ilwen's wonderland of dreams and reality

The joy of October

2011-10-01T19:44:00.001+02:00

A feeling of sadness and longing
that is not akin to pain,
and resembles sorrow only
as the mist resembles the rain.
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow~

There is no season
when such pleasant and sunny spots
may be lighted on,
and produce so pleasant an effect
on the feelings,
as now in October
~Nathaniel Hawthorne~

“Listen! The wind is rising,
and the air is wild with leaves,
We have had our summer evenings,
now for October eves!
~Humbert Wolfe~

Everyone must take time to sit and watch the leaves turn.
~Elizabeth Lawrence~

Why Darts is (one of) the best sports to watch

2011-07-27T20:43:00.002+02:00

(my favourite darts player, photo from darts1.de)

It's about time to give this unpopular but lovely sports some attention.

-> Darts is a lot about concentration and accuracy, not really about strength or speed.

-> It involves maths. A darts match requires quite a bit of calculating, the players need to add, subtract and multiply pretty quickly and make quick decisions based on that.

-> None of the professional darts players resembles the cliché of the tanned and slim athlete that we know from other sports. Instead, the average player is your normal middle-aged, mostly overweight gentleman with fading hair. They're refreshingly normal.

-> It's mostly a very peaceful sports. It's just the player against the board, no direct competition. The total lack of physical violence makes darts a very relaxing sports to watch.

Of course there're always drawbacks. What makes darts a little less fun watching is:

-> As in every sports in the media, there're females dressed in skimpy clothes. There're no cheerleaders in darts. Instead, at their entrance the players are escorted to the board with said females, usually along to some horrid 80s or 90s entrance song.

-> The crowd cheering with the players are the same drinking, mostly rather primitive crowd that we know from football and other matches.

And if you're playing darts yourself, there're some more drawbacks such as:

-> While it is justified for darts to classify as "sports" because it does require quite a bit of strength in your throwing arm, the arm is the only thing you really exercise when you're playing. Also, you hardly play outside (and most people play in smoky pubs) which doesn't make it any healthier.

-> It's highly addictive and deeply frustrating at the beginning.

This being said, I still believe darts is one of the most underrated sports that might gain more fans (both for watching and playing) in the next few years.

Lessons learned... from our first bike tour of the year

2011-07-02T18:51:00.003+02:00

The first proper bike tour of the season was a real success but also taught us some valuable lessons for our future adventures...

--> No matter how close you stay to your home, unless you only go grocery shopping, take a repair kit with you. There's too much glass and nasty sharp things in the streets, even unexpected stuff like pins.

--> When you're fixing a flat tire, make sure you find an even place that's not in the middle of an ant trail.

--> Even if it might seem ridiculous when you're on a bicycle tour, take an umbrella. When it starts pouring down with rain, find a bench, open your umbrella and enjoy the raindrops' music on your fabric roof.

--> Make sure all your things fit into your water-proof bikebags. Also, pay those few extra €s to buy quality bags that will be 100% water-proof and keep your things nice and dry.

--> Rain gear is important. Rain trousers do look a little silly but are useful. Raincoats just won't keep your legs dry.

--> Unless you're feeling adventurous and have no destination or are on a foolproof path, bring maps of all the areas you'll ride through.

--> Keep your lights on all the time. Cars can be insanely fast and won't pay much attention to cyclists. Also, make sure your lights won't stop working when your tires are wet. Working lights can be a life-saver.

--> Bring a small camera that fits into your pocket and will let you quickly take photos without having to stop and open the bags for every photo.

--> Enjoy every minute of it, even the unexpected misfortunes.

Inspirational Quotes on Summer

2011-06-28T13:48:00.000+02:00

I wonder what it would be like
to live in a world
where it was always June.
~L. M. Montgomery~

Then followed that beautiful season... Summer....
Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light;
and the landscape
Lay as if new created
in all the freshness of childhood.
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow~

To see the Summer Sky
Is Poetry, though never in a Book it lie -
True Poems flee.
~Emily Dickinson~

What dreadful hot weather we have!
It keeps me in a continual state of inelegance.
~Jane Austen~

How sweet I roamed from field to field,
and tasted all the summer's pride.
~William Blake~

Spring's thrills

2011-04-22T09:07:00.003+02:00

If you've never been thrilled
to the very edges of your soul
by a flower in spring bloom,
maybe your soul has never been in bloom.

~Terri Guillemets~

Oh, the thrills of the very first spring flowers finally coming to life! First those tiny and delicate white snowdrops, perfectly disguised against the white snow. Later the cheerful daffodils, opening their blossoms widely for the warm spring sun. And the variety of tulips, each member of the family dressed up in a different colour: the majestic ones in their dark red or dark purple cloaks, the chipper ones in bright pink dresses, the dreamy ones in pastel colours and the fashionable ones in stripey and multicoloured design. Wouldn't the world be an empty and dull place without all those unique and gracious little friends?

April's promise

2011-04-21T14:57:00.003+02:00

April is a promise
that May is bound to keep.

~Hal Borland~

This year's April is promising a warm spring, cheerful butterflies dancing over the fields, streets lined with trees in full bloom, meadows full of delicate grasses and wild flowers, afternoons spent in the park eating icecream and nights lit by starry skies and the subtle glowing light of tealights.

Things To Do For Easter

2011-04-19T15:38:00.003+02:00

There's no need to watch tv or stuff yourself silly during the Easter days. There are enough fun things you can use this long weekend for. Here are some ideas.

1. Have an Outdoor Tea Party. Invite friends and fantasy guests: The Mad Hatter of course, Winnie-the-Pooh and Piglet, Calvin & Hobbes, a flock of Woodstock birds.

2. Bake an Easter bread and eat it fresh from the oven when it's cooled down a little but is still hot enough to make margarine melt.

3. Visit the Botanic Garden for an Easter walk.

4. Use a sunny day for some happy window cleaning, listening to catchy Rock'n'Roll songs and humming along.

5. Make a mobile with Easter eggs, bunnies and chickens from coloured paper and wire. Add spring-coloured beads if you like.

6. Replace your winter wardrobe with bright and cheerful colours, matched aesthetically of course. Every colour looks brilliant in contrast to black.

7. Make Easter candy with chocolates, powdered sugar, coconut flakes, melissa syrup, lemon juice and other fresh goods.

8. Have as many Easter egg shaped foods for the Easter diner as possible. Also, show the lambs and chicks some love and serve a cruelty-free diner.

9. Read up about the Pagan traditions of Easter and take the opportunity to learn about other beliefs beyond Christianity and the other common religions.

10. Hide sweets and little presents for both children and grown-ups. Why shouldn't grownup children enjoy an Easter hunt, too?

11. Create a fluffy pompom bunny. If you're feeling fancy, create a blue or green or pink bunny!

12. Find a pattern for an origami bunny or chicken.

13. Burn a CD with cheerful spring songs.

14. Decorate your own Easter cards with rubber stamps, pens and pencils, papers and glue.

15. Take the time to decorate a few flower pots with decoupage: Use oldfashioned napkins or paint them in happy spring colours.

16. Go to the library and find stories with rabbits as main characters.

17. Make your own bunny ears and wear them for a day.

18. Easter is the perfect time to remember those bunny jokes from our childhood.

19. Go out and try to find animals' footprints in the mud.

20. Go out for a walk and pick a few flowers for an Easter bouquet.

A Spirit of Youth

2011-04-13T07:51:00.002+02:00

April hath put a spirit of youth in everything.
~William Shakespeare~

While the chestnut tree is looking greener every day and we excitedly watch the blossoms grow until the tree will finally be covered in pretty pink, I'm feeling the curious child within me as strong as ever. If I can make it, I want to spend some time outside this week, running over meadows, playing Speedminton in the park and just forgetting about life's duties for a few hours. I might also write a list with my favourite spring activities for my neglected Listography account. I got a special "List Notebook" for my birthday that will be perfect for the purpose.

Do take the time for a few childlike moments this week!

Book Review: Kate Morton - The Forgotten Garden

2011-04-12T18:33:00.004+02:00

The title suggests there might be quite a few similarities between the Secret Garden and this book and indeed there are. At first I felt Kate Morton had stolen ideas from The Secret Garden until I realized the analogies are fully intended: Frances Hodgson Burnett makes a short appearance in the book as a guest at a garden party. She hears about the forgotten garden and is intrigued so in the story the forgotten garden inspires her to write the Secret Garden.

The story itself is interesting and easy to read. The book has over 600 pages but it's never boring. Basically it's about a family drama, a dark family secret, nothing more and nothing less. The story is set in four different times: at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, around 1975 and at 2005. It starts in 2005 when Cassandra inherits all her beloved Granny Nell's belongings. She learns that her Granny, who'd lived in Australia all her life, had owned a cottage in Cornwall, England. Her great-aunts tell her about Nell's sad secret: she was an adopted child who had been found at the harbour at the age of 4. Nell seems to have travelled to England in 1975 to find out about her family and ended up buying the cottage. Cassandra decides to find out about the secret behind Nell's heritage and travels to Cornwall herself. She finds out about the meaning of the old fairy-tale book by Eliza Makepeace that Nell had brought to Australia in her small suitcase and about Nell's true mother...

I must say I enjoyed reading the story and it was fairly well written. However, the "dark secrets" are nothing revolting, actually it was something I had suspected pretty early. It's still an entertaining book, the changes in time and perspective lead to an interesting story. I just wish the end wasn't as cliché as it is. Recommended for an easy read on holiday, when you don't want to think too much but enjoy a pretty shallow but well-written entertainment. And of course the description of the forgotten garden and the scenery in Cornwall as well as Eliza's fairy-tales are beautiful and worth reading.

Spring Fever!

2011-04-12T18:26:00.001+02:00

It's spring fever.
That is what the name of it is.
And when you've got it, you want -
oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want,
but it just fairly makes your heart ache,
you want it so!
~Mark Twain~

Book Review: Douglas Adams & Mark Carwardine - Last Chance to See

2011-04-05T08:17:00.005+02:00

Well, it is no secret that I adore Douglas Adams - to me he is (well, was...) one of the funniest, most imaginative and most intelligent writers out there. The Hitch Hiker's Guide is one of my favourite books ever but it's obviously fiction. This book, however, is not a fiction book.

In 1989 Douglas Adams was asked by the BBC to travel the world with the famous zoologist Mark Carwardine in search for animals that were nearly extinct. Since Douglas Adams isn't only a computer freak but also someone with a deep love for science and a passion for endangered species, he agreed. This book is kind of a travel report as well as a pamphlet to save endangered species as well as a reflection of human society with a philosophical touch. It's like several different books put into one.

I wasn't sure what to expect of the book but I clearly wasn't expecting to love it as much as I did. It's entertaining, it's clever, it's thought-provoking and it's very well written. One of the things I love most about Douglas Adams is his ability to analyze human behaviour in its oddities and sometimes dark sides and write about it in an ironic way that is never arrogant. He most certainly knows he isn't superior to the behaviour he makes fun of. He actually doesn't take himself too seriously either. His way of describing scientific facts about the animals they visit is entertaining and never shallow. Also, there are a few photos to illustrate their visits at the kakapo, the river dolphins, the mountain gorillas, the white rhinos (that are in fact not white at all!), the komodo dragons and several more.

I have NOTHING to criticize here at all, just a brilliant book if you like his humour and like reading travel reports or books about endangered species or reflections about human oddities - or if you just love Douglas Adam's way of writing.

A few quotes from the book:

Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.

The great thing about being the only species that makes a distinction between right and wrong is that we can make up the rules for ourselves as we go along.

I went and sat on the beach by a mangrove tree and gazed out at the quiet ripples of the sea. Some fish were jumping up the beach and into the tree, which struck me as an odd thing for a fish to do, but I tried not to be judgmental about it. I was feeling pretty raw about my own species, and not much inclined to raise a quizzical eyebrow at others. The fish could play about in trees as much as they liked if it gave them pleasure, so long as they didn't try and justify themselves or tell each other it was a malign god who made them want to play in trees.
I was feeling pretty raw about my own species because we presume to draw a disctinction between what we call good and what we call evil. We find our image of what we call evil in things outside ourselves, in creatures that know nothing of such matters, so that we can feel revolted by them, and, by contrast, good about ourselves. And if they won't be revolting enough of their own accord, we stoke them up with a goat. They don't want to eat the goat, they don't need it. If they wanted one they'd find it themselves. The only truly revolting thing that happens to the goat is in fact done by us.

(The last quote follows the chapter about their visit at the Komodo dragons where they observe tourists being thrilled about the dragons being fed a goat that was killed instantly before the "show".)

A Video worth a Film

2011-04-05T08:12:00.003+02:00

This video is one of the most fascinating that I've seen in a while. It makes me dream of fantasy worlds, of a life spent on an obscure flying vehicle with a mysterious dragon as a friend. It's not an entirely cheerful video but it certainly inspires the imagination. Maybe it's more of an autumn song and video but it's also very suitable for wild and stormy spring nights full of rain and darkness. I wish someone turned this video into a whole film.

Book Review: The Book With No Name by Anonymous

2011-03-24T19:21:00.003+01:00

I must admit I had high expectations about this book. First I got attracted by the cover. Then I read praise like references to Tarantino, Douglas Adams and the X-Files and got really curious. It was claimed to be "as bloodthirsty as Tarantino and as weird as Douglas Adams" which, as a big Douglas Adams fan, assured me I had to read the book. Thankfully, the public library could provide a copy so there was no need to buy it.

Basically the story is about a small town (Santa Mondega) full of criminals - rapists, mass murderers, drug dealers... and vampires. There's a mysterious and crazy mass murderer called Bourbon Kid who's said to be dead but who seems to have returned. There's a stone called The Eye of the Moon which is supposed to give its holder magical powers and lets him control the moon. There's a girl who survived Bourbon Kid's last massacre. There are two monks out to get back the Stone of the Moon because it is rightfully their property. And there's a naive boy called Dante with his girlfriend Kacy who is basically portrayed as a hot girl every guy is after. And of course there are officers trying to catch Bourbon Kid and solve all the latest murders.

Well... I can see the parallels to Tarantino as it IS a very violent book. Nearly every character you get to know will get killed in brutal and disgusting ways. The book doesn't intend to raise any kind of empathy for the victims. The violence is described in a rather disturbing way - maybe to illustrate how common murder is in Santa Mondega. It's not badly written but not the greatest literature either. There are many swear words and there is "gangster language" as well, violent sexist macho crap. The book is in a way fascinating and thrilling but doesn't meet its expectations at all. There's certainly no Douglas Adams and very little X-Files in there. And it's sometimes hard to bear when you're not a fan of violence and mass killings.

There're two sequels - "The Eye of the Moon" which I'm reading right now and "The Devil's Graveyard" which will be published in early summer. Not sure if I can recommend the first book at all but it might be for readers who are not sensitive towards violence and want an easy and thrilling book to read.

This is the official website: www.thebookwithnoname.com

Thoughts on Appreciation

2011-03-23T19:25:00.002+01:00

Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?
~Douglas Adams~

I have mixed feelings about this quote.
I love imagining things.
There is nothing wrong with believing in fairies.
*But* if you have to believe in something magical because the real life isn't enough it's somewhat sad.
I believe that's just what the amazing Douglas Adams meant to say:
Do appreciate real life and the small things around you!
Appreciate the blue sky even if you're not in the Carribean right now.
Appreciate the tree outside your window even if it's not in bloom yet.
Appreciate your cup of tea or hot chocolate in the morning even if it's a workday.
Appreciate a beautiful garden even if no magical creatures dance in it.
Appreciate your meals even if they're not gourmet food.
Imagine things and creatures for the sake of it, just don't do it because it's the only way you can appreciate life.

How to bring the Magick back to Christmas.

2010-12-21T11:23:00.003+01:00

With Christmas almost knocking on the doors, the shops full of Christmas kitsch, crowds of people stressed and cranky, it is about time to remember the magick this season held when we were small. Why not bring a little bit of the old magick back this year?

♥ Write a letter to Santa ♥
♥ Take a photo with Santa ♥
♥ Make your own Christmas Cards ♥
♥ Make paper ornaments for the tree ♥
♥ Decorate the table with oranges and nuts ♥
♥ Sit down with your beloved ones to decide on the Christmas menu ♥
♥ Make paper chains to decorate your walls ♥
♥ Bake a huge colourful gingerbread house ♥
♥ Drink alcoholfree mulled wine ♥
♥ Sit down and crack nuts all evening (and don't forget to leave a few shells to make animals from them) ♥
♥ Leave a carrot out for Santa's reindeer and some juice for Santa himself ♥
♥ Learn a Christmas poem by heart ♥
♥ Sing Christmas songs with your beloved ones ♥
♥ If you don't like Christmas songs: Sing silly versions of Christmas hymns or listen to punkrock versions of Christmas songs ♥
♥ Make Christmas candy and chocolates ♥
♥ Wrap your presents as pretty as you can. Use recycled material: use newspaper and paint it and don't forget to add some glitter for sparkle ♥
♥ Read Christmas stories (Astrid Lindgren is highly recommended) ♥
♥ Go to the Christmas market and take the ferris wheel and chairoplane. Eat sugared almonds too ♥
♥ Drink hot chocolate with lots of cinnamon or vanilla ♥
♥ Watch Nightmare Before Christmas ♥
♥ Make your own themed Christmas baskets ♥
♥ Get into the art of candlemaking ♥
♥ Make your own Christmas wreath ♥
♥ Hang up your stockings ♥
♥ Make your own gift tags ♥
♥ Display your Christmas cards on your wall ♥
♥ Play Secret Santa ♥
♥ Learn about other countries' Christmas traditions ♥
♥ Make your own Christmas potpourri ♥
♥ Tell everyone you like that you care about them. Actually, tell them at least once a month, not only in December ♥

Happy Samhain! Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T17:30:00.002+01:00

Spirits of the Dead

Thy soul shall find itself alone
'Mid dark thoughts of the grey tomb-stone;
Not one, of all the crowd, to pry
Into thine hour of secrecy.

Be silent in that solitude,
Which is not loneliness- for then
The spirits of the dead, who stood
In life before thee, are again
In death around thee, and their will
Shall overshadow thee; be still.

The night, though clear, shall frown,
And the stars shall not look down
From their high thrones in the Heaven
With light like hope to mortals given,
But their red orbs, without beam,
To thy weariness shall seem
As a burning and a fever
Which would cling to thee for ever.

Now are thoughts thou shalt not banish,
Now are visions ne'er to vanish;
From thy spirit shall they pass
No more, like dew-drop from the grass.

The breeze, the breath of God, is still,
And the mist upon the hill
Shadowy, shadowy, yet unbroken,
Is a symbol and a token.
How it hangs upon the trees,
A mystery of mysteries!

~Edgar Allan Poe~

It's Samhain, the Night of the Dead! Carve a pumpkin, eat lots of pumpkin soup with pumpkin seed oil, bake bone shaped cookies, light a candle, spend a moment to remember and honour the dead ones, dress up as a pretty vampire, reflect the past year and ponder about the coming year, do some fun New Year divination and don't forget to read ghost stories after dark! Happy Halloween!

An Autumn Evening

2010-10-28T07:16:00.001+02:00

Dark hills against a hollow crocus sky
Scarfed with its crimson pennons, and below
The dome of sunset long, hushed valleys lie
Cradling the twilight, where the lone winds blow
And wake among the harps of leafless trees
Fantastic runes and mournful melodies.

The chilly purple air is threaded through
With silver from the rising moon afar,
And from a gulf of clear, unfathomed blue
In the southwest glimmers a great gold star
Above the darkening druid glens of fir
Where beckoning boughs and elfin voices stir.

And so I wander through the shadows still,
And look and listen with a rapt delight,
Pausing again and yet again at will
To drink the elusive beauty of the night,
Until my soul is filled, as some deep cup,
That with divine enchantment is brimmed up.

~Lucy Maud Montgomery~

Favourite Quotes: Autumn

2010-10-27T15:40:00.002+02:00

Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.
~Albert Camus~

Delicious autumn!
My very soul is wedded to it,
and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth
seeking the successive autumns.
~George Eliot~

It was one of those perfect English autumnal days
which occur more frequently in memory
than in life.
~P.D. James~

But I remember more dearly autumn afternoons in bottoms
that lay intensely silent under old great trees”
~C.S. Lewis~

Besides the autumn poets sing,
A few prosaic days
A little this side of the snow
And that side of the haze.
~Emily Dickinson~

I cannot endure to waste anything as precious as autumn sunshine by staying in the house. So I spend almost all the daylight hours in the open air.
~Nathaniel Hawthorne~

Every leaf speaks bliss to me,
Fluttering from the autumn tree.
~Emily Bronte~

He is outside of everything, and alien everywhere. He is an aesthetic solitary. His beautiful, light imagination is the wing that on the autumn evening just brushes the dusky window.
~Henry James~

On the motionless branches of some trees, autumn berries hung like clusters of coral beads, as in those fabled orchards where the fruits were jewels . . .”
~Charles Dickens~

October makes me dream of...

2010-10-22T09:48:00.003+02:00

...going for a long autumnal walk to return home to a fire in the oven hours later...
...making friends with a family of friendly squirrels...
...spending a week pickling, preserving, drying and freezing the harvest...
...building a huge pile of leaves and jumping right into it...
...going deep into the forest to find a big basket full of mushrooms...
...living on pumpkin soup for a week...
...filling the cellar with goods so we'll survive any snowstorm in winter...
...preparing the garden for the cold nights...
...watching old black and white vampire films at night...
...filling the house with orange, red and yellow colours...
...drinking lots and lots of rooibos tea in the evenings...
...painting colourful trees and golden landscapes...
...reflecting the past year and preparing for the new year after Samhain...

Soundtrack for rainy autumn days

2010-10-20T09:17:00.002+02:00

Oh how do I love autumn days, rainy hours at home, quiet times of reading and making jigsaw puzzles. Drinking tea from our last balcony herbs, making plans for the winter, reflecting the past year, dreaming of the past summer and watching photos of our adventures. Willie Nelson is my perfect tune for this time of year.

Now this is real music!

2010-10-01T16:51:00.002+02:00

In times of casting shows, plastic music and playback shows, isn't it perfectly delightful to discover real music with soul and magic? The Tiger Lillies make me dream of circus shows centuries ago, melancholic clowns and sparkly artistic performances.

I am reasonably happy today.

2010-09-30T07:49:00.002+02:00

Yes. Are you feeling happy? Grateful? Content? Make a note and tuck it away somewhere safe so you can get it out and remember it in times when you're not in the best of moods.

Things To Do on a Rainy Day

2010-09-29T07:47:00.003+02:00

Go outside and let yourself get soaked. Dance in the rain if you like and get your friends and other loved ones to dance with you.

Play football in the mud and have a hot bath afterwards.

Make a mug of hot tea or coffee or chocolate and drink it outside while trying to save raindrops from falling in.

Cuddle up in bed with your favourite book.

Listen to the rain's music on the window.

When it's stopped raining go for a long walk and enjoy the smell.

Play melancholic music while watching the raindrops.

Write a story or poem or song or just a post on rain.

Make paper airplanes and fly them across the room.

Organize your own film festival. Agree on a theme (fantasy, horror, romance, sci fi, action, children etc.) and rent several videos according to the theme. Serve popcorn with different flavours and colourful candy.

Go to a museum or an art exhibition.

Do crossword puzzles or - if you're feeling very creative - make your own ones. For additional challenge make a crossword puzzle in a foreign language! You can do the same with word search puzzles. When you're finished exchange them and do the others' puzzles.

Try sudoku.

Play a board game. get your old Scrabble or Monopoly boards out.

Make a huge jigsaw puzzle.

Bake cookies and give them to family and friends.

Take bets on which raindrop will be the fastest on the window.

If you have an older member of the family around, let them tell family stories and learn about your family history.

Call someone you like for a long talk.

Make hot soup - tomato soup or ginger carrot soup are two of my favourites.

Make shadow animals on the wall using your hands and a flashlight.

Print out a mandala and colour it or make your own mandala. Take the time to learn something about them too.

Make puppets out of paper bags.

Learn how to say hello, thank you and goodbye in foreign languages. If you're with a loved one, learn how to say -I love you- in different languages.

Eat your food on the floor pretending you're on a picnic.

Draw pictures for your grandparents and write them a letter to send along with the drawings.

Go to the library and let everyone involved choose a book. Take turns reading out a passage from the book.

Watch a documentary about nature and animals or a science programme.

Write a story together with everyone writing one sentence.

Get audio books and snuggle up on the sofa listening to them.

Make chocolates. If you don't have any chocolate molds, make simple balls with different fillings: coconut, nougat, marzipan, raisins etc.

Camp inside. If you don't have a tent that you can set up without stakes, just build a tent or teepee yourself with tables or chairs and blankets. Sit inside and tell each other ghost stories.

Have a cushion fight but be careful not to destroy your cushions.

Make a tower from plastic or paper cups.

Learn something new (together or on your own) - a language, an instruments, some crafts, how to type using all your fingers etc.

Make a list of alternatives to watching tv. Find as many things as you can think of and then pick one at random and do it.

Ask a question and then use your books (or Google if you don't have enough books) to find the answer.

Take a nap.

Make a book (or collage) with favourite things - trees, flowers, animals, food, drink etc.

Have an indoor "snowball fight" with old newspaper.

If you have one - jump on a mini trampoline.

Clean out a cupboard or drawer.

Mend some clothes that have been piling up for ages.

Re-decorate or re-organize your room. Put up new pictures or postcards or decorations.

Go on a treasure hunt.

Save boxes and containers and decorate them for small bits and bobs that would otherwise get lost. Or decorate containers for food like a pasta glass etc.

Make and send a postcard.

Start a new collection.

Get a colouring book and do one page.

Make paper dolls and colour them.

Draw a picture together with everyone taking turns adding details to it. Afterwards make up a story around the picture.

Start eary DIY gifts for Xmas or the next birthdays.

Make collages from old magazines.

Finger paint with chocolate pudding on a plate and lick it clean afterwards.

Make a themed photo album and decorate it.

Find an easy and safe experiment and perform it.

Play with the globe if you have one. Otherwise play with a map.

Make play dough and play with it.

Sew puppets or toy animals.

Make a themed meal with dishes from one country or dishes with one colour or using the same ingredient (among others).

Design a boardgame and make the rules for it.

Play charades.

Play dress up.

Make a fancy menu for a restaurant you made up and then let someone order things from it.

Have a tea party. Bake cupcakes and use your nicest teaset and best tea.

Make music - with real instruments or pots and pans. Or make an instrument.

Tell a story without using a book.

Learn to do tricks with a yoyo.

Make boats and let them swim in the tub.

Make a newspaper, a journal or a zine.

Exercise - pushups, crunches etc.

Make a scrapbook.

Ode To Autumn

2010-09-28T17:20:00.002+02:00

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness!
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run;
To bend with apples the mossed cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For Summer has o'erbrimmed their clammy cells.

Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?
Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find
Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,
Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;
Or on a half-reaped furrow sound asleep,
Drowsed with the fume of poppies, while thy hook
Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers;
And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep
Steady thy laden head across a brook;
Or by a cider-press, with patient look,
Thou watchest the last oozings, hours by hours.

Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they?
Think not of them, thou hast thy music too, -
While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day
And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;
Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn
Among the river sallows, borne aloft
Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;
And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;
Hedge-crickets sing, and now with treble soft
The redbreast whistles from a garden-croft;
And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.

~John Keats~

Things To Do when you're alone

2010-09-14T07:26:00.002+02:00

The video above is one of the most beautiful and most inspiring things I have seen within the past few weeks. It made me think of all the lovely and fun things you can do by yourself. Also, it made me realize what most of my favourite people have in common: they are ok by themselves. They don't mind solitude but embrace it and usually prefer it to the company of a large group of people with smalltalk and meaningless wasting their time away. So here's my personal list of favourite things to do when i'm by myself:

Things That Are Good to Do by Yourself

Get soaked up in a beautiful song or piano concert.

Go for a long philosophical walk to get my priorities sorted out. Preferrably in the rain.

Read, of course. Get caught up in an exciting or enchanting story.

Spend an hour revising one of the languages I'm interested in. Trying to learn vocabulary the fun way (with lots of pictures), reading a cartoon in the language, watching a children's film, trying to write a few sentences.

Write a letter. Make my own letterpaper with pen, paper, watercolours and stamps.

Sit in a public area and draw houses or trees.

Go out and take photos. Unusual photos, tourist photos of the city I live in, beautiful photos of the surrounding nature.

Go iceskating. Take my favourite music to dream away to while I'm floating around the skating rink.

Play the guitar. Practice a song over and over again until I'll start dreaming of it. Trying to feel every single note. Messing around with the amp, experimenting with the different sound effects.

Tidy up and clean, listening and singing along to rock'n'roll.

Take a bath with my favourite book, a relaxing scent and lots of candles.

Dream and imagine!

Thoughts on Imagination

2010-09-10T14:36:00.002+02:00

It's a poor sort of memory that only works backwards.
~Lewis Carroll~

It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see.
~Henry David Thoreau~

The man who has no imagination has no wings.
~Muhammad Ali~

Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things
that escape those who dream only at night.
~Edgar Allan Poe~

ilwen's Top 8 Soups for Autumn

2010-09-09T07:44:00.005+02:00

Now that the blessed season of Autumn has started, it's time to brew up soups for those cold evenings. There are two things most of my autumnal soups usually need: lots of ginger (good to fight those unpleasant colds) and lots of cream. This is my top 8 list for favourite soups for this time of year. And This! would be my recommendation for the perfect cookbook full of soups and stews for every season!

1. Pumpkin Soup! With (soy/rice/oat) cream whipped in and decorated with pumpkin seed oil.

2. Cream of Mushroom Soup! Using lots of cream and those frozen herbs from the balcony (altenatively the last fresh ones from the balcony or window sill in the kitchen.)

3. Exotic Carrot Soup! Cilantro, coconut milk, ginger, black cumin and coconut flakes make the perfect spicy combination.

4. Thai Veggies Soup! Coconut milk, Thai spices, tofu, aubergine and mushrooms

5. Curried Lentil Soup! For those Indian themed meals.

6. Cream of Leek Soup! Nutmeg makes it spicy and special.

7. Tomato and Potato Soup! A cheap and simple Mediterranean soup with garlic, basil and oregano.

8. And of course: Onion Soup! An excuse to use decadently expensive and rather unhealthy vegan cheese.

Dreams

2010-09-07T07:46:00.004+02:00

Dreams are the touchstones of our character.

~Henry David Thoreau~

And I believe it is true. Ask people about their dreams and fantasies and you will gain a great insight into their minds. Are they idealists, do they dream big, are their dreams unique or follow society's stereotypes? Also, how do they treat their dreams? Do they work hard to make them come true or whine about the long path until they might reach them? People's dreams are one of the most interesting things about them.

People without any kind of dreams are rather scary.

Things To Do when the Black Dog bothers you (= when you're feeling low)

2010-09-06T09:55:00.004+02:00

Sometimes the world seems to be an unfriendly and dark place even if you know life's rather great in general. Exhaustion, rude people, overwhelming work - there are numerous reasons to feel low. Here's a small list of things that can help fight this enemy, the black dog or whatever you might call it.

♥ Make yourself a hot chocolate with lots of (soy) cream on top.
♥ Get out some old letters and read them (pleasant ones by people you like).
♥ If you can drag yourself out, get onto a swing and SWING! (Black dogs sometimes cannot tolerate that for long.)
♥ Take one of your most favourite books and get someone to read your favourite chapter to you.
♥ Listen to your favourite song on repeat.
♥ Make soapbubbles and try to make the biggest one you have ever seen.
♥ Watch Amélie and try to get soaked up in the film.
♥ Dance to T-Rex or other silly cool music.
♥ browse Flickr for pretty photos.
♥ make grimaces at yourself in front of the mirror.
♥ force yourself to smile - it does reach your mind at least in a small dose, trust me.
♥ This is not for everyone but watch a Bollywood film!
♥ fill a page in a colouring book.
♥ hug someone you like.
♥ build a cave from cushions and blankets and hide from the world until you feel better.
♥ Go out and watch ducks, sparrows or blackbirds.
♥ Climb a tree.
♥ Light a few candles and listen to an audio book.
♥ Make a big bowl of spicy soup.
♥ Go out and have a picnic.

The prettiest restroom in Berlin

2010-09-03T09:04:00.003+02:00

Is it odd to write about the most beautiful restroom in a restaurant that I've ever seen in Berlin? I don't think so. There are many pretty restaurants and cafés in Berlin, most of them with neat and clean toilets but the one in Chèn Chè was special. The atmosphere was magical and I felt like I had entered a fairy-tale. Never before did I feel no desire to leave a restroom because it was so cosy and wonderful. (The restaurant itself is just as beautiful and the food is amazing, too.)

Are you looking at the stars?

2010-08-25T20:06:00.005+02:00

We are all in the gutter
but some of us are looking at the stars...
~Oscar Wilde~

Are you looking at the stars?
Do you imagine what might be?
Do you fantasize about what the stars might look like?
Do you take steps upwards to get closer to them?
Do you practice flying so that you might find your place among them some day?
Are you looking at the stars or are you looking around the gutter?
Are you used to being in the gutter and take no steps to change it only because every one else is in it too?
Do you let yourself be told that the gutter is the normal place to be?
Do you keep yourself from dreaming because the world is a difficult place for dreamers?
Do you expect to stay in the gutter only because it is easier that way and you fear the unknown?
Are you looking at the stars?

Things To Do in Autumn

2010-08-25T10:11:00.002+02:00

Collect colourful leaves

Identify the leaves and glue them into a notebook. Name them and research about the trees they come from.

Collect chestnuts and make animals from them.

Have a conkerfight.

Find a huge pile of (clean!) leaves and jump right into it. Make sure to tidy up the mess afterwards too.

Make a mug of hot tea, light a lantern and watch the flame flicker.

Make a paper lantern and take it out for a walk.

Carve a pumpkin and make (Carribbean) pumpkin soup.

When the storm is howling outside, build a ship from your bed, lots of cushions and blankets and pretend to be a pirate in the middle of a thunderstorm.

Turn off the lights, lie in the dark and listen to Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata.

On a windy day stand in an open space and resist the force of the wind.

Get a few friends together and tell each other ghost stories.

Make a shadow theatre.

Decorate the flat/house in red and yellow.

Cook an autumn soup.

Send everyone you like a Halloween postcard.

Copy Dreadful Shadows on your MP3 player and take it out for a midnight walk (I highly recommend the Funeral Procession). Get lost in the beautiful dark voice and try not to think about anything at all.

Go to your local library and find childrens books about autumn.

August makes me dream of...

2010-08-23T08:16:00.002+02:00

...travelling around Scandinavia in a tiny caravan...

...picking buckets full of blackberries in the forests...

...reading summer poetry by the side of a small lake...

...travelling by canoe for a week...

...sitting by the fire at night, listening to Hank Williams...

...cycling through fields and forests...

...living in a tiny tent and eating every meal outside because all we really need is a place to sleep...

...adapting the sleeping pattern of the birds: rising when the sun rises and resting when it sets...

...watching dragonflies dance over a meadow and pretend they're fairy soldiers protecting their kingdom...

...pretending there's no money in the world and we can live off picked fruit and vegetables...

I promise that I'll run away with you

2010-08-20T08:46:00.003+02:00

Don't you sometimes wish you could just run away for a while? Take a month or even a year off without thinking about the consequences? For once not listening to that voice of sensiblity and responsibility within yourself? One year without common life duties, without any "must"s, without stagnation? Always moving, always living. Oh, just think of the possibilities!

Just think about all the places we could see, all the gnomes, fairies, giants, trolls, elves, ents and spirits we could meet.

Oh, wouldn't that be glorious? What if we just left today? What if...

What is important?

2010-07-30T07:03:00.000+02:00

Attitude is more important than the past,
than education,
than money,
than circumstances,
than what people do or say.
It is more important than appearance,
giftedness,
or skill.

~Charles Swindoll~

July makes me dream of...

2010-07-16T07:48:00.001+02:00

...drinking homemade ginger lemonade while I'm dipping my feet in the pond...
...sleeping in a tent in the wild corner of the garden...
...living off gazpacho and fresh bread with guacamole...
...getting up early in the morning to welcome the day and breathe the still fresh air...
...having a pair of swallows live in the barn...
...barbecues with vegetables from the garden in the evenings...
...spending the day in a hammock in the shade reading The Wind In The Willows...
...making small paper boats and letting them float in the nearby lake...
...sending off a message in the bottle and actually receiving a reply...
...telling each other ghoststories under the light of the full moon at night...

Simple Food Saturday

2010-07-11T13:33:00.006+02:00

Sometimes your food schedule needs a makeover. In my case that means I will try to have a Simple Food Day and a Raw Food Day once a week and probably a Fairy Food Day once a month.

Yesterday was my first Simple Food Day and it was so easy and felt perfectly right in this tropical heat. I feel my body was very grateful for the experience of a day full of healthy and easily digestable food.

For my Summer Simple Day food qualifies when it
a) doesn't require cooking or baking and preferably not blending either
b) doesn't take longer than 10 or 15 mnutes to prepare
c) contains simple and rather unprocessed ingredients.

Here's what I had yesterday:

Avocados with lemon juice, pepper, garlic, salt and chili - my no-blend guacamole

I chopped a few tomatoes...

...and lemon basil from the balcony...

...as well as a block of plain tofu...

...to make a bowl of tomatoes with tofu and basil, mixed with dark balsamic vinegar, olive oil and pepper.

For soup I had very simple no-blend gazpacho - tomato juice mixed with olive oil, white balsamic vinegar, salt + pepper, diced onions and garlic. I would have added diced cucumbers if I'd had any left.

I had another very simple tofu dish that was prepared in 3 minutes: tofu cubes with Tamari and lemon juice, topped with chives (which might sound odd but was so so good)

For desert I diced a banana, dribbled agave nectar over it and topped it with vanilla sugar and dark chocolate chips

My body feels refreshed and cleaned now, after only a day of simple food. I'm trying hard not to spoil it with icecream and chocolate cream or margarine today.

June makes me dream of...

2010-06-12T10:40:00.001+02:00

...growing exotic fruit in our greenhouse...
...hanging the washing in our green and wild garden...
...making fresh bread in my huge witch oven behind the house...
...rowing over the lonely lake by moonlight...
...playing the guitar on the bench in front of the house in mild summer nights...
...jars of homemade pesto and pickled vegetables, jam and preserved fruit in the cellar...
...reading each other Peter Pan by the side of the small pond...
...cycling to the nearest village to buy essentials like flour and soymilk...
...watching bats at night...
...snacking on strawberries, black currants and raspberries from the garden...

about the excitement of growing things

2010-06-11T07:10:00.005+02:00

I am a perfectly lucky girl for having such a spacious balcony while living in a big city. I doubt I could bear living among so many houses and cars, surrounded by noise and pollution if it wasn't for our peaceful and quiet little place where we dig in the dirt, sleep under the stars and have breakfast, where I sit to write letters on Winnie-the-Pooh paper to dear friends, work on the Netbook, sit on the bench to drink tea and read or take a nap in the spring sun.

The excitement of eating the first strawberry of the year fresh from the balcony is always a great highlight of the year, as is the first salad made from homegrown things only.

Seeing things grow and blossom until then finally pretty flowers appear and colour our little space for a while.

But the loveliest thing of all is finding little guests snacking on our flowers or just sitting and relaxing in the sunlight

How stressful and hectic life would feel without a place to retreat and ignore the outside world for a little while...

Rainy dreams

2010-06-04T07:25:00.003+02:00

I've been awfully busy (but mostly in a happy determined way) and it's been rainy, rainy, rainy here. The rain makes me very dreamy and triggers my creativity more than anything else.

These days I'm dreaming of sitting in our future Swedish house in the middle of the forest while the rain is knocking on the windows and the storm is howling in the trees. I'll be mending clothes, we'll take turns in knitting warm red and black scalves for winter and I'll sew tablecloths, curtains and cushions with moons and stars. We'll live off last year's harvest, pickled veggies, preserved fruit and a huge bag of walnuts. Does it really matter if that dream will ever come true as long as I have a vivid imagination and can just pretend it is?

Most people call the Gods of Rain their enemies but I've been friends with them all my life. How perfectly peaceful to sit inside, hear them knocking on the windows and drumming on the window sills, seing their ambassadors, the tiny rain fairies, slide down windows and drip off trees and windows. How wonderful to cycle in the rain and come back for a hot cup of cinnamon chocolate, to have a hot bubble bath and snuggle down with a blanket and a Wombles book, with Wind in the Willows on dvd, pen and paper close by and a handful of tealights scattered all over the room. The rain is definitely a friend.

Making friends with a few friendly kois

2010-05-25T07:31:00.003+02:00

I made friends with my very first koi fishes. They were so very huge but so curious and lovely. I approached them carefully and watched until I was sure they wouldn't mind me intruding. Then I bent down and touched them very gently. At first it was odd and I was scared of their huge mouths and pulled my hand out quickly when they came to meet me. Quickly we became familiar though and I stroked them very gently. I felt a little sad for them living in such a small and boring basin but it was good to make their acquaintance though. I like making friends with uncommon creatures and people.

Wouldn't you like to live in a tree?

2010-05-24T14:08:00.003+02:00

Sometimes I wish I was a tree fairy and lived in an old weeping willow on the bank of a small stream. At night I would hear the water murmur and the wind would whisper words of wisdom and beauty. The willow tree would sing me lullabies and maybe a nightingale would join in. My neighbour, the old owl, would tell me of nightlife by the stream, of the small animals who secretly populate the stream but who are so very timid and don't trust me yet. At daytime I would sit by the side of the water and talk to the heron or listen to the ducks chatter. I would live off wild herbs and berries and mushrooms and sometimes the friendly squirrel would come and share some of his nuts with me. Wouldn't that be just wonderful?

the black and sunny life of a country fairy in a big city

2010-05-23T19:19:00.003+02:00

So this is my public blog, in addition to my private livejournal that I share with a few selected souls only. Why another blog? I get so much inspiration from other blogs, I feel I want to take a small part in the world of inspirational beauty and depth, I want to reach out and just wait what kind of response I might get eventually.

I'm ilwen, I dream and I think too much, I have the wildest imagination and more ideas than would be good for me. I love cooking and baking, I love my balcony garden, I love my guitar, my pens and pencils, my notebooks and my excessive music collection (I believe in variety - from noisy screaming to soft piano tunes). I'm passionate about nature, letters and books and I'm addicted to tea, dreams, the band Emery and reading. I will write about my thoughts, share my adventures and the daily prettiness I stumble upon.