Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year 2012!!

It´s already time for saying Good-Bye to 2011!!
Each year disappears faster and faster,
and I get older and older.....
Well I know everyone get one year older each year,
it´s not just me!!

Wish all of you a Happy New Year!!

Christmas is here!!

Now the Christmas is here again!! I don´t think the last Christmas is far away!!
Sorry I haven´t translated the song that Agnetha Fältskog (ABBA) is singing,
but it´s about when the Christmas comes and knock on our doors and asks us if it may come into
our house and be there. It brings a tree from the wood ans lighting candles, and it will not forget
the poor man. It brings gifts in the basket and it will comfort those who are sad.
The best thing it brings is the Baby of Jesus who is the light of the world and who wants to be
our guest in our house and in our heart. Do you want that??

In Sweden we give one another Christmas presents and eat perhaps some Christmas food today on Christmas Eve. Tonight 23.00 (11.00 pm I think) I´m going to the church to sing Christmas songs
in the choir. Merry Christmas!! God Jul!!

The Christmas ham appertains to Christmas here.

And Janssons Frestelse ( "The Temptation of Jansson"?)
It´s potatoes, onion and anchovy.

Oranges with cloves in it hanging in the windows smells great!!



And of course you have to set up a Santa Claus (Tomte)!!

Tonight we´ll sing O Holy Night (by Adolphe Adam) in the choir.



Lucia!!

Today is Lucia in the calendar in Sweden! Since I was a child, it has been Lucia celebrations around the dates, but especially today of course. When the kids were small, I remember that I thought it was a tough day with several appears of the children in school, church and grandparents! But now when the kids are grown up, it feels really empty, not to go and watch them when they sing in their fine Lucia dresses and the lights in their hands! I miss it! I looked tonight on replay from the morning, when they showed a Lucia celebration of the Cathedral in Gothenburg! Very nice!

http://svtplay.se/t/123386/luciafirande_i_svt

This is from 1970 when I was Lucia in our church.
I remember I was so nervous when I should read:
"Jag hälsar er alla som förr mången gång
med ljus i min krona och stämningsfull sång.

Jag kommer när mörkast det är här i Norden, när allt synes dött och förfruset på jorden.

När ofta vi även i hjärtat förnimma, som vore där ej en endaste strimma.

Av strålande ljus och av levande hopp, som om isiga kylan där hejdat dess lopp.

Lucia symbol för det ljuset vill vara, som kommer från ovan, det evigt klara.

Som skingra vill dunklet i var mänskosjäl, som lysa och värma och allt göra väl.

Jag hälsar er alla som förr mången gång, med ljus i min krona och stämningsfull sång."

 



Helena was Lucia in the school 1997.



It´s Helena who is singing:

"När det lider mot jul."

(Soon it´s Christmas.)

Statue of Liberty as gingerbread.



The first snow this Winter.



At last the sun is shining again! A little easier now when I´m looking on the ground outside that has turned white with snow. The sun is not here many hours in December so you have to be quick to take out the camera if you want to take a picture of it! Soon the sun will be shining higher in the sky again.
Today in the afternoon it smelt wonderful in the house! Could not keep to bake some gingerbreads. There are so many tasty gingerbreads to buy in the stores, but there is always something special about gingerbread scent! Anyhow, there were three baking plates. Actually I bought a ready-made dough to bake with. The dough was good to eat too....



The sun is shining a little while.



Statue of Liberty as gingerbread....
Can´t help my thoughts are to you over there!!

Wish you felt the smell now!!

Violas in December.



Violas outside now.



It´s not so often there are violas outside in December here. Compared to last year with lots of snow

it´s a big difference!!

I´m so glad when there´s no snow at all!! It´s much easier to walk without the snow. I understand

that the kids perhaps want to have snow to play in when they are outside….

It´s early dark in the evenings now and when you have many lights in the windows you nearly feel like it´s cosy without the snow!!



The violas beside the twigs and the plastic
branches.



Not so easy to be a little viola in December!!



Five Santa Claus and they each have their light.



Children singing!!

The children in Sunday school is singing on the 1st Sunday of Advent.

                                                                                  

                                                                                 

1st Sunday of Advent!!

The Advent Candles is always something special to put in the windows!

At least I think so. It´s so dark outside at this time of the year so the candles and the

Advent Stars in the windows make the atmosphere much more nice!! Here it´s a tradition

to have an advent candle with 4 candles which you light up with matchsticks, a new each Sunday, until it´s Christmas. In our house it´s Advent without such candles!! Once when I was a child I scorched my hair on a candle flame when we were in our church on a Easter party!! I´m so afraid since then, so if I need to light up candles I use small candle lamps with tealights. Nowadays there´re even safer tealights with batteries!!

Well I wish you a really nice and peaceful Advent tomorrow and let us not forget that Advent means

"Coming of Jesus" who we´re waiting for!!

This wreath Victoria made to me several years ago but it´s still
beautiful I think. I know it has faded, but the needles is still left!!
I let it hang on the inside of the door.

Started with the hairdresser!!



I´ve got something white on my cheek.
Perhaps it´s the sun reflecting on my mobile
through the window?



Today it was time to go to the hairdresser again at A6 Center in Jönköping!! It's great to be able to sit down at the hairdresser and so she arranges so that I feel like a human being again! As I always say: I feel two years younger when I have

cut the hair!
Then I looked a little inside the H&M. I tried to find a dress. I'm not the one that like going in the dress whatsoever. Nowadays it's fashionable to go to "maternity clothes"! All other fits in it but not me. It usually takes several years after the new fashion that I start to think about it. I like jeans best.... but sometimes it is best to have something more beautiful. Well, I found two identical dresses but with different colors. One gray and one black. It's good enough!
After H&M, I was craving coffee so I bought coffee and a french roll and thought of taking the elevator to the second floor where tables and chairs are placed. Then it's a note on the door to the elevator where it says: Out of order. Just go back to the clerk and ask her to carry up my coffee tray on the stair!!
Then there was the grocery store before I phoned for the mobility service. Which afternoon there! All things were moved around to new locations in the hall so it was no use looking at my tab! Just picked with me what I thought I needed.....

A6 Center seems to be 25 years next year.



The elevator out of order!!



The stair up to the tables and chairs.

In the grocery store today they had blue orchids,
(Phalaenopsis). I´ve never seen blue phalaenopsis
before, just another blue orchid that´s called Vanda.



Outside the A6 Center waiting for the mobility service.
When the weather is like this with a blue sky,
it´s possible to be in November!!



Allt for Sverige.

We are watching a very nice TV program on Sunday evenings called ”Allt för Sverige” (All for Sweden).
Ten Americans with a strong urge to find their Swedish roots travel Sweden in this heartwarming and funny reality show. I wish you could see it in the Swedish channel there too. Here are some clips if you are able to se them.Or you can read about them in www.nordstjernan.com or in Facebook.
Watch as they compete against one another for the grand prize of meeting their long lost Swedish relatives.1.3 million Swedes tuned in to watch the Series Premiere of Allt för Sverige (that's a 28% share). Amazingly, that number matches the number of Swedes that emigrated to the US from the mid 1800's to early 1900's. I really tell you that there is running tears from my eyes watching the programs and of course I´m laughing too!!
http://svtplay.se/v/2561675/allt_for_sverige_-_landstigningen
http://svtplay.se/v/2586709/allt_for_sverige/allt_for_sverige_-_duvemala?sb%2Ck167322%2C1%2Cf%2C-1
http://svtplay.se/v/2564422/allt_for_sverige/allt_for_sverige_-_teaser?cb,a1364145,1,f,-1/pb,a1364142,1,f,-1/pl,v,,2586709/sb,k167322,1,f,-1
http://svtplay.se/v/2597170/allt_for_sverige/allt_for_sverige_-_oland_och_camping?cb,a1364145,1,f,-1/pb,a1364142,1,f,-1/pl,v,,2564422/sb,k167322,1,f,-1 
http://www.nordstjernan.com/news/people/3451/

http://www.whas11.com/community/Local-pastor-on-Swedish-reality-show-comes-face-to-face-with-his-past-133098118.html

111111.

Today it is a very simple date. It's 111111th. Not even we here in Sweden and you in the U.S. for example write the numbers in the date in different order today! Otherwise we use to mix up the numbers! I assume that many get married today or do something special just to remember this day. I do think there is something special about this day, but it was the same yesterday, one can say. "Each day is a rare gift, a shimmering possibility" as it says in a hymn. (In Swedish: "Var dag är en sällsam gåva, en skimrande möjlighet".) When my husband and I got married, we had that hymn, by the way. It suits every day...

The Mudcake Day.

One of my Facebook friends told me that it was The Mudcake Day today. I've never heard of that before. Have you ever? A month ago, on October 4, I heard on the radio that it was The Cinnamon rolls Day. I looked it up on google and found http://temadagar.se/kalender-2011/. There was the whole year's various theme days. Unfortunately, I read not so carefully, so I never saw that there was a day for Mudcake Day too. Luckily my daughter made a Mudcake yesterday, because of that we were celebrating my husband. But it was enough for the right day too!



Mudcake. Kladdkaka in Swedish.





 

Pedestrian street for anyone??



I wonder when politicians will understand that the cobblestone streets are worthless for the disabled? I don´t  sit in a wheelchair but I stumble often with my right leg! Shall not The Smithy street (Smedjegatan) in Jönköping be a pedestrian street? Make sure the right new pavement is used!!





Nostalgia.



Per Brahegymnasiet. (Per Brahe Upper Secondary School.)
The school has ancestry from the 17th Century.
Existently building is from 1913. Then it was called Jönköpings
Högre Allmänna Läroverk. (Senior general secondary school.)
1971 it was Per Brahegymnasiet.

 Today Tuesday, I was in Jönköping. When I went down to The East Main Street I was in The Brahe Park. It's not often I walk there, only in City Hall Park. In The Brahe park is the old Per Brahe Upper Secondary School where I went the years 1976-78. I get a nostalgic feeling when I walk next to it now. I nearly open the door and look in again. But if I did it the today's students would laugh at me! It's 33 years ago since I left there so it´s hardly likely that there is no teacher left that I know! But I don´t think there is so much redesigned of the building, so I'd probably recognize most of it. I'll see if I can´t take a chance sometime and look in there!!



Smålandsflickorna (The Småland Girls)
by Torwald Alef 1951.




Graduation.




The students walked to The City Hall Park.



The City Hall.

Accustomed to all works.

All old and worn breaks!
A plate on the stove has of course been replaced a few times, but now it's just one that works properly! To cook the dinner now take much longer time than usual! One of the other plates is broken completely, the largest and one small plate goes at half heat. Same with the stove, which also goes on half heat. Våge tried other plugs but it certainly had not to do with it either!! I hope the electrician may come soon and that he understands what is broken. Otherwise, you´ll have to spend money on a new ....
It's the same with my TV. Have not worked the last few weeks. But TV I can of course do without!!

Vacuum cleaner or Dammsugare???

Today on Thursday I vacuumed. What if I at least had had left my first vacuum cleaner, which I got from my becoming husband, when I graduated! I had just moved into an apartment in Jonkoping, so I really needed it! Then we used it many years of our marriage before it stopped working. There are no vacuum cleaners I have had after that, which have been as good as the first! I'll be honest and say that vacuuming is among the dullest and most ungrateful that I can do! Perhaps it's probably because it's so hard to vacuuming with my left hand only. I get so tired of it in my arm and in the shoulder too. So you see, I dust no more frequently than is necessary! And today it was really necessary! In all cases, so one can always walk around and think of something pleasant in the meantime! Then dropped my thoughts on another vacuum cleaner, "dammsugare"!  Who gave the cake that name I do not know, but I've heard that the name is because that on the inside of the cake can be many crumbs .... and crumbs may need to be vacuumed off the floor! Perhaps there are other reasons why the cake has got that name here. Sometimes called the punch-roll too! No matter what it is now called, it is good to eat with my coffee! Yum!!