Beauty of winter

Today it was a very sunny day. What a beauty. What a blue sky. What a long time ago. It hurts a little into our eyes. It makes you happy. Today is a gift. This is really the beauty of winter.

Suddenly Snow in the end of winter

Suddenly we got a lot of snow in the end of winter. We didn't expect any winter at all. Last months has been very wet. It rained many days for days. The waterlevel in the west of Småland (southwest of) Sweden is extremely high. It is the first time in 50 years we were told by our neighbors. The rivers overflowed a lot of fields in this region and sometimes they need to  have extra security from military's to save houses or dikes.

Then all of a sudden there is snow. A lot of snow. We didn't expect any winter anymore actually. Also we are longing for a sunny spring. Less cold, less water and some sun. More then 1 day with little sunshine in tree weeks. But I must admit, it is a nice view with snow. It is very easy to deliver beautiful pictures as you can see below. Enjoy!

Big friends in the garden

Plastic in the tree

In wintertime our friends from the woods (mostly the deer and the hare) are often looking for food in our garden. That's not a big problem in autumn because the plants will die for wintertime anyway. But at the end of wintertime, when my plants are starting to grow, it's not that funny. Because they like to eat all the freshly new made green tops from plants getting ready for spring, so they cause a real damage.

Protection for deer damage

 The best way to protect your garden for animals like that is to make a fence on 1.80m high. But our garden is a little too big for that, beside of that we don't want to live in a fence ourselves😉. Partly we also like that animals around us, it's nature and they need food also. But when spring is coming we want to reduce the damage a little bit, you will see it whole summer. Or even worse, when they eat the top out of the tree, it will never have the form of a tree anymore.
Now we try to protect our plants with chicken wire around the small green tops, as far as the not have been eaten yet... Also we taped bigger plants with plastics (something we saw in the woods because they damage young trees also), so we hope they don't like that plants any more.
We hope it will work, we cross our fingers... But maybe some one has good advice?

Groundwork in the garden in Småland Sweden

It is heavy and a lot of work to repair the garden after they renewed the sewer in our garden in Oktober last year. They destroyed the lane (grass) and the driveway. But worse of all, we have a lot of clay and stones in our garden. I didn't know there was clay, till now it was only sandy acid soil. So I assume it came from a lower level.

What a mess: in the middle the new tree room sewer well

At the same time it is a very warm and wet winter, so a got some extra ponds in my garden. Also in the area they have been digging. On that places the water won't go down but keeps on the surface. That's why we try to dig in the ground to open the soil for drainage. We also try to equalize the ground so we can sow grass again in spring. But that is a very heavy job, it will take some time to fix it (we are not the youngest people anymore😉).
Next weeks we will go on with this project. Till now it has been the warmest winter since a long time. When it stays like that we can sow grass as soon as possible. Around the sewer wells we will create a flower border to cover the wells. They are awful to see (not only as a garden lover) so we started to higher up. Maybe we can cover them in some way.

New year, new dreams & new chances

Skål! This year 2020 is the beginning of anything you want... For us it will be the year of making dreams come through. To live the life we would love in the middle of nature, with respect for nature. A little bit back to basic. Less is more. We like to share our happy feeling with people around us, who ever they are. We like to show that the luck is in the small things. It doesn't cost anything to be friendly. You do not need much, only something to do, something to love and some dreams...
We wish you all the best this year, greetings from Peter and Brun form Småland Sweden.

Traditional Swedish Christmas Food

I already promised to write about the traditional Swedish Christmas food, as they like to eat the same every year. It is a sort of buffet. A must have is the "Julskinka", a cooked and grilled bacon, which you can slice. Of course you have some handmade cold mustard honey sauce.
You will find also the "Jansons Frestelse" (potatogratin with anchovy), "rödbetarsalad"(red beetroots salad), different sorts of inlaid hering, "Prinskorv" (a grilled curly sausage), meatballs and ricepudding.

Beside of all you need to have some Glögg (hot red wine with herbs), Christmas beers (Julbruggd), a lot of sweeties (named "Godis" like chocolates and sugargummies). You need to have a Christmas hat and sing a lot of Swedish Christmas songs, which will go better and better after some drinks (even you don't speak the Swedish language.

They think this tradition came already form the Vikings, they celebrated the longest night in wintertime, from that moment the days will be more longer and lighter. Later, after Christianity, people used to fasten in the Advent time (4 weeks before Christmas) till Christmas. Nowadays it is very popular to eat Julbord (a sort of Christmas buffet with all the same recipes) already in the weeks before Christmas with your work, your friends and family. A big contrast with former days and also maybe a little boring every year the same? 😜 When I ask the Swedish it seems they still like it!

In Sweden the most important Christmas celebration day (mostly with family and maybe some friends) is on the 24th of December. On the 25th and 26th they start enjoying holiday and doing things they like and never have time for. Like in the UK, the shops also start the Christmas sale on Boxing Day.

All the recipes all easy to google when you want to make it yourself, they are at least worth trying 😋

It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Christmas decoration  with the front door

Only some days to go and then it is Christmas again. But we already have been in Christmas atmosphere for weeks in Sweden. Not only because they start playing Christmas songs on the radio every day since november. Or you can visite Christmas markets around every corner in November These are also the darkest days of the year, maybe this year it is even worse then other years. Even when we are living in the woods in the south. Because it's very dark and rainy att daytime, you have the feeling it doesn't get light at all. Like somebody forgotten to put the lights on...It is really lowering your energy level, it actually drops down. What helps? Just go with the flow... Take some cocooning time inside with glowing woods in the fireplace and some candles beside of you. . Start reading the book what was waiting for you, start thinking about the year you leave behind or make plans for the new year. 

We started making Christmas decorations outside the house, when it was light and dry for a lite moment. It has been raining for the last weeks since November, whole days lang. Then we made decorations inside. Like they did in former days, because of the long and dark wintertime.

Wintergarden view from the kitchen

Candle lights 

Just a moment of sun

Glowing wood in the fireplace inside

The Christmas tree 

We are also preparing for visitors in the Christmas holiday. The guestrooms are ready, the house is nearly cleaned. The Christmas decorations both inside and outside are finished. Now we are also trying out new recipes for Christmas, like we do every year. Though we are living in Sweden, we still are Dutch. In Sweden they will always have traditional Christmas food every year. I will write about it later. But in The Netherlands we mostly try something new and different or from a special theme, or something you just like to eat. What about you?

What is "Sinterklaas"? A sort of Santa Claus?

The 5th of December it's Sinterklaasavond (or Pakjesavond) in The Netherlands. It is a sort of Santa Claus evening (or Presents evening). They celebrate the birthday of Saint Nicolaas. It is a traditional day about a very old man arriving each year from Spain with white beard and hair, a red cape always riding a white horse. He arrives mostly by boat. He has a lot of helping men, called Pieten. They have very colored dresses and faces. They arrive in most of the cities and villages in The Netherlands, often by boat. They deliver presents to the small children, when they did well last year. Otherwise you have the chance they will take them with them to Spain. The story tells also the presents come in the house because they are thrown in the chimney.

When children are getting older, then the are told that it's just a fairy tail story. But then they still celebrate and buy gifts to each other, within the familie, with friends or on school. Then you have a chance to make a surprise (a nice special packed present) or poem for some one you bought a gift for. While celebrating you eat a lot of special sweets, such as gingerbread, almond bar, chocolate letters and speculaas (spiced biscuits). There are special TV program (already weeks before), telling the events of this year around Sinterklaas and the Pieten. All the shops and houses are decorated with Sinterklaas stuff, they will change it on the 6th of December. It is not done to prepare for Christmas with Christmas Decorations (as you can see in a lot of surrounding countries) before Sinterklaas has left the country, on the 5th of December. So I will prepare for Christmas tomorrow.



When you are in The Netherlands the 5th of December (or the weeks before), have a look around, maybe you can meet them....

How to clean your fireplace door

This is really an easy job... it takes only some minutes. Just take some old ashes on a wet soft sponge and start cleaning. Take care it keeps wet while cleaning. Afterwards you take a kitchen paper and dry the window till it is clean. No use of aggressive cleaning stuff which will burn into the glass, no hard work but easy cleaning. I have been doing this a lot of times already this wintertime, it really works and nothing special is needed. Good luck!

Tips how to handle your winter dip

Remember the colors of summertime

Are you in a winter dip? Just pamper your senses...
When you are living in Sweden, the days are very short and dark, sometimes even very rainy and cloudy. It is not always easy, because you can feel it in your body. You are getting in the mood for sleeping whole winter time. I have some tips to handle it for you:

1. Surround your self with nice smelling candles, a winter fragrance parfum, some summer herbs, flowers or incenses, where ever you are...
2. Take some time off to have a spa experience, with a massage, scrub your skin, use a nice soap, you will feel the new energy, even though it has to be in your own bathroom. 
3. Try out and taste a lot of new recipes you may like, such as cakes, cookies or a new self made meal and save the best to make and share for Christmas.
4. Find some music your are in the mood for in this moment, go where the mood flows for a while, play it load or just very calm as long as you need.
5. Have a look in all the summer pictures you made, see the nice fresh colors and remember the memories, create a new album or wall paper to color your life with and make new plans for next year. 
6. Start a conversation from your heart with someone, while you have a big heartwarming herb tea, you feel the warmth of the candles, the burning fire and even your dearest friends and family around you.
7. Start creating Christmas decorations, before you realize, it's Christmas again😜

The best you can do, is to take out what fits you the best. And always realize, it is just the circle of life, it will be spring one day, in some weeks, just go with the flow...

Summer herbs in my kitchen