An open letter to Heidi Klum:

I am a huge Project Runway fan. Huge. When the shows are airing I have a standing date with Morten that we download each episode from YouTube on Thursdays and eat dinner laying on the couch and watching it. (Special bonus: no comercials except for all the product placements.) I would look forward to it all week.

I generally dislike reality shows because all the fighting makes me feel uncomfortable and also because there is usually no point what so ever to the entire show. What I like about Project Runway is that (with the exception of season 3) there is very little fighting and the contestants are actually talented.

Anyway, the Weinstein Company (who are they?) tried to sell Project Runway to Lifetime and Bravo freaked out and took them to court. (Actually, I freaked out too. I cannot imagine Lifetime doing a good job of carrying on the spirit of the show. They'd probably fire all the gay characters and replace them with abused single mothers.)

Now, season 6 is filmed, edited, and the three finalists have showed at Bryant Park, and.....nothing. (Insert chirping cricket sounds) The show can't air until the court case is settled. AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Here's what I want to see happen:

Less of this:

More of this:

Dear Heidi,

Please put on some cloths and get season 6 on the air. I am dying over here.

.

Sincerely,

Erika

.

CC: Michael Kors, Nina Garcia, and Tim Gunn

A Horse with Handle-bars

After working three hours at the school this morning I trimmed a couple of horses. Peter was my first client.

Peter's hooves have gone from good to incredible in the last couple of months since i started trimming which pleases me to no end. However, today's highlight was not his hooves. (I know, you can hardly believe it. Look at how gorgeous they are! What could top that?)



Peter is a Gypsy Vanner which is a small draft horse of the type Gypsies use(d) to pull their covered wagon thingies around. He's got long hair on his legs that coveres his hooves just like the Budweiser Clydesdales (which you can clearly see in the photo) but he's also got another cool hair accessory: a handle bar moustache!

I could not stop looking at it and giggling once I noticed it. That is absolutely the number one CUTEST thing I have ever seen in my life. Puppies? No. Kittens? No. Babies? Definitely not. Horse with a moustache? Yes, yes, yes.

I don't know if Peter has a moustache all year round or if it's just a winter coat thing. I'll have to remember to ask him next time.

The sun was shining today (finally!) so these photos came out better than mine usually do. Here is a beauty shot of Peter. Although it was pure luck how well these photos turned out I am still very proud of myself for taking them.

I have not been Skijoring this week

Ever since I heard of Skijoring I knew it was something I wanted to try. Basically, it's a cross betweek Cross Country Skiing and Dog Sledding. You still ski but the dog helps pull you allong faster. You can use just about any dog over 25 pounds and they just pull as hard and fast as they're able. Since I am really slow this isn't much of a challenge for Ven, who is a a born leash puller.

Every year I get dragged allong on the Mørup family week of hell (aka the annual skiing holliday). I enjoy the week away, and the cooking together, and the sunny weather, and the board games after dinner. However, I do not enjoy the skiing. At best I find it tollerable.

Last year we stayed home becuase Morten was sick with the flue. I was sorry he was sick but not only did we not have to ski but we also got to pick up our puppy a week earlier than planned. That was a great year. This year I planned to Skijor with Ven which I anticipated would elevate the act of skiing from tolerable to fun.

I had agreed to give a hof trimming clinic last weekend and couldn't really get out of it so I planned to fly/bus up on Tuesday while everyone else took the car Saturday. Unfortunately, Morten couldn't find Ven's passport Saturday so in the end the dog had to stay home. This pissed me off on several levels.

First, I just cleaned the house so there was NO REASON the damned Passport should be anywhere but RIGHT WHERE IT SHOULD BE. However, despite hours of searching the passport was no where to be found. It's probably a good thing Morten was the one looking because I tend to become disproportionately enraged when I can't find something. It is absolutely the thing that makes me the most mad in the entire world.

Second, Morten went up to our veterinary clinic on Saturday before they left to see if they could make up a new passoport. (FYI a dog passport is just a bunch of papers from your vet that say they've had all their vaccinations). The boutique is open all day Saturday to seel food, etc so there was a nurse there who had access to all Ven't records. She couldn't make the passport herself (because she wasn't a vet) but she printed everything off and Morten took it over to a 24 hour vet. The 24 hour vet wouldn't sign off on the passport because a vet hadn't been the one to print them off. This pisses me off to mo end. Apparently, only a vet is qualified to use a computer. Who knew!

Third, and most obviously, I was annoyed that after a year of fantisizing about Skijoring I was stuck just plain skiing again this year. DAMN! I did a major face plant at the end of today and one of my skiis slid all the way down the hill as I was trying to get everything on and in place again. Ugh.

I think I will have two doggie passports made up for next year.

P.S. It was complete torture to see all the other people skijoring with their dogs.

Not exactly a bad dream, followed by a bad day

Last night I slept like crap because I kept having this dream where I couldn't find two of the same shoe and I was late to my first class. I woke up at 6:30 feelig nervous and sterssed instead of relaxed and well rested.

After a long day (waking up at 6:30 to schedule a few subs; teaching computer tech to second graders; going home at lunch to do the dishes and let the dog out; returning to school to teach computer tech to first graders; doing my Danish homework during after school computer club), racing downtown to slog through four hours of Danish class seems like punishment.

Belly Ache

It could be because I ate too many short bread cookies...

or because I didn't eat enough.

Vegetable wish list

I have been buying and reading gardening books since I was in college. Now that I will finally be able to plant a vegetable garden I can't stop thinking about it. Here is my vegetalbe wish list. I have already weeded out vegetables that I don't want to attempt growing my first year and ones we don't really like eating.

The growing season in Denmark is rather short, due to the lack of sunshine and rain in early spring and autumn, so a lot of hot weather crops like tomatoes and mellons fail many years if the weather isn't top notch.

Radishes are apparently very easy to grow and are one of the first things that are ready to eat from the garden. I know for a fact they grow very well in Denmark.
Herbs are SO EXPENSIVE so this year I'm going to grow my own. I hate it when a recipe calls for a bunch of fresh herbs because it dometimes doubles the price of the dish. Usually it's some kind of stew which calls for two dollar and twenty seven cents worth of of potatoes, beans, and onions and then fifteen dollars of fresh rosemary, marjoram, and thyme.

String beans are so tasty.

Peas are amony my top three favorite vegetables. I think we're going to let the peas and beans grow up on the fence in front of the train track, just to make good use of the vertical space there. Hopefully Ven can restrain himself from peeing on them and burning off all the bottom leaves like he did with my sweet peas last year.

Rhubarb is a vegetable but it seems more like a fruit to me. My Mom always grew it and so does Morten's Aunt Jette and I have a million tasty recipies for it.

Tomatoes don't ripen every year in Denmark, only in years where the summer is quite good. If you have a green house it is more reliable but I'm going to go for it anyway. I've heard about growing them upside down in buckets so maybe I can start them inside and then hang them outside afterward. We'll see.

Of course, potatoes. These are pretty cheep in the store so I don't think I'll give tons of space in the garden. If I can find seed paotatos for it I think I'll try one of the really strange ones that are purple or red inside.

I have never eaten Kohlrabi but it is apparently rather easy to grow and the recipies for it seem nice. I'm going to try it to see if we like it.

The only way I've eaten Kale is wilted in minestroni soup. It stretches the soup and makes it tasle fresher. It's easy to grow so I'm going to give it a try.

Collards; again, easy to grow and apparently tasting cabbagy. I like cabbage and the headed varieties are apparently very dificult to grow so I'm going to try this one for the first year and take it from there.

I'm not sure cucumbers will grow here because they need so much heat. If I can find a variety that will work I'll give it a try. I'd like to try making some pickles if I can.

Morten doesn't like pumpkin but I do so I'm going to grow one plant that's an eating variety rather than a carving variety. They are smaller and have better flavor.

As a child I hated zucchini but now I love it. My favorite is to grill it.

Spinach for salad.

Romaine is apparently the most healthy salad so that's what I'd like to try growing.

Belgian endives aren't something we buy very often but they are easy to grow if you have a basement to store them in during winter. You store the roots in sand and then they sprout colorless tops when you let them warm up and simultaneously keep them in the dark.

Rutabegas aka Swedes.

Turnips.

Carrots.

Parsnips.

Swiss chard.

Beets.

Artichoke. This may not grow well in Denmark but I am going to try it anyway because artichokes are my number one favorite vegetable.

Asparagus is a dificult vegetable to grow but, again, it's one of my favorites so I'm going to give it a go anyway.

I don't eat much celery but I love it as a flavoring for stocks and soup. Regular celery won't grow in heavy clay soils like Denmark has but "Chinese Celery" has a better shot and is actually more flavorful so it's even better for soups than the original. How lucky!

According to all the books the most important thing is getting varieties meant for your location. I am going to visit this big organic market/family farm near Morten's parents' place tomorrow afternoon. I want to ask them where I can find the best seeds (ones for varieties that grow well in Denmark) or if I can perhaps buy from them. I also want to see if they can point me to any resources about planting times, etc that are short and sweet so maybe I can get Morten to help me translate them.

I'm off to Danish class now. (Booo.)

These are a few of my favorite things

I haven't been bitten by a dog, stung by a bee, or fealt particularly sad lately but none the less, I wanted to share some of my favorite things with you.

Mr. Zebra. I recently bought this statue at an antique market in Copenhagen. I have no idea why I like it so much, but I do. I think he is incredibly handsome. He lives in and amongst my orchids in the picture window.

The snail lamp. This is something we bought on our trip to Berlin in January. It was only 50 Euros! It's made of some kind of strange semi-mirrored plastic that is slightly transparent. At the time I bought it Morten was rolling his eyes because he thought it was weird and tacky but once we got it home he loved it.

My rabbit fur lined hat. I'm not against wearing fur on principal but I am against the practice of raising things like foxes, which are anti-social, in rows of tiny cages and then feeding their meat back to the next generation of unfortunate foxes. However, since rabbits are social creatures and since we eat their meat, in my opinion wearing their fur bears the same ethical responsibility as wearing cow leather. I LOVE this hat because it keeps my ears toasty warm but doesn't give my hair static electricity.

Eva Trio egg cups. I eat a hard boiled egg for breakfast about 4 days a week on average. I love them. I love them even more when I eat them out of these egg cups/plates. The egg is offset on the plate so there is actually enough room for the shell, spoon, and some salt and pepper.

Window colors

The windows are badly in need of some love, attention, and paint. At the moment they are painted brown which is a fairly common choice of color for a house with yellow bricks.

The basement windows are in the worst shape.
Yikes! Some of the windows need professional help.

The two windows faving directly south are stained glass so that the house doesn't get too hot and so that you aren't constantly being blinded by bright sunshine. Our choice of paint needs to coordinate with these windows as well as with the black roof.

On Saturday I snuck around a bunch of people's yards and took pictures of yellow brick houses with different colored windows. I almost wish we had shutters because they are so cute!

Which color is your favorite?

Rust red?

Dark turqoise green?

Medium blue?

Light blue?

Dark blue?

I hate graffiti but you have to admit, this is a lovely shade of purple.

Dark purple? (Vote for me!)

Brown? Hello, reflection :)

Dark green?

A Sunday outing in the new neighborhood

We went to visit our new house today and go for a walk in the new dog park. We don't have the keys yet but I wanted to measure the yard because I'm planning the layout of my new vegetable garden. I took a bunch of photos so here you go:

SOLD! They can take that sign down now! Ven made it very clear that he likes the new yard and spend the entire time we were there bounding around like a deer and chewing on a stick. He looks a bit funny in this shot because he's not standing. He's landing.

Look at all that space for a vegetable garden!

A close up of the strawberry plants in front of the back patio. They look like wild strawberries which are Morten's favorite.

After we measured the yard and determined that if I went completely wild I'd have about 200 square meters of prime vegetable garden, we went for a walk in the new dog park. Bernstorffparken is a 'destination' dog park and people from all over Copenhagen and North Sjælland drive there to walk, especially on the weekends. The new dog park is really only used by locals so it's not as busy. We were there around 2:00 and it was a really cold day (notice the snow on the ground from last night). We saw only a few people and one dog. The last time we came was also a Sunday but around 11:00 am and we saw a lot more people and dogs then.

The park is actually the public grounds of Sorgenfri castle which was used as a royal residence until a few yars ago. No one lives there now (except staff) but it is clearly still being used for something because we saw smoke coming from some of the chimneys and everything still looks like it's up and running.The castle is in the center towards the bottom of the park. The north border of the park is the train tracks and we live more or less straight north from the castle. This bridge is the official start of the park and is only about 100 meters walk from our front door.

This is the little stream where you can put in a kayak or canoe and paddle around all the lakes in northern Sjælland. It's only a few feet deep but for little boats that's enough.
A big field in the park.

A monument to the people who died durring the wars between Denmark and Germany. They used to fight all the time about the border between North Germany and Southern Jutland (the part of Denmark that's not an island). I sometimes wonder if, when the world wars finally broke out, people in Denmark were like, "Not again!"

Morten, just before we get to the Sorgenfri Castle.

Erika and Ven in front of Sorgenfri Castle.

He's not much of a fetcher but he does like a good game of tug-o-war.

This is the path that runs between the park, on the right, and the train tracks on the left. Our house is just out of the shot on the left hand side.