Wednesday, February 28, 2018

En kamp med mit fantasi-selv - Fighting My Fantasy Self

Når man vil have et liv, der indeholder det væsentlige, kæmper man somme tider med sit fantasy self, som jeg har omtalt tidligere.

Jeg har lige taget et kritisk blik rundt og fundet nogle ting, som har fået mig til at trække lidt på smilebåndet - af mig selv. Jeg er den 'lykkelige' ejer af både en stempelkande og en tekande med indbygget te-si. Meget smukke og velforarbejdede ting lavet af Bodum.

Det er dér mit fantasi-selv kommer buldrende ind. Jeg havde billedet af, af at jeg skulle leve lidt 'slow living'. Billedet af når jeg velovervejet går ud for at lave en rigtig god kop kaffe/te og sætter mig stille hen og nyder den.

Og hvad gør jeg så? Jeg drøner ud i køkkenet, plopper en kapsel i Nespresso-maskinen, trykker på knappen, og drikker min kaffe, mens jeg laver et eller andet. Eller jeg har spist til aften og vil have en kop te. Går ud i køkkenet, sætter elkedlen på og dropper en tepose i mit glas og kommer kogende vand over, mens jeg rydder af efter middagen. Missionen er fuldført.

Jeg må dog indrømme, at det med at bruge kapselkaffe ikke rigtig stemmer overens med, at jeg gerne vil være så forbrugsbevidst som muligt, men jeg afleverer kapslerne til genbrug og håber, at de rent faktisk bliver genbrugt som lovet af firmaet.

Der er sikkert mange gode ideer om, hvordan jeg kunne gøre dette til en slow proces, men det er ikke mig. Jeg er ikke kreeret til at være 'slow'.

Det samme gælder min Stelton isspand. Drømmen om det smarte cocktail party med isen, der skal puttes i alle de lækre drinks, og som ligger klar i spanden (som iøvrigt kun kan indeholde 10 isterninger). Når jeg en sjælden gang (kan ikke huske hvornår) skal bruge is til en drink, så går jeg ud og tager de isterninger ud, som jeg skal bruge lige nu og putter i drinken. Ikke særlig stilfuldt, men enormt funktionelt.

Så nu bliver de tre ting sat til salg, før de bliver skrammede, og før jeg får vasket dem af og  flyttet dem 128. gang.

Der er ikke meget slow living over mig. Jeg er ikke til langsom kaffe/te og isspande! Så er det afgjort!


When you want to live a life with the essentials only, you sometimes get into a fight with your fantasy self, as I wrote in a previous blog post.

I have just taken a critical look around and found some things, which made me smile - at myself. I am the 'happy' owner of a French press and a tea pot with a build in tea strainer. Very beautiful and well designed things made by Bodum.

That is where my fantasy self comes roaming in. I had the image of myself doing a bit of 'slow living'. The picture of me judiciously deciding to have a cup of coffee/tea and sitting down enjoying it.

And what do I do? I run out into the kitchen, put a coffee capsule into the Nespresso machine, press the button, drink my coffee, while doing something. Or I have had dinner and want a cup of tea. Go to the kitchen, put on the kettle and drop a tea bag in my glass and put boiling water over it, while I am cleaning the table top after dinner. Mission accomplished.

I have to admit, that the use of coffee capsules isn't quite in my concept of living as a conscious consumer, but I do give the capsules to recycling, hoping that the company do exactly with them, what they promise to do.

I am sure, that a lot of good ideas pop up, how I can make this into a slow process, but it isn't me. I am not created to be 'slow'.

It is the same issue with my Stelton ice bucket. The dream about the smart cocktail party with the ice which will go into all the smart drinks, lying ready in the ice bucket (which by the way can hold approx. 10 ice cubes). When I on a rare occasion (cannot remember when) need ice for a drink, then I go and take out the ice cubes, I need right now and put them in the drink. Not very stylish, but really, really functional.

So now these things go for sale, before they get scratched, and before I wash and move them into another space for the 128th time.

I am not Ms. Slow Living. I am not into slow coffee/tea or ice buckets! That is not the way I am designed!

Monday, February 26, 2018

Fødselsdag - Birthday

Jeg har haft fødselsdag og sikke en dag. Jeg blev forkælet af min dejlige familie hele dagen.

Først kom de med morgenmad og senere bortførte de mig til Louisiana, hvor der for tiden er en Picasso udstilling med hans keramiske værker. Louisiana er et smukt sted i sig selv, og det blev ikke dårligere af, at vejret var fantastisk.

Udstillingen var en god oplevelse, og den blev ikke ringede af at have en næsten 5-årig ved hånden. Efter at have sagt: "Jeg keder mig", inden vi var kommet ind ad døren, ændrede han mening. Han blev nysgerrig og syntes, at det var temmelig spændende, at en voksen mand lavede damer med skæve øjne og ugler. Han var også i Børnehuset, hvor der var masser af spændende ting i gang, og han fik lært noget nyt med limpistoler og pap. Jeg tror, at han vil med næsten gang.

Efter at have gået rundt et stykke tid fik vi frokost der ude, og så blev jeg kørt hjem til lagkage og kaffe, hvor vi slappede lidt af, og aftenen sluttede med dejlig mad og vin. Det bedste ved det hele var selvfølgelig det gode selskab.

En fantastisk 12-timers gave. Jeg var fyldt op af alt det gode.



It has been my birthday, and what a day. I was spoiled rotten by my wonderful family all day.

It started with them bringing brunch og later on, they 'kidnapped' me to the art museum Louisiana, where a Picasso ceramics exhibition is at the moment. Louisiana is a beautiful place in wonderfull surroundings, and the weather made it even more beautiful.

The exhibition was a good experience, and it became even more interesting having an almost 5 year old by the hand. After having stated "I am bored", before we entered the door, he changed his mind. He became curious and thought, that it was quite exciting, that a grown man makes ladies with crooked eyes and owls.  Louisiana has a Children House, where children can be creative, and he learned something new with glue guns and cardboard. I think, that we can talk him into going next time.

After having seen a lot of great art we had lunch there, and then I was driven home for birthday cake and coffee, and the day ended with wonderful food and vine. The best part was of course the good company.

A fantastic 12 hours gift. I was overwhelmed.

Friday, February 23, 2018

En ny ting til hjemmet - A New Item for the Home

Det er jo ikke det, jeg helst gør, men jeg har købt en ting, der skal findes plads til. Nu lyder det af så meget, og det er ikke noget stort og livsvigtigt... eller måske er det?

På min vej til et (mere) plasticfrit hjem finder jeg i ny og næ en ting, som jeg bliver nødt til at afprøve, og denne lille kontainer har fundet sin plads i mit skab. Den er købt hos Gå Grøn, som har mange spændende produkter, og jeg er allerede helt vild med den. Et minus - låget går ikke i opvaskemaskine, men det er til at leve med. Det tager jo kun et nanosekund at vaske det op i hånden.

Selvfølgelig skal der så ryge en plastic kontainer, så jeg har plads, og jeg har faktisk flere, der har revnede låg og andre skavanker.

Jeg har stadig plastic ting i mit køkken, fordi når de nu en gang er produceret, og så kan jeg lige så godt bruge dem, indtil deres levetid er omme, før jeg afleverer dem i plastic-skraldet på kontainerpladsen. Alt andet ville være dobbelt spild. Jeg er dog (næsten) sikker på, at ingen af mine madkontainere indholder hormonforstyrrende stoffer. Ikke særlig rart at skrive, faktisk! Nu får jeg helt lyst til at hyle det hele ud.

Men jeg glæder mig til at bruge denne lille fyr, så den bliver skrammet og ridset på den gode måde.

Så rigtig god weekend til jer alle sammen - og hvis I går på loppetorv og køber ind, så undlad at købe plasticting. Især legetøj.

Forresten, denne 'reklame' er ikke sponsoreret!
By the way, this 'ad' isn't sponsered!



It's not something, which I like to do, but I have bought something, which I have to find space for. Now it sound very big, but it isn't something vital... or maybe it is?

On my path to get a (more) plastic free home I now and again find a thing, which I have to try out, and this little container has found its place in my kitchen cabinet. It is bought at Go Green, which is Danish, but I am sure, that I have seen similar containers at Amazon. There are many different good products like this, and I am already over the top happy about this one. One minus - you have to wash the lid by hand, but that is fine. It doesn't take a nanosecond to do so.

Of course I have to get rid of a plastic container now, so I have space, and I actually have several, which have damaged lids and other flaws.

I still have plastic items in my kitchen, because now that they have been produced, I can just as well use them, until their lifespand is over, before I put them into the plastic trash at the garbage site. Anything else would be waste. And I am (almost) sure, that none of my food containers contain hormone disturbing substances. Not really nice to think about, actually! Now I want to throw them all!

But I am looking forward to using this little thing, so it gets it scratches in the good way.

So have a really nice weekend All of You - and if you go to a flee market to shop, then leave the plastic things behind. Especially toys.

Thursday, February 22, 2018

Når tankerne altid kværner... - When Your Thoughts Always Grind...

Lyder det bekendt? Fornemmelsen af at man aldrig holder fri i hovedet?

Det er jo ikke nødvendigvis noget dårligt, men somme tider kommer man i en tilstand, hvor man mærker, at det ikke nødvendigvis behøver at være sådan.

Tak, jeg ved det! Meditation. Yeps, men det har jeg prøvet så mange gange og også over længere perioder, men på en eller anden måde ender det altid med, at jeg sidder og planlægger noget. Meditations-koden har jeg ikke knækket. Måske en dag...

Men indtil da, så når jeg næsten den tilstand, når jeg strikker. Så er tankerne ikke så påtrængende, at jeg ville kunne fortælle, hvad jeg har tænkt på i den halve time, hvor jeg har siddet og nørklet.

Så der er måske flere metoder at meditere på som ikke behøver at indebærer, at man sidder helt stille og kæmper for at få fred i hovedet.

Og der er andre fordele ved min metode. Nu er der en lille blå ulden sweater på vej til Favorit Storebror, og den skal strikkes færdig hurtigst muligt, for i næste uge skulle vi få polarfrost.

Så jeg får meget fred i hovedet de næste par dage :-)

Hvad gør du for at få ro i hovedet - eller i det mindste mindre støj?


Does this sound familiar? That your head never takes a time off?

Well, it is not necessarily something bad, but sometimes you get in a state, where you feel, that it doesn't have to be that way.

Thanks, I know! Meditation. Yeps, but I have tried it so many times and over longer periods, but it always ends up with, that I am sitting planning something. I have until now not been able to break the meditation code. Maybe some day...

But until that day comes, I almost get in that state, when I knit. Then the thoughts aren't that intrusive, that I would be able to tell, what I have been thinking about for that half hour, I have been sitting fiddling with my yarn.

So maybe there are more methods to meditation, which doesn't include sitting totally quite trying to make your head stop spinning.

And there are other advantages with my method. Now a little blue wool sweater is on the way to Favorite Big Brother, and it has to be finished in a hurry, because we will have very cold weather next week.

So I will have a very peaceful head the next couple of days :-)

What do you do, that makes your head go quite - or at least not so noisy?

Monday, February 19, 2018

Genhusning, svært at vente - Rehousing, Difficult to Wait

Der sker en masse ting her! Der bliver gravet, afspærret, lavet altanarbejde - og det går alt for langsomt. I hvert fald, når man venter.

Men det ser ud til, at det går efter planen. Det meste, der nu er i gang, er forberedelse. Og forberedelse tager tid.

Men spændingen stiger, og for nogle mennesker er det for meget. Temmelig mange flytter nu. Meget gamle mennesker og mennesker, der ikke har boet her så længe og ikke føler noget tilhørsforhold, bliver nervøse både for at skulle genhuses, og for at huslejen stiger, hvilket den selvfølgelig gør.

Men der var ikke så meget andet at gøre end at sige ja til renovationen, da bygningerne ellers ikke ville have været til at redde om 10 år. Samtidig fyrer vi mere for fuglene end for os selv. Vi fik flere og flere vandskader både i kældre og lejligheder, og sådan noget er også dyrt i længen, så der var ingen vej tilbage. Men jeg forstår godt nervøsiteten.

Jeg har både tilhørsforhold og ser frem til fornyelsen. At blive i 'mit' område og samtidig få en nyrenoveret bolig kan ikke være bedre.

Så jeg håber, at tidsplanen holder. Det kan kun gå for langsomt!

Før - i morgendis
Before - in thee morning mist

Nu - i dag efter adskillige lag køregrus. Man kan se, hvor mange lejligheder, der skal ordnes, før det bliver min tur!
Now - today after laying several layers of driving gravel. You can see, how many flats which are going to be made, before it is my turn!

I det fjerne - Altaner, der bliver klargjort til nye facader
In the distance - Balconies being made ready for new house fronts

A lot of things are happening her. Digging, fencing, working on balconies - and it is just going too slowly. At least that is how it feels, when you are waiting.

But it seems that all is going according to the plan, but most of the works going on now is preparations. And preparations take time. Quite a lot of people are moving out now. Very old people and people, who haven't lived here for a long time and do not feel attached to the area, get nervous about both the rehousing, and that the rent is going up, which of course it will.

But there wasn't much to do, but to say yes to the renovation, otherwise the buildings wouldn't have been in a condition 10 years from now, which would have been worth saving. We are heating our homes to stay warm in winter, and just as much heat go to the birds outside the windows. We had more and more water damages both in basements and flats, and that kind of repairs are expensive, so there was no other way left. But I understand the nervousness.

I am attached to the area, and I am looking forward to the result. To stay in 'my' area and at the same time to get better living conditions cannot be any better.

So I hope that the time plan is going to stick. It can only go to slow!

Wednesday, February 14, 2018

Ind- og udlisten for januar 2018 - The In and Out List for January 2018

Så er januar-listen klar, og året er startet godt. Der er flere ting på ud-listen end på indlisten. Nu skal det ikke forstås sådan, at mit mål er at eje ingenting. Det har jeg også sagt før. Men der er ting, jeg 'vokser fra', og så er der er nye behov, der skal dækkes. Så her kommer det.

Ud-listen ser sådan ud:
  1. Flere par sokker med huller! 
  2. 3 tusser - de var brugt op (mit forråd er blevet brugt op og jeg blev godt nok overrasket over, hvor dyre tusser er blevet!)
  3. Kettlebell - 2 kg er jo ingenting!
  4. Kaj dukke - dublet
  5. 2 meter hvidt stof - som jeg havde mange planer med, men det duede ikke!
  6. Urtepotteskjuler - passer ikke i mine farver
  7. Råhvid bluse - jeg kan ikke passe den længere
  8. Sort top - den var slidt op og er nu smidt ud
  9. Gymnastikbukser - det samme som ovenfor
  10. Strikkebog - har ikke flere små mennesker i nærheden, der kan passe så småt tøj
  11. 7 hjemmestrikkede karklude - jeg synes, at de er for tykke og tørrede for langsomt
  12. Limpistol
Indlisten er heldigvis kortere:
  1. 10 par sorte sokker, uheldigvis af dårlig kvalitet!
  2. 3 tusser - til det daglige skrivearbejde
  3. Fnugrulle - der kan vaskes. Så ikke flere fnugruller, der bare smides ud
  4. Grøn plante - én var gået ud
  5. Bog - om penge!
Bortset fra den sorte top og gymnastikbukserne, der bare er blevet smidt ud, fordi de var totalt slidt op, er alt gået til genbrugsshoppen.

Det er så dejligt at få ryddet det uvedkommende ud.




Now the January list is ready, and the year has started well. There are more items on the Out List than on the In List. Don't misunderstand me, I don't want to end up owning nothing, as I said before, but my needs change. I 'grow out' of some things, and other new things come into my life covering new needs. So here we go:

The Out List looks like this:
  1. Quite a few pair of socks with holes
  2. 3 markers - which had run dry (my stash has also run dry, and I was really surprised, when I found out, how expensive they are now!)
  3. Kettlebell - 2 kilos, ha, not at all heavy enough
  4. Hand doll called Kaj - the family had one already
  5. 2 meters of white fabric- thought that I had a good idea, but I was wrong
  6. Plant holder - doesn't fit my colors
  7. Blouse - doesn't fit any more
  8. Black top - worn thin and torn and has gone to trash
  9. Gym pants - same as above
  10. Knitting book - have no more kids around in such small sizes
  11. 7 homeknitted dish cloths - I think that they are too thick, and they dry so slowly
  12. Glue Gun
The In List is luckily much shorter:
  1. 10 pair of black socks - unfortunately of bad quality :-(
  2. 3 markers - daily writing material
  3. Lint roll, reuseable - no more disposible rollls
  4. Green plant - one had died!
  5. Book about money!
Apart from the black top and the gym pants, which both went to the trash, all the other items have gone to the second hand shop.

It is so nice to get rid of the unimportant stuff.

Monday, February 12, 2018

Selfcare og økonomi - Self Care and Economy

I fortsættelse af min blogpost 'De 3 søm' har jeg tænkt meget på, hvor ofte der i bladene bliver talt om 'self care', og jeg læste en artikel forleden, der handlede om præcis det. At gøre noget for sig selv. Den tog en lidt anden indfaldsvinkel til spørgsmålet om, hvad det egentlig går ud på. Eller burde gå ud på. Er det at få en massage? At tage på ferie? At købe en ny kjole? At forkæle sig selv på en eller anden måde. At købe en lille belønning, "for jeg har været så.... et-eller-andet".

Burde self care være noget helt andet? Måske at tage ansvar for sig selv og sit liv?

Måske burde self care være
  • at være ansvarlig i pengesager. At leve for det man tjener. Ikke for det man låner.
  • at købe ordentlige fødevarer. At spise ting, der er godt for én de fleste dage i ugen og gå amok en gang imellem.
  • at have en bolig, man har råd til at bo i. Ikke en bolig som strammer økonomien, bare fordi man gerne vil vise andre, at man har magt over tingene.
  • at få rørt sig, så ens krop ikke 'sander til'. Ikke nødvendigvis at træne 3-4 gange om ugen, men at få rørt sig hver dag.
  • at omgås mennesker, man elsker og sætter pris på og sortere dem fra, der kun dræner og spreder negavitet.
  • at erkende, hvem man er, og hvad man har og at handle derefter. Ikke efter hvad naboen kan og gør - for det kan han/hun måske slet ikke, når det kommer til stykket, for man ved aldrig, hvordan tingene ser ud under overfladen, og om folk kæmper for at bevare et image.
Self care er ikke (nødvendigvis) at gå ud og spendere en ny bil, taske eller et par sko. Det varmer kun i øjeblikket. Self care er at ansvar for sig selv og sit liv uden at skele til resten af verden - og at være stolt af det - og så sover man så godt.

DET er self care!

F.eks. bo dyrt eller bo billigt. Bestem, hvad dine penge kan strække til.
Eg. live expensivelly or cheap. Deside,what your money can stretch for. 



In continuation of my blogpost 'The 3 nails' I have thought about, what the magazines say about self care, and the other day I read an article, which was about exactly that. To do something for yourself. But it took a different angle than usual to the question about, what it maybe should be. It is to have a massage? Go on holiday? Buy a dress? To spoil yourself in some way. To buy a little reward, "because I have been so.... something".

But should self care be something totally different? Maybe to take responsibility for yourself and your life?

Should self care be
  • to be responsible with your money. To live for what you earn, not for loans.
  • to buy quality food. To eat things, which is good for you most days and go wild once in a while.
  • to live in a place, you can afford. Not a place which stretches the economy, just because you want to show the world, that you are on top.
  • to have some exercise, so you body doesn't 'rust'. Not necessary to exercise 3-4 times a week, but to get moving every day.
  • to be with people, you love and appreciate, and sort those away, who are draining you and spreading negativity.
  • to acknowledge, who you are, and what you have and act from that. Not from what the neighbor can and does - because maybe he/she cannot, when it comes to the point, because you never know, what's under the surface, and if people just are fighting to take care of an image.
Self care isn't (necessarily) to go and spend money on a car, a pair of shoes or a bag. That feeling only lasts for a moment. Self care is to take responsibility for yourself without comparing with the rest of the world - and to be proud of it - and then you sleep to well.

THAT  is self care.

Wednesday, February 7, 2018

Et kvinde med attitude - A Woman with an Attitude

For nogle uger siden så jeg en tv-udsendelse, der hedder 'Kender du typen'. Denne gang var de medvirkende på besøg hos en ung kvinde, der bor i en et-værelses lejlighed. Jeg kender ikke så meget til hende, men forstod, at hun er instagrammer og blogger, debattør, feminist og studerer tv- og medietilrettelæggelse.

Hun ejer stort set intet udover en seng/sofa, et sminkebord og 2 garderobestativer med klassisk tøj og nogle hylder med mærkevaresko- og tasker. Alt sammen investerings-objekter. Og intet andet.

Det, der fangede mig, var hendes kompromisløshed. Hun havde totalt vægtet sine egne værdier og ikke omverdenens, og man kan selvfølgelig diskutere om dyre tasker og sko er værdifulde, men man kan ikke diskutere, at her er en kvinde, der er helt stringent med, hvad hun gør og vil.

Det er beundringsværdigt - i mine øjne. Ikke nødvendigvis lige hendes værdier, men vi kan alle lære af det hendes attitude. At turde være os selv og arbejde for de ting, som vi VIRKELIG gerne vil have og gøre.

Vi kan lære ikke at skæve til, hvad der forventes af os. Vi kan erkende, hvem vi er, og hvordan vi fungere bedst. Vi kan erkende, hvad vi har behov for, selvom det ikke er på top-10 listen over coolness og trends.

Jeg er sikker på, at det hele ville blive meget mere spændende, hvis vi lukkede vores egne drømme ud og gik efter det, som gør os gladest helt uden at bekymre os om, hvad naboen tænker, tror og forventer af us.

Men måske har naboen også nogle spændende drømme?

Tør du flyve? - Dare to fly?

A couple a weeks ago I watched a tv show, called (directly translated) 'Do you know the Type'. This time the hosts were visiting a young kvinde (if you press the link, it is all in Danish, but take a look anyway). She lives in one room. I don't know much about her, but found out, that she is a blogger, on Instagram, debater, feminist and studies TV and media at the university.

She owns a sofa/bed, a make-up table and two clothes racks with classic clothes, some shelves with designer shoes and bags. All of the investment pieces. And no more!

What caught my attention was her uncompromising attitude. She totally weighed her own values and didn't care about the outside world's opinion, and you can of course discuss if bags and shoes are of any value, but you cannot discuss, that this is a woman totally rigorous with what she does and wants.

That is - in my eyes - admirable. Not her values in particular, but we can all learn from her attitude. To dare being ourselves and work for the things, which we REALLY want to have and do.

We can learn not to lean against, what is expected of us. We can acknowledge, who we are, and how we are functioning the best. We can acknowledge, what we need, even though it isn't on the top 10 list of coolness and trends.

I am sure, that everything would become much more exciting and fun, if we let out our own dreams run free and went for, what makes us the happiest without worrying about, what the neighbor thinks and expects from us.

Maybe even the neighbor has some exciting dreams?

Sunday, February 4, 2018

DIY igen - DIY again

Jeg er inde i en bølge af  DIY projekter, og det er jo ret sjovt og vil bestemt dumt ikke at udnytte det. Nogle mennesker er kreative hele tiden. Det er jeg ikke. Jeg oplever al ting i bølger. Somme tider er jeg inde i en læseperiode. Somme tider i en maleperiode og somme tider en håndarbejdsperiode.

Men her på det sidste har det faktisk været ret regelmæssigt. Jeg har næsten hele sidste år haft noget mellem hænderne, og det er dejligt.

Sidste år strikkede jeg en plaid, som blev færdig en gang i forsommeren, og det var så dejligt at strikke, at jeg måtte fortsætte med en sweater. Jeg kastede mig over en model, som bliver strikket fra halsen og ned. Det har jeg aldrig prøvet før, men det er ikke sidste gang, jeg gør det.

Da den var næsten færdig, fik jeg en bestilling på en hue, så den lavede jeg og vendte tilbage til sweateren - som nu er færdig, og nu er halvdelen af den næste hue lavet, så snart har Største og Mellemste Favoritperson en hue hver.

Da jeg i sidste uge passede Favorit Storebror, lagte han for første gang for alvor mærke til mit strikketøj, hvor efter han 'bestilte' en sweater i blå og grøn med knapper! Han er snart 5 år og går ganske meget op i, hvordan han ser ud - undtaget når han leger i mudder eller finde sjove ting i den vådeste plet i mellem træer og buske - heldigvis! Så den går jeg i gang med, når jeg har fået købt garn en gang i den kommende uge.

Og så ligger der et mønster til en pude i min håndarbejdskasse. En broderet pude! Ikke noget jeg normalt giver mig i kast med, men jeg har lyst til at prøve, og det vil jo være dumt ikke at udnytte den det også.



Af en eller anden grund kan jeg ikke få den rigtige farve frem, men den er altså lys grågrøn
For some reason I cannot get the right color on the photo, but it is light greyish-greenish

I have entered a wave of DIY projects, and it is a lot of fun and would definitely be stupid not to take advantage of. Some people are creative all the time. I am not. I do everything in periods. Sometimes I have a period of reading, sometimes a painting period and sometimes a knitting period.

But lately the need of having something creative in my hands has been on a regular basis. I have had some kind of knitting all year last year, and it is nice.

Last year I knitted a blanket, which was done early summer, and it was so nice, that I had to continue with a sweater. For the first time I tried knitting a model, which was knitted from the neck and down, and it is not the last time, that I will do that.

When it was almost done, I had an 'order' for a hat, so I made that and returned to the sweater - which now is finished, and a new hat is in the making, so now Biggest and Medium Favorite Persons both have a hat (soon).

When I last week had Favorite Big Brother on a sleepover, he noticed my knitting for the first time for real, and after a talk about knitting he 'ordered' a sweater in blue and green with buttons! He is almost 5 and is quite interested in, how he looks - except when he is playing in mud or finding stuff in the most wet spot between trees and bushes - which is great! So I will start that, when I have bought yarn some time next week.

And theen there is a pattern for a pillow. An embroidered pillow! Not something which I normally jump out into, but I want to try, and it would be stupid not to follow that idea, too.


Friday, February 2, 2018

De 3 søm - The 3 nails

Jeg er blevet lidt fristet til at tage fat på noget økonomi-snak her i begyndelsen af året, selv om januar nu er slut.

Når folk klager over økonomien og om, hvor hurtigt pengene forsvinder, får det mig altid til at tænke på mine bedsteforældres økonomisystem. Det bestod af 3 søm på væggen over køkkenbordet. Det vil sige, at det var egentlig 3 kroge, men vi kaldte det 'sømmene', det var nok til at styre økonomien.

Det vil sige, min mormor styrede. Det blev der ikke talt om, men det gjorde hun! Min morfar fik sin løn i kontanter, og når han kom hjem med lønningsposen, blev den hængt op på det første søm. På næsten søm hang diverse indbetalingskort, huslejeopkrævninger osv, der var kommet ind i løbet af måneden, og på det tredie søn hang en tom pose. Når månedens udgifter var betalt, kom resten af pengene ned i den sidste pose, og de skulle slå til hele måneden. Der var ikke noget, der hed at låne penge til noget som helst.

Hvis der var udgifter, der skulle betales kvartalsvis, regnede min mormor ud, hvor meget der skulle lægges til side, og det beløb blev lagt 'væk'. Jeg ved ikke, hvor 'væk' var, men pengene var der, når de skulle bruges. Det samme gjaldt for, hvis der skulle spares op til en ny kjole, et sæt tøj til morfar, jul, ferie m.m.

Men pose nr. 3 indholdt altid det beløb, der skulle slå til til den kommende måned.

Svært? Næh, det er egentlig meget, meget enkelt. Kan det lade sig gøre i dag? Ja, og måske endda lettere i dag end tidligere.

Man skal have

en budgetkonto, hvor lønnen går ind, og hvor alle udgifter trækkes fra
en opsparingskonto, hvor der bliver sparet op til årets store udgifter, der ikke er 'livsnødvendige'
en rådighedskonto, hvor det beløb, som man skal leve for resten af måneden, står.
Sværere er det ikke.

Det svære består udelukkende i at erkende, hvad man har råd til, eller måske vigtigere -hvad man ikke har råd til.

Prøv at leve dette år uden at spendere mere, end du tjener. Det er en meget befriende følelses.


 En lille pung kan godt indeholde en god økonomi
A small purse can easily hold a good economy

I am tempted to talk a bit about economy here in the beginning of the year, even though January has gone.

When people complain about money and about, how fast they go, it always makes me think of my Grandparents' money system. It was three nails on the wall above the kitchen table. To be correct I think that it was hooks, but we called them 'the nails', and they controlled the money.

Or my Grandmother controlled it. Nothing anybody talked about, but it was her doing. My Grandfather got his salary in cash, and when he came home with the salary envelope, he hung it on the first nail. On the second nail all payment forms, which had come in during the month were hanging, and on the third nail was an little empty bag. When the expenses were paid, the left over money was put in the third bag, and that was the amount, which should last through the month. No talk about getting any quick loans on any kind.

If there were expenses, which had to be paid every third month, my Grandmother calculated, how much she had to put aside to cover them, and that money was put 'away'. I don't know, where 'away' was, but the money was there when needed. She did the same, if money had to be saved for a new dress, a suit for my Grandfather, Christmas, holidays etc.

But bag no. 3 always held the money, which had to cover living expenses of all kinds for the coming month.

Difficult? No, actually very, very easy. But can it be done today? Yes, maybe easier now than then. You should have

A budget account, where your salary goes into every month, and where all expenses are paid from.
A savings account for all bigger purchases during the year, which aren't vital.
And an account, which holds the money you are allowed to spend until next payday.
It isn't more difficult than that.

The difficulty is entirely to acknowledge, what you can afford, ormaybe even more important what you cannot afford.

Try to live this year within your means. It is such a freeing feeling.