Flashback Friday (Christmas Edition): "Song For A Winter's Night".

Sarah McLachlan is one of my favorite artists. I discovered her music in the early nineties, when I heard Possession being played on the radio one day. Her music spoke to me in an unusual way and I can not recall being so influenced by any other harmonies before or since. I went ahead and purchased every single album she released to date and at one point owned and loved all the records.

"Song For A Winter's Night" is a very unusual Holiday song I would say, but I love its originality and the tranquil melancholy in the lyrics. It is full of bittersweet longing in the midst of winter, a sentiment I can so well relate to. Complemented in a delicate way by Sarah's unique voice, this is an exquisite piece in my Christmas collection.
I hope you too will enjoy this ethereal compilation.

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.

When The Moon And The Sun Converge...

These are the days of the full moon. I am endlessly intrigued by the silver disc and can gaze at it for hours, mesmerized by its radiance. Its presence in the night sky holds my everlasting fascination, keeping me enthralled. I often lie under its cool glow late at night, watching it through the roof window over my bed, as I slowly drift to sleep.

There is a compilation made by the German group Hubert Kah, entitled "Wenn Der Mond Die Sonne Berührt", (direct translation "When The Moon Touches The Sun".) A typical product of the eighties, it has the traditional escapist sound that appeals to the dreamer in me. I used to listen to it as a teenager, late at nights when the moon was full.

Yesterday, that sentence kept resonating in my mind, as I was driving across the bridges connecting the Danish Islands, witnessing a celestial show. In the southwest, there was the burning fire of the setting winter sun. In the opposite cardinal direction, the cool glow of the full moon could be observed.
It felt like driving through an enchanted landscape, so very fitting the onset of the Holiday season.
(Please click images to enlarge).

A winter evening, captured with my phone.

Counting Down To Christmas Eve.

December has arrived.
This is the first winter month and thus the beginning of a new season. It is the time of dark days, long nights, of wind and rain, sometimes snow. Of frost and bare landscape, cold hands, red noses and sleepy eyes.
However, December is so much more than just that; it is also the Holiday month. A time of joy and expectations, no matter whether you are an adult or a child.

We all surely recall the incredible impatience we once felt as children, looking forward to that night of magic, which seemed still so far away, once December begun. In Scandinavia, the wait has been eased by a very sweet tradition. The tradition of burning Calendar Candles. These are candles that come in all shapes and sizes, with one common significance: a column of numbers printed on one side.
Starting with number 1 at the very top, all the way to 24 at the very bottom. The candle is lit every day and the number corresponding to the date is burned away, making the wait, particularly for children, slightly more exciting. Of course, if you are like me and have kept a childish mind, this is a wonderful daily simple pleasure throughout the month of December.

I dedicate this post to the lovely Blog Princess G, who expressed such a delightful interest in this Scandinavian tradition last year; I hope she will enjoy the daily Christmas countdown this year as well, as I post it on my sidebar in the following weeks.

Giving Thanks Challenge Finale.

This is the last day in November and thus, the last day of the Giving Thanks Challenge hosted by Leah at South Breeze Farm. Participating was a wonderful experience and I look forward to join again next year.

Although I did not participated with a post of thanks every day, some of you might have noticed a single, new sentence posted on my sidebar each day. In it I expressed my gratitude towards subjects, people and situations in my life and my surroundings, directly (or indirectly) linked to the post of that day.
Thank you Leah for a wonderful sentiment and for the privilege of letting me become part of a beautiful movement.

Below, a summary of my subtle participation in text and pictures.

•I am thankful for the beautiful nature that surrounds me...
•I am thankful to be living in a free country ...
•I am thankful to have met so many kind *blog friends*...
•I am thankful for all the beautiful songs and compilations...
•I am thankful for the magic of seasons...
•I am thankful for relaxing Sundays...
•I am thankful for my parents, the most brave people I know...
•I am thankful for the beautiful views out of my windows...
•I am thankful for Batcat and the way he makes me smile everyday...
•I am thankful for my memories of a life lived...
•I am thankful for lazy Saturdays in front of my fireplace…
•I am thankful for the sun and it's vital rays...
•I am thankful for the privilege to be alive in a great century…
•I am thankful for the proximity to a magnificent sea...
•I am thankful for Holidays and Celebrations…
•I am thankful for cosy evenings by candlelight...
•I am thankful for works of art...
•I am thankful for my lovely home...
•I am thankful for beauty of simple pleasures...
•I am thankful for my perfect little car...
•I am thankful for each day that was and for the magic of each new day...
•I am thankful for unforgettable moments…
•I am thankful for the few very good friends...
•I am thankful for my sister and the memories of childhood Christmases that we share…
•I am thankful for the magic of the Holiday Season...
•I am thankful for the many traditions in my home...
•I am thankful for being who I am and for all the privileges that life has bestowed upon me...

Tree Decoration.

The is the last Sunday in November and this year, it is also the day of the 1st Advent. Although a religious observance, Advent is today a very traditional celebration in Scandinavia, signifying the onset of Christmas Holidays.
Families gather to drink Mulled Wine with traditional advent snacks, which can vary between the countries of the North. In Denmark, it is common to serve æbleskiver, which resemble and taste like small, round pancakes.

I have my own tradition that takes place on the last Sunday in November - I decorate my Christmas Tree. I love the laid back feeling of the day and the activity in itself connects me in a strong way to my past. The tree was such a center point in the Christmases of my childhood. Always decorated by my mother, who relished every year in creating a true artwork in the middle of our living room, making it look differently each year. This always took place on the day before Christmas Eve and I often felt that the time we got to enjoy its glory was so very short. Therefore, today, the tree in my home is decorated in the beginning of December, thus I can enjoy its presence and its beauty throughout the Holiday Season.

As much as my home is cluttered with objects and decorations, the way I decorate my tree is somewhat an opposite to that. I keep it very simple. The decorations are few and almost entirely only red. I love to leave most of the tree bare, as it is simply so very beautiful in its natural state.

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.

Flashback Friday; Christmas Edition: "Last Christmas".

The next four installation of my Flashback Friday will be in the spirit of the season. To me the Holidays start with the last weekend of November, meaning that tomorrow is a very special day in my white house on the hill. But more on that later.

Meanwhile, I hope you all will bear with me, as I present to you my four favorite Christmas compilations during the weeks leading up to Christmas.
I know some of you are already (or will be soon) fed up with all the Christmas music that is played relentlessly on the radio. I however admit being one of the few who relish in exactly that fact. I simply love this holiday and anything connected to it, including the music.

This first piece I recall very fondly as a major hit. Made by Wham!, it was released in 1984, when I was a teenager. Me and my sister sat glued to the television set as soon as the top ten hit shows were broadcast that winter, just to get a glimpse of the video. I loved foremost the harmonies, while my little sister loved the images. The story must have appealed to her romantic sense, as perhaps she too longed to live through some of the sentiments depicted within; spending time in company of good friends in the mountains. And, as sometimes life has it, my sister very much indeed made her dreams come true; in a few years after that she met and married a handsome Swiss man (and a talented skier), who took her away to live at the foothills of the beautiful Alps, in one of the most stunning parts of Europe. She did get to live out the story depicted in the favorite video of her past. With one exception; it did not include a broken heart.

So, without further ado, here is Last Christmas, which I dedicate to my sister, together with all the memories of wonderful childhood Christmases we once shared...

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.