corner view - summer

it's been here quite a while by now. the summer, the heat, the sun. we have been going to the beach for months, we have made bonfires in the evening, played with water in the garden. we even got tired of it some days and stayed in doors during the hot afternoons with the air-condition on.

but one thing that reminds me of summer, the summers of my childhood, is sankt hans, the celebration of the shortest night of the year. this always seemed to fall just about the time where school was out for the summer, and the excitement of vacation, long days at home or away was in the air. looking into those flames of the sankt hans fire it was like time changed. endless weeks ahead filled with promises of something different with no clocks, no bells.

for the last five years we have celebrated this tradition of sankt hans on a beach here in israel with other mixed danish-israeli families. it's a danish tradition to burn a witch on the bonfire, and so do we. yes, i know, not very politically correct, and a macabre reminder of those dark days in europe where "real" witches were burned, usually strong, independent women (and men) with knowledge. or just plain unlucky humans caught in local power struggles and jealosy.

nowadays it's just a doll, and as i told the kids, it's a magic doll. when she burns she travels with the smoke all the way to bloksbjerg where she will become a real witch and dance happily through the short night with her witch friends and the giant trolls. of course they are all good witches and good trolls in my version. i hope it helped them deal with the scary, but spectacular sight of the doll on fire.

for more summer, pick up your broom and fly on over to the lovely jane of spain daily. 

btw, the kids were very excited and brought pictures to their kindergarten of the witch burning. they talked about it at the morning gathering, and i don't even want to think about what the other parents were thinking when their kids got home and told them about the danish people that are burning witches at the beach. oh dear.

while the cake cools off

the boys baked. all the messy mixing went fine, but then there is the waiting, that's the hard part. first it must bake, then cool off. the essence of torture.

pearls, atlas, a little bit of drawing, followed by some touching and just plain staring. and a whole lot of  "can we taste now?" from the moment it went into the oven till i said yes. and then we had cake.

in between

we had a full weekend. there was a witch, a bonfire and a couple of parties. plus some family visits, an afternoon at the beach and a night with an aching ear.

now the kids are of to kindergarten, and i am supposedly working hard from home and sorting my end-of-month paper work. but really, i am here. don't tell anyone ;)

have a wonderful week - and remember to treasure the little moments in between everything else.

corner view - noticing

reds and blues - naked children - summer fun.

notice more via jane of spain daily

soft and quiet sting

 

we have so many medusas these days. i like the name medusa for these. they sting badly, but still i love them. to watch them, something so delicate a perfect mix of solid and fluid. to watch it move. silently, quietly, softly.

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today i decided to give up on the 365 flickr project i have been trying to do. it became yet another thing i stressed about, felt bad about, tried to fit into my life. it wasn't meant to be like that, so i had to let go. maybe one day i will try again...

i feel sad, but also relieved. i made it to 150. so that's what i call that flickr set now, 150 days.

dream

 

the weekword is dream. i wasn't planning to participate. and didn't (it is a friday thing). but then suddenly it was there, in the sand. visible, changing shape, disappearing. fleeting, but always there. and then i went along.

the word of the week was chosen by elisabeth of textilspanieln. she will show you more dreams.

corner view - daily

daily. i almost lose my breath. daily. these days. i am longing for time to enjoy the daily-ness of life.but life is filled with work, exams, a lot of thinking about some hard decisions (i will tell you more when i have more .... time), and then of course there was the operation. and we have daily hair combing because it is lice season and this whole thing with lice entered the house - and my hair - for the first time. ever. the past two weeks i have been combing the boys' and my hair once, twice or more. daily. just writing this makes my hair itch.

between all the running around there are some daily moments of bliss. like when i have time to collect the daily bunch of red tomatoes in the garden. or watch a bug with the little one. and see the light stream through the windows, through the shutters.

i also long for daily postings and visits to all the beautiful blogs i love. i am not there. don't even know when i will be able to post the next time.

for those with time, please take a look at all the daily corner views via the lovely jane of spain daily