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Joy On Purpose: The Fox Diaries

Don't Forget!

Today is the last day to enter the Little Acorn Learning Giveaway. It's open until 8 pm EST tonight. Please leave your comment here.

 

Now back to our regularly scheduled blog post.......

A little over a year ago I looked out my office window to see a mother fox with her 4 baby fox kits. It was one of the most magical moments of my life. I immediately got my camera and spent the next several weeks in my front yard and garden observing and interacting with these gorgeous creatures.

 

Each Thursday I shared a little bit of each week and what it had held here on the blog under the category of "The Fox Diaries". The foxes didn't return this year and I still look out my window everyday expecting to see them.

 

They're with me though in another way.

 I haven't been as active as usual on my blog and it's for a good reason. I've been writing and editing my new book "The Fox Diaries: The year the foxes came to our garden" published by Audrey Press.

 

It has been a life long dream to write a book and the one thing I realized while putting this whole project together is that dreams don't just arrive at your front door, you have to create them intentionally. It's been the creating process that has meant the most to me and has brought me the most joy. To see a word document coming back from the editor looking like "real book text". To wake up one morning and see the book cover in my in-box and realize, "Oh,....this is really happening". 

 

There have been moments when I've lost complete objectivity, like the first time I saw the actual book design, I held my breath through the whole book look. Or what about the day a large envelope came to my door. Not expecting a package I couldn't think what it was, and it was the proofs of the book. I stopped breathing then too.

 

 The next package to come were the actual book pages. Soon, my book will be ready and soon....I'll have so much more to show you.

 

This is where I thank each and everyone of you who stop by this blog to say "Hej". It was because of your love of our foxes which gave me the courage to give this a go and it's been worth every living second.

 

 Here's to Joy! What have you always wanted to do or create?

The Way We Continued

First let me wish all of you a gott nytt år (happy new year). Since I last visited this space the great holiday of Jul descended upon us and then there was after Jul better known as "God Forsätning". Yes on December 26th the Swedes continue to party or shop more like it through another day of celebrating. Everywhere one goes you can hear "God Forsätning".

 

For us we are still "continuing". With all of the children home from school and work, it's like this holiday season will never end. Here's a little recap:

Jul was at my house. We had a full Julbord (Christmas table) both on and off the table. It just depended where you wanted to fill up your plate. 

 

The big news of the day however was the snow. That's right, we had a huge snow storm which let us play outside in snow mode for days.

 
We've enjoyed our time together and many people in this family are sad that school is starting again today and the late nights of games and movies must come to an end. All of us here are wishing you a very splendid new year. Thank you for stopping by this space and for sharing our love of Sweden with us. Without you, we simply could not be. Tack så mycket.

 

God Jul

Tomorrow is our big day of celebrating but before I get really busy in the kitchen and having fun with family friends, I wanted to wish all of you a very happy holiday season. It's such a pleasure meeting all of our readers near and far. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for stopping by to visit often. God Jul och Gott Nytt år.

 

The Candle Guardian

Greetings friends. Yesterday I took a completely harrowing journey. I had to go to Nashville to pick up Mimi from school. I had cancelled the same trip the day before because of an ice storm. We weathered ice, wind, rain, sleet, oh yes and let's not forget the pea soup fog, all hundred miles of it.  7 hours later we arrived home with a very happy Mimi. She immediately got to cooking and this momma went horizontal in the bed.

Which leads me to today's story. As I was trying to decompress from the Polar Express journey, I was surfing the net to watch everyone's St. Lucia videos. In every video there was the silent hand and arm that would steady the real lit candles of little children. This brought back a lovely memory of my mother who served as the "candle guardian" for my entire childhood.  One of my favorite St. Lucia processions is from one the most cherished music schools in Stockholm, Adolf Frederik's Music Classes. Please watch this lovely St. Lucia procession ( only 3 minutes), and keep your eye on the silouetted hand and arm that makes loving adjustments to singing children's candles as they head out of the Gustav Vasa Church. Here's in honor of all the candle guardians that gently guide us.  I wish all of you a happy weekend.

 

 

Greetings friends. Yesterday I took a completely harrowing journey. I had to go to Nashville to pick up Mimi from school. I had cancelled the same trip the day before because of an ice storm. We weathered ice, wind, rain, sleet, oh yes and let's not forget the pea soup fog, all hundred miles of it.  7 hours later we arrived home with a very happy Mimi. She immediately got to cooking and this momma went horizontal in the bed.

Which leads me to today's story. As I was trying to decompress from the Polar Express journey, I was surfing the net to watch everyone's St. Lucia videos. In every video there was the silent hand and arm that would steady the real lit candles of little children. This brought back a lovely memory of my mother who served as the "candle guardian" for my entire childhood.  One of my favorite St. Lucia processions is from one the most cherished music schools in Stockholm, Adolf Frederik's Music Classes. Please watch this lovely St. Lucia procession ( only 3 minutes), and keep your eye on the silouetted hand and arm that makes loving adjustments to singing children's candles as they head out of the Gustav Vasa Church. Here's in honor of all the candle guardians that gently guide us.  I wish all of you a happy weekend.

 

 

Glad St. Lucia

Ah it's so good to be back. My computer was broken all of last week and I really missed this space and all of you. Be sure I will come around visiting today.  First things first, however.  Last night we lit the advent star knowing that today is St. Lucia. St. Lucia in Sweden is one of the highlights of the holiday season and at my house it's not any different.

 
 

The day started early with a fresh fallen snow and I found myself in a familiar setting, my kitchen. With everyone coming over to celebrate we needed a fresh batch of lussekatter.

 
As the house filled with the aroma of saffron buns baking, I set the table for a real festive fika ( swedish word for coffee break).

 

As friends arrive and listen to the story of St. Lucia, it's time to get ready for our family St. Lucia procession.

 

 
With just a few more adjustments and placement of the crown, we are ready to begin.

 
With our big girls away, this years Lucia was lilla Mimi (little mimi). Also known as the "Littlest St. Lucia."  From the dining-room our procession begins.

 
and in through the kitchen...

 
and into the family room we sang the St. Lucia song happily.

 
As the songs went on and on and on......., one little St. Lucia got a little tired.

             

 
I bet you're wondering where is St. Lucia's attendants? Where are the starboys? Where are the tomte? Well......everyone is my house wants to be St. Lucia. As Georgie says, "It's Lucia Day, that means everyone gets to be Lucia." Indeed!

 

Is anyone hungry? There is a fine St. Lucia table set. Skål and Glad St. Lucia.

If you are really wanting to get in the mood, Swedish T.V. has a wonderful program every year. This year's presentation is from the city of växjö in the cathedral. It is in Swedish but you will not feel lost for a moment. The St. Lucia procession is the very first thing and then they move on to traditional Swedish Christmas songs. The entire program is almost an  hour long but the procession is the first few minutes. Enjoy!

 

If you are wanting to make some of these treats for yourself including how to make a St. Lucia crown, head on over to Rhythm of the Home.

Glad Första Advent

Hejsan everyone. Sunday saw the first of advent come which means the holiday spirit is upon us. At the top of each window we've placed a wooden starlight.

 

Along with illuminating the house, we have started baking in earnest , getting ready for all of the family and friends who will stop by. In two weeks it will be St. Lucia and we are expecting many this year. So, it's time to make our favorite saffron buns, lussekatter, in great supply. More on that later.

 

At this darkest time of year we are always looking for light. Today, I leave you with an excerpt of a beautiful advent poem by Nancy Foster which she wrote for her advent garden.

Deep Mid-winter drawing near,

Darkness in our Garden here ----

One small flame yet bravely burns

To show a path which ever turns.

 
 

Earth, please bear us as we go,

Seeking Light to send-a-glow,

Branches green and moss and fern,

Mark our path to trace each turn.

 

Martin Goose/ Mårtin Gås

The harvest has been put away and the days of darkness have arrived. We light our handmade lanterns and slowly walk around the garden. Although it is dark outside our lanterns remind us to bring the light and warmth inside during the darkest time of the year.

 

The sunlight fast is dwindling,

My little lamp needs kindling.

Its beam shines far in darkest night,

Dear Lantern, guard me with your light
~ from Autumn, Wynstones Press

Martin Goose is celebrated in Sweden. Though all of Sweden remembers this celebration, it is truly a celebration in Southern Sweden in the province of Skåne. Who is this Martin we are feasting ourselves over?

The Martin we are celebrating is the Bishop Martin of Tour,who before he became bishop was a heathen in the year 300 A.D.  Many countries in Europe as well as the Waldorf School tradition celebrate this holiday as Martimas.

 

The reason we associate geese with Martin is that when the church was trying to elect him as a Bishop he ran away and hid in a goose pen. The startled geese started honking and gave away his where abouts. Martin was so angry that he had all of the geese slaughtered. He couldn't let all of these good geese go to waste, so he held a feast and they ate them. Martin did become Bishop and the patron saint of Tours. 

In southern Sweden they celebrate by cooking a goose and eating the very famous black soup.

Because I was raised by a Swedish family living in the United States, Martin Goose was celebrated with a favorite dessert. It didn't make sense to have two large fowl meals within two weeks, Martin Goose and Thanksgiving,  so we were treated with stuffed apples after our lantern tour.

Stuffed Apples

 

• 6 firm apples
• 1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp of cinnamon
• 2 tbsp butter
• lemon juice

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degree F
2. Peel and scoop out the core of the apples. Be sure to soak the apples in cold water with a tbsp or so of lemon juice. This prevents them from turning brown.
3.       Mix together the chopped nuts, brown sugar, and cinnamon.
4. Melt the butter and add to the nut mixture, stirring well.
5. Drain the apples of water and stuff with the nut mixture.
6. Place in a well greased or pam oven dish.
7. Place in the oven for 1 hour. At the half hour mark, cover the dish with tin foil and bake for a half hour more.

This taste so great with whipped cream on top as well. Enjoy!!

Many Points of Light

The weather has turned cold and we are quickly finishing up the outdoor work of Autumn. The first saturday in November signifies the end of the Autumn period and the beginning of Winter and for some the beginning of the Alpine Ski season.

 It is also a day where we recognize the family members that have passed on by cleaning their graves and leaving a lit white candle or lantern. The entire cemetery glimmers with light and the beautiful colors and fragrance of heather wafts in the air.

 
All Saints Day phot by KurtQ/flickr

Last summer I was explaining this tradition to my youngest son "O" . While we were in När, I took  him to the cemetery to wash the graves of his ancestors. He was completely thrilled to find his great great grandparents as well as many other family members.

 

 

 
All clean.

När Parish church was built in the 12th century so it didn't surprise me when "O" asked,"so what happened to all of the other tombstones?" If one goes down the road a little bit away from the church there are three buildings which hold past tombstones of the church. On the island of Gotland there are 92 gothic cathedrals. Many of them built in the 12th century. It's so amazing to see their spires standing in the distance as you drive along the countryside.

Swedish Words:

Alla helgons Dag : All Saints Day

Kyrkogård: cemetary or graveyard.

Tvätta: to wash

Gravsten: gravestone

 

 

 

A New Import to Sweden

It's not a car,....or a cell phone but the famous vegetable of October, the pumpkin, known as pumpa in Swedish.

All over Sweden you can find stands with pumpkins and other members of the squash family, ready to be carved just like in the US.

 

We made a visit to the pumpkin patch ourselves. My children usually want to get many many pumkins, with the idea of making jack-o-lanterns which we can line up and down the stairs and driveway. Due to the very labor intensive activity of carving a pumpkin we just get one pumpkin for each kid. I must confess though, that I get a few extra pie pumpkins to can pumpkin pie filling for the November season.

So here's how you carve a pumpkin.

 

With a very sharp knife, cut off the top of the pumpkin. Put it aside for later because this will be your lid.

Here's the close up on that.

 

Next scoop out all of the gunk in the middle of the pumpkin. Put everything is a bowl because there are great pumpkin seeds mixed in with this gunk which are great for roasting. (More on that another day.)

 
Of course pumpkin carving always works a lot better when the family cat is checking up on things and helping out.

 

After the gunk is out of the pumpkin, draw a face or whatever image you want on the front of your pumpkin. With the same sharp knife cut it out. Here's a look at our afternoon's work.

 

Don't forget the giveaway over at A Place Like This. It ends today at 6 pm EST. Enjoy. Back on Thursday.

Today's Words:

Pumpa: Pumpkin

Pumpor: Pumpkins

Skär: To carve with a knife.

Vi skära pumporna: We carve the pumpkins.

A Visit with Pippi

As we were on way over to Sweden, my little "O" kept asking me, that since we were staying on a horse farm if it would be possible to have his very own horse to ride wherever he wanted. He had visions of riding into town to pick up some bread or just hanging out with friends.

For the life of me I couldn't figure out how he got these ideas in his head. Why would he think he could go riding a horse all over the place? Forget the fact that he's never ridden a horse in his life.

It wasn't until we visited a very special friend who harbors a horse in her living room that I figured out where he got the idea that Swedes are riding horses and living with them in their homes, as friends of course.

~Welcome to Ville Ville Kulla, the home of Pippi Longstockings.

Our friend Pippi. When I was young I use to put wire in my braids to make them look like this. If I would of had a Pippi wig it would have been my "look" for sure.

 

Ville Ville Kulla, home of Pippi Longstockings.

Footprints on the ceiling. My eldest daughter actually did this when she was younger. I kept asking her how she got her footprints on the ceiling. I later discovered that she had been doing handstands on her bed with her shoes on. I might had that she is a very tall girl.

Here it is.....the famous horse in the salon.

And some  indoor clotheslines.

   This house is filled with so many fun and imaginative things. I liked the way we got out of the house and that was down a very long slide.

I think our tree-house should have this exit strategy don't you?