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Monday, November 30, 2009

I did it! I posted something every day in November 2009

I did it. Yesterday was the last post for November. Now I have succeeded in posting something on this blog for 30 days for NaBloPoMo 2009!
Now I can finally let my cat Sara get back to blogging and I can take a rest.
Happy December!
Anna
First Commenter: Lin from

Mellow Yellow Monday # 45 - Neighbours' house


MellowYellowBadge
Time passes quickly. Remember this nice yellow hedge-row from a few weeks ago? It was a perfect shot for an earlier Mellow Yellow Monday Meme.

And here is my neighbours' house, that I can see from my kitchen and bathroom windows.

This picture was taken at the same time as the yellow hedge. It's the house behind the hedge. Let's keep an eye on this mellow yellow house and see if we can get an uppdate. What does the house look like now?

Yes, this is the same house, but at eight o'clock in the evening, the same day as I write this post, the day after the first of Advent. You can se that they got their electric Christmas-star and the electric Advent-candles up. (I've got to get mine up too! But not for this post.)

Happy Monday!
Anna


The first commenter is: Scribbler


Sunday, November 29, 2009

Top Droppers for November 2009

What to do? There are five bloggers that have dropped exactly every single day:
And five others that have only missed one day!
There is no one top dropper, but five! And five close runners up! What a feat! Thank you for visiting and dropping so consistantly during the month of November!!
Best wishes
Anna


Saturday, November 28, 2009

This week with EntreCard: Thank you to my EC-advertisers!

Thank you for sponsoring my blog this past week or so !
Please visit these EntreCard friends who had their card on my widget:

Saturday 21 November 2009

Sunday 22 November 2009

Monday 23 November 2009


Tuesday 24 November 2009


Wednesday 25 November 2009


Thursday 26 November 2009

Friday 27 November 2009

Saturday 28 November 2009


Thank you all!
Anna


Friday, November 27, 2009

PhotoHunter theme # 189 Technology - Electric Lighting


This week's PhotoHunt theme # 189 is "Technology".
Electric lighting is a technology that has changed our world entirely. One example is how we decorate for Christmas. Elisabet is checking to see if there are enough batteries in her Lucia-crown that she plans to wear on the 13th of December. The original tradition was to wear lighted, wax candles, which meant that most wearers wrapped a damp towl on their head under the candled-crown, and could only wear this fire-hazard the short time it takes to slowly and majestically step in and around a room, and sing a few Lucia-songs.
A Christmas tree with real candles was also only lit for a short time, and as the high point of a gathering, and then all the candles were quickly snuffed out. A brightly lit room in the evening, was something unusual, expensive and exclusive; something for a very special occation.
Modern electric lighting lets us continue working or playing long after the sun has set.
And perhaps this is longer than our bodies and souls were meant to stay awake.
In a time when only live fire was a source of light outside of the light of day, fire was an ever-present threat. You never left a room with a candle burning. An empty room was also a dark room.
Tomorrow is the first of Advent. We will put up our electric window-lights to mark this. It is a chore I do each year to make our house look cheerier for passers-by during the gloomiest time of the year.
Don't curse the darkness.
Switch a light on instead!

Anna

[Footnote # 1: Many of the ideas expressed in this post were inspired by Anden i Lampan (1993) by Jan Garnert. It is translated into English as well as Chinese.
To find out more please visit Jan Garnert's site: http://www.jangarnert.se/]

[Footnote #2: What or who is or was Lucia? What happens on the 13th of December? Does this all have anything to with something that happens on the 10th of December? If you think you know, write a comment and share with others!]

PhotoHunt





Friday Plant-Watch: Update on orpine-cuttings

Many of you may recall that for Wordless Wednesday on November 11th, I posted pictures of these cuttings of orpine or livelong (kärleksört) that I was given by friendly neighbours who live in the row of houses behind ours.

Today, I can report that the cuttings are sprouting shoots under water in the vases that I put then in.

Hopefully these will turn into roots so I can plant them.
Happy Friday!
Anna


Thursday, November 26, 2009

Thanksgiving Day - In Memory Only

Thanksgiving is not a holiday at all in Sweden. There is a Sunday on the church calender called "Thanksgiving" (tacksägelse), but there is no feast connected with it. Christmas is the big food-holiday here. The warmer weather and lack of snow have made it difficult for me to believe that it is soon First of Advent. Today is Thanksgiving Day, even if no one else around me is giving it any thought.

I have fond childhood memories of my mother's turkey, dressing, gravy, cranberry sauce, sweet potatos, corn-on-the-cobb, and last, but not least, pumpkin pie. Mother learned how to cook in Sweden. But after moving to America, she must have taught herself how to make a Thanksgiving dinner from reading cookbooks or asking neighbour-ladies or her mother-in-law, my grandmother. After I grew up and left home, I have been a party to fewer homemade turkey-dinners with the whole extended family.

One of the last times was in 2004, when Elisabet was only about six months old. My brother and sister-in-law hosted this November-family-gathering. We took turns around the table, saying what we were thankful for, during the past year. I don't remember what anyone said other than my father: He was grateful to have such a wonderful wife, to whom he owed his health and well-being.

Thanksgiving Blessings to All!
Anna

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Wednesday: Happy Birthday Lars!

This is a water-colour sketch of my nephew Lars O. Wigren. His birthday is November 25th, which is often on Thanksgiving Day. This year, it is the day before.
Happy Birthday Lars!
Anna


Tuesday, November 24, 2009

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday: Laundry

Wordless Wednesday

For "Wordless Wednesday", I have been trying to find a subject that needs very few words.

I think I have found a good subject for at least an almost "Wordless Wednesday"-post.

Laundry!

Happy Day-Before-"Turkey-Day"!
Anna

[Many thanks to Rachele from Wine at Five? whose blog post "101 Excuses not to do the laundry" from November 16, 2009, inspired this (Almost) "Wordless Wednesday"-post.]



Monday, November 23, 2009

Ruby Tuesday - animal-shaped, manufactured products


For this week's Ruby Tuesday Meme I have chosen the sub-theme "Ruby Tuesday - animal shaped, manufactured products" which means red, man-made objects that look something like different animals. I have two examples of this:

The first one is a red mouse-mat in the form of a cat. (Do you see the tell-tale cat-hairs? This is a mouse mat used by a real cat!):

The second is an up-dated version of the well-known Swedish design "kobra-telephone", which does look a little like a snake or is indeed "cobra-inspired".

There's the brand-name descretely place behind the ear-part. And it's the right colour for today's ruby-meme.

"It's for you," Elisabet says and hands me the kobra-phone.
It looks big when she holds it, doesn't it? Not a bad Christmas gift? The colour is right. It was very posh when this design was new. This revival model has push buttons and a display, that I have not yet figured out how to use.

Happy Ruby Tuesday!
Anna