Merry And Enchanting.

Once again, the year has come almost full circle and the most enchanting week remains.

For me, this has been truly the most unforgettable twelve months I can ever remember. They brought my way substantial changes and immense personal growth, completely redefining my life and my beliefs.

I would like to thank you my dear friends, old and new, for the kindness and affection you showed me in your words and through your visits here in the past year. It has been my privilege to be allowed to share with you my personal experiences - both good and bad -  and I am looking forward to continue doing so when I return in January.

Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year

to all of you 

Xoxo

Zuzana

Pristine North Sea, Christmas Eve 2011

Countdown In Light.

This December is very special to me, as I get to experience the Holiday season for the first time in my new home.

I am looking forward to celebrate this enchanting occasion in the company of my new family, as we combine our traditions, creating something novel and something that is ours.

While most of my possessions are in storage, I made sure all the red boxes once stored in my old basement, with Christmas written on their side, were tucked away safely in our garage. Thus some of my Christmas decorations are now finding their way into our home.

Such as the familiar Calendar Candle. Christmas is simply not complete in any home I live in, unless I get to experience this simple daily pleasure in this ultimate month of the year.
Those of you who know me well know that starting the 1st of December, I burn a special candle, the one that has twenty four numbers printed on its side. I burn each number down for each day in December until I reach 24 - The Christmas Eve.

This year is no exception. I opted for a simple white candle, made of natural wax, so very fitting our austere home.
Thus yet again, the countdown to Christmas has begun and each day I will post a new picture of the burning candle on my side bar - turning this month into weeks of progressive photography in light.
And days of sweet anticipation.

Thanksgiving Bloom.

I wonder if any of you recall my lovely Christmas Cactus. It has been in my possession for almost four years. Each November, its inner clock triggers it into a lovely bloom - it never fails.

This year is no exception.
Adorned by numerous pink flowers, the plant seems to be thriving, having survived the relocation and the fact that half of it perished in the summer, due to my own neglect.

I have recently realized it is also called Thanksgiving Cactus, which I think is a name much better fitting this enchanting plant, blooming with uncanny precision during the eleventh month, signalling in no uncertain terms that the Holiday Season is once more about to begin.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends.

My Holiday Home.

Traditionally, I decorate my home for the Christmas Holidays around the 1st Advent, which usually takes place on a Sunday shortly after Thanksgiving.
I relish in that weekend, when everything begins for me. When the atmosphere of my home changes as if by magic and becomes saturated by colours and illumination. The sentiment of that weekend is always the same and has a transcending effect on my mood and my state of mind.

While I try to bring that spellbound feel of Christmas into my house,  I am always taken back in time, recalling the holiday home of my childhood, when my mother would deck the halls in red, green and golden. My love for aesthetics and the sense of creating a safe haven was instigated during those years, as I watched her transforming our home into a fairytale of light and colours.
It was without a doubt then that my love for this beautiful time in the year was born.

The Enchanted Bloom.

It is more than a decade since I returned back to Europe, but I still recall with joy and longing the American Thanksgiving celebration, which I took part in for so many years while living in North Carolina.
Today, even though I no longer observe this lovely tradition, I do get reminded of the approaching Christmas through one beuatiful, subtle sign.

Each year, as precisely as clockwork, my Christmas Cactus stands in full bloom around this time. Its stunning, almost flamboyant veil of pink flowers - cascading down like a magenta waterfall, adorning my bedroom window - signals in no uncertain terms that the onset of the enchanted and most beuatiful time of the year is indeed imminent.

Happy Thanksgiving my dear American friends.

The Day Before...

Thoday is somehow the best day of the Holidays. In Scandinavia and some other European countries, we celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve, on the 24th of December. Therefore the day before is a very magical day.

It is called "The Little Christmas Eve" and is often used to celebrate Christmas by families that spend the 24th somewhere else.
As a child, I recall the day before to be filled with uncanny excitement and great happiness.

My home is today receiving the last touches before the big day, as is the case in many other homes around. Everything seems to be ready; the house is decorated, the presents are wrapped or send and the scents filling the air are very traditional. I will spend tomorrow with very good friends of mine, a tradition I have carried out for many years by now.




I guess I was not all that bad this year either as the postman, all dressed in red, brought me packages with a big smile on his face the other day. As I gaze at the neat handwriting, that I so well recognize, I feel extremely blessed, lucky and very loved. Even though I will be missing my loved ones this Christmas, I am with them in my heart and soul.

Everything in my immediate surroundings is covered by snow. We received even more of it in yesterdays storm and the fluffy blanket is adding to the magic in an unusual way. I could not resist documenting the heavy snow fall in the short clip below, as it gives us our first White Christmas in many years.

Slowly the true Christmas spirit settles across my house and home, bringing back memories of times gone and stirring up hopes of wonderful times ahead.

The Scents Of The Holidays.

We all know first hand how scents can trigger our memory, reminding us of moments and places in our past. It only takes a trace of a particular fragrance to appear in the air, to transport us instantly in time and space. I am utterly fascinated by the means in which our memory is tied to our senses and the way it triggers the cognitive process.

There are many scents that are so very significant of the Christmas Holidays. The memories of celebrations in my past contain a plethora of fragrances, linked to perfumes, food, spices, places, people and nature.

The scent from the ten items below is to me so very representative of the Holidays:

Orange Peels.
Even though orange is an exotic fruit, growing in subtropical climate, which should evoke the feeling of summer and sea, the scent of its peel is a significant sign of the Holidays to me. Perhaps this is due to the fact that oranges, tangerines and clementines are most abundant in my part of the world throughout the winter.

Cinnamon.
A spice like cinnamon is today a common ingredient, used in drinks and meals year around. However, to me nothing say Holidays more than its scent. I use it in baking in December and when mixed with ginger and cloves, it is a rare combination that brings me back to the Christmas of my childhood in an instance, if I close my eyes...

Cloves.
Cloves is a spice that I recall fondly from my past. My mother used it extensively in all the Holiday baking and cooking. It was the main ingredient in almost everything that was prepared for Christmas in our home, from drinks to meals. There is a tradition of making decoration using oranges, that are pierced through the skin with cloves. Not only does this look beautiful but the orange and the cloves in combination spread such a delightful scent all over the house; a definite and traditional Christmas fragrance.

Saffron.
Saffron is used in Sweden in baking special roles for the 13th of December. This is the day which is celebrated as St.Lucia in Sweden. One of the most expensive spices on Earth, it is in use very sparsely through out the year, with exception for December.

Ginger.
I have already described how very traditional Gingerbread Cookies are during the Holiday season in Scandinavia. The scent of ginger in combination with other spices mentioned here is very significant during the Holidays.

Vanilla.
Vanilla is of course not only significant of Christmas. However, again, in combination with the above spices, the common scent of vanilla becomes that once a year experience that signifies the onset of the Holiday Season.

Mulled Wine.
Mulled Wine, or "gløgg", as it is called in Denmark, is a vital part of December in Scandinavia. This warm spicy drink has a scent like nothing else served during the rest of the year. It brings family and friends together and there is nothing like coming home after a late afternoon winter walk, to a house that is scented with the spices of Mulled Wine.

Spruce.
Spruce scent equals Christmas. I love the fragrance of the Tree as it is brought inside. It can bring me back decades in time, making the span of the years in my past so very relative...

Burning Sparkler.
In our family, on Christmas Eve, after the dinner, before opening the presents, we would burn sparkles on the tree. I loved watching each and everyone explode with tiny stars, as the lightning ball moved downwards, mesmerizing and enticing me... The burning created that once a year atmosphere of expectation and joy. As soon as the fire went out, the fragrance became so obvious through out the room; the most significant scent of Christmas that I know...

"Kapustnica".
This is our family Christmas soup. A traditional Slovak meal, which my mother would spend a whole day preparing before Christmas Eve. The scent is so very particular, consisting of sour cabbage, sausages, mushrooms and many spices that make up this traditional Christmas dish. No matter where I am, no matter how old I am, this scent will bring me in a nano-second right back to my childhood and the laughter and joy of the holidays in my past...

Gingerbread Cookies.

Gingerbread Cookies are very significant of the Holiday Season in Scandinavia. They exist in each of the countries of the North and to serve these during the month of December is an old tradition, that stretches back centuries.

The cookies carry different names depending on the country. In Denmark they are called "brunkager" or "peberkager", which translated something like "brown cookies" and "pepper cookies". The later does not signifies the presence of pepper in the dough, but an overall sense of a spicy cookie, with the prevealing taste of ginger, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom. Served preferably with Hot Spicy Wine (Mulled Wine) they are a common snack to be found in Scandinavian homes and workplaces throughout December, easily available in all supermarkets and grocery stores, in multitude of varieties.
It is also often a family tradition to bake gingerbread cookies for Christmas and it is very exciting particularly for children to participate in the preparation.

However, once the Holidays end, the gingerbread cookies likewise disappear. They are not available for purchase any longer, nor are they usually served ever again during any other time of the year.

The First Day.

This last Saturday in November starts at first like any other Saturday. In the early morning, when the world is still asleep, I wrap myself in my favorite blanket, slip into my big warm, pink home shoes and venture into the kitchen. Putting on a pot of coffee and placing frozen bread roles into the oven, I look out of the windows onto the dark landscape surrounding me.
I can feel something is about to change.

Unlike other Saturdays, I venture down into the basement. Batcat follows me curiously, as he too senses that the routine of our weekends is altered. I start pulling down boxes from the shelves. The ones stating "Christmas" with large, red letters on the side. I stack them all in one corner, then sit down on the floor, with Batcat watching my every move. Lifting the lids, I gaze at the familiar colours and shapes. Removing each and every item from the wrapping, I recall unhurriedly the stories and moments in time connected to these objects.

The hours pass with tranquil ease and my home gradually becomes a plethora of every shade of red, golden and green. When the morning turns into noon there is a palpable change in the air.
In the early afternoon, I get the tree. Visiting a Spruce Tree Plantation in the countryside, I cut down my very own Christmas Tree (with some help of good friends), a tradition that I have carried out for many years by now.

Slowly, the day becomes evening and the Christmas Lights light up my home. The traditional and distinctive scent of spruce and Mulled Wine spreads throughout the house, filling my heart and mind with a warm comforting feeling. It brings on a sense of joy and gentle expectation, just like when I was a child.

Today the autumn has departed.
It has left and with it, the darkness of November disappeared. As we stand in between seasons and as the winter prepares for its grand entrance, the day that began just like any other, has turned into the first day of the Holiday Season.

Happy Thanksgiving.

I would like to wish all my American friends a lovely Thanksgiving weekend. I miss celebrating this holiday; as much as it was new to me when I moved to North Carolina in the beginning of the nineties, it was as difficult not to celebrate it when I moved back to Europe again.

Hopefully the tryptophan in the turkey will not make you as sleepy as it made me, when I celebrated my first Thanksgiving with my very good friends in the US. I fell asleep on their sofa after the feast and they took a picture of me to prove it (very embarrassing!)
The older I get the more I realize how difficult it is to find really good friends; it was easier when I was younger. There is nothing like a good friend, at least one, to make you forget your troubles and cheer you up when you are feeling down.

I wish you all a very pleasant evening with your friends and family.

Fire And Ice.

This is the time of candles. I light them every day, in multitude of candle holders, through out my house and even outside. My favorite ones are almost all made for tealights. I like these for many reasons, but mostly as tealights in Scandinavia are very popular and readily available. They are very safe, or as safe as a candle alight can be and can burn for many hours, without having to be constantly watched. We have many different kinds, any that can burn for four hours all the way up to eight hours. The eight hours ones are very much in use in the winter when the evenings are dark and the nights very long.

I have many candle holders that are my favorite, but the oldest one is the most beautiful by far. It is called "Snowball" and is made by the Swedish glasswork company called Kosta Boda. It is suppose to imitate a ball made of snow, or rather ice and it certainly looks that way. Particularly when a lit candle is placed within, it looks like fire within ice. I love the light it spreads and I love the originality of the design, that is so very Scandinavian in its elegance.

It was the first candle holder ever to hold a lit candle when I moved away from home. It has been with me everywhere and have been in use in every home I ever lived in.

The Winter Candles.

In Scandinavia, the lack of light in November and December means that we light multitude of candles through out our homes. It creates a cosy atmosphere and candles are an essential and a very common object in every Nordic home.

Around the holidays, it is common to place candles and a multitude of candle holders in the windows as well. Today though, in order to avoid fires, we have started to place electric candles in the windows and in the unattended rooms in our houses.
Recently I purchased two rechargeable electric candles, that look very much like the real deal. I have placed them in my bedroom window, up in the attic, next to my Christmas Cactus.
The beauty lies in their design but also in their practical use; they can be charged during the day and then left on in the evening for decoration. Furthermore they will shine all through the night, acting as a sort of a nightlight.

The First Sign.

Christmas is one of the most beautiful celebrations in our modern world. There are little signs here and there, which makes us aware of the upcoming holidays. I am not talking about the commercial hype, although I do love when the stores start to decorate the windows and when the streets are lit by hundreds of Christmas lights.

What I have in mind is more the atmosphere that settles across the cities. The essence of expectation and joy.
The most significant and the first sign to me is very simple. It is the blooming of my Christmas Cactus. Some of you might remember my post last year, when I was trying to identify this beauty in bloom. And again this November, it bursts with purple colour and displays hundreds of delicate flowers.

The Holiday Season is almost here.

All Hallows' Even.

The past five days went by in a flash. Wonderful days when everything in my world was just right. The house is empty now, devoid of the scents and sounds that make me so happy. Gone is the strong, pleasing voice that would call my name, like no one else can, and sing "Galway Girl" to me...

But, Batcat is right here next to me, purring loudly, waiting for me to set the fire. Watching him brings peace to my senses at all times, as his presence keeps certain things in life constant. His curiosity is astounding and the way he is able to relax highly contagious.
Every time I do something out of the ordinary he is ever so present inspecting and investigating. In the same spirit, he was assisting me recently when I was carving this years Jack-o'-lantern. I love carving pumpkins for Halloween. Over the years I have created quiet a few scary heads and they have never been the same.
Halloween is one of my absolutely favorite celebrations. It has roots in the Celtic festival of Samhain and the Christian holy day of All Saints. The festival was unknown to me as a child, but we did observe All Saints Day on the 1st of November. This was a much more solemn celebration, when we would remember family members that have passed on, by visiting their graves, lighting candles. It held a certain tranquility and sadness. I recall the long walks after the onset of darkness in the autumn cemeteries, where hundreds of candles would flicker, bringing the realms of the living and the dead in close proximity.

My first acquaintance with Hallows' Even came while living in North Carolina and very quickly I became fond of the sentiment behind it. The celebrations were non existent in Scandinavia just a couple of decades ago. Over the last few years, the Celtic festival has found its way into the cold north and as soon as the darkness settles over us tonight, many doorways will be guarded by a plethora of Jack-o'-lanterns.
Happy Halloween everyone.

Hello Summer!

Yes, it has arrived with all its splendor and beauty! We have had three days of absolute summer; sunny, warm, wind still. Perfect to spend it outside, or on a beach. I live in a port city and close to pristine beaches within 20 minutes drive. This early in the summer the sea might still be cold, but refreshing enough for a dip.
Today is a holiday in Denmark and most likely in other parts of Europe, it is the religious observance of Pentecost.

When I was a child, growing up in the former Czechoslovakia, the 1st of June meant a completely different celebration; it was Children's Day. I recall it very well, as we would receive small gifts from our parents. Furthermore, June was the last month of school and meant a countdown to summer break.

Happy Summer everyone!

White Nights Countdown.

Yesterday was a holiday here in Denmark and a day off. So called Ascension Day was celebrated, a religious observance celebrating Jesus' humanity being taken into Heaven, 40 days after Easter. I am not sure how much of it is truly celebrated in this spirit anymore; basicaly this means just another day off from work for most Danes and Swedes. Most likely it is celebrated in other Scandinavian countries and parts of Europe. Furthermore, today is also so called "squeeze in between day", meaning a working day squeezed between a holiday and a weekend. Most people take today off as well, getting a really extended weekend out of it. I however am heading to work and as today is my favourite day, it doesn't bother me much that it is not a free one for me.
Below a little collage of my western skies, that are getting lighter by each day - the difference a week has made is pretty obvious (please click to enlarge).
Happy Friday everyone!

The Crescent Moon.

Today is a holiday here in Denmark. The Danes are celebrating a religious observance, that is, as far as I understand, unique to this country. It is "Den Store Bededag" and it translates something like "Great Prayer Day".
Therefore my morning is very quiet, as most of the population is sleeping in, today not being a working day. I am however heading to the lab to enjoy a short, hopefully quiet and laid back Friday. And that is exactly how I like those days to be.

Considering that I have talked about the sun this Monday, I decided to dedicate a post this week to the moon as well, which has fascinated me since childhood. There is something charismatic about its cool glow. If the sky is clear, I can almost at all times watch the lunar phases out of my windows. If the conditions are right, I can see the moon out of the window in the roof when falling asleep at night.

However, I am not very good at capturing the moon with my camera. I have tried many times, but I am not happy with the results at all. It looks so amazing in reality, but the pictures never do it any justice.

This below is the crescent moon as it was seen last week, on a clear warm evening, out of my living room window. I wish I could do better than this.

Happy St. Patrick's Day.

Today it is a national holiday in Ireland, celebrating the Saint Patrick's Day.
I never knew of this celebration until my move to the US in the 90s, where this is an unofficial, but highly publicized holiday. I recall how people would be telling me to dress all in green and I had no clue why.

These days this holiday is observed to a more or lesser extend all over Europe, even outside Ireland as well. I guess often as a reason to party in the multitude of Irish pubs and bars, which are so popular all over this continent.

In the spirit of the day and considering that anything Irish is very close to my heart, here is a little something for everyone, who enjoys a perfectly poured Guinness.;)

"Fastelavn".

Today "Fastelavn Sunday" is celebrated all over Denmark. A festivity, coinciding with other similar celebrations; such as the "Mardi Gras" in the US, the Rio de Janeiro "Carnival" and the "Fasching" in Germany. This is the beginning of the forty day fasting period that indicates the start of the religious observance of Lent.

Fastelavn can be can be described as the Nordic, or rather Danish Halloween, when children dress up in costumes and gather treats by knocking on doors in their neighborhood. The tradition includes also the kids to "slå katten af tønden" ("hit the cat out of the barrel"), which is somewhat similar to a piñata, except that it is a wooden barrel, which is full of candy and has the image of a cat on it.
The bakers sell particular pastry made for this holiday, called Fastelavnsbolle, which a sweet bun with icing and a filled with whipped cream.

As for weather, it has been some odd 24 hours. Yesterday we had a snow storm, and received up to 10cm snow, which caused traffic problems and made everything look like a winter wonderland. I was forced to go outside and brush the snow of some of my bushes, as there was risk they would break under the heavy weight of the snow. However, already in the early hours of the morning, a wave of warm air approached from the west. Today, although very windy, is a sunny spring day. All the snow is gone, like it has never been there in the first place. Wouldn't it be for the pictures I took, I would have doubted it happened at all. This was the shortest snow storm on record. April weather is arriving two months too early this year, I guess.