It is certainly turning into the frozen north here, with daytime highs of -17 (minus 17 C ), and the nights so cold I just don't want to know, our ‘winter wonderland’ is certainly white and frosty.
Thankfully we have a lovely warm house with lots of firewood, central heating with under floor heat, and of course the sauna to warm us after walking Sally. Just a trip to the mailbox involves a coat and boots, and we have had to dig ourselves out of the house a few times already. The snow builds on the roof, and drops on to the doorstep, you do not want to be standing there when it happens either, instant snowman!
The thick frost that covers everything from the trees and fences to the sheep in the paddocks is amazing. The whole picture looks like it’s shot in sepia, only the traditionally painted houses in red and yellow add some colour to this beautiful scene.
I have added some photos, but it’s hard to get the whole picture, it’s far more breathtaking in person.
Another interesting fact about our location is our distance from the Arctic Circle. Just to put it in perspective for all our readers who are not so familiar with this area. We are the same distance from the Arctic Circle, as the distance from our home in Caloundra to Renee’s in Bowral just south of Sydney, or about 1200 km.
It really is a 'winter wonderland' here. We have had snow falling constantly for the past 3 days, and as you can see from the pics above, it is just like the Christmas cards.
A few days ago we ventured into the forest and cut our Christmas tree down, it's surprising how they seem just the right size standing out there amongst all the other trees, but when you try to get them inside the house they seem to have doubled in size.
But after a few attempts and some judicious branch trimming it sits in pride of place in the living room, it's candle shaped lights glowing through the branches.
Sally, the lovely flat coated retriever we are caring for here just loves the snow, she buries here whole face into the fluffy white stuff, and looks like she has a white beard as she hurtles full speed at you. The two cats Flecka and Swartz spend most of their time in their heated room in the barn, and Ebba the rabbit just enjoys her own space and of course, the leftover veges.
We have loaded up with groceries and DVD's as they are predicting more snow then colder weather for the next few days, but with our own indoor sauna and lots of firewood we will be warm and cozy.<
Another one of those countries that we hadn’t originally planned on seeing, not that we had much of a plan when we left Australia if you come to think of it.
However the opportunity arose for another house-pet sit. This time in a lovely rural area in the mid southern area of Sweden, while the owners and their two young sons go backpacking in India.
We have a friendly flat coated retriever called Sally, two fat cats ? and ?, and largest rabbit we have ever seen, called Ebba to care for.
This proves you can’t plan for everything:
On the night before Roland, Katarina and the boys were due to leave for India, Katarina fell ill and was taken to hospital where she spent the next three days. But this meant that their trip to India had to be cancelled, and at the moment we are not sure what will happen here.
The Tomtepromenaden is a walk held every Christmas in this Swedish village of Lerdala. Katarina had told us about various local festivities when we arrived, and this was one we didn’t want to miss. With poor Katarina still in hospital, Roland and boys came as well, and we all has a great time, walking on a lit trail through the local forest (even though it was only 4.30pm, it was totally dark). There were questions to answer along the route as well as a sort of bingo game, and the adults and children were all very caught up trying to win the prizes for correct answers and numbers all marked off that were awarded at the finish. The Glögg stops were busy, (Glögg is a traditional hot alcoholic drink for Xmas) as well as cooked sausages, although sadly they were all gone by the time we arrived. Many of the local community were involved, some dressed as Lucia’s, girls dressed in white, wearing a crown of candles and singing Christmas songs, or Nisse (Santa’s helpers), or handing out candy and prizes to the kids. We won a prize in the raffle and after the combination of the Glögg and the couple kilometre walk in the forest, we went home, and we all slept very well that night.
THE TRIP IS BACK ON
Katarina is feeling a little better, but not well enough to travel to a place like India, so today they packed up and drove to Hamburg, Germany to visit with Roland’s family and to see about last minute trips to somewhere sunny and warm.
SANTA LUCIA DAY
Another lovely tradition here is Scandinavia is the Santa Lucia Festival.
On the morning of the thirteenth of December,the longest night of the year, the strains of "Santa Lucia" are heard everywhere in Sweden as the white-robed maiden comes out of the night with her burning crown of candies dispelling the darkness. In honor of Saint Lucia's martyrdom, it has long been the custom to donate money on Lucia Day to institutions working for the blind.
LAURA ARRIVING
Laura has finished her uni exams and is coming for a visit, we are all very excited to see her and to show her around.
We have a few things planned to do; cut our Christmas Tree, visit some Christmas markets and hopefully see some Elk in their natural habitat.
This is a weblog to record the travels and adventures of Brian and Julie. We live on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland at present.
This year we are off on our Big Adventure. Leaving in April 2008 we plan to travel. No definite plans at the moment. Just off to see the world after working too hard for too long.
