A snowy day in London town

Sunday was a lovely blue skied sunny one with hope of spring in the air, but one before that we snow - quite a lot of it. To go for a walk in snowy London is such an unusual experience. Amazing how it changes things! The city which is normally so noisy and fast becomes quiet and most of the movement seems to stop. Quite wonderful. And everywhere you see people with umbrellas which makes me giggle.

After our exertions we had a suitable reward to look forward to. A pint or two and a very delicious roast lunch at the Princess. And after that, home to the sofa and the fire.

Frozen Lake

One thing I do miss about Sweden is the walks. What a luxury to have this stunning scenery around the corner from home. City walks are lovely too...but not quite the same.

Today we are expecting lots of snow in London and it is staying cold for a good week still! If the forecast comes true, I am looking forward to hot chocolate in front of the fire and a snowy walk around the city.

London Snow

On Monday we woke up to a light dusting of snow. Luckily not enough to cause any disruption (it doesn't take a lot to put London at standstill) so we could juts enjoy the sight of it settled on buildings and trees for a few hours before it melted away.

It is so cold here! For some reason -1 here feels as cold as when it is -15 in Sweden. Not sure why - is it because of humidity in the air, or just because we don't have the right clothes here? Time to dig out the woolly socks in any case.

Holiday Breakfast

After all the rich Christmas foods it is lovely to have a healthy breakfast. Especially when washed down with Champagne.

Winter Walk

On a weirdly misty day we took our annual four hour walk. That sounds really exhausting, but there is a cabin in the woods halfway where we stop for hot chocolate and goulasch soup. Normally I would say the ideal weather for this would be a crisp, cold day with blue skies and sunshine, but this strange fog comes a close second. It made everything appear so fairy tale like that we were expecting trolls and elves to come out from behind the trees. Beautiful.

Christmas Eve

It can't all be tasteful at Christmas time. there has to be room for some tacky things too.

Danish textile decoration .

The beautiful table with snaps pig and hand painted bottle.

 All the amazing food!

 Apron fabric from traditional Swedish costume, here used as a table cloth.

Happy!

The day before Christmas Eve the snow came down thick and fast, and from then we had a picture postcard sort of Christmas. The house that we are lucky enough to get to celebrate in is made for this, with a dining table big enough to seat 14 and a fireplace with lots of room for home made decorations on the mantelpiece. And at 31 I think I have finally mastered the art of eating a smorgasbord without getting full after the first visit - I even made it to the brussel sprouts!

A New Year

And a fresh start. Next to me is a clean note book and a special pen for writing important things. Time to put together a list of wishes, hopes and promises for 2013.

Back in London after a week in Sweden. With me I brought some lovely new memories and a camera full of photos that I will go through over the next few days.

Happy new year - fingers crossed for a good one!