Rainy days

"You can dance with life," he said. "You can play with it. But you must always hold it lightly. If you squeeze, it rebels. If you get scared, it will hurt you. If you squeeze desperately hard, you'll kill it."

~Win Blevins: Stone song~

It kept raining. I left my camera at home, holding umbrella in my hands instead. This weekend we celebrated First Holy Communion of Ž's niece. I have to admit that these things are not close to me, and at the same time it is interesting that when I was asking people who go to church and are believers about this celebration, they have actually never thought about the meaning of the celebration as such. So, this is what I gave Ž's niece as a gift for this occasion:As most of the kids, she was the happiest when receiving money...

I wanted to work in a garden on Friday, but the soil was soaked with water, so I keep hoping that a week ahead will be drier. There's still some work to be done, I will show you some photos later this month when I have something to show at all. I am a little late, like always. Slugs eat most of what I plant anyway.

Karma for today: Work without complaining. (I wish I could. I'm trying hard. :) If I could live without complaining it would be my life's victory.)

Five hundred

Time flies, and sometimes this is good. This is my 500th post. Amazing, isn't it? I hope that when I write my 700th, I will live a happy and content life.Well, it is time for a giveaway. There are not many here on my blog. I found out in all these years writing my blog that meeting friends on this journey is important and fun, because so I know that I am not alone in all this what is happening to me. People have stories to tell and so do I. Thank you for being here, for reading what I write.

So, I will give away one paper Waldorf lantern made by myself, and I will add some other things that you might like, or even not. I promise not to send any herbs or seeds or plants or teas if you don't live in EU. :)

If you wish to enter this giveaway, leave a comment to this post telling me what's your height ;), what color of lantern would you like to have (yellow, green, red or magenta) and if you like chocolate (dark/milk/white) or not. I will randomly select one of you (if there are any) at noon on Tuesday, 17 November.

These last days before Christmas

Saturday - rain

Sunday - rain

today - rain

tomorrow - rain

Wednesday - rain

Some say that 12 days before Christmas tell what kind of weather there will be in the next year. So, if I believed into this prediction, there would be bad weather in the first few months of 2009.

However, sometimes it feels so good when you just stay at home and do the things that have been waiting to be done for many months. I thought of doing some Christmas shopping but there is something wrong with my car, so I stayed at home (living half an hour away from the first bus stop is not such a great fun, especially not if only one dangerous road without pavement leads there). My neighbor mentioned a workshop that is organized almost every Saturday for the creative people living in my neighborhood, and I joined her there. We were making tree decorations. Lovely group of people and so many great ideas. I was also making paper tree decorations on Friday, for our still not existing Christmas tree here at work. There will be a party on Thursday and I hope one nice man will bring a tree. I just wonder if there are any nice men around... :) I have put some spruce and mistletoe branches into the boxes outside on my window shelves. It looks good and at the same time neighbors won't be able to stare directly into my living room, which is good, too. In the evening I was making caramels by a recipe I found in a Sunday newspaper but they are too hard and I am not sure we will eat them at all (probably I cooked the mixture too long). I started to make Christmas cards but then I ran out of a proper paper, which means that today I will be spending my money again in that gorgeous shop with craft material. My to do list is still very long.

I will not be behind the screen next week and I might be away also this week, I am not yet sure. Whatever happens, I hope you all have nice last days of 2008!

More lights

The lecture yesterday was very interesting, it wasn't so much about the birds than about other living creatures. I have learned that I should sleep in full dark otherwise I have a good chance to get cancer. It is best to have no lights on between 2am and morning. Now it is really time to pull out that IKEA thick fabric and put it on a window in my bedroom. Probably once in the next few months all windows will get some kind of blinds. This is so when you don't build your own house but buy it half finished. I am learning through the years, slowly writing in my memory those things that should not be missing in the house.I am so glad that it is Friday already. In the evening we will have a small celebration with my closest family. It is Saint Nicholas day tomorrow and on the eve of that day we give small presents to each other. Mostly sweets. The big presents are given for Christmas, so I still have some time to do the shopping. Happy weekend!

Back again

It felt like being on a short vacation, staying at home for another extra day. It's been snowing for whole morning, this is the first snow this autumn. I hope it is not the last one, winter is usually so long without any snow.I am almost fine by now, still drinking tea and eating lots of citrus fruit. The birthday party was quite nice, of course we were eating way too much, like always. But it is so hard to resist when there are so many different cookies on a table! I've been making quite many paper boxes lately. For my grandmom's present I made this pink one and wrapped the present into a paper for which I was sure my grandmom would like. I gave her also a box full of spring flower bulbs that she will be able to put on a window shelf.
As the smell of snow has been in the air for some days now, I managed to clean some windows in the living room and started to make paper stars. I am not sure, but every year it seems like my hands get bigger and every year I find my clumsy hands folding those little folds with more difficulty. It's only one week left until the first advent Sunday, where did all that time go?

Easter reflections

I have been thinking a lot about the traditions in my country since Monday when Emily wrote her comment to my post. There are certain events that take place in our Catholic community that I am not very familiar with because I don't go to church. I stopped going when I was 11 years old. This was my wish. And it was granted.So, on a table for Easter breakfast in Slovenia should not be missing (all that food has to be blessed in church on Saturday afternoon):
- meat which represents the flesh of Jesus Christ,
- eggs dyed in red color which represent his droplets of blood (people really used to dye the eggs only in red in the old days),
- horse radish which represents the nails with which he was nailed to the cross,
- potica which represents the thorn crown he was wearing (potica is baked in special round models and it really looks like a crown then).

I think that I am over with Easter for this year. What is the next holiday we are celebrating? Labor Day - May 1, I think.

As the old saying goes...

...Green Christmas, white Easter. It was snowing during Easter holidays. When I looked out through the window this morning, I had something to see. It was so beautiful, like in some fairytale. Mist above the landscape and blue, blue sky above it. Up on the nearest mountain about 1 m of snow had fallen. I saw the photos of that beauty. I wish it was Christmas and not Easter. I hope it melts quickly, I am really longing for some warmer days and it is time to start working in the garden. I am not sure there will be some apricots this year, they've just started to bloom.1. my mom's eggs, 2. decoration, 3. my eggs, 4. decoration of eggs in the eastern part of Slovenia

I dyed the eggs on Saturday. My kitchen was all red that morning, I spilled the red dye by accident. It looked like blood. Some paint is still visible on the cupboard. Obviously it will stay there forever. I spent the afternoon in the shops, buying myself a new jacket and trousers. I need both for my 'expeditions' to the mountains. It's just the trekking shoes that are still missing... Somehow I have never thought of wearing pink but I ended buying pink softshell jacket this Saturday. On Sunday I got pink pajamas. All in pink. I started to like it, somehow.
I made a little basket for my parents that day. We give each other an egg and some sweets or some other small present. I think that we should stick to these little gifts. I hear that people started to buy expensive presents for their kids but I don't like this. In my opinion the holidays are meant to get together with the beloved ones, to spend time together with them and not to get their attention by giving them some expensive gifts. Sure, I don't judge those who think different, everybody has a right to do whatever he/she wants.
On Sunday we had brunch at my parent's house. I spent a nice morning with my family. I think that these moments are so special. I know that they will end one day when one of us will be gone forever. Once when I was still a teen, my mom was in a hospital during Christmas and I can well remember how empty the table was without her. I promised to show you a picture of 'potica', our famous roll made for such holidays as Easter and Christmas. My mom baked real delicious one this year. Before 2003 I was not able to eat the one made of walnuts because I had an allergy. That year I lost about 10kg of weight and also the allergy has been gone since then. So, now I am able to enjoy this delicious pastry like everybody else. Yum!

I hope you all had nice Easter too, no matter if you celebrate it or not!

Celebrations

It seems to me that this week is a week of celebrations. On Wednesday we celebrated the end of one of the projects at work. Having hot chocolate to celebrate. Mine was with whipped cream.
One of my colleagues at work will be leaving us the next week so she prepared a little feast / farewell party. Though, it was sunny weather yesterday and the guys were not in (I just wonder what would it be if there were no girls working here). Except one. Our boss. He joined us, sure. The food was good, and we chatted, chatted, like little chicken. I am sure it will be rain again... when girls talk too much...
So, it is Easter weekend and Monday, and I am looking forward to dye the eggs tomorrow. I bought the colors. I get those brown ones dyed with onions from my mom. No matter how everyone speaks that eggs represent the droplets of blood, I still think that they simply represent new life. It is spring, after all! Happy Easter.

A party

It is funny but I am kind of fed up with these parties we have with my relatives. It is always the same. One of characteristics of us Slovenians is envy and another one gossip. And there is plenty of both on such parties. All right, gossip comes later. But envy... Frankly speaking, I avoid inviting my relatives to my home (well, not all of them but some for sure). You cannot tidy the house enough not to hear later from the third person that you have a real mess at home. Or something like that that bothered them at that moment. They judge you how much you eat, if there was enough to eat and what was available to eat, how you behaved etc. I avoid such people and try to avoid such events. Sometimes I can't. After all, it was my mom's party. She is not 60 every year. I was tired when I came home on Saturday. The food was good, I also liked the old farmhouse in which there is a restaurant now. The view was beautiful and the weather was great. Perhaps it was just me and my feelings, I don't know. Although I had a feeling that people were not really enjoying themselves. I don't know. I felt lots of anger after that. Can't explain why.
Yesterday in the afternoon I went for a walk. It is surely spring coming to Slovenia. It smelled of dry grass. There are yet no flowers blooming. It was too cold. And there has been no rain for weeks now. It was so nice when I was sitting on a stone enjoying the sun rays caressing my face. Wonderful. Peaceful.

Oh, yes. A news. Our ex-president Janez Drnovšek died on Saturday. They say he was a great man. I can't say that I really liked him. At least not in the last year or two when he became rather weird. He died of cancer.

Birthday

It is my mom's birthday today. She is 60. She looks younger, though. Yesterday in the evening I was sewing, making a present for her. I didn't take a photo of this thing I made because I forgot and light was poor anyway. I will do this today when I come home and hopefully post the photo tomorrow.
Yes, we, the beginners at sewing! I forgot to wash the fabric first and when I'd sew everything already, I remembered... So, I washed the rest of the fabric and started the whole process from the scratch again. It happens, all the time. I am not really happy with the result but I think it came out nice anyway. I will give her also some coupons for a garden shop because she loves plants as much as I do. She always spends lots of money buying all sorts of seeds, plants and other things that go along. I will go to visit her in the evening, together with Mr Ž.
On Saturday we are having a big feast with all her close relatives. I find such feasts rather funny, sometimes also boring and tiring too. All sorts of people come and judge you and your deeds. The most amazing thing is when you hear a gossip about yourself from a person who doesn't know you at all or who has never met you before. You know, like that game 'telephone' when you whisper a word to your neighbor's ears and he does the same and so on... and at the end the last person says aloud completely other word than you told it at the beginning to your neighbor. So, it might be fun again on Saturday. I am looking forward to a cake my mom will bake, I haven't eaten one in quite a while. Mmm, can't wait!

P.s.: It is a full moon today; perhaps you watched a lunar eclipse which was about 10 hours ago (I was sleeping too tight)?

Different thoughts in one post

When enough is enough.
If I can't get it here, I go and look for it somewhere else. Although I am too late sometimes.
I drove up the nearest hill to see the sun and the blue sky. Because you know what we have here when we look outside. Do I need to say it? ... You can see it yourself, on the photo below. I was too late to enjoy in the sunshine but I caught a glimpse of golden mountains. What you see in a distance is Triglav, with 2864 m the highest mountain in Slovenia. And in front you can see what we have here.
Anniversary.
It's been four years today since I am with my partner. I won't write a lot about our relationship but sometimes I think I deserve better. Don't get me wrong, he loves me very much and I love him very much. But I had a much better man before and I know that there is still someone like that out there. Who I would be happier with. Perhaps I don't deserve it anymore. My colleague keeps saying that we have what we deserve. Maybe I should just get used to it and stop kicking...
Ig Nobel Prize.
Research that makes people LAUGH and then THINK. Look at this Improbable Research web site. I had to laugh. And really, later also think. Perhaps you have any good ideas? Will you be one on the list in 2009?

Happy holidays!

This morning my camera got missing. Probably those little funny dwarfs in my house have hidden it. Today it is my last day at work in 2007. Girls liked the little birds and little thoughts I had written on a piece of paper. I have lots to do over the weekend and I am actually looking forward to these last preparations before Christmas.
While driving to work today, I noticed that all the trees were covered in white due to frost, not snow. It was beautiful. White branches glowing through the dark. I hope that Christmas day will be as beautiful as today's morning.
Happy holidays, everyone! I will be back on 3rd January.

Saint Lucy's Day

It was such a beautiful morning today. My cold got better and the skies cleared. One of the most beautiful sights for me is the sky full of stars. The sight of bright Venus in the morning sky wakes me up if I am not already awakened. This morning we got some fresh air, some light warm wind. Pure joy.

It is Saint Lucy's Day today. I baked Lussekatter yesterday. These are Swedish saffron buns, kind of sweet bread. I will try another recipe next year as the buns got pretty dry, although they are still very tasty. They will be good with my coffee today. I am not religious but I like such celebrations. They derive from pagan days anyway. In these days the sun sets at earliest hour and it will be so until 17^th. I am looking forward to the weekend as I have so much to do around the house. This illness totally exhausted me and I can’t wait to go out today and get some fresh air. Though, if I am too late coming home this afternoon, I might be strolling under the stars again, this time observing Jupiter in the evening sky.

I love the stars and the universe. When I was a little girl I went out on a balcony each evening in the winter and counted stars. I believed that if I counted nine stars nine nights in a row, my wish would have come true. I hope at least some of your wishes will be fulfilled in the next year!

St. Nicholas Day

Today is St. Nicholas Day. I received some fruit and candies, and luckily no switches this year. Obviously I was a good girl this time. :)
Yesterday in the morning and in the evening the skies were red, and as the old saying goes, St. Nicholas is baking biscuits on such days. I baked Old Nicks and this is what was left of them some minutes after they had been taken from the oven:Have you received some gifts too? Have you behaved yourselves during the year? :)

Name day

Today it is my name day. Like Eva, I don't have a middle name. Long time ago name day was celebrated and not birthday because many people actually didn't know when it was. For my grandmother (she would be 101 years old this year) name day was more important than birthday. As we have lived in her house for a long time, celebration of my name day stays up to this day. Like each year I will receive a delicious cake from my mum. :)