7QT - fingerless gloves, heroic minute, and of course some sweden things

1. My mom sent me home-crafted fingerless gloves for Christmas! They are so nice for keeping at the office, because it is always so cold in here, and I can easily wear these while working on my computer. Nevermind those people who keep asking, "Are you cold, Meghan?" Not anymore!

2. I sort of laughed a lot about this xkcd comic from earlier this week. (Note that if you go to the actual link you can see the mouseover text.)

But at the same time I sort of felt like I could identify with both of those little dudes. Sometimes I like taking photos, but sometimes I think it is necessary to just hold off on the photo thing and take it in with your eyes. This is especially the case when I recognise that any photos I am taking just aren't capturing the truth of what I am seeing.

3. I think the birds get confused by the lack of daylight hours here. Sometimes we sleep with the window open, and they will just be outside chirping at 2am or some such crazy hour.

4. Last week Sarah's QT #5 was something I wanted in on. I know I've tried the no-snooze-button thing before, and it never ends up sticking. But somehow I think that being inspired by science AND a saint might be enough to make this last a little longer. So far I've managed for a week (technically it was only a four day work week since Monday was a holiday because non-religious Swedes love celebrating Epiphany). Plus why should I just keep letting myself be "beaten in the first skirmish"? I mean really..

5. So, I actually find it really interesting which days Swedes celebrate as holidays. A lot of their national holidays are actually Christian holidays, but they are starting to change out the days they have as national holidays to make them not religious-centered. For example, the Swedish National Day first became an official holiday in 2005, replacing Pentecost Monday.

6. We got a cat calendar for our office. It hangs next to the cross stitched dog. Pretty remarkable stuff going on in this office.

7. On every day of the calendar is the name that is celebrated that day. It seems that some people will celebrate their name day like a birthday. At the very least probably most people can tell you which day is their name day. It is sort of like celebrating feast days of saints, only different.

The End & The Linkup

7QT - the joy of no screens on my windows edition

- 1 -

Earlier this week I was awoken by the sound of a rapid fluttering inside my bedroom. I quickly realized that a bird in my bedroom was not ideal. Probably I said out loud, "Nooo." And I sprang out of bed and ran out and shut the door to keep the bird from moving any further into the house. Luckily it left in no time, because my plan didn't really extend beyond the action I had already taken.

- 2 -

Then a bee/wasp/buzzing creature decided to come on in. I repeated the successful move of running out of the bedroom and shutting the door. The bee wasn't so quick to leave, but luckily he eventually did.

- 3 -

I can't imagine I'm the only person in this country with animals letting themselves in through my open windows. Maybe the people of Sweden should reconsider the concept of putting screens on windows.

(I nonchalantly slipped this story into a conversation at the office, and based on the complete lack of responses of the --OMG! A bird! Inside your apartment?!?-- variety, I am guessing this is just standard procedure, no big deal.)

- 4 -

My grocery store added an American section! This week I got a creme soda and peppered beef jerky! Next up: vanilla coke, jumbo marshmallows ($8 for a normal-sized bag), and reese's peanut butter cups. If only they would bring in graham crackers, then my stereotypical delights would be so much more complete.

- 5 -

On Tuesday I saw a man riding a bicycle whilst wearing a suit. And then. I saw a second man in a suit on a bicycle. Same day, same trip, two suit-clad bicycle riders.

- 6 -

My cousin sent me a scarf with little cute bicycles on it!

I was just grabbing my scarf to model for a blog photo, and I was thinking to myself, "Oh I need to go do this in front of the mirror because every time I put a scarf on the ends always look silly somehow."

And then.

I realized that it is one of those fancy loop scarf things with no ends! I could not be any more lucky!

- 7 -

I went to Ransäterstämman this past weekend (major folk dance festival, it will get its own post soon, with a couple photos even). And I intended to post this the morning before leaving, but there was no time, hence the super huge delay in my Friday Quick Takes.

---- The End ----

And linking up, of course.

7QT - my heart will go on

- 1 -

Last weekend my doorbell rang, which has only happened once before. So I went downstairs and there was no one there. Fifteen minutes later it rang again. I didn't bother to go down, but instead ran to the window to see if I could see anyone (I don't actually have a view of my door, but I can see a bit of the surrounding area). Mainly I was checking to see if I could see any neighbor kids sprinting away or something. This happened maybe four or five times.

THEN.

One morning I hear some sort of elevator version of My Heart Will Go On? I didn't know where it was coming from, but the second time it happened I realized that it was the doorbell! So strange (in a fantastical way). I am guessing this is the doorbell's way of letting me know it's batteries are dying?

- 2 -

On Wednesday I got to go to the regular folk dance session (not just the newbie course I usually go to) because they were learning a kadrilj (quadrille) that no one knew. This is the most Pride and Prejudice-like dance that I have ever done and it was Awesome!

- 3 -

I've been making hummus a lot lately. Most people eat it as a 'dip' but for me it is dinner. One batch of hummus, plus some pita, and a few small tomatoes, maybe an avocado if I really want to live it up. And in all this hummus making, I somehow always fail to remember that the immersion blender never further chops the coursely chopped garlic. Makes for some pretty potent bites.

- 4 -

I usually start my 'quick takes' early in the week and add a take as it comes to mind. I'm just going to go ahead and say that I wrote all of take #2 on Tuesday. Before I ever even went to the dance. But I really had no reason to believe there would be any bit of un-truth in it.

- 5 -

- 6 -

I heard it, and kind of saw it, and gathered the evidence! What's all this about?

I have this plant that I am plant-sitting. And I really love it. The best part is that it populates by firing seeds off. I've been waiting around to see this happen. The other day I thought I got one. I picked up some paper and some sort of seed-shaped thing fell out. So I gathered it up, intending to put it in dirt at some point to see if it grew. This is not the first time I've collected small things that could potentially be the seeds of this plant. But just now, I heard the seed 'pop!' and then across the room I heard a small 'tink' and looked over to see a seed sitting on a chair that is at least 5 feet from the plant. The good news is that it looks identical to the one from the other day.

So hopefully by April when my plant-sitting duties are over, I'll have my own little baby plant (or two) growing happily!

- 7 -

I just found out about this experiment in which bugs were sent to space.

More birds!

Joel properly identified that last bird I posted about. He was a Eurasian blue tit. Pretty cute.

I figured I would take some more bird photos when I had a good opportunity. I got a lot of good ones!


Over-exposed magpie, but I thought the photo looked pretty neat anyhow.


Three birds there, in case you didn't notice at first.


Still three.


Maybe they are Eurasian bullfinches?


A close-up of the two that had been more hidden in the previous photos.


Not sure what these little guys are.


Bird butt.


Bird eating.


Yes, I am aware that all of these are just a tad blurry.




I love the little tracks they leave in the snow.


And last but not least, the driveway dwellers.

Birdies!

As seen through my window!


First was just this magpie, bathing in a puddle in the melting street.


Slightly blurry, but so cute!


Same bird, different angle.

When I was in the US I liked to stop by whatbird.com on occasion. I really like their search tool. So I can say, "I saw this duck on a lake and it had, like a brown head and a grey body?" And they just always know what the bird is! Aptly named webpage for sure! I haven't found anything like that here yet. So I see or hear these birds and think "oh I have to remember that! rising song, little bird, white belly... oh wait a second..."

Dear whatbird.com,

Please extend your region to Europe. I would be very grateful.

Ever so kindly,
Meghan

_______

Also, here is the best Swedish thing I heard today:
Hur många baka kaka?
It means, How many are baking cake?
I have no idea of the context for this question, but I hope there will be cake in the office soon.

pshing for birds. squirrels?!

My mom taught me this technique called "pshing" for birds. Or at least, that is what I am 85% sure the technique is called, and also 100% sure I taught Greg that is what it is called. Basically, if you hear a bird and want to maybe entice it closer to you, you just stand there and say "psh psh psh" and the bird, being the curious little fellow he is, just flies over closer to see what that noise is. I don't think I've ever noticeably made a bird fly closer with the "psh psh psh", but I definitely got a cute reaction out of this little guy!



The last frame is his reaction to the pshing :)

Killer Ponies!

I had a lovely weekend on Chincoteague. On friday night I managed to go to sleep at 9pm. I was in a room in the main house because Jim and Jean had already rented the apartment before I asked them for it. It worked out really nicely though, and I had my own area which was good. They really are amazing people, and it was nice to be around some others for the weekend. They cooked dinner for me friday night, delicious pasta and shrimp. I also got to have dinner with them on saturday, which was wildly delicious, including some magical chocolate cake, which I will try to duplicate sometime.

Saturday morning the weather was quite nice, so I went for a run. A 2.7 mile run actually. Which is my new longest ever, actually. When I got back I took a bath in this cool old fashioned bathtub, which was also quite nice. The rest of the day it rained, so I was glad I got out when I did. On the plus side, the rainy dreary weather made it the perfect day to watch a lot of gilmore girls and also get some reading done.

Sunday was a beautiful day. I got up at a reasonable hour and did some birding with Jim and Jean. They get quite an assortment of shore-type birds right in their backyard (not really surprising). I saw no less than a cormorant, a bald eagle, two varieties of egrets, and a kingfisher. What can I say, a girl loves to make her mother proud. Then I went to church with the locals. In the afternoon I borrowed a sweet bike from Jim and Jean and rode out to the refuge. I finally hunted down those elusive wild ponies I've been hearing so much about. It was a shining moment for me and the blue beach cruiser. Unfortunately I have no pictures, because I did not bring my camera, because I'm a free spirit like that. I'll try to take some pictures next weekend.