Good afternoon at the 21st off January, 2021

 Good afternoon everyone, 

Today was for a small prize. I've won the first prize in a quiz at de Boed. (Chocolate milk and a matching cup from the same brand.) I have my moments, people where stunned by how smart I seemed for answering all off my questions well. It was merely basic knowledge most people are supposed to know in my opinion, but opinions can be diffrent and basic knowledge isn't always as basic as we suppose it is. There where a lot off questions about animals I was lucky to know. Somehow I suspect because my brothers both where mad about animal knowledge when they where young. I probably picked more up on that than I thought. It wasn't animal science that got asked at de Boed, but merely some fun facts about animals. 

Today was also for singing. I sing at de Boed during thursday afternoon when they come togheter to sing old (mainly Duch) hits, and since they think I can sing, they ask me to be the lead singer to their small group off muscicians most off the time during Corona. Only one person is allowed to sing in a group off people. I sing in a microfoon behind my mouth mask when I'm onto that. It got appreciated by the old folks I do so. I've been onto that since a few weeks before christmas. 

The pot off celeriac soup got entirely finished by the lunch group today, I got complimented on it's taste. Next week I believe I'm onto leek soup but without heavy cream. (A basic part off traditional Welsh leek soup) As that's not a good idea for your guts as I've experienced before. I believe I'll use milk and just a hint off light cooking cream in this case.      

I should probably make this the end off this weblog, as something in me refuses to write on. 

Allright, that's about it for now. 

Thank you for reading. 

Celeriac, anyone?

 Good evening everyone, 

Today it's gloomy and there is a storm predicted in the Netherlands. Tonight, if you have trouble sleeping, there will be a storm on if you dare to lay in your bed. 

I feel relief there is a new president off the United States. It's much better for the world now they have a sane and suitable man for the job with a strong woman behind him. 

*

Today was Wednesday Soup at de Boed. It was a day for celeriac soup. Celeriacs are quite funny. 

This picture shows a fresh celeriac. It could be a nasty face if you take a better look. But that's not what this blog is going to be about. (Celeriac = Knolselderij in het Nederlands. Celeriac klinkt alleen cooler.) 

It's going to be about a receipe for celeriac soup. It's cheap, it's capable to be made to taste, and it's a perfect January soup. 

You need (For a pot suitable for a large group): 

- Sunseed oil (one to three tablespoons) 

- 150 grams off butter

- 3 celeriacs 

- 8 cloves off fresh garlic 

- 3 to 5 potatoes 

- Chicken broth from cubes (About 3 1/2 liters)

- Thyme (Two teaspoons)

- 2 bay leaves 

- Garlic powder (1 teaspoon, and yes it's nescessairy) 

- 5 onions 

- 2 liters off half fat milk 

- Peper and salt you're capable to grind 

- Crème fraiche (One package off about 200 to 250 milliliters) 

- One lemon 

- hand blender or a countertop blender 

- Garlic press 

1. Peel and clean all your veggies and dice them, put your oil and butter in a very large cooking pot and press all garlic in. Adjust pepper and salt, and all vegetables. Add crème fraiche during this step. Bring to simmer. Simmer well untill the butter is melted 

I have people who help me cleaning and cutting vegetables when I'm preparing Wednesday Soup each week. I suggest you to either take your time for this, or ask people to help you peel and cut. 

2. When all vegetables seem to have simmered, eyeball a bit how much broth you'll need and adjust in the cooking pot. Add and bring to warmth. Taste your broth. it's the beginning off all good soups. In my version off good Celeriac soup, this requires garlic powder, two bay leaves and quite a lot off thyme. add extra chicken broth cubes if it needs that during this step. Bring to a broil when you think it's to taste, and let brottle up to half an hour and then add in the milk. remove the bay leafs 

3. Puree everything alltogheter with the puree blender, blend untill smooth. Taste if it needs something else, add pepper and salt if necessairy, squeeze in the juice off a lemon and then add another salt and pepper. Lemons bring up the taste off these kind off soups. It's not necessairy to use a citrus press for this, as that would be too much lemon juice. Just squeeze in lemon juice from two lemon halfs with your hands. 

Optional: 

Toasted walnuts. Toast about 300 grams off shell less walnuts, and crumble them in your soup for an extra bite. 

It's even better the second day you serve it. 

I had my idea for Celeriac soup from a cookbook called the soup bible ('de Soepbijbel' - Heleen Timmermans) but I made it my own version simply by experimenting a bit with herbs and techniques for extra taste. And, sometimes I follow intuïtion and instinct and voices to make it even better, as it works. There's a mad woman in the kitchen on wednesday. But it works.    

 

One for sorrow, two for joy

 three for a girl, 

four for a boy, 

five for silver, 

six for gold, 

seven for a secret never to be told 

eight for a kiss 

nine for a wish 

ten for a bird not to miss 

I believe magpie forecasts when I spot them out in the wild, and most off the times I sense it's true what nature tries to tell me. Whenever I spot two or only one in the tree behind my flat, I somehow believe the situation I'm heading to to be good or bad. Often it's true. Once there where five out to be seen, and it was a day for silver as I picked a silver christmas bulb to be decorated that day, a few weeks ago. 

Today I've seen nine magpies alltogheter. It's for a wish, I made a wish yesterday and they probably picked up on that. magpies are much more cheerfull animals than crows most off the time, that's why I rather consider them my spirit animal than the more traditional crow for most witches. I'm sorry guys, but I'm a jewelry maker, I'm cheerfull most off the time, I'm a collector off goods and I feel with the myth that magpies are a bit naughty to their master and make fun off the gods instead off blindly obeying them and tell them what's going on. If you can't have fun, then what's there to be made out off life anyway? Don't be sour, be a magpie. (Magpie = Ekster in het Nederlands) and magpies dance when they're alltogheter. I've seen them dancing a few times. They seem to laugh loudly a lot. (I laugh a lot about my own sense off humor. I'm one off these people who chuckles a lot about their inside jokes) I love that kind off species off the crow family. Plus they are more bound to their families than to a large group. That's also more likely to be like me. I'm not dedicated to a group off people, but my family is gold to me. I do things a bit diffrent than the classical pagan believes, but it's my right to disobey (Magpie-gackle) 

Today they must have sensed my heart's wish and shown in a little mass to show up to me and hopefully tell me I was heard by some super power. I hope that was their message. 

Allright, that's about it. 

Thank you for reading.   

A basket made from popsicle sticks

Good afternoon everyone, 

Yesterday was an evening for wet snow in the Netherlands. There has been a bit off snow which didn´t last in our part off the country. It somehow felt like christmas eve. I had been making a luxury applepie for de Boed for us which we had this morning with our coffee. It was quite a luxury one with almond paste inside and toasted nuts on top instead off the traditional diamond shapes with dough on most applepies. Today didn´t feel like christmas, but people loved my pie. We had it with some whipped cream.   

I made the basket pictured above this text myself yesterday. It´s a creative project they have started at de Boed, getting people to make baskets from popsicle sticks to set off their mind off off things and to keep them buisy. I finished mine entirely yesterday. It´s not a bad thing, but as far as I feel it, I keep it at one at a time because too much would take too much from my mental energy. It´s a project that takes preciseness to finish. And after a while I feel like it takes too much from me. These are not old popsicle sticks, you can purchase them by the lot at some places and use fresh and clean ones. Old ones people have put in their mouth are a bit gross for this project. Mental people living in a care home often have no clue about normal people´s idea off ´weekend.´ Life most off the time goes on the same almost every day, except that week days are a bit more buisy.  

I´m a bit out off my mind. I have visions off a man named Romeno in my head. He bothers me a lot and sometimes I have the feeling the vision replies to me and talks to me when I tell him something. It´s funny untill it gets stuck on you and it´s hard to get off off it, but I supose it´s not as bad as the delusions I had around new year´s eve. I have the feeling Romeno needs my love and support somehow if he would excist. I simply wouldn´t know how to trace him in real life if he would excist and I doubt he would like a hug from someone like me, troubled as I am. If I´d meet someone like that in real life, I would barely dare to talk to him and give him a heart. I have been googling him and searching for the name he told me on facebook, but I haven´t found anyone with that name. I doubt he´d excist at all. I´d love to be as brave in real life as how I feel in my mind towards him, and give him that hug whenever I meet him. But that´s probably something for later on. 

Tomorrow, my late dad would have turned 68. He´s death since 2012 and it´s almost 10 years now. My brothers will come over to my place to have a little memorial togheter tomorrow. Dad would have been proud off my applepie for today. I´m sure off that. The both off us have baked a lot off them back at my parental home when I was younger. He taught me cooking and baking basics. I became very skilled at that old time, years ago and it still works for me nowadays. Life in care homes is easier when you love to cook and bake for people. 

Allright, that´s about it for now. 

Thank you for reading.    
 

Lemons, On a postcard.

 Good afternoon everyone, 

I coloured this postcard this morning, it's a bit hard to colour and shade in fresh lemons without making them look a bit spoiled. A bright shade off yellow is often hard to shade in with other shades off bright yellow. Most off the time I use brown or orange shades to darken and deepen yellow edges, but that would do a bit violence to the freshness, and I have been trying with orange but then you could question whether you have an orange, or a lemon, or a mix off both (I never heard off that excisting. It's probably already there waiting for the market, but I've never heard off that.) So yellow with a bit off darker yellow and a background off soft green it is. It can't be made more complex or simple than that with what I'm capable to. You could colour them several diffrent vivid colours and call it art, but I wanted to get as close to lively lemons as I possibly could with what I had on hand. I already feel artistic by trying to achieve a bit off depth by colouring some lemon slices completely darkened and leaving some with dark and light spots. I believe I could picture this a bit better so you could see my colour intentions a bit better than what is shown on here. 

I'm about to send it, since it's a postcard. I sign coloured works at de Boed with my name instead off my artistic autograph so people wouldn't consider me as bonkers as they would if I'd show them I even have an artistic autograph and a secret on the internet in the first place. See no evil, hear no evil. I stick at that with most, as they aren't interested in what I'm up to online most off the time. 

Today was for Zaanish mustard soup at de Boed. I made it for lunch yesterday and today we could serve them a leftover. It's my job to prepare soups at wednesday. People love my soups and mustard soup was requested by de Boed's manager as she loved my first attemps a few months ago. My region is known for it's mustard. I make it with fresh basil and smoked salmon adjusted at the end. My soups aren't the best if you wish to loose weight as I'm not spare with cooking creams but if you like the idea off restaurant quality, or a good soup at a good hobby cook's place, then you have the idea. People look forward to it every week. I have been barely at it during December and the end off November due to circumstances, but I'm going to give it the best I can the next months. People deserve their soups during a cold and mean winter with a lockdown like this. 

De Boed is open for people with mental diseases during the lockdown since it has a care function. institutes with a care function are still open but we have to be utmost carefull. 1.5 meters appropriate distance at seats, mouthmasks, cleaning like they have hosophobia, telling people to desinfect all the time and keep everything as neat as possible. People in the Zaan area already are incredibly clean on their living spaces, some even say 'why didn't we do it like this before?' I think I could never fit that standard, but everyone to their own. Life goes by like it always did for me. I have been infected with Corona, but I survived somehow. I made de Boed a gingerbread cake for afternoon coffee time today and they where gratefull about it. That has been part off my life before this lockdown, I barely have a life compared to most people when it's no lockdown, but it is what it is and it can do even during a nasty crisis. I have my creative hobbies but that's most there is to say about it. I cook for people and I colour every now and then. I almost feel guilty it goes so fluently well comparing to others these days. On the other hand, I shouldn't complain too much. 

Allright, that's about it for now. 

Thank you for reading.      

I'm working my way to almost a proffesion

 Good evening everyone, 

I have been working today on colouring an image, I finished it entirely today. I was at de Boed (They're open on sunday for clients.) 

It's made on A4 format, and done with several pencils and markers I found at de Boed in their public pencil and marker storage. I say this all the time, because sometimes it almost shouldn't matter what pencils or markers you use if you are really talented or trained at colouring. But maybe that's a bit harsh to say since what I found in their pencil storage was pretty good quality brands and kinds. They're no copic markers, but it's not low quality either. (Though some shading was done with children's markers.) I have been shading and contouring this image with several shades off the same colour. I have been colouring images all week. I think it's a good way to cope with quarantine. 

A coloured image with autumn colours

Good evening everyone,  

It took me almost half a week to finish it, more and more details every time. This is what I do when I feel out off my mind instead off working a real time job. I colour things like this all week to spend my days well. I love to focus on those small details most people who colour leave an even colour, and shade them in so there appears more depth on the image. I love to challenge myself and make it even better every time. It's how you become somewhat good at things. I have a personal saying with that: 'Boredom has made me talented.' If I wouldn't have this, or other creativity, what else would I have to spend days with? Try to improve yourself everytime you're at something, or try to discover new tecniques and ways to make it even more fabulous. 

Q: Does colouring actually cure when you're feeling- upset, or delusional, or out off your mind? 

A: Well, it doesn't take the issue away, but I mentioned it keeps you at one spot at a table, occupied with a project so you stay safe there instead off running around restless. When you're onto that, you're into your own thoughts but the delusions most off the time don't fade. It calms, that's just what it does. Meanwhile, when the rush off an extatic making delusion fades while you're on the project, (After a while it can fade if you're lucky.) then you're probably good again and you can choose whetheter to go on with colouring or stop it there and go on with life. I have sensed many delusions coming up and fading away during my colouring projects. It's how you become good at it. Especially since voices do whisper in good suggestions on what pencil to use next. (They don't immediately fade, like I said. Sometimes they're a big part off a project.) If you continue colouring untill the panic fades, then you won another battle. Sadly seen.