Pancakes Galore

Früher hatten wir nur Pfannkuchen am Pancake Day, einem ziemlich großen Tag in Großbritannien - ich habe hier einen früheren Beitrag dazu. Aber im Laufe der Zeit, besonders seit die Kinder gekommen sind, haben wir Pfannkuchen zu einem regelmäßigeren Vergnügen gemacht, zum Beispiel an Geburtstagen und besonders am letzten Tag der Feiertage. 

Pfannkuchen sind die einfachste Sache der Welt, solange die Pfanne vor dem Start richtig heiß wird. Die Butter muss brutzeln, sobald sie in die Pfanne kommt. Verstehen Sie das falsch und Sie werden in Schwierigkeiten sein. Wir hatten heute Morgen Pfannkuchen zum Frühstück, bevor die Mädchen nach einer ziemlich glanzlosen Herbstpause zur Schule zurückkehrten (wir sollten vor Corona zum Haus unseres Freundes in Costa Rica gehen, aber die Stopper darauf) 

Also ja, Pfannkuchen waren erforderlich - und sie gearbeitet - heute morgen gab es überall in unserem Haus Smileys.

Crepe Rezept:

 100 g Mehl und eine Prise Salz in eine Schüssel geben.

Machen Sie einen Brunnen in der Mitte und knacken Sie zwei Eier.

Fügen Sie nach und nach 200 ml Milch hinzu und achten Sie darauf, keine Klumpen zu entfernen.

Butter in die Pfanne geben, bis sie brutzelt.

Fügen Sie eine Kelle Teig hinzu, werfen Sie sie um die Pfanne und kochen Sie sie auf beiden Seiten goldbraun.

Mit einem Löffel Zucker und einer großzügigen Prise frischer Zitrone und Orange servieren.

Auf Englisch

We used to only have pancakes on Pancake Day, which is a pretty big day in the UK – I have an earlier post about this here. But over time, especially since the kiddies came along, we have turned pancakes into a more regular treat, for instance on birthdays, and in particular the last day of the holidays. 

Pancakes are the easiest thing in the world to do, as long as you get the pan truly HOT before starting. The butter must be sizzling as soon as it hits the pan. Get this wrong and you are in trouble. We had pancakes for breakfast this morning before the girls return to school after a pretty lacklustre Herbstferien (we were due to go to our friend’s house in Costa Rica before Corona put the brakes on that idea) 

So yes, pancakes were required – and they did their job – there were smiley faces all round in our house this morning.

Easy Peasy Pancake Recipe:

Put 100g plain flour and pinch of salt into a bowl.

Make a well in the middle and crack in two eggs.

Slowly add 350ml milk bit by bit, making sure to whisk out any lumps as you go.

Put butter in frying pan until it is sizzling.

Add a ladle of batter, swirl around the pan and cook on both sides until golden.

Serve with a spoonful of sugar and a generous squeeze of fresh lemon and orange.

Inspiriert!

Nach unserem Spaziergang im Wald haben wir ein Gemälde geschaffen, das von einem unserer Lieblingspilze inspiriert wurde. Meine Erfahrung mit Aquarellen ist noch auf Anfängerniveau. Auf nassem Papier bekommen die Farben ein Eigenleben. Ich mag diese magische Qualität wirklich, aber leider kann sie oft in einem großen schmutzigen Durcheinander enden! Ich denke, wir haben hier einen schönen Kompromiss erzielt, indem wir das Pilzmuster übertrieben haben. 

Auf Englisch:

After our walk in the woods we made a painting inspired by one of our favourite mushrooms (the Many Zoned Polypore - I love how some of the names are fairly outlandish) As an oil painter for most of my life I am still trying to get to grips with the tricky medium of watercolours. It is all a bit hit and miss as the paints take on a life of their own when they are applied to wet paper. I quite like that magical quality but unfortunately it can often end in a big dirty mess! I feel we achieved a nice compromise here though by repeating the pattern of the mushrooms over the top.

Mushroom spotting!

Our little pocket guide

Gestern bin ich mit meiner Tochter im Wald spazieren gegangen, um nach Pilzen zu suchen. Wir waren erstaunt über die Vielfalt, die wir in den Wäldern rund um unser Dorf entdeckt haben. Wir haben 18 verschiedene Typen gefunden. Meine Tochter war besonders beeindruckt von der Entdeckung von Pilzen, die Halluzinationen verursachten - und sogar von Erstickung (sie liebte es, diese neuen Wörter in ihrem Taschenführer zu lernen) auf den Schulfeldern! Einige unserer Sightings sind unten gezeigt.

Englisch:

I went for a walk in the woods mushrooming spotting with my daughter yesterday and was amazed at the diversity we discovered in the woods around our local village. We counted 18 different varieties of mushroom and fungus. My daughter was especially impressed at the discovery of mushrooms that caused hallucinations - and even asphyxiation (she enjoyed learning these new words in her pocket guide) on the school fields! A few of our spots are pictured below - Bebe has identified a few with her trusty pocket guide but if anyone can help with the unknowns - or indeed correct us - please comment:

Unidentified

Fairies Bonnets

Eggshell Toadstool

Magpie Ink Cap (unpleasant smell, possibly poisonous)

Crested Coral Fungus

Yellow-Stemmed Bell Cap

Birch Polypore (inedible)

Magpie Ink Cap (Young)

Many-Zoned Polypore

Orange Peel Fungus (edible, we think)

Apfelkuchen zeit!

Ich liebe den Herbst und seine vielen Farben der Natur, die frische Kälte in der Luft, den Geruch von Freudenfeuern draußen und das Aroma von Kuchen drinnen. Meine Freundin Maria gab mir ein paar Äpfel aus ihrem Garten, also machte ich mich an die Arbeit am ersten Apfelkuchen des Herbstes. 

Apfelkuchen ist eines dieser Desserts, die einfach zuzubereiten und dennoch so lecker zu essen sind. Ich verwende ein Nigel Slater-Rezept aus meiner wertvollen Ausgabe von Kitchen Diaries, aber es kann etwas schwierig sein, mit dem Super-Mürbeteig zu arbeiten. Wenn Sie nicht die Geduld haben, reicht ein reguläres Mürbeteigrezept.

Zutaten 

Weiche Butter 150g, Zucker 150g, 1 Ei, Mehl 250g, 1 TL Backpulver, Äpfel 1,2 kg, ein Spritzer Zitronensaft, Butter 50g, 1 EL Zucker

Butter ein Kuchengericht. Butter und Zucker mischen, Ei hinzufügen und Mehl und Backpulver unterheben. Einige Minuten auf einer stark bemehlten Oberfläche kneten, um das Gebäck zusammenzubringen. Mit der Hälfte des Gebäcks ausrollen und den Boden der Kuchenform abdecken. Lassen Sie die andere Hälfte in einer Kugel und kühlen Sie beide für mindestens 20 Minuten. In der Zwischenzeit den Ofen auf 180 ° C erhitzen, Äpfel schälen und entkernen, in dicke Scheiben schneiden und in einer Schüssel Wasser mit Zitronensaft aufbewahren. Äpfel abtropfen lassen und in der Butter leicht biskaramellisiert kochen. Wenn sie anfangen zu schäumen, schalten Sie die Hitze aus. Nehmen Sie das Gebäck aus dem Kühlschrank, füllen Sie die mit Gebäck ausgekleidete Kuchenform mit den Äpfeln und bürsten Sie etwas Pfannensaft um die Kruste. Die zweite Hälfte des Gebäcks ausrollen, um die Äpfel zu bedecken, mit dem Daumen leicht um den Rand drücken. Den Kuchen mit Milch bestreichen und mit Zucker bestreuen. Backen Sie für ungefähr 30-40 Minuten bis golden. Vanilla Sauce ist der offensichtliche köstliche Begleiter, aber eine Kugel hochwertiges Vanilleeis auf einem warmen Stück ist auch göttlich. Genießen!

And in English:

I love autumn and its many colors of nature, the fresh chill in the air, the smell of bonfires outside and the aroma of cakes inside. My friend Maria gave me a huge bag of apples from her garden, so I went to work on the first fruit pie of autumn. Apple pie is one of those desserts that are easy to make and yet so tasty to eat. I'm using a Nigel Slater recipe from my precious edition of Kitchen Diaries, but the super shortcrust pastry can be a little tricky to work with. If you don't have the patience, a regular shortcrust pastry recipe will do.

Ingredients

Soft butter 150g, sugar 150g, 1 egg, plain flour 250g, 1tsp baking powder, apples 1.2kg, a squeeze of lemon juice, Butter 50g, 1 tbsp sugar

Butter a pie dish. Mix butter and sugar together, add egg and fold in flour and baking powder. Knead on heavily floured surface for a couple of minutes to bring the pastry together. With half of the pastry, roll out and cover the bottom of the pie dish. Leave the other half in a ball and chill both for at least 20 minutes. In the meantime, heat oven to 180, peel and core apples, slice thickly, storing them in a bowl of water with lemon juice. Drain apples and cook in the butter until slightly caramelised. When they begin to foam turn off heat. Take pastry out of fridge, fill pastry lined pie dish with the apples and brush some of the pan juice around the crust. Roll out second half of pastry to cover the apples, press gently around the edge with your thumb. Brush over the top of pie with milk and sprinkle over sugar. Bake for around 30-40mins until golden. Custard is the obvious companion of choice but a scoop of quality vanilla ice cream on a slice of warm pie is also divine. Enjoy!

Artemisia Gentileschi: the art of an incredible woman

Nach meinem Deutschunterricht hatte ich eine Stunde Zeit, um zu töten, bevor mein Mann mit den Kindern im Schlepptau in die Stadt kam, also eilte ich zu meinen beiden Lieblingsplätzen - zuerst zum Fellafel-Mann in der Steinbergasse zum Mittagessen und dann zum Bibliotheksgarten, um es zu essen eine Tasse Kaffee aus der Maschine dort. Ich liebe die Winterthurer Bibliothek. Ich habe schon oft darüber geschrieben, in diesem Blog und sogar in der Aldstädter Zeitung! Der abgeschiedene Hinterhof der Bibliothek ist etwas ganz Besonderes, besonders jetzt, wo eine Regenschirmrenovierung durchgeführt wurde, sodass Sie auch bei Regen gerne draußen sitzen können.

Ein weiterer Bonus ist, dass ich mir eine Ausgabe von The Times schnappen kann, um ein kleines Stück englischen Lebens in der Kulturabteilung nachzuholen. Die Kopien sind immer ein paar Tage alt, aber es spielt keine Rolle, ob Ihr Vergnügen das Kulturmaterial und die Meinungsbeiträge sind. Es gibt immer einen Artikel, der mir Gänsehaut verleiht und ein bisschen Kunst-, Film-, Musik- und Theaterfan ist. Diesen Samstag war es ein Stück über die Ausstellung Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1654), die gerade im The National eröffnet wurde.

Ich bin ein großer Fan dieser unglaublichen Frau. Ich habe einige ihrer erstaunlichen Stücke in den Uffizien in Florenz gesehen. Sie war die einzige Frau, die es trotz verheerender Chancen in die italienische Renaissance schaffte. Ihre dramatischen Meisterwerke werden stark von ihrer Tortur durch einen Freund der Familie beeinflusst, der sie im Alter von 17 Jahren vergewaltigte. Anschließend wurde sie gefoltert, um sicherzustellen, dass sie die Wahrheit sagte, und gezwungen, eine siebenmonatige Gerichtsverhandlung zu ertragen, weil ihr Vater ihre Freilassung wollte aus dem Titel "beschädigte Ware" Also ja, trotz alledem wurde sie befreit und gefeiert und wurde das erste weibliche Mitglied der Florentiner Akademie. 

Während ich im Hof ​​der Stadtbibliothek über diese erstaunliche Frau las, war der Regenguss beendet und die Sonne kam heraus :)

Englisch Version

After my German class, I had an hour to kill before hubbie arrived in town with the kiddies in tow so I hurried along to my favourite two places – first to Fellafel man in Steinbergasse for lunch and then to the library garden to eat it, with a cup of coffee from the machine there. I love Winterthur Library. I have written about it many times, on this blog and even in the Aldstadt newspaper! The secluded back yard of the library is very special, especially now it has had an umbrella refurb, meaning you can happily sit outside, even in a downpour.

Another bonus is that I can grab a copy of The Times to catch up on a little slice of English life in the culture section. The copies are always a few days old but it really doesn’t matter if your pleasure is the culture stuff and opinion pieces. There is always an article or two which gives me goosebumps, being a bit of an art, film, music and theatre buff. This Saturday it was a piece about the Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1654) exhibition which has just opened at The National.

 I am a huge fan of this incredible woman having viewed a few of her amazing pieces at the Uffizi in Florence. She was the only female to make it in the Italian Renaissance despite devastating odds. Her dramatic masterpieces are greatly influenced by her ordeal at the hands of a family friend who raped her at the age of 17. She was subsequently tortured to ensure she was telling the truth and forced to endure a seven month trial because her father wanted her release from the title of ‘damaged goods’ So yes, despite all this, she went on to become liberated and celebrated and became the first female member of the Florentine Academia.

While I read about this amazing lady in the courtyard of the city library, the downpour finished and the sun came out :)

Ich bin zurück!

Es regnete gestern und ich zwang mich, in den Regenguss zu gehen, während mein alter Regenschirm vom starken Wind umhüllt wurde. Warum habe ich mich gezwungen? Nur um an einem Samstagmorgen in meine neue Deutschklasse zu kommen. Ich liebe diese Klasse, weil sie kostenlos ist! Also zwinge ich mich zu gehen, wann immer ich kann, eins, weil es GRATIS ist und zwei, um es am Laufen zu halten - ich denke, wenn wir diese Dinge nicht unterstützen, werden sie ein Ende haben. Ich lebe jetzt seit sieben Jahren hier und bin ständig auf der Suche nach neuen Wegen, mein Deutsch zu üben, ohne die Bank zu sprengen (Es ist 800-1200 fr einen sechswöchigen Deutschkurs ab A1 ..)

Das Thema in meinem Deutschunterricht gestern Morgen waren Blogger und Vlogger. Ich habe über den Blog gesprochen, den ich geschrieben habe, als ich vor sieben Jahren hier lebte. "Was ist sein Name?" sie fragten: "Swiss Odyssey", sagte ich. "Wir haben es gelesen!" alle sagten. Ich war über dem Mond. "Du solltest es auf Deutsch schreiben", sagten sie. "Was ist mit all den Fehlern, die ich machen werde?" Ich sagte. "Je mehr du schreibst, desto weniger Fehler wurdest du machen", sagten sie.

Also, kam ich zurück, um schlechtes Deutsch zu schreiben, aber ich bin froh, dass die Leute sind meinen Blog lesen! Tatsächlich habe ich beschlossen, es zu einem zweisprachigen Blog mit dem unten geschriebenen Englisch zu machen. Zweisprachige Bücher haben mir sehr geholfen, als ich hier ankam. Es ist schwierig, einen deutschen Roman auszuprobieren, aber ein einfacher Absatz nach dem anderen, gefolgt von der englischen Übersetzung, ist weitaus einfacher. Ich saß in der Ecke der Dorfbibliothek mit einem Stapel Kinderbücher auf meinem Knie und las aufmerksam, umgeben von Babes und Kleinkindern auf der Spielmatte und ihren nachsichtigen Eltern. Sie gewöhnten sich bald an die seltsame Frau, die Babybücher las.

Ich hoffe, das ist ein gutes Format für Leute. Fühlen Sie sich frei, Ihre Gedanken mit mir in den Kommentaren unten zu teilen. Ich freue mich darauf, meinen Blog wieder zu schreiben. Ich habe Ihnen viel über diese unglaubliche Stadt Winterthur und unser Leben darin zu erzählen.

Deutschkurs Details: Ort: Lagerplatz 13, Samstags 10:00-11:30 und Dienstags 18:20-20:00 Email: deutschtreff.bisele@gmail.com

It was pouring with rain yesterday and I forced myself to go out in the downpour with my trusty old umbrella being buffeted about by the strong wind. Why did I force myself out? Just to get to my new German class on a Saturday morning. I love this class because it is free! So I force myself to go whenever I can, one because it is FREE and two, to keep it going – I guess if we don’t support these things they will come to an end. I have lived here for seven years now and am constantly looking for new ways to practise my German without breaking the bank (you’re looking at 800-1200 fr for a six week German course from A1 upwards..)

The theme in my German class yesterday morning was bloggers and vloggers. I talked about this blog which I began writing when I first moved to Switzerland from England seven years ago. ‘What is it called?’ they asked, ‘Swiss Odyssey’ I said. ‘We’ve read it!’ they all said. I was over the moon. “You should write it in German,” they said. ‘What about all the mistakes I will make?” I said. “The more you write, the less mistakes you will make,” they said.

So I have returned, writing in very bad German but happy that people are reading my blog! In fact, I have decided to make it a bi-lingual blog, with the English written below, as I have done here. Bi-lingual books really helped me when I first arrived here. It’s a Big Ask (as my old news editor would say) attempting to read a German novel but a simple paragraph at a time, followed by the English translation is far easier. I would sit in the corner of the village library with a pile of children’s books on my knee, reading intently, surrounded by babes and toddlers on the playmat and their indulgent parents, soon getting used to the strange foreign lady with the reading age of four.

I hope this is a good format for people. You are very welcome to let me know what you think in the comments underneath. I am looking forward to writing my blog again. I have lots of things to tell you about this incredible city of Winterthur and our life in it.

Urlaub auf Balkonien

This is a new German phrase I have learnt which is quite topical. 'Balkonien' is the magic place where Germans go on vacation 'Urlaub' when they can’t afford (or don’t want) to travel further then their own four walls.  In short, it refers to what is called a “staycation” in the English-speaking world and comes from the word for balcony: 'der Balkon'

I think quite a lot of us will have to get used to the idea this year. It's crazy that so many people are talking about holidays when there is still so much Corona virus around. I miss my garden but it's nice to have that beautiful afternoon sunshine on the balcony with a little glass of wine and a good book.

Grandad always loves to recline in my deckchair on the balcony when he visits and always falls asleep so contentedly.

Add caption

Exhibition starts today

My good friend Martin Schmid Caiazza will be opening his exhibition with a vernissage at 7zehn (just behind KinoMaxx) at 17:00 today. Not only does Martin recycle PET bottles to make alot of his artwork, by melting them down, he is the nicest guy you could ever meet. On a recent visit to his studio he let Bebe sit in his chair and take over his current work of art! He always has the loveliest smile for me whenever I see him. I will be going along to support his exhibition - it's been a long time coming, it was due to open in May but of course aborted due to Corona. 

A beautiful iris in the rain

I was walking home through the drizzling rain recently when I passed the most beautiful iris winking at me through the gloom. I took a photograph and have spent a couple of days painting it. I began with a simple watercolour of the flower and uploaded it to Photoshop where I doctored it a bit to look less natural but I think still pretty beautiful. That aside, the photograph itself is for me, also very special.

New project!

Over lockdown, we looked on with sadness as our landlord chopped down a beautiful walnut tree (which we excitedly harvested every year) to make way for a new development of apartments which he will start right outside our bedroom window at the beginning of June. The new building will cut in half our beautiful view of the mountains and will bring noise and disruption for two whole years. I have no idea how my husband, who works night shifts, will cope. 

As I sadly watched the desecration with my youngest daughter, I thought, the least he can do was give me a few pieces for my wood carving. It is always hard to source pieces of good wood to carve - soft wood, ie pine, is no good. So I went to him and interrupted his chainsaw fest to ask him, biting my tongue when all I wanted to say was 'why, oh why, did you have to cut down that beautiful tree?' 

He said 'sure' and 5 minutes later I was trolleying four pieces of heavenly wood back to my pad. I have somehow managed to cart the first piece over to Morgenland, the studio where my carving journey began, on the frame of my shopping trolley. It was so heavy and so bulky I must have looked pretty comical. 

I have made some drawings and have already envisaged the final product - the queen of wild pigs, Queen Nefertiti. This is the beginning of my next project. So excited.

 

My wood carving journey

As life in Switzerland relaxes a little I returned to Morgenland to resume my wood carving journey. 

I have the little workshop to myself most days anyway. Erwin, my mentor, just pops in to see how I'm doing from time to time but most of the time he is busy with his latest masterpiece. I have kept in touch with him throughout Lockdown with homemade cards and messages (he is 65, has no email and lives alone) and I was touched to see my cards displayed on a little table inside the front door.

I have just finished my latest creation - my Maus Haus. This actually took me a long time and there were many moments when I had periods of doubt and almost abandoned the project completely. All the small details were mind blowing and tricky to execute. 

But now it is painted and has taken pride of place on my balcony I am very pleased with it.

Erwin Schatzmann is the ultimate eco warrior (although he would balk at the label) His forever evolving studio/home uses reclaimed materials and wooden offcuts, people often drop by with unwanted furniture and building materials and he is a constant visitor to the Brocki for bits and bobs. take a look at this wonderful place on an earlier post or on his website here.

Brütten Rocks!

To help alleviate the boredom during lockdown we have begun a painted stone trail around the village. To start, my youngest daughter and I found a selection of interesting stones which we have hoarded from various beaches across the globe over the years. We scrubbed them throroughly and got our acrylic paints together. Then we took a long hard look at each shape before painting to see what each would reveal in the way of ideas. One of them revealed a seated polar bear, which is definitely our favourite!  I'm very excited about children finding and enjoying these and hope the stone trail will grow in the village with additions from other sources.

Participants can post their finds on my Brütten Rocks FB page here.

Postcards with love

It has taken a long time to get my head round the whole Coronavirus Lockdown thing and now, three weeks into it, I am finally feeling a little more relaxed about it all (with a gargantuan effort) However, it seems the local schools were extremely well prepared from the off.

The Friday before Lockdown, the girls came home with their school iPads and a load of books and on the Sunday night before their first day of online school, we had emails, with a detailed schedule for my 13-year-old secondary school daughter. This schedule involved days beginning online at 08:30 and finishing between 16:30 and 17:30. My Mittelstufe 10-year-old daughter had a more relaxed schedule, with a list of work needing to be completed each day by herself but which involved online work and online messaging with her other classmates.

But the very best thing was a delivery on the first week from school into our mailbox of 20 franked postcards. Every week, each child is given the name of another classmate to whom they must write a little positive letter. She loves looking for her postcards each week and reading them. She keeps them in pride of place on her wall, in a growing collection of positivity.

I thought this is a wonderful way of connecting the children during quarantine. We have also done cards for family in the UK and on Monday I sent two parcels to a friend in Switzerland who is really struggling to work from home with her little ones onboard. They were just parcels made up of things my children have grown out with, including a Wallace & Gromit DVD, which I know they will love. She sent me a gorgeous little video message with their glowing faces and thank yous.

As well as Facetime and Zoom apps perhaps we can also return to snail mail at this time. It’s such a lovely way to keep in touch and there is nothing better than getting a personal letter or little package in the post. My children love it – even my normally moody 13-year-old can’t resist her pleasure at receiving post.

So yes, I’m still struggling with this weird Coronavirus twilight world we’re living in but focusing on small details of love is helping enormously.

Squeaky Cheese & Peas Curry

This is an amazingly simple little curry, using traditional indian cheese called paneer (available in the vegetarian chilled section of Coop) You get the frying pan nice and hot before browning the cheese on all sides before throwing into the curry to soak up the spices.

Ingredients

1 onion

half a chilli

2 cloves of garlic

Thumb-sized knob of ginger

½ tsp ground ginger

½ tsp ground cinnamon

½ hot chilli powder

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp ground coriander

1tsp ground cumin

½ pt veg stock

1 x tinned tomatoes

125ml red lentils

½ pint veg stock

1 tblsp white wine vinegar

Pinch of sugar

A handful of frozen peas

1 packet paneer cheese
Fresh coriander (Optional but well worth it!)

Finely chop 1 onion, half a chilli, 2 cloves of garlic and a thumb-sized knob of ginger and fry for 5 minutes. Add spices and cookout for a further two minutes. Add tinned tomatoes, white wine vinegar and sugar. Add stock and lentils and cook for 25 minutes. Cut paneer into 2cm cubes and fry in a hot pan until golden on all sides. Add to curry and cook for another 5 minutes. Serve with basmati rice, a soft tortilla and a good glob of mango chutney on the side (both available in Coop) A handful of fresh coriander on serving really bumps this amazing dish up another notch ;)

International Women's Day 2020

Clara Zetkin founded IWD in 1910

Many women are boycotting demonstrations today due to the Coronavirus pandemic but we can still celebrate International Women's Day (IWD) by writing about it and celebrating the huge successes of women despite the odds.

It’s laughable when I see a multitude of online comments from men - and women - saying ‘What’s the big deal? I don’t care if a movie/book/play, etc, etc is written by a man or woman – as long as it’s good! But the point is, it is still a man’s world, men still get paid more than women for doing the same job and women are still abused, tortured and belittled around the world purely for being a woman.

Only 20 or so years ago, J.K Rowling didn’t use her first name on her first novel because it was thought less children would buy it if it was written by a woman. It wasn’t until 1991 that all women in Switzerland were allowed to vote. Crazy.

So yes, there is still a great deal of work to do. And how did IWD, now a UN-recognised annual event, come around?

The seeds were planted in 1908, when 15,000 women marched through New York demanding shorter working hours, better pay and the right to vote. The Socialist Party of America then declared the first National Woman's Day a year later.

In 1910, Clara Zetkin began the process of marking the day across the globe by making it a suggestion at the International Conference of Working Women in Copenhagen. There were 100 women there, from 17 countries - and they agreed unanimously. In 1911, IWD was celebrated in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland and it grew from there.

Clara's idea for an International Women's Day had no fixed date. It wasn't formalised until a war-time strike in 1917 when Russian women demanded ‘bread and peace’ - and four days into the women's strike the Tsar was forced to abdicate and the provisional government granted women the right to vote. The date when the women's strike commenced on the Julian calendar, which was then in use in Russia, was February 23^rd. This day in the Gregorian calendar is March 8^th - and that is why it is celebrated on that date today.

So March 8^th has become a date to celebrate how far women have come in society but also to protest and raise awareness of continued inequality throughout the world. It is a national holiday in many countries, including Russia where the sales of flowers doubles around this time. In China, many women are given a half-day off work as advised by the State Council (although many employers don't always pass the half-day on to their female employees) In the US, the month of March is Women's History Month. A presidential proclamation issued every year honours the achievements of American women.

The past few years have seen the women's movement reach an unprecedented scale. In October 2017, millions began using the hashtag #MeToo on social media to speak out against experiences of harassment and sexual assault, and to denounce their widespread prevalence. In 2018, the #MeToo conversation grew to a global scale, with countries such as India, France, China, and South Korea joining in the conversation to demand change. In the US, a record number of women were elected in the midterm elections.

Last year saw abortion decriminalised in Northern Ireland and the repeal of a law that controlled how women acted and dressed in public in Sudan.

This year a giant portrait of Swedish teen activist Greta Thunberg (see below) has been unveiled in West Yorkshire to mark today. Pupils chose the 17-year-old as the woman who had most inspired them for the 60m long artwork on a playing field at Hebden Royd Primary School in West Yorkshire in the UK. 

60m portrait of Greta Thunberg is unveiled on a school playing fireld