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| Luciacrown (foto: Pixabay) |
Have a glad "Saint Lucy's Day" or "Glad Lucia Dagen". It's a traditional celebration of the light on one of the shortest days of the year, they thought in the Julian Calender. Long ago they thought that long night was dangerous, with dark spirits outside. Best was to stay awake, burn some candles and eat something nice. Nowadays they still eat Lussekatter (sort of safrancake) and drink a glögg. there is still a procession (Lucia Tågen) with mostly girls in white dresses carrying lights singing the Lucia song. In the center you will find Lucia, bearing the candles on her head. Maybe have a Google on "saint lucia Sweden", you will surely find this tradition.
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| Lake Flyxen in winterdress |
What a beautiful weeks, what a lot of people I saw, just enjoying the winter atmosphere. I've never seen it so busy in this neighborhood around lake Flyxen. The grills beside of the lake were often used, they even had a grilling on the ice.... which I didn't understand.... was the ice that tick?
There were people out for ice fishing whole day of very early in the morning. Some people went on skis or walked around the lake with sledges. With the badplats they had a icehockeyfield and the old traintrack was transformed to a real (langlauf) skiing path. Even we crossed the lake to the isle on the other side in the end. It was very good ice last weeks (because it was -18 at night) and because of the sun is was not cold at all. It was like a very healthy sunbath after winter. You could here the very special sound of the shouting of the ice. You could see the very well special shaped ice flocks or flowers on our windows in the house.
Do you want ot know what it was like last year about the same time? Just take a look!
It has been so wonderful winter weather for a long time. Blue skies, sunny and a lot of frost. But in this Corona times it also gets boring to stay home for that long time, only shopping once a week. In the middle of the forest in wintertime with only the two of us. Although we know we have a luxurieus position because we live in a big house with lot of space around. But we also know we have to hold on for a very long time more. It will take till summer at least before we all have a vaccination and the world can open up again.
To manage that we take a break after some weeks. We travel a little distance, book a hotel somewhere and have a good walk in a new area to have another view and see some new things. This time we traveled to Vadstena. A very old nice town at lake Vättern. It's medieval, has an monarchy, beautiful church, a castle and old town street with nice small shops. It was so very cold daytime (-13 degrees) it was biting in our faces while walking. So it turned out to shorter walks, some fika in between and a nice special brew beer in the end. New energy for some weeks in the woods of Småland 👍
Lot's of snow, this is a good start of a new year. The real wintertime we have been longing for... Sometimes it's little cold, dark and snowy but much better as a lot of rain. I like to go outside, put my winterjacket on and just walk around beside of the lake and into the woods, making pictures and looking for animals traces. We usually spot some fox, hare, deer and with some luck some moose traces. This week we saw a black woodpecker, not that often seen. We take care of the birds around our house and attract more and more species.
Last celebrating days of the Christmas Time in Scandinavia. It was Epiphany (or The Twelfth Day after Christmas), on the 6th of Januari. In the The Netherlands we call it Three Kings Day. In both countries it's a day where you are free from work, no special celebrations as far as I know.
A week later it is Knutsday, or in Swedish Tsjugonde Knutsdagen (Formerly 20 days after Christmas, called efter King Knut). This is the day you finally put away your Christmas stuff, or throw out the Christmas Tree. In former days they called it: dancing Christmas out... Time to start the new year after lot of celebrations in the darkest days of the year. Let's go back to normal, if possible with the Corona virus traveling around.
After al, it was that much snow as it was in 2018. Or if you want to know more about last years tjugonde-knutsdagen, Just take a look!
Just a little about the old year because it's not making sense to say to much about this year. The only thing I can say, I can not wait for the new year to come...
What a year... 2020. What a beautiful dreams we had, a lot of great plans we all made... Old dreams 2020. Nothing came true. Most things got cancelled. Our lives stood still. We never expected it to be a year like this. We never believed it could be like this, it would ever happen... but it happened. It was very confrontating. To meet yourself. No one to blame. Just deal with the things happening. Make the best out of it. Find out what is important for you. I learned to be happy with the small things (with the ones I love around me), go back to nature and my garden and just feel happy. Not only chasing money, buying more and losing your self. We need to respect Mother Nature much more, learn to live more in balance with Father Earth. Bye bye 2020!
Hello, welcome fresh and new 2021... New time for making new plans, new dreams and new memories, while Corona is still moving around. We need a little patience but there is hope and light in this year. We wish you all to stay safe, take care of yourself, give love to your nearest and dearest and the other ones around you. Belief it can happen, it will be better, never loose hope. We wish all the best to all of you, to be open to each other with lots of warmth and kindness. It doesn't cost anything to be kind and friendly and it can make your day. May all our dreams come true. Hope to meet you again...
For now... let's shoot away 2020 💥
I love the Christmas Atmosphere... the lights, the candles. The songs on the radio when you are driving a car in boring wet winter weather, hoping for some snow. Or the smelling in the kitchen when you are baking wintercookies (like the very Dutch Speculaas you normally eat with Sinterklaas). It's like taking a warm bath in cosines and warmth with a heart full of love.
I have been working in my new created workshop. A place where I can create without any restrictions. I can leave all the mess when I want to anytime. The only thing, it's very cold inside. But when I'm working there I'm very happy. The only thing I need to make is a natural outdoor wreath. The one you see above, is made on a round wire, wired with steelwire. The one beneath is made on a strowwreath, it has more body, looks a little more massiv. Also OK when you want to have outside on a very big wall. This time I only used varietet Christmas greens, some (bought) moss and some whitewashed pine apples. So now my house i ready for Christmas... A little bit different from last year: It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. How did you prepare?
Do you want to know what we did some years ago at the same time? Just take a look. You're welcome for a sneak peak...
I'm so happy I have a lot of fantasy, creativity and interests. As a child I learned to use my fantasy and enjoy myself... Even now, when I have a lot of time for myself (because of Corona a lot of things closed down) I sometimes have too much ideas at the same time that I need to create some more focus. It's hard to imagine people get bored now because everything closed down. I know, for me it was more easy that time because I grow up in a smal village, for long time without any brothers and sisters and there was no internet, no mobile phone and no dvd in the car. I played outside in the garden or in the woods most of the time. When I was inside because of bad weather I started being creative. With writing, drawing, cooking, making lemonade, wine or cakes, designing houses, gardens or planning fantasy holidays. The only thing you need is some space, something you like and belief in your talents what ever they may be. Because when you like something very much you can loose yourself in it, you will forget the time and won't have time to get worried or bored. They will have to call you several times when dinner is ready....
This, when we have to step back because of the Corona pandemi in Europa (and lockdown everywhere), is a good moment to go back to basic again and find your talents, creativity and yourself again. Even in Sweden we have very serious rules now. But we live in Sweden in the woods, nobody around so we have a lot of space around the house and a very nice house to spend time in. We realise that's a very comfortable position, not everyone is in. We decided already we will start painting and decorate all around the house. When it's not possible to travel to our family in the Netherlands we will create a Christmas Home ourselves. We will prepare the garden outside as much as possible (depending on the weather), create new ideas or make plans on paper for next garden season. In between we bake our own bread and granola. And last but not least, we will go and sport a lot, inside gym and yoga and outside walking ans running. Because most important of all: be healthy (take good sleep, eat healthy and keep sporting no matter what weather).
I already started to paint some furniture I want to sell on the digital market next months. Last but not least, we want to make and finish a businessplan for our own small company for a open garden with small koffiecorner and plantmarket. In Sweden they call it "Trädgårdscafe" where you can have "Fika" (What's Fika) in spring and summertime and can visit a "växtloppis". We wanted to start it last year already, but then Corona came in between... and we stopped planning. We are not sure where it would go... and actually we still don't know. But let's hope it will be better one day...
Anyway, I will be busy next months. I hope, there will be one day finally, the world will be more normal again. I wish you the same. Good luck with finding your talents and creativity, it is worth it, because it will bring you lots of luck and satisfaction😍
Autumn Colors, now it's time to enjoy and fill your soul with the autumn colors and to harvest the year😄 - before winter starts. Last week I saw beautiful trees, with colorful leaves in strong orange and yellow... Like nature celebrating last days of the year. My eyes could really absorb the colors and it made me feel good. Untill this week I still had a lot of flowers in my Swedish garden (though a lot was eaten by the deer 😢).
Today I started collect some green and orange to make a nice arrangement for All Saints Day tomorrow and I felt the proces of rotting and melting away for wintertime already started. It was a big difference with some days before. It feels also a little like the end of the year... Days getting shorter and darker, weather getting more and more wet. That's not strange because because actually in northern countries, Gaelic and Nordic people lived with and from nature, with a Runic calendar (13th century) based on the sun. According this calendar it was the end of the year, the start of the winter. That's where Halloween (also called Samhain) comes from, the festival of darkness, based on the sun (solstice). Funny your still can find those names and celebrations today.
The most heard translation in Sweden is: "Fika is a Swedish word that you can translate as taking a break for coffee or tea and a bit to eat." But after some yours living in Sweden, I learned, it is much more than that. "It is not only an moment to relax, to catch up with your family and to laugh with your friends. It is part of daily ritual, a cosy escape or a refreshing pause. It is the time between meals, the place between destinations. There is always time for Fika." Mostly the Swedes drink coffee (they really drink a lot of very strong coffee) and they will eat something sweat, like Kanel or Kardemombullar (look here for the recipe: Kanelbullensdag in Sweden). Where? When you are living in Sweden you will find out you will meet the Fika everywhere, in your company, in some local trädgårdscafe (you can find all over the country at least in summertime) or in the local bakeryshop.
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| Fritillaria Meleagris |
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| Viola Odorata |
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| Spanish Hyacint |
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| Myosotis - Don't forget me |