*snow around Christmas & winter walks

Just some analogue pictures of the wonderful snow we had around Christmas. The month is already coming to an end again. It has been difficult in many ways, but I can feel how, slowly, a bit of stability is growing in me. Like a shy little tree seed still hidden beneath a blanket of snow, yet sensing with the returning sun that its growth is only a matter of time.

Over the last two days, it snowed again, but the snow didn’t stay. A little farther up north, however, it is beautifully wintry now and wonderful for long forest walks and following the signs of wildlife. I love reading the traces in the snow!

In the evenings, I'm continue to knit with the handspun wool from my sister, and I also started crocheting a little duck with the thicker yarn. The white one I made in the end of 2025 I gave to my friend Marie, and I thought it would be nice to make another one using this natural sheep wool shade.

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*Bandana scarf for Caroline

This is my first finished needlework project of the new year. The day I took these pictures outside, it was minus 12 degrees, and the sun had just risen, casting the most beautiful reddish light on the scarf and making its color glow even more golden. The scarf is now on its journey to the Highlands, but unfortunately without me. I would love to visit Scotland one day!

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*A quiet start into the new year

{Music: Svävar – Julia Andersson + Skymning – Julia Andersson + To chase a shadow – Muriël Bostdorp}

Amid all the unease in my life,

I still tried to capture a few moments

of the new year for you.

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*winter mist & spinning memories

The film development service is a bit slow at the moment, but today I finally got my photos back from December and scanned them right away so I could share some with you again. We’re having strong winds at the moment, and the new snow we got a week ago hasn’t fully melted yet. The sun is mostly hiding behind a thick winter mist. I preordered some new dahlia varieties that I want to try out this year and caught myself daydreaming about the first fresh lettuces and nettles. But there’s still plenty of winter ahead, and apart from the lack of fresh greens, I love it! I finally finished knitting the scarf I started in early November, and I recently got some handspun sheep wool from my sister that I had to try out right away. It brings childhood memories back, my mother used to do a lot of spinning. She even once tried spinning dog hair and knitted a pullover from it. But the smell, especially when it got wet, was unbearable and wouldn’t go away even after washing, so she eventually stopped her experiments. I also used to spin and found it very relaxing. Have you ever tried it?

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*A new year

The thermometer reads minus twelve degrees. The new year has arrived with a dry, biting cold. The past weeks have been physically demanding, forcing me into an unplanned pause and leaving room for much reflection. Still, I welcome the new year, and as the light slowly returns, I find myself feeling calmer again, despite everything. I’m taking things slowly, doing what I can, and dreaming of being able to create more again, or even to paint. Either way, I hope the beginning of 2026 has been kind to you!

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*More fog, rum truffles & A white Christmas

{Music: The wind (Cat Stevens Cover) – Christ Brain + Féerie – Oskar Schuster + Cosmic Love (Florence the Machine Cover) – Naomi SV}

Have a wonderful Christmas break!

Rum truffles

• 200g dark chocolate

• 50g soft butter

• 3 tbsp cocoa powder

• 6 tbsp rum (optional)

• coconut flakes

• some ground almonds (optional)

Chop the dark chocolate and melt it over a double boiler. Let it cool briefly, then stir in the butter, cocoa powder, and rum. (I also added some ground almonds.) Chill the mixture in the fridge until it is firm enough to shape into balls. Roll the balls in coconut flakes and chill again.

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*early summer paintings

I still have a bunch of watercolor paintings I made in early summer that never ended up on my blog, and I wanted to share them before the year is over. The painting with the snails is one of my favorites this year. We had an abundance of Roman snails, which inspired me to capture them in this way.

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*A white Christmas

Merry Christmas!

It is almost unbelievable, but it snowed overnight,

and we are having the first white Christmas in over 20 years!

The last time I remember having snow on Christmas was in 2004!

{Those pictures are from a frosty November day, though.}

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*Making a paper doll, playing koshi for the fog & cozy Advent baking

{Music: Cumulus – Leo Nocta + Les Îles Féroé – Oskar Schuster + Excerpts from Bergweihnacht}

*The Elephant paper doll can be downloaded from the link list on the right, or just click here.

Pistachio Vanilla Crescents with White Chocolate

• 200 g butter, cold, cut into pieces

• 250 g flour (I used spelt flour)

• 80 g ground almonds

• 20 g ground pistachios

(you can vary the ratio and use more pistachio and less almonds if you like)

• 5 g ground pistachios for the decoration

• 40 g powdered sugar (if you like it sweeter, you can use more)

• 1 packet vanilla sugar

• vanilla pulp

• 100 g white chocolate

Knead the butter, powdered sugar, vanilla sugar, and vanilla pulp until creamy. Mix in the flour and ground almonds and pistachios. Chill the dough for 30 minutes. Shape into small rolls, bend into crescent cookies, and bake at 170 °C (340 °F) for 10 – 12 minutes. Let cool. Melt the white chocolate, dip the crescents, and sprinkle with ground pistachios.

Enjoy!

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*darkness & light

In no other season do darkness and light lie so close together. Everything longs to withdraw into the womb of nature, yet beyond the sheltering darkness a new wave of dazzling life awaits.

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