Mama-bear duty

Lately, I've taken over Mama-bear duty as she's gone on a little trip to the mountains. I have learnt the hard way that presents from the kitty-cats are not joyous and include such horrors as rats heads and birds feet. I hate to think where the rest of the poor animals are... please please not my bed...

My week has been filled with sweet treats and tiny delights when it should have been filled with books, but I'm feeling nice and relaxed from the little break. 

On Wednesday the postman brought me a lovely surprise - I'd forgotten that my Graze account had switched back to weekly deliveries. So after I made some tea, I opened the little box to see what those wonderful people at Graze had sent me this time.

Before I got to the blueberry box, I opened a box called 'Cookies and Cream'. It had sunflower seeds in it, as well as little chocolate pieces and some kind of mini cookie pieces. I like sunflower seeds but not when I'm under the impression that I'm about to get something sweet, creamy, chocolatey, crunchy, chewy and milky. That is not the time, nor the place for sunflower seeds. Get out of my cookies and cream, sunflower seeds. Nobody invited you. You don't even get a photo. 

So, the next box was a much happier surprise! 'Scrumptious Blueberry Swirl' had the most delicious yogurt coated blueberries, swirled in amongst dried blackcurrants and raspberry-infused cranberries. I love dried fruit infused with other fruit. This box was a perfect mix of sweet, tart and creamy. Yum yum yum.

Next up was 'Korai Chutney'. I love indian spices, but they always make my tummy hurt, so I was a little nervous. I have a habit of gobbling these little boxes up all at once, which sort of defeats the purpose of them being healthy, so it was a strange experience to have the Korai Chutney after the Blueberry Swirl. It was delicious though, even though it left my mouth a little warm and tingly!

Finally I opened the 'Super Carrot Cake' box. I've had one of these 'Afternoon Tea' boxes before. They are ever so nice! They come with a bag of Kenyan tea and a little piece of cake. The cake is so soft and sweet and actually, the sunflower seeds can sit there happily because they really added something extra to the flavour. The tea was also lovely, I added milk last time, so I tried it black this time. It was delightful. I saved this box for a mid-morning treat on Thursday and I was reading Out of Africa while I drank my tea. It was simply perfect.

Other simple treats included tea and toast, tea and biscuits, milk and homemade marble cake and homemade speckled fudge. Honestly, how I'm not breaking the chairs I sit on, I will never know. 

I've also had fun experimenting with pretty glitter nail varnishes...

Here I used Barry M's Gold Foil Nail Effects polish and topped it with a couple of coats of Revlon's Sequins (also gold), before using Barry M's Aqua Glitter polish to get pretty little mermaid toes!

What has your week been filled with? 

Mama-bear kisses ♡

PS, as a special treat, you can get a free Graze box by entering this code: X3PW3R4D or by clicking on the 'free Graze box' button at the side. If you decide to sign up, you will get your first and fifth box for free! Also, for my American friends, it seems like they have Graze on your side of the world now too! If I try to get to the website, it just redirects me to the UK site but they have a Facebook page. Maybe they're still setting up, but keep an eye out for it and before you know it, you could be getting weekly snacks delivered to your home too! Yippee!

the little nordic cabin

x

The teeny tiny guide to the Norse goddesses

I'm supposed to be studying. It's not very scholarly of me to draw little pictures, but it's the fastest way to remember who's who! 

Here we have Frigg, Skađi, Njerda, Freyja, Sif and Gerđr. Each goddess is surrounded by her main attributes as well as additional little details to aid my memory. Which of these lovely ladies is your favourite? Personally I like Sif, but my inner little girl adores Frigg and Freyja for being the most princess-y. (I think that's mainly based on my drawing though!)

Which strategies do you use for memorising information? I find it easiest to remember things that are written in colour. If I need to remember a lot of information for an exam, I tend to record myself reading my notes and then listen to the recordings as I walk to and from university. It's highly uncomfortable listening to my own voice, but for some reason it really helps the information to stick in my mind!

the little nordic cabin

x

A - Z Challenge 2013

It's already that time of year again! I can't believe that April is just around the corner and many of you already know what that means... 

The A - Z challenge is quite simple: Write a post every day (except for on Sundays) and begin each one with a different letter of the alphabet. 

Last year I did the A - Z of all things Nordic. Now, I need your help here. Please please could you take a moment to follow this link and see whether you can see my A - Z from April 2012? Please just leave me a quick comment to let me know. Since I changed the title of my blog it seems that not everyone can reach my older posts that were written under the old name. So let me know if you can see those posts, or whether they've been lost. 

If you can see them, then I'll see what I can come up with for this year's challenge. But if not, I still have the drafts saved and, even though it's a little sneaky, I will repost them each day for the month. (And, if you're lucky, a little something extra too!)

So that's my task for you my dears! Now click here and sign up for the challenge! It's really good fun and you get to meet so many wonderful people! Some of my dearest blogging friends were met during this challenge. It's really such a wonderful experience! 

the little nordic cabin

x

It Matters Monday - Domestic Violence

Happy Monday everyone :) 

The new week brings a new laptop. My beloved Mac died a painful death at the weekend, taking all my files and photos with it to its grave. As a mark of respect, I went out and bought a very nice new one. I'm everso excited about it! My last one was sweet, in a falling-apart kind of a way, but this one feels very fancy and special!

I'd like to share a video with you today; it's another TED talk that I found inspiring. In the video below, Leslie Morgan Steiner talks about her experiences as a domestic abuse victim, before explaining why victims don't always leave an abusive relationship. This is such an important topic. Domestic violence is sadly extremely common and I often hear people question the victims' decision to stay. Such a common occurrence in today's society shouldn't be so poorly understood. We all know what the abuser is doing, but we never fully realise the mentality of the victim, often wondering if the victim might be partly to blame for not leaving. Steiner, however, explains the precise reasons why this happens, why the victim stays in such a relationship and why it's problematic to ask these sorts of questions. 

Please note that the content of the video is rather upsetting - Steiner describes the abuse she once suffered at the hands of her former husband so please be cautious when watching.

What are your thoughts on this issue? I wholeheartedly agree with Steiner when she says that we need to talk about this. As she says, abuse thrives only in silence. We need to break that silence.

A final note - Steiner mentions that abuse victims can of course also be men. I think she generalises a little in the video despite this. In my opinion, abuse towards men needs to be brought into just as much focus as that of women. For society to be equal, we need to acknowledge each others problems regardless of gender and take these issues just as seriously no matter whether they are affecting a man or a woman.

the little nordic cabin

x

Lets do some reading 2013: The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey is one of those books that you just know will completely bewitch you. As such, I decided to put off reading it until I had enough time to spare when I could let it consume me. Two days was all I needed to set aside, I devoured it in it's entirety within just 48 hours. 

I was so glad that I saved this book for my trip to Sweden. Having spent the day wading through thigh deep snow in only the half-light of the afternoon it was an absolute delight to curl up in bed and read this beautiful tale of an elderly couple living in the magical state of Alaska. 

The couple, Jack and Mabel live on an Alaskan farm, where they are building a new life after the tragedy of not being able to conceive a child. One frosty evening the first snow begins to fall. Together, Mabel and her husband, who have been drifting apart, build a little snow girl together. This first snow not only brings them closer together but it also leads to the mysterious appearance of a wild young girl, who we begin to glimpse peeping through the trees and leaving gifts of animal pelts and berries. 

Just moments into the first description of the girl I was reminded of this picture. Her delicate skin, fair hair and bright blue eyes are described with such clarity that even after you've finished the book, you can still conjure her up in your mind at will. 

I'm not going to reveal any more about the storyline because I'd like you to be surprised throughout the entire tale. If you like magical landscapes, endearing and relatable characters, stories of hope, love and determination, then I can whole-heartedly guarantee that you will adore this book. It is so hauntingly beautiful at the same time as being so carefully and delicately written. The only criticism I could possibly make is that it didn't last forever. 

Have you been enchanted recently? Which book do you find it impossible to put down?

Have a beautiful weekend my dearests!

the little nordic cabin

x

Pictures lovingly taken from here, here & here :)

When you forget how technology works

Oh hi! I thought I'd better tell you that I got to Sweden safely and wasn't murdered on my airport sleeping bench or killed in a plane crash or swept up by the snowstorm that hit Stockholm as I arrived. I did, however, have a rather silly moment where I forgot how technology worked, ie that I wouldn't be able to use my phone's internet once I left the UK meaning that I couldn't update anymore! 

Instead I've been doing old fashioned blogging in paper form so I'll have lots of lovely posts for you once I've returned to normality :)

Jojo if you're reading this, Sabrina left a comment on my first travel update post where she explained how she managed to find my posts under the new blog name - maybe that will help you! I love your dedication to finding me under your blog lists! Star reader! 

Ok, I'm meant to be tidying my boyfriends room while he's at university. Housewife alert. 

Happy valentines to you all, huge kisses and snuggles from the little nordic cabin <3 

x

PS thank you for your lovely comments, as always. I'll come and visit you all soon, I pinky promise!

PPS Valentines day Korean Style - my cousin spent the year teaching in Korea recently and has been sharing lots of lovely snapshots of her time there. I love the way that they celebrate Valentines over there! Abi (my cousin) is relatively new here, so please show her some love!

Sweden time! Phase 3

Thank you for your comments, lovelies :) i managed to sleep rather well on a little bench, snuggled up warm and cozy. It wasn't bad at all and it was kind of fun to watch other people build their nests for the night! I met a sweet Brazillian girl who had come to the airport to meet her boyfriend after being apart for quite some time. She told me how excited she was to see the snow and I told her all about Sweden.

Now it's time to get washed. I have babywipes, strawberry soap and a sink in the airport bathroom. Not feeling too fresh or pretty right now! Aren't airport bathroom mirrors and lighting the worst?!

Picture of my little nest - that little stand had pictures of crepes all over it, it made me so hungry!