Slow Sunday...

The most energetic we got today was a leisurely walk across the lake this afternoon. There were plenty of people out and about making the most of the sun and the frozen lake, it made for some great people watching (and scenery appreciating - the skies are just beautiful right now). Then it was back for afternoon tea with a Victoria sponge and some Lady Grey tea from good old Twinings , how very English of us. Please note however, that this is not a regular occurance in our house, although I wish it was. We had been hoping to see Danish friends this afternoon and make them a few traditional English things, but they had to cancel because their children were sick, and this wouldn't fit in the freezer. PS. how beautiful is the tea with tiny little blue cornflower petals in it?

Bernstorff & Blueberries...

The snow is back, it arrived yesterday morning! Although there's not much, there was enough of a dusting to slide the car sideways down the road earlier! I just knew we wouldn't be digging out normal clothes and shoes for a while yet!

Here are some pictures of Bernstorff Palace taken yesterday morning, I thought I would make the most of the winter scenery. The grounds of the palace are beautiful, and are usually frequented by plenty of dog walkers, so it's never a lonely place to walk...



The cold weather inspired a baking frenzy (the kitchen is the warmest room of the house after all!), so I made these to use some blueberries up. I fed my children bucket loads of blueberries when they were babies, but now I just can't get them to eat the raw form of these tiny spheres of goodness (but they will eat them cooked in pancakes and muffins etc). The other vital ingredient for muffins - buttermilk, is available everywhere here. It's called kærnemælk and can be found with the yoghurt in the dairy section. Does anyone make anything else with it? After being given a full bowl of it every morning on my French exchange, I am not sure I could stomach it uncooked now. I used to dread getting up to face this cold bowl of sourness...where were the freshly baked croissants and pain au chocolat I used to ask myself?? My sister wins hands down in the French exchange breakfast competition though. Eager to make her feel welcome, her host family asked what she usually had at home for breakfast, to which she replied cornflakes and tea. For the entire two weeks she had to start her day with a huge bowl of tea with cornflakes swimming in it (she claims she quite liked it in the end though!)!

The Colour Grey

Has been the main shade of Denmark this past week or so. A few days of warmer weather (the heady heights of 6degC) has meant that a lot of the snow has melted away, exposing the layers of rubbish that had been gradually buried underneath. An army of litter pickers seemed out in force this morning, can't have it grey and dirty, that would make me homesick! I kind of miss the white, it made the days seem somewhat brighter, not that I think winter is by any means finished with us yet.


I had a good wander around the various side roads of the main shopping street Strøget this morning, many of which are more interesting than Strøget itself, I prefer Strædet which runs parallel, it's more original and there aren't many big chains, plus the street itself is more picturesque. I had intended to take a few pictures but the light was so rubbish, so you will have to settle with a picture of my brunch at Lakagehuset back on Strøget, fresh orange juice, bread and cheese, coffee and Danish pastry for 55DK (£6ish) a relative bargain by Copenhagen standards. I know I went against my usual rule of not eating Danish pastries unless I am with one of our guests. Needless to say I haven't quite started that diet yet, and it's probably their fault that I need to go on one anyway...

Things are really quiet at the moment, hence the lack of excitement in this post, and I for one am happy about that. It was so hectic last year, and these calm weeks ahead are just what we what the doctor ordered. We are also being much stricter about guests this year, as as much as it was nice to see people, having constant visitors can be quite exhausting! I have also decided to give up a voluntary post that took up quite a bit of time. This wasn't for a charitable cause, so nothing to feel guilty about, and I am looking forward to having slightly more time to myself, I think I am going through a selfish phase...

Anyway, I will leave you with this, spring's not that far off...see?

First Day Back...

First day back at school this morning. The house is so quiet (although very tidy!)! Luckily I have found some contraband goods to comfort me in my solitude....

A Dim Sum Do and other Danish Birthdays...

I went into town yesterday afternoon to celebrate a friend's birthday. This particular friend is a lovely person, who is also a font of all knowledge when it comes to food and Copenhagen (not necessarily in that order)! We celebrated over good dim sum at the very authentic Pak Ka , and then it was onto Mikkeller for some serious beer sampling! Cherry Inyourendo anyone?
It was so nice to share an afternoon relaxing with like-minded people from all over the world, and to meet some great new people too! Some of these women have been and will be here in DK for a bit longer than us "work" expats, and I really admire how they have selflessly adapted to settle here long-term with their Danish partners - much respect to you girls!

Danish birthdays don't differ that much from birthdays in the UK, apart from a couple of things:- if it's your special day in the UK, your friends usually treat you and buy you drinks or pay for your dinner etc., but it seems it's the opposite here, if you invite people, you treat them! Apparently if it's a big birthday, people sometimes advertise an open house party in the local paper so that friends from your past and present (and hopefully not just random strangers!) can turn up to help you celebrate! Birthdays of course involve the Dannebrog, it's adorned literally everywhere for birthdays, and small flags are bought out to restaurant tables should they learn it's your birthday.
Talking of birthdays, I am not sure I will ever forget the Danish Birthday party for a seven year old that we were invited to, which took place some months ago now. We duly turned up gift in hand, and everyone sat around the table to enjoy the traditional hot chocolate and sweet bread rolls. Feeling slightly awkward as the only non-Danish speaker there, I was secretly willing my two to be on their best behaviour (as the Danes seem to think that all English children are incredibly polite and well behaved). Imagine then my horror when the cake was bought out (huge child shaped Danish Pastry - fantastic, no cake baking for me this year!) and everyone fell silent as they were about to sing the special birthday song, and my daughter chose that precise moment to (unintentionally) let rip with the loudest "expulsion of gas" I think I have ever heard (either that or my mortification amplified it for me). Thankfully, ever polite as these people are, everyone carried on as normal after what seemed like an eternity, and it was quickly forgotten. I however, have filed it away in my memory bank of things to embarrass your children with when they get older and think they are really cool....

A New Year....

Well goodbye 2010! You were good to us, although you seemed to go far too quickly! Happy New Year everyone, and a big welcome to 2011! At the risk of sounding like John Lennon, let's hope it's a good one...

We saw the New Year in with family, eating far too much and generally relaxing and not doing too much! We did manage to get our skates on and try out our neighbours pond though, which the children loved! R was actually really good, but as my sister put it S just looked like Bambi trying to stand up for the first time, but that could have been because he was laughing too much to stand up...

I love this time of year and the optimism it brings with fresh starts etc. We have a busy year ahead, with two big family weddings and plenty of exploring to look forward to. We should also find out what the future holds for us in terms of our time here, whether we are off to pastures new, or whether we are staying put for a while longer...time will tell.

Apologies for the backlog of posts, my computer decided it didn't want to see in the New Year (or Christmas for that matter) and gave up on life completely. I am sure that being jumped on occasionally by my three year old didn't help in its quest to stay functioning, so this one will be placed well out of the way of all marauders (it's going to take some getting used to though as it has a Danish keyboard!).

Back to school next week, which will give me time for a big Spring Clean... can't wait for a good sort out! Oh and the diet starts tomorrow OK?