Raindrops, Hope and Apple-trees

2010-03-03T13:51:00.000-08:00

This is probably the longest, coldest and most snowy winter we have had in Sweden for half a century. The whole country is still covered with snow and it's been like this since a few days before Christmas.

It's SO beautiful, at least out here in the countryside just outside Stockholm. The snow is white and pristine, the sky is blue. In February the Black birds started singing and the sunLIGHT returned. Amazing! And now, in early Mars, the Willow catkins are budding. I have them just outside my bedroom window, and they are among my favourite little wonders on earth.

2010-01-10T12:13:00.000-08:00

Stockholm: -17°C (-2,2°F). I can't recall when we had a winter like this. It's very beautiful, but I'm beginning to long for an early spring.

The first thing to do in getting some "spring-feeling" is to clean out Christmas. In my family we usually do that on January 13th according to a very old tradition in Sweden and Finland, called Tjugondedag Knut ("Knut" is the name that is being celebrated on that date and "Tjugondedag" means 20 days after Christmas). Different parts of Sweden celebrate this day in different ways, often with lots of singing and dancing round the christmas tree. And after the tree has been - literally - thrown out, Christmas is gone with the wind... (except from all the firneedles on the carpet...)

After that I will go out and buy a bunch of tulips!

To me the tulips on the kitchen table is a greater symbol to The New - with all the hopes and dreams and commitments that include - than New Years Eve with all its fireworks and champagne.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-03T02:42:00.000-08:00

We have so much snow here in Stockholm. It came... at last! For the first time in six years we celebrate a WHITE Christmas! With these photos I would like to wish you all a very Happy New Year, full of laughter, health, harmony, wealth and love!

Our Harpo Marx-Snowman!

2009-12-11T14:01:00.000-08:00

Since Christmas is just around the corner, I wanted to post this wonderful winter view. It's a few years old, though... I don't think we have had so much snow ever since. This year we have some kind of rainy, foggy, greyish weather. Very Sherlock Holmes-ish(!) and definitely suggestive.

2009-10-28T05:52:00.000-07:00

...Like jewels!

Autumn colors

2009-10-28T05:32:00.000-07:00

Autumn is here. The nature is a cascade of colors. Very beautiful.

We changed to winter-time last Sunday. I'm not a fan of that as it becomes dark too early in the afternoon. Have to lit candles to make the darkness a little cosy!

Blå Porten (The Blue Gate)

2009-07-12T14:56:00.000-07:00

We recently took a long walk in the lovely Djurgården (an island and a district in the central parts of Stockholm). And there it was... magic and majestic... and beautiful as always: the Blå Porten (the blue gate).

I sent the picture to a friend who turned fifty the other day. He said it was "the gateway to the new flourishing era he is now entering..." – I just love the metaphor!

Drottningholm Palace and Park

2009-06-25T12:38:00.000-07:00

Pictures from Drottningholm Palace and Park: The Guards Tent, The Chinese Pavillion, The Drottningholm Palace, The Drottningholm Theatre (backside), A view from the English Park at Drottningholm.

I live in the close vicinity of the Drottningholm Palace, which is part of the World Heritage, with the famous Drottningholm Theatre and the Chinese Pavillion among the attractions. The palace is also the home of the Swedish royalties. The Palace Park is a wonderful place to go for a walk or have picnic, which a lot of people often do. It is also one of the most visited tourist attractions in Sweden.

I took the boys there a few days ago, so that they could play in one of the mazes in the park. It was so quiet and the Park was almost empty. One part of the Park is called the English Park with lakes and small islands (as the "opposite" to the formal Baroque Park which is in front of the Palace). There are always hundreds and hundreds of geese and quite a lot of swans there, and this time we also saw a crane. I have never seen one before and it was very fascinating.

After the maze fun we went to the Chinese Pavillion and had some ice-cream in the little café. The other visitors were mainly old ladies, which gave the whole visit a certain kind of peacefulness and serenity.

It was definitely a peaceful day with an air of timelessness. The sky was so blue, the sun was shining and it was so warm. ...How I do like that!

Swedish Midsummer

2009-06-19T09:53:00.000-07:00

Today is Midsummer's Eve (Midsommarafton): Raising and dancing around a huge maypole. Eating the year's first potatoes with pickled herring and sour cream. Fresh strawberries as dessert. Girls picking seven (different) flowers to put under the pillow, and then dream about the person to-be...

Midsummer is the most important holiday of the year here in Sweden. What I like most is that the sun is above the horisont for almost 19 hours (Stockholm, Sweden 59° 21' N 18° 4' E). It never gets really dark. Not even when it's raining, which it is right now.

We didn't raise or dance around any maypole. The boys wanted to "transform" one of the little outings to a head-quarter (they play detectives). So that's what we have been doing today: Throwing out old furniture and stuff, cleaning windows, walls and floor. They are all three so excited about having a little house of their own!

Birds and Mozart

2009-06-16T14:30:00.000-07:00

I heard about a lovely story on the radio today. There had been an outdoor concert at the Chinese Pavillion in the Drottningholm Palace Park Stockholm, Sweden. Mozart's Clarinet Quintet was on the program and the audience was enjoying the music in the early summer evening.

High up, on the top of a large spruce, sat a blackbird (Turdus merula, the national bird of Sweden). When the clarinet started playing he must have thought it was another blackbird trying to poach on his preserves. He started twittering and chirping more and more, louder and louder to make his voice heard above this "intruder".

The audience had a musical experience in the "double sense"!

...before I go to bed...

2009-06-14T14:53:00.000-07:00

It's midnight here and time to go to bed. Still raining outside. Just wanted to post this picture from last summer. It makes me so happy. Enjoy!

Hedgehogs

2009-06-14T14:25:00.000-07:00

Today is such a rainy day, but I love the sound of rain and feel quite content, although we are all longing for a warm, sunny summer with bright blue skyes to show up.

This year we have six hedgehogs coming every day – and night. They eat and quarrel, eat and quarrel and sometimes they are courting. I recognize three of them from last years: Ivar, who is my number one favourite. He behaves like a pet and eats like a horse. And dark, anxious Isabella and beautiful Iris. The boys and I name them all and the names tend to start with an "I" as the Swedish word for hedgehog is "igelkott", except for the little cutie on the picture. We just had to call her Rose-Mary because of her rose coloured – in this case that means very pink – nose (and No, it's not the cat-food she is eating, it is her nose!). She reminds me of some of artist Amy Goodrich's wonderful (mostly teddy bear) creations (Portobello Bear Co. *)

These lovely little animals always show up here in late April/early May and then they waddle around the house night and day until late July, when they usually all of a sudden just disappear. I wonder where they wander...

* The link goes to Amy's own Etsy shop, although her work of art is also available at some exclusive retailers around the world.

Blogging

2009-06-14T04:49:00.000-07:00

I've never really read any blogs until some months ago when I, for some reason (well I was actually searching for an Alphonse Mucha picture on the web) found Susanna's Sketchbook. I was so happy because reading that blog gave me so much inspiration and a deep feeling of joy. I realized that all these lovely contributions being published on the internet is a great way of giving and maybe generating some goodness. Thank you Susanna!

And now... when finally having decided to start writing about the things I love and care for – nothing pretentious, just sharing little reflections – I hope this blog will be a source of inspiration too.

Just a few words about the reason to why I write in English... I mean, I am Swedish and I do live in Sweden. Well, that's just because I want this blog to be possible to read and follow for my non-Swedish speaking family and friends as well as my Swedish ones.