A day to stop after all the summer’s shenanigans. Unfortunately it was perfect sunny weather outside but I lay in bed, watching an early series of love island (yes judge me), eating, sipped chilled white wine in the afternoon in bed…threw balls for Otto and after many tries captured this! Achievement 🏆
This Tuesday I was too distracted and busy to take a picture, so this picture is courtesy of my Sensei Ethan Weisgard. I’m training Iwama Aikido with Sensei Ethan Weisgard in Copenhagen Aiki Shuren Dojo located in Valby. Here we are training jo dori and jo mochi nage. Next Aikido training will be in Japan.
I was given the responsibility of locking up….so this was a final walk round making sure everything was back to normal. Swims and sauna were a highlight of the weekend. Heaven.
Coming home from a full day of work, doing the shopping on the way home and everyday chores waiting to be done like cooking and laundry and a new thing; wearing my bicycle helmet when bicycling to and from work, to protect my head, which already have had too many knocks through my life so far. Haven’t really worn a helmet the last 42 years of bicycling, except when on my mountainbike, but feeling more inclined to protect my head as I’m getting older (and wiser?)
A perfect happy morning with friends chilling and laughing outside my van. The relax before the take down of the party decor. I’m so happy with how I’ve been gradually pimping my van set up with awning, seating, cast iron cooker…it’s cosy and results in friends congregating outside 🥰
Got up early on a Sunday morning and had a really busy day at work. The town buzzing with activity; Copenhagen half Marathon in the Streets and in Nørrebro (one of the quarters in Copenhagen) there was a car free sunday, so all the roads were filled with skipping and dancing kids and a samba brass band playing in a traffic light crossing usually busy with lots of cars and buses.
A 50th party to be had. A group of exactly the right people gathered in a field and made it happen. The right skills, the correct tent, props, lighting and boom….we got ourselves a perfect celebration for Phillip Corps Birthday Party 🥰🥳🫶🏼
After a dayshift at the hospital, went to see my friend and fellow Aikido practitioner Lone. We did some planning and organising and looked at some forms we have to fill out and have ready when we are off to train aikido in Japan next week. In Japan there is a mythical creature known as Kappa and apparently the kappa is known to favour cucumbers and loves to engage in sumo wrestling.
Made a detour so I could visit my father on the way to Northamptonshire. 85 years old and was fixing a fence when I arrived.
Enjoying the baby blue and pink colors of the evening sky. Relaxing after a busy day and recharging before another workday tomorrow. Starting to count down the days before I’m off to Japan next friday 😉
I taught my dog, Otto to give hugs with both ‘arms’. Love that! He does it to dogs and humans 🥰
Visiting Peters parents in Hjerk, Jutland. They are living down a gravel road on a big farm. They have help with the grounds and the pill fire, but else are still managing on their own despite their age; Gunhild got a new knee last year, but had to give up the vegetable garden and the greenhouse this year. The old vine still delivers grapes and Gunhild is still feeding her chickens herself and gathering their eggs. Peters dad have POD (pulmonary obstructive disease) and needs oxygen, so he is not so mobile anymore, so not going hunting anymore, but still go out plucking berries and fruit in the garden and makes homemade jam and compote.
Achieved a walk with Otto in the park with Dan and Fish (Otto’s best friend) and just general stopping, cooking up what was in the house including the last of the beans I grew.
A seagull visiting my office on the 15th floor at Rigshospitalet. They often come by and look in through the windows, I think people sometimes feed them. Some of them are quite big and it’s really interesting to see such a big bird so close up. Had to hurry home after work to go for flash visit (lynvisit) to Jutland.
The only photograph I took today. Back home. Dreamlike. In bed. Telly, food, Otto, stopping.
Tuesday is Aikido training day. Today I had a great day at work, introducing a new colleague, to tasks in the out-patient clinic. She did brilliantly. After work, met up with my friend Christina, who I hadn’t seen forever so lots of chatting and catching up. Then on to evening training at the Dojo, lots of laughing and sweating. Then home, had easy dinner; openface sandwich (smørrebrød). Washing the gi, and hanging it to dry in the loft.
After breakfast, steam room, sauna and a fond farewell at the spa hotel…my drive to pick Otto up from one of his favourite hangouts…a walk in the sunshine with the dogs then homeward bound, a parking space right outside my house, unpacked and into bed with a Chinese meal and telly. Lights out before 9! 💕
Wading through and overcoming the water-masses to get to my bike. Really autumn weather after a weekend of indian summer weather. Adapting to the elements.
Worked until the end taking it all down again. Mucky Weekender 2024. Then instead of driving back we went to the spa hotel we’d stayed at last year for shower and clean and dinner and cosy.
Another hot day at the summerhouse. Had friends over for lunch; dansk smørrebrød og sild og snaps. Afterwards a mandatory walk to the beach and this sunday, also a swim because of the warm weather (27 degrees Celsius). After the guests left, went to the garden to pluck plums from our really tall plum tree, even with help from the ladder, it was only possible to pick the low hanging fruit. After plum picking, I had a little perennial, that needed planted. To moist the ground before planting, I filled my Big watering can with water. But then looking down in the watering can, I saw a weird lump of fluffy fur and leatherlike thing. A little bat, had been hiding in my watering can and was now swimming for its life. Somehow got the bat out of the can, but it was all wet and shivering. Put it on top of some wood in a quiet part of the garden. It was still shivering and looked very weak. Left it to give the bat some calm and peace, but when I returned 5-10 minutes later, it was laying completely still and motionless. I thought it was dead, but as a last resort, I breathed on it to warm it and dry the fur and after 1/2 a minute it woke up and quickly spread its wings and a flew away in a flash, so great to see it fly away (too fast for pictures 🙂 )
Spending a nice weekend in the summerhouse. Relaxing and mowing the lawn, also went to the beach for a swim in the unusually sweltering september heat. When going for a swim we always wear swimming shoes to avoid getting stung by greater weevers which are found at the shores of northern Sealand. In the evening Peter and I were invited to a surprise party for a good friend with the request that if possible to wear paliettes or something sparkling. On the way to the party, realised that Peter had forgotten his bathing shoes and swimming goggles at the beach, so I went to the beach in my sparkly dress, found the shoes, went to the party, surprised our friend.
Congo Natty and me backstage at Mucky Weekender 2024 💕
Carl Jacobsen born in 1842; danish brewing master and art collector and patron. Made his brewery Ny Carlsberg in 1880. Also founded and made the art museum Ny Carlsberg Glyptoteket with art he collected around Europe and beyond. Still residing in the same place, where his brewery was located back in 1880. One of his great feats was building Ny Carlsberg Glyptoteket to make art accessible for the common citizen. After a hard day at work, meeting up with Peter in the warm summer evening sharing a lovely vegetarian meal outside on a terrace of a nice restaurant ( which is committed to minimize foodwaste and enhance using local produce). Passing Carl on the stroll back home.
Rained all day. Tired. At one point wanted to go home. But stayed, met my friends and turned it all round and went dancing!
So this is me in my Hakama (the blue trouser skirt). First time wearing it at practice in my Dojo. In Denmark when you earn your 3.kuy grade in Aikido, you also earn the right to wear the hakama (at least in Denmark). So very proud of this achievement of earning my 3.kuy and hakama and a real achievement that I didn’t fall in the extra fabric in training (it is quite a different feel from just wearing my gi (the White jacket and trousers).
Sail fastening in a tent until they could be hoisted up, tightened and create a beautiful silky puffy ceiling
Early morning breakfast, looking outside the window a bright pink sunrise matching my breakfast of champions in my bowl; kefir, müsli and homemade Wild brambleberry marmalade made from berries picked in the garden at my summerhouse.
Turns out if I find a pigeon in the road and it has been attacked by something and is suffering and dying, I am able to put it out of its suffering with my bare hands.
Day off, so went for a run, 10 km, had a little break halfway playing around at the kids playground in Frederiksberg Have.
A lovely circular walk from Noss Mayo including a stretch of coastline I hadn’t walked before. Which direction do we go now?
Getting through a busy day at work, then catching the train up north and being picked up at the station by this motor cycle gang. Old bikes BMW and Honda running smoothly still.
Apples from the Cotswolds, beans and tomatoes that I grew. A general settle back into home day in Plymouth.
Enjoying an after work beer at newly opened bar Åben (which means open) in my neighbour hood. Åben is a microbrewery making delicious beer, even the low alcohol one (2,4%) tastes great.
Side to Side 