Swedish Advent

Hi everyone, it's already the second Advent!  I can't believe it.  My mother was here all week from Sweden.  It was a lovely week with play-watching (little K was in "It's a Wonderful Life"), nice dinners out, and a musical topper of songs from World Way II sung in a quavery voice by a sweet woman accompanied by a wonderful pianist.  I am so glad that the weather improved from falling down rain to a bright sunshiny day.  In Sweden second advent is "celebrated" by lighting the second candle in a row of four.  It's basically the countdown to Christmas, and the Christmas markets are in full splendour, glögg is quaffed, and people start to bake for Lucia. I hope that you are finding this time of year special and not too stressful.

I, of course, made life hard for myself by planning a Christmas party/art show on the 15th which coincedes with my last day of work before the holiday break.  That's how I roll!  😸 But Mamma has helped me prepare my Swedish bits n' bobs that are for sale, and hopefully handsome hubby will get around to framing my art before the big day.  Lucky to have the help. Have a wonderul 2nd Advent!

(one of the songs she sang at last night's performance, "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square")

Living Lagom & Charity Begins at Home

Well let's just say out right that your idea of lagom may be very different than mine.  Lagom means "just enough" - not too much, and not too little.   It's a Swedish word and although there can be negative connotations such as "who do they think they are over-reaching and trying to be better than us?", I like to remind myself of the positives of trying to do with less and living a balanced life.  So how is one to apply this rule of thumb during the hectic holiday season?

Well like I said our ideas of "just right" may be very different, and I appreciate that, but for the sake of blogging and thinking out loud I have to say the things that I can't do without during the holidays (in no particular order) are:

• warmth - glögg, fire, blanket  For recipe check out glögg!
• fun - friends, family, good food
• gratitude - presents, cards, and singing carols

My family is pretty well set, we have friends to celebrate with, presents to pass out, and food to share.  We are very lucky and for that I am thankful!  So in the spirit of the holidays this year we decided to pick a charity and work on helping others get some of those things in their lives too. We are going to chose a charity that my children and I can help in our spare time this year, and one that will show the kids how they've helped others.

We have been talking about this around the dinner table recently, and I have some ideas, but I'd love your thoughts too. What do you like to do around the holidays for others either locally or abroad? Let me know, and in the meantime, have a Happy and Lagom Holiday Season!