Month: November 2011

I need structure!

DIANE IN DENMARK

I posted another recipe over at myLittle Red File blog today.  For Gypsy Tart.   But as it didn’t turn out as expected, don’t worry if you don’t feel like clicking your way over there! ;D

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about my blog(s) and I really feel that I need to get some structure.  Declutter.  Just like the Flylady did with her website last week!  You see, there’s loads of (good, ha!) stuff in here that I’d completely forgot I had written.  Yet I can’t find the things that I’m looking for…  (Yep, tagging isn’t one of my strong points.)  Folders for craft stuff, food, Flylady, Denmark, etc, etc.

When I started this blog in August 2009, I thought it was going to be a nice little hobby.  But the number of posts keeps growing and it’s getting very unwieldly.  So I think I’m going to have to reach out and seek help and get things more organised.  Because it’s doing my head in! ;D  And how do I do that?  I have no idea.  Go on a blog course?  Ask a fellow blogger?  Pay a professional?

Hmm, scary.  [And it might cost me money?  Eek!]  But then again, that’s exactly how I felt before hitting the button to publish my very first post.  Maybe this is going to be my latest Scaredy Cat Challenge?  As (dear old twitter friend) Emma always says, “We shall see”!

Have a terrific Tuesday! 🙂

Christmas Planning 2011 – 7 weeks to go!

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Another Monday.  Another round-up of Christmas planning! 🙂

I finally got the kids photos wrapped.  With lots of help from DD9 (who also wrote out all the to/from stickers).  I bought four different rolls of wrapping paper from Ikea but I have to admit that there was something rather pleasing about wrapping everything up in the same paper…

I also wrapped – this time away from little prying eyes – the kids’ advent gifts.  In Denmark it’s traditional to give the kids a tiny present every day in December.  I tried doing that for a couple of years and a) it was time consuming b) need I say stressful to find 24 different small gifts? c) expensive bien sûr and, d) the kids said “Wow!” when they opened their gift each morning, before promptly throwing said gift into a pile with all the others, before moving on to something else.  So now we give them a present each Advent Sunday morning.  And I’ve already bought and wrapped them – ha!

Advent Sunday pressies for the kids (in my kitsch but cute white heart basket)

The kids and I took a trip to our local Danish library yesterday and I got lots of inspirational books.  [The librarian actually went into the storeroom and got the Christmas chariot of books out for me.  They had it all ready to go but weren’t planning to put it out on display for another few days.  She thought I was very organised! ;D ]  I’m not planning to make oodles of decorations or bake biscuits and cakes en masse but it’s nice to get a few new ideas.  And there’s nothing cosier than sitting reading these books – with a cup of hot tea and a blanket over your knees – while the weather outside continues to deteriorate 🙂

I set myself some Christmas planning goals last week and – eek! – I still haven’t firmed up our Christmas plans…  So I’m hoping to get that done online tonight.  Don’t want to find out that there’s no room at the Inn! ;D

And my goals for next week?  Well, as the diary is filling up with Christmas lunches, concerts, bazars, etc, etc, I want to get the freezer filled up with easy eats.  I’m thinking of making up a few lasagnes, my world-famous Danish meatloaf (Forloren Hare).  And lots of cooked minced beef that I can pull from the freezer, pop into the crockpot and turn into bolognese (meat) sauce, chili con carne, taco filling or Beef in a Bowl (Oksekød i fad).

And if I have time at the weekend, I’m going to go through our Christmas decoration boxes.  I’m sure there are a few things that can be decluttered (and that school would be happy to receive) and I know I already have lots of red candles/Christmas serviettes in there.  (For some reason, I tend to go overboard buying those items.)  Knowledge is power.  And less money spent in the shops on stuff we already have… ;D

Check back next week for another round-up.  In the meantime, have a marvelous Monday and check out the Flylady’s website for more Christmas planning! 🙂

Sceptical Guinea Pig

DIANE IN DENMARK

I received a parcel recently which, to be perfectly honest, I never expected to receive.  Last month a Danish glossy mag was looking for people to test wrinkle cream. Nothing dangerous – just a new fangled ‘anti-ageing/anti-wrinkle/anti-gravity’ cream produced by a well-known cosmetic company.

To be considered for their test panel you had to fill out a questionnaire – age, income, bla, bla, bla.  The last question was your reason for wanting to test the product.  I wrote (in Danish) that I was curious because there has never been any clinical proof that wrinkle creams actually have any effect… And, lo and behold, the box turned up!  Ha!

So here’s an up-close-and-personal ‘before’ shot of me sans maquillage (eek!), before I applied the cream for the first time.  I’m supposed to use the cream for four weeks and then report back.

And here I am again, two weeks into the test.  Hmm, no visible improvement so far.  On the other hand – said the Canny Scot – I got a tub of face cream for free! ;D

I shall, of course, give you another update in two weeks at the end of the test.  (Just don’t hold your breath waiting for a miracle.)

Have a fantastic Friday and a fabulous weekend! 🙂

Menu plan – Thursday 3 November 2011

DIANE IN DENMARK

We’re now into November, the winter tyres are going on the car tomorrow, our wood-burning stove is lit every night and candles are burning morning, afternoon and evening! 🙂

And, as the temperatures drop outside, it’s time to start making lots of warming stews and casseroles.  Here’s this week’s menu at Casa Copenhagen:

*  game stew (a mix of vegetables/venison straight from the supermarket deli counter, just needs to be flashfried) served with bulgur wheat (made in my beloved ricecooker)

*  leftover spaghetti bolognese with vegetables added, breadcrumbs and cheddar cheese on the top, baked in the oven

*  That old British classic…Toad in the Hole – don’t know what that is?  An explanation and the recipe is here! 🙂  We’ll have it with salad on the side.

*  Abrikos oksegryde (beef and apricot stew) served with mashed potato and broccoli.  It’s a recipe I’m trying out – probably in my crockpot – for my Little Red Fileblog

*  Spinattærte med æble, bacon og feta (spinach quiche with apple, bacon and feta cheese) – another recipe I’m making for my Little Red File blog

*  last week we were supposed to have fish (which had been bumped from the menu for weeks!) and – yep, folks – it’s still in the freezer!  Crossing my fingers that our plans won’t change this week…  Will cover it with herbs and breadcrumbs and bake it and serve it with The Pioneer Woman’s crash (leftover) potatoes, remoulade sauce and a green salad

*  leftover night…or soup, toasted sandwiches and fresh veggie sticks

Bon appétit!

Have a lovely ‘Little Friday’! 🙂

Other people’s clutter…

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In honour of Anti-Procrastination Wednesday, here’s a little story with a happy ending!  Wednesdays in Flylady land are those days when you give yourself a gentle kick in the pants, do something which you’ve been putting off for days/months/weeks and just go ahead and do it.  With – of course – oodles of peace of mind to follow! 😀

One (Anti-Procrastination) Wednesday morning I got home from the school and had finally had Enough.  [Insert steam coming out of my ears here.]  I was tired of this sight.  An old, battered, rusty, falling-apart-at-the-seams car that had been parked right outside our house.  And hadn’t moved an inch…for 11 months!

Now you see it…

So that morning I contacted our local police who, miracle of miracles, gave me the name and address of the owner.  DH phoned the owner.  Who confirmed what we thought all along…  That the car had broken down and was supposed to be scrapped – but they just hadn’t got round to finding the paperwork etc, etc.   Ha!  Someone else who could do with the Flylady programme in their life! ;D

The owner promised to have the car removed.  And I made a note in my diary to ring him again within three weeks – just in case!

Two weeks later I came out to find the car being towed away.  Hooray!  And guess which weekday it was?  Ha!  Wednesday!  ;D

Now you don’t!

(Apart from the outline it left in the tarmac…)

Hope you have a wonderful Anti-Procrastination Wednesday! 🙂

1st November and still going strong!

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Happy 1st November!  And congratulations to my friend V and I for making it through yet another month of Danish helÃ¥rsbadning.  All-year-round sea bathing.  Daily skinny dipping.  Whatever you want to call it – we just can’t get enough of it!

My friend V after a dip on a warm September morning

We’ve had all kinds of weather since we started in the month of May.  Sun.

Rain.

Wind + waves that were bigger than our heads…

Fog…

Surreal to hear fog horns when you’re out having a swim ;D

We’ve managed to avoid stinging jellyfish.

And it’s been a breeze!  So today we celebrated with hot tea and chocolate cake that – as Danish clocks went back on Sunday to mark the end of summertime – we are now officially “winter” bathers or vinterbadere! 😀

And the water temperature today?  It was 9 degrees celcius (or 48.2 fahrenheit).  And it felt fantastic!  And we’re still ‘swimming’ not just ‘dipping’ our bodies in and out of the water.  So we’re in good form for our next winterbathing milestone which is 1st December – when we’ll celebrate with a swim in the water followed by a Christmas lunch by the sea.  And, who knows, maybe there’ll even be some snow?  Brr!

Have a terrific Tuesday! 🙂