Irony

The end of March seemed downright Spring-like here. It was sunny and each day seemed warmer than the previous.  Since the weather was getting better and the days longer, Ed constructed a fenced-in area for Scout around a small section of the yard off our backdoor. Because Scout was going out, we started going out as well and sitting on the patio while Scout was patrolling the border.  We eventually decided that it would be really nice to actually have a place to sit (aside from the ground) and maybe have a place to eat few meals in the summer. And thus the hunt for the perfect outdoor table ensued.  After literally visiting every single store in the Kolding that had any type of outdoor furniture, we picked a table.  The table was reasonably priced but none of the reasonably priced chairs looked right sitting next to the table. (trouble with dining chairs seems to be a re-occuring theme for us)  But, like the last time we had a table but no chairs, I didn't worry about it. I figured the chairs would find us.  Ed picked up the boxed and disassembled table on a Friday afternoon. We were going to Ikea the next morning to buy a mattress for the baby's future sleeping cage so we figured we'd check out their outdoor chairs while we were at it.   Saturday morning rolls around.  I crawl out of bed expecting to see another sunny, blue sky day...but no.  It was sleet-snowing (a wintery mix if you want to be technical about it) Yes!  More sleet and a touch of snow!!  On the day that we were going to set up our new table, a table purchased with sitting in the outdoors in mind! Well, I wasn't going to let that put my Ikea trip on hold so we set off despite the gray skies and rain (it changed to just rain after awhile).  We ended up finding chairs and shoving four of them in the back seat of the mouse car (yes, that alone is a miracle-I should have taken a picture of that! I should mention they were already assembled--I wasn't shoving boxes in the car, it was a stack of chairs)  Somewhere between the morning winter-fest and our return from Ikea, the weather went back to being spring-like! Ed set up the table, I attached the feet to the bottoms of chair legs and now the outdoor dining set is complete and ready for warmer weather!

See Scout. He loves his new space and has managed to not destroy anything yet.

So, the shortened version of the post: The morning we chose to assemble outdoor furniture was the same morning the last unexpected wintery weather arrived.  Irony.

I loved you danish snow! Why did you have to leave so soon??

 If I were blogging on a regular basis, you would have known that it snowed here. And for this Texan, it snowed a lot.

The apple tree in our backyard after the first snow...

Several more inches fell in the following days so this snow ended up quite deep, I'd guess 8 or 9 inches??  Just a guess

The greatest part about the snow was that I was able to walk Scout in the woods again.  The trails had been wet and muddy from the rain and cool but with the below-freezing temps and snow, they were usable again! So we headed out to see our favorite sites in the winter.

'Sleepy Hollow' trail in the winter

Scout's favorite ground covering: Snow...

Did I mention Scout loved it?  This picture makes me think of a book my friend bought me about a boy and his beagle.

The frozen lake from one side

and the other

I'm sure you get the gist

Scene of my first ever fall on ice.  Yes, I slipped and actually feel while walking down this hill.  The funniest part was the noise Scout made...I guess me falling scared him and he made the noise scooby doo always makes when he's curious or scared...I have no idea how I'd type that noise but maybe you get what I am saying.

Just to see the difference from fall to winter

fall

winter

Den Gamle By

This weekend, Ed took me to a popular tourist attraction in Denmark, Den Gamle By--translated, The Old Town. It depicts the way life was in Denmark in the 1800's and also in the 1920's and 1970's.  It is the world's first open-air museum--opening in 1909.  According to the website, there are 75 historical houses 'in' the museum.  We decided that we probably went on the most popular day of the year--the weekend before Christmas.  It was packed. When we left, there was a long line out the door to buy tickets.  Despite constantly fighting the crowds of people, we managed to get a pretty good idea of what Christmas was like in Denmark in the 1800's.

If only store signs were still made with this much charm...

One of several working gardens

Over the canal

Most of the time (though not in this picture) people were right next to the passing horses, coaches & buggies...I managed to not have my feet run over or stepped on--I wonder how many people have not be so fortunate

I am a little disappointed that we didn't take the time to wait in line at the bakery...every shop looked like this though. Packed with people and usually a line.

Den Gamle By on December 18, 2011

Excuse me, do you have a REAL can opener?

Somehow, even with about 100 utensils to our name, Ed and I ended up here in Denmark without a regular can-opener.  I only say regular because I just assumed that a standard can opener in the western world was the 'normal' kind, you know, the one with two wheels that 'bite' into the edge of the can and then turning the wheel handle (i guess this is what it could be called) opens the can in under 30 seconds...

So, as I was saying,  we didn't have a can opener...In the first few days here, Ed looked for a can opener at a small grocery store but didn't see one.  Once I arrived, we looked for one at a larger store that is a cross between a SuperTarget and Walmart.  We found the kitchen area and again could not find a normal can opener.  Ed found an employee and asked if they had a can opener.  She took him to the utensil section and pointed to this and said there you go, this is the only can opener we have.

I guess it can be a bottle opener now.

Uh, okay.  Well, we needed to open a can so we bought it...though Ed declared as he was tossing in the cart "I think I would be better off just using my camping knife."  

Well, I was not satisfied with this.  I didn't watch Ed's attempt to open a can with this, but it definitely didn't take 30 seconds or less. I had already made up my mind to search every store in Kolding and pay any price for a normal can opener! I could see how it worked but I just wasn't going to accept this hook as my can opener.

A couple days later, I found myself back at the mall with some new friends.  I casually asked if there was a kitchen store--and there was, so we went.  I scanned the utensils, none, found an employee and both asked, and mimed what I was shopping for, and again, nothing. They actually were completely sold out of all can openers, but the clerk assured me that what they normally did have was not the kind that I was looking for...At this point I was feeling really disappointed because I thought for sure this would have been the place I would have found it.  As I was roaming the store, feeling slightly dejected, I was cheered by the sight of purple KitchenAid stand mixers.  Stand mixers always make me happy...and as I was staring at the boysenberry-colored mixer (yes, you have got to see this color-- so pretty!) I happened to glance to the left and see this

I promise you, my new kitchen bff, to never put you in the dishwasher

Oh my goodness, it was like seeing an oasis in the desert!  Haha, dramatic, but my true feelings at the moment!  There IT was!!  I have actually had 2 KitchenAid can-openers in the past and never was very happy with either (probably bc I put them in the dishwasher, which ruins them over time). This can opener, well I love it.  It is my new best friend in the kitchen. 

I just have to point out one last thing before I end this little saga (aside from the obvious--if you are moving overseas and are accustomed to something as simple as a can opener, bring it with you if possible) This box set of 5 kitchenaid utensils was originally 629 Danish kroner...roughly $120.  Yep, that's right, around $24/utensil. It's sale price was about $60.  I wasn't terribly happy about this 'sale' until I spotted another KA can-opener (yes, apparently KA has a corner on the American-style can opener market here) at a different kitchen store.  It was just the opener by itself and cost 200DKK--$40. Now I am definitely not complaining about my sale price :)