christmas holiday was so nice this year.

i think i took polaroids..

i cant remember..

i left them in sweden..

anyway..

it was all so so great!

happy holidays!

The town of stavanger doesnt have snow... but i can see snow on far away mountain tops...so all is good! and there are gingerbreads and swedish glögg in norway, so all is good, too! i have only decorated my apartment with clementines, because im going to sweden over the holidays, so no point. Ive bought norwegian wool called "viking" to make wrist warmers for when i work.

oh christmas tree is looking fab this year.

holiday polaroids.....

moroccan shoes ftw! christmas elves!

ginger breads..and winter solstice.

Horses, mooses and bears, and lots of hearts..
and a couple of angels, too.
 Winter solstice is behind us now
so here's to longer brighter days! at last! i've been waiting for the turn!

about that holiday music...

The only holiday music i can stand is Hanson's CD "snowed in".. thats all i've listened to every Jul since the 90's and this special below is just No december holiday season is complete without Hanson..

a holiday date with granny.

I've decided that December is one long holiday. It's just better that way. On our date, we made toffee. Mostly because we've never done it before, they are so cute with paper on them, and remind me of Pippi. Granny was such a trooper cutting all that paper while i wrapped them. I still have to make ginger breads.... and lots of other things. Surviving winter darkness and have a good time all the time.

happy holidays..

god jul!
thanks for visiting my blog!

this week i am going on a ski trip. in the summer i hike in the fells. and during winter, i ski. the fells are very healthy for humans. snow and nice weather is one of my favorite things. internet will have to wait until the new year.

gingerbreads for december

film: Ilford HP5 iso 400

julblot and julpynt

happy eve!

december blot.. with snow!

{A}ll of november has been warm.. meaning it's been raining(!), and i've been really sick with flu half of december, so my jul spirit only kicked in this weekend. jul without snow, is simply not jul, but snow is slowly coming. even the horses are upset.

i made gingerbreads this past weekend and i've started early on the beverages, elf porridge and exotic spices. usually there is blot all of december, it's a little stressful to only have this one last week to do everything. when december is over, the blot ends!

Darkest day of the year is on thursday(!). I have so many candles lit. its just very depressing(for a little while) to go to sleep in the dark and wake up in the dark. luckily its only for a few weeks. but where there is darkness there is also light, and it's coming back now! happy winter solstice!

my christmas tree..

{M}y favorite christmas tree is a good old fashioned real green tree in early 20'th century ornaments.. but this is my frosty stardust tree... you know.. in the "if i were a christmas tree" category lol. I finished decorating it today. it has all my good things on it.. favorite music in gingerbread, candy canes, birds, vintage family ornaments, ornaments given to me, and photo hearts. this is what it looked like last year.

Happy holidays
&
Heartagram kisses!

24th tomorrow!

god jul! the most cosy day of all the holiday days is tomorrow..
Julafton!have a good one! mine will circle around hot cocoa.

me, mom and sister went christmas shopping today downtown, something we do every year together on the 23rd, it was cold outside (-10 F) and still i burned my lip on hot cocoa. but it was worth it.

*i love this photo. it's of my mom and tomten in östersund. she and her grandmother were out christmas shopping. i've made lots of copies of this photo in case it gets lost and i always take it out for this time of the year.

christmas tree!

some gingerbreads,
instax mini's,
vintage decorations
and candy canes.

well, obviously!
happy holidays and
heartagram kisses!

pepparkakor.

i made gingerbreads yesterday with no imagination at all. some years i have had no christmas spirit what so ever.. it is always so different from year to year. this year it came to me really early and i started christmas at the end of november. i've already put the tree up. glad i did all of that cuz this month is turning out to be superbusy with university/work. also i like the idea of christmas the whole month. (better pics of my dear tree will come soon!). it is snowing, and i'm attending a small christmas party this evening. it is december. *drinking cold punsch and listening to talented friends jamming on music instruments. loved it.

one of the many things i love about december..

we went to the christmas market at the museum today.
we've never been there so we thought we needed to go.
i loved last years little christmas market i was at in stockholm.
december is such a cosy month.. with all the cloudberry jams, red apples and
"aurora" and "midwinter" warm drinks. i'm very happy that the christmas holiday isn't all about shopping and plastic things. and instead about.. food! a shopping mall with thousands of lights make me very stressed and unhappy.

*i'm still trying to figure out how this instax mini camera works.
it was not that dark outside..

winter photos from the market.

advent.

december! the month of candles and gingerbreads.
4 weeks left until jul! 4 weeks until the days get
longer again. the only good thing about this constant
darkness outside is that i can fika all the time.

green and red isn't.

christmas is over. i loved my WHITE tree. i surprised myself this time. it was beyond fabulous. i like the frosty feeling. taking it down was hard. now i can't wait for next christmas.