It was my uncle Hector's birthday on Saturday.
I made him a rather ludicrous card based on a silly conversation we had
a few months ago about a zoo that was run by Liberace...
I'm glad my family appreciate silliness as much as I do!
Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
amazing Pokémon cross stitch
It's my little brother's 22nd birthday tomorrow. He has loved Pokémon pretty much forever, and lately he's become interested in crafty things too (though I can't tell if it's ironic or not...)
I really wish I had the patience to make him something as awesome as this Pokémon cross stitch - which took Linda 8 months to make, but I reckon it was totally worth it. Perhaps he'll get one for his 23rd if I start it soon!
I really wish I had the patience to make him something as awesome as this Pokémon cross stitch - which took Linda 8 months to make, but I reckon it was totally worth it. Perhaps he'll get one for his 23rd if I start it soon!
Amazing, non?
visiting the orchids at Kew
Last week my granny and I had a South London Adventure - we visited Kew Gardens to see the last of the orchid exhibition before it closed.
They were really rather spectacular, and brightened up the otherwise rather grey day.
Here are some of my favourites:
We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around the rest of the gardens - inside the hot house, the cactus house, looking at all the David Nash sculptures, and after some effort we finally found the tiny hidden-away Bonsai house - woo!
I'd forgotten how much there is to see at Kew! When we normally go there it's to have our big annual family picnic, and we don't normally do much wandering round due to the size of our group, so it was a nice change to go with just granny and explore the gardens properly :)
They were really rather spectacular, and brightened up the otherwise rather grey day.
Here are some of my favourites:
We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around the rest of the gardens - inside the hot house, the cactus house, looking at all the David Nash sculptures, and after some effort we finally found the tiny hidden-away Bonsai house - woo!
I'd forgotten how much there is to see at Kew! When we normally go there it's to have our big annual family picnic, and we don't normally do much wandering round due to the size of our group, so it was a nice change to go with just granny and explore the gardens properly :)
the official assigning of flower fairies
When I was about 5 years old my family "assigned" me one of Cicily Mary Barker's Flower Fairies. All children born into the family are given the sets of Flower Fairies books, so this was quite normal to my mind, and just a part of everyones' childhood.
It soon became evident which Flower Fairy each of the children would be - though this was somewhat based on looks rather than preference of flowers or even seasons. I was given the blackberry fairy, as she had a chubby-cheeked face and wild mass of curly hair, just like I did at that age. There are three of us in the family very similar in age, and after I was given blackberry, Clare was given celandine and James was given acorn.
I remember after having had "my" Flower Fairy for a little while I was given another one by my mum - the pink clover fairy. I don't think it was ever decided which of the two I would have, so for my entire life I've had two, and for every birthday and Christmas since I have received at least one gift relating to either of those two fairies. I have quite the collection, as you can imagine.
So apparently, it's just my family who do this (?) - and I kinda always just assumed that everyone did it, and that everyone knew who "their" fairy was, but I have recently discovered, much to my upset, that this is not the case.
Upon asking my boyfriend which fairy he had as a child, the look of befuddlement was enough to make me realise this was not a thing that families did, it was just a thing that my family did. I wouldn't say I was crushed, but I couldn't hide my obvious upset regarding this revelation, and I'm not even sure why I was so a) surprised or b) upset by it.
So this isn't something everyone does - so what? Surely that makes it all the more special because we do it - like a family tradition. In a way that makes it more special and I'm glad I was born into the kind of family who does do stuff like that. I can't wait for more children to be born into the family and to help assign them their own Flower Fairies, and maybe if they're lucky they can even help choose their own.
Alas, I've not seen any pink clovers yet this year, but I'm keeping my eye out for them!
It soon became evident which Flower Fairy each of the children would be - though this was somewhat based on looks rather than preference of flowers or even seasons. I was given the blackberry fairy, as she had a chubby-cheeked face and wild mass of curly hair, just like I did at that age. There are three of us in the family very similar in age, and after I was given blackberry, Clare was given celandine and James was given acorn.
not exactly the nicest choice of fairy for a 5 year old...
So apparently, it's just my family who do this (?) - and I kinda always just assumed that everyone did it, and that everyone knew who "their" fairy was, but I have recently discovered, much to my upset, that this is not the case.
Upon asking my boyfriend which fairy he had as a child, the look of befuddlement was enough to make me realise this was not a thing that families did, it was just a thing that my family did. I wouldn't say I was crushed, but I couldn't hide my obvious upset regarding this revelation, and I'm not even sure why I was so a) surprised or b) upset by it.
So this isn't something everyone does - so what? Surely that makes it all the more special because we do it - like a family tradition. In a way that makes it more special and I'm glad I was born into the kind of family who does do stuff like that. I can't wait for more children to be born into the family and to help assign them their own Flower Fairies, and maybe if they're lucky they can even help choose their own.
Alas, I've not seen any pink clovers yet this year, but I'm keeping my eye out for them!
In the meantime there are plenty of other pretty clover goodies to look at...
Bit of a long shot, but is this something any of your families did?
Do any of you have a Flower Fairy who you think of as "yours"?
celebrating 25 years of love and marriage
Last night my parents made the long drive from Cornwall to London for the big family get-together we had planned in order to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary. While they were travelling, I was busy busy busy in my kitchen making all sorts of yummies for the party - chocolate orange cookies, cheesecake brownies and chocolate cupcakes with mint icing, wafer butterflies and a huge amount of edible silver glitter - nyom!
After a very late night watching the Olympic opening ceremony I woke up rather late, but got straight down to the business of putting finishing touches to the cupcakes before setting off to meet my parents at Kenwood House. The weather was perfect as we boarded the bus that would take us up Highgate Hill and along Hampstead Heath towards Kenwood, and despite arriving in good time, there were lots of people already waiting for us under the (copper beech?) tree where we had planned to meet - including one of my uncles and his family who had travelled from Devon to join us for the day, all of my Daddy's other brothers with their families, along with Mum's brother from Brighton, my two Great Aunts and some of their children (with some of their children!), Mummy's parents with their partners and my Godmother, my Mum's best friend from childhood, with her family.
Unfortunately there was a large puddle directly under the tree, but we worked around that, spreading various John Lewis picnic blankets around the drier bits and setting up the picnic area slightly further back again. I wasn't so lucky and spent most of the afternoon accidentally kneeling in various patches of wet grass...
My young cousins soon set up a games area on the other side of the tree, where they played frisbee, rounders and other various outside games until they were called over for food. There was a huge veggie feast - including olives, Greek bread, various types of humous, rice salad, sausage rolls, potato salad, falafel, vegetable tarts and lots of posh crisps.
After the delicious round of savoury food and plenty of treats, we spent hours just chatting and mingling, taking group photos in the sun, catching up with family we hadn't seen since Christmas or longer ago, and having a good giggle looking at old photo albums from Mum and Dad's wedding day all those years ago.
Anyone in the family under 25 obviously hadn't been born at the time of the wedding, so it was especially fun to go through the photos with them, seeing their reactions to pictures of Daddy and his brothers all with full heads of hair!
It was a lovely day of re-connecting with family members who for the last few years have only really come together to attend funerals - it was relaxing to finally be together to celebrate something at last, and you could see the happiness exuding from my parents as they were milling around their friends and family, taking the centre of attention with genuine ease.
After a very late night watching the Olympic opening ceremony I woke up rather late, but got straight down to the business of putting finishing touches to the cupcakes before setting off to meet my parents at Kenwood House. The weather was perfect as we boarded the bus that would take us up Highgate Hill and along Hampstead Heath towards Kenwood, and despite arriving in good time, there were lots of people already waiting for us under the (copper beech?) tree where we had planned to meet - including one of my uncles and his family who had travelled from Devon to join us for the day, all of my Daddy's other brothers with their families, along with Mum's brother from Brighton, my two Great Aunts and some of their children (with some of their children!), Mummy's parents with their partners and my Godmother, my Mum's best friend from childhood, with her family.
Unfortunately there was a large puddle directly under the tree, but we worked around that, spreading various John Lewis picnic blankets around the drier bits and setting up the picnic area slightly further back again. I wasn't so lucky and spent most of the afternoon accidentally kneeling in various patches of wet grass...
My young cousins soon set up a games area on the other side of the tree, where they played frisbee, rounders and other various outside games until they were called over for food. There was a huge veggie feast - including olives, Greek bread, various types of humous, rice salad, sausage rolls, potato salad, falafel, vegetable tarts and lots of posh crisps.
After the delicious round of savoury food and plenty of treats, we spent hours just chatting and mingling, taking group photos in the sun, catching up with family we hadn't seen since Christmas or longer ago, and having a good giggle looking at old photo albums from Mum and Dad's wedding day all those years ago.
Anyone in the family under 25 obviously hadn't been born at the time of the wedding, so it was especially fun to go through the photos with them, seeing their reactions to pictures of Daddy and his brothers all with full heads of hair!
It was a lovely day of re-connecting with family members who for the last few years have only really come together to attend funerals - it was relaxing to finally be together to celebrate something at last, and you could see the happiness exuding from my parents as they were milling around their friends and family, taking the centre of attention with genuine ease.
Not too much of a mad tea party, as such - though I'm sure enough people who know us might call us a pretty mad family, but I think that's just part of the fun, and I love my family to bits, no matter how mad people might think we are!
happy 25th wedding anniversary ♥♥♥ Mummy and Daddy!
Today is my Mummy and Daddy's Silver Wedding Anniversary! 25 years! Woop!
Though I was only 4 years old at the time, I do remember certain bits of their wedding day. Mum had made me and the other two bridesmaids the most beautiful pink dresses with tiny white polka dots, and I wore a circlet of flowers on my head, with pink ribbons streaming down my back, and carried a small posy of white flowers to match Mum's bouquet.
It was a pretty simple affair - close friends and family - and took place in the local church where I had been christened, and where Mum had been going since she was young - with the reception in the church hall next door.
The last 25 years have gone by super quickly, and I can't wait to celebrate with them when they come to visit in a couple of weeks' time when we'll be throwing them a huge party.
I've not yet got them an anniversary gift - it's such a big milestone that I need it to be something super special and I'm finding it really hard to think of the perfect thing.
Perhaps I should go inspiration-hunting...
Though I was only 4 years old at the time, I do remember certain bits of their wedding day. Mum had made me and the other two bridesmaids the most beautiful pink dresses with tiny white polka dots, and I wore a circlet of flowers on my head, with pink ribbons streaming down my back, and carried a small posy of white flowers to match Mum's bouquet.
It was a pretty simple affair - close friends and family - and took place in the local church where I had been christened, and where Mum had been going since she was young - with the reception in the church hall next door.
The last 25 years have gone by super quickly, and I can't wait to celebrate with them when they come to visit in a couple of weeks' time when we'll be throwing them a huge party.
I've not yet got them an anniversary gift - it's such a big milestone that I need it to be something super special and I'm finding it really hard to think of the perfect thing.
Perhaps I should go inspiration-hunting...
a belated birthday celebration
There's nothing quite like one of your baby brothers, whose birth day you remember so well, turning 21. Yep. My baby brother Rich was 21 years old last Thursday. The other one will be 21 in five years time. Blimey, they're getting so old.
Mummy and Pops came up for the weekend to spend his birthday with him in South London and I hosted a belated birthday lunch for them all today. It was also James's birthday on Thursday (the big 3-0) so we had a lovely double celebration.
Late in the morning, Rich started his journey from the very leafy south to the... well, less leafy north of London with his girlfriend Alex; Ma, Pa and the youngest, Will, headed over from my Granny's where they had been staying; my Godmother drove from even further north than we are; and James, Yoyo and I busied ourselves with getting the new flat* in order.
My morning was spent in the kitchen, cooking up a feast; a feast that was utterly demolished within 20 minutes of my laying it on the table:
I baked a loaf of sun-dried tomato bread, a loaf of olive bread, made some super garlicky humous, some hotter-than-I-had-anticipated-but-still-pretty-good-even-if-I-do-say-so-myself salsa, a roasted beetroot salad - I am obsessed with beetroot at the moment, potato skins loaded with a creamy, herby filling, a tomato and mozzarella salad and cut up plenty of veggies to dip in the humous.
Oh yeah, and an enormous white chocolate cheesecake for pudding.
In all the busyness, I got a huge paper cut across my left palm and a very sore scratch near my right eye, though I'm not sure how... all I know is, having had chilli juice on my hand probably didn't help with soothing either of them.
I am completely shattered now, and off to bed. It was so worth it though - it was an excellent day.
Mummy and Pops came up for the weekend to spend his birthday with him in South London and I hosted a belated birthday lunch for them all today. It was also James's birthday on Thursday (the big 3-0) so we had a lovely double celebration.
Rich's birthday gift, bought on Etsy from John Scarratt
Late in the morning, Rich started his journey from the very leafy south to the... well, less leafy north of London with his girlfriend Alex; Ma, Pa and the youngest, Will, headed over from my Granny's where they had been staying; my Godmother drove from even further north than we are; and James, Yoyo and I busied ourselves with getting the new flat* in order.
My morning was spent in the kitchen, cooking up a feast; a feast that was utterly demolished within 20 minutes of my laying it on the table:
I baked a loaf of sun-dried tomato bread, a loaf of olive bread, made some super garlicky humous, some hotter-than-I-had-anticipated-but-still-pretty-good-even-if-I-do-say-so-myself salsa, a roasted beetroot salad - I am obsessed with beetroot at the moment, potato skins loaded with a creamy, herby filling, a tomato and mozzarella salad and cut up plenty of veggies to dip in the humous.
Oh yeah, and an enormous white chocolate cheesecake for pudding.
N-Y-O-M!
In all the busyness, I got a huge paper cut across my left palm and a very sore scratch near my right eye, though I'm not sure how... all I know is, having had chilli juice on my hand probably didn't help with soothing either of them.
I am completely shattered now, and off to bed. It was so worth it though - it was an excellent day.
*I'm not sure how long I will be referring to it as the 'new' flat - it's been 6 weeks now, and although it still feels new, it feels settled-in at the same time, quite odd.
the cello of love
After extensive research for my parents anniversary card (I asked a couple of girl friends and Googled it) I have concluded that the cello is the most romantic of the musical instruments.
I still reckon the harp (laser or otherwise) is probably more romantic, but a) the girls didn't agree with me and b) harps are much harder to make out of paper than cellos.
the residual paper from cutting out 24 tiny red hearts
a close up of the final card - a tiny paper cello with 24 tiny red hearts
(one for each year of their marriage) emanating from it - romantic or what?
the romance of musical instruments
I know, right! It's a tough one...
...but it's something I'm going to have to find an answer to very soon - it's my Ma and Pa's 24th wedding anniversary on Monday, and as there is no traditional symbol, such as gemstones or flowers, for the not-so-milestone-ish anniversaries, someone wonderful has come up with modern symbols for every anniversary between 10 and 30 years. 24 years has been given the symbol 'musical instruments', so that's going to be the theme of their anniversary card.
Now with some kind of context, I feel I should ask again: which do you think is the most romantic of all musical instruments?
Could it be the brassy French horn (which is actually German)?
Could it be the brassy French horn (which is actually German)?
Could it be the holey ocarina?
Maybe it could be the insanely awesome laser harp?
three fox designs
I have just finished photographing the lovely cards that my mummy sent me to put up in her new Etsy shop... and I thought you might like a sneak peek!
Aren't they flippin' gorgeous!? My mum is one talented lady!
There are lots more than the ones shown, they're just my favourites. I'll let you know when they are all up in her shop, but I'm eagerly waiting for that weird pink carvy stuff so I can make a stamp for the back of them before they're listed.
We may not have a logo (let alone a stamp) yet, but we have come up with a name for her shop...
... I don't imagine her shop banner/avatar/logo will actually include a photo of her cardigan-ed daughter, though I think it probably should.
every day should (also) be father's day
Today is Father's Day. As you might remember back on Mother's Day, I feel strongly that parents (especially mine) surely deserve more than just one day devoted to them - every day should be Mother's and Father's Days! Hooray!
Nevertheless, to keep with the 'norms' of society, I did send my daddy a card. This one made me chuckle and I had to get it for him:
From the wonderful Able and Game.
my uber crafty mummy
My fascination with all forms of art and crafts was instilled in me from a very early age - and no wonder when my mum had her own business making the most beautiful knitted children's clothes when I was little (aha, now you know where my cardigan obsession comes from!) and an awful lot of my clothes were sewn or knitted by my wonderful mummy, including the cardis in this post. From childhood it was obvious I was creative too, and I could draw and write long before I could read what I was actually writing. I was encouraged to try all sorts of different materials and techniques: knitting, sewing, painting, pottery, toy-making, embroidery, jewellery-making, weaving, almost anything I could think of, and was very lucky to be given the opportunity to try it all with the unceasing support of my parents.
Mum is a talented craftswoman (though she won't believe me when I tell her so) and over the years has tried her hand at all sorts of crafts including knitting, sewing, quilting, basketry, mosaic-making and baking (she makes the best.cakes.ever.ever.ever). Like a busy little bee, mum flits from one craft to another, never sticking with one for too long, but rather trying a bit of everything. I love the enthusiasm she has for creating things, and it's great to have inherited that from her, even if it does mean always having lots (and lots and lots) of projects on the go at once.
Her most recent undertaking involves felt - she has been making sheets of the stuff, which is then embroidered onto and made into lovely greetings cards. After a lifetime of support and encouragement, the least I can do is reciprocate, so I'm going to set up a little Etsy store for her to sell her beautiful cards. We have already come up with a name and I'm designing her a little logo to stamp on the back of her cards. It feels lovely and warm and satisfying to be doing something like this to help fuel my mum's creativity, and I hope you will pop along to the shop when it's open to see for yourselves what an awesome and clever mummy I have.
...just waiting to be made into something beautiful!
a day trip to saffron walden
Weekends and school holidays were pretty much the best things about being a kid. During every holiday from about the age of 6, my cousins and I were whisked away by my grandparents to all manner of castles, beaches, wildlife sanctuaries, old houses, pretty little villages, steam railways, botanical gardens and seemingly endless forests. I was never really sure where it was we were going until we got there, which just made it even more exciting.
I hadn't realised how much I missed going on Family Adventures until this weekend when we piled into a car and drove towards Cambridge, not really sure of where we would end up. After driving down narrow roads and passing yellow, red and green fields to the left and right of us, we arrived in the sleepy town of Saffron Walden.
Despite being only 50 miles from London, the town is located in an unspoilt rural area and is one of the finest examples of a preserved medieval market town in England. There has been a market in the town since 1141 and it was at one time at the centre of the saffron trade, hence the name.
Saffron Walden contains numerous historic buildings, many of which were built by Quakers. Within the town and in the surrounding area you can find examples of every style of architecture from the 12th to the 21st Century. As well as the beautiful timber-framed buildings and tiny picturesque streets, the town includes the remains of a small castle and the largest turf maze in England. There is also a "proper" hedge maze in Bridge End Gardens (also designed by Quakers), in which my grandparents and I had great fun getting lost. You're never too old to have fun in a maze!
The town also has a tiny art gallery, Fry Art Gallery, in which you can see paintings and prints by artists with connections to the town and the locality, such as Eric Ravilious, Michael Rothenstein and Edward Bawden who lived in the town during the 1970s and 1980s.
Finally, in an attempt to show how much Saffron Walden oozes English-ness and rural charm, take a look at this signpost from the centre of the town...
...even the car parks have charming names!
Where did you go on adventures in the school holidays as a child?
childhood memories of French and the origins of 'Matin Lapin'
My original interest in French started at a very young age: when I was about 4 years old my Granny B came to visit and brought me a couple of books - one was in French and one was a beautiful story based in France. The first book was for very young children, which my Granny had brought back from one of her many trips to France, and just consisted of pictures of animals with their names in French. 'Papillon' became my new favourite word (I was obsessed with butterflies at the time) and I would astound my friends and teachers with my fancy new skills at school in the weeks after every one of my Granny's visits.
The other book that I clearly remember was set in Paris, I think it must have been set in a boarding school, and was about the adventures of a little girl named Madeline. I always assumed the book was written by a Frenchman, but it was actually written and illustrated by an Austrian by the name of Ludwig Bemelmans. Ludwig was the son of a Belgian painter, and his first language was French, so I guess I wasn't totally wrong. I only ever had one Madeline book, 'Madeline's Rescue', the second book in the series of six. I've never even read any of the other Madeline books, I didn't need to as the one I had was absolutely delightful, the illustrations were beautifully stylised (Ludwig won the Caldecott Medal, an American prize for illustration, for 'Madeline's Rescue' in 1954), and the stories were charmingly written all in rhyme.
In the story of Madeline's Rescue, Madeline falls into the River Seine and is rescued by a lovely dog, which she names Genevieve and takes home to live with her and the rest of the girls. Their landlord doesn't like animals and throws Genevieve out into the street, but she comes back later that night and gives birth to lots of puppies! It's a simple story I admit (I was only 4 years old, after all) but everything about it is just perfect. I used to read it day after day, out loud to myself or to anyone who would listen. It was the first book I learned to read all the way through completely by myself, and I couldn't help but show off my pride at this accomplishment by repeatedly reading it aloud evening after evening, in front of the fire in the little flat in which I grew up. Although I lived in that flat from birth until I was about 12 years old, that is still one of the most vivid memories I have of the old place (most of the other memories I have of that house were from various Christmases spent there - for those of you who don't already know, I really love Christmas).
Unfortunately, after that brief and naive flirtation with the French language, my interest in it diminished as I got older and when I was at high school I really did not enjoy studying French. Perhaps it was the teacher, perhaps it was the loud classmates, or perhaps I simply lost interest because I was a teenager, and that's just what happens. Typically, as soon as I was no longer forced to study French at school, my interest in it picked up again. During university I taught myself some interesting phrases, and took far more of an interest in learning it than I ever had at school. In the second year of my degree I spent a month in a little town in the south of France, staying with my Granny's best friend who had lived there for years. Very few people in the town knew any English, so I had to use all the French I knew around and about town. I spent my days sitting on the grassy bank of a halcyon blue river watching kingfishers diving to catch fish while drawing pictures and making pretty beaded things; it was like paradise. After only a month I had learned so much more than I had expected - I felt I had been fully immersed in the French way of life and almost didn't want to come back to uni in the autumn.
Upon my return, I drew a tiny picture of a rabbit for my Granny and named it 'Matin Lapin'. It had nothing to do with mornings, at least not consciously, I just thought the words sounded as though they belonged together. My Granny kept that picture on a little shelf just outside her bedroom, and it was when I was living with her after I had graduated and was trying to think of a name for the little business I had dreams of setting up (where I could sell butterflies and beaded things and pretty illustrations) that I was reminded of that little picture I drew for her.
So that is where the name 'Matin Lapin' comes from, in case you were wondering :)
What were your favourite books when you were young?
national day of Norway
Since the recent discovery of my Norwegian descent, I have been embracing everything Norwegian: the culture, the language, the music, and reading up about the history of the country.
On 17th May 1814 the Constitution of Norway was signed, and Norway was declared an independent nation, so it's kind of like Norwegian Independence Day today! Hurrah! Among Norwegians, today is referred to as 'syttende mai' (meaning Seventeenth of May) or 'Nasjonaldagen' (The National Day)... but I think Independence Day sounds much better!
To celebrate, I am dressed in the colours of the Norwegian flag - red, white and blue (though I wish I could find a skirt like this in my size) - and my hair is in cute heidi braids atop my head.
Unfortunately I have to work today, otherwise I would have gone down to Southwark Park where the Norwegian community in London are celebrating the day with a parade, a Norwegian food market and, I can only imagine, a vast sea of pretty Norwegian flags...
On 17th May 1814 the Constitution of Norway was signed, and Norway was declared an independent nation, so it's kind of like Norwegian Independence Day today! Hurrah! Among Norwegians, today is referred to as 'syttende mai' (meaning Seventeenth of May) or 'Nasjonaldagen' (The National Day)... but I think Independence Day sounds much better!
To celebrate, I am dressed in the colours of the Norwegian flag - red, white and blue (though I wish I could find a skirt like this in my size) - and my hair is in cute heidi braids atop my head.
Unfortunately I have to work today, otherwise I would have gone down to Southwark Park where the Norwegian community in London are celebrating the day with a parade, a Norwegian food market and, I can only imagine, a vast sea of pretty Norwegian flags...
It makes me positively patriotic!
every day should be mother's day
This might sound a bit odd, but I have never really celebrated Mother's Day...
As far as I am concerned, I love my mum every minute of every day, and tell her as often as I can. I don't believe that mums should have just one day a year devoted to them - every day should be Mother's Day!
norwegian at heart
For as long as I can remember, I have been enamoured of everything European, and in particular things associated with the Nordic countries. This is something that has been passed from my mum to me: she has always dreamt of visiting Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland and Denmark, and I have been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to visit three of those countries already. I've never really known why my mother and I have felt so drawn to this region, but I loved it as soon as I went, and, on my arrival home after visiting Norway for Eurovision last year, I immediately started learning Norwegian!
Norwegian flag bunting over one of my bookshelves
Considering this peculiar fascination we have with the area and culture, my mother decided she would become a bit of a genealogy detective. Her lengthy and vast research gave us a suitably logical reason for our minor obsession - she discovered that our family a few (a good few, but even so) generations back were Norwegian! It certainly makes a lot of sense now!
I guess I had better start taking this whole "learning Norwegian" thing seriously then... wish me luck - it's certainly not an easy language to learn!
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