What an incredible wind storm we experienced here overnight. While the temperatures have risen from -10° C to a more modest -1° C, a fierce blizzard has struck, with blinding snow and wild winds roaring through the streets. The wind chill factor alone makes going out a very uninviting thought. I’ve been watching people from my window doing quite passable Marcel Marceau impressions while trying to walk against the wind. I feel tempted to hold up a score out of 10 for their attempts, but remembering that We are in Sweden now, I wisely refrain from doing so. Who needs television?

I really love days like this (while I’m safe inside a warm, centrally-heated room, of course). I’m always reminded of that Emily Brontë poem The Night is Darkening round Me which was a poem I first read as a teenager on a stormy winter’s night in Adelaide and one that touched me so much that I recall it every time it’s Heathcliffe on the moors type of weather. I’m especially fond of wild winds when we are on the boat, as you really feel the force of nature – and let me assure you that Mother Nature is a force to be reckoned with. We used to lay by anchor on these stormy nights, cosy and safe in our warm berth and listen to the wind howl outside, shrieking through the rigging like a wild banshee. You really feel alive on a night such as that. But as poor Fiona is up on land at the moment, I’d better move right along. And anyway, this morning’s news reports bring sobering stories of a young man presumed drowned, swept from the deck of a tug boat in 60 knot winds off the east coast of Gotland, ships going aground, ferries, planes, trains and buses cancelled and chaos on the roads. It’s obviously been a tough night and I’m a little concerned as we face a long drive to Malmö (about 700km) at the end of the week and I see that the main road there is closed at Västervik because a fully laden oil tanker has overturned. I hope it eases by Friday.

But it is not all doom and gloom. The morning post brought me a wonderful surprise. A dear friend in Australia has given me a 12 month gift subscription to the fantastic Australian ABC magazine Delicious. I’ve read a copy that she kindly sent me last year and was really impressed. I love to cook and I especially look forward to discovering new, creative, innovative and delicious taste sensations. This magazine is great – it takes food seriously, but isn’t elitist and is full of the delights of Australian foods. It is crammed full of recipes, interviews with well known chefs and lots of foodie chatting. I was totally blown away by her generosity and it will be something to remember her by all year. It’s so good to have a friend who doesn’t forget that you exist, even though you are thousands of miles away.

The new Swedish Christmas stamps are now on sale and I went to Posten to stock up on what I needed. I haven’t actually written the cards yet, but having the stamps makes me feel partly organised and I can write them over the next couple of weeks while on the Stockholm-Nynäsham train commute. I saw the new stamps on a leaflet delivered by the post office and they are rather sweet – pictures of playful tomte (not Santa, but the Swedish giver of gifts – a little elf) by the well known Swedish illustrator Björn Berg. However, the leaflet only depicted the ones for domestic mail and upon reading the information, I saw that the tight arses were not issuing one for international postage. They said to use ordinary 10kr stamps.

No way! My overseas friends like to get the Swedish Christmas stamps, so I wondered if you could simply use two of the domestic stamps (they cost 5kr each) instead. I thought I should ask, as the domestic stamps are not marked with a price (a cunning device so they can raise the price without reprinting) and I didn’t want my mail returned to me. So, I went to the counter and asked for the Christmas stamps. I explained to the girl that I wanted to use them for overseas mail, too and was that possible. She said an emphatic “No, you have to use ordinary stamps”. Not to be perturbed, I did a very unSwedish thing and asked “Why? After all, it costs the same” She replied that the stamps had the word inrikes (domestic) printed on them and as such could only be used inside Sweden. I was ready for that, having carefully studied the picture in the Posten handout and seeing no inrikes on them. “No they don’t” I countered “it only says Julpost 2004”. She looked and saw I was right, so she turned over the sheet (they are sold in those self sticking packs of 10) and read the magic phrase Du kan även använda julpostfrimärkena för båda in- och utrikes brev…

Well, I was gracious in victory and simply smiled and bought what I needed. Luckily I was prepared to question it more closely. Flushed with that small success I ventured next door to a charming little shop called Jane’s Kryddbod. It is an enchanting little shop full of spices, herbs, teas, condiments, sweets and other locally produced goodies. The setting very much resembles an old fashioned grocery store and has a lovely, cosy, inviting and friendly feel to it. I told Jane that I was staying the weekend with friends near Malmö and wanted to bring something that was unique to Nynäshamn. Together we chose a selection of local produce and she made it up into a gift basket for me while we chatted. What a great little place – I’m sure I’ll be visiting there often.