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!!

sunday tea

on Sunday we stayed in all day. Other half decided to make an amazing chocolate cake and we all sat down together in the afternoon for some tea, cake and fresh raspberries from the alottment. The weather was quite miserabable all weekend. We were meant to go to the Lantern festival at the Waldorf school in Greenwich but with big button being sick in the night, little button sleeping the effort to go all the way there just seemed like an effort too much. Another weekend of not doing very much. I really need them as we usually have such busy weeks. To gather my thoughts and do little tasks that otherwise is clinging to my mind. I am trying to be more organized and do stuff as they crop up. this must be the way forward in clearing the decks to allow for more creativity.

kale and cake

wow, the autumn is passing so quickly. I love this season but i also find it's much too short until the dark grey winter is upon us. We went to our alottment this morning and picked the last of the pumpkins, found a lonely red onion. The calendula seems to have had a last wave of bloom or it might just seem like that as everyting around them is wilting and going brown. There has been frost so the kale is good to pick now. I love kale. Especially kale salad from Feeding the Whole Family I really like this book and have used it a lot although i find the ingredients a bit confusing at times. But I think it's mainly because the American English uses different names and when I am not sure immediately and think i have to go look something up i kind of give up.

Coming home with veggie bounty like that makes me feel happy. Happiness can be that simple.
I'll save the pumpkin for later, cook the kale for supper together with chickpeas that are simmering right this moment. Curry perhaps? When the two Buttons wake up I'll make some cake with them as we need it. Having had a very hectic weekend, having a few slow days like this are just perfect and I try and relish every moment. Just being together is fine.

on the move

little Clara has finally found her groove....she is so happy to be able to move about and is getting into all corners, rearranging the book shelves, tearing off leaves from the house plants, and of course getting her little hands on the waste paper basket. A treasure trove for a ten month old baby! Hurrah!

Sweden

after a long absence I will now try and keep up with my blog. I read and get inspired by so many other lovely blogs, so I felt I also wanted to share and not always leave anonymous comments. .And also, my family can now keep up with our day to day activities. My big button A at least loves looking at pictures of himself. so let's start with that.


we spent a few weeks in Sweden with mormor and morfar in July. Outside my parents house, cows were grazing in the meadow. We would come out in the morning, sit on the steps having our breakfast watching the cows. A was absolutely mesmerized by them, waiting for them to do a big poo, obviously a very interesting topic these days. and that was it, i could sit in the sunshine enjoying my coffee, get my knitting out or whatever i felt like doing and he would just run up and down the fence watching ,waiting and talking. (to the cows) for absolutely ages. imagine if we had cows grazing down our road. some of my craft projects might get finished.

in September it was no different.....

another view was horses in the fields beyond my parents house, and the cars and tractors driving past. Who needs a soft play centre...

sunday

last sunday we caught the train down to Kent for some walking in the sunshine. Alvar had a quick nap in the backpack carrier and then had a good run around through fields and forests picking up all sorts of interesting bits and bobs, a knobbly stick, dried leaves, rabbit droppings, unknown mushrooms etc etc...

whoosh up in the air...

and back down again...

then back home for some supper. As a true Swede (in my opinon) I had a guilt free day by being outside on a sunny day and taking adavantage of the rare rays....

dribblebibs

to stop Alvar's clothes below his neck from constantly being damp, he usually wears kerchiefs, which makes him look either like a cowboy or a folk singer. Not sure which one i am least fond of. This fabric, which i got in Sweden at Skroten, makes him look more like the cheeky little boy he his. Thanks Gekko for helping me getting the pattern right! I just love this cyber sewing community!

nonchalant mum

found these gorgeous photos on the Cookie Magazine website...It's Carina Schott's house outside NYC. She is the founder of Nonchalant Mum http://www.nonchalantmom.com/ a fab online kids clothes shop pulling together a lot of cool brands including a lot from Scandinavia. She is also writer of a blog which talk about a lot of things that interest me right now, kids, family, food and natural and alternative living. http://nonchalantmom.blogspot.com/

I just love the light, easy scandinavian feel of her house. The Josef Frank fabric behind her and the happy bright rug from Ikea ( we have the same one in red). And don't get me started on the sand pit. Alvar would go NUTS for it....

winter

A New Year walk along the very cold and crisp sea in Lund, Sweden. Blue skies and sunshine. Then home to a warm mug of cocoa and cinnamon rolls.