I've had pieces of my computer and my monitor go to-and-fro to the repair service for the past month. Fortunately, I had so many things to keep me busy, time flew by so quickly. Like returning home from a long journey, I'm happy to be back here again. So, as a special treat, I'll do some very special translations.   

Exotic week

This week is shaping up to be an exotic one. Good thing I'm on holiday and the stress is over. On Monday my mother brought home some weird looking Chinese tea. It did absolutely not taste good.

 

At least the lady looked nice.

Product name.

I tried to take a picture that would make it less gross looking. 

Amazing how I try to delusion myself.

It looks like a witch's pot, doesn't it? By the second cup, the taste stopped bothering me that much. Then today mom bought lychees. These were actually great. The pulp is very sweet and soft.

 

I'm eating these like mad.

 

Look at that shine.

And now I apologise for the photos. I don't have a professional camera. I know that's not an excuse, but would you rather have me say I can't understand what its functions do?

Household Tips & Tricks (part 1)

  So I've been working for some time on translating the best parts of some old books I had about. I apologize for including summer tips in the last month of winter because you'll probably forget them by summer. Maybe some of you live in Egypt or Australia. But now that I think about it, those people probably have ways of their own of dealing with mosquitoes. Now I'm curious.   

Windows:

          
 If you want to wash the windows but you don’t have any of the usual window washing products, wash them with a cloth dipped in a mix of water and vinegar or water and denatured alcohol. 

In case the windows haven’t been cleaned in a very long time and are now dusty, it’s indicated to wash them with soap and hot water in which you have previously added a little ammonia. The windows are then rinsed with clean water. 

Wipe the windows with newspaper; it has the property to intensify glass shine. To avoid spots, change the newspapers as they get dump. 

Avoid washing the windows when they are in direct sunlight. 

Throughout the summertime, a spoon of petrol added to the cleaning water keeps flies away from your windows. 

To prevent windows from steaming, rub them until they dry during fall and winter with one of the following mixtures: 100 ml glycerin + 100 ml water or 100 ml alcohol + 10 ml glycerin (these mixtures can be used for your eyeglasses as well). 

A fresh paint stain can be removed with a cloth dipped in petrol. 

Old paint stains are removed by rubbing the spot with turpentine essence or a hot solution of sodium bicarbonate. 

If the paint layer is thick and dried, scrape it with a knife or a blade as much as you can, but without scratching the glass. Afterwards, you rub the spot with a solution of 5 g borax for a glass of water (150 ml). Rinse the window with clean water, then with vinegar. Wipe the glass with a newspaper at the end. 

Stains of flies are removed by rubbing them with concentrated vinegar. 

Lime stains can be removed with water and vinegar. 

Do you wish to make an opaque glass? Here are two procedures:  1) mix a glass of blonde beer with a fist full of kitchen salt then brush it over the window 2) soak chalk in a little water and apply this on the window with a wool. 

Do you know how to make putty? Mix chalk with flax oil until you get a thick composition. After you have applied it on the window, let it dry for a few days. Only after it has completely solidified, the window can be wiped or the putty painted.   

Misc.: 

Plants that keep mosquitoes away: catnip (Nepeta cataria), pot marigold (Calendula officinalis), ageratum, lemon balm (Melissa officinalis), lavender (Lavandula). 

Mosquito bites can be soothed if you just wash the spot with soap and water. 

Boiled potatoes won’t crumble if you oil them with usual cooking oil in which you’ve dissolved a pinch of salt before you boil them. 

If you have meat in the oven, place a metal recipient (even a tin will do) filled with water near it. It’s a guarantee that your chicken will not burn. 

Egg yolks that have been boiled for too long get a greenish color. You can turn them back to their yellow color if you pour lemon juice over them.

I woke up with that sad song from 5cm per second playing in my head. I didn't even realise from where it was for a good deal of 60 minutes. It just kept on playing.
I think my brain is trying to tell me something.

Relaxation music

Found this list years ago in a magazine, thought I should share it with you.

For calming the nervous system: Beethoven's concerto no.5 for piano and orchestra, Wagner's Parsifal overture.

For mental unwinding and relaxation: Debussy's sonata for flute, viola and harp and Clair de Lune; Chopin's nocturnes and L'Apocalypse des animaux by Vanghelis.

To combat fatigue and over-exertion: Smetana's symphonic poem Má Vlast and Edvard Grieg's Morning.

For treating depression: Dvorak's Carnival.

To relieve agitation: Beethoven's ode to joy and Pilgrim's chorus by Wagner.

For the treatment of neurasthenia and autonomic disorders: serenade no.13 and symphony no. 41 by Mozart.

To calm the great sufferings that are the result of tragic events: Dvorak's cello concerto and Tchaikovsky's Pathétique.     

Today

Today Oblomov left his house and bought glue.