Another lovely weekend.

Friday night we went to a Mexican party with Kristians class - Bruno and I biked there, while Kristian and his dad came by car. Practical - coz then they could bring the cake I made.

It was a nice evening. There were quite a number of people we knew.

Saturday we got the house cleaned and some gardening done. Bruno cut our hedges, and I cleaned downstairs. From the morning the weather was lovely, so I started out the day by going to town on a few errands.



Axeltorv has become so goodlooking! That is where our produce market is every wednesday and saturday. Above you see our
nice new fountain, and Fredericia Bryghus in the background.

You can tell that the rebuilding of the square is almost over - the shops are returning to the produce market again! It had gotten to be a little sad.



I got the eggs I came for. There were fresh, danish strawberries - yum!



On the way out of there I was pleased to note that Fredericias ugliest house had been torn down. It looked like this:



Now, when you look up, all you see is blue sky. That is a nice change - even if Bruno is sentimental about how he put in the windows in that house - that must have been a loooong time ago!



On the way past the City Hall Square I stopped to take a picture. I promised Roberta more pics from Fredericia - she is insatiable! :-) It was a bit difficult to get the whole square, because someone transformed most of it into a water playground.



On the way home I had to visit Lund+Lund.
I had my mind set on a nice little piece of handcraft for my summer vacation - something that is not too big or too hot to keep in my lap. I had a little chat with Jytte, who is both a "neighbour" from down the street, and also the sister in law of my colleague of many years, Susanne (the other Lund).

And I DID find something really cute:



This pretty, light scarf is designed by Susanne, and you can purchase the yarn at their website, if you would like something similar. There were quite a few pretty colours, and Jytte helped me pick out the perfect trimmings. I can't wait to get started!

On the way home I thought I'd enrich your lives with a look down my tiny little street...



This is where my home is.

Sunday - it rained! I got the morning to myself, as Andreas and Kristina slept (they'd been out yesterday) and Bruno went out to bike.

I got a little work done, and after that I've mostly just enjoyed myselv - felt the warm air drifting in from the open terrace door and listened to the sound of summer rain. Got a long chat on the phone with my mom ... very cozy.

Then home came a happy Bruno-boy wit his new bike, that will be taking him over the alps later this summer.

Yes ... it has been a lovely weekend ... and I wouldn't mind for it to be just a bit longer.

Girls go to the movies

Bodil and I are taking off in a little while... we are going to Panorama in Middelfart to watch Sex and the City - the movie ... yeah!

Bodils favourite SATC-girl is Samantha. I like her a lot too - coz she does what she feels like, and because she is sassy and has great self esteem. But I also really like Miranda - funny, sharp and sarcastic...

Its a real chick flick. We look forward to it!



And no - we haven't been drinking Manhattans all afternoon. Or gotten out the Gucci-bags and Manolo Blahnik heels.

We don't have a problem going just the way we are. :-)

April weather in june

Yesterday they said on TV, that we'd be getting april weather today.

They were dead on!
I've been having a day off, and have been doing a little laundry.

This morning the weather looked fabulous!



My garden, bathed in morning sun, the air crisp from the night rain ... aaahhh!

But every time I hung my laundry out to dry, it started raining. First time I was being cocky - I hung it on the strings in the back of the garden - and 5 minutes later it was dripping from the sky.

Second time I was being more careful. It looked nice and blue, but I didn't quite trust it. I hung the clothes on my little portable string-thing, and placed it close to the house, near the stairs to the cellar. 5 minutes later it was POURING.

Now I just went on a garden excursion. I was scrutinizing our pear tree to find pears. I didn't see many - though there were some!



Do you see it? Dead center of the picture. But the tree bears other fruits. I opened - nonchalantly and unthinking - the birdcase hanging much too low on the pear tree - and hurriedly shut it again. Later I snuck down to take a picture - and now I will leave the little tenant alone!



It looks like what is called a "mejse" in danish - anyone know what it is? I think it is roosting (it that what it is called?) and I will leave it at peace in the future!

I just hung out more clothes. And it's been more than 5 minutes - it is still not raining. How lucky can you get?

Full house

Andreas is home again - it is very nice!

Things marched into columns all by themselves - we were invited to daughter in law Mettes 30th birthday saturday, in Roskilde not too far from Copenhagen. It was nice, meeting her family and friends, and fun meeting Christinas roommates in her new apartment in Amager.

We stayed the night in a camping cottage on a lovely camping site in Roskilde, and left there early sunday morning, coz Andreas was due to arrive at 9. It got to be a bit later - but oh my, it was great to see him and Kristina again!

We drove home, and Andreas found it a bit odd that we were going to Fasanvej - when he left, we still lived in Snoghøj.

One of his first actions was to open the birthday presents awaiting him. He turned 21 last weekend. One of the gifts was a russian military hat from his grandparents in Kibæk.



Andreas is so lucky. He's got a "mormor" (mothers mother), a grandmother and a grandfather, plus his grandma and grandpa. Mormor of course is my mother. Grandmother and grandfather are my exhusbands parents - they have known Andreas since he was 3, and to them he is 100% their grandchild. Grandma and grandpa are Andreas' biological grandparents from the US - so he is a young man with many grandparents! :-)

We got around to setting up the guest room so it works for him. His TV came up yesterday, and today we add a desk for his PC. His clothes are in a bedroller under the bed, and the rest of his belongings are stacked up in boxes :-) We don't count on him living here for too long.



Andreas managed to stay awake all day yesterday, and to go to sleep at about 11. Then he slept like a rock until 7 this morning, so I think he's got jetlag beat. He sure looked well rested!

Good for him - he starts working at Coca Cola at 2 in the afternoon today - there is money to be made now!

It is wonderful to have him home - even if it's just for a short while, before Kristina and him move to Aalborg as planned.

I've taken a spontaneous day off (thank you project manager Hans) and will enjoy having the kid to myself for a bit...

Visitors, School trip and a summer sonday

Oh.

What a glorious weather we've had this weekend, and what a lovely weekend it has been. I feel the sun in my skin - not too much, because I have slapped on factor 20 on my face, neck, decolletage, shoulders and arms - where I usually get too much sun.

Friday I worked at home. Sigh. It's tough when the weather outside is wonderful and green, and the view from my workstation is as alluring as mine.



Somehow I got a lot done, as you do, when you get to work undisturbed. And when my working day was suddenly over I was a busy bee and baked bread. I am a great fan of ready-to-mix pumpernickel. When you use them, you have 30 g left over yeast, that you can transform into delicious cinnamon rolls.



I invented the recipe myself.

About ½ a litre of luke warm water is added to the yeast to dissolve it. Salt, a bit of suger and a dash of oil is added, and then you add a suiting amount of flour, one egg, a handful of cinnamon and a good amount of raisins. Leave the dough to rise to double size.

Put the rolls on baking plates and leave to rise for 10 minutes, then bake 10-12 minutes at 200 celcius.



They taste great, and then you don't have 3/5 of a package of yeast rolling around your fridge.

Our guests friday night didn't get cinnamon rolls. They got bbqed pork chops and sausages (I have a colleague that sell grill sausages made out of limousine beef - yum!) with parsley/garlic potatoes, good homemade bread, salad and tzatziki - and a couple of bottles of Ch. la Pujade.

We had a massively nice time.

Saturday morning my mouth tasted bad - as if a clove of garlic had crept into my mouth to die in the course of the night - along with a foul old wine cork. Eeew. But I hurried up and got myself all perky, coz we were to visit Bodils school from next year - for new-students-day.

First we swooped by Germany for coke and other supplies. The kids were in a great mood - not very sibling-like in this pic:



After that we went to the school. It's in a tiny town - Højer - not too far from Tønder. It is a long way out in the country.



But they focus on design, and Bodil really wants to learn more about textile design, which is on of the lines on that school. She is really looking forward to starting there in august.

Today Bruno has been out biking with Carsten. Meanwhile I have enjoyed the sun and done laundry.

Ahead is a busy week. Monday and tuesday is covered in meetings, and wednesday I will be busy catching up. Thursday is our constitution day - and friday I have taken a day off.

Wednesday afternoon Bruno and I take off in the general direction of Paris. We are having a lovers weekend in the city of cities, my honey and me.

A beautiful man, a beautiful town - and a summer that has just begun.
Can one wish for more?

On sexiness in men

Ask any woman what is sexy in a man, and she will start thinking looks: hands, ass, shoulders, smile, eyes, face.

I am no exception to that rule.

I don't know where it comes from - because the truth is, that sexiness is not the product of a mans looks. And I don't know why we always start out our line of thought on the subject right there with the ass and the shoulders.



Maybe it's pure reflex. Maybe it isn't the men, that are simple, lust-controlled creatures - maybe it is really us women. Anyway, I am more inclined to believe, that what we do is just grab the easy definition of sexiness.



Imagine the man (or woman, if you like women) that you find the sexiest of all. Is he completely perfect? Does he have tight buns, polished paws, the right hair, a smile like Nicolas Cage (or Julia Roberts) or the elegance of Johnny Depp (or Penelope Curz)? No??

My beloved is - objectively - not completely perfect. Were he to audition for a model, he would probably be told that he is a bit on the stocky side, and that his legs could certainly be longer. He hasn't been madly into skincare or have had botox shots, so you can tell by his face that he's lived.
But I think he is very hot!!



I actually know men, that objectivly are leaning towards ugly - who just have personalities that make them quite strongly attractive. Sexy, even. A friend I had years ago, actually assembled Goofy a bit, but once you'd spent 5 minutes with him, you didn't notice at all.

Same goes for women. Don't you know her - Yes, the one that you see at parties, allways where the action is, never lacking dance partners? She might not be very young, skinny or particularly beautiful, but she's got something else. Precense, to name one thing.

When I elect to wave off the hormone-daze, when posed the question of what is sexy in a man, the answer is actually quite clear. And it doesn't have a lot to do with looks. The five primary factors, that makes a man sexy to me is:
* He's got brains and is able to challenge me
* He's got a sense of humour and likes to use it
* He uses his wit and humour to have fun - not to hurt
* He gets involved and exited and carried away with ideas
* He masters listening as well as speakin

A non-modelish-male with the above qualities can make me short of breath and shiny-eyed.
On the other hand, he can look just like Brad Pitt - if his head is empty or he lacks humour, he is indifferent to me.



I admit - there are turn-offs (and turn-ons) in exterior things. A man can be funny, smart and engaging - if he is not well groomed, he'll never hit sexy on my scale.

It is actually quite lucky I feel that way. That the inside has impact on how you see the outside. I mean, how often do you see physically beautiful men with a pudgy, middle aged, slightly flat chested girl on their arm?

But isn't it strange, how we always leave more space for "nice ass" and "wide shoulders" more space in our vocabulary? When a well-shaped brain is as least as sexy...

The weekend that disappeared...

Oops ... this weekend is nearly gone.

The kids have been with their dad, and Bruno and I worked - primarily on the picture window room, and cleaning the house. We took the old kids carpet off the floor and cleaned the floor underneath.

We patched the holes in the wall and made it ready for painting. And Bruno painted the hall upstairs that had a ghastly 90-ish salmon colour.

Saturday we worked until 8 at night, and then we went to town to find some dinner. We ended up at Fredericia Brewhouse, where we had nachos with chicken and the house beer.

After that we went around town for a walk. Going past the English Pub we noticed that Tom Donovan was playing in there. We decided to go in there for a beer, and ended up staying for the concert. We were home at 00.30 - it was really a fun evening and completely unplanned.

Today we worked on, enjoyed the sun or a bit and watched a bit of Giro d'Italia - they are in the mountains now, so we like to watch it.

What a lovely weekend.

Kristian is home from his dad - Bodil stays there until wednesday. Its nice that she has a good time with him, that makes me happy.

Tomorrow the working week starts - and for once a WHOLE five day week :-)

Have a nice working week, everyone...