Sunday morning

Sunday morning, on the way to a book sale…

That’s right outside our apartment! It was impossible to bike, so we just walked

we took a shortcut, crossing Assistens Kirkegård, the famous cemetery where H.C.Andersen and Kierkegaard and other famous Danes are buried

…and where there are always people jogging. Even in this weather!

before going home we had a huge brunch, and then were both in a food coma. My vegetarian brunch included a tower of honey-glazed roasted beets topped by a grilled aubergine, with melted goat cheese on top! (plus 3 kind of cheese with homemade syltetøj, yogurt with berries, spelt salad, fruit, scrambled eggs, rye bread and butter….).

The cafè had a lovely fire place, with a moose head on top (not quite sure that’s the name of the animal in English! maybe is an elk?)

It was hard to walk back home, when all we wanted to do was just stay there and sleep in front of the fire place….sometimes cafès exaggerate with coziness in Scandinavia

snow and candles

It’s cold and snowy here in Denmark, and I just love it. Biking in the snow (tons of snow) is a lot of fun, eating soup in cafès where candles are lit on every table is the ultimate cozy treat and…well, I’m definitely in love with this weather! This year it got pretty idyllic Scandinavian, so I wished I could stay here a little more – and go to California when the rainy Danish spring is starting. But I guess I’ll get adjusted to the San Franciscan sun pretty quickly.

(I found a great tutorial for decorating candles with wax paper that I need to post here. And this is a version made with dried flowers.)

Photos of snowy Copenhagen coming up soon!

Mc Italy, anyone?

adbusters

I’ve only eaten at Mc Donalds 3 times in my whole life, I think their food is garbage and their values completely unethical (I know I’m a little extremist about it!). And I just found out that the Italian government has teamed up with Mc Donalds to launch the Mc Italy burger. I guess that perfectly fits the surreal situation Italy has been in for the past 10 years or so. This is the article the Guardian wrote on this. And below is part of the answer (to the article) by Italy’s minister of agriculture….ready for some nonsense?

…thousands of European farmers are facing the consequences of the worst economic crisis since ‘29. McItaly will bring to the Italian farmers three million and 448 thousand Euros of additional income per month. It will also enable McDonald’s clients to eat a healthy burger made with PDO and PGI ‘Made in Italy’ products.We hope this will convince them to forget about junk food and choose a healthier and better quality food. We are sure it will work.

Then, we will become modern Jesuits and try to “convert the infidels” of the left, who have never dirtied their hands by working in the fields. They are the same people who, after preaching against those who – like me – work to ensure quality as a right for everybody instead of a luxury for élite consumers, run towards the ‘Organic Food’ aisles of supermarkets with their heavy wallets and light consciences.

Luca Zaia
Minister of Agriculture Food and Forestry Policies

What in the world are you talking about minister? Mmh…

A tale of San Francisco

The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill, by Judy Irving (2003), is one the best documentaries I’ve seen lately. It’s the real story of Mark Bittner, an extraordinary man who lives in San Francisco, and the special relationship he established with a flock of wild parrots that live on Telegraph Hill. One day the house where the man is squatting needs to be renovated and sold…

View the trailer here.

Printables for free

art by Amy Moss/photo from Eat Drink Chic

I need to print some business cards (or I’d rather say student cards?) for my fieldwork in SF. I found some very nice templates, and not just for business cards…there are so many free PDFs for gift tags, cards, stationery sets, soda bottles, cake boxes, anything really. The one above is by Amy Moss, her lovely blog Eat Drink Chic has so many great downloads!

I also like Creature Comforts, another blog packed with nice free printables, and I do it yourself.

photo of the week

photo & knitting: London Knit the City's Yarn Corps

This is one of my favourite examples of…yarnbombing, a form of graffiti based on knitting. Follow the preparation of the phonebox cozy by the Yarn Corps here.

And for more guerrilla knitting: Knittaplease

Missing connections

art by Sophie Blackall

This wonderful blog by illustrator Sophie Blackall is entirely inspired by Missed Connections ads.

Knitting shoes?

photo BlueandRedCows posted on craftster

Knitted Converse! Nice project posted on Craftster with full instructions, here.

DIY goat cheese

photo Urban Cheesecraft

When in California I’ll definitely order this! I’m intrigued by the idea of making my own goat cheese, and I actually like to use chevre for quesadillas. Mmmh..

This is the great Etsy shop that sells it, from Portland, Oregon:

Urban Cheesecraft

Why do we craft?

photo by dotty angel on Flickr

I’ve finally re-learned how to knit, and I’m about to finish my first basic project…and while looking around for some knitting websites I found 2 amazing podcasts on craft:

1) The first podcast is “Reconsidering Craft“, from the program”To the best of our knowledge”, on Wisconsin Public Radio, and features crafters from the indie underground craft revival in the US, as well as a sociologist, a neuroscientist (she talks about the healing power of knitting), a writer who published a book on scrapbooks in the States from 1970 to 1945…

2) And this is Cast On, a very inspiring podcast and website “dedicated to the paradigm shifting notion that knitting matters” . Anything on this website is knit-related, and in the most interesting way.