Sunshine Blessed Sunshine

There was glorious sunshine from sunup til sundown.  I sat in the loft reading a beautiful message from Erin as the sunlight poured through the open blinds.  She shared some scriptures that were as illuminating as the sunbeams.  A little later we went out in the 38 degree weather.  I think all of Copenhagen was out for a stroll.

Look at the green!  

Do you recognize our back yard from another angle?

This one too.  Our apartment is on the far left.

This is the path around the lake, looking unusually unpopulated except for SK here admiring the green hedge...which was under snow last week.

We walked to a Polish import shop to purchase Kielbasa.  Several months ago we made Winter Root Soup for our YSAs - which was great, except that it called for sausage.  When we first had it at Peter and Lia's home they served it with Kielbasa.  As luck would have it, one of the other people in our Danish class is from Poland and works at the shop!  Our original question was "Where can we buy some?" and she knew immediately.

So the morning found us strolling along one of the larger avenues in search of great sausage.  They also had some fun-looking candies.  Fortunately our friend was there and steered us to the best Kielbasa and the best candy.  There were several pieces that looked tasty from the pictures, but she would screw up her nose and say, "They have liquor in them."  

It is cute of her to know we don't drink alcohol and to steer us to the right choices.

After making our purchase, we strolled home along two of the lakes and I snapped too many pictures.  But the day was beautiful and I never tire of the lake and the birds, especially the swans.

We stood for awhile and watched this little girl feed the birds...they loved it!

The swans are still afoot...not enough water to swim in yet.  Both the graceful swans and the ducks make decidedly ungraceful landings on the ice, as they swoop down and slip and slide to a stop on the slick surface.

We deposited the goods in our apartment and set out by car to go to the Turkish market, where we found giant sweet potatoes, large white potatoes and good parsnips.

They are not just big....but huge!

You may not think any of this is interesting, but back when we made this the first time, we couldn't find sausage, we couldn't find large white potatoes, we couldn't find sweet potatoes of any kind, much less large.  After much searching, we found very small sweet potatoes that were very difficult to peel, and medium-sized white potatoes which also took a long time to peel with our little peelers.  

I think when all was said and done, we spent two days gathering and preparing a soup that at home in Gilbert would have been simple.  But today, we knew where to go to get what we needed, we have superb implements at home to peel and cut, and we should be able to put a meal together with more ease than usual!  I hope those are not what might be called "Famous Last Words."

There is a great weekend activity in Sweden, about 4 hours away for the YSAs and I am not sure how many will choose not to come Thursday, so I am keeping it simple.  We will just have the soup, dinner rolls, whatever fruit I can find on sale and a carrot cake I have in the freezer.  I think that should work

Earlier in the day, we returned some dishes to one of the YSAs at her work.  My hands were full and I couldn't snap a picture, but I went in to her office through a narrow little brick entryway (not quite wide enough for a car to go through, but almost) that opened into a kind of courtyard surrounded by buildings that were at least 200 years old, if not much older. They were colorful and quaint and there was a large shade tree in the center that promises to be elegant in the Spring and Summer.  The brilliant sunlight played down over the old surfaces of the cobblestones, windows, shutters, doors and buildings.  The quiet and the peace of that little area melted my heart.  There were a few tables and chairs and I am certain people love to sit there and eat when the weather is warmer.  

From there we came to the center, where we are now.  It is winding down from a dynamic message about dating, and an activity that took them all outside - They divided among 6 cars and made very quick stops at some less active members homes.  They dropped off messages saying we missed them.  Everyone came back for strawberry shortcake and games.

The light today has been wonderful.