Hello dear reader !
This last months have been challenging with new routines and life changes. Morten got a new office job (almost full time) and I started to study again, which meant moving and living in two different places. Although we were together almost every other weekends, the work at Valabærjet took a slow turn and some jobs got postponed to 2022.
As winter sets with a regular -15°C, it's time to crawl back inside the house and enjoy the firewood we prepared during spring and summer. Living in the north makes the passing of the seasons a strong tango, with long and unpredictable winters and a rather short spring and summer condensed. Once the frost sets in the ground (somewhere between October and November), there's not much we can do in the garden, but prepare for the snow and plan for the next year. Which gives us also a yearly moment to reflect on the past year (success, learning experience, ideas, progression, etc) all the while we are enjoying the fruits from the garden and forest from this year ! ;)
Besides all the Christmas traditions we have grown into, this time of the year is strong connected with the winter solstice. The longest night is behind us. The sun is coming back and the days are now slowly growing longer. When you live in the north, this almost cliché phrases bear all the more sense. Nights ARE long. Even when it rises up, the sun never really seems to climb in the sky. It rather just barely crawls over the tree lines only to sink back behind the horizon a few hours later.
On lille julaften, aka the night of the 23 December, we had a fire outside in the garden and enjoy some warm gløgg and homemade sweet snacks to celebrate the longest night of the year. The morning after, all the clouds had cleared and the new sun rose and bathed us, the land and the house as we welcomed it.
Now, onwards with more good food in a warm and cosy (not to mention cleaned from top to bottom) home.
Happy solstice everyone!
Louise
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