A Final Flea (& a Timely Plea)....

I can't believe what is happening in London right now. A group of kids attacking and destroying their own communities for what? A stolen TV or a pair of trainers? I try very hard not to make any political or negative comments in this blog, it's not really what I wanted to use it for, but to say I am sickened at what has been going is an understatement.

Anyway, whilst talking of rubbish (and on a much lighter note), having been to many a loppemarked during our time here ("no, really?" I hear you say!), at the weekend I had a brain wave to to have a stall myself at one of these things to get rid of a load of stuff pre-move, a good move in an internet-auction free land! Such a good idea, especially when you don't speak much of the language either (I am full of them!)!!... Needless to say, it proved to be interesting to say the least... From the man who spent at least half an hour inspecting a Dora doll, to the elderly lady who knocked over and broke lots of china on a neighbouring table. Being a stall holder instead of perusing is so incredibly boring , I will never be tempted to do one again. I did find this little blue jug though which was bought with a small amount of the proceeds! I have now given the rest to Kids Company London, a charity run entirely through fundraising and donations. It helps give vulnerable inner city children support and direction, and hopefully a much better outlook and future... Please have a look if you haven't heard of them, they do such an incredible job.

Ps. Denmark, you really need to get Ebay...!

Things I will Miss...

Sunday mornings at the Loppemarked, definitely! This is part of this morning's haul, an old Villeroy & Boch jug which I filled with tatty roses from the garden.

As the title might suggest, the mists in the crystal ball we were looking for a little while back are getting clearer, and we should have the news we have been waiting for confirmed in the next couple of weeks or so. Part of me will be sad about what it means, but a part of me will also be glad to get the ball rolling! A change is as good as a rest and all that...

A Surreal Flea

I think I have spoken about my obsession with "junk" from other countries before, and hallelujah, it's Loppemarked time again! I made the most of having a child and husband free afternoon to explore one of the biggest markets in Denmark, at the Bella Center (after Brunch the other day!). Believe me, going by myself is the stress free alternative to having to constantly listen to "I'm hungry", and "I need the toilet", when you are trying to look for treasure (and the children are just as bad!)... Luckily a couple of others decided to join me on the journey there, as I think I would have ended up in Sweden otherwise, but in retrospect it's actually very easy to get to. The Bella Center is quite a strange looking building, I know conference centres aren't known for their style and grace, but the inside reminded me of a giant Scout Hut (not that I have been in many you understand), and it's next door to an even stranger looking hotel! I have also come to the conclusion that I prefer the smaller private Loppemarkeds, as you get much more interesting stuff from private vendors at a much cheaper price, but it was interesting to have a rummage through the hundreds of stalls all the same.

I am not sure if it was just me (it probably was), but I actually found my afternoon at this particular market quite surreal, let the following pictures help illustrate this for you...

If you have a penchant for staring at stuffed birds in a melancholy fashion, then this market was the place for you.



If you are looking for a special gift for the couple that have everything, then you missed the opportunity this time I'm afraid, I think someone actually bought this.



If you specifically wanted to buy a stuffed owl "in flight" (perhaps for the Labyrinth fan amongst your friends) from two sisters having an attic clear out (and who must clearly live in a fascinating house), then I suppose they might be there next time if you are lucky....



These were not the only strange scenes I witnessed, just look at this poor man...



This is obviously a desperate cry for help (although the sceptic in me believes that this (along with placing himself under the giant knife and fork) was a deliberate ploy to being told to "just leave, and go to the pub". I didn't see him again (and he was quite hard to miss), perhaps it worked!)?

There were a couple of items I did see that I loved though, how cute are these?



I nearly bought them, but they were a) extortionate and b) I thought that the wooden floors in our rented house wouldn't thank me very much!



I did however buy this, from a very lovely man who explained that the artist's son is a now a famous stunt man. Each side depicts a season and I really like it (my children are not sure about it though, apparently because it has "nakeds" on it!)! If you fancy visiting a flea market should you be in the vicinity, have a look here, you should be able to find one to go to!

A Proper Loppe & A Good Friday!

After the not so successful trip to hunt down Danish antiques the other day, and after finding a huge list of Antique Loppermarked's on the Internet, yesterday we went to the Easter Loppemarked held at Forum (a big concert venue in Copenhagen). It did not disappoint! It was packed to the brim with hundreds of stalls, with an incredible array of antiques and other knick-knacks, and no new junk in sight! I could have quite happily spent the whole day there, but it obviously wasn't the most exciting place for children. We probably had an hour and a half if we were lucky before the meltdown stage began, but I think the promise of a hot-dog for lunch if they were good definitely bought us some time! I made a couple of Scandinavian purchases, which will serve as a reminder of our time here, a Norwegian Egersund 1950's jug , and a Royal Copenhagen 60's/early 70's vase . I need some spring branches to go in that, it's quite a strange shape, but I think it's lovely all the same!...Speaking of twigs, the Easter "tree" has been expertly decorated and I will post some pics of that on Easter Sunday, just to be topical!

Today we went to the Frilandsmuseet, I have no idea why we haven't been here before,it's not too far from us and we all thought it was great! It's an outdoor museum that consists of original historic buildings (mostly houses) from all over Denmark, that they have moved and rebuilt, covering about 85 acres of land. It was quite busy today as it's obviously good Friday, so we missed out on a cart to pull the children about in. A little bit of moaning ensued about all the walking, understandably - it's a big place, but it was well worth enduring it! It was really educational and I think our two learned a lot about life in times gone by. They were really interested in the interiors, especially the tiny beds for children. My little girl concluded that she preferred life today, with electricity, warmth and running water. I think my little boy thought he preferred modern life, as we have chocolate! He couldn't understand why there weren't any chocolate eggs available in the historic Easter activities! Both of them thought they saw the Tomten at various stages, which was really sweet, it's a favourite story of theirs (by Astrid Lingren), I can see why, although it's Swedish, the buildings look the same as in the book! If you are not familiar with the Tomten here he is: - the books are lovely!



Next time we will make a day of it and take a picnic...

I missed my family today, it looks like I always do on holidays. Lots of love to you all xxx

Celeriac Bread and Less Savoury Items...

Well as predicted, it's been a weekend of not so cheerful weather! Saturday meant homemade soup for lunch with celeriac bread to use up the sorry looking vegetable in the darkest corner of the fridge. It's based on a Delia recipe, except I use a cheddar type cheese, and I would highly recommend it fresh from the oven, or toasted with butter...



175g celeriac, peeled
110g hard cheese such as cheddar
175g self raising flour
1 large egg
4 spring onions finely chopped
2 tablespoons of milk.
pinch of cayenne pepper
pinch of salt & pepper

Heat oven to 190. Sift the flour into a bowl, add the celeriac, cheese and spring onions together with the cayenne, salt and pepper. Beat the egg with the milk and add to the flour mixture, using your hands to combine. Place dough a bread tin and bake for 45-50 minutes. Incidentally for those of us that live in Denmark where self-raising flour is not widely available, you can buy it in the big Thai Supermarkets in Copenhagen for some reason, either that or make your own from one of the many "recipes" on the Internet.

Talking of central Copenhagen, we attempted to go to a Loppemarked (flea market) this morning and found one not far from Central Station. It wasn't a highly successful trip as we didn't research it properly, and it turned out to be mostly clothes. We didn't know beforehand that it was in a slightly "interesting" area, so I had to carry my little girl as there were a few syringes lying about. I did point them out to her however and hopefully she will now know not to ever pick one up should she or her brother come across one (hopefully not but you never know!)!! I don't know why I was a bit shocked really, I worked in an area of London that had a bad heroin problem for a couple of years, so was used to my daily precarious trip into work stepping over used needles, but here in Denmark, where everything seems so safe, it just didn't feel right! At least they had put the caps back on I noted, very considerate, shame they didn't dispose of them altogether though! This area is notorious for it apparently, we know that now! You do indeed live and learn!

Planning on making hot cross buns tomorrow, will let you know how we get on!