Britt-Arnhild's House in the Woods

December 8th. An old advent letter

@brittarnhild

In December 2003I started my Advent "blogging". Well, it was before blogging actually, or rather before I had heard about it. What I did was to write an Advent letter every night, sending it out by email to friends all over the world. Below is my letter from December 8th 2003.

 

Every night when I write this daily letter, I say to

myself - tomorrow I will have more time and write a

more proper letter. Then every night it becomes late

without any time at all for writing during the day.

And today is just like the other days. It is now

almost 11pm, and these are the first minutes I am

sitting down during the whole day.....almost!

 

I was up early, and had the quiet house by myself for

an hour before Marta and then Terje joined me. After

breakfast the girls and Terje walked over to Granåsen

ski arena to watch The World Championship in Ski-Jump

and Nordic Combined. We are lucky to live so close,

just 15-20 minutes of walking. I walked over to the

post office, and mailed about 20 Christmas letters and

a few packets. It is so good to have started the

mailing, I always have a loooong list of letters to

write and gifts to wrap and send.

 

When I came home I started baking. In Norway it is an

old tradition to have at least 7 different homemade

cookies for Christmas, and I made two this morning,

and my husband and Marta made the third tonight. I

made krumkake, and something we call rice and

chocolate cookies (risboller) Oh, what a treat to sit

down when I was finished, with a mug of coffee and a

few mismade cookies.....there are always some which

needs to be eaten at once, which are not perfect

enough for the tinboxes :-)

 

The sportfans came back, we had lunch and wrote some

more letters, and then went downtown for Christmas

shopping. It is so nice outdoors now, even downtown

the ground was covered in white, virgin snow, and

after yesterday's snowstorm the sun was shining. We

managed to do our whole shopping list, (have more

lists though for later days) and then went to watch

Ingrid play a handball match. Again her team won, and

again we parents were totally exhausted after our

cheering.

 

Ingrid brought a couple of friends home after the

match, and we had taco here at home. 8 around the

table....I love it when the table is filled. The first

advent light in the wreath is now burnt down, a new

one will be there for tomorrow.

 

Tonight I have been helping at Ingrid's school, where

they had the annual Christmas ball for the students.

Alot of fun, alot of the most elegant kids.....and

these are the same kids we see everyday in jeans and

sweathers,lol

 

No time for Christmas reading or Christmas crafting

today, but a wonderful, busy day anyway.....and of

course, tomorrow there will be another day.....And

though it is late now I still might manage some

quilting. Marta is in bed, the three oldest are out

with friends (Ingrid is sleeping over with her best

friend) and Terje and I will watch some handball on

the telly before going to bed.

 

Britt Arnhild

 

December 7th. Christmas Stockings

@brittarnhild

Our youngest grandson, Milian, was born in February and will celebrate his first Christmas in a few weeks. Of course I have made him his very own Christmas stocking. I talk about this one, and other stockings in my latest YouTube-episode, and even though I still talk in Norwegian in my YouTube-videos, I have an English section, about 5+ minutes, in this one. You have to go almost to the end of the video to get to the English part, but make sure you don't skip the beginning, with my mother playing Sibelius :-)

Here is the video:

 

 

December 6th and the birds get their Christmas treats early

@brittarnhild

Still almost three weeks till Christmas and usually we don't hang the julenek until lillejulaften, Little Christmas Eve which is on the 23rd. That is also the day we decorate the Christmas tree and the House for the festive season. But it has started to snow, the yellowhammers came this morning looking for the julenek, so now it is hung, for them and for all other birds.

Some years ago I wrote about feeding the birds and one of you readers commented that you had given the sunflowers seeds you gave the birds the name St. Frances Seeds. I wrote a little tale about that, in Norwegian and has posted it in my Norwegian advent blog today. You find it here (and might be able to use google translate).

December 5th and I can wear my new purple stole

@brittarnhild

Purple is the colour of advent.
As an ordained deacon I wear a white coat, an alba, and a stole when I take part in the service in church. For deacons to wear a stola is a fairly new tradition in Norway, and since I work in the diocese administration and don't serve much in church, it has taken me some time to purchase the four different stoles, green, red, purple and white. As a matter of fact I do not have the white one yet. The green and the red I've had for a few years, the purple one was given to me as gift for my 60th birthday last year, from my two best friends. Not only given, but also made by them.

The stole was finished on Monday, today I was able to use it for the first time. At a morning prayer in our cathedral, together with the bishop of Nidaros, Herborg Finnset.

Purple is the colour of Advent and of Lent, the colour of sorrow and suffering, the colour of fasting. Sorrow and suffering belongs to Lent, but also of Advent, helping us to see ahead to Easter. And traditionally not only Lent but also Advent was a period of fasting. The small fast, it used to be called in Norway.......a long time ago. Nowadays we tend to start the celebrations of the festive season, way ahead, so when Christmas finally arrives, we feel fed up.......kind of.

What about celebrating Advent this year, as a way to wait for, look forward to, what is coming. In a few weeks.

 

December 4th, and more about the Advent Basket idea

@brittarnhild

I got a question in a comment on my post from December 1st, where Margaret wants me to explain more about the Advent Basket idea. I googled "Britt Arnhild Advent Basket" to see what I have already written about it, and here is a post from December 1st 2016:

 

 

Finally December is here. The darkest month, and also the month filled with light. I arrived home this afternoon to the first advent basket, which was awaiting me on the coffee table in the living room. A basket filled with the first Christmas decoration items. Old readers know about my advent basket, new readers will get to know it as the 24 days of advent unfolds. But a very short describtion of the idea - from my childhood I am used to advent and Christmas as two different seasons. Advent is purple, with lights and the advent wreath, Christmas si red and green, with all the different Christmas ornaments, special food, carols and everything connecting to the festive season. Traditionally here in Norway we decorate the Christmas tree and the house for Christmas on the night before Christmas Eve, lillejulaften, or Little Christmas Eve. With four kids and a full time job this meant too much stress, so many years ago I started to decorate a little every day, from the first of December. Then I found an old basket, every night in December I filled it with.......a Christmas quilt, a snow globe, a Christmas magazine, an angel, a nativity, a Christmas cd and so on. Rarely anything new, just old stuff from my collections. (Yes, I am a collector.......to the rest of the family´s despair)

As soon as I have finished this post, I plan to make myself a mug of tea, put the first Christmas cd on, hang the first angel......well, empty the basket. And day by day Christmas, the Yuletide, will fill The House in the Woods.

 

This year´s first nativity is the most reacent one in my collection, from a market in Georgia. I had been looking for  nativities during all our days there, but also knew that the orthodox church don´t actually have any. Then, one of the last days, I saw this couple and a donkey and had to ask: "Is this Mary and Joseph, or what?" Our guide Ia told me that the man and the woman actualy are literary figures from some writing by a Georgian author. She wrote down both his name and the name of the two people (so far I have not managed to find out anything about them, but I will continue my search).

I left the market quite disappointed, but could not forget the "Mary", the "Joseph" and the donkey, and before we left the town to go with our grop to have lunch, I ran back to the stall and bought them. May be they were not meant to be a nativity, but now they have become one :-)

By the way, Georgia has a million absolutely lovely things made by felted wool.

I wanted to bring it all home, but there were not enough room in our suitcases. I did fill both mine and Terje´s to the brim though.

In the photo above you see one of the street artists working on a pair of slippers.

 

December 3rd. From my nativity collection

@brittarnhild

In the beginning I had one single nativity.

Then I got another one and I knew I had started a collection :-)
Over the years this collection has grown, bigger and bigger every year, and now I don't count anymore. But still buy them when I travel.

In my Advent basket, which I fill every night, unpack the next morning, there is always one creche every day, and every day I have the pleasure of finding a place in the house for it. 

The one in the picture has the same place every year though. The best place, the place where everybody can see it.

 

In the middle of music.
On top of the piano.

December 2nd. Felted baskets for Advent

@brittarnhild

I am in my work office, making templates for braided felt baskets. I will use them tonight at an Advent party for volunteers in an organisation which works for non-Norwegians living here, refugees, asylum seekers, or here for other reasons.

I am the board leader of this region of the organisation, and therefore I am honoured to give a special speech. I will focus on the sweetness of salt. Yes, you read correct, salt. You know - you are the salt of the world, and in the end everybody will be challenged to make their own basket.

felt - for the warmth we give to each other when we meet, when we get to know each other, when we become friends

purple and lilac - the colours of advent, to remind us that these 23 first days of December is a period of waiting, a period of looking forward to what is to come

braiding the two colours together - the importance of not only meeting, but that our lives are lived together, alone we are only a half heart

 

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Here I sit I have no proper image of a finished basket, but found this photo from a 2011 blogpost here at The House in the Woods :-)

You can read more about the baskets in my Norwegian Advent blog, Britt Arnhilds adventskurv

 

1st Sunday of Advent

@brittarnhild

Sunday, 1st Sunday of Advent, first day in the new church year and the start of my favourite seasons. Advent till December 24th, then Christmas for three weeks and then, all of a sudden, the days are not so dark anymore and we can start looking forward to spring.

We woke up to a white world this morning, a winter wonderland, but a world which means quite a lot of shovelling for Terje. He was out before breakfast, he had to go out again after breakfast, the yet again after he had been out cross country skiing, and he still have a few times left. Fitness for free :-)

I have spend the day indoors so far, unpacking my first advent basket. You remember my advent basket, don't you? If not, let me know and I will tell you about it. I have knitted and soon I am on my way downtown to meet a friend. We will have dinner at my favourite Italian restaurant and then go to the concert hall to watch the ballet Swan Lake with dancers from the world wide known St. Petersburg State Ballett.

What a perfect start of the seasons :-)

 

My Advent videos on YouTube will be in Norwegian (as usual), but my mother playing Sibelius on her grand piano has a universal language: