A quiet hysterical Christmas exhibition in the spirit of recycling. This description sounds intriguing and so full of contradictions that I simply had to see it when I was in Leksand to visit the Christmas market with my penpal Lizzy. I especially like the word HYSTERICAL. In fact, this is never something we feel when we experience a Swedish Christmas. Christmas here is cozy and very traditional, but mostly not different. To our surprise, the title says it all. It […]
Last Sunday afternoon, I wondered what I was doing in my car alone, finding my way on an endless slippery road to the north. But I remembered that I did it for something very special and something I love and have been interested in since I moved here: artisan food. This might sound boring, but ‘Making ice cream and sorbets’ doesn’t, right? I admit it sounds a little weird, that was what I was also thinking when I started my […]
Winter has arrived! It snowed and it’s freezing. As always since we live in Sweden: it’s happening again: snow fever. Where are my (Mireille) ice skates or cross-country skies I want to get out! Well, too early for ice skating, but the first cross-country trails are open. Just in time to have a real technique training by Tynell Activity in Falun just before the real winter starts. Well, I tried my skies several times on the lake and in the […]
Although today it is snowy and still above zero, the freezing temperatures are in sight! The Swedish weather forecasters predict mid-November will be colder for Dalarna. Being a Dutchie, I automatically feel all excited: when can we skate again! In Holland, everyone gets Skatingfever when a severe cold is predicted (mostly in February) because it’s rare. This stays in your blood. We even have a word for it in Holland: Elfstedenkoorts, after the Elfstedentocht. The Elfstedentocht is a speed skating […]
Fall break: super boring? No, it’s super cool! If you know how and where to spend it. Walk, play, go out and explore! Fill your days with special fall-activities you’ll find all over the place during your break and then hygge in our Fähus or Hölada. From spooky activities in Siljans theme parks to an outdoor cinema, a campfire or exploring our autumn forests or if it’s raining cats and dogs, do experiments in a laboratory of the Falun mine, […]
A cozy and spacious house, a retreat from the world! A fireplace, lots of candles, a well equipped kitchen, a nice breakfast, boardgames, books, magazines, books and movies, nice beds and lots of forest. All these make you feel hygge (hue-gah). Hygge is the Danish ritual of enjoying life’s simple pleasures. Friends. Family. Graciousness. Contentment. Good feelings. A warm glow. It’s a feeling or mood that comes taking genuine pleasure in making ordinary, every day things more meaningful, beautiful or […]
September: In the early morning, it’s cold and mysteriously foggy. During the daytime, it’s nice and warm. Leaves change colour, blueberries and lingonberries are everywhere, and huge mushrooms pop up. In the evening, the temperature drops to 2 degrees sometimes, and it’s time to light the fire. We love September. It’s also a busy month, in which we can and have to finish some things outside we couldn’t do when we had many guests. No problem in this fine weather. […]
For some people there’s no holiday without some art. My cousin is such a person. So we went to the Zornmuseum in Mora. A nice little museum with beautiful paintings by Anders Zorn (1860-1920). Zorn is one of Sweden’s most famous artist, from Mora. No one has painted water, created portraits with the same bravoure and reproduced women as sensual as Zorn. You can see some reproductions of his work in the Hölada and Fähus. Unique and really different are […]
What has the start of new school year, the kitchen garden and our favorite noodle-dish to do with each other? Well, the end of the summer: more time to spend in the garden, time to harvest and put it all in delicious meals. And the dish we are the most happy with, is our Chinese noodle dish (You can find the recipe under recipes to share)! For me as a ‘kitchen garden beginner’ it was real fun to find out […]