God jul, Merry Christmas...

I prefer this year's tree to last year's, which was blue, but in daylight it looks rather strange. I have no idea why, but it has been decorated, appart from the red and white lights, with houses, large flat ones.

This was taken at the Christmas market a few weeks ago, but the ski slope, lit up in the background, reminds me that I have promised to take the girls skiing just as soon as we have moved all our stuff over into the new appartment, hopefully in a couple of days.

I am going to have to move the computer next, so I thought I'd leave you with a few more shots of winter here in the dark north. This is Strawbs with her sledge. In Swedish it's called a "spark" which means "kick", because you stand on the runners at the back and kick it along...

...like this.
Back soon, provided I can reconnect everything correctly.

The third shepherd...

...acted her part perfectly at the school nativity play, appart from leaving her sheep(dog) on the stage and having to run back and fetch him. Big sister sang a medley of Christmas songs in English together with her class to finish off the end of term show on a high note.

Nobel Dinner

Miss T dressed herself up on Wednesday for the Nobel Dinner at school, while I struggled to get my grading done on time. I think she made a great job of it, and I managed to finish the grading before the deadline.
I was sent these beautiful bloomers on Tuesday as a thank you for finding and returning a purse. They really brighten up the new kitchen window.

More from the yuletide market

Lapland?

The snow's real and so is the reindeer, but it's not Lapland. We took some time off from packing, carrying and unpacking, to visit the Christmas market today in town and that's where these shots were taken. We're moving to the appartment next door, so we don't have to carry stuff so far, and the new place is nearly twice as big, so we can spread stuff out. For us it's a big change, the MOTH and I have lived in this two room appartment (= 1 bedroom, 1 sitting room, kitchen, bathroom and hall) for 17 years, the girls have lived here their whole lives, appart from weekends and holidays. The new appartment has four rooms, so we get a whole room each... well almost. Now I have to get on with some grading and then some more packing. I'll be back as soon as I can.