"CATWASH" – VINEGAR, EGG-YOLK and other things

We take many things for granted today, such as having access to a bathroom and a toilet is one thing we take for granted

In today’s world we feel that unless we shower every day, we are unhygienic, and we take it for granted “that we have a bathroom” with all different kinds of soaps, shampoos etc.

Today that might seem strange to most people, but when I lived in Denmark – until I got married – my parents never had the luxury of having a bathroom.

OUR TOILET NEEDS – when I was a child 

When I was little, we lived on Munkebjergvej 53, Taarnby in a nice house, but there was no bathroom.

Munkebjergvej 53, Taarnby, Copenhagen, Denmark

There was an “inside locum” which was in a room attached to the house with cement floor and two small rooms. One for the “locum” and the other room was “our pig” which was raised to be slaughtered.

The “locum” was hole in the ground with a pail and a seat.  My Dad had to empty the pail every day into the garden.

HOW DID WE KEEP OURSELVES CLEAN?

Our daily cleaning was “Catwash” – in Danish “kattevask or klatvask” which was cleaning of face and below.  It was done in the kitchen with a small pan.

Once a week we had our hair got washed – “bending over the head into the small pan” in water with vinegar and rinsed with an egg yolk.

THE BIG BATH

My sister Birgit, to the left, me - the weird looking one and three of my friends. Having a bath.

We could only get a BIG BATH in the summertime, because it had to be done outside in a huge wooden tub. My Dad would heat water enough on the wooden stove to fill the tub.

We took turns to take the bath – in the same water.

I guess they did the same in the United States – where the baby was the last one to get the bath and from where the saying is “Don’t throw out the baby with bathwater”, assuming by then the water was so dull looking that you might forget there was a baby in it.

GOING TO PUBLIC “BATH PLACES ON VESTERBRO, COPENHAGEN.

My mom, sister Birgit and I moved into Vesterbro 1947 - when my parents divorced. It was two-room apartment with a hallway and a kitchen. No toilet nor bathroom

So, once a week we went to a “public bath place” where you could get a shower and go in the sauna.

They would give you “træuld” – which was a small ball of flaked wood -  to wash yourself with.  It was tough on the skin, so our bodies would turn red from the harshness of the “træuld".

TRÆULD

In the apartment on Kongshøjgade there was no access to neither shower nor even our own toilet.

We had to go out of the apartment – from the backdoor - for the toilet.  There was only one toilet on each floor which was a “shared toilet” with the neighbor next door.

But we still felt we were lucky, since there were many huge apartment buildings in Copenhagen that only had “one” shared toilet outside in a room outside in the back.  So if you lived on the fourth or fifth floor you had to walk down all the stairs and go “outside” to go to bathroom. My ex. Bent Lindhardt lived in a such an apartment on Østerbro – when he was a child.

MY FIRST REAL BATHROOM

It was not before when I got married – 1957 in Copenhagen, Denmark – my ex and I moved into an apartment in Husum “where there was a bathroom with a “sit-down” bathtub and shower.

We were both so excited. Personally, I felt I had moved in to “heaven”. I had never had that “luxury” before of sitting and soaking in a bathtub.

BATHTUB WAS ALSO USED FOR HANDWASHING OF CLOTHES.

We also used it for rinsing clothes that we had to wash by hand every day, since we only had access to “the common washing room in the basement” once a month where we could wash our clothes and linen etc. there was also huge rollers for ironing and we ironed everything, incl diapers.

But the daily washing of cloth diapers had to be done cooking them in a huge pot on the stove and then we rinsed them in our bathtub and hang them up to dry over the tub. No such luxury of disposable diapers.

But again, we still felt it was an improvement over “our childhood experience on Vesterbro of washing clothes”  where we had to walk four-five floors down to the basement.

It was a whole day affair where we had to heat water in a huge pot to get our clothes clean. After they were cooked and washed on a washboard, we had to carry all the clothes up to “the loft” which was five floors up -  above the apartment – to hang the clothes to dry.

Nevertheless, there are still many places in the world where they do not have the luxury of having access to daily showers and clean toilets with toilet paper etc.

Vibeke Lindhardt

Vibekesonja.blotspot.com

THE ALBERTA HUTTERITES.

I went on a tour to the “Wilson Hutterite Colony” south of Coaldale, Alberta - - sponsored by the Lethbridge Galt Museum - and learned that The Hutterites have not changed their lifestyle much in 491 years.

The first thing you get to view when you arrive to the colony which consist of 107 members, is their kindergarten.

I had to shake my head and tell myself that I was NOT dreaming when I was standing in front of a group the cutest little innocent looking kids that was dressed like “miniature” Hutterite men and women.

The little boys had the same hats as the adult man wear and the girls their little polka dotted scarves that only show the pretty little braid on their forehead.

You realized that they were as exited to view “those strange looking adults” as we were to view them.”  Their like cute healthy-looking faces were beaming.

The little children sang two songs in English that they learn in kindergarten. At home they speak High German – from the Bavaria area -The children learn English in kindergarten and school. You could tell they have a little accent.

HOUSING AND NUMBERS

The Hutterites have not changed their lifestyle much since the hatmaker Jacob Hutter – started the Hutterite colony lifestyle 1528 in Moravia, Czechoslovakia.

photo of Jacob Hutter

Each family have their own place to live on the colony. Some families have their own house, whereas some houses have more than one apartment.

There are about 180 Hutterite colonies with approx. 16.000 people in Alberta.

For many years the Hutterites fled from place to place. First from Moravia to Germany, then to Russia then to North and South Dakota in the United states and then to Canada.

In most cases they moved because they did not want to go to War – like the Jehova Witnesses”.

MARRIAGE

The Hutterites marry to somebody either within the same colony or to somebody from another colony.

Many Hutterites don’t marry anymore to control inbreeding. As a matter of fact, the two women who were our tour guides were not married.

If a colony get to the number of 144, the rule is that the colony will have to break up to two colonies, which mean acquiring new land and many times acquiring new land can be a huge problem.

THE WORLD COULD FALL APART AND THE HUTTERITES WOULD BASICALLY BE OK

If there were a major disaster in Lethbridge tomorrow, the grocery stores quite likely would be empty in one hour.  Most people – unless they believe in food storage and emergency supplies like the members of ”The Church Of Jesus Christ members do – they would suffer and would want to turn to neighbors and the Government for help.

The “The Church Of Jesus Christ” members – also nicknamed “Mormons” lived a somewhat similar lifestyle for many years that was called “the United Order” under their leader Joseph Smith and later Brigham Young,   where everybody brought their goods to the “storehouse” and then in return got what they needed for their families.

The church stopped living that lifestyle, because The US Congress used this practice to delay granting land ownership to the LDS members when they migrated to Utah. Nevertheless, Utah still have some physical memories of that lifestyle in f. example the name of the town “Orderville”.

After what I viewed at the Wilson Hutterite colony, I made the conclusion that If a major disaster happened in Alberta tomorrow the Hutterites would properly not only be ok for a very long time, but it is quite likely that many people would turn to the Hutterites for help.

THE HUTTERITES ARE EXTREMELY SELFSUFICIENT

The Wilson colony in Alberta has its own shoe and boot making workshop and one could see that the old European trades were handed down as we watched them “right there under your nose”.

They make their own clocks and brooms.  They have their own car-repair shop and car wash and many other things that make them totally self-sufficient.

The Hutterites have their own cows, lambs and chickens and their own slaughterhouse. They grow not only their own grain and crops but produce a lot own of “the local grown” vegetable sold at the local markets.

Everything on the colony is modern and up-to-date.  The only thing that looked “old fashioned” was their incinerators where they burn garbage. It stuck out like a sore thumb.

HUTTERITE MEALS

We were invited for a good old-fashioned German lunch with mashed potatoes, sausages, fresh cooked home grown beet and a delicious carrot cake.

The Hutterites eat together. The kindergarten children – age 3-6 eat – get their breakfast and lunch at the kindergarten. They are there all day while the parents work. They even have a little “nap room”.

When the children start school – on the Colony – at the age of six- they eat breakfast and lunch in a separate room from the adult’s “food” room.

The Adults all eat breakfast and lunch together in a “common food room”.  The women on one side and the men on the other side. They eat their evening meal “at home”.

The meals are all prepared in huge modern kitchens. As a matter of fact, the Hutterites have modern equipment’s everywhere.

THE HUTTERITE RELIGION

I asked one of the tour guides if they believe in Jesus Christ. She got very emotionally and told me that Christ is the center of their religion. While we were sharing a wonderful lunch with the Hutterites, some of the women and children sang to religious songs for us. Some of the words were “He is beside us” – He is inside us”.

The Hutterites are Anabaptists which means that they do not believe in christening or baptizing children.  One must be an adult to be baptized, so one can choose for themselves.

I really enjoyed my visit to the Wilson Hutterite Colony and would take the opportunity to back and learn more about their unusual lifestyle. One could feel that their faith is a huge part of their lives.

Vibeke Lindhardt

12 September 2019

vibekesonja.blogspot.com

Note: The Wilson Colony is a very conservative colony and we were told that we could not take photos of people, only “some” of the places.

Therefore, any photos in this article of “Albert Hutterite people” are NOT from the Wilson Colony, but photos that got permission to take at the Lethbridge Farmers Market.

Who will be the next Republican that have “Russia Connections”?

The Mitch-McConnell – Russia Connection

Despite Robert Mueller testifying and the FBI warning the leaders of the United States “that Russia will influence the 2020 election”, Mitch McConnell blocked a bi-partisan bill to make the next election more secure than 2016.

This has opened “another” opportunity for Russia to have another footprint in USA since Oleg Deripaska – the aluminum Russian billionaire – that was regularly updated on the 2016 USA election by Paul Manafort (see Mueller Report) – is financially behind a new aluminum factory in Mitch McConnel’s home state Kentucky.

Paul Manafort is sitting in jail – possible for life.

Who will be the next Republican that have “Russia Connections”?

16 August 2019

Vibekesonja.blogspot.com

See Quote from Washington Post – 14 August 2019

In 2016, McConnell privately expressed skepticism about the intelligence reports on Russia’s activities in the election and resisted a push by the Obama administration to issue a bipartisan statement condemning the Kremlin.

Last month, he blocked consideration of election security bills that have bipartisan support, despite warnings from the FBI and the intelligence community about the risks of foreign interference in the 2020 election.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-a-mcconnell-backed-effort-to-lift-russian-sanctions-boosted-a-kentucky-project/2019/08/13/72b26e00-b97c-11e9-b3b4-2bb69e8c4e39_story.html?noredirect=on

see Rachel Maddow- August 15^th 2019

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/revelation-of-russian-backer-stirs-remorse-on-kentucky-plant-66241093916

Mitchell McConnell Jr. is an American politician serving as Kentucky’s senior United States Senator and as Senate Majority Leader

Robert Muller’s testimony: https://www.wired.com/story/watch-robert-mueller-testimony-congress/

MY NON-BURGER BURGERS

TOMATO STYLE

TOAST A HAMBURGER BUN

Add

Mayo

Ketchup

Lettuce

Red Onion

APPLE STYLE

TOAST A HAMBURGER BUN

Add:

Mayo

Thin sliced sweet apples – like Ambrosia

Yum-Yum

Create your own

Vibeke Lindhardt

16 August

Vibekesonja.blogspot.com

DIVERSITY has always been a part of my life

Diversity photo from July 2019 Ensign

I guess I am very lucky that all my life I have lived with people of diversity.

From the day I was born I  lived with people of all colors, creeds and religions  and never once has it been a problem for me. Quite the contrary it has been an advantage.

I have two aboriginal children and my son married a Chinese woman.

DENMARK 1937-1966

Danes helping Jews escape to Sweden

I was born and raised in Denmark and never once did I hear any negative comments about people of other races, religions, creeds or colors. Everybody was just people.

Nor did my parents or anybody I know speak negative about people because their skin had a different color.

We lived through the war where the Danish people helped a lot of Jews escape to Sweden.  We learned to have compassion for the Jews.

Yes, it is true that at that time black people were called “Negros ”, but we never thought about that name as a derogatory name.  It was just a name.

LETHBRIDGE - CANADA – ALBERTA 1966

Linda with her friend Aurie - a native girl

There were “some diversity” in Alberta, Canada where we first lived when I immigrated, but not much except for aboriginal people. At that time, they were called "Indians and nobody thought it was a bad or negative name.

As a matter of fact, our main reason for immigrating to Canada was to adopt an aboriginal boy, which we did. My daughter Linda was so excited about her little brother and she made best friend with an aboriginal girl “Aurie”.

I am also proud to say that later another aboriginal gal came in to my life at the age of 11.  She is still hanging around now at the age of 54 with five children and eight grandchildren.

I love my two kids and my "aboriginal grandchildren".

CASTLEGAR, BRITISH COLUMBIA 1967-1974

Photo I took of my daughter Linda - bottom to the right - with her friend Charlotte, my little son Harly, with some Russian Douhkebors and two LDS missionaries.

After we adopted our boy, we moved to Castlegar, British Columbia. Castlegar at that time had a large population of Doukhobors- which were people who had fled Russia around 1910 – before the 2017 revolution.

There was an offshoot of the Doukhobors, called “The Sons of Freedom”. Except for being a little shocked when “The Son’s Of Freedom”’s wives were walking downtown in Castlegar naked to demonstrate against the Doukhobors, we enjoyed these Russian people.

As a matter of fact, when we moved to Blueberry Creek – a little subdivision – our next-door neighbor was Doukhobor.

TRAIL, BRITISH COLUMBIA

We had a 20 minute drive to Trail from Castlegar where we had a music store “Columbia Music” for seven years. Trail was also diverse.  It was built by Italians. Unfortunately, many of them died from working at Comingo.

VANCOUVER. RICHMOND and SURREY, BRITISH COLUMBIA

I lived in Vancouver from 1992-1997 and at that time 50% of Vancouver and RICHMOND at that time were about 80 Chinese. 

Most of the populations of Surrey were East Indians. It is called "Little India".

I never though about it.  That was “just the way it was”.

I made very good friends with a young woman from Mexico when I lived in Vancouver.
We are still friends.  As a matter of fact I went to visit her in Mexico.

CALGARY, ALBERTA

I lived in Calgary many year and of course Calgary is known for their Cowboys with the biggest cowboy show in the world.  Nevertheless, Calgary by now also have people from all over the world.

When I lived in Huntington by Center street, I lived close to big Super store on  Center street. Most of the customers there were Chinese. As a matter of fact I enjoyed being able to purchase food from all different countries.

I believe that Canada enjoy the diversity of their population.  It is extremely seldom that you hear the world racism.  As a matter of fact the first Muslim mayor in the western world lived in Calgary.

LETHBRIDGE, ALBERTA

Hutterite women selling their vegetables at the Farmers Market

Even though Lethbridge only have a population of 100.000, it is very versatile with people from many countries. We have a lot of Hutterites and Mennonites here.

There are different kinds of Mennonites. I have been lucky getting to know a young "low German" Mennonite girl in Stirling.

I have also been so lucky as to have a East Indian student staying with me.  She has taught me how to make Samosa and other East Indian dishes.

I believe people are all the same all over the world, no matter our color, religion or creed and it is very sad to see the hurt that a lot of people have to go through, just because of the color of their skin or difference in religion.

Vibeke Lindhardt

2 August 2019

WONDERS FROM HEAVEN. Ch.2

1985 when I Lived in Vernon, B.C., I was struggling financially, trying to support myself and my 18-year-old son Harly.

My husband of 28 years had left the family for “a younger size 9” and moved to Hawaii.

Harly and I lived just from month to month. There was no money for extras like

clothes, fun and recreation. Life was pretty depressing.

So, I was therefore really surprised when I received an invitation from my girlfriend Gisela Fromm – who at that time lived in Prince Rupert, BC to take trip with her to Tokyo for a week. All paid for.

She phoned me one day and said: You only have to pay the trip to Vancouver! What are you talking about. I said ••• I am not going to Vancouver. I can't afford it."

"NO, she said, you are going to Japan!"

She kept talking in riddles. so I told her that if I could not afford Vancouver, how in the world would I be able to afford Japan.

Well, finally she told me that she won a trip to Japan, through Super Value, for two people and she was inviting me to go with her, because her husband Helmuth Fromm did not want to go with her.

I was in shock. It was only two months before we had to leave.

But as the time went on my excitement was mixed with worries because no matter how much I tried; I could not save up for spending money for the trip.

I finally phoned Gisela and told her I did not know if I would be able to go. She said she wanted me to go, and that she would pay for the food and the transportation, and since the ticket was including accommodations at Hotel Prince in Tokyo, she assured me that I would be o.k.

I did not feel good about taxing my friend, but since her husband refused to go with her and she kept pushing me, I decided not to spend any money and just enjoy the trip and the two free tours to the country via the bullet train, which were also included in the ticket, and we decided that we could always go to McDonald's to eat.

It was the day before. I was leaving from Vernon. I was packed and ready to go. My visa was in order. My $20.00 was in my wallet.

I went for a walk early in the morning. When I came back there was a small white envelope in my mail box. I thought it was rather early for the mailman to be there but did not pay much attention to that.

I opened the letter and out fell a small plastic card on the floor with a 'picture of Christ with his arms open in a welcome posture, " and a writing by  that said:

"How much do you love me?" I asked Jesus, and Jesus said I "This much •

Then he spread his arms and died for me."

Inside the envelope was $300.00, but not the name of the giver.

I was shocked, and astonished. I felt grateful, thankful, and totally startled.

I had a wonderful trip.

My friend Gisela Fromm in Tokyo, Japan

I still have my memory of someone who gave me gifts out of charity.

Both my wonderful friend Gisela and "The Mystery Person".

I never did find out who gave me the money, but I still remember with gratitude in my heart, that special moment when I received the mystery gift.

Vibeke Lindhardt

14 July 2019

Vibekesonja.blogspot.com

SEX CRIMES HARDER TO PROSECUTE THAN HOMICIDES

Kamela Harris – District Attorney from California – who at the moment is running for the Presidency said today on “The View” that it is harder to prosecute sex crimes than homicides.

When asked why, she said:

Sex offenders:

·       Choose their prey.

·       Chose the location.

·       They are no witnesses.

·       Their victims are vulnerable.

·       Their victims are usually afraid to tell.

Vibeke Lindhardt

12 July 2019

Vibekesonja.blogspot.com

EITHER YOU ARE President DONALD TRUMP’S FRIEND or FOE

If you want to be in American President Donald Trump’s “good book” then you have to be “loyal” – no matter what. If you are not loyal to him – then you are OUT.

James Comey -FBI Director

When James would not accommodate Donald Trump “to leave the Russian investigation alone” – He was fired.

Jeff Sessions Attorney General

Donald Trump wanted Jeff Sessions to take control of the Russia investigation.

Jeff Sessions would not. He was fired.

McGahn White House Counsel

Early 2018 President DT  directed McGahn McGahn was directed by Trump to tell Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein that “Mueller has to go. McGahn would not, so he quit.

Michael Flynn – National Security Advisor to President Donald Trump

When Michael Flynn started to co-operate with the “Mueller group” – “The Presidents’ personal counsel said he would make sure that the President knew that Flynn’s actions reflected hostility towards the President.  He was fired.  Still waiting for legal results.

Paul Manafort Donald Trump campaign chairman from June to August 2016

During Manaforts prosecution – President Trump called Manafort “A brave man” for refusing to break and “that flipping almost ought to be outlawed. He left the campaign.

He got 7.5 years in jail.

Michael Cohen Donald Trump’s Lawyer for 10 years.

Before Michael Cohen decided to “come clean with the truth” President Donal Trumps personal counsel said that “he would stay on message” and “not flip” and told Cohen “stay strong”.

When Cohen started to co-operate with the Government, Trump called him “a rat”.

He got 3.5 years in jail for lying to congress

Labor Secretary R. Alexander Acosta – Previous lawyer for sex offender Jeffrey Epstein

At the moment Acosta is in Pres. Donald Trumps “good book”.  Will Acosta quit soon?

Epstein is a friend of Donald Trump.
He paid $350.000 to silence witnesses

Vibeke Lindhardt

11 July 2019

Vibekesonja.blogspot.com

Reference: page 267-269 of the Mueller report


12 July 2019 UPDATE

Alexander Acosta resigned today