The Pleasures of Snowy Winter Days

Neighborhood Walk

Coming from Florida, where I never even owned a winter coat, snowy white days are pretty exotic to me. I have one memory of sledding, and do not think I ever ice skated before moving to Sweden. So with all this snow, we have been heading out to enjoy the opportunities for outdoor play winter presents. When first coming back from Florida in early December, getting ready to go out into the snow was so overwhelming...the boots, socks, hats, for each of us everytime. All that bending when pregnant, and in bulky clothes, was so uncomfy! Now we have our routine, and our favorite gear handy, so it is simpler. I have some great snow pants and ski boots, which makes adventuring out much more fun, even if bending over to get the boots on is even tougher with my now 32 week pregnant belly, and the snow pants stopped buttoning up some time last week. Still, it is worth it to go explore, and get some sun when it shows itself.

Blue Sky and Snow!

The road behind the house

Staying warm

A meadow behind the house

For an adventure, and to give me a chance to wrap some presents in secret, dad took the kids to Folkets Park in Malmö before Christmas. There is little area that in the summer is a splash pool, and in the winter a ice skating rink.

It is free to play on, and you can rent skates if you do not have them.

My Big Girl skoots along pretty well, admiring the more practiced and graceful skaters.

The toddler just watches....

Nearby, warm all natural blueberry and raspberry soup is sold!

Yum treat for cold little people

Folkets Park has rides open in the summer, it looks nice dressed in winter white

Closer to home there are plenty of places to take a sled out.

We headed out yesterday for some sledding

There is a nice well used sled hill in the neighborhood

Even the toddler loves to woosh down the hill

And of course the big girl does!

Dads camera was not uploaded, but even pregnant me had a couple of fun runs down the hill.

I hope this snow play will be enough to keep us busy for the next few months, as it appears it the snow will be sticking around. If it is going to be cold, it might as well be snowy, it is way more fun to play in snow than being outdoors when it is just grey and leafless and cold.

I was off line during our big Midsommar Holiday, and have lots to share about it, but I'll start by telling about today... a midsommar post is forth coming!

Sweden: Land of The Vikings

When we arrived in Sweden, we noticed a national love affair with pirates and the jolly rodger flag. Swedish children seem to love pirates, and their tree houses often fly a pirate flag. I think they should turn their eyes homeward to their own mythological heros, and play viking more often.... There are certainly many inspirations to be found in Skåne. We visited the Foteviken Reserve for the viking Market again this year, and found there are plenty of grown ups willing to play viking.

Children Happily playing Vikings. The Skelton in Armour by Longfellow is a good Viking poem, and The Sea Fight of The Jomsvikings a good tale of battle.

At Foteviken, people from all over the world are invited to come camp for two weeks at the viking historical museum grounds as long as they vow to act like authentic vikings, and eat over cooking fires and drink from ceramic wares, sleep in canvas tents on furs, and wear period clothing.

For authentic Viking Literature, you can read The Poetic Eddas in English, the sagas of the Vikings. My girl fell in love with a young Viking warrior she watched in the reenactment battle named Saga. It is a Swedish name, the name for the Norse Goddess of the Runes, writing, poetry, and history. The strong position of women in Scandinavia is guessed to go back to the viking era. Women could own property and go into battle. There are viking era homes to be toured, all the wood in the cabins is axe cut since vikings predated the use of saws

The Viking Fortress at Foteviken

Overlooking the Sea towards Denmark

The Viking Market viewed from the Fortress

Bag Pipes

A little sound of the Vikings

Horns used for Drinking and Blowing as Horns for sale at the Market

Wild Boar Skin, many many animal skins for sale at the Viking Markets

And handmade fabric dyed with plant dyes

Fabric

Patterns for Viking clothing can be found at Wikingerkleidung, use google translate function to translate from German

Hand made leather shoes

Plant Dyes for Sale

Yarn!! Maybe this is the year I will learn to knit.

It takes careful weaving to make these trims. I met a weaver making them on a small loom last year.

I am not sure I could get away wearing this next winter....

Armor for Sale

Viking Carving

Wood carving

Baltic Amber.

Glass beadsViking Family
The Skåne Elag hold viking weapons practice every day of the week in a different location in Skåne

About to begin a Viking war reenactment

Love this helmet, and the red beard with it.

Ready to start a war

Charge!

Battle
The Carnage

Showing off a Skåne Shield

Warriors

The Tents used for Camping
Th Fur, wow.

Working Iron at his campsite on an anvil

Viking Kitchen
Many things cooking over fires
Making Handicrafts in the Tents
The fur covered be in the background
Another Kitchen
Vikings at the Fortress

People love dressing up like folks did back in the day and trying their hands at nearly forgotten crafts. I went to a cracker homesteader craft fair with a civil war reenactment in Florida when I was in the USA this winter. Let me say it is alot more enjoyable to watch Vikings battle it out in Skåne than to see people reenact the civil war. I get too creeped out watching people who wish to dress lik rebel soliders camp out under the Dixie flag. It feels good to know however bloody the history of the vikings, they were battling it out on their own land with their own people. But if not for Leif Erikkson and the Viking sailing expertise, perhaps europeans would not have headed to the Americas. So perhaps it is all a tale of viking bloodshed anyway.

Reenactment, Florida Style from Winter trip Home