I miss you, Oslo

Tonight I'm missing my beloved Oslo.

Autumn on the island of Hovedøya was too beautiful for words.

This island was where I was happiest. I dream of that place now. It stole my heart. 

I miss the harbour too, the smells of fresh fish lingering in the air and the cool breeze coming from the sea. I once got talking to an old fisherman who invited me and my friend for dinner, but we were a bit frightened of him! Evenings on the harbour were so peaceful and in the summer it was just beautiful.

Jeg lengter etter deg Oslo ♥♥

the little nordic cabin

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You are welcome to use/pin my photos but please link back to me :) 

Lesson time with Miss Nikki

Here is a small collection of things I learned today:

1. It is 31 days until all of my work is due in. That is not enough days. 

2. My reluctance to reading Harry Potter was purely down to my fear that I'd become obsessive. This fact was proved today when I walked up and down Goodge Street, then back up Tottenham Court Road, through Leicester Square and all the way to Covent Garden (and then all the way home again) searching shops for the cheapest version I could find of the third book. Good one. 

3. It is possible to hack a bottle of wine using the following items: a small vegetable knife, tweezers, scissors, a great deal of determination. 

4. It is subsequently possible to drink said wine after obtaining your clever cousin's advice to sieve out the bits of cork that fell in during lesson 3. Here's an additional tip, substitute loo paper for coffee filters for the filtering process for an subtle, toilet-y taste. Mmm... 

5. One bag of popcorn is never enough. Ever. 

6. It is mildly embarrassing to walk into a shop display and apologise to it in front of a group of bystanders.

7. You know you spend too many hours on the computer when you call breaking into a bottle of wine ''hacking''.

Class dismissed.

the little nordic cabin

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J.K. Rowling wins a point

I'm not a Harry Potter fan. I know, *gasp* *shock horror* *unfollow*, but J.K. Rowling gets a point for this wonderful quote: 

What a perfect way of putting it. 

Maybe I should start reading her books. I feel like I've avoided Harry Potter 10% because I wasn't hugely impressed by the first book, but then the other 90% because I've seen what Lord of the Rings has done to me in terms of obsession and I think I might turn into one of those Harry Potter super fans and then there'll be trouble!

the little nordic cabin

A happy weekend

This weekend was a happy weekend, filled with laughter and snuggly times with hot chocolate and J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan.

On Saturday I met Bryony, the sweetest friend, and we went to a cozy little cafe together.  Later on, we decided to go for a little walk down Oxford Street. We popped into the huge Topshop there and bought the most amazing frozen yogurts.

It was so nice to see her after being apart for a few weeks and it was ever so sad to have to say goodbye to her again!

Today I met my wonderful cousin, Abi, who blogs over here. It was the first time we'd seen each other in over 2 years! She spent a whole year in Korea and then somehow we never got to seeing each other. But today finally came! I took her to Scandinavian Kitchen, a little Nordic cafe here, where we ate delicious open sandwiches and talked about scary wisdom teeth operations!

After our yummy lunch, we went shopping for crafty things and spent over an hour looking at everything! I bought some pretty little things and some paint, which I'm so excited to use! 

It began to pour with rain so we headed back to my little flat where we sipped elderflower tea and ate soft blueberry muffins. It really was the loveliest time. 

How did you spend your weekend my dears? Did you have ever such a happy weekend too?

the little nordic cabin

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A - Z theme reveal...

And the winner is, from a vote held in my very own brainbox...

The A - Z of Nordic literary characters!

By literary characters, I mean any characters found in books by Nordic authors, including the Icelandic Sagas and Norse mythology. I will do my best to include as much variety as possible, but you all know how I love my Scandinavian children's literature!

If there are any characters that you know and love and would like to see in my A - Z, please just let me know and I'll see what I can do. 

Have you guys thought of a theme yet? Have you signed up for the A - Z? Click here to find out everything you need to know. And then sign up because it's really the very most bestest and fun way to spend April!

the little nordic cabin

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A Wonderful Surprise

While I was sipping my morning coffee there was a tiny knock on my door, followed by the sound of something being placed on the mat. I decided to investigate...

It was a parcel! Just for me! And inside was a Kindle. I was so stunned and overwhelmed. My dear Björn had sent it to surprise me. It was the loveliest surprise. 

Now I know what you're thinking. I steadfastly oppose e-books and will fight for the printed book but... I have to say... In it's little envelope case, with it's already growing storage of PDF files from my university library, it's a very handy little item for a bookworm like me. I can't read from my computer screen for long periods of time, it always makes my head hurt, so I was never able to make use of all of the web-journals and online resources to use in my writing. Now I can just copy it all onto my Kindle. 

A perfect gift. 

I still love you, real life books. Never leave me. This isn't a betrayal. It's just a tiny affair on the side with my Kindle-mistress.

the little nordic cabin

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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

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