I've been on the lookout lately for one of the first signs of Christmas here - when Posten release their Christmas stamps.

It might seem early to some to be thinking of Christmas cards, but when at least half of the seventy cards I send each year are to overseas destinations, you really can't be too early. I buy my cards early and as soon as the stamps are released, I am among the first to buy them.

I'm not that fond of the stamps released for domestic mail this year. Last year we had the lovely Astrid Lindgren series and the year before, several typical symbols of Swedish Christmas. Both series were really cheerful and pretty. This year they have opted for the Christmas wreaths. You would think that could produce some lovely stamps, but unfortunately they seem to be a bit drab to me.

We fare better with the stamps for overseas cards, where the theme is winter play and depict typical winter scenes and snowy landscape. There is snow man building, a girl in red sledding down a hill and a pretty snow ball tree outside of a typical little red wooden cottage. I think they will bring some cheer and a welcome blast of chilly air to my friends currently sweating profusely in Adelaide.

All of my cards are now written, stamped and ready. The ones to Australia are already in the post, along with one or two Aussie friends here in Sweden who will be heading home to celebrate in the next week or two (lucky ducks!). The US and European ones I'll post next week and those to Finland and Sweden the week after.




You may be thinking that I'm slaving away here at midnight by candlelight to get them all done, but believe me, it's 3.30pm in that picture. We are down to the 6 or 7 hours of daylight at the moment, so candles are a much used item in the daylight gloom. Anyway, writing out Christmas cards is a labour of love for me.

I know that Christmas is seen by some as being over commercialised and many people declare that they can't be bothered with it anymore. But you won't find me saying that. I see it as the one time of year that can really bring out the best in so many people. There is a mood of goodwill that is infectious. "Why are you bothering to send Christmas cards?" another friend asks "people don't send them back and they simply get thrown away", but to me it's a small thing I can to show people that I am thinking of them, especially if they are far away. And I've ceased to worry whether people send me one or not. I'm doing it for myself, because it is something I want to do. Of course, it is still nice to get mail that it not a bill these days!




So off I trotted down to the letter box, looking at the frozen landscape and thinking about how very different it all is from my childhood Christmases spent in sun drenched beaches. Here it is dark and cold, but coming up this weekend, Advent begins with the traditional lighting of the Christmas displays in the shop windows, we light the first Advent candle and the Christmas stars in the windows. We'll visit the Christmas markets (this year at the square and the harbour in Nyköping as well at Steninge Castle) and every evening, sip on glögg and julmust and eat gingerbread biscuits while we wait for Lucia day and then Christmas. I'm really looking forward to it.




I was quite excited when I saw that even Soda Stream has made a Julmust flavour. I was a bit dubious, but we bought a bottle to try and it's good - very good. And so convenient as I won't have to lug dozens of 2 litre bottles of the stuff through the snow. I've written about the Swedish obsession of drinking Julmust at Christmas (goodness, have I been blogging THAT long?) and I have to admit that after nearly 8 years here, I'm as addicted as my Swede.

But there is still the latent Aussie lurking in my tastebuds and they fired up into overdrive when I saw that Estrella is now making Salt and Vinegar Chips! Wow, it felt like Christmas had come early!




Of course I grabbed a big bag. I thought about buying the whole box, but the Swede was with me and I didn't want to look too greedy. Anyway, I thought I should sample them first and see if they are up to par.

*Crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch*

The verdict:

L-G (screwing up his face, gagging and attempting to scrape off his tongue): "Så äckligt!"

Marie: "Hmmm...okay I guess, but not a patch on Samboys. These hardly have any flavour at all. A good S & V Chip should explode in your mouth and make it pucker up"

L-G looked at me as though I was a certifiable lunatic. So I of course I couldn't resist continuing... "They don't call them Savage Salt & Vinegar for nothing, you know. I remember when you could buy them with a little extra sachet of salt and vinegar flavouring, which you could add to the chips. You could add more KA-POW to them."

Now he really looks scared.

Will I buy them again? Of course I will, despite the pale flavour (that my soft Swedish husband thinks is too strong). If L-G hates them, then I might actually get a chance to eat one or two. If he liked them, he'd vacuum them up really efficiently and I'd never see them. If only Samboy would export to Sweden....