Wednesday 4 October 2017

16:05
The same breakfast as every day. The last couple of months anyway. Oatmeal porridge. Yum.

Played a little wow. Started a new character. A rogue. Like my main in retail wow. Leveled her from 5 to 6. Did some brewfest quests. Played for around 45 minutes.

Music after that.

I ate two sandwiches with peanut butter and sambal. Good too. The library next. Both my Hunger Games books finished. I took two new books. No idea how i will think of these. And then i watched one and a half chess game. Good games. Good to watch.

A quick hop past the supermarket and then home.

I cleaned up the hazelnuts i picked up last Saturday. Washed them.

Sambal next. The peppers i got yesterday in the Hofbogen garden will be great sliced. I baked a sliced onion and garlic and some sugar. With oil and the thinly sliced peppers this should be good enough.

And now here. Typing. The music playing.

A Tribe Called Quest — Buggin’ Out – Scrobbling now
Snoop Dogg — Drop It Like It’s Hot – 4 minutes ago
Talking Heads — I’m Not in Love – 9 minutes ago
Beastie Boys — Pass the Mic – 13 minutes ago
Beastie Boys — Song For Junior – 17 minutes ago
Janet Jackson — When I Think of You – 21 minutes ago
Lana Del Rey — Summertime Sadness – 26 minutes ago
B.J. Thomas — Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head – 29 minutes ago
David Bowie — Little Wonder – 35 minutes ago
Sam Cooke — (What A) Wonderful World – Remastered – 37 minutes ago
Killing Joke — Requiem – 2005 Digital Remaster – 41 minutes ago
Steely Dan — Do It Again – 46 minutes ago
Rihanna — Umbrella – 51 minutes ago
Eyeless in Gaza — No Noise – 55 minutes ago
S’Express — Theme from S-Express – 59 minutes ago
Roy Ayers Ubiquity — Everybody Loves The Sunshine – an hour ago
Young Marble Giants — Searching For Mr Right – 2007 Digital Remaster – an hour ago
Neneh Cherry — Manchild – an hour ago
Wire — The 15th – 2006 Digital Remaster – an hour ago
Justin Timberlake — What Goes Around…/…Comes Around (Interlude) – 3 hours ago
Christina Aguilera — Genie in a Bottle – 3 hours ago
Prince — Hot Thing – 3 hours ago
Talking Heads — Found A Job – 2005 Remastered – 3 hours ago
Drake — Hotline Bling – 3 hours ago
Kraftwerk — The Model – 2009 Digital Remaster – 3 hours ago
Scritti Politti — Absolute – 3 hours ago
Pharrell Williams — Frontin’ – Radio Mix/Club Mix – 3 hours ago
David Bowie — Golden Years – 1999 Digital Remaster – 4 hours ago
Steely Dan — Throw Back The Little Ones – 4 hours ago
Salt-N-Pepa — Push It – 4 hours ago
D’Angelo — Untitled (How Does It Feel) – 4 hours ago
The Beatles — Eight Days A Week – Remastered 2009 – 4 hours ago
Earth, Wind & Fire — September – 4 hours ago
De La Soul — Eye Know – 4 hours ago
The Beatles — Yesterday – Remastered 2009 – 4 hours ago
Massive Attack — Unfinished Sympathy – 4 hours ago
Steely Dan — Doctor Wu – 4 hours ago
Coldcut — Find A Way – Featuring Queen Latifah – 4 hours ago
Kygo — It Ain’t Me (with Selena Gomez) – 4 hours ago
Palais Schaumburg — Gute Luft – 4 hours ago
Sufjan Stevens — Casimir Pulaski Day – 4 hours ago
David Bowie — The Jean Genie – 1990 Digital Remaster – 4 hours ago
Jessie J — Bang Bang – 5 hours ago
Madonna — Vogue – 5 hours ago
Gary Numan / Tubeway Army — Are ‘Friends’ Electric? – 5 hours ago
Calvin Harris — This Is What You Came For – 5 hours ago

My favourite? Madonna with Vogue!!

I’m gonna go through the recipes i found yesterday for cakes with quinces. And bake one.

18:24
Spiced quince cake

water 1.5 litres
caster sugar 150g
quinces 3, medium
lemon 1

For the cake:
self-raising flour 250g
ground cinnamon 1 tsp
mixed spice ½ tsp
bicarbonate of soda 1 tsp
salt a pinch
golden syrup 200g
butter 125g
dark muscovado sugar 125g
eggs 2
poaching syrup from the fruit 240ml

You will also need a round cake tin, measuring 24-25cm in diameter

Pour the water into a large saucepan, add the sugar and bring to the boil. Peel the quinces then cut them in half, rubbing the cut sides of each with the halved lemon to prevent them browning. (They are worse than pears for this.) Lower the quinces into the sugar syrup, turn down the heat to a simmer then let the fruit cook for a good 40 minutes or until it is thoroughly tender. Remove the pan from the heat and let the quinces cool a little in their syrup. Line the cake tin with a piece of baking parchment. Set the oven at 180C/gas mark 4.

When the quinces are cool enough to handle, take them out one at a time and use a teaspoon to remove the cores. Reserve the syrup. Drain the fruit briefly on a piece of kitchen paper then arrange them, hollow side up, in the base of the cake tin.

Sieve together the flour, cinnamon, mixed spice, salt and bicarb. Put the golden syrup, butter and muscovado in a small saucepan and bring to the boil. When the mixture starts to bubble, remove from the heat.

Break the eggs into a bowl, pour in 240ml of the quince cooking syrup and beat gently to mix. Remove the butter and sugar mixture from the heat and pour it into the flour and spice, stirring smoothly and firmly with a large metal spoon. Mix in the syrup and egg. The mixture should be glossy and a little runny, not thick and creamy like the usual cake mixture and with no traces of flour.

Scoop the mixture over the quinces and smooth the surface. Bake for 40-45 minutes until lightly firm and springy to the touch then remove from the oven and leave to cool before turning out and removing the paper. Serve in thick slices with crème fraîche or cream if you wish.

I didn’t have any golden syrup, so i simply used less sugar overall. Seemed a bit much to me anyway. The cake is in the oven now. I am curious to how it will turn out!

20:53
The cake is lovely. Compared to previous recipes it is light and fluffy. And i love the quince.

I’m gonna go to bed now. After i picked the right photos for this post. I’m tired. Tomorrow i will finish my post Now. After my three dailies i did this week. Felt good.

Have a lovely day. Bye bye!

Published on October 5, 2017 at 6:00 by
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Tuesday 3 October 2017

Today's harvest
As someone said a week ago, a photo with me!
And another one
The grass
Moss and small plants
More small plants - i do like the way this looks
Yep
Yellow flowers
Peppers from the Oude Beer in Dordrecht Richard brought along
Quinces, will look for recipes the next week!
Published on October 4, 2017 at 6:00 by
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Monday 2 October 2017

9:45
I get out of bed. I did sleep a bit during the later part of the night. But i was lying awake for a long time. Two times i read. The Hunger Games. The first book. Played a little. Solitaire on my iPad. Thought about this new post i want to start writing today. Didn’t think at all about what i would write for tomorrow. But then i did.

So here it is. A retelling of the day. Like the one i did on 22 July 1997.

My oatmeal porridge is still cooking. I gave my cat food. I cleaned up the catty litter box. I went to the toilet. And now i’m sitting behind my computer typing the start of this retelling.

Gonna eat my oatmeal porridge. Read a bit more.

Hmm… not sure what i will do next. Let’s wait and see.

11:38
Sheeran — Shape of You – Scrobbling now
OutKast — Hey Ya! – 5 minutes ago
The Beatles — The Long And Winding Road – Remastered 2009 – 8 minutes ago
Scritti Politti — Brushed With Oil, Dusted With Powder – 15 minutes ago
The Temptations — Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone – 22 minutes ago
Curtis Mayfield — Move on up – 30 minutes ago
Liaisons Dangereuses — Los niños del parque – 35 minutes ago
Jewelz & Sparks — Motor – Radio Edit – 39 minutes ago
Portishead — Strangers – 43 minutes ago
10cc — The Wall Street Shuffle – 46 minutes ago
Tiffany — I Think We’re Alone Now – 50 minutes ago

13:18
Going out for a walk to the Central Station to exchange the UK money i still had. Of course, it costs money to exchange. So in stead of the twenty five euros i expected i got 16 euros and something. Sigh.

I walked back and bought Allison bread at the Albert Heijn. Then i went to the Jumbo and bought some milk and two cans of cat food. And then i went past the pet doctor and bought more ProZinc for my cat for his diabetes.

And now i’m home again. Gonna make me something to eat. Some baked tofu quickly soaked in a soy sauce on bread spread with tahin. Yum 🙂

15:47
I almost slept. After lunch i read more in the Hunger Games, and my eyes fell closed. I stood up and went and lied on my bed for a short bit. So tired. That is what lack of sleep does to you.

21:11
I finished the Hunger Games. I had planned to do a bit of work. But i felt tired. So reading it was today. Early in the evening i watched a bit of tv. De wereld draait door. Koken met van boven.

I am thinking about this post i want to write. I know. I know. I should start tomorrow. I do need to get into it. Most things are clear in my mind, but i want to make it a full post. It is about something which is very dear to me. The moment of now. This ever present but so hard to catch moment we all experience. Children experience this moment naturally. Their time is a long stretched infinity in a moment. Tomorrow i will start writing more. Sketching almost. Trying to get all the thoughts i had the past days out of my head, so i can think further and make it more telling.

I don’t know if this post is the one i’m brooding on for so long. It could be. It is clear in my mind. It is important to me. It is a simple subject, but also hard to describe.

Well, that is it for today. I wish you well.

Salute!

Published on October 3, 2017 at 6:00 by
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Autumn

Borage - komkommerkruid
Amsoy and lovage - amsoy en lavas
Dill - dille
Beetroot and salsify - biet en schorseneer
Chervil - kervel
Not sure, parsley or chervil? - Niet zeker, peterselie of kervel?
Thyme and catnip - Tijm en kattekruid
Rose - roos
Spiderweb - spinnenweb
Nasturtium - Oost-Indische kers
Chard - snijbiet
Flies in a spider's web - vliegen in een spinnenweb
Blue mint beetle
Published on October 2, 2017 at 6:00 by
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My Instagram

#ellen

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Me

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Emily juggling #emilybradford

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Pita bread getting better!

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Breakfast

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Tasted this wine at the shop. Lovely

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Hampstead Heath park, where I slipped and fell this morning.

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Watching tv

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Watching tv

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I just bought my present!

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Trees

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Mieke

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Muis en Mieke

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View from the Creative Factory

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Mimosa

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Still some lovely mangrove flowers left, after two weeks!

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Between Amersfoort and Utrecht

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In the train from Rotterdam to Amersfoort

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SS Rotterdam view

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Erasmus bridge

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#wijzijnopen

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Muis and Mieke

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Between Rotterdam and Utrecht

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Sun

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Lovely trees with snow

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Published on September 28, 2017 at 6:00 by
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Talking

Last Sunday when i came home i was so tired. I did make a new post, but it was only the photos. Actually, the next day, when i checked, i saw my post wasn’t published yet. It was scheduled to be published the next day. I was that tired.

I had talked so much. About my father. About the memory dream i had when i was around twenty. The dream which i knew had happened, since i had the photo of that event. About Scritti Politti, the best band in the world. About this website and my fave content on it, the video clips. And some songs too! And the cakes i will bake this week for Anne’s birthday. And how i sat in the wheelbarrow, with beer in my hands, my feet towards the fire, looking around and enjoying myself. Yay!

So yeah, it was a good evening. An excellent evening!

It took me a while to get back to my normal self. More than a day. Getting there now. I still hope for a good night sleep. One in which i cuddle up against someone. We chat a bit. Smile. Kiss. And then fall asleep.

One day. You never know. Still my biggest dream. Something i talked about as well. How i am holding this off, but also dream about it. Falling in love. Trying to get it to work. And it doesn’t. Not yet anyway.

Published on September 27, 2017 at 6:00 by
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last.fm

Since 24 August 2005 i use last.fm to build up a list of most of the music i listen to. In spotify you can add the songs you listen to. My username in last.fm is ellenlfs. Nowadays i mainly use ellenpronk, but i do still like ellenlfs.

My overview page in last.fm is https://www.last.fm/user/ellenlfs. I did have many periods in which i didn’t listen that much to music. 2015 is my busiest year. In total i have 44.064 scrobbles from 1.854 artists until now.

This comes close to my overall taste, but there are differences. My favourite album of all time is Cupid & Psyche ’85 from Scritti Politti, but i’m not listening to this album as much as i used to. The previous forty years of my music listening is not in this account. Still, twelve years is a long time. I do enjoy seeing my listening habits displayed like this.

Listening History
Number of tracks scrobbled each year.

Year Number of scrobbles
2005 827
2006 3653
2007 1744
2008 508
2009 1365
2010 2364
2011 2920
2012 3643
2013 1626
2014 5791
2015 13949
2016 2797
2017 2868

My top artists
1 – Scritti Politti – 2,013
2 – Talking Heads – 1,004
3 – Steely Dan – 905
4 – Pet Shop Boys – 860
5 – Sufjan Stevens – 822
6 – Wire – 816
7 – David Bowie – 682
8 – Michael Jackson – 570
9 – Beastie Boys – 544
10 – The Beatles – 523

My top albums
1 – Steely Dan — Can’t Buy A Thrill – 440
2 – Ed Lincoln – Ed Lincoln – 391
3 – Janelle Monáe — The ArchAndroid – 378
4 – Wire — Pink Flag – 297
5 – Tracey Thorn — A Distant Shore – 274
6 – Scritti Politti — White Bread Black Beer – 254
7 – Scritti Politti — Songs To Remember – 235
8 – Michael Jackson — Thriller – 227
9 – David Bowie — The Singles Collection – 220
10 – Nick Drake — Five Leaves Left – 217

My top tracks
1 – Britney Spears — Sometimes – 136
2 – Scritti Politti — Road to No Regret – 132
3 – Tracey Thorn — Too Happy – 123
4 – Scritti Politti — Absolute – 120
5 – Janelle Monáe — Tightrope (feat. Big Boi) – 115
6 – Alessi Brothers — Oh Lori – 114
7 – Steely Dan — Deacon Blues – 113
8 – Wire — Mannequin – 112
9 – Ed Lincoln — (O Nome Dele É) Waldemar – 111
10 – 10cc — I’m Not in Love – 110

The latest songs i have been listening too (Monday 25 September 22:04)
CeeLo Green — Fuck You — 6 hours ago
Johnny Cash — Ring of Fire — 6 hours ago
The Pop Group — Snowgirl — 6 hours ago
The Beatles — She Loves You – Mono / Remastered 2009 — 6 hours ago
Kurtis Blow — The Breaks — 6 hours ago
Ed Lincoln — Balansamba Nº1 — 6 hours ago
Janet Jackson — Let’s Wait Awhile — 7 hours ago
Jacques Brel — Ne me quitte pas — 7 hours ago
Carly Rae Jepsen — Call Me Maybe — 7 hours ago
Buffy the Vampire Slayer — Walk Through the Fire — 7 hours ago

Published on September 26, 2017 at 6:00 by
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Poor

On the whole i feel calm. At times i do get worried. Especially when i talk to other people. My mum, friends. Sometimes, when i walk on the street and i get spoken to, i say i don’t have any money. most people don’t really react to that. It is too far away from them. I understand that. Your own worries are always so much bigger than those from somebody else.

I don’t mind listening to people. Quite enjoy it, really. Learn from it. Some terrible things you hear though. Selfish selfish people doing abominable things to other people. Take away their money. Their stuff. Simply because someone didn’t really pay attention and gave it all to his girlfriend. Not married of course. No legal document. So it is all gone. When the girlfriend has died.

What the man said when we talked. Health. A clear mind. Waking up and going outside. Your head raised. Hmm, that last part is from me. Still. He is right.

But also sweet things. A man talked about his children. Three of them. And his seven grandchildren. All doing well. Made him feel happy. Good.

So yeah, the photo above is all my money. I thought i had a bit more on my bank account. But earlier this week i had a return of money, which made it possible for my energy bill to be paid. Four euros left. And i do need to buy ProZinc for the diabetes of my cat. Fifty five euros. Hmmm. It’ll last for around four months i think. Well. Thinking. Thinking.

This is difficult. Also, in November i need to pay Mediatemple for the the gridserver my website is hosted on. As it looks right now, i won’t be able to. And then of course my mortgage.

Calm. Serene. Don’t let it worry you. You have a life. You have your work in the gardens. You have friends. It won’t go all to pieces. And yes, if it does go to pieces, it is for a reason. To learn. To live through. You know that.

Well, if someone reads this and wants to help me, i won’t mind. Of course not.

You can send money to this bank number:

N.E.Pronk
IBAN NL33 TRIO 0338 6788 24
Triodos bank

I will make a Friendship page on this website and send postcards or a drawing or something else which comes up in my mind to you if you send me me some money. Above ten dollars / ten euros i add. Below ten dollars / ten euros you will just be named on the friendship page as a sponsor. You can of course also use my Patreon page. That page is really quiet. I haven’t fully described what i will do for the people supporting me. I know, i should work on that soon!

So, calmness. A clear mind. Awareness of what could happen. But also faith in myself. In my own abilities. In my own strength.

Have a good weekend. Salute!

Published on September 22, 2017 at 6:00 by
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