90 års jubilæum!

I går var en stor dag i Øster Starup - da var det nemlig præcis 90 år siden, min farfar startede vores hæderkronede vognmandsforretning!

Her er et nydeligt billede af fordums vognpark - og et fra et tidligere jubilæum, nemlig da min farfar havde kørt for Ågård Mejeri i 25 år:

Det siger sig selv, at så mange år med lastbiler går lidt i blodet på familien. Min far behøvede ikke at bruge mange minutter på at bladre i "Hvad kan jeg blive"-bogen.  Selv nu, hvor han kan hæve folkepension, kører han glad videre. Men det er jo også svært at lade være, når det der arbejde-hobby-noget er én og samme ting.

Mig?  Jeg har ikke stort kørekort. Det har min søster heller ikke (hun er til gengæld noget sejere end mig til at bestyre vognparkens gummiged). Vi skal ikke være vognmænd, dertil er vi ikke praktisk begawe' nok, og hvis vi ville være det, ville min far have syntes, at vi var nogle fjolser.

Men jeg er meget glad for lastbiler. Der findes intet sted i verden hvor man sover bedre end i køjen på en lastbil der kører. Duften af dieselolie = barndom. (Det samme gælder i øvrigt duften af sukkerroeaffald...)  Og når jeg cyklede rundt i Århus var jeg never-ever bange for lastbilerne og deres blinde vinkler - til gengæld pisseræd for bybusserne og de andre (dødsforagtende) cyklister. 

I går skulle vi så på restaurant og fejre jubilæet - og på vej ud af indkørslen var vi nærmest ved at køre nogle af vores venner over. De havde arrangeret en lille syrpriiis - som min far så fik, da vi kom hjem igen:

Se lige en kage (min mor har lige spist et stykke med min far på, så nu kan man da sige, de er blevet ét med hinanden - selv spiste jeg et stykke med lastbil):

Vi var alle sammen - og da især min far - helt overvældede og overraskede og overrumplede og overordentlig glade. (Og, som det tydeligt kunne konstateres, meget uvante med surprise-parties).  Tusind tak til Susanne, min-ven-Ivan, hele-byens-Lars, Lisbeth, samt a'-er-ligeglåj-mæ-Njæls !!!

@ N   ~ big day in our family yesterday: it was 90 years ago that my grandfather started the family business. We celebrated by going out to dinner and almost ruining a surprise party which really did take all of us by, well, surprise! Fortunately the lovely people who had arranged it came back and re-surprised us after we came home from the restaurant.  Doh! :-)

Hope you like the pics.  My mum posted the top one on her facebook wall yesterday - so far, over 70 people have liked it, and my parents are delighted by each and every one. As am I (we're easy ;-)

Ut på tur, aldri sur

(Overskriften er norsk, hvis nogen skulle være i tvivl. Jeg har ikke pludselig mistet samtlige danske stave-evner.)

Jeg bor i et hyggeligt gammelt hus - model 1930. Inventaret er en meget hyggelig blanding af IKEA og arvestykker - jeg tror nok, de eneste møbler, der ikke er det ene eller det andet, er gæstesengene (det retter jeg op på, når jeg bliver rig...)

IKEA-tingene har jeg intet forhold til. De er billige og praktiske, og det er sådan set dét. Arvestykkerne, derimod - uh, som jeg hæger.  Der er min højtelskede seng, arvet fra farmor og farfar, som vi var nødt til at få forlænget da jeg tog den i brug, fordi man ikke længere kan købe madrasser som er 1.85 lange (eller noget i den stil).  Eller Øreklapstolen, som har været ude i fjernere dele af familien, før den nu er kommet Hjem. Sofaen (af en kær ven stil-benævnt "ehm, IKEA med mos?") - en umådelig tung mørkegrøn sag, doneret af min mors penneveninde. Og så videre.

Og så har jeg en gammel lampe, også arvet fra farmor og farfar, årgang sådan cirka 1940. Med nye ledninger, må jeg hellere tilføje :-)  Den har sådan nogle glaslampette-dimser som har nogle andre glasdimser ovenpå, og i årenes løb er der sket et og andet uheld, så de ikke er hundrede procent ens.  De seneste uheld indtraf mens jeg boede sammen med A. En dag kom han til at smadre en af dem - og han var meget ulykkelig, og sagde "jamen, jeg gjorde bare sådan her" - hvorefter han kom til at smadre en til.  Ups.

Jeg har gjort halvhjertede forsøg på at finde erstatninger rundt omkring i genbrugsbutikker, men uden held. Efterhånden havde jeg affundet mig med, at jeg muligvis ville være nødt til at forføre en glaspuster, så han kunne lave nogle erstatninger, men jeg havde ikke taget højde for min fars ganske særlige evne til at få ting til at ske, når først han har biddet mellem tænderne.

Min far kom nemlig i tanker om, at han for 2 år siden havde set en eller anden udsendelse om en mand, som solgte alle mulige sære ting, heriblandt mange gamle lamper. Ham fik han støvet op, og lørdag morgen drog vi ad Horne til, for at finde glas-lampe-dimser og se, hvad der ellers kunne friste.

Min fiiine lampe. Det er de gule "spejlæg" på

toppen, vi skulle på jagt efter

Der var bid - de oprindelige "spejlæg" er gule,

og de nye er hvide. Jeg kunne nok godt male

dem, men synes egentlig det er meget

charmerende, at de ikke er helt ens. 

Så nu er der "spejlæg" (hhv gule og hvide) på alle glasdimserne igen. Jeg er møj tefræj.

Men der var mange andre sjove ting - og det hele var inde i hans eget hus! Køkkenet var f.eks. et veritabelt lampegalleri (han siger han ikke kan lave mad, så han spiser henne på Horne Kro - og så kan pladsen jo lige så godt udnyttes!)

White push-button telephones are

sooo last year, Hyacinth!

Dette her er til gengæld en telefon, som ville

kunne få mig til at gå over til fastnet-

telefoni - hvis ellers den var til salg ...

Det lykkedes mig endda at finde en ny lampe til at hænge over sofabordet - dér har der ellers hængt sådan en ris-papirs-nødløsning, som kom op i al hast, fordi Den Færøske Invasion jo ikke kunne sidde her i mørket, mens de var på besøg.  Invasionen fandt sted i april 2012, og vi kan heraf - ikke særlig overraskende - konkludere, at Tine ikke er verdens hurtigste til at erstatte lappe-løsninger med nogle mere permanente af slagsen. Til mit forsvar vil jeg sige, at jeg både er nærig og kræsen, og det gør det umådelig svært at finde velegnet belysning (og alt muligt andet). Denne her falder stensikkert muligvis ikke i alles smag, men jeg synes den er gammel og fin, og passer perfekt til IKEA-med-mos stilen :-)

På vej hjem fra Horne (som ligger ovre på Varde-egnen) blev jeg sulten, og da mine forældre ved at jeg derefter lynhurtigt bliver vranten, holdt de ind på Hovborg kro. Her delte de en ægg'-kaw', mens jeg blev fodret af med et stjerneskud som hvilede på det lækreste stykke smørristet, sprødt franskbrød jeg nogensinde har mødt under flere lag fisk. Så forduftede al vrantenhed!

I øvrigt kommer der for få mad-bloggere på Hovborg Kro.  Ikke at jeg er mad-blogger, men jeg gør jo som dem, og flår kameraet frem så snart maden kommer på bordet - til uhyre stor morskab for både betjeningen og de øvrige gæster, hvorfor jeg konkluderer, at det nok ikke sker så tit på de kanter.  På de fleste restauranter i Århus forholder det sig nærmere sådan, at tjeneren tror der er noget galt med anretningen, hvis man ikke foreviger den før man går ombord ;-)

Nu er der lys over land i det lille hjem, og bedst af alt: min søster og min "lånesøster" er vendt hjem fra 14 dages yoga-ferie i Indien, og så bliver søndage jo faktisk ikke meget bedre!

Klunseren fra Horne var et meget interessant bekendtskab.  Du kan se et lille klip med ham lige her:  

http://www.tvsyd.dk/artikel/178426:Klunseren-i-Horne

@ N ~ my parents and I went on a little "excursion" yesterday.  The mission was to find some "glass thingies" (I know, my grasp of the language is appalling, but rest assured it's no better in Danish) for an old lamp I have - the thing with "glass thingies" is that they break easily, and two parts were missing.  A. broke one of them back when we lived together. He was very upset, and apologetic, and said "but I only did THIS" -and broke another one ...   The lamp works fine without them, and as it dates back from the 1940's spare parts are a bit hard to find. But then my dad remembered that he had seen an interview with a funny old guy about two years ago - the man sold all sorts of old things, including lamps, so my dad found out who he was, described the "glass thingies" to him, and was delighted to be told he had not only two but 3 almost similar ones.

So off we went on Saturday morning.  Total success - the ones he had were white, not yellow, but there has been so many replacements over the 70-year life span of this lamp that I think only 50% are original, so in a way it all fits together anyway.

And his house were full of funny things - some were not for sale, like the train you can see in one of the photos. That is actually his telephone!!  I also bought a new lamp, the round one, for my living room, and my mum bought a kerosene lamp plus some other bits and pieces.  Afterwards, we went to an old inn and had a delicious lunch.

Today, my sister and her friend came home from a 2-week yoga retreat in Goa, India. They had had the most fantastic time and met so many friendly, hospitable people. I almost want to go now - the only thing holding me back is the fact that the toilet only had a sort of curtain and not a real door, and I suffer from a major case of shy bladder colon syndrome.  But of course, nothing like a bit of "Delhi belly" to cure that, eh :-)

Phew, I made it

Tydeligvis ej udåndet, som I kan se (kan man mon blogge fra det hinsides? Vi må vente på svaret. Vente længe, hvis det står til mig). 

Endelig weekend! Puh, jeg har haft det som en lille hamster i et hjul denne uge. Nu trækker jeg liiiige vejret igen. I denne weekend skal jeg på udflugt med min far - den bliver nok blogværdig, fornemmer jeg - og øve mig i at bage hindbærsnitter. En weekend fuld af noble gøremål. Vi skrives ved !

PS - apropos min far, så er her et par dansk/jyske staveøvelser mere. Primært til de af jer, der bor uden for Jyllands grænser (Hej Lena! Hej Familien Hittemis! Og alle jer andre). Vi véd jo, I bare længes...

H-A-R  H-A-F-T = hår hå'ed

S-A-G-T-E-N-S = sawt

L-I-G-G-E-T = låjen 

Hvis autokorrekturen på ipad'en husker de her, så er der for alvor lagt i ovnen til nogle interessante skriblerier. Min gamle Nokia insisterede altid på at omdøbe mine veninder Stine og Susanne til hhv Svine og Stramme. En meget dynamisk duo. 

@N ~ TGIF! And, as you can see, I'm still alive, though after this week I'm a bit tempted to add, "barely". I love what I do, but the last couple of weeks have just been extraordinarily busy. But now I'm off the hamster wheel for two days, and I'll be spending part of them making a kind of raspberry-pastry-cake (which I don't really know how to translate, will look it up later) and going on an outing with my dad which I'm pretty sure will be blog-worthy. So, enjoy Friday, and catch you later :-)

In mortal danger

Hm. Nå. Må hellere skrive et blogindlæg, hvis nu jeg ikke overlever natten. Jeg har nemlig udsat mig selv for stor fare. 

Jeg havde et uheld under tandbørstningen. Uuuh. 

Helt enkelt så fejlbedømte jeg på mystisk vis mit ansigts dimensioner, og fik derfor tandbørsten til at kollidere med min næse i stedet for på normal vis at navigere den ind i munden. Lidt fnysen, tørren næse og skyllen tandbørste senere lykkedes det mig dog at gennemføre projektet.

Og så var det, jeg kom i tanker om en episode af en eller anden lægeserie, jeg så for mange år siden. Sikkert House. Hvor samtlige episode følger samme mønster: patient indlægges med sære symptomer. Forskellige diagnoser stilles, oftest under megen palaver. Ingen af dem er helt rigtige. Patient nær ved at himle. Rigtig diagnose Åbenbares for vranten, vrissen læge. Patient overlever. 

Nå, men i den episode var der noget med en livsfarlig invasion af bakterier. Som viste sig at stamme fra patientens egen næse. Hvor vi åbenbart alle sammen har små fjendtlige kolonier boende. En hurtig googling viste at det faktisk ikke er fiktion. Der er en eller anden slags streptokok, som til dagligt bor fredeligt i alverdens snudeskafter, men af og til kan forvolde stor skade. Smerte. Den visse død. 

Og den residerer jo nu utvivlsomt på min tandbørste og bag venstre kindtand. Jeg skulle have gurglet i kogende vand, skulle jeg. 

PS - dette indlæg er forfattet på min iPad. Som jeg elsker. Men dens auto-korrektur insisterede på at foreslå kvindelandshold da jeg skrev kindtand, så jeg beklager hvis noget er smuttet i korrekturlæsningen. 

@N ~ in case you're wondering what's with the headline, I may just have put my own life in danger. I had an "accident" while brushing my teeth you see. 

Yes, it is possible.

I misjudged the dimensions of my face - which is a bit odd, given that I've had over 37 years to familiarize myself with it - and hit my nose with my toothbrush instead of maneuvering it into my mouth. Didn't think much of it and managed to get my teeth more or less cleaned ... and then I remembered an old episode of House where a patient was THIS close to dying because of a bacteria that turned out to be a traitor living in the patient's very own NOSE. Oh yes. Ever-helpful google confirmed that our noses are indeed home to a brand of streptococcus bacteria that are normally quite harmless but can, under the right circumstances, turn against their landlord. And of course, I now envisage how they are setting up new colonies on my toothbrush and in the far corners of my mouth. Yikes. Let's see if I make it through the night, mkay?...

PS there is a very good reason why I don't watch House or Grays Anatomy anymore :-)

Valentines Day dinner

14. Februar, og facebook var som sædvanlig ved at flyde over med billeder af blomster, som betænksomme mænd havde begavet deres kærester med.  Og en del venner og veninder havde romantiske planer, som overvejende involverede mad og vin i sunde mængder, indtaget i besnærende omgivelser.

Det glæder mig naturligvis at kunne meddele, at min Valentines Day slog alt og alle med flere længder.  Jeg var nemlig i Tyskland med Mor & Far! :-)   Det startede med, at jeg luftede en tanke om at slå et sving forbi en grænsehandel, når jeg skulle besøge en veninde i Esbjerg i weekenden (så ligger Tyskland jo nærmest lige på vejen, i hvert fald hvis ruten er sådan lidt V-formet ...).  Og så så min far så inderligt skuffet ud ved tanken om en ekskursion han ikke skulle med på, at jeg reviderede planen lidt og sagde "vi kan jo også køre derned sammen fredag aften, hvis I har lyst?"   Begge mine forældre lyste op som små sole og udbrød i kor "så kan vi jo SPISE dernede"!!   

Så jeg var egentlig ret sikker på, at den nu stod på karrywurst ved Poetzsch - aber nein: vi kom på Die (der??) Kleine Restaurant i Flensburg og fik en schnitzel "Jägerin Art" mit champignon-såse und pommes und bratkartoffeln und das ganze molevitten.  Det er godt nok både år og dag siden jeg har indtaget en velvoksen tysk schnitzel med umådelig gavmild portion sovs - men helt perfekt, naturligvis ikke michelin-stjerne-niveau, men lige hvad der passede :-)  Og restauranten var hyggelig på den rigtige tyske måde, synes jeg.

... der er ikke rigtig plads til pommes und bratkartoffeln,

før man har gnavet sig et godt stykke ind i schnitzlen :-)

Flensburg by night. Det er faktisk en hyggelig by, og

først på aftenen kan man hilse hyggeligt på nogle af 

byens "kvindelige selvstændige erhvervsdrivende" når

de lufter hund

Flensburgsk gågade-udsmykning

På vejen derned morede vi os med legen "stavning vs jysk udtale". Følgende giver derfor nok kun mening, hvis man er flydende udi den landligt-jyske dialekt:

T-Ø-J = klæjer

K-I-R-K-E = kjærk

S-Y-N-E-S = tøws

E-L-L-E-R-S = hæisen (evt. æisen)

F-J-O-L-S = stjærv (jamen, det hedder det her på egnen. Vist ikke mange andre steder i Jylland. Som bevidnet da min eks-kæreste -som godt nok var fra de varme lande, men ellers udpræget århusiansk i det- spurgte "hvad betyder stjærv?"  -"hvorfor spørger du om det??"  -"jo, for det kalder din far mig"    hi hi hi)

...og så var der naturligvis mange flere, som er fordampet fra min hjerne.

Men altså: fremragende aften. Ganz fabelhaft!

@ N ~ yes, happy Valentines Day yesterday!

My facebook feed was overflowing with pictures of flowers and status updates reporting on romantic dinners, but I'm chuffed to announce that I "beat" everyone and went to a small German restaurant (we're just an hour away from the border) with my parents and had schnitzel with fries and bratkartoffeln (pan-fried potatoes) and healthy amounts of mushroom sauce :-)   It was most satisfactory indeed, and a very good way to spend ones Friday evening.

Last but definitely not least:

Today is my sister's birthday.  She is not even in the country, so I cannot give her a real hug. Instead I have to tell her here (and via text message, and via facebook, etc.) that I hope she has a great day, I look forward to hearing all about her trip when she comes home, and of course, that she is not only the best sister in the world but also a truly awesome human being in general.

TILLYKKE MED FØDSELSDAGEN, SKUMJUNG!

Slow Sunday

Ahh, mørke søndags-eftermiddage - en dejlig tid på ugen, med mindre, naturligvis, man afskyr sit job og frygter mandag morgen. Jeg er heldig at jeg ikke hører til den kategori. Egentlig havde jeg jo sådan en slags to-do liste for denne weekend. Men altså - jo, vasketøjet er ordnet, men det er sådan set dét.  Og det er helt okay. Bortset fra at jeg nødig vil have uanmeldte gæster. I hvert fald kun de rode-mæssigt rummelige af slagsen...

Jeg har dog været lidt huslig. I går fik jeg en umanerlig trang til hjemmelavet leverpostej, så jeg foretog en lille ekspedition for at købe lever&spæk (mmmh, lyder lækkert. Not)  Naturligvis stødte jeg i nabobyens Superbrugs (hvor jeg ellers ALDRIG møder nogen jeg kender, hvorfor jeg var iført mit temmelig afslappede weekend-look) ind i en tidligere studiekammerat, som var den der type fyr, som faktisk er lidt for smuk til at man tør lægge an på ham. Hvad er chancen risikoen lige for dét?  Ganz typisch.  (og til dem der tænker "aHA, ham skal hun da gafle", så må jeg hellere skynde mig at oplyse, at jeg aldrig havde et crush på ham, og at han i øvrigt er den lykkelige indehaver af kæreste (kone?) og to små børn.)

I dag har jeg så taget livtag med føromtalte lever&spæk, og resultatet blev ganske hæderligt hvis jeg selv skal sige det. Så nu ved jeg, hvad jeg skal have til aftensmad de næste mange dage (jo, leverpostejmadder er fuldgyldig aftensmad. Og morgenmad. Og snack.)  Jeg har endda også bagt kiks!

Og så har jeg modtaget en kommentar. Jeg ved godt, at jeg er elendig til at besvare kommentarer her på siden, men de bliver læst alle sammen, og jeg er glad for dem!

Kommentarerne er dog sjældent så udførlige som denne. Til gengæld giver de i 10 ud af 10 tilfælde meget mere mening:

"females a person black Hermes Handbags are generally . Except for you happen to be are available shortcomings . You can be nonetheless Hermes high heels that you could . The way with these by that can make identity and it has large bridle house check. score products even though has a dwell much more about any classy function as searching for acquire and near that which you are mens Hermes Handbags. You can find starts to search be satisfied with pay for quite . Each and every at least one" 

Plus naturligvis 2-3 links af den type, man aldrig skal klikke på, med mindre man ligefrem længes efter at få sin pc inficeret af spam og virus og hvad ved jeg. (Som regel ryger den slags kommentarer i spam-filteret, hvor jeg aldrig ser dem, men denne her fandt vej til min inbox, og det var jo helt hyggeligt)

Endvidere kan jeg fornøje jer med oplysningen om, at de fleste læsere lander her via enten facebook (utvivlsomt fordi jeg spammer mine facebook-venner ved at poste links til indlæggene - de gange, jeg har følt mig for "self promoter"-agtig og har spurgt folk om de synes det er træls, har svaret været nej. Hvis DU synes det er træls, så sig til!) eller Blogsbjerg (giver kun en anelse præstationsangst - jeg forestiller mig at Lindas læsere alle er vant til så høj standard, at de kun kan blive skuffede når de lander her) eller Google. Og hvad Google angår, så har flertallet af dem, der lander her, søgt på et af følgende ord:

Iransk mad (undskyld. Der er for lidt af det. På bloggen, såvel som i min mave)
Spider pig (som jeg engang hørte som "spejderpik" ...)
Danmarkskort (elsker kort. Men er nok ikke den bedste til at vise dig vej)
Aros (jeg er et ukulturelt fæ, men har faktisk været der 2-3 gange)
Sundhedssandaler (ikke helt sikker på om jeg har berørt det emne nok)

Jeg håber, du har en hyggelig søndag eftermiddag og aften, og at du heller ikke gruer dig for hverdagen, som kalder igen i morgen (hvis du da ikke har vinterferie - sagde hun med slet skjult misundelse)

@ N ~ this picture ^ is not from today. It has been raining non-stop.  I have made the most of my weekend - which means that the to-do list I had in my head was discarded in favour of lounging on the sofa, browsing various travel blogs.

I don't watch a lot of television - I know that many people say that, but in reality their TV is on 2-3 hours every night, but it's actually true. I don't.  Because I don't have cable, so there isn't an awful lot to watch (if I had 20-30 TV channels, I'm sure I wouldn't be as virtuous...).  But the vast internet can easily steal a whole evening, and this weekend I have (vicariously) flown Emirates First Class, sampled delicious Iranian food, and found out that enneagram-wise, I do not have any extreme tendencies and I score really low on the "leadership" scale (no surprises there then)

...mmmh, what else have I been doing this weekend?


Oh yes, I have also been indulging my inner Hausfrau (that would be Inner Erna if anyone's in doubt) and baked crisp bread and made "leverpostej" which is a sort of liver paté that Danes are insanely fond of (I'm no exception) and most foreigners find disgusting. It is made from pork liver + lard, so I can't really blame anyone for not wanting to try it ...  

And of course, yesterday when I went hunting for aforementioned liver and lard at one of the semi-local shops, I bumped into an old acquaintance from University that I haven't seen for at least ten years. I never meet anyone I know at that shop, so I was in "weekend casual" with ditto hair style. Back then, he was one of those guys who is really too pretty for his own good and certainly too pretty for me to make a pass at (for some reason I never actually had a crush on him ...otherwise I'm sure I would have overcome that particular obstacle :-) so of course he, of all people, is the one I meet. What are the odds?

I also received an e-mail with a comment on the blog - normally stuff like this goes straight to the spam filter, but not this one. (Speaking of comments: even though I don't always reply, I read every single one and appreciate them very much!)

"females a person black Hermes Handbags are generally . Except for you happen to be are available shortcomings . You can be nonetheless Hermes high heels that you could . The way with these by that can make identity and it has large bridle house check. score products even though has a dwell much more about any classy function as searching for acquire and near that which you are mens Hermes Handbags. You can find starts to search be satisfied with pay for quite . Each and every at least one" 

(for your convenience I have thoughtfully left out the two-three links that were randomly placed in the middle of the sentences. They did promise Hermés bags at unbelievable prices, but I suspect the Hermés bag is the new Trojan horse :-)

I hope you've enjoyed the weekend and don't dread Monday morning. Take care!

And now for something completely different

I forlængelse af gårsdagens indlæg om at finde Lille Jep, kommer her to andre snapshots (fra sidste uges SøndagsAvisen), som jeg fandt uimodståelige.  Kan det virkelig være sandt? I så fald er jeg, hvad den øverste historie angår, umådelig glad for at min lokale mælkepusher har sine køer i en løsdriftstald med rigelig udluftning. Jeg vurderer, at eksplosionsfaren dér må være minimal ...  (men sikker kan jeg jo naturligvis ikke være. Så når jeg tager ud og henter mælk, er det så min version af at leve livet farligt. Her til morgen hilste jeg på to nyfødte kalve og klappede adskillige staldkatte. Nøj, det var mere risikabelt end jeg umiddelbart antog.)

Newspaper clipping: Last week, 90 German cows farted so much that the methane gas exploded. Part of the stables burned down; fortunately only one cow seems to have been inflicted with fire burns.

(I get my milk from a local dairy farmer. But her cows live in a very open, well-aired barn, so I'm thinking the risk of an explosion is minimal. Although, of course, one never knows. I'm not very familiar with the properties of methane gas. So in theory, the milk run could be my version of living on the edge ...)

...and a Brazilian woman had to have 272 spikes removed from her head after a porcupine fell from a lamp post and landed on her.

Can all this really be true?  What a very amazing world, eh :-)

Næsten bedre end at finde Holger...

Min facebook news feed flyder over med status updates fra venner, der har vinterferie og skal ud på ski. Mig?  Hmmmm...altså, jeg skal vaske tøj i morgen. Og så er der en gennemgribende hus-oprydning, der trænger sig på. Herunder at lægge det vasketøj på plads, som jeg vaskede sidste forrige weekend...

Her til aften skulle jeg egentlig have været ude og drikke fredagsøl med en ven. Men det blev aflyst i sidste øjeblik - du skal dog ej være ked, for nu sidder jeg jo hér og skriver til dig :-)   Og en rolig weekend er faktisk ikke af vejen - jeg ved ikke med jer, men jeg synes, jeg har travlt i øjeblikket. Det er ikke en dårlig ting; jeg trives som en fisk i glasklart vand, men der er stærk strøm og hovedet er træt, når jeg kommer hjem om aftenen.

Ergo er der mange blog-indlæg, som forbliver i føromtalte hoved.  Små ting jeg ser på min vej, hvor jeg tænker "ej, det må jeg da dele med alverden" (alverden = bloggens små 40-50-70 daglige læsere - yay!), men så når de aldrig rigtig længere.  Jeg må dog hellere skynde mig at uddybe dagens overskrift.  

Da jeg lærte at læse, var det med assistance fra det klassiske læsebogs-søskendepar Søren & Mette. Dem er I nok mange på min alder, der kan huske. Givetvis også selv om I er lidt over min alder ...  Søren & Mette havde en lillebror.  Lille Jep.

Og Lille Jep har spøget i mit hoved i mange år, for er det overhovedet et navn? Har du nogensinde mødt nogen, der hed Jep (stor eller lille)?  Jeg er aldrig stødt på det uden for læsebøgernes fagre verden.  Før i dag.  For Wakeup hotellet i København har nemlig fået ny direktør, kunne jeg læse i et fag-blad.  Og HAN HEDDER JEP!  Vel gør han så!!

Min glæde ved at finde Lille (måske) Jep i virkeligheden overgik triumfen ved lokaliseringen af diverse Holger'e med flere længder. 

Og sådan er der så mange små glæder.  Jeg håber din weekend bliver skøn - med eller uden ski på fødderne!

@ N ~  happy Friday!!  

The schools here in DK start their winter break today.  Half my friends (it feels that way) are taking the week off and going skiing. Or alternatively jetting off to a sundrenched island somewhere.  At least if my facebook feed is to be believed.  Me, I'm going to enjoy a quiet weekend at home. Doing laundry.... Now, that sounded bitter - but it isn't.  My days are just whizzing by and my head never really stops spinning at the moment, but it's good, it's all good.  I'm busy, but not stressed out.

Amongst the things spinning around in my head are a few of my "new year's resolutions". I'm making tentative travel plans, I'm thinking of ways to "grow" professionally. Little ways, as is my way, but even little ways lead somewhere.  As ever, I'm a slow starter, so nothing dramatic is in the pipeline; I'm just finding small ways of challenging myself. Digging deeper in the systems, so to speak. 's all good.

Hope you'll have a wonderful weekend in the snow!

Morgen-overvejelser

Når efterår er ved at blive til vinter, og temperaturen er på vej ned: Gud, det er kun 1 grad over frysepunktet - så er det nok glat. 

Når det ér blevet vinter, og det er en relativt mild morgen: næh, det er 1 grad over frysepunktet. Så er det sikkert ikke glat. (Ydpreget logisk. Men det var faktisk ikke glat. He he)

De spiller Panamah i radioen. Gad vide om sangerinden kun har én udtryksform (blodfattig og ret træt)?

Hvordan kan det være, at DSB var über-punktlig i sidste uge hvor der var vintervejr, og til gengæld forsinket i dag hvor det er helt fint?

Til gengæld: bonus for at toget standser så døren er præcis ud for der, hvor jeg står på perronen. Og for at de har sat en af mine yndlings-togførere til at bestyre det (yes, jeg har favoritter). 

...klokken er halv syv, og dette er en brøkdel af hvor min hjerne har været henne indtil videre. Og så har jeg slet ikke nævnt minister-rokade, drømmetydning, tidsforskydning, arbejde, håndværkere, WD-40, og pingviners knæ eller mangel på samme. 

Glædelig mandag!

Posted from iPhone 

Air France-KLM study trip St Maarten

Jeg var så heldig at blive inviteret på studietur med Air France og KLM. Ud over at det altid er skønt at komme ud og opleve de flyselskaber vi sælger mange billetter på, var vi så heldige at vores 2-dages tur, som fandt sted den sidste -meget kolde- uge i januar, gik til St Maarten, hvor 26 behagelige varmegrader lokkede.

PS - for the record: nej, folk på rejsebureauer inviteres ikke ustandseligt med på den slags ture. Så du behøver ikke at dø af misundelse :-)

Du kan gå ind på bloggens hovedside og bare læse indlæggene ud i et (de kommer lige nedenunder), eller du kan klikke på linkene herunder. 

Tak til Air France og KLM for en meget spændende og informativ tur!

The last week in January, I was one of the fortunate participants on a 2-day study trip, hosted by Air France and KLM. Our destination was sunny St Maarten - a bit far to travel when you actually have less than 48 hours on the ground, some would say, but it was perfectly pleasant.

You can either scroll down and read the blog posts below - or you can click one of the links.

Merci & dank u well to Air France and KLM for a very exciting and informative trip!


Our outbound flight Paris CDG-St Maarten on Air France

Our return flight St Maarten-Amsterdam on KLM

Changing flights at Paris CDG Terminal 2

... and pictures of planes at Airport Beach St Maarten - a haven for plane spotters :-)

Review: Air France Paris CDG-St Maarten Business Class

Last week, Air France-KLM invited a group of travel agents from various agencies on a short trip to St Maarten in the Dutch Antilles, and I was one of the fortunate ones who was asked to come. The purpose of the trip was to try out various aspects of the product - among other things the transfer process in Paris CDG, and the on-board product on both airlines.

This blog post is about the Paris-St Maarten flight. (the post on the return flight on KLM is here)

We were confirmed in Economy Class, but when the gate agent scanned my boarding pass, the machine went *beep*. That can mean a lot of things (in theory, it could mean "sorry, you're getting bumped from the flight") but on this case it was good news - they had upgraded me to Business Class. Yay!!

wheee, all excited :-)

The cabin has lie-flat seats in a "fixed shell" which of course means you're not leaning back into the space of the person sitting behind you, and it also gives a degree of privacy, so your seatmate won't notice it instantly if you happen to dribble a bit in your sleep...

I never really get around to using the inflight entertainment system much, but I did have a quick nose around to see what was on offer.  To be honest, I was not terribly impressed with the selection of movies - but I am not sure if that was because I don't pay much attention to new movies, or if they simply weren't to my taste.  There were a few new ones that I had heard about, and there seemed to be quite a lot of "old classics" that I didn't know.  They were grouped into themes as you can see (this is just a selection of the more recent movies that were on offer)

Had I not seen it twice already, I would definitely

have been tempted by The Intouchables. Or perhaps

The Great Gatsby (which I haven't seen but heard

great things about)

One thing that did surprise me a bit was the headphones. They seemed to me a bit "worn" and the amenity kit included a set of "muffs" for them - very hygienic, but somehow a less luxurious feeling.

Speaking of amenity kits: they contain the usual selection of socks, eye mask, ear plugs and tooth brush - and Air France gets top points for including a super moisturiser by Clarins.  I am such a sucker for well-known brands, and this one is really good.  Also, in the lavatories they have a full-size Clarins facial cleanser + skin tonic (PLUS cotton pads), so you can actually do a full cleanse-and-moisturise routine before you doze off. Interestingly, the cleanser went missing from one of the lavatories about half-way across the Atlantic, so I guess I am not the only one who likes Clarins ...

As we all know, in addition to a comfortable seat, the important thing about long-haul flights is the FOOD.

We were treated to the "standard" choice of orange juice or champagne as the flight was prepared for take-off.   There was also a small snack (and more champagne) before dinner, and hot face towels.

Entrée:

"Prawn and tomato terrine with lobster suce, duck and goose foie gras terrine, sautéed marinated cherry tomatoes, baby spinach"

 The prawn and tomato terrine (on the right) was not a favourite of mine - a bit bland, and it sort of fell to pieces every time my fork went near it.  But the salad was nothing short of amazing - airline salads can be a bit hit or miss, and this one was perfectly crisp and just the right mix of very interesting kinds of lettuce. No iceberg salad on Air France :-)  And then, the foie gras.... I know I'm getting on the wrong side of every animal rights activist, but OH MY GOD - it was good!  I could happily have eaten twice as much. Interesting mix of the duck and the goose, not too fatty actually, and especially the duck part was silky smooth. YUM!!

Main course:

Choice between "pan-seared leg of lamb with sage sauce, vegetable bâtonnets with olive oil and lemon, mashed potatoes with cumin seeds" - "snapper marianted in lemon and chili pepper, lemongrass cream sauce, creole-style sautéed zucchini, rice with lentils and chili pepper" - and "guinea hen with butternut squash and cèpe mushroom". The latter was a "special", created by 2013 winner of Bocuse d'Or Thibaut Ruggeri.

I chose the lamb, and was not disappointed.  It was "well done" (I prefer it slightly less done) but by no means dry. There was not a hint of "woolen sweater" as people will sometimes accuse lamb of, and the sauce was wonderfully rich.

Then came the cheeses: "petit chèvre, camembert, dried apricot". All quite good, but the bread was really dry - this surprised me, as Air France comes from the country of wonderful baguettes.

All in all, good food. Especially (sorry again) the foie gras.  And then the dessert - mea culpa: I fell asleep and didn't have any!!! It was chocolate cake and ice cream, and everyone said it was really good. Quelle disaster.

But I slept really well (good seat!) and when I woke up, we were here:

Before landing we were served a light meal of risotto with sweet potato, zucchini brunoise, and cream, plus organic yogurt and fruit salad.  My pictures are blurry because of a light turbulence, but the risotto was incredibly tasty.  Yum yum, again!

Overall verdict: extremely pleasant flight. Not terribly impressive inflight entertainment, but maybe that's just me. Great food, and generous servings of very good wine!  Very nice and friendly cabin staff. Brilliant products in amenity kits and lavatories :-)  And comfortable, sleep-inducing seat .....

And then we arrived at St Maarten, and the weather looked like this:

- a very welcome change from the snow and ice we had left behind in Denmark :-)

Review: KLM St Maarten-Amsterdam Business Class

This blog post is about our return trip from St Maarten. You can see the review of the outbound trip on Air France here.

The return trip was confirmed in Business Class on a Boeing 747 which had been refitted with KLM's new Business Class seat, so we already knew we were in for a treat.  Nearly all the 747's have the new seats, and as of April 2014 they start refitting the Boeing 777 fleet.  I have flown KLM Business Class before and was very pleased with the product, but the old seats are not lie-flat and do give you the feeling that you're slowly sliding down to the footrest when you are sleeping.

So needless to say, I was very excited to see what the new Business Class was like. Add to that that the 747 is my favourite aircraft and we would be sitting on the upper deck, and you can guess that I was in high spirits before I even entered the airport.

A glimpse of people lining up on the beach at

the end of the runway for a good blast of jet fuel.

The routing is Amsterdam-St Maarten-Curacao-Amsterdam, so the aircraft isn't on the ground at St Maarten for very long - the actual turn-around is at Curacao.  The first flight is rather a short one, around 1hr 15 mins.  Business Class passengers are treated to a drink and a small snack, but they don't give out blankets, for example.  I chose sushi for my snack, but regretted it - the rice was dry, and the fish was still a bit frozen because it had been kept at low temperature all the way from Amsterdam I would guess. I'd say it's not the best choice - so I asked if they had more sausage rolls, which was another option - alas, they were all gone and the flight attendant told me they were very popular, probably for good reason.

The stopover at Curacao is somewhere between 1 and 1½ hours, and all passengers have to disembark so they can clean, cater, and re-fuel.  Then we boarded again, and were greeted by new, friendly crew who had had a 48-hr stop at Curacao.

I totally fell in love with the captain, who didn't mind a couple of curious travel agents paying him a visit in the cockpit - oh I hope there is not some rule against this so he'll get in trouble for me telling this.  He was just the friendliest guy, and during the flight he actually went around saying hello to all the passengers, not just the lucky few ones on the upper deck. The purser told me he even helped fix the inflight entertainment system in one of the Economy Class seats!  Truly a good ambassador for KLM.

Now for the product itself.  Really comfortable seat, just like on Air France.  It is equipped with a privacy screen that you cannot move - handy if you don't know (or like) the person sitting next to you, or especially if you're working during the flight. Less handy if you would like to kiss your seat mate, but then you just have to lean over it :-)

As you can see, the overhead compartments

on the upper deck are comparatively small - you will not

be able to put your rollerbag there. Those go in a special

"wardrobe" near the galley.  If you need easy access to

your rollerbag without having to walk back and forth,

you will probably want to sit on the main deck, where 

I guess the overhead compartments are normal size.

Someone once told me that the upper deck felt

really "cramped" - with the exception of tall

passengers having to duck a bit getting into the

window seat, I did not find this to be the case at all.

It was airy and spacious.

The TV screen is huge - and if you need to, you can send e-mails or SMS from it (but that does involve swiping your credit card in the remote control, so I did not try out that particular bit).

There is also a language course on offer - strangely enough, only French.  Why not Dutch, I wonder?

The movie selection was good; I didn't take any pictures of it and didn't watch anything, but I got the impression it was a notch better than Air France.  But really, I am a poor judge of that.

Drinks were on offer - they had a really good champagne, and as I was in such a good mood that it became my beverage of choice all through dinner. I mean, after the first round, everyone moves on to wine for the dinner, and they had half a bottle of champagne left from the welcome drinks. It would have been a shame to let that go to waste - so I helped them...

Entrée: "Breast of duck with mango chutney, pistachios, and cranberries"

Totally delicious. The duck was just the right shade of pink, the salad almost as good as on Air France, and the Dutch have better bread than the French.

Main course:

Choice between "spicy breast of chicken accompanied by roasted pepper sauce and Israeli couscous" - "grilled salmon complemented by herb-garlic butter, stewed fennel and fried rice" - and "braised beef with Dutch hutspot - a Dutch specialty featuring mashed potatoes, carrots and onions".

I chose the salmon and was delighted to find it wasn't dry at all (fish served at 10kms altitude does sometimes give the (correct but rather dry) impression of being as far from its natural environment as it can get). Delicious rice and fennel as well.

Dessert:

Having missed what was reported to have been a great chocolate cake on the Air France flight on the way out, I was determined to make the most of the dessert card.  We were given a choice between: cheese cake, tiramisu, and a cheese plate with Gouda and brie plus fruit.

Fortunately the friendly flight attendants did not mind letting the greedy passenger in seat 78B have both the tiramisu and the cheese cake - both were good, with the cheese cake as a clear winner.  For dessert I temporarily abandoned my champagne in favour of a port wine - a really good one; either Taylor's Late Bottled Vintage Port 2007, or Croft Pink Port (no idea which one, possibly Taylor's. I should have taken notes here)

Then it was time for a bit of shut-eye again. But only a bit - when we had finished dinner there was only around 6 hours of flying time left. But I slept really well on the flat seat, which was not roomy enough to sleep star fish in (I think you need First Class for that ...) but enough to sleep on my tummy with my leg at a slight angle :-)

And before I knew it, we were approaching Amsterdam and it was time for breakfast.  At dinner time, we had filled in a card with our choices of breakfast (I chose omelette over "cinnamon swirl French toast Amandine", fruit yogurt over plain, corn flakes instead of bran flakes, and honey instead of jam), so everything was cooked and ready when we woke up. The funny-looking thing on top of the omelette is a sausage, in case you were wondering. It tasted better than it looked. Oh, and the croissant was perfect!

Quick note on the amenity kit - totally decent, and some of the lucky ones got a "girly version" with a pink bow on it (I was trying to chat up the captain when they were given out, so I got the standard version, which is also very nice, though not pink ...)  There is no moisturiser; instead there is a full-size one, perfectly good, in the lavatories. But not a brand I know of, so Air France wins this one with their Clarins products.

Overall verdict: Brilliant seat. Good inflight entertainment. Delicious food, and especially delicious champagne.  And then, my very favourite thing about KLM: their staff. I don't think I have ever been on a KLM flight where the flight attendants were less than super friendly, and this one was no exception. I disembarked with a crush on the captain and one of the flight attendants (a male flight attendant, I hasten to add. His female colleague, I just wanted to be best friends with).

And the bonus: I love how, at the end of an intercontinental flight in KLM Business Class, you get to be a little girl again and pick a new "doll's house". Yeah, yeah, I know there's Bols inside, but the Delft houses are just so cute. And I delight in watching the business travellers, grown men in suits and ties, whip out their smart phones which can use the KLM Delft House app in flight mode to see which one they need for their collection.

See - Denmark's got snow today :-)