)

on another note: i seriously need my scanner fixed. or rather, i need to install it. i have one of those printer/scanners in one and never got around to the scanner part. but with crappy light like today, it would have been better to scan.

oh, and you must go see these unhappy hipsters. seriously, i laughed so hard i cried last night when i found it via alexandra hedberg.

memories of a season

yesterday was a really chilly day. unusually cold for israel, but the sun was shining and the sky blue-blue. i felt like wearing a summer dress.

despite that it is winter.

i felt the early danish summer days, in a floral dress with my feet in rain boots. putting on a big old sweater to keep me warm when walking out into the garden in the chilly mornings with a cup of hot coffee to warm my hands.

but it is winter. and maybe i am just making up my memory. because it felt different than what was, but still right.

everything is blooming. it's green and you can almost see it growing. finally, it's all coming back. the sun burns with no mercy throughout july and august, leaving nothing untouched. then the rain begins in the fall, and now it is the time to watch all the magic it brings. just like early summer back home.

yesterday was the day i finished my mom's fig and ginger jam. from the fig tree in the garden. today is her birthday. wishing you a happy day, mom.

they just keep on coming

still loving bears. and they just keep coming. some still in process, some (i think) done. and then others just appearing.

ps. i know. it's corner view. but it just didn't happen for me today. maybe i will follow up in the coming days, but only if the weather get's better. it's so awful cold in the house i just cannot get out of my big, soft, woolen cocoon. and it's not my style. or at least not the style i would like to pretend i have. like "normal clothes" style