Happy New Year 2010!

I have been listening to Vivaldi lately. I enjoy the oboe consertos especially. Well, oboe is a fantastic instrument. I have found a lovely version of RV 548 Largo, by Arcangelos Chamber Ensemble. The video I found is on the other hand not so good and makes me feel as if I´m into some sort of new-age-stuff;)

Today it´s New Year´s Eve. I´m going to welcome the new year with my husband at our friend´s home. I don´t make New Year´s resolutions, I make wishes and give thanks instead.
Next year I hope to finally complete a few tasks that for many or no reasons at all are (still) unfinished. I also hope to start running again. I hope not to be so sensitive. To gain a little more teflon (PTFE) onto my skin.
I´m thankful for my health. For all the love I receive. That I have a certain someone, who stands by me and loves me, even though I have a mosquitos patience and at times can be a bit of a challenge.

Thank you for all your kind comments, they truly make me happy and surprised. It has been a pleasure to follow your blogs and I look forward to reading more!

Above is a small door (from a broken cupboard) with an antique-glass bird made by my father. The flowers are from a french ornamental chandelier I have standing on the windowsill.


See you next year!

Slow

What I enjoy most when on holiday, is taking it slow and easy. Have breakfast for an hour. Make porridge, add blueberries, prepare coffee, heat milk, sqeeze oranges-juice, light candles, eat and enjoy. Then climb back to bed!

I´m listening to this song. It is terribly slow. I think it´s essential to change our tempo at times. I´m defenately no master of beeing slow. Nor am I famous for it. My husband sometimes calls me mosquito, as I have very short patience. And my inner tempo is very fast. But I´m learning. And the older I get, the more experience I get, the more I enjoy slow. As a child, the most common words from my parents was to slow down, think first, then do!
Because of my spontaneous behaviour, I have experienced much. Most of it good;)

Above are small lanterns in an old appletree.

I´m back but I´m still on holiday!

My christmas was scrabble, food (lots of it!), chocolate (lots!), book (McCall Smith´s The Good Husband of Zebra Drive - I so enjoy Mma Ramotswes adventures), tea (because of the book I had a constant craving for Rooibos), films (Ensemble, c´est tout and Juno), snow, love, dogs, music, sauna, late mornings, kisses, pastelcoloured flannel-pyjamas, wollen socks and even more scrabble ♥

N for Nina. N for Noël! N for Neige!

It´s soon time to leave, my father-in-law is coming to pick me and my sister-in-law up, and then we´ll drive for 1½hrs until we reach a wooden house in the countryside, where my husband, my mother-in-law and three funny loving dogs are waiting for us.
I already miss my husband. He´s been away since saturday, so it´s a bit silly really.

I wish everyone a Merry Christmas. Take care of yourselves.
Nina

Hidingplace

I´ve just made the bed with fresh bedlinen. Placed handmade candles in the black tole candlesticks I´ve purchaised from Butik Sophie.
I´m going to hide here under the covers and quilts and read read read until I´m travelling to my parents-in-law for the christmas festivities. I might get up for some food and drink, maybe for a little daily wash, but otherwise, this is where you´ll find me;)

Snow

When I woke up this morning, the air outside was filled with snow. It was snowing heavily and it looked like a snowstorm. After I had read the paper, I looked outside again, to find a perfect beautiful winterwonderland. The sun was out, all was white and fluffy. All seemed so quiet and peaceful.

Above is a nightgown that belonged to my grandmother. She never wore it. You can still see the foldings clearly. I believe it might have been a bit too revealing for her taste. The material is very flattering for a womans body, but it is very revealing also. I have it hanging on the wardrobe door.

Now I shall enjoy a large bowl of sallad. Then go for a walk in the beautiful landscape.

Ladies on tins

Ah, for once I´ve had plenty of time on my hands.

My sister-in-law came by this evening and I prepared dinner for us. We sat chatting on the sofa and suddenly realised time has flown by, she just caught the last bus home! We´ll meet in a few days again. I´m looking forward to that!

Above are my two ladies from the kitchen. Two old tins with fantastic images. The colours are beautiful.

Outside we have a beautiful winterwonderland with fluffy white snow. I hope it will last. From today on, the days are longer than the nights.

Good night!

These are a few of my favorite things

Candles!!!! I love candlelight.
I so enjoy late mornings in the weekend. To have breakfast, read the paper, then climb back under the covers to cuddle up next to a warm husband.

Above is my Astier de Villatte bowl with gingerbread. I also have a large jug by them. It´s a french company and had I "the money", I would probably have most of their stuff;) What I appreciate in their design is the playfullness, the rustic and delicate combined, the beautiful white finish.

The flowers I bought yesterday are fine. None of them have decided to give up and move to flower-heaven...so I´m still enjoying my huge bouquet.

Today I´m attending my godsons second birthday. Later in the evening it´s time to party. My dear friend N is turning 40 and they are throwing a huuuuge party for her at their home with lots of guests, food, drink, song and dance. It will be fun!

Less than a week...

...until christmas!

I have had a hectic week. Now I´m looking forward to sauna and dinner, some wine.

We had a couch-surfer staying on wednesday. It was very much fun. My husband prepared dinner, we drank lots of tea and had a few very interesting conversations. It was easy to be with him, easy to like him, there was no effort needed. In fact, I hope he will return. Välkommen åter Thomas!

Above is a large bunch of flowers I bought today on my way home, they were on sale, the lot cost me 1€! I´m not sure if they are frozen perhaps, or why they were on sale. They look fine to me. Curious to see how long they will last. I will be slightly dissapointed to find them dead by tomorrow:(

Butterflies

Previously in the autumn, I won a competition at Cafe Cartolina. THE blog I read daily. I won lots and lots of fantastic beautiful cards.
One of them I placed on my fridge. Along with my butterly magnets. Makes me smile everytime I see this collage. And I see it many times a day;)
It reads "You make my world a beautiful place" on the card. I believe it good to read words like that too.

And yes, I do have a thing for butterflies...

Weekend

Ah, wonderful saturday morning. Slept late, read the paper and climbed back to bed after breakfast.
I´ve had a fairly hectic week filled with meetings and parties and work and I saw a fantastic theatre play, John Irwing´s Kaikki isäni hotellit (The Hotel New Hampshire) at Kom-teatteri. I really enjoyed that piece. I enjoyed the book, well, John Irwing is a favorite author. Not THE favorite, but defenately a favorite.

On todays agenda there is cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping, baking gingercakes, origami...

Above is my hyacinth. I bought it under fairly funny conditions. I was inside a shop, looking for thread when I was suddenly hit by a very strong scent of hyacinth. But I could not see any flowers next to me, nor close to me. So there I was sniffing the air as I bumped into a saleswoman who also started sniffing the air. We spoke of how it in fact, at this particular spot, there is a very very strong scent of hyacinth - but where a hyacinth cannot be found! We laughed and then she took me to the flowerdepartment, as her guess was that my nose had made a decision that it was time to welcome a hyacinth into my home. So I purchaised a white hyacinth. Later I found red tulips and placed them all in an old french brioche form.

Royal recipes

Whilst in Gothenburg I stumbled upon this cookbook, The princesses cookbook from 1936! I´ve never been particularly interested in royalty, but thought this a fun slightly odd book...you see, I always thought princesses never had to cook;)

Hmmm, come to think of it, it´s not entirely true that I haven´t been interested in royalty. I saw a fantastic tv-series about the grand duchesses (the daughters) of Nicholas II of Russia, Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia. The series consisted of the family´s private films (Ah! Some of them handtinted) and letters they had written to each other. According to the letters, the daughters were witty and had sharp tongues. I especially fell for Olga´s witty comments. I loved the handtinted material. They all wore white fluffy dresses, large hats covered in flowers, they had tinted the flowers in their hats.
I was intrigued by the letters and my curiosity made me look for material to read. But all I found was fairly boring material. I know the history and the extremely tragic outcome for the tsar family. But I wasn´t looking for cold facts. I think I would like to read the letters in bookform.
Here is a picture of the pretty daughters.



This is a formal portrait of (from left to right): Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia Nikolaevna, 1906.

Need to dash again.
X

Windows

I have always loved windows. I am one of those who walk the streets looking up!
I remember as a child that I used to look up at windows, I especially recall the reflecting lights. Some windows had cold lights, some warm and inviting.
My grandmother used to say "If you ever need to ask for help, knock on the door of a house that have flowers in their windows. Those tend to be good people."
I had a wonderful long weekend in Gothenburg. Me and H enjoyed looooong breakfasts, looooong walks in Slottsskogen (the castleforest). We saw penguins (!) beeing fed, a burping seal and lots of greedy seagulls. I also saw a wonderful theatreplay called Ett guds barn at Masthuggsteatern. We walked along the beautiful streets, the houses and the facades, the windows, all very appealing.

Gothenburg

Tomorrow I´m leaving for Gothenburg. I´m visiting my friend H, who lives there. I am sooooo looking forward to this weekend.
I am fairly busy before my short holiday, so I thought I take the opportunity now, to wish you a nice enjoyable weekend.
This song brings a smile to my face and funny memories as me and H used to make the silliest choreography to this tune on the dance-floor.
Above is a classic acorn-vase from Svenskt tenn. I know, that is not acorn I have in my vase;)
I once saw a picture where they had several of these acorn-vases in a row on a windowshelf. it was so beautiful, so simple.

December

I am glad we have managed to leave November behind, it was a long and dark month. I believe the migratory birds have more sense than the rest of us - it would be wise to move south when winter comes!
But as I cannot escape darkness to a southern location, I better try make everyday life enjoyable, despite darkness;) Listen to good music, lit candles, eat lots of vegetables and fruit.
Right now I´m listening to Sade.

Above are pics from our hall/ entrence. A little drama.