Finding Christmas

Last weekend I found the Christmas spirit that I was missing.

This is how I found it.

On Saturday morning,

we went to Bolton Spring Farm to pick out our Christmas tree.

While my three men were picking through the options,

(this is a very important decision, you know)

I had a cup of hot apple cider in the sun.

Wow, I realize that you can actually see my eyes behind

these shades. I need to get a new pair to hide behind.

I also checked out the roping.

Beautiful!

I want it all, to wrap around everything inside and outside the house.

It smells and looks sooo good.

But I don't think we're getting any this year.

Didn't stop me from taking deep breaths of their fresh pine:y scent though.

My men decided on a beautiful Fraser Fir tree,

A lot shorter, and more appropriately sized this year.

We took it home, set it up, and turned on the Christmas music.

We had more hot cider and some warm cider donuts, and started decorating.

Strange though, after the cider and donuts where gone,

so where my little helpers?!?

I added some Christmas on top of my grandfather's old silver tray.

And added some more "tablescaping" and "mantelscaping".

(Those are words I just recently learned.

For all of you also new to these words, they basically mean

to tastefully accessorize and decorate tables and mantels.)

I'm not showing more than what you see above

so that you may not judge me.

Hehe!

Oh, and I also decorated the wreath (doorscaping???) that my husband got,

with ribbon and owls so that when UPS and FedEx delivers boxes,

they have something peaceful to look at

before they meet my Security and Customs representative.

My Boston Terror, Mr Sanders.

Then I had to go in to Boston to help out at the annual Swedish Yuletide.

On my way there,

I passed by Christmas Carolers singing beautifully on Newbury Street.

Wow, now THAT gave a spirit boost.

I had a big Peppermint Mocha at Starbucks

and shopped a bit at Cartier.

Not really, I am on the chubby side, while my wallet isn't,

so that was just in my imagination.

Outside the Prudential, I saw the biggest Christmas tree ornament EVER.

No pictures from the Yuletide, I was too busy working,

but on the way home I walked through Boston Common and saw its Christmas tree.

So I'll show you that instead.

And lastly, I watched people skating on Frog Pond

to the sound of Christmas tunes.

At the end of this day, I had found Christmas.

Good thing, cause it's really getting close now.

Facing my fear

Early this morning I faced my fear.

With some challenging digging out to do

I traded

This shovel above

For this intimidating and scary snow blower

It wasn't voluntary, I was kind of forced in to it.

My neighbor knocked on the door this morning as I was peacefully sipping my coffee and making breakfast for my boys. He said I better get out there soon, the snow was turning in to sleet and it was getting heavy.

I hurried to get dressed and went outside ready to shovel.

And there it was, the snow blower.

My neighbor had taken the cover off and started it.

"You know how to use this, right?"

"Ehh, not really."

"Here, I'll show you."

"But, I can shovel. I like to."

"It's getting heavy and the piles are high, you're better off with this. Come on, it's easy."

And so it happened. Four years I have managed to avoid this monster with various excuses.

For example, it's better environmentally to shovel.

And, the exercise and fresh air that comes with shoveling is great.

Plus, S always seem to find his way out there first (I wonder why) after heavy snow falls.

I could actually make the excuse-list fairly long. If I don't want to to something, I'm the master of excuses. But I won't bore you.

S is going to be so surprised when I tell him I used the snow blower. And so proud.

Unless... Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Or am I unusually suspicious?

I will be listening carefully to his reaction when I call him at work and tell him.

He couldn't have planned this with my neighbor.

He's not that clever, is he?

Winter Carnations

You gotta love carnations.

What other flower looks as fresh on its 12th day

as it did on the day you bought it?

What other flower will put up with an hour of play in the snow,

and then look just as happy after you put it back in its vase inside?

Delicate, yet durable and delightful.

Speaking of delightful, I learned this morning that I had received a silver medal in the photo contest that I blogged about last week. Considering all the fantastic entries that were submitted, it came as a very nice surprise, and it made my day.

And, speaking of making my day, all you people who read my blog, and continue to leave little (and sometimes big) nice, thoughtful, messages - you rock!

And if you don't leave a message, I know you are there - and you rock just as much!

Thank you to my readers!

Sowing Poppies in the Snow

No doubt, we're in the middle of winter here in New England. We're getting hit with snow storm after snow storm. Our surroundings are frosty white and beautiful. I'm enjoying it, and so are our children. They can't wait to get home from school to build caves, sled down the hill, and harvest new icicles.

I was reading a gardening magazine the other day when I learned something else that is fun that you can do in winter. You can sow seeds. On the snow.

Poppy seeds

I know it sounds crazy, at least I thought so, but as I read on and googled a little bit about it, I think it all makes sense.

• Poppy seeds thrive in the cold and moist spring weather.
• Poppy seeds need cold weather to germinate.
• The seeds don't need to be covered with dirt, uncovered seeds sprout best.
• Poppies are happiest if they can grow where planted.

And if you think about it, every spring you find plants in your garden that have self seeded. Many plants seem to reproduce just fine, without any pampering what so ever from us.

So here is what I will do. I will take the seeds that I have purchased, go outside (I might wait a month) and scatter them on the snow where I want them to grow, and... Done!

This kind of sowing is gonna suit me just fine. I have little patience for the lilliputian care that seedlings require, and further, I don't have much space in my house to engage in indoor seed starting.

Here are the poppies that I decided to go for.

Shirley Double Mix (Papaver Rhoeas)

Watermelon Heaven (Amapola Californiana)

Brilliant Red (Amapola Oriental)

Venus (Amapola Venus).

I guess the California Poppy actually belongs to a different botanical family than the rest of the poppies, but I decided to try it with the same method just for fun. At $2 an envelope I have little to loose and much to win if it works. To be honest, if even one flower shows up, it will make my day. Poppies are one of the few flowers (especially red ones) that make my heart beat a little extra fast.

If you want to read a little bit more on this topic, I found a blogger, Mr Brown Thumb in Chicago, that have successfully tried this.

Winter Reflections

Wanna se my roses?

Mee too.

But for now, these cold, fluff covered rose-hips and bare branches,

are all I have to look at.

They do provide about the only color (except for white)

in my garden right now, those little rose-hips.

Because the world is white today.

We got hit with a snow storm last night.

In twelve hours we got about a foot of snow, and more is falling.

There was even thunder and lightening, I find that strange in a snow storm.

Most schools and offices declared Snow Day.

(Woohooo, said my oldest who quickly kicked his fever aside

and went out playing with his brother.)

So today we're kicking back, shoveling (my husband), playing in the snow,

relaxing in front of the fire place and just enjoying an unexpected midweek day off.

I decided this was the perfect day to try to make an American treat called

maple syrup on snow.

You just boil maple syrup until it reaches soft ball stage

and then poor it onto a plate of snow.

Fun! And the kids sure enjoyed it.

A snack for the birds

Now that the ground is covered with a layer of snow,

I thought I'd put some food out for my winged friends.

An apple on a cinnamon stick, my thought was that

the bird could sit on the stick while it eats.

Cranberry and pop corn on a string that my oldest son made.

It might take some time before the birds discover the new food source,

but when they do, I hope they like it.

Winter has arrived and A challenge

Just before Christmas we got a light covering of snow, nice, but not enough. The kids, husband and I have been waiting for the real snow, you know, the snow that you can actually sled in and have fun in.

Well, last night it started snowing and it haven't stopped since. We are just a little bit excited to finally get the snow that appeared to be showing up in all places but here.

Now it really feels like winter break.

I was challenged by Lotta at Lottas Lund in Sweden to write a few things about my self. It has been fun following this challenge and learning a bit more about the people that otherwise don't write much about their personal life.

Here goes...

Four things that I have done today (from yesterday)

I had a very slow and relaxing morning for the first time in a week.

Did 4 ginormous loads of laundry, ironed, folded and put it away. Phew!

Had a very good lunch consisting of a slice of homemade bread topped with beet salad and swedish meatballs and with that I had some julmust.

Went out to get a few groceries and some firewood before the big promised snow storm.

Four TV shows that I like to watch

I start out with the news every morning, I don't know why though, because after an hour I still haven't learned any thing newsworthy except for the forecast.

Modern Family

Any reality show - and I'm not the least embarrassed to admit it.

Makeover shows, home, garden or people. Love to watch drab turn fab.

Four things I long for/looking forward to

Spring, always spring - love when birds wake me up early in the morning with their happy chirping, love when days get longer, and the landscape starts bursting with life.

Next trip to Sweden

Next visit from Sweden

Enjoying winter break with my family, sledding, skiing, watching movies in front of the fire place.

Four things on my wish list

A real camera

A cheap and direct flight between Boston and Stockholm. I know, that will never happen, but a girl can dream, right?

I wish I could do more and daydream less

More discipline when shopping for plants and clothes, and to only buy what I came for or really need.

Now, the last part of the challenge is to pass it on, so I pass the ball back over the Atlantic Ocean to Anna with her beautiful blog Goda Stunder Tokiga Ideer.

Icy Lighthouse

Take a look at this "cool" lighthouse on Lake Erie, Ohio.

Mother nature has turned it useless, casing it with layers of ice.

Beautiful, isn't it?

Picture from Mail Online

The tall tree

There is a big presence of Christmas in our house. We are baking, cooking, decorating, wrapping, crafting and listening to Christmas songs. There is just a little over a week left now until the two big days. Yes, you read correctly, the TWO big days. On the 24th we celebrate Swedish Christmas, and on the 25th, we celebrate American Christmas. Lucky kids of ours! They get two days of full-on family, food, presents, cosy and fun.

Now to something I've been procrastinating. Many of you asked to see my 11-foot Christmas tree, and, well, here it is...

Ta-da!

If you look close, you'll see that the star didn't make it in to the picture, and the top part of the tree is very sparsely decorated.

I've been putting this off because I don't think our tree is anything spectacular. I mean, it is nice, the tree itself is grand. But, it is kind of an average family tree. You know, it doesn't really have a theme and it isn't "glammy" like you see them in magazines, ours is more of the homy style. A product of our whole family. And that's the way I like it.

If I were to put a "theme" label on it, it would probably be called a "Scandinavian-Cottage-Nature-mixed-with-kids-crafts" theme.

Now to something more spectacular.

Last weekend my brother-in-law hosted a fantastic Holiday party.

They had no less than five! Christmas trees, and below are my two favorites that he had made.

Here is the pine cone tree. Large and small pine cones are glued on to cylinder shaped chicken wire.

Last, but not least, the rose tree. Hundreds of red and white roses mixed with baby's breath.

I'm afraid that the pictures don't do it justice, it was out-of-this-world beautiful.

So long, my friends, time to make some Swedish meatballs for Christmas Eve.