Packing Up Christmas

 

On Wednesday, between turns to the laundry room in the basement, I also got some of my boxes for Christmas ornaments from my storage room up to the flat, and got started on gradually packing up Christmas. The first thing I did was to fit this little wooden tree and its tiny ornaments back in the right compartments - which is in itself like laying a puzzle...  

Next to be packed up were all the various Santas/gnomes spread out all over the flat. All too often I forget one or two, so I left that box open for a couple of days before I finally shut the lid on it today. The ones dancing on my bathroom wall were the last to jump in this time...

(They used to belong to my mum, who used to have them in her kitchen.)

Yesterday I said goodnight to all the angels and tucked those in; and today I've packed up the Nativity scene on the shelf in my study. (Cf post from 14 December.) The normal residents on that shelf have now reclaimed their usual places. (Only leightweight objects can be put on that shelf as it's not all that securely fastened to the wall...)

The watercolour underneath was painted by me 30 years ago. I seem to recall that I copied it "freehand" (not sketching first but just painting) from a photo in a magazine - maybe an advertisment. The 1990s was a period of my life when I also participated in various water colour classes now and then. (A major reason I've not kept it up is a later injury causing longlasting shoulder/arm  problems. I turned to photography instead, which became so much easier with digital cameras and computers - and blogging...)

My other little Christmas tree, electric candleholders and window stars still remain to be taken down over the next few days. Some textiles that I see more as "winter" than just Christmas will probably stay up for a while longer, though. (Like my red/white kitchen curtains, and some table runners.) 

The "traditional" date in Sweden to "throw out" Christmas is 13th January. Nowadays it varies a lot more. Back in my childhood, when most mothers were stay-at-home moms (housewives), it was common to have special children's parties on or around that date, before throwing out the Christmas tree. The Swedish word for it is julgransplundring, which literally means "plundering the Christmas tree". Originally, I think the tradition stems from a time when the Christmas trees were primarily decorated with edible things (cookies, apples, nuts etc). Not so common any more in the 1960s; but the party might still involve eating the gingerbread house, or the last of other cookies baked for the holidays. Games were played, and if there was room enough, one might dance around the tree. And it was also still part of the tradition that each child got a goodie bag to take home with them at the end of the party. 

Below is a photo of my very first such party. I'm the one to the right, with two bows in my hair. The year is 1960, I'm 5 years old and the photo is from the kitchen table in the house I had moved into some six months earlier with my parents. The three other girls lived in neighbouring houses, one next door and the two others across the street. Two of them a year older than me I think, and one a year younger. And it looks like my mum even baked a cake for the occasion.

Barbie's & Skipper's Christmas Adventure

Barbie and Skipper persuaded me to take them on a tour "around town" (i.e. the whole flat) to see the seasonal decorations and lights and temporary art shows (Christmas cards) - and meet some gnomes.  

 

(P.S. Skipper got to borrow Barbie's gym shoes for this walk.)

 

 

On this tour, it was also revealed how many "Santas" live in the little Santa's House...

Back home on their own shelf after the tour.

💖

"... Some day you will be old enough
to start reading fairy tales again..."

(From C.S. foreword to The Lion, the Witch and the
Wardrobe, dedicated to his goddaughter Lucy Barfield.)

Gnome Invasion

Yesterday was grey and wet, and I did not get out at all. While I was busy with doing laundry, Barbie and Skipper were allowed to decorate their Christmas tree at last...

This is where they live (a book shelf next to my TV). A new neighbour also moved in upstairs from them yesterday. Or rather, a regular seasonal guest... ;-)

Other corners of my flat were also invaded by gnomes yesterday:

This family occupies their usual space on a picture shelf above my sofa. (Knitted by my mum, once upon a time. She made lots of similar dolls for annual Christmas markets held by the local history society in the village where my parents lived in their senior years. But these were part of her own Christmas decorations at home.) 

1,2,3,4,5 little ones have also taken their usual places on the corner shelf in my kitchen. (The other items sit there all year round.)

Some prefer the top of my cooker hood.

Some are still hiding and won't come out until even closer to Christmas. How many do you think this tiny house may contain? (The answer will be revealed in a few days or so. Some  observant reader with extremely good memory might even remember - so I'm not making a competition of it...)

Weekend Reflections

 

After a very grey and rainy week, this morning offered a glimpse of blue skies, and I made use of that for a walk downtown for a few errands. And couldn't resist this perfect mirror image of this impressive mural that was painted back in the summer; seen from the park.

The Christmas tree in the main square. 

 

Display of Christmas trees inside a shopping mall.

 My favourite tea shop, situated at the main square. I've been buying my loose leaf teas there for as long as I've lived in this town - which will be 39 years in January. Today the small shop was crammed with people when I arrived, so I preferred to wait outside for a while, and then snapped this photo of one of their windows.

Yesterday I took this photo of an old wooden house closer to home, because of their display of an electric candle holder in each window upstairs, and a star in each window downstairs. The building is used for offices these days.

 Reflection photo from yesterday, all in subtle shades of November: grey, black and brown, with just a hint of some green grass on the ground... (We only had a few frosty days so far.)

Linking to Weekend Street/Reflections
 

Indoors Sunday

The sunny, cold and snowy spell seems to be over for now, and we're back to rain here. The best thing about today was that in the morning when I woke up I was convinced for a little while that it was Monday, but then realised that in fact it was only Sunday... Which made me feel like I suddenly got an "extra" day to just relax and do nothing! (Some people would probably say that that's what I do all week anyway - but what do they know...)

Back on Friday, between breakfast and lunch, I got started on the first phase of my winter decorations - which involves changing my kitchen curtains, and some other textiles.

 
My electric candles and star in the window won't be added until next weekend; but I put up the cord for the star while I was doing the curtains anyway.

My table runners and table cloths etc are kept together with the curtains in an old chest in the living room, so while I had that open, I also got some of those out - plus changed my "fake branches" in the vase on top of that chest when I closed it again. More to follow from next weekend onward... As long-term followers of this blog may remember, it is my habit to decorate a bit more for each Advent weekend, rather than put everything up at once. (Keeps me entertained rather than stressed!)

Indoors and Outdoors

 

 

Still icy outside, and I've hardly been out at all for several days. Yesterday a new layer of snow was added on top of the old ice; and today I woke up to the thermometer outside my window showing -17°C (1.4°F)... Brrr. With the sun shining, it warmed up a bit later on in the day, though; so in the afternoon I did venture out on a little expedition to the nearest small greengrocer's shop. (Normally 5 min walk away. Felt longer today, but I didn't actually time it.) - As explained in my previous post, not a whole lot of fruit and vegs allowed in my diet this week; but I needed more bananas, which are on the "approved" list...

At home, I've been packing up my Christmas decorations, to go down to the basement storage for another year. Started with gnomes and angels and whatnots over the weekend; and today finally replaced the electric candlesticks with my usual window lamps. I'll be keeping some red/winter textiles (like the kitchen curtains) for another month or so, though. (And my Christmas cards are still on display - I think I'll keep those up over next weekend.) 

 Kitchen candlestick back in its box...

The Christmas Tree is Up

 

My little Christmas tree is up again, in its usual place on top of an old chest of drawers in my living room. It is nearly always the last decoration I put up; still kind of following the tradition from my childhood, when the (real and full size) tree was not taken in and decorated until just before Christmas Eve... 

I have two different chains of led lights in it now; one with 10 led lights inside baubles of different colours, and another with 15 tiny plain led lights. (Both run on batteries.)

 

The trains were both "fun" gifts from me to my dad once upon a time, because he was a train enthusiast. (I found them when clearing out my parents house before we sold that.) 

The Fairy and Unicorn piece was a gift from a friend in England (some years ago).

Slippery Slopes, and Releasing the Gnomes

 

This week, outdoor temperatures have been varying between thawing and freezing - resulting in several treacherous spots like this one. Besides wearing studded boots, I also bring at least one of my trekking poles when going out... There have also been days when I've preferred to just stay in, though!

Wednesday was laundry day, which this time of year means indoor-day, as it's already dark outside by the time I'm finished in the afternoon. Outdoors I think it was thawing.

On Thursday the temperature kept firmly below freezing point. My studded boots are very good on ice, though, if I tread carefully. So as planned, I went out to post my Swedish Christmas cards, and to buy some fruit & vegs in one of the small neighbourhood convenience shops. Went back home with my purchases, and then went out on another round with some things for the recycling bins, and after that I also decided to prolong my walk with a turn around the old cemetery. To get there, I have to pass that slippery slope on the photo above. I stopped for a moment to consider my "strategy", and shift my trekking pole from one hand to the other (to be able to also hold on to the railing when I reached that). Just then, a young man wearing rain boots came sliding by, passing me in a hurry - and was very close to slipping and falling... He managed to regain his balance, though - and then to my astonishment  stopped, turned round and asked if I needed help! I said thanks, but I'll be all right with my walking stick... and he was gone with the wind, slip sliding away along the pavement... It "made my day" though, that he actually thought to stop and ask! But considering his footwear, I think I was really safer just trusting my own equipment... ;-)  I managed a walk around the cemetery as planned, without incidents. (On my way back, at the very same spot, I met yet another young man, more running than walking, and in similar unsuitable footwear, slipping and "almost" falling as well, though...) 

Yesterday the weather had switched to thaw, fog and light rain outside, and I did not set foot outside until just taking out some household waste to the bins at the corner of my building in the afternoon. (By then, nearly all the ice/slush on the street had melted away.)

Instead I devoted a couple of hours to baking gingerbread cookies (dough prepapred the previous day). Only a small batch, but it's worth it even just for the smell filling the flat on the day I bake them...

Later on, I unpacked my box of various Christmas 'gnomes' and Santa figurines that I got up from the storage room the other day. Most of them have more or less permanent spots around my flat - like this 'Santa family' knitted by my mother (and inherited by me). They have chosen a picture shelf on the wall behind my sofa for their Christmas celebrations (pushing a painting slightly to one side).

Another gnome has moved up one floor in a bookshelf next to my TV this year, to keep an eye on a very fancy pop-up Christmas card recently arrived from a penpal in England.

On the shelf below, two 'newcomers' are helping me out this year with the red wooden Christmas tree (of German design), and some last minute Christmas cards. (Barbie and Skipper, showing off some more 1960s clothes made by my mum.)

If they do a good job with that, they may also get to help me with the other tree in a few days - I've not quite decided yet... ;-)  (My 50 cm high tree with lights and various other decorations is traditionally the very last item to be put up, among my decorations.)