Finally! December is here and today we are properly kicking off the countdown to Christmas. Well, this is  not entirely true, since first of Advent was last Sunday (November 27) and that’s the day when most Swedes goes candles-and-stars-mental and decorate every window possible. You know the story, Sweden is pretty dark and miserably around this time of the year and we need light, light and more light to stay sane. This is what my windows look like – very Swedish but the only difference is that here in England, I’m one of few with decorated windows. It’s in other words easy to spot the Swede on the street! Please feel free to comment on our lovely December weather, wet and 10 degrees warm…

It was a man named Oskar Andersson who invented the world’s first electrical candlestick (adventsljusstake) in 1934. These have been custom in most Swedish homes and possibly thanks to IKEA, they are now spreading across the globe. They consist of seven electrical candles, normally put together in a pyramid shape, and can be made of wood, plastic, stee and you can pend an absolute fortune on one if you feel the need. The red flowers are called julstjärna in Sweden (Christmas star) but I believe the correct name is Poinsettia or Christmas rose. A must in the Christmas window!

Another big milestone in the countdown to Christmas is Julkalendern, the Christmas calendar. It is a Advent calendar in the form of a television show starting on the first of December, and ending on Christmas Eve. The show comes with an Advent calendar and after every show, you open a new window. Every episode is 15 minutes long and is shown either early in the morning, at 7.15 am – it’s a great and very cosy way to start the day!  – or in the evening, at 6 .15 pm. It’s a much loved and old tradition; the first Julkalender was first on Swedish TV in 1960 and has been going every year since. The tradition has spread to the other Scandinavian countries and the national radio has its own julkalender as well.  There’s a new story every year, but the show is normally set somewhere in a wintery Sweden and contains either a mystery or even a few ghosts – and tonnes of Christmas spirit! This year’s julkalender is called Tjuvarnas jul (The Christmas of the thieves) and is a classic fairytail in the spirit of Charles Dickens.Read more about it here and make sure to watch it here! Christmas spirit guaranteed

Oh well, I know it’s early but still: God jul for know, dear blog readers!