Day 311: Just one of those days

Low key, home alone, reading, a little TV, lots of online Scrabble and Letterpress. And a new batch of chicken soup, cooked, divided into portions and frozen.

Quiet in town and in the building. Many people away for Easter weekend. I'm happy to have a warm home, food on the table and "stuff" to keep me entertained.

Yup, just one of those ordinary days.

Day 310: Shangri La

If you've ever wondered whether Shangri La exists and, if so, where it is located, I have the answer. Right here in Stockholm at gardening allotment number 74a. Bright blue and white in the midst of withered, ice covered surroundings, it stands proudly awaiting signs of spring. Any sign will do.

It sure brightened up my daily walk
despite the near freezing temperatures :-)

Day 309: Into the woods

One of the great advantages of living in Stockholm is how near you are to nature. I don't take advantage of that fact often enough so I was delighted to go for a walk in the woods down to the frozen lake near my friend's house. It was a perfect day for it, albeit more like January than almost April :-) Still, the sun shone brightly and the sky was clear blue. Lots of practice maintaining balance on the icy terrain.

Day 308: Help wanted...

...is the name (Hjälp sökes) of the new theater piece with music by Björn and Benny of ABBA and Mamma Mia fame. Funny, poignant, with great melodies and even better lyrics. What a treat to see a contemporary musical with depth and a script. 

Great production values with a special tribute to the set designer who succeeded in transforming the theater into a farm. Oh, and to the many animals on stage: two cows, a horse, two pigs, three dogs, a gaggle of geese, a goat and some chickens. The cows, especially, were impressive. Massive gentle beasts. How many city dwellers have actually been that close to a cow in their lives? And here we had two. Enchanting.

Capped off the evening sharing ginger beer a good hummus at a nearby restaurant with a good friend. Happy as a clam!

Day 307: Coming out of the closet

Off to seder at the rabbi's house. What to wear, what to wear? A dress, that's clear. But which? Open the closet, reject one after the other, when there, almost hidden from view, it was. A dress I bought in Corsica many years ago and which to my recollection I've never worn. Tonight, it's finally coming out of the closet!

So now I'm all set...even put on my Jewish star which rarely gets an outing. And thanks to the kindness of a neighbor, I can even provide a visual!

Chag sameach everyone!

Day 306: Bargain

Finding a bargain always makes me happy, and when it's for something I actually can use, so much the better! Hence this great, simple iPad stand which I bought today for 10 kr (cirka 1.10 euro or 1.50 US dollars).

Oh, in the bargain, you get to see on the screen my current favorite word game, Letterpress. If you own a smart phone, get it! It combines Boggle with strategy...great fun! My username there is SondheimFan. Add me as a friend and let's play!

Day 305: What a difference two days make!

Remember the ice flows in Day 303's photos?
Here's a shot taken from the same place today:

Yup, spring seems to have sprung overnight and I enjoyed an extra long walk today.

Day 304: Consequences

The two things that are making me happy so far today are directly related to yesterday's happy:

1. An incredibly good night's sleep from which I awakened feeling rested and refreshed.
2. Matza brei which I haven't made or eaten in many years...YUM!

Day 303: A walk in the sunshine

The brilliant sunshine beckoned me out for a walk today. Three and a half kilometers later, I arrived at Kosheriet, the kosher food store at the Jewish Center. So now I am all stocked up for Passover. Not only that, I ran into the Chabad rabbi there and he promptly proceeded to invite me to his family's seder. All in all, a pretty successful outing I would say.

Here are some photos of my loot and of Stockholm thawing.

Day 303: Kernels of joy

Scavenging for something to eat before leaving for the math lab this evening, I found the remnants of last night's popcorn. I ate that popcorn in the dark, watching a movie on my iPad (which, btw, still thrills me...that you can take a thin screen like that around with you and watch full-length movies on it). Although I got to the bottom of the bowl, I could not see enough to pick out the somewhat-but-not-fully-popped kernels which are actually my favorites. If someone could figure out a way to pop corn so that the kernels expand just enough to break their shell but no more, I would be their biggest customer.

There were perhaps six or seven morsels left and I feasted on them, slowly, savoring every delicious (if minuscule) bite.

Day 302: Gone International

What can I say? Perhaps best put by my friend DW who sent me this link: "Hey Odella, just to let you know that you and the King of Bhutan are as one." I don't know much about the King so I'm not sure whether this is a good or bad thing. However, I'm tickled pink that the U.N. has followed my lead (actually, Grace Ann's lead).

Read all about it here:
Happy International Happiness Day!

Day 301: Nostalgia

Although I highly doubt he remembers it, this container once belonged to a former boyfriend of mine. By "once" I mean the beginning of the 1980s which I hesitate to add is more than 30 years ago. Whenever I've used it, I think of him with a smile. Chief among the many things he brought into my life was the love of food and eating.

The container (more specifically its lid) finally bit the dust but, after decades of excellent service, I couldn't quite let it go without giving it proper homage. On the bright side, I get to replace it! And those of you who follow this blog somewhat regularly (see An embarrassment of riches) know how happy that makes me! :-)

Day 300: Egg-citing?

The sun was shining brightly this morning and I was all set to take a long walk to counteract my extremely sedentary day yesterday. Until the snow flurries started. Sheesh.

I did venture out to the grocery store quite happy that I'd run out of bread so that I had good incentive to step out of my cocoon. Eggs were on sale so I bought those too and decided that a snowy day is a good day to egg-speriment. I'd already tried the peel hard boiled eggs by blowing them out of their shells method...no such luck, or perhaps my lungs are just not strong enough. So today, I thought I'd give another of the tips I recently read on FB a try: baking eggs to get them hard boiled (so to speak).

The proponent of this method assures us that the eggs would taste better and be easier to peel. Hmmm...two of mine exploded in the process, none was easier to peel and they tasted pretty much like hard boiled eggs. Add the energy-intensive nature of this approach (baking them for 30-35 minutes in the oven vs. boiling for 10 minutes) I'm sticking with the good old fashioned water on top of the stove method.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it! :-)

Day 299: Chocolate

I'm not that fond of chocolate. And the type of chocolate I do eat when I eat chocolate (that is, milk chocolate) most chocolate afficionados would not even consider chocolate.

What I do love though is frozen chocolate. Especially with hazelnuts. I'm thinking that it can't really be the taste because, as I said, I'm not really all that fond of chocolate. Could it be the crunch? But then why wouldn't, say, frozen carrots or simply ice do the trick?

Don't know what it is but whatever it is I'm always happy when I open the freezer and there it is...

Day 298: Personal gallery

Visited Erik today. He is close to 90 and quite on the forgetful side these days. Gave me pause to wonder to what extent my brain will function at his age (assuming I live that long, of course). His body is in good shape...not surprising with a lifetime of skiing, and ice skating, and cycling, and canoeing behind him. (Of these, he has only given up skating so far).

Turns out that he has a friend who stops by several times a week to check in on him. A friend who looks at Erik and sees a grown man. A friend who takes things in stride and remembers the person Erik has been. That makes me happy.

The photos are of the hallway outside Erik's apartment which Erik has turned into a gallery of his interests and handiwork. Very homey and quite inspiring. That also made me happy.

Day 297: Mamma said there'd be days like this...

...there'd be days like this my mamma said!

Silver Lining

Forgot to blog on day 297. Bummer.

Happy I remembered that I forgot though...there's always a bright side.

Day 296: Easter decorations

Easter comes relatively early this year, toward the end of the equally early Pesach. Hard to miss in this town with Easter feathers on sale and Easter decorations abounding. These consists mainly of twigs adorned with colorful feathers. Today, I passed by a store window displaying some in my favorite color (accompanied by yellow). Very cheerful, very Swedish. Made me happy.

Day 295: Good read

Potato chips, veggies and dip at my side, I spent a luxurious day with a book. Hours upon hours of reading. A hard cover book with a built-in ribbon bookmark. Borrowed from the library. The kind of book that envelops you in a world so rich and real and moving, that you wish you could step into it and meet the people involved.

When there were only about 50 pages left...I put it down. I was not ready to have it end, wanted the experience to continue. Soon after, I was pulled back in, drawn by curiosity, missing the people, wanting to see how the story resolves. Although I think I know. But still...

Day 294: Reliving the joy

In January, I attended the wedding of my cousin's granddaughter to her long-time beau. Weddings are always special and this one held a particularly special place in my heart. The bride and groom know why...let's just say I had a little hand in planting the seed.

Today, I watched the wedding highlights video and was soon blubbering at the memories and emotions it evoked. How lucky we are to be at a day and age when we can capture such occasions not only in photos but in action as well. And how lucky am I to have such a fabulous family and the means to share happy occasions with them.

L'chaim!

Day 293: The morning after

One reason I love having people over is waking up the following day to a clean apartment, dishes washed, floors sparkling. As an extra bonus this morning, sunshine was streaming through the windows!