Why leave food or cookies out on Christmas Eve?

Do you know why it's done? Is it to bribe Santa, or to say thank you for the gifts under the tree?

Well, perhaps to modern minds it is, but the tradition goes back further than Christmas trees. Way up here in Scandinavia we know that the one we need to please is not Santa, the one bringing the gifts, but the house elf. We know, or at leaste we used to know, that in every house and home there is an elf living. He's the one who blows out the candles we forgot to blow out before we went to bed, he's the one who puts the keys in the middle of the table when we just can't remember where we put them, the one who wakes us just in time to make it if we skip breakfast when we forgot to set the alarm. That is, when he's pleased with us.

He's also the one who hides the keys so well you just can't find them, turns off the alarm, spills the coffee all over the floor, ties your shoestrings together in ten thousand knots when you are in a hurry. When he's displeased with you.

On Christmas Eve he expects you to share your meal with him, both to say thank you for all the good things he's done for you during the year but also to show that you recognize him and admit that he actually is a part of the household.

So for your own sake I hope you left him something to eat?

Christmas Eve

It's over for this year. It was a good day, though the snow is melting away. My family is small, and a little broken, but it's a good family and I love each and everyone in it very much. I got lovely gifts, useful and beautiful and funny things.

Remember, though, not everybody's Christmas is good. Be generouse to the ones less fortunate than yourself.

Skåne in snow

Skåne is still covered in snow, it's been almost a week now. It may seem like a little thing for those of you living in other climate zones but we haven't had this much snow in.... I don't know, but it's beautiful!

Buses don't run, cars slide off roads if the driver is not overcareful, it's cold and snow silent and the nights are as bright as they should be in wintertime.

Hvilan in winter

I took this picture through the window at work today (hence the frame), it was a cold, clear and sunny day today. See how beautiful our apple orchard is in winter! This orchard is a remnant from the days when Hvilan was a boarding school but is widely appreciated by today's students too.

Christmas Tree

Christmas is coming up and regardless of whether we like it or not it's one of the really big and important parts of what makes us who we are. And because of the iconic status of this holiday, statements made during it reaches around the world. In Paris, "French designer Fabrice Peltier used the holiday season to raise awareness to the environmental issues of our time" Go have a look, these are really cool trees, and a great way to reuse plastic bottles!