Plugged In

Remember that book you had to read in high school. I don't recall the name, but basically the wife always had on (what we would now call) an ear bud. While the husband was busy reading his banned books (physical books in that time were banned).

Well, that's what our house is like these days. Early on in the week I download a bunch of podcasts. And then every chance I get I plug myself in. I think its because I'm never alone during the day - I always have a 5 year old talking to me, yanking on my arm, yelling at me in the background. Plus he's going through this impatient phase - nothing is immediate enough for him...my head just spins. So when the husband comes home I just want to crawl into my corner and pretend like I'm just another quiet visitor to an adult conversation at a cozy coffee shop.

To keep track of these things, I've started adding (and deleting) podcasts links on my blog sidebar. Some I'm just trying out and their link will likely disappear after a bit. Some I'm hooked on - like Sticks and Strings.

Until a friend of mine suggested I listen to this *Australian bloke who likes to knit, but is also an astrophysicist*...I never knew regular people were trying their hand out at podcasting. While some are great (good essays, nice music, and actual information), others are just girls like chatting like about totally everything, and like their friend might come over, and she like likes to knit too. I'm - like - not into those. And of course, NPR shows like Good Food or In The Loop never fail.

They should have sent a poet...

Its only the produce area at Cub Foods, but to my dull grocery eyes it was a sparkly solar system.



Earlier that day we had gone out to a nature learning center to visit Santa (who incidentally knew all about the pig riding Julemand and Nisse). After which Rich and I went to a ... restaurant. We had an assortment of chicken wings at Buffalo Wild Wings. I also had a lovely looking bloody Mary.

I don't quite know what the server girl thought of me when I had trouble responding to her "would you like BBQ, Ranch, or blue cheese dressing with that" question. Oh yeah - salad dressing, I'm starting to remember now...but to her, I just barely managed to mumble out "b-b-blue cheese please".

We were at the grocery gathering stuff for Rich's turkey brine and bake. Although we cooked that big-ol turkey for the Expat Thanksgiving, we restrained ourselves at home and didn't nibble on it. We also didn't get to keep any leftovers. So we still hadn't totally had our turkey fix for the season.




I've finished up a few presents that I had hanging out there. I picked up a six pack of beer to go with the cozies I knit in Gopher colors for a brother in law.



And I "finished up" some fabric fridge frames that I'm also giving out as gifts. From Denmark I brought the cut-out cardboard *frames* and online ordered the photo prints. And here I picked up the fabric, felt, glue, magnets, and photos...and assembled it all. I think they turned out pretty good, considering I rarely do crafts. But I Took the Handmade Pledge and there was no turning back.



From my earlier wish list:
I haven't taken a hot bath yet, but we went swimming yesterday and I spent some nice time in the bubbling hot tub.
I still need to (and definitely will) hit Chipotle. With the below zero weather (in F), the salad bar at Byerly's isn't calling me so much anymore.
And we've had a good snow storm along with daily doses of sun.

Today was a rather cold day. There was ice on the sidewalks until midday, and frost on some areas all day. After giving Peter a dose of benadryl, I decided to push him in the trailer around town, but I wanted to go somewhere new. A while back I checked Google earth and was pretty sure that a road that looks like a dead end from the curb, actually connected to another trail.

Well, I tried it, and it did. And the foggy, frosty day along with the low horizon sunlight made the forest look dreamy and a bit surreal.


After my walk, I left Peter outside to nap (on the back deck, right outside the giant window; I still can't just park him out front), and I finished up some gift tags. I've learned why the Danes associate hearts with Christmas, especially the woven paper basket heart. Mr. H.C. Anderson once again.

This Christmas...

...I'm taking the handmade pledge - with a caveat for "Danish things not necessarily handmade".



I don't know what some of my relatives will think about this, working off a list is usually the preferred way to go about it. One thing I do know is that my receivers will at the least be surprised, and at the most appretiate the thought.

2008 Crop Art

I gotta say, I love love love this stuff. This year there seemed to be more *stuff* made out of beans (like the bikini), and not so many odd portraits...except a tribute one to Bernie Mac - which was neat because it got done so quickly, but a bit boring, so no photo here. What you see in you mind is what was on the wall. The bad seed was probably my favorite (and its an awfully good film too - the 1956 version at least).

Reklamere: You can see my 2007 favorites here. There was surprisingly more politics last year than this year. Maybe they didn't want to stir the pot. There was however a G.W. Bush scarecrow - complete with Pinocchio nose, and string puppets.


And if you Google *crop art* you'd be amazed at what people find important to immortalize in beans. At first glance it may seem crafty or kitchy, but its true art people.

Yarn and Cabbage

We had visitors over this weekend; an American family from Iowa (the husband works for the same company as Rich, but in a different city than us). I got my favorite type of hostess gift - something homemade, and it fits perfectly on the wall next to where we eat.


I've been kinda crafty lately. Since we've gotten here (going on 6 months now), I've started lots of projects and finished basically none. So I decided to make something that is smaller; I don't want get sick of it before its finished. *New* Project #1 was knitted to completion, but now I need some large beads (I'm looking for either big, black oblong wood ones, or maybe some silver tubes) to finish it up.


I biked on over to a fabric and craft store by the mall to look for what I need, and wouldn't you know, it was closed. Not just not opened - closed down for good. I've been by this place almos weekly since we moved here, each time telling myself, yeah, I need to go there. Then when I finally do go there its closed. Since this sort of experience has happened to me before (here, only here) - I have to admit, I'm getting used to it.

After a little more riding around, I found another fabric store. Outside was a rack like this.


When we first got here, I saw these things outside home stores all the time and didn't know if it was fabric for curtains, wrapping paper.. But now that we've been to a few parties and picnics, I know what they are - tablecloths. You rip it to length of your table and pay by the meter. Its a very good idea, and no creases.

And here is the salad I made for this weekend's expat women's meeting. I pulled the recipe off the web, they called it Alaska Coleslaw. It sounded refreshing, and I knew that I could find the ingredients I needed to make it. Ingredients included - cabbage, green onion, yellow pepper (recipe said to use green), celery (my favorite), cranberries, and almonds. The dressing was just mayo, mustard, honey and S&P. One other person asked me for the recipe - also a Minnesota - must be our kind of thing.



And why not end with a big old ???? for the Danes. I stopped at the grocery store last Friday. It was windy as all get out. Right in front of my eyes, the plant rack outside rolled a bit, and then all the bushes on it toppled over in front of the entry door..

People were stepping on the bushes to get inside (there was no room to go around them). One woman was sliding them the tiniest bit with her feet to try to get her cart through. Others were trying to get in the out door.

I guess Danish people don't know how to bend over and pick things up?????

So I moved the wheeled rack over, then I started picking up the bushes, while saying - OUT LOUD - something like...I don't know what in the world is wrong with these damn Danish people, can no one simply bend over and move things out of the way!!!!!!!!!! Probably 10 people walked by me. One guy stopped and moved two bushes and said - there, that's better. I've asked people that have been living here for a while about this. They say that maybe its because people feel that everyone has there own job, and you don't do other people's job. I think that that makes sense to a point - but common courtesy (like letting another car into the que - also somewhat unheard of here, and that upsets the car behind you) should not be totally lost.

Hommage Decoupage

I found out recently that the Minnesota seed art lady Lillian Colton notably known for her celebrity art passed away this spring, and I decided to make a little homage in her honor. You can find lots of information on her @ minnesota dot publicradio dot org.

I just found out this bit of news last week in one of the odd magazines that comes to the house. Maybe I should read them more often?

The only magazine I've ever actually "ordered" has been Cooking Light. And I said yes to the MN magazines with my public radio subscription- maybe its one of those - who knows. I like it when the teens come to the door to sell you magazines supposedly for their "college tuition" but you know its just some cruddy job they're working - and I tell them, I am totally against killing trees and I don't allow any unnecessary paper like that in the house, then I point to my organic garbage can and say "see!" (physical evidence of my tree huggingness). The response I get is usually an open mouth, questioning look, their little brains processing my comment. But usually they say nothing more, and then I send them on their way. (Sierra club is, of course, a totally different story. And even though I may be "environmental", those crazies don't get my money either).