Stormen Anna har lagt sig – men inte snöovädret. SMHI har nu utfärdat fyra nya varningar för kraftigt snöfall.#smhi #kalmar #västervik #öland #dalsland #värmland
Flera nya gula varningar för snöfall

And so it's begun 3/3

Pigs have their own space at Nordiska tomtemuseet. For obvious reasons, pigs have long been a vital part of Christmas in this neck of the woods. And what better way to honour your soon-to-be ham than making it part of the décor, right?

Anyway, happy Advent, everyone!

#jul #christmas #tomte #gnome #gris #pig #julpynt #christmasdecorations #nordiska_tomtemuseet #skållerud #dalsland #closeup #detail #trio #triptych #sweden #pixelfedsweden

And so it's begun 2/3

Any time of year, you can visit the highly interesting Nordiska tomtemuseet at Skållerud in the southwest of Sweden. The two knowledgeable founders have collected traditional Christmas decorations. Mainly gnomes, but there's sundry knick-knacks, geegaws and gimcracks from way back when. The visit comes with a tour which leaves you highly enlightened.

Here, for instance, are some fine examples of Italian plaster craft. During the latter part of the 19th century, many Italians came up north peddling plaster decorations. Most prominent were the cats -- growing up, I still heard the occasional "plaster cat" about Italians, and I never knew why until my visit to Nordiska tomtemuseet. As you can see, these gnomes aren't of the typical Nordic house gnome type, but rather an Italian interpretation of the phenomenon. I find them beautiful, more stylish and serene, but again: back in the day they'd seem exotic to us Scandi folk.

#jul #christmas #tomte #gnome #julpynt #christmasdecorations #nordiska_tomtemuseet #skållerud #dalsland #closeup #detail #trio #triptych #sweden #pixelfedsweden

And so it's begun 1/3

Yesterday was the so-called display Sunday, which is the proper get-go for Christmas decorating. These days, the last third of each year is one big Halloween-black Friday-Christmas pea soup (C'mon people! Buy stuff! Any stuff! Doesn't matter which stuff, just buy some! And then some!), but this is how it should be done.

These guys are the real, Nordic tomte deal. Long before that bloated, jolly, red-clad dude made his entry, people in the Nordic countries were looked after by gnomes like these, albeit not so colorful. Every homestead had a gnome caring for the livestock and generally making sure things went smoothly. On Christmas Eve, you'd treat him to a bowl of rice porridge which was set out by the barn, or else accidents and mishaps would start befalling you and yours.

#jul #christmas #tomte #gnome #julpynt #christmasdecorations #nordiska_tomtemuseet #skållerud #dalsland #closeup #detail #trio #triptych #sweden #pixelfedsweden

#sweden #fall #dalsland #lake #lakeview #mauntainview #hillclimbing #nature #hiking #calm #naturewalks #calmingview