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scripsiIs pretty good right now.
I had a very nice weekend. On Sunday we had Feast of St Lucy lunch at my ex and my parents were there too. Lucia is one of those celebration which started out heathen and then got a Christian label. St Lucy, who are called Lucia here, was a Sicilian saint and there is really no reason this particular saint should be noted more than any other. Especially as Sweden is a protestant country. But traditionally december 13 was believed to be the longest night of the year and a night were a lot of supernatural things happened and you better keep inside and keep vigil. But it was also the day were the mid-winter celebration started, so it was also a night for feasting and young people walked from house to house singing songs and getting some treats for it.. Lusse was a demon or witch who travelled that night and who might take naughty children with her. (Originally she may have been some kind of goddess representing light). Eventually she merged with St Lucia and in the 19th century a tradition started with a procession in the early morning. A young woman in a white shift with a red sash and a crown with burning candles goes in the front, and then comes her maids, also in white shifts and all carrying a burning candle. Nowadays you can also find “starboys”, who are wearing a white nightshirts and have peaked white hats with golden stars on and carrying a golden star on a stick. At schools you can also get santa’s little helpers and gingerbread men. They sing Christmas carols and Lucia songs about the approaching light and scare nobel prize winner who are being surprised in bed by them.
Anyway, we did see any Lucia procession, but had a very nice lunch. Ex’s brother the Harvard professor is coming home for Christmas with wife and new baby. I’m very fond of my former brother-in-law and excited to meet the baby, who is Kid’s first cousin. As the Ex and I live just a ten minutes walk from each other we decided that they would all be coming to us on Christmas Eve (Swedes celebrate Christmas Eve, not Christmas Day) after dinner for coffee and sweets. I really look forward to Christmas this year.
My sister is still doing well, though being rather plagued by morning sickness. My father is on his last week of radiation treatments and is doing fine. he feels fine, but he has lost his sense of taste and his voice, though we are assured this is only temporary.
And i have the best gift for my sister this year! Earlier this autumn I got a call from an ex-aunt. (She was married to my youngest uncle for 20 years and is the mother of my two youngest cousins). she used to sew a lot, but hasn’t done it at all for years and now she wondered if I wanted to take over her fabric stash. which I did, at least the nuggets. and among the nuggets were two embroidered chair seats my paternal grandmother made some time in the 50’s or 60’s, one of them not finished. She gave them to my aunt to finish, for some reason, which she never did. They are black with pink roses in cross-stitch, made in wool yarn.
Both my grandmothers were very accomplished artists, but though I have a lot of my maternal grandmother’s things, i have nothing my paternal grandmother has made. The chairs they are made of are long gone, but there are plenty of black yarn left and I have finished the embroidery, adding stitched to make them into squares instead of trapezoids. I’m going to make them into two cushion and give one to my sister. I know she will be as happy as I am to have something our grandmother has made.
I had a very nice weekend. On Sunday we had Feast of St Lucy lunch at my ex and my parents were there too. Lucia is one of those celebration which started out heathen and then got a Christian label. St Lucy, who are called Lucia here, was a Sicilian saint and there is really no reason this particular saint should be noted more than any other. Especially as Sweden is a protestant country. But traditionally december 13 was believed to be the longest night of the year and a night were a lot of supernatural things happened and you better keep inside and keep vigil. But it was also the day were the mid-winter celebration started, so it was also a night for feasting and young people walked from house to house singing songs and getting some treats for it.. Lusse was a demon or witch who travelled that night and who might take naughty children with her. (Originally she may have been some kind of goddess representing light). Eventually she merged with St Lucia and in the 19th century a tradition started with a procession in the early morning. A young woman in a white shift with a red sash and a crown with burning candles goes in the front, and then comes her maids, also in white shifts and all carrying a burning candle. Nowadays you can also find “starboys”, who are wearing a white nightshirts and have peaked white hats with golden stars on and carrying a golden star on a stick. At schools you can also get santa’s little helpers and gingerbread men. They sing Christmas carols and Lucia songs about the approaching light and scare nobel prize winner who are being surprised in bed by them.
Anyway, we did see any Lucia procession, but had a very nice lunch. Ex’s brother the Harvard professor is coming home for Christmas with wife and new baby. I’m very fond of my former brother-in-law and excited to meet the baby, who is Kid’s first cousin. As the Ex and I live just a ten minutes walk from each other we decided that they would all be coming to us on Christmas Eve (Swedes celebrate Christmas Eve, not Christmas Day) after dinner for coffee and sweets. I really look forward to Christmas this year.
My sister is still doing well, though being rather plagued by morning sickness. My father is on his last week of radiation treatments and is doing fine. he feels fine, but he has lost his sense of taste and his voice, though we are assured this is only temporary.
And i have the best gift for my sister this year! Earlier this autumn I got a call from an ex-aunt. (She was married to my youngest uncle for 20 years and is the mother of my two youngest cousins). she used to sew a lot, but hasn’t done it at all for years and now she wondered if I wanted to take over her fabric stash. which I did, at least the nuggets. and among the nuggets were two embroidered chair seats my paternal grandmother made some time in the 50’s or 60’s, one of them not finished. She gave them to my aunt to finish, for some reason, which she never did. They are black with pink roses in cross-stitch, made in wool yarn.
Both my grandmothers were very accomplished artists, but though I have a lot of my maternal grandmother’s things, i have nothing my paternal grandmother has made. The chairs they are made of are long gone, but there are plenty of black yarn left and I have finished the embroidery, adding stitched to make them into squares instead of trapezoids. I’m going to make them into two cushion and give one to my sister. I know she will be as happy as I am to have something our grandmother has made.
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no subject
Date: 2015-12-14 11:03 pm (UTC)Gabrielle
no subject
Date: 2015-12-15 01:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-12-15 02:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-12-15 01:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-12-15 03:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-12-16 12:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-12-15 07:10 pm (UTC)Sending you and your faily good vibes and holiday cheer :)
And that is a wonderful gift for your sister!
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Date: 2015-12-16 12:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-12-16 03:54 am (UTC)*HUGS*
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Date: 2015-12-16 12:32 pm (UTC)