Lesson learned!

It's one of those ironies in life that this post follows the previous one I wrote mere two weeks ago lamenting about spring like whether in the middle of the winter. Yes, I've definitely learned my lesson! During this past weekend we've experienced a nation wide power outage due to sleet that caused a number of trees to fall disrupting power supply. The trees have also wreaked havoc on many of the roads and railways. As ice rain and snow continued to fall many people were completely cut off.

I spent part of Saturday without running water and electricity and let me tell you it's no fun to have less than half a litre of drinking water and a single (scented) candle which reads Happy Christmas. Yet another one of those ironies that when I will look back on this weekend someday it will no doubt make me laugh very hard. But on Saturday? Not so funny :-(

Water returned the next day and so did electricity, before it was cut again. The power shortage lasted for 18 hours, the longest power shortage in Slovenia in decades and something I've never experienced before.
The whole town went dark after five, there were no traffic lights, no street lamps, nothing. Just little flickering of candle lights from the windows across the street. Yet remarkably people stayed calm.

I consider myself extremely lucky: after the water returned I had access to both hot and cold water, due to the fact that our apartment building is well insulated the temperature in my flat never went below 21 C and I had access to the Internet via my smart phone. And thanks to Mr. C being extra prudent I had ample supplies of batteries, emergency lights and a car phone charger.
Sure it was annoying sitting in my car for an hour doing nothing, but at least I was able to chat with people, stay connected and informed about the situation around the country.

Things are slowly returning to normal. The fire brigade, police, winter service personnel and civil protection services are working around the clock to clear up the debris and restore power. Despite the fact that whining and complaining about all the things that are wrong in our country is our nation's favourite past time people are really taking notice of  the women and men providing these services (some of them are volunteering) and are gratefull and humbled by it.
I for one am grateful for my wonderful neighbours who've been kind and generous as well as the support I've received from my friends and family who've phoned to check up on me.
Rufus and I are looking forward to a relaxing evening at home. We've been arned to stay indoors seince the ice covered trees will continue to break and fall so going for a long walk in the forest or park isn't really an option.

Skipping seasons

 We've been having an unusual warm winter and last weekend in between drizzle and rain I managed to go for a walk to Močilnik, the source of river Lljubljanica. The waters were high and almost everything was in bloom.

 On my way home I picked a few snowdrops. They added a bit of colour and life to my kitchen table.

 And then I spent a good portion of the afternoon drying my jacket and cleaning my walking boots.

We've had a bit of snow yesterday and the temperatures have dropped considerably. I guess proper winter weather is finally here and I feel relieved. This warm interlude was beginning to feel unsettling.

Family

2006

This is my family. It consists of three people. Well one is technically a cat but that's exactly the point I'm trying to make. Families come in all sorts of shapes, sizes and living arrangements.
Mr. C and I have been together for over 11 years now and Rufus has been part of our family for the last 8 years. He's moved house with us, destroyed furniture, made us laugh with his crazy stunts, shed hair all over the place...
He can hear our footsteps the moment we open the front door of the apartment building and wait for us at the front door even though we live on 3rd floor! As far as unconditional love and acceptance go it doesn't get any more real than this.

2011

Mr. C and I jokingly refer to ourselves as mum and dad and some people can't get past it. And don't get me wrong, I'm fully aware that Rufus is a cat and not a substitute for a child. He's a cat and is treated as such though his living conditions vastly differ from a wild cat or a feral cat.

But still as a family member he gets treated like a member of the family not like some disposable commodity that gets thrown out the moment it's no longer useful.

2013

In the past I've had to deal with inappropriate comments and sideways glances when I mentioned the monthly costs of his upkeep. Some even had the nerve to propose straight out I get rid of him. I'm not a mean person per se but comments like that invoke a certain mischievous behaviour in me and I love to annoy people like that by proclaiming with a most serious face that Rufus is my baby and I'm his mummy.
Needles to say, they don't invite me over for coffee anymore. Fine by me.

Easing into 2014

Emperor's dream

Calming down after a hectic, memorable and exciting December 2013 I've chosen to start 2014 slowly. Unburdened by the need to review the past year as well as make any new year's resolutions or immediate plans.
Instead I've decided to ease in to the new year with some ingenious entertainment in the form of origami (a gift from a friend who's recently travelled to Hong Kong) and a delicious cup of my favourite tea (bought on my recent trip to Holland).

Origami grasshopper and pig

How are you spending your first week of 2014?

1st anniversary

Jungle jive

Time flies! Mr. C and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary Sunday 1st December. Traditionally known as the paper anniversary but hey, it would be so very predictable if the present were of the paper/stationery variety.
So instead my old favourite, a helium balloon. This time I got to pick the one I wanted and I chose the leaping tiger that was swaying along with a myriad of other animals, hearts and champagne glasses.

I call him jungle jive and he makes a nice addition to the textile birds, stuffed teddy bears and real live urban mini panther, our cat Rufus.

Slow food

Špajza's beautiful garden and rustic interior

Every once in a while my quiet suburban life is interrupted with tiny occasions of splendor and luxury. It's these moments of pure indulgence that make life sweeter. The truly memorable part in this instance comes from the accompanying gesture of kindness and friendship.
Susan and Martin the pattern makers extraordinaire have sent me and Mr. C a gift certificate for a dinner in one of Ljubljana's most prised restaurants. Špajza (which is an old Slovene word for cupboard or pantry) is situated in the old part of town. It's a sweet place with a romantic rustic interior and a beautiful courtyard.

Amuse-bouches and walnut liqueur

Without going into details about our hosts' generosity let me just say we had the equivalent of The Grand Tour, a seven course meal complete with amuse-bouches in the top photo, a cheese plate and the complementary digestif (Williams pear liqueur). Every course came with an accompanying glass of wine. And since I chose the fish degustation menu and Mr. C had the meat degustation menu the wine selection never intersected.

Cold and warm appetizers

In my opinion the main indulgence of slow food eating is time. Slow food is all about relaxing  in the slow paced evening of a wonderful mix of aromas, flavours and textures. It's also about enjoying the sights and the sounds of the surroundings but mostly it's about having a wonderful time with the person or persons you're dining with.
The passage of time is noticeable from the photos of the dishes from early evening (before sunset) into late night.

warm appetizer and first main course

I've copied the menu from Špajza's webpage to give you a glimpse into our fingerlicking extravaganza:

~ Meat menu dégustation ~

Pâté baked in puff pastry

Au gratin truffle polenta with boletus mushroom foam

Homemade chanterelles gnocchi with nettles and almonds

Lamb from the oven with a Port reduction sauce

Pineapple - tomato mousse

~ Fish menu dégustation ~

Tuna carpaccio with sesame and celery

Crab soufflé on spinach foam

   Saffron risotto with scallops and chanterelles

Cod fish fillet with carrot, green beans, black olives, cherry tomatoes and lemon

  Elder cake

Second main course and cheese plate

Even though playing favourites isn't my thing I have to say the saffron risotto with grilled scallops was perfection. As for dessert, Mr. C's pineapple and candied tomato mousse was refreshingly new and original.
I could devote an entire blog post to the wines we drank :-) 

dessert

Thank you Susan and Martin for this memorable evening! If you ever come to Ljubljana we're definitely taking you here :-)

Feminism in the 21st century

I found this photo some time ago on the Internet and it really made me think about prejudices, stereotypes and shaming mechanism in our society. Despite the proclaimed liberties women enjoy today and an ever more equal treatment of the fair sex in the public and the private sphere the prejudices and narrow minded views still linger.
Like the chart on the young lady's leg in the above photo. How many times have you caught yourself thinking that a woman you saw was dressed inappropriately and you immediately jumped to labelling that person "easy", slutty, etc. We still frown upon women who are open and comfortable about being seductive, sexy and even sexually assertive.
How about adultery? Do we judge women who commit adultery harsher than the men? Imagine you had two friends, a male and a female who were both adulterers. How would your relationship with them change? Would you feel that the action of one of them is more heinous though technically they're both guilty of the same thing.
No matter how liberal our society may be, I think it's still imprinted on our mind that somehow, for some reason the female adulterer has committed a graver offence.

And of course women are stereotypically labelled as disastrous drivers though time after time this was proven wrong by numerous statistical data and analysis.

What do you think? Has the equality of genders improved in the 21st century or are there still some lingering prejudices from the dark ages?

Blogger's sabbatical

Montenegro December 2012

I think things have finally caught up with me. Last year was packed with cataclysmic events that could easily have been the topic of Four weddings and a funeral, the sequel, throw in a few job shifts, two NGO projects on the side and it's one frantic mix.

I feel spent, exhausted and because there are too many things, moving too fast I'm no longer in control of it all. I know I've sort of pushed my blog on the side and I believe it isn't fair to just pop in from time to time and give tidbits of info which then make no sense.

As the weather is finally gorgeous, lots of sun and nature virtually exploding all around, I've just taken the time to enjoy myself and tune off completely. No more schedules, planning, calculating, pondering....

Blogging schedule will resume, once I've had time to catch my breath and come up with quality content that doesn't make me sound neurotic (too much)

In the meantime enjoy your May break :-) Spring is finally here!

xoxo Ana

Changing rituals

Easter eggs

Last week's Easter celebration was the first since dad died. True, there was Christmas, but it came and went in a whirlwind of other unprecedented events (still to be blogged about) so it was easy to sort of overlook that was now one setting less at the table, no gifts for dad under the tree...

ham & cheese

By Easter the chaotic things in our lives have balanced themselves out so his absence was keenly felt. Especially since dad was always more actively involved with Easter traditions. He always prepared the eggs that were dyed in the onion skins, grated the horseradish and shelled and ground the walnuts for potica.

smoked cheese piglet*, smoked salmon, bakalar and pickled quale eggs

I've already written about my penchant for traditions and how I relish in the quietly assuring repetitiveness of never changing rituals. I adore the notion of having the same table cloth for Christmas for years and years and a separate one for Easter. The menus aside for a few variations remain the same too.

Easter salad

To top things off mum contracted pneumonia a week before Easter and the weather outside was more appropriate for Christmas than Easter. It was a rather sad Easter. We divided dad's chores between the three of us and mum taught me how to bake potica.

Potica buns

There was no denying it or going back... things are changing and try as I might I can't stop time.

* The cheese piglet was a gift from Mr. C before he went on a business trip to Germany the week before Easter. It made me smile, suck a quirky little thing.

I can't control the weather

but I can control my attitude! And though this weather as witnessed throught the window of our car this morning is dismal I'm making an effort to stay cheerful. Even if it's just putting on my super bright, almost neon yellow tights.

What's your trick to stay upbeat?

Why is it always something?

This is a photo of our darling car Marley being loaded onto a tow truck after being hit hard from both ends. Mr. C who was driving to work yesterday morning suffered a minor bump on the head but other than that he's in perfect shape :-) and the doctors gave him a thorough examination to confirm it too.
Marley however is a different story, our mechanic confirmed his worst suspicions. Apart from the broken and bent exterior the inner axis has been severely bent and broken in places. Such a severe damage to the car's core integrity components are impossible to repair without having to deal with great costs and a residual effect on the passangers' safety since the structural integrity will never be the same as before the crash.
So we made the heavy yet the only logical conclusion to buy a new car. It will be another Opel Corsa since we like the brand and the model and it's the perfect car for our needs, small, easy maintenance, low fuel consumption... it's another logical choice. But the untimely car switch (Marley was only 4 years old and our plan was to keep it for another 8, basically until the end of the car's lifespan) makes for a hefty chunk of money that we'll somehow have to come up with and will completely hack up our 2013 budget plans. And aside from dealing with the emotional aftermath this is probably going to be one of the most uninspiring car shopping experiences ever.
Focusing on the happy things in life: we are all healty, I'm still drinking the icky tea though and Rufus is in fine spirits ever so excited with the abundance of snow which he loves to play with.

Overcoming yourself

Lately I've been stuck in a bit of a rut. It seemed that the weight of 2012 came crashing down and though the world didn't end on December 21st it sure felt like it on occasion. It's nothing too serious but too many things happening at the same time, some good, some bad, some really bad which taint the rest, making everything appear drab and grey.

As much as wanted to spend the day in my pajamas and contemplate the drabness, I had to get up get dressed and head out into the snow storm.
Mr. C is away on business, so I'm left holding down the fort which means I get to do the things he usually takes care of. The car is very much Mr. C's territory since I enjoy the happy and carefree life of a pedestrian.

When I got down to the parking lot our car was covered in 50 cm of snow. Not good. I have shovelled snow before but never completely on my own, there was always more of us working in pairs. This time it was just me and a borrowed shovel.
I got the car clean and cleared a pathway which wasn't only great exercise but a valuable lesson in what people can achieve when we set our mind to it. Instead of lounging around in my pajamas feeling sorry for myself because it was Monday, the sky was grey, yadda yadda.... I took charge and did what needed to be done.

31

Words I try to live by:

Growing old is mandatory, growing up is optional.

Why I don't wear black but maybe I should

Mourning is a very private affair for me. Much like showing affection in public that goes beyond holding hands or an occasional peck on the mouth. For this reason I chose not to wear black after the death of my stepdad. The other reason was my utmost loathing of all such customs. I find them tedious, outdated and irrelevant. Wearing black so that the neighbours won't have anything to gossip about is the high point of absurdity and conformism.

Bled July 2012

Since the funeral of my stepdad I have done my very best to dress in my usual (bright, quirky) clothing and trying to keep up the appearance of "bussines as usual". I was petrified of people coming up to me with condolences and accompanying chit chat, quizzical looks and expressions of sympathy.
On the other hand some mistook my behaviour for complete apathy and carelessness.
It was about a week ago that I came to realize his death had upset me far beyond what I'd imagined. A casual conversation with a co-worker sent me into a whirlwind of hysterical crying and all she did was mention what an ingenious gift her son had received for his birthday: a garden gnome.
Since then I've been doing a lot of thinking about the process of mourning, the passing of time and most of all acceptance.
The mere idea of acceptance has me going round in circles. For me acceptance is and has always been the end result of total understanding combined with wholhearted agreement. After my umpteenth attempt to reconcile with my own personal demons I've realized that acceptance is coming to terms with things I disapprove, disagree with but am unable to change.
Afterward I felt like listening to this (it's classic):

Too many words

and not a single one fits. After three days of condolences and helpful advice I'm just about ready to round up every single word that has been spoken and delete them permanently from the hard drive that is my mind. Like a corrupt file.

Franzi, the balcony gnome

Today my step dad would have turned 66 except he never made it. He died on Friday. Unexpectedly. From a heart attack.

His legacy: a garden full of orphaned gnomes. Many of them still in his workshop too. Waiting for a coat of paint or a few finishing touches.

The cats miss him. So do mum and me. 

Don't imitate

The 9th Wonder of the Modern World: the Internet. The almighty, all powerful, all seeing, all knowing Internet. My fascination with this creature of electrons and wires is known to all my readers and I think I periodically return to this subject.
Today from another point of view: a rather provocative question if you will: Do you believe the Internet is helping or hindering the creative potential of mankind?
On the one hand, the World has gotten infinitesimally smaller. We are now able to exchange ideas with people from across the Planet in seconds. Which certainly promotes multiculturalism and does have the power to advance the human innovative potential.
On the other hand it is making us lazy. Why go to the library, or look up a word in the dictionary when you can Google it instead. Why develop a pattern for a dress, an idea for a story? Google it! Someone, somewhere out there has done it already. So we can just take their idea, copy paste it on our Facebook wall and for a minute or two we'll even appear profound or ingenious. And then somebody else will paste it on their wall till it becomes just another chain letter sort of conversation filler.

Until next time I leave you with this, sans caption and I'm very interested in your opinion on creativity as well as the young man in the video:

A perfect day for a wedding

Bistra Castle

This Wednesday Mr. C's dad and his fiancée tied the knot! A small private affair without the unnecessary hoo-ha which I personally find so tedious.  The ceremony took place at Ljubljana Castle (where I had my birthday party last year) and it was very touching and elegant.

From Ljubljana we headed on to Bistra, yet another castle. This one is turned into a Technical museum.
Slovenia is ripe with castles and beautiful old places perfect for taking wedding pictures.

Ducks performing their midday bathing routine

Mr. Beaver doing the same

The garden was spectacular. All of the animals went about their day as usual and were completely unfazed by the large number of visitors running and shouting about. Even the two buses full of high school students that must have been there on a field trip didn't bother them.
What can I say? Cool animals!

Mr. C and me perfectly colour coordinated. Not on purpose.

River Bistra

From Bistra Castle we went on to Ponvica, a restaurant with a most whisical name that literally means Little pan.

Wedding cake

As you know it's my blog policy never to include pictures of anone other than me and Mr. C. A rule I firmly abide by but I thought showing you the bride's wedding ring would be quite okay.

Here we are gathered round the bride admiring the ring. You can even tell which one is me (hint: pointy shoes).

Instant happy

Burda Magazine 02/2012

People who know me well can tell you that there are very few things in life that make me as blissfully happy in an instant as the fact that something fits neatly or that something is stored away in a perfect most functional way. I'm just that way I guess.

This morning I woke up to the sight of a completely clean and cleared up kitchen table. I can't imagine a  more perfect start of a weekday and the sight of  a clean apartment fills with a sort of quiet resolve that gives me strength to face the week. That and a cup of coffee!
The other thing that made my day was that the dress featured in the pictures I've been sewing came together so perfectly well, all the seams are aligned and the drape and fit are really spot on even if I say so myself.

Foolishly I didn't check my supplies before starting this project only to realize at the most inopportune time that I don't have a matching zipper. It was last Tuesday, national holiday and all the stores were closed of course .Yikes! Once more my cousin came to the rescue and provided me with a zipper that matches the colour of the fabric perfectly.

And then on Saturday we made a little trip to Graz (pictures to come) and Ikea. Mr. C found some small containers that are made to be mounted on a wall and are ideal for storing bits and pieces. It's just what we've been looking for for our kitchen cabinet with the dishwasher where we also store all of the spare light bulbs and a few tools. It used to drive me mad having it all sort of piled up behind the organic waste dustbin.

As I sit here sipping my evening coffee, surfing the Internet, reading posts from my favourite bloggers and listening to Mr. C laughing as he watches an old film I feel another kind of happy altogether.
Wishing everyone a peaceful weekday!