Blackberries!

No poetry. Just a picture.

Lördag, Featuring Sauerkraut & Pictures (but no pictures of Sauerkraut)

I dag är det lördag--marknadens dag! It's fun because every week the market looks different. This week there was a concurrent loppis or "garage-sale." I was looking for some shoes, but my luck played out on other fronts rather (i.e. carrots, leeks, cabbage, brocoli & two jars of Jämtland Honung.)

Loppis on the left, Jämtens marknad on the right

Afternoon back at the market. 

I brought back the purchases. Some of it went into the refrigerator, some of it went onto the shelf, and some of it went into a jar to incubate, whence, friendlies permitting, it shall emerge after several weeks as surkål--"sauerkraut."

Later in the afternoon I almost bumped into Östersund's Stadsmuseet so I decided to go inside. I had a fun conversation with the curator. He was a tough guy and he didn't put his ÖP (Östersund's newspaper) down the whole time he was talking to me, even though I could tell he was enjoying himself.

The building itself is super beautiful.

Here are some pictures from inside.

Parlour with an "u."

Yestern I was studying in the library/cafeteria, as is my custom at lunchtime. One time I looked up I saw a cello. The next time I looked up I saw a cello & a viola. The next time I didn't have to look up--det hade blitt en riktig folk-fest right in the middle of the library.

Later, by some stroke of good fortune, I happened upon an announcement of a lecture about Östnordisk och Västnordisk dialecter i gammal tiderna ("East & West Scandinavian Dialects in the Old Times"). Torsdag 8. september, it said on the flyer. "That must be coming up," methought to myself, before realising that it was that night. Luckily the molasses in my brain cunducted this connexion so that I didn't miss it.

I'm very happy I saw the flyer, since it was really interesting for me. They had invited a professor from Lund University. While I was sitting in the room, even though I was totally "engaged," I couldn't help but think "I must be the only person here under forty!" And then I looked around a little more and I realised my first impression had been wrong (as they tend to be)--I was the only person under sixty-five! But that's alright.

Today have we Saturday--Lördag...market day!

I got some super good Swedish-practice a-prating with the local vendors. The best part is, provided I know what I mean to say (which admittedly does not happen as often as I should like), people generally do not think I'm foreign. One lady made a soy-sauce-like condiment out of mushrooms, and another handed me a glass with a smakprov--a "taste-test"--of a drink made from the by-products of her sea-buckthorn-jam-making operation. It tasted exactly like beer, which I wasn't expecting. After talking with the woman of whom I bought the goat cheese (she thought I was from Östersund at first), we made an arrangement: next saturday, before she leaves to the market, she is going to milk her goats and bring one litre with her, the which I pledge to purchase.

Sea-buckthorn berries, unpasteurised cow's milk cheese & butter, unpasteurised goat's milk cheese,  morötter, rodlök, and a pointy permutation of brassicus.

Here's a close-up of the yellowness wrought of lyckliga kor ("happy cows"). The picture doesn't do it justice--it's deeper than the egg-yolks I had this morning. Incidentally, Childe Roland & Co. are still the best egg-factories I have encountered. 

Here is a self-portrait of the rascal who won't leave me in peace.

Nico...bon voyage!

Is it your birthday?

Grattis på födelsedagen

New Blog Post! Featuring Roman Triumvirate & Other Friendlies

We have had Introductionsveckan here at the university. One lady gave a presentation about Östersund, and it sounds really nice--maybe I should visit sometime. One distinction it has is the title of Gastronomical Capitol of the World for 2011; an honour it shares in Roman-like triplicity with two other cities, both of which boast populations of several million. At roughly 60.000, the immutable mathematics of the universe dictate that Östersundarna get more mat (food) per capita. This is happy equation in that the cheese, fil, meat, herring, & root-vegetables are super-tasty, ergo, "the more the merrier." An important component of the "gastronomical" interest is a clear movement for local and sustainable food-production.  This movement might be understood as a tentacle of a broader commitment to energy-efficiency, but I think somehow that the latter is actually more fundamental to the city. In any case, Östersund, again together with two other cities--Trondheim & Sundsvall--created "The Green Highway" for coast-to-coast travel. Nabotaget is a train that connex the coasts, but there is also a green (figuratively) highway (literally) that does the same thing by providing electric-recharge stations for battery cars along the route so the electric-powered pilgrimage need not be impeded by your lack of juice.
Östersund ligger vid Storsjön. The latter is a lake, but it might as well be "the Pond" by the mood of't. Today I wandered down the cobbled streets to the water for some reflexion, since I'm profound and this is what profound people do. Across the water is Fröson, an island.
Another cool thing is the superabundance of bike-paths. It's almost overwhelming. You find, for example, bike-paths ever when you are looking for them.
I have been collecting svampar like a mycological manic. I have to say, it doesn't take much effort here. (Nicco, fjällig bläcksvamp is "wobbley-toppe" rendered in Swedish.) Another project I have been undertaking is picking currants. There aren't very many, but I found a couple patches and I have been harvesting them. They're a little different than American currants in that the stems don't so willingly part with their  rubies, but I have been taking them home togather and then spreading them out on the table to do the operation while I listen to P1 on the radion to try to learn Swedish. Another thing I am doing is collecting fil cultures. My plan is to purchase raw milk from the woman I met at last week's market and inoculate the latter with the sayd friendlies.

Some pictures from down by the water.

...And up at the University, på studentplanen. Mowing the grass...a normal day.

A Fowl Feast

Burnt almonds, dried breadcrumbs and chopped turnip garnished with baked eggshells.