Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Norwegian Winter

  • Several people have inquired how I cope with norwegian winter. It's a difficult question to answer. Because for us it's kind of just how it is. Dark in winter. Light in summer.

(scource this is polar light seen from Lofoten - much longer north from where I live)

But norwegians certainly have developed some strategies to cope with the darkness:
  • Decorate, prepare, celebrate and get totally crazy about christmas the whole month of December - and before you realize the darkest month has gone by.

(the King and his family in front of a huge gingerbread house inside the castle)

  • Put as many lamps of all sorts and sizes you can imagine into your livingroom.
  • Truly believe there is no such thing as bad weather - just bad clothes and 


  • truly believe the best playground for children is nature and they have to play outside everyday - even if it's dark.
( Did you know that three times 15minutes in a week of sunlight is enough for producing Vitamin D?)
  • invest 100 Kroner to get some fresh tulips from the Netherlands in January/February
(I actually have a lovly bunch of tulips on my diningboard but it's too dark to get a picture now :)
  • as soon as the first sunrays warm the air in spring digg out the bikini and get as much sun as possible

It's not very expensive to travel to Spain/Turkey or other places in southern Europe. So many travel there for a vacation during the winter month. Many retired norwegians actually live in Spain.

But I really do long for spring!
Do you have any tips on how to get through the dark winter month?

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello! I recently stumbled on your blog. It's lovely. I live in Minnesota in the US. We don't have as much darkness as you have in Norway, but we certaily have the cold! In the winter, I like to make lots of good soups, light candles, play board games, and bake breads. I spend the rest of the time dreaming of warmer weather!

Anonymous said...

PS spelling correction--CERTAINLY!

Margitta said...

Linden Townhouse, welcome to my blog! Candles and board games and soups... Yes - happens a lot at our house in wintertime! Baking bread sounds wonderful, but is something I do FAR too little... but it's so good! My husband did bake a no-knead bread for a while, hmmm perhaps I should get into doing that again!

Simple Home said...

Oh Margitta, I'd love to visit Norway sometime. All of the photos I see of it are beautiful! We have lots of sunshine here in the desert, so vitamin D isn't an issue, and we don't get those beautiful aurora borealis lights either.
Blessings,
Marcia

Margitta said...

Welcome Marcia, to our "hotel"! It would be wonderful to have you and your family staying with us! :)

Sandi~A Cottage Muse said...

I'm sure those smiling faces is a big help to get through the winter too!!

That first photo is just so mesmerizing!!

Margitta said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Margitta said...

Mesmerizing?! Oh the riches of the English language... Thanks Sandi for teaching me a new word!

Fiona said...

I also discovered your blog recently, it is lovely!
It is Summer here in Australia and oddly enough I am struggling with darkness as well - in order to keep the house cool I have to keep the curtains shut for most of the day! The air-conditioning is pumping away this week, it is particularly hot at the moment, even at night. The heatis too oppressive to be outside. I am finding it hard to do anything but sit on the sofa and look at blogs! But looking at lovely homes like yours inspire me to tidy and rearrange a little in my air-conditioned living room and kitchen, which I have done this week. Next week should be cooler so I will be able to see the outdoors again! It's not as long as your winter, but I do struggle with this time of year. The weather is stunningly beautiful, but I am sitting in the dark!

Margitta said...

Fiona, we'd like to have some of your warmth ;), but I understand how you feel. I dont cope very well with high temperatures...

A Vintage Vine said...

Hi, I just gave you the Stylish Blogger award come on over and see....Lisa