Sweden in the Spring

On our way to the airport...his Trunki is brilliant. Yes, you can manage to pack and travel without it but makes that hassle that is air travelling a lot more fun.

The snow melts, the streams are gushing and the warm spring sunshine makes the cold water tolerable. In fact, the weather was so warm and lovely my dh will never let me forget i scoffed at his question to pack shorts and sandals ' In April? you must be jo-king'.

Easter, when all the little children dress up as old men and women, go around begging sweets. this is based on the myth that all the witches fly to Blakulla the blue hill where all sorts of shenanigans are meant to take place at Easter. No wonder my dh raised an eyebrow. And I don't blame A looking so very suspicious in this photograph. Really in the end, it's all about dressing up and getting bags of sweets from your neighbours.

Wanted to post these photographs even though are a few months old. I have so many photographs that I save and dont' really look at I just felt that posting them here at least they are lovely reminder of our lives and days. We had such a wonderful time this Easter Holiday we decided to go back for a longer stay. Which we did. From where I have..um, exctly five photographs. As my battery decided to die on our first day. So, those days are just images in my memory I'm afraid.

Christmas fair in Mayow Park

On Sunday there was a Christmas Fair in the Mayow Park community gardens. These gardens are somewhat hidden but more and more people are discovering them. It's an absolutely amazing space, run by a team of volunteers that keep the place really special. There are seasonal vegetables, flowers, green houses and a little hut where you can pop in with kids to do some crafting and painting. Next year there are a kids club and a nature watch club starting.
It's just there for people to use and enjoy and it doesn't actually cost anything!!! Of course, donations in terms of wood, soil, seeds and labour are greatly appreciated. I had done some crafting with the 'urban stitch' ladies and we were selling the Christmas decorations we had made previously. There was a stall selling fantastic felted crafts and I bought a fairy for Clara. If I hadn't run out of money I would have bought some felted gnomes for our seasonal table too...

samples of Christmas decorations from 'Urban Stitch'. First time I ever sold anything I had made. What a thrill.

See the ring made of wicker above. That's now hangs beautifully over our fireplace! and any Carlsson may notice the tablecloth! It came to good use displaying wooden christmas decorations.

Alvar stoking the fire.....very very exciting! We all smelled of wood smoke when we came home. Fantastic!

It was a beautiful day, blue skies and sunshine, cold and crisp air. Perfect day really for sitting around a fire, drinking coffee, chatting and supporting your local community garden.

Snow books

Taking out the winter books that has been put away. Rotating books is something we haven't done before. It was great getting them out as it's like having a set of brand new books. Excuse the bad photo, the light was fading very quickly.

Tomten by Victor Rydberg and illustrations by Harald Viberg. A classic Swedish book about the barn gnome going around in the moonlight checking so animals and people are ok. Magical. The same image below I used to find slightly scary as a young child, worries Alvar too. But he loves the book.

Another favourite is Snow by Uri Shulevitz. Dreamlike illustrations as below. Very little text but lots to look at as the snow starts falling in the city.

The other books in our basket are:

The Snowman by Raymond Briggs

One Snowy Night by M Christina Butler and Tina Macnaughton

Usborne Farmyard Tales: Christmas Flap Book - Preparation for Christmas at Apple Tree Farm

Then a Swedish book about the little lambs Bu och Ba in a snowstorm by Olof and Lena Lanstrom. They go shopping, land in a pile of snow, then chase a cabbage rolling down a hill and turn into a snowball. My 3.5 year old loves them.

It's total winter wonderland outside. Incredible. I haven't seen anything like it. (although since the photo a lot more snow has fallen) Even though we can't actually do much more than stay very local (and then i mean our streets) i am actually enjoying the 'confinement'. We all seem much more relaxed and chilled. Cold weather also makes one very sleepy so whilst the Buttons are having an afternoon nap I am baking again. Bread and some more of the Lussekatt, swedish saffron buns. Christmas is coming, have to have some!!