Frequently Asked Questions! (and their answers)
Qs: Who is Lillian?
Did you change your name?
Do you work and live on some other Lillian person's farm?
A: Figuring the name for a farm or other business is often hard. Ya want something unique! Something catchy! Something to be remembered!
geez louize --that is a of pressure.
Like how I ALWAYS long to have the most clever, funny & timely costume for Halloween but CAN NEVER think of a good idea that lives up to my visions & expectations. For a farm one wants to consider naming their business with something that will cover all products & services, can travel with you if you move locations, and means something deep in your soul. (well maybe not everyone is thinking about it this much-but I am a heady-farmer who thinks & talks more than most of the locals).
During this long journey S & I talked and made lists & brainstormed. In my Halloweeny desire to have a catchy clever name I kept going back to the name that fits the last two requirements. It can move with me to any farm and it means something deep to my being. This is to name my farm after my grandmother, Lily, who died when I was a preschooler. Funny enough my paternal grandmother, Lillian, has the same name as S's paternal grandmother, Lillian. I find that to have its own depth & special place in my world as our two families are connected by us. Another muy appropriate element is that my Lily is Jewish and has passed on while S's Lil is Italian and still hanging with us. So if one were following the traditional naming ettiquette for each ethnic group than we are right-on target in naming our farm, Lillian's Farm!
great, huh! sometimes I am reminded to find confidence, pride & peace in the simpler things that are part of me.
so are there any more FAQs to answer??
sweet dreams, L
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
since before...
since my last post the birdies have been sold! 22 hens are living in 2 great & nearby locations. A man split the lot with his sister-in-law; they both live within 10 miles. We are happy to find less poop on our patio, eggs of an extremely high quality..and if the ground was not frozen we would be rebuilding our coop, yard & all which would eliminate all manure from dropping on our patio! But we are not rebuilding nothing. We are doing what we can to keep all warm, watered & fed during this icey spell! No time for extras & the soil is not allowing any additions or changes anyhow. We can barely even walk or crawl without yaktrax or crampons on our boots...
So we now have 12 lovely special hens (3 white brahmas, 1 white leghorn, 3 araucanas, 5 red stars) and two roosters. We will soon part ways with our older roostah, Hunnee. He was hatched out of our eggs last last spring but we cannot have two testosterone infused characters around so we will opt to keep our spring roostah who is an Araucana (they lay blue or green shelled eggs). We happily still have plenty of eggs. There were some excellent articles in Mother Earth News Magazine in he last few months about the actual benefits of eating eggs from healthy chickens (call it what you want: free range, range, organic, grass fed--these are all better than cage raised sad chicken eggs). Folks should read up and I am happy to mail photocopies of articles on good eggs, eating local and supporting local economies! Let me know if you are interested.
www.motherearthnews.com
I am finding this early wintery season to be absolutely breath taking. I cannot take enough photographs or capture enough memories of glistening ice on crop fields with little corn stalk tips sticking straight up, stiffly between spills of ice.
I hope all is well, sending my best wishes out to yall!
So we now have 12 lovely special hens (3 white brahmas, 1 white leghorn, 3 araucanas, 5 red stars) and two roosters. We will soon part ways with our older roostah, Hunnee. He was hatched out of our eggs last last spring but we cannot have two testosterone infused characters around so we will opt to keep our spring roostah who is an Araucana (they lay blue or green shelled eggs). We happily still have plenty of eggs. There were some excellent articles in Mother Earth News Magazine in he last few months about the actual benefits of eating eggs from healthy chickens (call it what you want: free range, range, organic, grass fed--these are all better than cage raised sad chicken eggs). Folks should read up and I am happy to mail photocopies of articles on good eggs, eating local and supporting local economies! Let me know if you are interested.
www.motherearthnews.com
I am finding this early wintery season to be absolutely breath taking. I cannot take enough photographs or capture enough memories of glistening ice on crop fields with little corn stalk tips sticking straight up, stiffly between spills of ice.
I hope all is well, sending my best wishes out to yall!
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
ba-bye birdie
we are downsizing.. selling off 22 lovely sweet hens who have done us well and also shat upon our patio and yard daily... we are thrilled to rebuild our fence/redo coop area to more efficiently accomodate a modest flock of about 12 hens & 1 rooster.
And for those of you who know our first four red star chickens that really belong to Mill Creek Urban Farm I will let you know that one of them died of old age last thursday. I believe it was "Olive" that died. We had a nice ceremony to say thanks & good bye over in the solfest fire pit in the field in front of the pond. In this fire ring I found the head & disinegrating beak of a barred rock chicken that had died earlier this summer. It was quite interesting to find a remanant of an animal I had placed in an open field several months back on such a wild property with such a circle of life/food chain presence. Typically one only finds the bones & hair & teeth of the dead (groundhogs, deer & other sacred creatures that we live with).
Funny enough I glanced to the field one day later and saw that Olive had gone elsewhere. go figure.
and go to the Mill Creek Urban Farm 1st ever Fundraiser sunday december 9 from 3-7pm. I have a link to their website below--there will be kegs & music & art & steaz!
Monday, November 26, 2007
Lambing season to start April 15th 2008!
Thanks to Mr.Chocolate! we have a due date already!
He is a beautiful brown ram with small horns and a good frame. Gorgeous brown fleece--yay!
He is the one in the center of the photo approaching my lead ewe, Minikin (the black sheep).
Monday, November 19, 2007
his name is Mr. Chocolate
this could be the best name for a stud I've ever heard!
I will be buying an Icelandic Ram this weekend. His name is Mr. Chocolate. I cannot wait and neither can my girls who have pent up hormone things going on.
It has been snowing in Kempton since before 7am yesterday...it is gorgeous but a surprise to me. I think the sheep must have exhaled when the flakes started falling down. But there really is nothing like a view of yellow maple leaves next to branches weighed down by white snow.
so please enjoy it as you think of how thankfull you are.. List the ways in a comment
I will be buying an Icelandic Ram this weekend. His name is Mr. Chocolate. I cannot wait and neither can my girls who have pent up hormone things going on.
It has been snowing in Kempton since before 7am yesterday...it is gorgeous but a surprise to me. I think the sheep must have exhaled when the flakes started falling down. But there really is nothing like a view of yellow maple leaves next to branches weighed down by white snow.
so please enjoy it as you think of how thankfull you are.. List the ways in a comment
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
reallee nice goodstuff wool for sale - FYI
hey all, I have been washing my wool and even handcarding some of it.
SPINNERS & FELTERS>> For sale I am offering RAW and WASHED, some carded, mostly uncarded WOOL from:Icelandics, Cheviots, & a BabyDoll Southdown. Raw or Washed - both are free of vegetative matter & manure.
My wool comes in several natural colors - no need to dye! (but you could)
Each sheep breed's wool has different purposes, ex:spinning or felting... Let me know if you have any questions! I also have closeup shots and stories to tell about each sheep; I keep each sheep's wool separate. Its a good deal I tell ya!>> wool & stories & pictures! my oh my!
COME CHECK OUT OUR LUSTRE & NATURAL COLORS!
hidden in a pile of soft spongy wool, Lala of Lillian's Farm
me-be mom to a ram?
whoa! yes, I am thinking of actually buying an Icelandic Ram!
well It is breeding time (November) and I am a little late planning. Not for lack of thought & notes & talking to my vet BUT for lack of stability in my physical world..healing from my rotator cuff strain, followed by getting my wisdom teeth ripped out of my thick head. So I realized on Monday- crap I gotto get on this! I have to pick up my list of tri-state area Icelandic Sheep breeders (very few!) So I called the top of the list for Pennsylvania. I spoke with a lovely woman who was also excited to meet another person in our state with these specific sheep. Though she did not have a ram I could rent she kept racking her brain cells to figure out some way she could lend me one..maybe the young guy she just bought from NJ? She was so kind & we were mutually thrilled to be on the phone! I gave a call to the woman who her young ram just came from. A very wise, long-time farmer woman who schooled me and figured that she could sell me a 3 year old ram for a very small price (compared to what this breed normally costs). When I started the phone call I was so set on renting a ram but by the end I was telling this engaging shepherdess that I was pretty dern sure I was going to find a way to come up with the cash! Bring him on over!
You see the day before said phone call I saw some signs in the pasture that my girls are coming around to the seasonal hormones..I have to get a dude in there asap--also to time the births for a good tme.
kay, so that's my big news that is still talk!
more later
Saturday, November 10, 2007
buying gas to fuel the beast
The situation has progressed to the point where I do not flinch while paying for gas as long as it is below $3.00 a gallon. Yesterday I had major issues buying gas that was $3.09. Today price is up!
I cannot even remember what the price was when I got my license at age 20.; maybe it was 99 cents? And then it would have seemed outrageous to pay over a dollar!
My how time and perspective seem to be racing each other.
Enjoy today’s scorpio rains.. we gettn stuff dunn!
Peace n hugs
I cannot even remember what the price was when I got my license at age 20.; maybe it was 99 cents? And then it would have seemed outrageous to pay over a dollar!
My how time and perspective seem to be racing each other.
Enjoy today’s scorpio rains.. we gettn stuff dunn!
Peace n hugs
Friday, November 9, 2007
Our winter coats were shorn!
Our winter coats were shorn! Yay! Now we have 5 huge bags of naturally colorful luxiourious long wool! You may think – what a mean shepherdess to shear her sheep just as frost blows its winds. You see I have three breeds. One of them, Icelandic sheep, require two shearings per year. Their wool grows about 10 inches in a six month period. Without regular clips their wool would become matted, filled with vegetation, and could even trip them. My shearer said their fleeces were very nice- a true pleasure to shear; he was happy with my care & feeding/bedding methods! It has been just over one year of being a reality-shepherdess so I was very excited to hear a complement from an expert.
Icelandics not only grow the absolut best fiber for spinning and felting but they manage to keep very clean because they enjoy their days out in the pasture AND they stay out in the rain so as to clean their fleeces of anything messy like barn-poopy-mess. Now I cannot say the same about my other 3 sheep. As much as I love them I will admit they are quite sissified when rain comes; they stay in the barn accumulating stuff in their fleeces. As a result their fleeces require more work to process. Mind you the nastiest poopiest wool can be cleaned and one would never know the difference. (Mine are not that bad but I could imagine how larger sheep farms could lack the attention to keep their sheep spotless…). On the other hand felting with raw unwashed wool does quite nice; some felters even prefer it!
Because of the spotted, mixed colorings on my Icelandics one can spin a yarn that will resemble an authentic tweed! I think it is amazing that a tweed is traditionally produced form one animal not from mixing several fleeces of different colors.
For sale Lillian’s Farm is offering top notch wool from 3 breeds of sheep: tan/grey Babydoll Southdown, white Cheviot, and Icelandics in several colors. To buy our wool you must be a spinner or a felter as we do not yet offer our wool in yarn for knitting & crochet. Hopefully in a few years my sheep farm will be so so successful that sending away wool for processing into yarn will be an attainable reality. Stay posted for that. I have 8 adult sheep, 5 that I will breed this month. So I should be doing this for awhile!
Friday, September 28, 2007
what size is your eco-footprint?
I'm a Conservation International Eco-ally. What are you? Measure your ecological impact at www.conservation.org/ecofootprint!
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
the newest year round-5768
lashana tova! happy new year to all jews and also I wish that this new moon offers a fresh beginning and time of clarity to all friends (only ones who visit my blog!)
life has been bizarre lately--lots of bad bad things and several really great experiences and lots of family/friend support to get through it all..
On this new year/week of atonement I ponder my life, it's meaning and why crappy things happen in huge piles (multiples of 3, as bad things happen in 3's).
and what are you up to for rosh hashanah/yom kippur times?
life has been bizarre lately--lots of bad bad things and several really great experiences and lots of family/friend support to get through it all..
On this new year/week of atonement I ponder my life, it's meaning and why crappy things happen in huge piles (multiples of 3, as bad things happen in 3's).
and what are you up to for rosh hashanah/yom kippur times?
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
flock increase, 3+5=8
my flock has increased & now I have entered into the holy land of sheperding.
I feel like I jumped a few steps on my road to becoming a real sheperdess.. with 8 sheep.
With three I was floating in some nether world.. now it is real. I have enough sheep to be able to sell lambs & wool next spring..
Those who are interested in purchasing wool. I now have icelandic sheep--they must be shorn twice a year and their staple length will be about 8-10 inches each time. If you want to get some wool contact me at any time- I have 4 colors.
I currently have three fleeces yet to wash - two cheviots & oen baby doll southdown. If folks want some for spinning or felting, just get in touch.
Lambs will be ready in the spring and will NOT be sold for the purpose of m/eating. My icelandic lambs to be will be offered for use of their wool, breeding or milking.
curious about icelandics, look on http://www.icelandicsheep.com/
They are gorgeous sheepies, with horns & spotty colored fleeces.
And dont forget to love on my cheviots and babydoll southdown as they are special friends as well, and add a lot to the personality of Lillian's Farm!
I feel like I jumped a few steps on my road to becoming a real sheperdess.. with 8 sheep.
With three I was floating in some nether world.. now it is real. I have enough sheep to be able to sell lambs & wool next spring..
Those who are interested in purchasing wool. I now have icelandic sheep--they must be shorn twice a year and their staple length will be about 8-10 inches each time. If you want to get some wool contact me at any time- I have 4 colors.
I currently have three fleeces yet to wash - two cheviots & oen baby doll southdown. If folks want some for spinning or felting, just get in touch.
Lambs will be ready in the spring and will NOT be sold for the purpose of m/eating. My icelandic lambs to be will be offered for use of their wool, breeding or milking.
curious about icelandics, look on http://www.icelandicsheep.com/
They are gorgeous sheepies, with horns & spotty colored fleeces.
And dont forget to love on my cheviots and babydoll southdown as they are special friends as well, and add a lot to the personality of Lillian's Farm!
uh-oh, did I start a blog & forget??!!
HA hAAA,
I am a blog-flake.. I think that is a new noun in our computer age...
Look, I did not forget about my dear bloggy, I just am busy outside & have little time or enthuism to be online these days.. In my head I write blog posts all day long...but get me off my feet and its bedtime...
Here is my third vow to use my bloggi-friend.. Hey friends, keep me accountable... make comments & let me know if you look here..
(ok, I must confess that I joined myspace & have been two-timing with bloggi.... but the function of myspace and blogs are quite different...so here I go to be a cyber-farmer/artist person... help support me!)
lots of love & bunches of kale,
lala
I am a blog-flake.. I think that is a new noun in our computer age...
Look, I did not forget about my dear bloggy, I just am busy outside & have little time or enthuism to be online these days.. In my head I write blog posts all day long...but get me off my feet and its bedtime...
Here is my third vow to use my bloggi-friend.. Hey friends, keep me accountable... make comments & let me know if you look here..
(ok, I must confess that I joined myspace & have been two-timing with bloggi.... but the function of myspace and blogs are quite different...so here I go to be a cyber-farmer/artist person... help support me!)
lots of love & bunches of kale,
lala
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Product Lists
Sometime in the next week I will be sending our first newsletter ever along with the full list of what Lillian's Farm will be offering for the 2007 season.
Please contact me ASAP to tell me if you would like me to mail you one. Also let me know if I can send you a few extras to pass onto your friends.
Produce, eggs & herbs & maybe wool will be available for purchase or trade AT:
the farm, monday deliveries to Melrose Park, and Thursdays at the North Wales Whole Foods.
Stay tuned, but make sure to get outside too!
stay posted for our wish list--to be out by tonite maybe!!
Please contact me ASAP to tell me if you would like me to mail you one. Also let me know if I can send you a few extras to pass onto your friends.
Produce, eggs & herbs & maybe wool will be available for purchase or trade AT:
the farm, monday deliveries to Melrose Park, and Thursdays at the North Wales Whole Foods.
Stay tuned, but make sure to get outside too!
stay posted for our wish list--to be out by tonite maybe!!
Can I Get an "M" for manure??!!
So Sorry for not posting in nearly a month!
The weather has been crappy & I haven't felt that inspired or like I have that much to report about Lillian's Farm. I have been able to plant a few things here & there, clean animal areas. AND the big news is that we rebuilt our chicken yard!
The redesigned chicken yard is not 100% complete due to the fact that we ran out of materials... Our new chicken yard consists of three runs. Two will be rotated and used for our flock of layers. We will plant crops that will be yummy while the birds are in the other run, vice versa. Our third run is smaller & connects to the smaller chicken house. This is designed for two things: babies & eating birds. Since it is smaller we can put in creatures that will not be in there very long. And it won't be used year round so we can plant grasses there too. Right now we have 11 baby chickens and 4 ducks! (super soft & cute!) Some of these will stay in that run until we eat them and the others will join the crew of hardworking layers when they grow bigger.
This project was long anticipated & it feels so good to have met spring with our enthuisism to complete this as soon as we could bang posts into the ground. (well as soon as Chris & Sammy could bang posts into the ground).
I also have been working slow & hard (like a tortoise?) to clean out the sheep barn of their year of manure & straw bedding. The amazing thing about sheep poo balls is that they can be placed directly on your garden and are second highest in nitrogen to horses. Most manures - like cow & chicken one must dry or compost these first. In addition to having tons of chicken manure we are set to fertilize our garden. We even have enough to share!
Please contact me asap if you want any sheep or chicken manure for your garden projects. We are rich in the black gold and want to share it (plus we do not want to have a nitrogen imbalance so it would be nice to find land for some of this).
Last year I had another farmer graciously dump huge amounts of cow manure on our garden, which I am so gratefull for. However, does it not feel amazing to be sustainable in terms of manure as fertilizer! YES IT DOES! Can I get a M? Can I get an A? a N? a U? R!! E!!
MANURE!!
hurrah
The weather has been crappy & I haven't felt that inspired or like I have that much to report about Lillian's Farm. I have been able to plant a few things here & there, clean animal areas. AND the big news is that we rebuilt our chicken yard!
The redesigned chicken yard is not 100% complete due to the fact that we ran out of materials... Our new chicken yard consists of three runs. Two will be rotated and used for our flock of layers. We will plant crops that will be yummy while the birds are in the other run, vice versa. Our third run is smaller & connects to the smaller chicken house. This is designed for two things: babies & eating birds. Since it is smaller we can put in creatures that will not be in there very long. And it won't be used year round so we can plant grasses there too. Right now we have 11 baby chickens and 4 ducks! (super soft & cute!) Some of these will stay in that run until we eat them and the others will join the crew of hardworking layers when they grow bigger.
This project was long anticipated & it feels so good to have met spring with our enthuisism to complete this as soon as we could bang posts into the ground. (well as soon as Chris & Sammy could bang posts into the ground).
I also have been working slow & hard (like a tortoise?) to clean out the sheep barn of their year of manure & straw bedding. The amazing thing about sheep poo balls is that they can be placed directly on your garden and are second highest in nitrogen to horses. Most manures - like cow & chicken one must dry or compost these first. In addition to having tons of chicken manure we are set to fertilize our garden. We even have enough to share!
Please contact me asap if you want any sheep or chicken manure for your garden projects. We are rich in the black gold and want to share it (plus we do not want to have a nitrogen imbalance so it would be nice to find land for some of this).
Last year I had another farmer graciously dump huge amounts of cow manure on our garden, which I am so gratefull for. However, does it not feel amazing to be sustainable in terms of manure as fertilizer! YES IT DOES! Can I get a M? Can I get an A? a N? a U? R!! E!!
MANURE!!
hurrah
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Egg Cartons & Lending Hands
Slight update from yesterday's post. I will be working on garden & animal areas wed-thurs-fri afternoons & saturday all day. Not sunday, as I will be milking.
ALSO! we need egg cartons, now more than ever!
Preferably paper boxes, but we will take styro.
I will be posting a wish list asap, which will just be a secret catalyst to encourage yall to clear out some junk. Egg cartons is on the list but we need them often , like yesterday! please help, help
We get about at least a dozen eggs per day, feel free to buy some! do not worry--you won't be robbing us of our homegrown-protein.
If anyone wants to come & lend a hand maybe we could boil some eggs pretty colors or something? to celebrate the fertility of spring & the wholeness of the egg shape.
Good Pesach, Yom Tov yall!
ALSO! we need egg cartons, now more than ever!
Preferably paper boxes, but we will take styro.
I will be posting a wish list asap, which will just be a secret catalyst to encourage yall to clear out some junk. Egg cartons is on the list but we need them often , like yesterday! please help, help
We get about at least a dozen eggs per day, feel free to buy some! do not worry--you won't be robbing us of our homegrown-protein.
If anyone wants to come & lend a hand maybe we could boil some eggs pretty colors or something? to celebrate the fertility of spring & the wholeness of the egg shape.
Good Pesach, Yom Tov yall!
Sunday, April 1, 2007
lend a hand, if yr inspired
next weekend I will be getting a lot done in the garden, unless the weather is crappy.. then I'll stay inside prolly. This week was semi-productive in the garden, but have some hold ups so I had to work on other things like: drinking herbal teas that help with spring allergies and seasonal changes, walking with puppies, having breakfast with my girlfriends in my writing group, making cheese , bread, muffins, preparing food for the week.
At the influence of her new housemates, smokey n roti, Haley had her first dinner of raw chicken with buckwheat, carrots, and lots of other great ingredients. She ate that down, every little bit of it. Well, except all of the crumbs on the floor..
oh yes, next weekend I plan to be working on the garden& sheep barn & chicken coop & yard. I will be out on saturday day& sunday day. I invite anyone to help out on one of those days. I don't have much to trade with this at this early season, but we can be creative. Please call or email to say you can come & help. thanks so much!
If the weather is sunny, warm, with blue skies maybe the beautiful views, the brisk breeze and friendly animals will inspire you to pay a visit to the hawk mountain area.
peace, peas, n carrots,
my best spring wishes
At the influence of her new housemates, smokey n roti, Haley had her first dinner of raw chicken with buckwheat, carrots, and lots of other great ingredients. She ate that down, every little bit of it. Well, except all of the crumbs on the floor..
oh yes, next weekend I plan to be working on the garden& sheep barn & chicken coop & yard. I will be out on saturday day& sunday day. I invite anyone to help out on one of those days. I don't have much to trade with this at this early season, but we can be creative. Please call or email to say you can come & help. thanks so much!
If the weather is sunny, warm, with blue skies maybe the beautiful views, the brisk breeze and friendly animals will inspire you to pay a visit to the hawk mountain area.
peace, peas, n carrots,
my best spring wishes
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
eyes on lillian's
Keep your eyes on this blog.. the blog of all blogs!
Soon I will be posting a schedule of garden project days, in hopes that some of my city & suburban friends want to get their hands a little muddy by offering a few helping hands. (It'll be fun I promise).
I will also be posting a garden & farm wish list, which will consist of things yall may have in your garage/basement/shed/trash.
And as the season moves on I will post lists of what crops we will have for sale or barder/trade this season. An exciting variety of fresh Salad greens will be first up!
We always have eggs for sale at $3/dozen. I do deliveries to the Cheltenham area every monday morning. You CANNOT beat buying eggs from a small producer. We are able to feed our chicks well & give them love in so much excess since we are small producers that their egg yolks are nearly red! (that's from the love from my red heart, right? or was it those red bell peppers?)
This week I am starting seeds (later than norm because of highly valuable trip to sweden), working on the chicken yard, and finding a shearer who can handshear my sheepies, among other normal things that I do.
Oh! Also tomorrow we have a marvelous new roomate moving in with two sweet pups! (thats big I guess!)
peace,
keep your eyes on lillian's
(not in the surveillance way, ya know what I means)
Soon I will be posting a schedule of garden project days, in hopes that some of my city & suburban friends want to get their hands a little muddy by offering a few helping hands. (It'll be fun I promise).
I will also be posting a garden & farm wish list, which will consist of things yall may have in your garage/basement/shed/trash.
And as the season moves on I will post lists of what crops we will have for sale or barder/trade this season. An exciting variety of fresh Salad greens will be first up!
We always have eggs for sale at $3/dozen. I do deliveries to the Cheltenham area every monday morning. You CANNOT beat buying eggs from a small producer. We are able to feed our chicks well & give them love in so much excess since we are small producers that their egg yolks are nearly red! (that's from the love from my red heart, right? or was it those red bell peppers?)
This week I am starting seeds (later than norm because of highly valuable trip to sweden), working on the chicken yard, and finding a shearer who can handshear my sheepies, among other normal things that I do.
Oh! Also tomorrow we have a marvelous new roomate moving in with two sweet pups! (thats big I guess!)
peace,
keep your eyes on lillian's
(not in the surveillance way, ya know what I means)
Thursday, March 22, 2007
on our way back to the farm...
well folks, we are on our way home today. It has been an amazing and often difficult trip with lots more to write about..but Ill have to do that from home. Because this morning I want to semi enjoy myself AND straighten up the house, take the recycling, compost etc just in case my sister does not. (Mamma is in ghana for 3 weeks). We leave the house at 1pm and somehow get home late tonite. This time travel crap is so bizarre and my body never seems to accept it. So it will be nice to get back to my time zone. AND MY ANIMAL FRIENDS! and fresh eggs with red yolks and planting seeds! hurrah!
Many thanks to my motherland for hostessing us and giving us fairly nice weather, pretty forests, great views, bridges, frozen lakes, running water, kitty cats, good candy, great fish products, sheep friends, old fashioned feelings, wonderous architecture, and family.
peace from over here, see you there.
Many thanks to my motherland for hostessing us and giving us fairly nice weather, pretty forests, great views, bridges, frozen lakes, running water, kitty cats, good candy, great fish products, sheep friends, old fashioned feelings, wonderous architecture, and family.
peace from over here, see you there.
Sunday, March 18, 2007
looking for a new place to live?
hey, anyone need a place to live? we have a room or two avaliable. contact for details
Family love abounds
well, since I don't have the right cords and such to post pitctures from this weekend... here's one of our family portraits that we took in january. It is just Sammy & I holding Isabelle & Ruby in our dining room. I miss the kitties and our home & normalcy although it is SO great to catch up with family, friends and this land and this great city!Given the short time of our trip and winter weather and long bus rides things got complicated when I tried to make a plan to visit my family up north.. very sad have I been over this. I really wanted to see them and where they live in northern sweden is so lovely and special to my heart n soul. I was so excited to bring sammy there too! Alas, it was not going to work out. SO! my dear dear relatives thought of a plan! They drove down friday evening. We all ate dinner and then said good bye to mamma. Who knows when I will see her next.. she is now in ghana feeling warm & lovely I am sure. My aunt, Ingrid, her two sons - Arne & Benjamin and Benjamin's dahrling, Ida came to visit here. We had good times & warm hearts and many laughs were shared.
On saturday Ida, Benis & I went to protest the US war in Iraq. While Arne & Ingrid explored a women's youth culture & art festival at a place called Lava which is in a cool spot called Kulturhuset. Linnea of course disappeared with a pal. At the protest there were many Iraqi people with their flags and full of passionate disgust for this war that is destroying their motherland, their families, and their hearts. It was very moving to be among folks who have stronger stakes in this war than I. My only connection is that I am a human and I do not see it as natural to kill or destroy or use weapons or over power another. And I am a citizen of the nation that has been destroying their everything (and other nations, and trying to overpower the world...). I was there to represent the US citizens that do not support george bush and his evil cohorts. I was there to say I am sorry and I did not want this, war is crazy & does not lead to peaceful foreign relations.. and Im sorry that my country is doing this to yours.
There was a rally for about an hour and then we marched for about a half hour. I heard on the news last night that there were about 1500 people, which we can guess meant much more. At the rally a ska band played and as the temperature was dropping rapidly thsi got all in the frisky mood to march & chant things like "Iraq, solidarity" US out of Iraq" etc (in swedish of course).
As it got colder the sky turned dark grey and ominous. a few flakes of snow and drops of rain attacked me. Later some hail dropped hard on my bare face. BUT nothing like bombs dropping. In sweden or in the US we have no idea what that is like to have bombs constantly exploding all around us.
solidarity with iraqi mothers, sisters, sheep, cows.......
peace and harmony abounds
Friday, March 16, 2007
peep peep, happy spring
Sammy and I are excited to have missed the last month of Pennsylvania winter. We arrive home on the second day of spring. So happy spring to you all!These are a few of our peeps from last spring - Aracuanas & Light Brahmas. Now they are large and have been laying eggs since September. the Aracuanas lay pale blue or green eggs. The Brahmas are brown layers with feathered feet... all very cute & hilarious. Be sure to come visit and meet our feathery friends!
missing my wooly pals
ok, bare with me. I am exploring different ways to post pictures on my blog. i'm sort of a computer-idiot... so I'm still deciding what is easiest and suits me the best. Not sure that I want a whole other blog-like thing like picasa. But had trouble uploading pics to my blog in any other way. Any tips, folks?This here pic is of Buffalo & Blink eating alfalfa hay and loving it! I miss them a lot, as well as our other mammalian & avian pals. It is very likely that Buffalo (onleft) is pregnant. I had a dream that she lambed successfully the other day! Oh I hope so!
start up pages & flirtatious sheep pic
Most times that one uses another's computer the start up page for the internet is pretty common, like a news page or the company for their internet service, or their school, or email site. My sister rules this computer and I always sign in on her username so she has this website on that has nothing to do with anything it seems.. until I asked her about it. I have been so curious because every time you open it up there is a different wierd question, like "I am a pilot, do you want to fly my plane?"
And often there are click on ads for condoms.. which has me wondering!
So yesterday I asked her what this sight is all about. It is a sight that has "the worst pick up lines". So every time you go back to it it offers a different bad pick up line. Like right now it asked, "I like your hair, do you like mine?"
I keep opening it up now just to see if I can get any ones worth translating...
"nice legs, when do they open?" gross
"Birth my children!"
"I have money that I want to use up. Want to hang out at your place?"... ok, you see where it's going today. They are not all so trashy, but it is friday after school, so....
Anyone have any wholesome but funny pick up lines, just for humor's sake?
And often there are click on ads for condoms.. which has me wondering!
So yesterday I asked her what this sight is all about. It is a sight that has "the worst pick up lines". So every time you go back to it it offers a different bad pick up line. Like right now it asked, "I like your hair, do you like mine?"
I keep opening it up now just to see if I can get any ones worth translating...
"nice legs, when do they open?" gross
"Birth my children!"
"I have money that I want to use up. Want to hang out at your place?"... ok, you see where it's going today. They are not all so trashy, but it is friday after school, so....
Anyone have any wholesome but funny pick up lines, just for humor's sake?
Thursday, March 15, 2007
oil independence!
The 4 year mark approaches. YES the US invaded Iraq four years ago. I believe it was the evening of march 19th that it was announced on tv & radio that the following day the bombs would begin dropping. I was broken down on the new jersey turnpike with semi strangers in a dunkin donuts on our way to an ani di franco concertat Rutgers University. what a shitty night. what a shitty bunch of news to hear while in a neon lit up chain fast food unhealthy restaurant with some new sort of friends. I wished I had been with closer friends or with family. I t was such awful news to hear that our country was going to fly across a country & drop bombs, to destroy their infrastucture, people, animals, health.... And at the time I was fully immersed in the anti war movement in Philly so it hit me and all very hard.
So anyway as I think about this upcoming horrific day (is it a holy day, a memorial, an anniversary or what since its still going on I dont know what to call it) I think about the shifts in oil dependence that some people have been making. And I think about how on Saturday and also on Monday evening there will be thousands, or bajillions of people around the world standing together to say US OUT OF IRAQ. As Albert Einstein said, you cannot simultaneously prepare for & prevent war. It is impossible and all this earth needs is peace.
Back to my rant on oil dependence. In sweden the country & the people have always been mindful environmentalists. Yes, they ship things all over & do use cars & home heating oil. But they are definately doing their part to combat global warming, and always have been before it was a thing. There is NO ONE in this country that doubts that humans have a major role in destroying the ozone & the earth...tell that to rick santorum.
The tetra pack was invented in sweden, you know the box that soy milk comes in & juice boxes etc. And here everything is either in a metal tube (easy to compact & then recycle) or in a tetra pack. There is no such thing as styrofoam (sammy is so happy--he cant even say the "s" word let alone touch it), take away food is very unusual and if you do it your packaging is very minimal. If you go out to eat, even at a food court, cafe or something quick-like your meal comes on a plate with real silverware and a glass and coffee mug. Well, it does usually come with a paper napkin, so you do have to throw that out. Depending on where you are though it is possible there is a recycling paper bin. The only fast food you get with throw away crap would be from an american-fast-food joint like mcdonalds, burger king. But even thier stuff is all recycled & minimal compared to in the us (and they separate recycling). Ronald McDonald would be ashamed of the lack of waste if he visited a mcDs here!
I mentioned that lots of things come in tubes... most of you may be thinking, huh??
the tubes are metal like old fashioned toothpaste (metal is easier to recycle than plastic). and in these said tubes one could find the following and more: caviar spread, cheese spreads, tomtato puree, mayonaise, vegetarian patee, and of course toothpaste!
Of course reducing use is better than recycling because recycling uses gas to transport stuff & more energy to turn it into new stuff. But the best we can do is to not try to create more stuff of new materials. Our closet recycling station is across the street so we are lucky. but swedes arent lazy--they save & separate everything (and walk everywhere in cold and dark weather). Unless you live in an apartment in the city this can be hard to store stuff up and many apartment buildings do not have composts. Across the street you can dump into large green dumpsters: any metal, any plastic packaging or bottles, newspapers, batteries, tetra packs, egg boxes, boxes & any paper packaging, colored glass, non-colored glass...or course there is no trash can to put your bags in--so nuthins perfect, eh? And then many many bottles and cans you can return at a grocery store in these cool machines to get money back. It can add up pretty good! Especially if you take to collecting bottles & cans on the streets.
When you have to pay for your trash by the kilo (like my mamma) you tend to have great incentive to recycle & compost as much as you can! Would that not be awesome if the US worked that way!
My mamma, being raised swedish & seeing oil as horrid from an economic stanndpoint, as well as political etc. She has recently converted her home and has been oil independent for two years now. Two falls ago she had her system convereted to Geothermal energy, using the warmth of the earth to heat home and hot water. She reinsulated many walls & ceilings, put in a wood stove as back up & to heat her main room, and she said bye-bye to her oil tank & high oil bills. She did have to take out a loan to do a lot of this, however in the longrun she is saving tons and is very happy about it. Of course she does own a car that she uses minimally (few times a week, maybe) and she buys food & stuf fthat was probably shipped using fossil fuels.. but what can ya do!?
Recently on tv there was a documentary about a man from the south of sweden called the Horseman who lives like he is in the 17oos, mainly. Except that it is the 21st century so a few things about his life show that. It was really inspiring, especially since Ive always dreamed of using draft horses for farming instead of diesel tractors and such. he was really amazing and mostly talked with his animals so he was a little odd! He had the biggest craziest beard I have ever seen--more crazy than Al's even! And he had this young girl from nearby who loved to come help so she did a lot of talking in the film. When we were watching it mamma said, oh íts so wierd the way he talks to his animals like they are his friends. But Sam said, oh no thats normal,we can relate since a lot of the time we only see each other & our animals (this is a plug for more visitors!).
There is a website too if you want to look
www.hastmannen.com
Does anyone know about Tasha Tudor, and old woman in Vermont who has been living like she's in the 16 or 17oos. She rasied 7 or so kids like this. She is in her 70s now. She milks her goats twice a day & makes butter in cute handcarved molds. She goes barefoot for most of the year and she wears old fashioned dress all of the time. I want to be her! I just learned about her recently from a fellow sheperd in kempton.
Anyway let's stop the war in iraq and in every nation.
peace n love
So anyway as I think about this upcoming horrific day (is it a holy day, a memorial, an anniversary or what since its still going on I dont know what to call it) I think about the shifts in oil dependence that some people have been making. And I think about how on Saturday and also on Monday evening there will be thousands, or bajillions of people around the world standing together to say US OUT OF IRAQ. As Albert Einstein said, you cannot simultaneously prepare for & prevent war. It is impossible and all this earth needs is peace.
Back to my rant on oil dependence. In sweden the country & the people have always been mindful environmentalists. Yes, they ship things all over & do use cars & home heating oil. But they are definately doing their part to combat global warming, and always have been before it was a thing. There is NO ONE in this country that doubts that humans have a major role in destroying the ozone & the earth...tell that to rick santorum.
The tetra pack was invented in sweden, you know the box that soy milk comes in & juice boxes etc. And here everything is either in a metal tube (easy to compact & then recycle) or in a tetra pack. There is no such thing as styrofoam (sammy is so happy--he cant even say the "s" word let alone touch it), take away food is very unusual and if you do it your packaging is very minimal. If you go out to eat, even at a food court, cafe or something quick-like your meal comes on a plate with real silverware and a glass and coffee mug. Well, it does usually come with a paper napkin, so you do have to throw that out. Depending on where you are though it is possible there is a recycling paper bin. The only fast food you get with throw away crap would be from an american-fast-food joint like mcdonalds, burger king. But even thier stuff is all recycled & minimal compared to in the us (and they separate recycling). Ronald McDonald would be ashamed of the lack of waste if he visited a mcDs here!
I mentioned that lots of things come in tubes... most of you may be thinking, huh??
the tubes are metal like old fashioned toothpaste (metal is easier to recycle than plastic). and in these said tubes one could find the following and more: caviar spread, cheese spreads, tomtato puree, mayonaise, vegetarian patee, and of course toothpaste!
Of course reducing use is better than recycling because recycling uses gas to transport stuff & more energy to turn it into new stuff. But the best we can do is to not try to create more stuff of new materials. Our closet recycling station is across the street so we are lucky. but swedes arent lazy--they save & separate everything (and walk everywhere in cold and dark weather). Unless you live in an apartment in the city this can be hard to store stuff up and many apartment buildings do not have composts. Across the street you can dump into large green dumpsters: any metal, any plastic packaging or bottles, newspapers, batteries, tetra packs, egg boxes, boxes & any paper packaging, colored glass, non-colored glass...or course there is no trash can to put your bags in--so nuthins perfect, eh? And then many many bottles and cans you can return at a grocery store in these cool machines to get money back. It can add up pretty good! Especially if you take to collecting bottles & cans on the streets.
When you have to pay for your trash by the kilo (like my mamma) you tend to have great incentive to recycle & compost as much as you can! Would that not be awesome if the US worked that way!
My mamma, being raised swedish & seeing oil as horrid from an economic stanndpoint, as well as political etc. She has recently converted her home and has been oil independent for two years now. Two falls ago she had her system convereted to Geothermal energy, using the warmth of the earth to heat home and hot water. She reinsulated many walls & ceilings, put in a wood stove as back up & to heat her main room, and she said bye-bye to her oil tank & high oil bills. She did have to take out a loan to do a lot of this, however in the longrun she is saving tons and is very happy about it. Of course she does own a car that she uses minimally (few times a week, maybe) and she buys food & stuf fthat was probably shipped using fossil fuels.. but what can ya do!?
Recently on tv there was a documentary about a man from the south of sweden called the Horseman who lives like he is in the 17oos, mainly. Except that it is the 21st century so a few things about his life show that. It was really inspiring, especially since Ive always dreamed of using draft horses for farming instead of diesel tractors and such. he was really amazing and mostly talked with his animals so he was a little odd! He had the biggest craziest beard I have ever seen--more crazy than Al's even! And he had this young girl from nearby who loved to come help so she did a lot of talking in the film. When we were watching it mamma said, oh íts so wierd the way he talks to his animals like they are his friends. But Sam said, oh no thats normal,we can relate since a lot of the time we only see each other & our animals (this is a plug for more visitors!).
There is a website too if you want to look
www.hastmannen.com
Does anyone know about Tasha Tudor, and old woman in Vermont who has been living like she's in the 16 or 17oos. She rasied 7 or so kids like this. She is in her 70s now. She milks her goats twice a day & makes butter in cute handcarved molds. She goes barefoot for most of the year and she wears old fashioned dress all of the time. I want to be her! I just learned about her recently from a fellow sheperd in kempton.
Anyway let's stop the war in iraq and in every nation.
peace n love
Sunday, March 11, 2007
public television, no more?
we are here in sweden for a special day in the timeline of Swedish History. As of tomorrow morning at 9am or so the tv's will go fuzzy. No more public television. Through this evening everyone gets three channels (all owned by swedish tv, like the bbc monopoly in england) and if you order cable or satelite dish, of course you CAN have access to much more. Now mind you, something that is much different in US is that advertisers pay for tv to even be on. here there are very few commercials, if at all--they more come in clumps instead of the constant interuption during a show or film. (and they are much more funny & clever than in US.)So you wonder how does tv happen if it is not 100% paid for by ads??
hmmm, well of course, in a country famed for its high taxes they also have a tv tax that you must pay to be allowed to have a tv plugged into the wall. Now I do not know anyone who does pay it--maybe I do, but they have not admitted it. My mamma used to hide the tv in the attic storage during the time when they would walk through her neighborhood & knock on doors of folks who dont pay this tax to see if they have a tv plugged in. (they announce which neighborhoods will be checked in advance on the tv- like theyre trying to not "catch" you).
During the last elections there were a few scandals because word flew around that a few politicians running for office had not paid for tv tax in ten years etc.. they had to pull out of the race! In the US you have to do something sexual, illicit, or related to fruad/imbezzling. here - you don't pay tv tax & scandal is all over your face.
Anyway, I am pretty outraged because I feel that basic access to information should be available to all. (especially in a socialist country) Checking in on weather or to see the news in case a meteor hit the earth etc... The public libraries should have internet so that no one is disadvantaged (they do have this) AND all should be ABLE to have basic tv channels if they want.
Now my mamma would rather throw her tv out the window but my darling sister is 16 and cannot survive without tv. So what were her options?
Buy a satelite dish & service.
Buy a black box for digital terestials, then pay a monthly service.
Also, buy a new antennae.
mamma kept going to the store to ask about options. she called antennae specialists. and all kept saying, oh if your antennae is 5 years old, or 10 years old the black box will never work unless you replace antennae! or, you may as well get a satellite.
And the catch is that now to see tv you either have to invest in this box on your own & maybe fix your antennae. OR you order a tv service which gives you the box and the lowest package is not cheap and you get more than the 3 channels, which is all we really need anyhow. Then she kept seeing cheap ads on tv, like 10 bucks per month for first year. but when you call and ask it really isnt true. And if you want to get two boxes so the recent addition to my sisters room also gets channels you have to bump up to the next package which is even more outrageously priced!
so bizarre to not have any options. that are not incredibly expensive.
So tomorrow when we leave the house for the day all will have a fuzzy screen. then at 6pm all tvs will be able to access the new digital tv (no longer analog) but you must have a box or service AND YOU HAVE TO RESET EVERYTHING, all over again.
In the end it has worked out not so bad. She bought one box & before sammy crawled out on the tile roof in the snow our neighbor helped to figure out that the antennae WAS facing the right direction AND was in fine condition. So we should still have tv IF we can re-program it! But in this house none of us are tech-like.
This upcoming day of swedish efficiency reminds me of the stories I hear about when sweden switched the driving from left side of road to the right in the early sixties. One night everyone was told to stay off roads by 8pm.. just sit at home. AND by morning all signs were changed etc.. life went on interupted but completely akward! All of a sudden you went out to board the bus on the wrong side of the street! Can you imagine?!
Tell that to the folks who are "fixing" Route 309 in Pennsylvania...
peace to yall, L
hmmm, well of course, in a country famed for its high taxes they also have a tv tax that you must pay to be allowed to have a tv plugged into the wall. Now I do not know anyone who does pay it--maybe I do, but they have not admitted it. My mamma used to hide the tv in the attic storage during the time when they would walk through her neighborhood & knock on doors of folks who dont pay this tax to see if they have a tv plugged in. (they announce which neighborhoods will be checked in advance on the tv- like theyre trying to not "catch" you).
During the last elections there were a few scandals because word flew around that a few politicians running for office had not paid for tv tax in ten years etc.. they had to pull out of the race! In the US you have to do something sexual, illicit, or related to fruad/imbezzling. here - you don't pay tv tax & scandal is all over your face.
Anyway, I am pretty outraged because I feel that basic access to information should be available to all. (especially in a socialist country) Checking in on weather or to see the news in case a meteor hit the earth etc... The public libraries should have internet so that no one is disadvantaged (they do have this) AND all should be ABLE to have basic tv channels if they want.
Now my mamma would rather throw her tv out the window but my darling sister is 16 and cannot survive without tv. So what were her options?
Buy a satelite dish & service.
Buy a black box for digital terestials, then pay a monthly service.
Also, buy a new antennae.
mamma kept going to the store to ask about options. she called antennae specialists. and all kept saying, oh if your antennae is 5 years old, or 10 years old the black box will never work unless you replace antennae! or, you may as well get a satellite.
And the catch is that now to see tv you either have to invest in this box on your own & maybe fix your antennae. OR you order a tv service which gives you the box and the lowest package is not cheap and you get more than the 3 channels, which is all we really need anyhow. Then she kept seeing cheap ads on tv, like 10 bucks per month for first year. but when you call and ask it really isnt true. And if you want to get two boxes so the recent addition to my sisters room also gets channels you have to bump up to the next package which is even more outrageously priced!
so bizarre to not have any options. that are not incredibly expensive.
So tomorrow when we leave the house for the day all will have a fuzzy screen. then at 6pm all tvs will be able to access the new digital tv (no longer analog) but you must have a box or service AND YOU HAVE TO RESET EVERYTHING, all over again.
In the end it has worked out not so bad. She bought one box & before sammy crawled out on the tile roof in the snow our neighbor helped to figure out that the antennae WAS facing the right direction AND was in fine condition. So we should still have tv IF we can re-program it! But in this house none of us are tech-like.
This upcoming day of swedish efficiency reminds me of the stories I hear about when sweden switched the driving from left side of road to the right in the early sixties. One night everyone was told to stay off roads by 8pm.. just sit at home. AND by morning all signs were changed etc.. life went on interupted but completely akward! All of a sudden you went out to board the bus on the wrong side of the street! Can you imagine?!
Tell that to the folks who are "fixing" Route 309 in Pennsylvania...
peace to yall, L
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Stockholm no smokey in bars
Stockholm, like many cities worldwide, has stopped smoking in bars & restaurants. How nice for smokers AND non-smokers! But everything is nicer & cozier & cuter here. So I thought I would tell you what sorts of accomodations they provide for those who do want to go out to smoke. It does vary by neighborhood of course. In a pretty fancy neighborhood we walked by a bar & saw a long table within a roped off area. On the table were ashtrays & candles. On the chairs were sheep fleece(pelt) chair covers and folded blankets. It seemed so romantic I thought it could be nice for non-smokers as well!
At other places they just have courtyards with blankets and the pub we were at after the womens day march they had a small room. Now that was a more cheaper & younger bar so they just stuck folks in an enclosed space, but it looked they were having fun in there! AND one could not detect an odor when they walked by this room. (fantastic)
Im not a big drinker, but it is a fun way to go out with friends--a bit more lively than going to a cafe and being peaceful. BUT! I absolutly hate breathing in ciggie smoke & having my eyes drip from smoke AND having to rewash my hair & clothing. When you get home late & you dont have energy to shower and you smell your heair all night, ugh! So I never ever go to bars at home. Now that philly is smoke free I may think about it. Then again, being around people that are drunk when you are not just absolutly sucks so maybe I will not!
Tangent: in northern parts of the scandinavian countries (sweden, finland, iceland, norway) there are ice hotels where every every thing is made of ice. You must sleep in large sleeping bags on reindeer pelts on ice beds and your glasses are made of ice. Always sounded so interesting. I once even saw a show in swedish tv showing one & they had an ice persussion band, playing on drum shaped ice blocks!
We just found out that in stockholm there are two ice bars! You go in and they give you gigantic coats (vegan or not at all vegan) and they serve ice glasses with your drink choice inside.
so interesting! but usually when we go away don't we like to be comfortable & even seek out warmth & sun? Its not for all, but its interesting!
p.s. the sun is shining! it is so bright on our eyes!
At other places they just have courtyards with blankets and the pub we were at after the womens day march they had a small room. Now that was a more cheaper & younger bar so they just stuck folks in an enclosed space, but it looked they were having fun in there! AND one could not detect an odor when they walked by this room. (fantastic)
Im not a big drinker, but it is a fun way to go out with friends--a bit more lively than going to a cafe and being peaceful. BUT! I absolutly hate breathing in ciggie smoke & having my eyes drip from smoke AND having to rewash my hair & clothing. When you get home late & you dont have energy to shower and you smell your heair all night, ugh! So I never ever go to bars at home. Now that philly is smoke free I may think about it. Then again, being around people that are drunk when you are not just absolutly sucks so maybe I will not!
Tangent: in northern parts of the scandinavian countries (sweden, finland, iceland, norway) there are ice hotels where every every thing is made of ice. You must sleep in large sleeping bags on reindeer pelts on ice beds and your glasses are made of ice. Always sounded so interesting. I once even saw a show in swedish tv showing one & they had an ice persussion band, playing on drum shaped ice blocks!
We just found out that in stockholm there are two ice bars! You go in and they give you gigantic coats (vegan or not at all vegan) and they serve ice glasses with your drink choice inside.
so interesting! but usually when we go away don't we like to be comfortable & even seek out warmth & sun? Its not for all, but its interesting!
p.s. the sun is shining! it is so bright on our eyes!
celebrating women's struggles & upliftment worldwide
well, I still have no idea what anyone else did to commemorate & celebrate women on thursday.
but thats ok.
I sent a card to my friend Sonja who is an especially inspiring & strong female role model and fantastcially hip mom. I told my mamma how great she is & thanked her.
I'll fill yall in on what sammy & I did:
We met up at a square, called Slussen, in the south part of Stockholm at 6pm, on very full bellies after a fantastic indian meal. As we took it all in (being at a demonstration in another country) we looked around for my best-pal, Elin & her boyfriend Martin. Sam kept saying "oh thats her!" or "there she is!"... Elin has her own look and is a very unique person, however in a crowd with so many blonde headed people we kept mistaking others for her! We walked around the square, looking at tables of info, watching people, we each bought a pin to wear, and we were so excited about the torches that people carry. They smell somewhat bad but look really cool and offer such an olde-time feel. I think in the US we are probably not allowed to have fire or anything just on the street like that. As the march started off we still had not found our friends but it was so amazing to see all of these different people here for the same reason - to support the struggles of women worldwide.
We did find Elin & Martin soon thereafter, thanks to cell phones. They were marching with the banner for their political party, so we proudly joind them under the banner for Fi!.
you may wonder what Fi would stand for? socialist, social-democrat, left, green... NOPE! None of the ordinary ones. It stands for Feminist Iniative. Ok, a cool bit of info that we don't know about in the US is that the first feminist party began here in sweden LAST YEAR! I had no idea because Elin and I are those friends who do not always stay in touch but always fall right back into best friendship when we see each other ( One thing we can relate to is not feeling that great about connecting via technology, I spose..so we almost never email.) Sometimes we write letters etc but we have not & I had no idea she was and is so active with Fi. They got a small percentage in the last election which could be likened to how the green party goes in most areas of US. The last election was quite disappointing to most swedes. In an effort to get rid of Göran Persson, prime minister, many swedes voted for the more right parties etc and that resulted in a right wing government that is screwing everything up for people & also charging more for everything. except the higher costs for things are not going to anyone except politicians.. guess we can relate to that. So people are rather upset & sort of apathetic the way many folks in US have become with so many years of bush-o-crats. But then again most swedes just sort of accept things & don't get riled up easily.
out of the tangent.... Oh yes, I was writing about the march. So we wound our way through many streets for only about 1.5 kilometers and ended at Medborgarplatsen, a big square. There was an exciting rocking jazzy ska like band playing music as the rain drops fell. Hot drinks & gingerbread cookies. Quite a nice way to feel togetherness. There were a few speakers who motivated the crowd & brought focus to the march. They spoke of what was going on in other countries - as far as demonstrations & celebrations, as well as what kinds of specifc struggles are going on in sweden & elsewhere.
At the starting rally there were about 500 people, but during the march the size increase and it felt so great to not be able to see the end of the march. And to see all of these torches and banners addressing the huge flaws of patriarchal socities.
After the rally ended we went to a pub with Elin Martin & three Elins pals. Stockholm also does not allow smoking in the bars any longer, and I like a lot of the bars because there is often a lot of stone & medieval like caverns in basements making up the bar. Also this one happened to have reggae musik playing, which felt good!
There was also a take back the night march just for women so us two couples stayed behind while the other gals went off to take back the streets to be safe for women to be out at night. I think that march attracts many more people.
and so what did anyone else do?
but thats ok.
I sent a card to my friend Sonja who is an especially inspiring & strong female role model and fantastcially hip mom. I told my mamma how great she is & thanked her.
I'll fill yall in on what sammy & I did:
We met up at a square, called Slussen, in the south part of Stockholm at 6pm, on very full bellies after a fantastic indian meal. As we took it all in (being at a demonstration in another country) we looked around for my best-pal, Elin & her boyfriend Martin. Sam kept saying "oh thats her!" or "there she is!"... Elin has her own look and is a very unique person, however in a crowd with so many blonde headed people we kept mistaking others for her! We walked around the square, looking at tables of info, watching people, we each bought a pin to wear, and we were so excited about the torches that people carry. They smell somewhat bad but look really cool and offer such an olde-time feel. I think in the US we are probably not allowed to have fire or anything just on the street like that. As the march started off we still had not found our friends but it was so amazing to see all of these different people here for the same reason - to support the struggles of women worldwide.
We did find Elin & Martin soon thereafter, thanks to cell phones. They were marching with the banner for their political party, so we proudly joind them under the banner for Fi!.
you may wonder what Fi would stand for? socialist, social-democrat, left, green... NOPE! None of the ordinary ones. It stands for Feminist Iniative. Ok, a cool bit of info that we don't know about in the US is that the first feminist party began here in sweden LAST YEAR! I had no idea because Elin and I are those friends who do not always stay in touch but always fall right back into best friendship when we see each other ( One thing we can relate to is not feeling that great about connecting via technology, I spose..so we almost never email.) Sometimes we write letters etc but we have not & I had no idea she was and is so active with Fi. They got a small percentage in the last election which could be likened to how the green party goes in most areas of US. The last election was quite disappointing to most swedes. In an effort to get rid of Göran Persson, prime minister, many swedes voted for the more right parties etc and that resulted in a right wing government that is screwing everything up for people & also charging more for everything. except the higher costs for things are not going to anyone except politicians.. guess we can relate to that. So people are rather upset & sort of apathetic the way many folks in US have become with so many years of bush-o-crats. But then again most swedes just sort of accept things & don't get riled up easily.
out of the tangent.... Oh yes, I was writing about the march. So we wound our way through many streets for only about 1.5 kilometers and ended at Medborgarplatsen, a big square. There was an exciting rocking jazzy ska like band playing music as the rain drops fell. Hot drinks & gingerbread cookies. Quite a nice way to feel togetherness. There were a few speakers who motivated the crowd & brought focus to the march. They spoke of what was going on in other countries - as far as demonstrations & celebrations, as well as what kinds of specifc struggles are going on in sweden & elsewhere.
At the starting rally there were about 500 people, but during the march the size increase and it felt so great to not be able to see the end of the march. And to see all of these torches and banners addressing the huge flaws of patriarchal socities.
After the rally ended we went to a pub with Elin Martin & three Elins pals. Stockholm also does not allow smoking in the bars any longer, and I like a lot of the bars because there is often a lot of stone & medieval like caverns in basements making up the bar. Also this one happened to have reggae musik playing, which felt good!
There was also a take back the night march just for women so us two couples stayed behind while the other gals went off to take back the streets to be safe for women to be out at night. I think that march attracts many more people.
and so what did anyone else do?
Commenting on zee blog
hi all, I have changed the setting for writing comments on my blog. thanks to friends who have commented. and to the rest of ya--I am sure you didnt comment because you got annoyed when it said that you must have a google account (which actually isnt as daunting to set up as it sounds).
So I cancelled that. Now this means that anyone in the entire world can comment on my postings! wow--so try it. its fun to share your thoughts with me & anyone who reads.. like our own little page in the big old www. its kind of like we are hanging out at a cafe, chatting?!
cool, ok..cant wait to read your replies!
peace from sweden
So I cancelled that. Now this means that anyone in the entire world can comment on my postings! wow--so try it. its fun to share your thoughts with me & anyone who reads.. like our own little page in the big old www. its kind of like we are hanging out at a cafe, chatting?!
cool, ok..cant wait to read your replies!
peace from sweden
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
international women's day
please tell me what you are doing for international women's day (thursday march 8th)?
Post a comment on this posting so everyone else can see what you are doing and become inspired & not feel alone as folks trying to support women, feminism & female freedom around the globe. You may be calling a special friend to thank her for her role in the world or going to a march to be with other women marching all over the planet, or doing something special to love yourself, or helping a fellow woman in need, or supporting a woman owned business, or calling your congressperson and asking them support something important that you see as helping women, or donate money/time to a group that helps women living in domestic violence or researches cures/reasons for cervical cancer, or stand up to a man who is wronging women... there are so many things we can do. actions are easy and can be sustainable if you find a way to fit it into your own life. dont fit the mold--activism doesn't always mean marching or trying to get media coverage or yelling....although it can!:-).
most women I know act in solidarity with women all over the world every day in the ways that they decide to live their lives. I have so many role models to think about as I march through southern stockholm tomorrow night with my friends. do what is good for you and feels right as you are just one of many.
we are one, peace n lovings from sverige
Post a comment on this posting so everyone else can see what you are doing and become inspired & not feel alone as folks trying to support women, feminism & female freedom around the globe. You may be calling a special friend to thank her for her role in the world or going to a march to be with other women marching all over the planet, or doing something special to love yourself, or helping a fellow woman in need, or supporting a woman owned business, or calling your congressperson and asking them support something important that you see as helping women, or donate money/time to a group that helps women living in domestic violence or researches cures/reasons for cervical cancer, or stand up to a man who is wronging women... there are so many things we can do. actions are easy and can be sustainable if you find a way to fit it into your own life. dont fit the mold--activism doesn't always mean marching or trying to get media coverage or yelling....although it can!:-).
most women I know act in solidarity with women all over the world every day in the ways that they decide to live their lives. I have so many role models to think about as I march through southern stockholm tomorrow night with my friends. do what is good for you and feels right as you are just one of many.
we are one, peace n lovings from sverige
koh phangan + stockholm
dear pals,
what a meal experience I must share! I have been dreaming of taking someone to this restaurant called Koh Phangan for years, maybe about 5 years or so? And in part of my dream date we get to sit in one o fthe special tables that is hut-like or resembles a rick-shaw (sp?). Thanks to a special gift of shing-a-ling (thanks daddio!) I got to take Sammy on said fantasy date AND when I tried to beg the hostess for a special boot I had luck.
So we arrived and were told it would be about an hour for a table. not so bad-I've waited longer to eat at Koh Phangan. On a tuesday night in a contry where folks barely eat out I was rather surprised but also excited that they get so much business! While sammy ordered some drinks I stalked down the hostess and explained to her that we have traveled very far for this date (from the us) and could she please see if any of the more exciting tables would be free for us when our time came. she replied with little hope that I would get what I get when it came our turn. Of course, who am I in this small city with big city importance. stockholm thinks its new york, which to me is so funny cuz you can walk across it easily and it is quaint AND CLEAN! but stockholmers will push you over just as fast as a new yorker if you aren't rushing fast enough to get on the subway or something. yipe! watch it!
So we had a drink & enjoyed the ambiance...resembles a jungle, a black light club and an island, oh and a bar/restaurant.. all split among 3 rooms with hallways. the bathroom was fully splattered with mosaics made from tiles and beer bottle caps.. a supreme thai-west indies-swedish hybrid of ingredients makes up the decor. (they do a few music nights mostly with reggae djs which explains why they add in the west indies decor and signage. On one wall you will see an arrow sign pointing to thailand with the kilometers listed and the other direction will be a location in jamaica. seemingly random, but the flavors mix well.)
The hostess popped out of nowhere 55 minutes after we requested a table to tell us that she had a "lovely table for us, a tuk-tuk! you know?!" Our grinning faces said "oh yes, how great! a tuk-tuk! thank you so much!" (ok--who knows what that is?, but we could tell it would be good!)
She led us back to the coolest room and seated us in something like a buggy /wagon/rick-shaw thing with booth seats & a short roof... overlooking a creeping pond with plantlife & coy fish and a funky wooden bridge that led to the bathroom. YES! boy was I excited! I still am excited because it was such a dream of mine to sit in one of their huts or other interesting seatery! nuthin like a dream fulfilled.
Then there is the food! I ordered red snapper & shrimp in coconut milk red hot curry stuff baked in banana leaves. The presentation was gorgeous with edible flowers and all. Sammy had a wonderful chicken & cashew snowpea spicy thing. I think it took me about 45 mintutes to eat this thing. I started out so so hungry but the pear cider was filling me up I guess since I ususally do not drink n eat.
At one point sammy went to the potty and discovered three metal buckets hooked on the wall with signs above them, reading: öl, vin, non-alkoholik (beer, wine, non-alchoholic). At first when he returned to tell me his story I thought maybe he pissed in some buckets used for emptying bottles and glasses. Upon investigating myself & asking sam to take a pic of it I realized they were just funny clever urinals (not very private, but funny).
During the meal the string lights that were covering our tuk-tuk went out and we wondered what we did...but at the same time we heard thunder and loud sky noises. After about 3 mintues the sun shone & so did our string lights.
what ambiance! totally worth it to pay a little extra to cover their electirc cost of creating such an environment.
Should you ever be in stockholm, find yourself to the southside, follow Götgatan south and turn left on Skånegatan until you see the line out the door...
what a meal experience I must share! I have been dreaming of taking someone to this restaurant called Koh Phangan for years, maybe about 5 years or so? And in part of my dream date we get to sit in one o fthe special tables that is hut-like or resembles a rick-shaw (sp?). Thanks to a special gift of shing-a-ling (thanks daddio!) I got to take Sammy on said fantasy date AND when I tried to beg the hostess for a special boot I had luck.
So we arrived and were told it would be about an hour for a table. not so bad-I've waited longer to eat at Koh Phangan. On a tuesday night in a contry where folks barely eat out I was rather surprised but also excited that they get so much business! While sammy ordered some drinks I stalked down the hostess and explained to her that we have traveled very far for this date (from the us) and could she please see if any of the more exciting tables would be free for us when our time came. she replied with little hope that I would get what I get when it came our turn. Of course, who am I in this small city with big city importance. stockholm thinks its new york, which to me is so funny cuz you can walk across it easily and it is quaint AND CLEAN! but stockholmers will push you over just as fast as a new yorker if you aren't rushing fast enough to get on the subway or something. yipe! watch it!
So we had a drink & enjoyed the ambiance...resembles a jungle, a black light club and an island, oh and a bar/restaurant.. all split among 3 rooms with hallways. the bathroom was fully splattered with mosaics made from tiles and beer bottle caps.. a supreme thai-west indies-swedish hybrid of ingredients makes up the decor. (they do a few music nights mostly with reggae djs which explains why they add in the west indies decor and signage. On one wall you will see an arrow sign pointing to thailand with the kilometers listed and the other direction will be a location in jamaica. seemingly random, but the flavors mix well.)
The hostess popped out of nowhere 55 minutes after we requested a table to tell us that she had a "lovely table for us, a tuk-tuk! you know?!" Our grinning faces said "oh yes, how great! a tuk-tuk! thank you so much!" (ok--who knows what that is?, but we could tell it would be good!)
She led us back to the coolest room and seated us in something like a buggy /wagon/rick-shaw thing with booth seats & a short roof... overlooking a creeping pond with plantlife & coy fish and a funky wooden bridge that led to the bathroom. YES! boy was I excited! I still am excited because it was such a dream of mine to sit in one of their huts or other interesting seatery! nuthin like a dream fulfilled.
Then there is the food! I ordered red snapper & shrimp in coconut milk red hot curry stuff baked in banana leaves. The presentation was gorgeous with edible flowers and all. Sammy had a wonderful chicken & cashew snowpea spicy thing. I think it took me about 45 mintutes to eat this thing. I started out so so hungry but the pear cider was filling me up I guess since I ususally do not drink n eat.
At one point sammy went to the potty and discovered three metal buckets hooked on the wall with signs above them, reading: öl, vin, non-alkoholik (beer, wine, non-alchoholic). At first when he returned to tell me his story I thought maybe he pissed in some buckets used for emptying bottles and glasses. Upon investigating myself & asking sam to take a pic of it I realized they were just funny clever urinals (not very private, but funny).
During the meal the string lights that were covering our tuk-tuk went out and we wondered what we did...but at the same time we heard thunder and loud sky noises. After about 3 mintues the sun shone & so did our string lights.
what ambiance! totally worth it to pay a little extra to cover their electirc cost of creating such an environment.
Should you ever be in stockholm, find yourself to the southside, follow Götgatan south and turn left on Skånegatan until you see the line out the door...
Saturday, March 3, 2007
lunar eclipse & helena bergström
well, its saturday night and I am missing the cows but having nice time anyway. mooo
Sammy, mamma & I watched a great movie on tv starring our favorite swedish film star, Helena Bergström. The film is called The Queen of Sheba Pearls or the Pearls of Sheba, made by Colin Nutley. It takes place in England and is in english so if you can find it I recommend it!
(A film with same director & lead roll that I know you can find in US is called House of Angels.)
Public television will be no more as of 9:45am on march 12 unless you buy a box, new antennae & pay a monthly fee. Thanks to the new right wing government. ( does anyone else think that socialism and right wing regimes don't seem to go together? very odd combo-not good for people)
So we are watching anything good that is on the 3 channels that we have here before the screen goes fuzzy.
After the movie we went outside to see if the sky was clear so we could see the lunar eclipse.. and we could. But I spose it wasn't visible at home. I love when the moon looks red, don't you?
Sammy, mamma & I watched a great movie on tv starring our favorite swedish film star, Helena Bergström. The film is called The Queen of Sheba Pearls or the Pearls of Sheba, made by Colin Nutley. It takes place in England and is in english so if you can find it I recommend it!
(A film with same director & lead roll that I know you can find in US is called House of Angels.)
Public television will be no more as of 9:45am on march 12 unless you buy a box, new antennae & pay a monthly fee. Thanks to the new right wing government. ( does anyone else think that socialism and right wing regimes don't seem to go together? very odd combo-not good for people)
So we are watching anything good that is on the 3 channels that we have here before the screen goes fuzzy.
After the movie we went outside to see if the sky was clear so we could see the lunar eclipse.. and we could. But I spose it wasn't visible at home. I love when the moon looks red, don't you?
please fly malaysia airlines
haven't felt like typing yet, but have no shotage of inspiration since we arrived in sweden on tuesday. So here goes. forgive grammar and other mistakes. I just typed this and it disappeared!
MY PLUG FOR MALAYSIA AIRLINES: fly them if you ever have to fly to one of their destinations. After a lovely drive to newark airport with sammy's parents (thanks paula & sam!) we checked in and anticipated our travel. What would malaysia airlines be like? why do they even fly direct from newark to stockholm??!!
As we walked down the tunnel thingy I had no idea what to expect. i turn the corner and there was an amazing woman shining with her cooridnated outfit & makeup greeting us wíth her rosy smile & shimmering pink eyelids. I felt like I had walked onto a spacecraft with very very friendly human alien hybrids. I thought of how bruce willis must have felt when he boarded the flight to travel to the cruise ship in that other galaxy where he got to see the blue diva sing and save the world. (guess you had to see it).
As we walked down the aisle towards our seats Sammy & I kept looking at each other using our eyes to say, "is this for real?" Everyone was wearing these perfect outfits and smiling A LOT and making us feel like one hundred dollars or like we had paid one million dollars to get on this plane! The men wore jackets with huge lapels that were glittery, shiny & sparkling like they worked at a casino.. they were trying to give us free drinks and they even came through with my gluten free meal. Rice cakes never tasted so good. The ceilings were so tall I did not experience any claustrophobia and each seat had on-demand movies, music & tv. All of a sudden I was about to find out the truth about the alien governement cover-up murder water woman on an episode of the xfiles when we descended to land. maybe I slept through the whole flight actually or maybe I was mesmerised with the ever-changing ceiling glow lights in first class?
I never did figure out why they stop in stockholm on their way to kuala lumpur, malaysia but I am grateful that they do. I guess it's a decent place to stop to split up a 22 hour flight.
so that's my plug. If you ever get to fly malaysia air please enjoy the decor of pink-turquoise-peach with purple head rests etc.
MY PLUG FOR MALAYSIA AIRLINES: fly them if you ever have to fly to one of their destinations. After a lovely drive to newark airport with sammy's parents (thanks paula & sam!) we checked in and anticipated our travel. What would malaysia airlines be like? why do they even fly direct from newark to stockholm??!!
As we walked down the tunnel thingy I had no idea what to expect. i turn the corner and there was an amazing woman shining with her cooridnated outfit & makeup greeting us wíth her rosy smile & shimmering pink eyelids. I felt like I had walked onto a spacecraft with very very friendly human alien hybrids. I thought of how bruce willis must have felt when he boarded the flight to travel to the cruise ship in that other galaxy where he got to see the blue diva sing and save the world. (guess you had to see it).
As we walked down the aisle towards our seats Sammy & I kept looking at each other using our eyes to say, "is this for real?" Everyone was wearing these perfect outfits and smiling A LOT and making us feel like one hundred dollars or like we had paid one million dollars to get on this plane! The men wore jackets with huge lapels that were glittery, shiny & sparkling like they worked at a casino.. they were trying to give us free drinks and they even came through with my gluten free meal. Rice cakes never tasted so good. The ceilings were so tall I did not experience any claustrophobia and each seat had on-demand movies, music & tv. All of a sudden I was about to find out the truth about the alien governement cover-up murder water woman on an episode of the xfiles when we descended to land. maybe I slept through the whole flight actually or maybe I was mesmerised with the ever-changing ceiling glow lights in first class?
I never did figure out why they stop in stockholm on their way to kuala lumpur, malaysia but I am grateful that they do. I guess it's a decent place to stop to split up a 22 hour flight.
so that's my plug. If you ever get to fly malaysia air please enjoy the decor of pink-turquoise-peach with purple head rests etc.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Mill Creek Urban Farm rocks my socks off
Dearies,
Please take a minute to listen to this link below. It excited me very muchas to hear my friend Jo on npr--and maybe it will thrill you as well!
Background info for folks who don't know: My bestest pal, Jade started an urban educational farm over a year ago (right about when I moved) with our pal, Johanna. The farm is located on a city block at 49th & Brown Streets in West Philadelphia (what a glorious city!). They grow rows upon rows of wonderful foods & beneficial plants to: educate youth and to sell fresh local seasonal produce to anyone near by, and because they love farming of course! Also located within the same gorgeous cyclone fence is a community garden that has been there for a very long time. So there is a lot of activity during the season--all ages & all types of wierdos hanging about working on weeding, tilling, building, harvesting & even creating amazing works of art with kids like mosaic. I got to help out for a few hours one day building their cobb toolshed/bathroom/utility building. What an amazing way to build natural yet strong structures. I cannot wait to get to work on more cobbing one day!
I also have added some links to my blog-page of sites that I use regularly. Maybe they will be of interest to you too!
peace, 6 days till take off to sweden!!
http://www.justicetalking.org/viewprogram.asp?progID=586
Please take a minute to listen to this link below. It excited me very muchas to hear my friend Jo on npr--and maybe it will thrill you as well!
Background info for folks who don't know: My bestest pal, Jade started an urban educational farm over a year ago (right about when I moved) with our pal, Johanna. The farm is located on a city block at 49th & Brown Streets in West Philadelphia (what a glorious city!). They grow rows upon rows of wonderful foods & beneficial plants to: educate youth and to sell fresh local seasonal produce to anyone near by, and because they love farming of course! Also located within the same gorgeous cyclone fence is a community garden that has been there for a very long time. So there is a lot of activity during the season--all ages & all types of wierdos hanging about working on weeding, tilling, building, harvesting & even creating amazing works of art with kids like mosaic. I got to help out for a few hours one day building their cobb toolshed/bathroom/utility building. What an amazing way to build natural yet strong structures. I cannot wait to get to work on more cobbing one day!
I also have added some links to my blog-page of sites that I use regularly. Maybe they will be of interest to you too!
peace, 6 days till take off to sweden!!
http://www.justicetalking.org/viewprogram.asp?progID=586
Monday, February 5, 2007
the first lala update
blustery winter greetings of warmth,
even though I enjoy other folks blogs I never thought I would set one up for myself. With an upcoming trip abroad looming in my mind I am taking little moments to prepare various traveling aspects ahead of time. I think this just may be a cool way to stay in touch with friends & families. I can only imagine how exciting this will be to write to all of my friends at once & they can check in on their own time! my mind is full of cool reasons to start this up...
Plus sometimes I lack human-contact and perhaps this will help stay in touch with friends & family who I do not live near to. I miss you all & am sorry that moving away often creates chasms in relationships, but I love where I live! Come visit Lillian's Farm. It is an exciting place year-round but expecially enjoyable during the gardening season.
all my best,
lala
even though I enjoy other folks blogs I never thought I would set one up for myself. With an upcoming trip abroad looming in my mind I am taking little moments to prepare various traveling aspects ahead of time. I think this just may be a cool way to stay in touch with friends & families. I can only imagine how exciting this will be to write to all of my friends at once & they can check in on their own time! my mind is full of cool reasons to start this up...
Plus sometimes I lack human-contact and perhaps this will help stay in touch with friends & family who I do not live near to. I miss you all & am sorry that moving away often creates chasms in relationships, but I love where I live! Come visit Lillian's Farm. It is an exciting place year-round but expecially enjoyable during the gardening season.
all my best,
lala
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