4th December

Today I got this jacket and knitted cap in the calendar. Both Annika and Nora volunteered to be photographed with the jacket on (for Annika it was more like a coat), but because of the "childish" style of the cap, only Annika wanted to be photographed with it on. (I think it would have looked better if Annika hadn't had so much hair!)

3rd December

Today I got these pizzas with boxes in my Lundby calendar. Not exactly the traditional Christmas dinner though... In Norway there are different Christmas dinner traditions depending on which part of the country you're from. In the south many have codfish for their Christmas dinner and many eat it like lutefish (dried cod fish treated with lye).

Very popular, especially in the western part of Norway is pinnekjøtt, which is salted lamb ribs that are laid in water with birch branches at the bottom of the pan. The ribs are cut into individual servings. Birch twigs are laid crosswise in the bottom of the saucepan to form a lattice upon which to set the ribs. The pan is filled with water up to the level of the twigs and the ribs meat are placed on the twigs. Then the meat is steamed over the boiling water until done, about two hours.

My parents always have roasted pork rib for Christmas, served together with small sausages, home made meat balls, cooked potatoes, gravy, sour cabbage, red cabbage and prunes.

My husband and I prefer stuffed turkey, which is the tradition in his family. Served with home made waldorf salad, cooked potatoes, thick gravy, peas, apples and prunes. Mmmm, yummy!

2nd December

Here is today's gift; a framed photo of some zebras. I'm quite happy with the picture since I love zebrastriped bowls and vases. And also with the frame, since it's one of my favourite Lundy frames, but they don't produce it anymore. One of the bonuses buying an old calendar :-) Nicola said the calendar was from 2005, thank you Nicola for the information!

1st December

I have wanted one for many years and finally I have got hold of a Lundby Advent calendar, so this years it isn't only the kids who have calendars :-)

I thought I would share with you what I get each day and here is a picture of my day one gift: A christmas candleholder, typically nordic type I think.
I don't have one myself, I prefer the traditional Advent wreath or candlelabra with four candles, one for each Sunday, and an Advent star in the window. But I think 90% of Norwegian homes have at least one of these on display in their windows. (It is a rather new tradition though, dating back some 20 years)

Reddy for Christmas - the kitchen

ENG: The last of Nora and Helmer's rooms I will show you is their kitchen. I have wanted to present it earlier, but for a long time Nora has refused to have it photographed, because she wanted it to be perfectly neat and tidy first. And with a husband, two children and a dog, that never seemed to happen. (I suspect her standards are a bit higher than mine). This weekend she sent Helmer and the kids away and had time time to clean and prepare the house for Christmas. On Saturday when these pictures were taken, she had just decorated the kitchen window. She had also been out shopping, and was relaxing with a well deserved cup of tea.
If you look close, you can already spot a red box with the marzipan Christmas pig on top of the fridge. It's the traditional prize for the person who finds the almond hidden in the Christmas porridge.

NOR: Det siste av Nora og Helmers rom jeg vil vise dere er kjøkkenet. Jeg har hatt lyst til å vise det fram før, men Nora har nektet å la meg ta bilder, for hun ville at det skulle være fullkomment rent og ryddig først. Og med mann, to barn og hund er ikke det helt enkelt å få til. (Det virker også som hun er litt mer nøye på det enn meg) Denne helga sendte hun Helmer og barna avgårde så hun fikk tid til å gjøre huset rent og adventspynte det. Da bildene ble tatt på lørdag hadde hun akkurat fått pyntet kjøkkenvinduet og vært ute og handlet litt, og slappet av med en velfortjent kopp te.

It's winter now and the daylight vanishes quickly.

Credits: Kitchen from Lundby, but I have put on other tiles. The table and chairs are ebay finds. The red and white cupboard is by Barton. Accessories are finds over the years, Lundby, re-ment and self made (the curtains and some of the tools on the bench). My son has made the paper towelroll. The marzipan pig in box is made by Cocco. The floor is painted by me to look like linoleum, because the original floor was in a bad shape when I bought the house.

Coming out of the closet - as one shelf

ENG: Polly Line has bought some new furniture on ebay; a closet and a small table. And a little makeover converted the closet into a much needed bookshelf for her living room. The table isn't finished yet. She has also received the new furniture she was waiting for, new dining room chairs and table, (she had borrowed the table and chairs she had used until now) and her new sofa by Annina, which she has bought at Spook House. She's very proud of her sofa! She has also bought some of the furniture used in the Stavanger exhibition; the purple egg chair and the agate table.

NOR: Polly Line har kjøpt noen nye møbler fra ebay; et skap og et lite bord. Med enkle midler ble skapet forvandlet til en etterlengtet bokhylle til stua. Bordet er ikke ferdig ennå. Hun har også fått de nye møblene sine; nytt spisebord og stoler (hun hadde bare lånt dem hun hadde brukt til nå) og hennes nye Annina designsofa, som hun har kjøpt i Spook House. Hun er veldig stolt av den! Hun har også kjøpt noen av møblene brukt på Stavangerutstillingen; den lilla eggstolen og agatbordet.

ENG: Before and after. NOR: Før og etter

ENG: Polly Line has had problems finding art work she likes, so she has tried putting up some photo wallpaper instead (with a matching lamp!) We'll see how long that lasts...

This time of the year, it's daylight just for a few hours, so it's not easy taking good pictures. Some of them was taken after the sun set.

NOR: Polly Line har hatt problemer med å finne bilder hun liker til stua, så derfor har hun prøvd seg med fototapet istedet (med matchende lampe!) Vi får se hvor lenge det varer...

Credits: Sofa by Annina, Arne Jacobsen egg chair by Minimii, Eames elephant by Reac, Barton sideboard and chairs, Lundby sofa table and lamp. Dining room table is made with a combination of two different Re-ment tables. Agate table by me. Plant by the window by Christel Jensen. Accessories are Re-ment, beads, Treefeathers and random finds. "Photo paper" is a page from a magazine.

Time for thought

This month has been very busy both at home and at work, so I haven't had the time nor the energy to blog. Sorry about that! And earlier this weekend, without my notice, the counter passed 10 000 visitors - I'm very flattered that so many has visited my blog! But even if I didn't do anything to mark the occasion, it is nice to see that someone else took it upon them to put my blogworld into a larger perspective.

The result can be seen here.
The language is Swedish, but I think you'll get the idea.