Happy Day

Yesterday was easily in the top 5 of happiest days this year. I had been dreaming of owning some of Sven Nordqvist's books for a year, and now I do! I ordered them last month, and they went a long and curly way, from Sweden to Holland to Bucuresti to my trembling, expectant hands.

They exerted such a fascination on me when I first saw them in Sweden, that I just had to have them in my house sooner or later. I based stuffed creatures on the mucklor in the book, I drove my friends crazy with excited accounts of the silly drawings inside, I wished I had a cat like Findus... Is it very weird for a grown-up to be so excited over children's books?

But they are not just children's books, they are Swedish reading practice material! Så ska jag lära mig svenska och leka på samma gång :>

The appearance of the books in my house caused quite a stir among the population of Transylvanian mucklor, locally known as "mişumaci". Here is what happened:

Happy New Year!

Today Romania celebrates Mărţişor, my favourite holiday of the entire year! If you want to know what a mărţişor is, go here. It was all the more exciting since I haven't spent a 1st of March in the country for 5 years.

The weather knew exactly what it had to do today. After weeks and weeks of gloom and clouds and snow, I woke up to brilliant sunshine and temperatures of over 10 degrees. Yes, above zero.

As usual, the center square was filled with stalls selling spring flowers (the town smells lovely today) and little tokens tied with red and white string.
Unlike previous years, though, the offer was very disappointing: small range, high level of kitsch, very few genuine handmade products. I hope this is not the sign of a dying tradition, or else I'll take it upon myself to revive it next year!

The 1st of March also means snowdrops: the first delicate flowers of the season. Their awful smell (they smell like dirty communist train stations to me) doesn't cloud the happiness they bring. For those of you who have never seen a snowdrop, the "vase" is actually an eggcup :>
And this is me this morning, wearing the first Mărţişor I received. It was Dad who was quickest this year :)
Happy spring to the Europeans!
A plentiful autumn to the dwellers of the Southern Hemisphere!

Yup, still winter

Do you guys remember the waterfall in this post? It has had a complete winter makeover!
And this is the stream leading up to the waterfall. That's a novel concept: "I climbed a river today!"
Otherwise, nothing new. Winter continues.

-23 and counting

It's summer in NZ. The sun burns mercilessly, the humidity and the heat makes you sigh every minute, and you want to surround yourself with fans and cold drinks and icecream and sea waves and anything else that might help cool you down.

And you can't help wondering how it would be if, just for a while, you were in a place where everything was cool and icy.

So icy, in fact, that even your front door lock would freeze over.
On the inside of the house.
Mmm, that would be refreshing, wouldn't it?

A thought has just struck me. Wow, I'm living in a chewing gum commercial.

This is probably the most belated account of New Year festivities in the entire blog world. I guess I can pull my usual excuse: I'm Transylvanian, don't rush me!

Not that it was terribly exciting. We went to a cabin in Bistra (no Wikipedia page, sorry), in the beautiful Mures valley. Loaded with festive food, appropriate clothing, skiing gear, a considerable amount of alcohol and anything else a self-respecting Transylvanian may need for such an important occasion as the end of 2009, we expected to have a great time. We were planning to spend 4 days there.

The weather was terrible: rain, flood warnings, thick clingy mud, obviously no conditions for either skiing or hiking. But, as the climbing of some height or other was compulsory for such dedicated mountain people, on the first day we rushed to the nearest cliff in the few hours of daylight we had left.

It was already dark by the time we got to the top. Walking on muddy ground in the dark is quite a delight! But the hike was worth it, even just for seeing the breathtaking moon. I wish one of the people who can actually take pictures had their camera with them. But they didn't, so these murky images are my only proof of a beautiful evening:
After our return, it was time for eating, drinking and merrymaking. The other guests were most sociable,
...the host very welcoming (and very tipsy)
...and the midnight firecrackers were of the appropriate loudness.
Later, high class entertainment was provided to those who wanted to sleep...
...so they didn't sleep!

And in the morning, the skiing gear, festive food and alcohol were taken back to the city, as there was not much point staying longer in that weather.

And after that, i spent the first 2 weeks of the year (going on 3) being sick. I hope it's not a sign for the year to come.

But there, I've done my duty and told you about my latest exploits. Maybe I should drag my convalescent bottom to the craft table now and catch up with this month's projects.

Merry Christmas

For those of you who enjoy this glittering, stressful, snow-infested day... Merry Christmas, folks!

For those of you in NZ, where my text messages don't reach... Merry Christmas, folks!

For those of you who read and occasionaly enjoyed my blog throughout this year, Merry Christmas, folks!

'Tis the season to be grumpy...

Let me propose to you a little "spot the difference" game. This is my front door last June:
And this is my front door yesterday:
The more perceptive of you might have noticed that the white stuff is back. It's cold and clingy and I've forgotten how to walk on it. I must admit it can look pretty at times,
But I'd rather have the dust of summer on my stream-side roller blading lane.
And it seems I'm not the only one who thinks so!