Life Lately, October 2020

Life lately has been cold air, darker evenings and sunlight to new areas of the apartment. We’ve been burning more candles, making Saturday morning treat trips for Lördagsgodis, playing with new cameras and we bought a loaf of bread from our favourite bakery again (they were closed over the Summer).

Weather has been the most noticeable change in the last fortnight — seasonal shifts are definitely short compared to the UK. The wind has a icy bite and the needle on the window therometer is now hovering just above zero. We always used to visit Sweden in colder months so it feels like we are easing into a familiar time and place.

Snow arrived in mid Sweden this weekend! I hope we don’t have to wait too long for it to arrive down here.

I used to bake cinammon buns on Kanelbullar Dag (Cinammon Roll Day) but this was the first year we celebrated it in Sweden. Exciting! I made a tray of buns the night before. Half iced, half naked because I forgot to buy pearl sugar. My Dad also made some and we traded work in progress photos. Buns we didn’t eat went in the freezer for another day.

This was Scott’s jumper but it shrunk in the drying cabinet. A tragedy for him; a small win for me. I’ve been wearing it quite a bit because it’s nice and slouchy.

I feel like the pandemic has taken its toll on my energy levels lately. Months of worrying about what will happen, people we care about and seeing germ potential everywhere. Case numbers dropped at the end of Summer but are climbing fast again. A combination of that, Brexit and general life stuff has resulted in some iffy sleep patterns. Trying to stay positive by thinking about the fact we’ve made it through the first wave, we are living in a place we love and the cupboard is well stocked with hot chocolate for the months ahead.

It’s not all bad though… Autumn in Stockholm is beautiful! A group of people were taking photos of eachother throwing leaves in this park. We had a go but it wasn’t quite as Instagram worthy. Probably lots of dog pee on the leaves too.

I’ve managed to keep this orchid alive for weeks! Until now, I’ve had a terrible track record with them. Anyone who says miracles don’t exist has obviously never come face to face with this plant.

This candle holder was a holiday souvenir that ended up travelling back to where it came from. Our neighbours said candles and cosy lights will help us get through Swedish Winter, so that’s exactly what we’ll focus on. In the meantime, we’ll soak up every last drop of warm Autumn sun.