Kør, Misse !

Kør, Misse !

Some major chanllenges since last week.  Jens gave me a little shock that scared the begeesus out of me.  After I got him off of the floor, I plopped him into his new chair that had just arrived 5 days earlier.  There was no way he was going to sit in that thing, he told me.  But after the fall, he has decided that this wheelchair thing can actually be of help.  Today we took it for a test ride to find out.

 At 3:30 we crossed the pedestrian/bike bridge to go to the mall for a bit to eat.

 On the way, once we crossed the bridge,  I make a left hand swing

to show Jens some of the new buildings going up in town.

There are new apartments going up on both sides of the harbor.

In the very far background on the left hand side is our apartment building.

 Here is a canal that is between the tiny island that we are now stand on and the mall is just to the left on the other side of the canal.  The skybridge in the background is the "snake ramp".  You can see the making of the snake ramp by clicking here. Just scroll to the last 4 pix to see the final result.

This is the view from our window in the restaurant at the mall.  Just across the harbor (and a little to the left) is where we live.  

 This is my view looking straight forward.  You can't tell in this photo but we could see the city center through the window that is behind Jens' head.  But all that you can see in this picture is our appetizers - Shrimp cocktail for Jens and Danish blue mussles steamed in white wine.

 And this is his view as he looks forward.  Down below is where I took the picture of Jens with the "Snake ramp" behind him.

 The main course arrived - a huge hunk of oven baked salmon with fantastic sauce that I could not stop eating.  And I kept playing with the potato cake and I must have asked Jens 10 times, how did they make this? ; paper thin slices of potato with cream in between each slice and not a single bubble/space without potato.  The cream must have made this potato cake worth 5000 calories.

Jens ordered the National meal - Stegt Flæske med persillesovs.  It's a gut bomb.  Oven baked or deep fried pork belly with parsley sauce.  The meat is so hard it will break your teeth, the grease will be dripping down your arms and the fat will stop your heart.  The butter in the sauce will activate any possible blod clots just waiting to be formed in your arteries.  Velbekommen !  

I have, You have, Koloni-have

I have, You have, Koloni have.  It’s a clever play with words.  You have to speak Danish to understand it.  John said it to me and I started to crack up.  John and his wife Birthe, invited us to have dinner at their kolonihave which roughly translates to communal garden.  It’s a long running Danish tradition from the very early 1800’s. 

Basically, it is a small cabin type home on a small plot of ground.  They are always in an areas that are designated for such a cabin/garden with each garden side by side.  Each garden owner is in a union or association where group decisions are made concerning the area. 

The idea behind the kolonihave is to get out of the tightly packed, apartment city and get some fresh air where you can get some dirt under your nails and exercise your green thumb. Most garden homes have electricity.  Many with running water and some without any power or plumbing at all.  They are intended for use during the warmer months only; April thru October.   

John and Birthe’s garden-home is so wonderful, cute and “hyggelig”. It’s the epitome of what it means to own a kolonihave.  Their garden home is about a 25-minute drive away from the center of Copenhagen. John and Birthe’s garden home has 2 open terraces and 1 covered patio.  This means that no matter if the Danish sunshine is dry or flowing, you can always sit out and have a hyggelig (cozy) time.  It has a good size kitchen with eating nook, living room with fireplace, bathroom with shower, toilet and washing machine, bedroom and guest room, storage hallway and a working tool shed. Here now are some pictures I quickly snapped with my phone from John and Birthe’s kolonihave.

First we were royally welcomed with Gin & Tonic.  When it was time to eat, Birthe brought out this beautiful and very tasty appetizer she baked.  The filling was creamy salmon - I'm still waiting for the recipe.

 The Danish colors of red and white wine were served.

Birthe plants many of her flowers and bushes from seedlings. 

Notice the doorstep - made of logs.

This is the patio table on the main terrace.  That's my jungle juice in the green bottle.

I bought in Sweden because it's illegal in Denmark.  It keeps the mosquitos away.

 The main dish was grilling up nicely.

 Here is a treeman to greet guest with a nice country style welcome.

 What time is it?

 Chives with purple flowers, huge leafs on the rhubarb and tomatoes growing in the glass-house.

 This is the back terrace where morning coffee is served as the sun rises on this end of the cabin.

 2 prince frogs at the door step.

 View of the front garden from the living room.

 Lupin from the garden.

 artwork and antiques

On one of our visits the weather was not sunny so we ate here in the covered patio with an amazing grape vine growing up over head.

If it is cold out, this small wood-burning fireplace will keep you warm and cozy.  It's a Danish cast iron stove made on an island called Mors.  If you are in the market for a wood-burning fireplace, check out this company called Morsø. They have been in the business for over 150 years.  Click here to go to the website. 

 Cats in the window.

 Danish tradition is to have a flagpole in the garden.

It was a cool day and the evening winds were picking up so we moved inside for dessert.  It was a holiday weekend called Pinse (Whitsun in British - Pentecost in American)  This is the weekend that Danes normally stay up all night long to watch the sun rise.  Though we didn't actually plan to stay all night long - which could have been fun - and it was even offered - we actually ended up leaving surprising early.  Suddenly Jens was not feeling well.  That ill feeling he had, lasted several days and yesterday at 3:30 in the morning, it turned out to be a bit of a nightmare.  Later that day with blood and brusise, we got him started on prescription medicine and things are hopefully going to get better.

I want to say tusinde tak John and Birthe for a wonderful meal and a very nice evening.  So sorry that it came to a quick end.  But while it lasted, I enjoyed it very very much.  Thank-you for your invitation and generous hospitality. 

To see more typical Danish summer garden homes, try to google Kolonihaver or just click here to see what a typical garden home looks like.