stereotype santa

There are some things that just get a person excited for Christmas. This is one of them.

2009 Santa world games in Sweden

This makes me (more than ever) want to get on with planning a trip to northern Sweden and Norway -- see the mountains and fjords, nature reserves, maybe even some caribou. If we were rich we'd stay in the ice hotel, unfortunately that will be an unfulfilled silly wish of mine.

Maybe I will start training for the Santa world games 2010.

how to scratch an itch?

Weird dormant jet lag surfaced last night after almost a week; awake from 12 a.m. to 4 a.m., dreaming up all kinds of schemes, planting gardens in my mind.

Something I have noted about our neighborhood. For all the gardening going on, very little food is grown. Even the local market in the square I am unsure of -- farm-fresh looking foods mixed in with oranges from Spain and kiwis from New Zealand. I know our soil isn't the best -- shallow, sandy, stony -- but people produce beautiful flower gardens each year. Last spring I spent so many hours digging and fixing and starting I ran out of energy to till up the ground for the actual vegetable garden. I will not be deterred this spring, even if I have to pay someone to dig for me, seeing that by mid-April I will be 40 weeks pregnant and a whale of a woman.

Last night I was considering greenhouse and chicken coop, but that just going too far too early. Start with the veggies. Check out National Geographic's fun little online guide for tips for house and home. Knowing how energy and resources are wasted on food production makes you want to get your greenhouse and winter lettuce growing immediately. And about that chicken coop!

Read: The Green Guide