NordenBladet – I sleep with the windows open and early this morning I woke up to a wonderul bird song. Blackbirds are chirping happily already before sunrise. The daybreak is so positive and heartfelt! Birds love my garden and year after year there are more of them. There is a reason for that – namely birds prefer gardens where they have wildlife-like conditions for nesting. They say, the more uncultivated and versatile the neighbourhood, the more coulourful the life that is manifesting there.
The lawn is English-style, mowed to the ground, yet since the garden’s area is over half a hectare then there is space for virtually everything. In the middle of the garden there is even an island resembling the wood. I have many deciduous and coniferous trees, a buckthorn plantation, many bushes and the garden is breathing in the same pace with nature. Whenever my mother or my mother-in-law come to visit, they mostly roll their eyes – they disapprove of the nettle beside the compost box, the primroses under the lilacs, not to mention the goutweed having settled near quite so many flowerbeds. They shake their shoulders when they catch sight of a Bunias (Turkish wartycabbage) enjoying the sun somewhere. It doesn’t disturb me, quite the opposite – I like the wilder version of nature. My ideal would be to live in the countryside near the edge of a forest or perhaps also in the forest. On both sides behind the fence there would be meadows and not a single meadow flower (nor a meadow weed) is less beautiful in my eyes than cultural plants. Everything is the work of the Almighty and I see the diverse and varied character of the nature in that. I genuinely am not annoyed at and my aim is not to compete with anybody having a cleaner flowerbed. I do wish to enjoy the garden, to listen, to see, to take a moment for an enjoyment and for talking with the plants and the trees and doing as my grandmother once did. In the morning I walk around in a landlord-like manner, check all the garden to see what is to be seen and during the day I do a little bit of something here and there – exactly in a way that would let me feel good and be good to the plants and flowers in the garden as well.
Birds are of great use to a garden owner. For example a family of tits can consume tens of thousands of caterpillars and insects, many of which are garden plant pests. Swallows will help to get rid of gnats and flies. One family of swallows will eat a hundred thousand insects from your garden! And blackbirds – they like snails. Why poison/spray/artificially fertilize your garden when there are birds who so willingly help you – eradicate pests and when full they also offer you a wonderful concert. You can substitute fertilization with compost and dung and instead of a garden that would look like a sterile hospital room or a purified urban garden, I prefer the wilderness and a close-to-nature style. Birds, bees, and little animals (hedgehogs, for example) are very glad with such a garden! And me too!
Yesterday I created next to the strawberry bed also an onion bed and close to the house under the carpet beating frame a bean bed with the aim of building a natural green wall.
Besides I planted a new bunch of salad leaves to the greenhouse. Those I plant every other week, then I can harvest all summer long. Each year it takes less seeds, since I have learned that you needn’t sow them so often and so densely – in that case many will simply be wasted due to lack of space. Have a sunny and beautiful day!
PS! Pictures taken on May 20 2018, except for two pictures of my darling daughters –these have been taken at the same time one year ago. While Ivanka Shoshana seems as small as last year the Estella Elisheva has remarkably grown.
NordenBladet – During the previous week there has once again been super beautiful weather. Apple trees and cherry trees are blossoming, lilacs bloom, in the garden the beautiful yellow primroses and dandelions are smiling to me – both these herbs are as good as gold! Since Estella Elisheva has been fond of yellow then I, too, have grown to like that colour. Yellow is the colour of sun, merriness and joy of life! Wherever I see yellow, I see Estella Elisheva!
On 16 May Estella Elisheva became 12 years old. As a birthday present I gave her a simple yet marvellous necklace with a green gemstone and prepared Caesar salad and raspberry-blueberry biscuit cake. The last two were her own wishes for her birthday. We have this custom that whenever someone needs something or wishes something, we try to fulfill those wishes – be it then a birthday or an ordinary day – and when there is no particular need for anything then we avoid buying meaningless stuff. While this year 16 May is a Wednesday then a birthday party for friends and relatives will be held on 26 May. While my other darling daughter Ivanka Shoshana was also born in May (23 May) – then we have always celebrated their birthdays together. And this year we will do the same.
Ivanka Shoshana (9) returned home with a great accomplishment on 11 May! Namely she participated in the song contest for Tallinn children and youths with disabilities „Joy of singing 2018″ and won the first prize! Both of my darling children are so fine and gorgeous that I cannot imagine what I would be doing without them – I love them like crazy!! ?
However I myself have been offline and away from work for a few weeks – the weather has been wonderful and it would be wrong not to be outside! Luckily NordenBladet and OHMYGOSSIP sites have got such an effective team behind them that I may join in with exactly the schedule that suits me the most – we are few but nonetheless the editors and translators that we have are the world’s best!
The lettuce leaves, dill and flowers sowed on 7 May have already grown through the soil into small plants and the leaves that ten days ago were tiny have by today already reached their actual size. Nature is so miraculous, it is delightful to see how a small bud becomes a leaf and how an apple tree blosson becomes an apple. Super! Just yesterday I was thinking that for years I have suffered from anxiety and depression, it’s as though I have got everything but nothing amounts to making me glad – today I have found something that brought genuine joy! My first volume of dried primroses was stored in a jar! I rejoiced like a child spotting an ice-cream! Really – it feels wonderful to gather herbs from the nature and from your garden, to dry them and add to your winter store. Pure health and pure joy!
Today again I have collected a large measure of primrose blossoms (it was the last chance to collect them, their blossoming time is ending) and placed them on the stove to dry. All empty spaces at home have been filled with herbs that I am drying. I was just thinking that maybe I should obtain that tray trolley that they use in canteens – that would make an ideal surface for drying herbs. I have found one online but a towering version holding ca 20 trays would be even better.
Right now I recommend to gather birch leaves and dandelion blossoms and stems – both are medical herbs with might. Later I will write more about how and why they can be used – their medical attributes are many! To quickly bring out some, let me say that fresh dandelion stems cure the liver, dried blossoms made into tea will cure heart disease, gallstones, cancer and allergies. The longer list together with further guidelines will be posted HERE as soon as I finish the article.
Hereby still some more pictures about the gathering of herbs and my home enchanter (witch) kitchen 😀
NordenBladet – I hate scandals and dislike having my name connected with scandals. Yet what can one do when one has been outraged, used, been laughed at, offended and when one’s labor remains unrewarded? We are not talking about a significantly large sum, it is rather the idea behind it and the attitude of the „cheating businessman”. I have decided to write about it because now I KNOW what it feels to be deceived and HOW DIFFICULT it is to write about it. Also I hope this would serve as a warning to other bloggers yet unfamiliar with this system and planning to join it!
My first thoughts were that everyone would express malicious joy when I write down my story (well, go ahead then). Women who have been raped are afraid of going to the police office because they feel ashamed and feel that they themselves are perhaps guilty. I started looking for mistakes in myself and found them – and for quite some time couldn’t make up my mind whether I should or should not write about the story. Margus would say that I am „too soft” and that this type of cheat should be reported and given to the court. A trial would entail expenses (OK, that wouldn’t be a problem, since NordenBladet has funds) but the greater problem is the time and energy that it would take, thus I prefer not to go to court because I can use the time a lot more beneficially and profitably and my readers are many enough to regain some peace of mind through sharing with them this story of being deceived.
But what is it that I am talking about? What is Stylewish and who is Jesper Ekerling (full name Hans Jesper Andreas Ekerling)? Style Wish (Stylewish.me) is a so to say intermediary between bloggers and brands. Trust is created through the fact that the brands that he mediates are well known in Scandinavia and mainly with a good image. Yet Stylewish web lacks any kind of user policy and this means that Jesper reserves the right to tell you anything when the time comes to pay you for the work that you have done. You yourself have been naive to join the environment. You yourself have been naive not to conclude a contract before starting to advertise. One thing is sure: you are naive and stupid – he will find a counter argument to absolutely anything that you might claim, to every move that you make. You carry out the advertising hard labor, he will collect cash from the companies for every click, and put it in his pocket and is yet arrogant enough to throw abusive words at you.
How have things been then? I joined Stylewish environment and was accepted (an account about statistics was created for me in the environment). I was able to start creating moodboards/collages about brand products with weblinks to their online shops. You will be able to move the compiled collage code to your website. I created posts with advertisement links in four languages and shared the articles also in my own social media. Besides I created some brand banners. For every unique click made by my readers via Stylewish to those online shops I was supposed to receive a certain sum. Ekerling assured that there will be a payment once the 300SEK threshold was met. Given my web portals this threshold was met in just a few days, while some bloggers advertise the products as long as half a year in order to reach this number of unique clicks. I joined the environment on 2 April and already 10 April was supposed to be reimbursement time. By that day my readers had made 9404 clicks on various advertisement links.
Ekerling calmly let me proceed with advertising the brands and never intervened until on the day he ought to have paid back he finally started finding all kinds of faults.
While I was new to the environment then I sent an email to Ekerling on 11 April wondering how I should proceed – whether I had to send an invoice or whether they themselves would pay according to the statistics of their partners visible in the system. Stylewish counts all clicks made to different links and brands.
Now that it came to talking about money, Ekerling began inventing all kinds of excuses – some were even personally offensive. We exchanged many emails and it already started to look as if the 1400+ euros that his company owed to NordenBladet for the advertisements are not really worth the commitment, time, explanations and correspondence. I removed the links from the articles to end the charity campaign. But let us observe his central arguments why he stuck to the opinion that he need not pay me for the work.
1. To begin with, he announced that there had been over 1000 clicks originating from the same IP addresses (more precisely from 3 IP-s). While I cannot verify that I was coerced to reply that he may remove those from consideration. I have quite a few manic readers on the sites that regularly click Google Analytics banners in order for me to be banned, and the fact that they might as well click those other links is not out of the question. A proper IT system ought to be equipped against those irregularities and ought to count only the first clicks. Google Analytics has expelled me twice and invited me back twice, since they established that it had not been me clicking my own banners.
2. To proceed with, he maliciously and violently started deleting various campaigns and links so that only 7684 clicks remained, worth 11947,51 Swedish crona. I said: „Fine” – let it be like this – and sent him an invoice.
3. Now, right out of the blue, he claimed that I am not an influencer at all, that he hasn’t the slightest idea who I am and that his system is for influencers only. Well isn’t that just great. Having accepted me in the system himself, having observed for the past ten days how I am advertising him, everything being just fine until then and now this excuse. Although that is not relevant in any way, I have sent him my personal statistics and links to my social media. Accidentally my Ohmygossip.se blog is among the 30 most widely read blogs in Sweden and NordenBladet together with OHMYGOSSIP pages amount to Scandinavia’s most extensive social media base platform and outrun most Scandinavian newspapers concerning reader quantity. I have been blogging for 10 years yet I do not take it for granted that EVERYBODY would immediately know me, but this doesn’t mean that when I advertise something, when my readers click on the links, that these somehow do not count and must not be paid for. Also, I hadn’t known what Stylewish exactly is, who would Mr Ekerling be and I am utterly sorry for not having cleared those things earlier and for not searching Google to find out. Now later I have definitely found out from the web about other bloggers who have raised complaints against him and who also have not be reimbursed. Had I done the homework earlier I never would have started collaboration with the company and wouldn’t need to feel low and stupid at the moment.
4. Fourth, he came out with the argument that I am not a Fashion Blogger, that his system is exclusively for the latter. That, too, isn’t true, since even the recommendations from Fashion Bloggers (3) on his site are actually not by fashion bloggers. One of them is a real estate blogger, one doesn’t even exist, and one is a semi-Fashion-blogger yet posting just like me about anything that they find fascinating. Stylewish environment completely lacks guidelines about who and how is expected to join – only the earnings have been described related to advertising this or that brand. Of course it is suspicious that just three users were compiling moodboards/collages besides me and it wasn’t possible to identify them based on their names and whether they owned any blogs or not. NordenBladet and OHMYGOSSIP sites are furnished all in all with over 60 000 fashion, trend and beauty articles – I seriously doubt if there is at all any blogger in Scandinavia who can boast having more posts than that. Also, I belong to the group of a few bloggers that have grown a clothing brand based on the blog platform – Ohmygossip Couture is being marketed all over the world. But let it be…
5. After exchanging lots of emails, after presenting a lot of claims, arguments and giving reasons and after rebuttal of them all he has come to the idea that while I have been posting in four languages then that certainly cannot be done. That his system is only meant for the Swedish target group. I happen to know that quite many bloggers, actually virtually every blogger posts in at least two languages – yet now this has somehow become criminal – I have advertised the brands besides Swedish also in other languages: Finnish, Estonian and English. Where is the end of the harm done?! Perhaps the brands have been overadvertised?! And again, Stylewish takes no responsibility whatsoever. I say – let us only count the clicks coming from Swedish IP addresses (although this is absurd, since all the brands have been represented all over Scandinavia just like the main target group of NordenBladet and OHMYGOSSIP).
6. Sixth, he claimed that I have created a banner that links to an online shop.This is not prohibted, many bloggers do that – any kind of adevertisement is allowed as long as it is clearly distinguished from an ordinary blog post. Besides, on his site he encourages to post ad links everywhere. I have not erred against any of the laws – the ad links have been pointed out and the brand names always mentioned. Whenever a brand is doing CPC advertising then it makes no difference where the clicks come from – whether from a post or from the sidebar. Anyhow, even here I was willing to meet him half way. I thought to myself: okay, this time I give away the money, next time I do it differently. Today I lose the money, but in the long run it is reasonable to have good relations. Being a people pleaser will result in being overriden brutally. I have quit communicating with that person and from now on I intend to act more wisely.
What might other bloggers learn from my negative experience? Always CONCLUDE a contract, however trustworthy the company may appear to you, and INVESTIGATE the background of the company before starting collaboration. There might be bloggers that have positive experience with Stylewish – I am not aware of them – yet my individual experience is really unpleasant, negative to the core. I think that the company that so easily mocks whoever cannot be taken seriously and that the brands and influencers collaborating with the head of such a company should think twice whether they mean to relate their names to anything like that. Jesper could very clearly see from where and how many clicks had been made and if he truly wished for clicks from Swedish fashion blogs only then he might have said so after the first few days and might have quit using the ad account. But to let others advertise while observing it with pleasure and then only afterwards find all the excuses seems rather low.
NordenBladet – Anders Samuelsen, Denmark’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, and Vivian Motzfeldt, Greenland’s Minister for Education, Culture, Church and Foreign Affairs, will host a high-level meeting on 22-23 May 2018 on the occasion of the 10-year anniversary of the Ilulissat Declaration. The purpose of the meeting is to affirm the support of the Arctic States to the principles of the declaration and to discuss the joint efforts for a peaceful and productive cooperation.
Anders Samuelsen says:
“With the Ilulissat Declaration from May 2008, the coastal States bordering the Arctic Ocean agreed to maintain the Arctic as a low-tension region, where disputes are resolved peacefully. It is in our clear interest to maintain this situation. In other parts of the world, the Arctic States are involved in critical conflicts on different sides. We can be very pleased that we managed to maintain the dialogue and the cooperation in the Arctic. We need stay on this path – and this is where the Ilulissat Declaration plays a key role.“
Vivian Motzfeldt says:
“I am honored to co-host this important event in Ilulissat. In the time of globalization and global uncertainty, it is important to re-affirm the core values of this exceptional region; peace and prosperity for our peoples. We take the responsibility for living up to these values in close cooperation – this is truly unique. I am therefore grateful that the indigenous peoples organizations and Arctic States are here to mark the core values of the Ilulissat Declaration.”
After a period of growing uncertainty about the future of the region, the Coastal States to the Arctic Ocean – the United States, the Russian Federation, Canada, Norway and the Kingdom of Denmark – agreed in the Ilulissat Declaration to resolve conflicts through dialogue and negotiations within the framework of international law. The five states also agreed to strengthen their cooperation in a range of areas, including economic development, scientific research, environmental protection and safety of navigation. The Ilulissat Declaration has thus been essential to the success of cooperation in the Arctic.
The high-level meeting will also focus on sustainable economic development. Participants are invited on a case study tour through Ilulissat Icefjord to Ilimanaq village. In Ilimanaq, local economic growth has been supported by building cabins, from which tourists can experience Greenland’s awe-inspiring nature. The village is an example of job creation through tourism, which both respects local culture and traditions and which generates revenue that is beneficial to investors and the local community.
Vivian Motzfeldt says:
“The key to a sustainable development in the Arctic is its people. Our core responsibility is thus to secure the prosperity of the inhabitants through innovation and sustainably using the environment that we are in. Due to the conditions we live in, our scarce human resources and infrastructural challenges the inhabitants in the Arctic cannot compete globally on many factors. Ilimanaq is a good example of using the local environment for economic development and show casing the unique local features of Greenland. We are committed to strengthening our economic cooperation within the Arctic region to support the development of successes like Ilimanaq.”
Anders Samuelsen says:
”Technological progress and climate change gives new opportunities for sailing the Arctic waters, for extracting natural resources and for economic development. We work to improve conditions for businesses so the new opportunities can benefit the citizens of the Arctic.”
Scientific research will also be highlighted at the meeting where a special session will focus on the prospects of the new Agreement on Enhancing International Arctic Scientific Cooperation agreed under the auspices of the Arctic Council. The Kingdom of Denmark has acted as depositary for the agreement which enters into force on May 23, 2018.
In addition to the hosts, the meeting will have participation from ministers and representatives from the United States, the Russian Federation, Canada, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands and Arctic indigenous peoples.
NordenBladet – All the processes in the packaging chain will be represented from raw materials to planning and implementation and from printing presses to marketing.
What: PacTec 2018 When: 29-31 May 2018 Where: Messukeskus Expo and Convention Center Helsinki
NordenBladet – The most significant real estate -related event in the Nordics, Real Estate Expo, is held for the first time in Finland the 23rd and 24th of May at Tampere Exhibition Center. This two day event gathers together the leading solution providers from the fields of estate development, upkeep, renovation and maintenance together with the most current expert speakers.
The visitors represent both the private and public sector such as chairpersons and members of housing cooperatives, estate managers, superintendents, estate owners, architects and other real estate -related managing staff.
Come and acquaint yourself with the newest trends of the trade and meet the leading service providers as well as your colleagues on May 23rd and 24th at Tampere Exhibition Center. The program is filled with ideas, solutions and innovations! As a professional in this field you are warmly welcome to visit the event for free.
What: Real Estate Development & Maintenance When: 23rd & 24th May Where: Tampere Exhibition Centre
NordenBladet – Advanced Engineering is a professional trade show for the forerunners of industrial techonology. The event follows global concept that has gathered the leaders and professionals together succesfully in UK, Belgium, Sweden, Norway, and now for the second time in Finland, Helsinki as well.
Advanced Engineering concept is based on the creation and production of innovative products. At the event you will find everything to ensure you can develop future-proof products from the start of the design, engineering process and prototyping up to the choice of materials and components & connectivity. In 2018, the event will again gather together the future solutions in advanced materials & composites, designing and planning tools, measuring & testing tools, the robotics, automation, electronics and 3D productions.
Join the future!
What: Advanced Engineering Helsinki 2018 – The cutting edge meeting place for manufacturing industry professionals When: May 29.–30. Where: Messukeskus Helsinki
NordenBladet – DigiArenaHelsinki is a sales and marketing event which will be held on Thursday 17 May 2018 and will present the latest trends, top solutions and future speeches practically and compactly in one day. DigiArenaHelsinki provides tools for creating, analyzing, measuring and developing digital marketing, with a view to productivity.
What: DigiArenaHelsinki When: 17th May 2018, Where: Winter Garden & Conference Halls, Fair Center, Helsinki
Face, omnichannels, snap, insta, bot, vlog, IoT, social selling, AI, automation, real/right time, conversion, deep learning, big data…. Themes, jargon and concepts fill the marketing world – do you keep digital marketing at the top of your trend? Now is the time to find concrete solutions and solutions to maximize business opportunities.
DigiArenaHelsinki brings together marketing and sales professionals and decision makers, sales managers, business and development executives, content creators, designers, developers and trendsetters – everyone who needs information about digital changes and opportunities in marketing and sales.
NordenBladet – During the past few days I have been outside all day. The weather is extraordinarily beautiful (up to +27 degrees Celsius) and it is pleasant to see the first spring flowers blossom and the trees and bushes budding. The last tree leaves and little branches that appeared from under the snow have been neatly raked and the first mowing has been done. The garden seems at once fresh and clean – it is splendid to see and enjoy the garden like this. I am glad to admit that the hundred planted ordinary Arborvitae trees “Brabant” that were bought from Hansaplant (see their web site HERE) last year (100 cm plants, 100 pieces cost 600 eur, including the transportation home) have all started growing nicely and have already grown a lot taller.
I also prepared a nice little strawberry bed for the children – a proper one, with textile underneath – but didn’t actually like the outcome. It doesn’t suit the otherwise natural setting. I plan to redo it so that instead of stones there would be wooden frames and in the midst and edges there would be mulch. At the moment there is just one bed but I plan to create still more so that I could also grow onion, parsley, chives, etc. I have also planted in the greenhouse the tomatoes (this year’s sort is Vilja and Terma – price 1.40 eur per plant), also dill and lettuce.
Gardening centres (as well as book stores) are my weaknesses, I never return empty-handed from either of them. The garden is just as large that I need to go shopping ten times before it becomes visible what I have designed in the garden. This year’s first shopping trips have been to the horticulture centre Hortes, from where I have bought 15 tomato plants, three new white currant bushes (Bajana, price 8.90 eur/pc and Witte Hollander, price 10.90 eur/pc), fertilizer for coniferous trees (15kg package 22.90), onion White Globe (0,25kg package 1.35), yet two more peppermints (4.50/pc), 20 tegetes plants (0.80/pc), 4 packages of lettuce seeds Grand Rapids (0,85/pc), 4 packages of dill seeds Mammoth (0,85/pc), 2 packages of chives Prager (1.65 eur/pc), two packages of chives Jowisz (0,85 eur/pc), 2 packages of cornflower seeds (0,95/pc), 5 packages of lemon monarda (1,15 eur/pc). On the way there I also visited another gardening centre Nurmiko where I bought 6 light pink rose begonias (3.50 pc) and one summer flower ampel (13.80). PS. the same kind of ample was as much as 21.- eur in Hortes, so I at once felt it was a pleasant win situation.
NordenBladet — Minister for Development Cooperation Ulla Tørnæs will next year on behalf of Denmark host the world’s biggest anti-corruption conference, International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC18). The conference will take place in Bella Center 22-24 October 2018.
The conference will focus on anti-corruption in development cooperation and is arranged in cooperation with Transparency International and the International Anti-Corruption Conference Council.
“It is natural to have this conference in the least corrupt country in the world, and I am looking forward to welcome more than 1,000 participants to the Bella Center,” says Minister for Development Cooperation Ulla Tørnæs and continues:
“Corruption is a significant barrier for fostering development – it is a parasite that undermines the desires of countries to promote democracy, economic growth and stability. Fighting corruption is therefore a prerequisite for the realization of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.”
In addition to a series of workshops, side-events and plenary debates, IACC18 will feature a high level segment with participation of ministers from donor and developing countries as well as UN and the World Bank, a dialogue between parliamentarians and a private sector segment with multinational corporations.
“Because corruption affects so many aspects of our work, it is important that we involve a broad range of actors, e.g. governments and parliaments as well as private enterprises, civil society and the media. Next year’s conference will serve as a platform for this diverse group of stake holders to join forces in the global fight against corruption,” says Ulla Tørnæs.
For several consecutive years Denmark has been ranked as the least corrupt country in the world on Transparency Internationals Corruption Perceptions Index measuring perceived corruption in the public sector. The index is published annually based on a range of expert assessments by the World Bank, World Economic Forum and Economist Intelligence Unit and others. Denmark has been ranked at first place since 2012, the first couple of years and 2016 together with other countries and in 2014 and 2015 alone.
International Anti-Corruption Conference has a recurrent event been held since 1983 together with different host nations. The conference has attracted Heads of States, scientists, media and representatives from both civil society and the private sector.In relation to IACC18 Denmark is entering into a strategic partnership with Transparency International, which involves a doubling up of the annual core contribution in 2017 and expectedly also in 2018.
