A night of wind machines and nationalism
So Denmark won the Eurovision!
I’m not exactly what you would call a Eurovision fan, and having watched it at home in the company of two English-men (sorry Bonnie) there was quite a big lid on the excitement.
I must say that Swedish TV did an amazing job, so Denmark has got a lot to follow up on in that department. I’m sure there are quite a few Danish producers already worrying about their work load in the months to come. I personally think it is a much greater achievement to host a great Eurovision show, than it is to win it with a song.
Congrats to Emilie De Forest (is that not the coolest name ever?) from a dane in the UK!
Easy-peasy bread rolls
I have certain revision rules. If I must procrastinate, the only legal reasons are running, cleaning, or baking. Today was baking. After reading this Guardian article about all the not-very-nice things there is being put in our food (human hair anyone?) I decided to try out bread. I’ve never been much of a bread maker, and therefore went into the project with slight reservations about the result. But it ended very happily, and I therefore thought I would share it with you.
You need:
50g yeast (I used dried, 1 level table spoon equals 15 grams)
8 table spoons of water
3 dl. milk
2 tablespoons of sugar
0.70g of salt
0.5 dl. olive oil
800 gram flour (I used a mix of white and wholemeal, but it can be done however healthy you wish to be. Would be great to add some seeds too)
-and one egg for glazing.
Mix the yeast with semi-warm water from the tap. Then put the rest of the ingredients in, but only about half the flour. Put the rest in gradually, until the dough is elastic but not sticky.
Make them buns into the shape and size that you wish (I made 12 round ones), let them rise for 10-20 minutes, and bake for 10-15 minutes at 220 degrees. And voila! Bread rolls with no human hair to be seen anywhere.
Feeling slightly nomadic… and in need of animal loving.
6 months ago I lived in Bethnal Green. Another 10 months before that I lived in Holloway. Right now I’m in Walthamstow, and in a month and a half I will be moving yet again, although still living in Walthamstow.
The past 3 years I have been a student with a part time job. In about 20 days I will be an ex-student, searching for a new job.
Everything is changing, but it’s definitely for the best. what’s not so great however, is having to show random excited, and prospective new tenants our current fla, starting tonight. Nothing quite so uncomfortable as inviting complete strangers in, and letting them judge your home. I’m going to think happy thoughts, and keep in mind that it is only a necessity on the way to a lovelier home (With a bathtub with lion feet. Yes!). It has also got a small real garden. And a cat-flap. Which immediately made me think of the possibility of getting a cat (obviously). I am in serious deficit in the pet department, having grown up with several dogs, at least 2 cats at any given point, at least horse since I was 10, birds and rabbits. Everyone need animals in their life to be a stable, balanced person.
Now, just to convince my man that this is a brilliant idea!
Why chickpeas is the coolest food ever
Chickpeas. Boring, small bean-like round things, you might think. But they are so much more. I’m recently finding myself loving those little things more and more.
Firstly, they are pretty healthy. According to this site they are high in protein, can lower cholesterol, keeps you full for longer, and can be used pretty much for everything. What’s not to love?
Almost every day at uni the past week my lunch have consisted of this simple, but awesome, chickpea salad. And it is really very filling – much more than an expensive sandwich from a shop.
You need;
1 can of chickpeas
about 1/3 of a cucumber
8-10 cherry tomatoes (or normal tomatoes)
Feta cheese (amount depends on taste i guess… And how healthy you want it to be).
Chop cucumber and tomatoes finely, add cubes of feta, season with salt and pepper and perhaps any other spice that you like – I personally think a bit of turmeric (which is also very good for you) fits in quite well. And voila! Lunch! Couldn’t be easier, and it is really very tasty.
Another use i’ve recently tried out, is making them into a healthy snack. It was a complete experiement, but turned out rather well. Even my boyfriend liked them despite being quite the crisp/peanut lover, so success!
You need;
1 can of chickpeas
2 table spoons of extra virgin olive oil
1/2 table spoon of pepper
1/2 table spoon of salt
1 table spoon of sugar
1 table spoon of hot chili powder (if you’re brave)
Mix it all together and bake on the highest level for 20-25 minutes. I’m sure this would work with some other combination of spices too.
They are hot, but not overwhelmingly. Can definitely recommend you to try this as an alternative to nuts and crisps. I’ll be making them again, that’s for sure.
Insta catch up
Time is flying! Where did last week go? This weekend? Winter? Although the weather still thinks it’s winter, it is officially spring. Which means I am finishing my degree sooner that I like to think about (especially all those deadline that are squashed in between now and graduation), will hopefully have something to start job-wise during the summer, and probably another flat-move. Although it’s all very hectic, theres nothing in my future that is not very exiting. And I can’t wait to figure out what’s gonna happen! But, the present is also awesome, and this is a little bit of what has happened recently:
I went for my first run of the year (during those 2-3 hours where it actually felt like spring!). Had lovely evenings at home with a boyfriend who sometimes looked like a smurf in my hats. Went to Scandinavian Kitchen and admired their very cool posters with Lina (If you are in London and haven’t been there, go!). Also bought strong, salty liquorish which is the best in the world, but also something that English people don’t understand. And I went to my first unified communications expo at Olympia to meet the nice people from Shoretel.
I went to a goodbye party (buuh) where they had the best sangria ever (yay!), went to another after party in a house in Walthamstow with many floors and a great view over London once you conquered the stairs (Not easy while carrying a drink I might ad). Went to the Nags head in Walthamstow Village (on a few occasions) and wondered why Tetley The Famous Cat is so famous. And that its a bit much to pay £8 for a book abut a cat named after tea. I have been very tired of always beeing cold and worn big svarved, jumpers, boots and jackets, and dreamt about spring. Have also seen the biggest spider ever (Even bigger that the spiders that used to chase me out of the basement in my childhood home in Denmark) and I screamed so loud that the neighbours probably thought that it was at least at bear. But he was GIANT! No pictures, would not be able to deal with that size spider even in picture form. (Am sitting on the couch he was under right now, and I’m not happy about it. What if he has friends?).
One of those days where all the little things in the universe just seems to be against you
Ah! I’m having a day. Yup, one of those days. A day where everything breaks, and nothing works, and it’s all just incredibly difficult.
Woke up. For the first 30 seconds every thing was great, until I turned the light on in the bathroom and the bulb burst. No problem, a few candles here and there, and it was all quite nice again. Although pretty dark. 30 minutes later when I come back to brush my teeth, half of my toothbrush has melted, because of the candle underneath.
Went to uni, was extremely unproductive. Word kept crashing, and Chrome kept saying the internet pages I wanted didn’t respond. Wen’t home again. Decided to unscrew burst lightbulb in the bathroom and go buy a new one. Had to stand on the edge of the bathtub, using one arm to keep my balance and the other to unscrew the bulb. Obviously (Obviously!) I drop the bulb, and it scatters all over the bathroom floor. Lots of not very nice words were said to myself at this point in time, but I carried on, wrapped the remaining piece of bulb and took it with me to find a matching new one.
So i went shopping, bought dinner etc., and probably overfilled the two tiny plastic bags just a slight bit. Both handles on both bags, as a response, decided to break when i was 1/3 of the way home. Managed to get home, squeezed in the front door with groceries everywhere.
And I obviously forgot to buy the lightbulb.
I shall touch nothing for the rest of the day. Hope the rest of you out there are having a less challenging Wednesday than I am.
Danish Christmas
A hop, a skip, a cab, a bus and a plane on Wednesday morning, and hello Denmark. It’s time leave London and coursework behind for a while, and head to a few days with family, Danish friends, peace and quiet and holidays. And hopefully snow! Contrary to popular perception, Denmark normally has no snow during Christmas, but the last few years it’s been more likely than ever before. Right now there’s about 15 cm of snow, which is pretty good considering the time of year. 2 years ago, in 2010, there were loads of snow and minus 18 degrees. So cold, that after spending 5-10 minutes outside your skin hurts and you can’t feel your nose. I like it 
Christmas in Denmark is in many ways very different than in England. The basic values are pretty similar, such as spending time with family and eat loads of good food (and preferably gain a few kilos – otherwise you haven’t done it well enough).
The one thing that English people normally find the weirdest about a Danish Christmas, is the fact that we join hands and walk around the christmas tree on christmas eve (the 24th, red.). And sing Christmas songs, while walking. Granted, it is a bit weird. But if you think about it, this normally happens after a massive dinner and dessert, and is therefore a handy little way of burning some of all that duck and sugar potatoes and sauce that was just eaten. In the hardcore families you gotta sing ALL the verses of ALL the songs. It’s normally the elderly people who thinks this is a brilliant idea, while the children (and childish) could easily do with the first and last verse of some of the songs – And maximum one song choice per person. In my family the dog joins in too, and wanders around the christmas tree with a look on his face that we must all have gone bonkers.
After the christmas tree singing fun, some people (including one part of my family) like to run around the entire house holding hands forming a chain. Every room must be visited (first person in turns the light on, last person of the chain turns it off) and this fast tempo song is being sung (“Now it’s christmas again, now it’s christmas again, and christmas last until easter – Not it’s not true, no it’s not true, because in between is the fasting” – Yes, this makes no sense, and yes, works much better in Danish. Must be repeated until the entire house has been visited). After the exercise it’s time to open presents, eat more candy and chocolate, until everybody eventually passes out on the sofa. The 25th is mostly spend relaxing, enjoying presents, and eating some more.
I can’t wait! and I’m really hoping it will look like it did in december 2010 (featuring Buster the dog)
All pictures belong to me, do not use without permission.
Moving time – Again!
In just a weeks time, Joel and I will be grabbing all our stuff, leaving our current homes behind, and moving in to a one bedroom flat in Walthamstow. Another new neighborhood to be discovered. Looking for places in London, it seems a bit random where you actually end up. This time around we have seen places in Tuffnell Park, Camden, Muswell Hill (of which all were either in a bad state, very small, no windows in the bathroom, or a weird little green sink in the corner of the living room). But we ended up with the smelliest flat we viewed. Smelly, because when we viewed it, the lady that was living there showed us around. And as the agent has warned us she had a ‘puppy’ in there, which was why she was moving. When he told us that I think we both pictured a tiny little, innocent, cute dog of some kind. But when she opened the door to the flat we were met by a 1 metre tall, drooling and extremely excited 9 months old mastiff (or something similar), who was obviously overly excited to have visitors. As we tried to view the flat he was jumping all around, and although the flat was the spaciest of the ones we had seen, it definitely wasn’t spacious enough for a dog that size. The smelly part came from all the dog breath, and the fact that I don’t think the place had been aired ever since she got the dog. He would probably take any chance to jump out of a window if she opened one to be fair.
So needless to say the flat needed a big overhaul. We were gutted after viewing it though, as the basics of the flat were exactly what we were looking for. Big rooms, bright, separate living room, etc. We told the agent about our experience, and he asked us to email over a list of improvements they would have to do, in order for us to be interested. So we did. A long list. And then we tried to forget about it, as we thought we were too demanding. But as it turned out the management company were happy to do all that we asked, and we ended up with a flat. Fingers crossed the ‘puppy’ doesn’t come with it!
Indian Summer
As the summer comes to an end, I must say, despite the weather it’s been an awesome one. Not much travel this time around (yay to being a poor student) but lots of quality time spend with the best of people.
The last weekend with real hot summer weather was spend in a little village just outside of London, with the last barbeque of the year, and late summer evenings in front of a fire. In just 3 days I’m back to uni, which also means that Autumn is here, and soon winter. Thankfully, being a dane I guess, I am actually looking forward to cosy evening inside and the fresh, cold mornings.
Exam time
I have lost count of the amount of times I have cursed myself for not having a photogenic memory in the last 2 weeks. Or the times that I have wondered if there is any other way than hard work to remember all the facts, processes and definitions that marketing and PR exams contain.
The answer I’ve come up with is no. Sadly. There is no easy way around exams. I guess the best bet is to keep up with the reading throughout the year, but even if you do so, if you are anything like me, you’ll spend the days before the exam going through the possible subjects in slight panic and repeating process steps over, and over, and over to yourself, wondering why you just can’t seem to remember anymore information.
And sometimes, when you have reached the point where anything you are reading or citing to yourself is just not attaching inside your brain, it’s better to take a break and get some fresh air and a sunburn, and throw some balls around. Which is what I have been doing on a few occasions during this exam period. The sunburn was actually obtained during a last minute revision (I know you shouldn’t do that, but it makes me feel better) before a Market Research exam, which probably explains why I didn’t pay attention to the fluorescent red colour appearing on my skin.
And now, with only one exam to go, although my brain feels really tired, I am extremely motivated. Only one more opportunity to put in an extra effort. It would be stupid not to, really. At least summer is just around the corner. Friends, travel, work, interning and adventures, which is probably the biggest motivation of them all.
From top left: Sunburn before Marketing Research exam, candles making revision nicer, handing in coursework and the good/terrified feeling that comes with it, procrastination-muffins, hardcore revision at the library on a sunny day with Therese and Lina, a ‘time out’ day in Kennington with petanque and mandatory moustaches (middle), another coursework farewell, revision material, aka things I had to remember for my Consumer Psychology exam.
Happy Easter to me!
Just checking in to show you what I picked up at the post office today… A box with 24 chocolate eggs (Anton Berg = best Danish chocolate. By freaking appointment of the royal Danish court people!), some After Eight bunnies, and…. A chocolate horse! The postage probably cost more than all the chocolate together, but it’s definitely much appreciated to get a package from home (Denmark, my first home) once in a while. Thanks mum!
The last few weeks in pictures
A few snaps from the last few weeks. 1. ate a lot of Tangtastics, absolute favorite candy, 2. Vincent’s first attempt at making hot-cross buns, very succesful! 3. Spend quite a bit of time wondering whether or not the banana contained a million little spiders, 4. did a presentation at work, and rewarded myself at the buffet afterwards :p 5. Shared a beer with a lovely person in front of an open fire, and 6. like everybody else, admired the new roof at King’s Cross station.
The next month or two are going to be quite intense in terms of uni work. Finish assignments, preparing and taking exams, and trying to figure out how my degree is gonna change next year. All I really want is sunshine and good times.
Hello my name is Ida, and I’m a blogoholic
It all started with “Aske in London-land” 4 years back. Then it slowly developed into “Little Ida’s flowers’, and the name has stuck to me ever since. At first it was blogspot, then tumblr, and now, finally, I have my very own page (Alright, WordPress, but it’s close).
I have a feeling that this blog will be my final destination though. For now at least. Until some other interesting site appears, that I just cannot continue my life in a satisfying way without trying out.
This blog will be about me, my life in London, thoughts and ideas, cake, music, films, art, creativity, marketing and public relations.
