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)
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
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.
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