Souvenirs and sewing

Hello! A very quick post to show you the start I've made on my holiday embroidery, and some of the bits and bobs I brought back with from our trip to Finland and Sweden in August.

The first thing I sewed was this Dala horse. It measures approximately 5 x 5 cm so is quite small. I use chain stitch, a stitch I've been using a lot on this embroidery, and I'm pleased with the shape and colour. I needed the outline for this horse to be exactly right - they have such a distinctive shape - so I sketched a design on paper then traced it using my trusty fading pen.

Next came a small Falu-red summer house, similar to the ones we saw everywhere in Finland. You can see the progress of it below: the blocks of colour...

...then the details of window and door frames, and a log pile of course.

You can also see the purple pen outline of the trees and blueberries I planned to sew next. The running stitches between the pictures are just for me to keep the lines straight - I pull them out when I have stitched the pictures.

Here you can see the finished pine trees and blueberries, as well as a bowl of traditional salmon and potato soup.

The trees were one of the things I remember most about Finland: forests everywhere you looked. The blueberries I had not considered especially Finnish but when we flew there with Finnair we were offered a glass of blueberry juice on the flight. All the supermarkets sell it, and the berries. It was delicious. I had to mark that Lohikeitto soup in stitches because it was so good, and also because I just love stitching food. 

To this, I have just added a Finnish flag and sauna. I plan to do ten Finnish memories and ten Swedish, all on one embroidery.

I bought all sorts of bits and bobs back from our holiday. Postcards, a lot of postcards. I like to use them as bookmarks, or I prop them up here and there around the house on shelves.

That little metal sauna sign, €5 from a shop by the beach in Hanko, sits on the bathroom shelf. The black and white tote bag bag was €2 from Stockmann, a big department store in Helsinki. I picked up the Moomin socks at the airport. They make me smile every time I put them on.

I bought the blue Dala horse at Stockholm airport. It sits nicely between the white and red ones I picked up in Copenhagen years ago.

I couldn't go to Finland and not buy some Marimekko, that most iconic brand. This cushion cover came home with me.

Along with this black and white plate, bottom right. 

I completely fell in love with this green and white Stig Lindberg leaf print, a Swedish classic. A tea towel seemed like a much safer bet than a china cup for the flight home.

It's already in constant use in the kitchen.

Finally, and this was probably my biggest splurge, I bought a Kay Bojesen monkey and he makes me smile every time I look at him. I'm going to crochet a little Christmas hat. 

I printed some photos which have just arrived. I have framed a couple and others will be bookmarks or to stick up around the house.

This may be my best souvenir of all: liquorice, raspberry and caramel chocolate. Utter deliciousness. Apparently there is a shop in London called Scandi Kitchen and they sell it. I may have to seek it out next time I'm in London.

I love bringing back bits and pieces from holidays, such a nice reminder of good memories. Thank you for indulging me with all the holiday posts - normal service will resume soon with lots of every day, autumnal goings on. 

Sweden: meatballs, horses and cinnamon buns

Hello! I am finally getting round to writing about the second half of our holiday, Sweden. Thank you so much for your kind comments on the Finland post. To be honest, that is that half of the holiday I think about more - especially the wood fired sauna and daily sea swimming - but we did also absolutely love Sweden.

Our holiday house was quite different to the summer house in Finland: a modern new build in a quiet village with views of the lake.

No sauna or access to the lake here, but a much better outdoor seating area for meals or just relaxing in the evening, and a hot tub.

The house was light and spacious with huge windows making the most of the views.

Given that there were four adults and four teenagers, it never felt cramped. 

We drove past this church, above, every time we approached the village and I loved how it was placed on the hill with just the sky above it.

Our first full day in Sweden was a Sunday so we decided to explore nearby Drottningholm Palace, home to the Swedish royal family and just outside Stockholm.

I do love a royal palace and this was perfect.

The interior design was stately and impressive, but I really enjoyed the Swedishness of the design: the painted flowers, the blue and white tiles, the symmetry. 

I loved this library - what a place to sit and read. 

Over the next three days we went into Stockholm. We bought a metro ticket and parked at Brommaplan each day, quite close to where we were staying, then caught the train into the city. 

It worked out really well and gave us so much time to explore. I really liked Stockholm. It was clean, organised, efficient, friendly, yes, but more than that - it had style and charm and so much history. Placed on an archipelago of islands, you are never far from a bridge or the sea, or a boat for that matter.

There is so much to do in Stockholm (the museums are really excellent) and we only scratched the surface but our first stop was the Vasa Museum, home to the Vasa ship which sunk on its maiden voyage and remained buried under mud for hundreds of years before being salvaged and brought up to the surface. It was fascinating. 

If you go, I recommend you watch the screening (they show it in lots of different languages at different times) because it's a really good mini documentary explaining the history of the ship and story of the excavation. 

After a morning of culture, we walked along the water to our restaurant for lunch.

After googling "best place to get meatballs in Stockholm" we booked a table at Riche which was a little bit fancy and the meatballs were one of the most delicious things I have even eaten.

Everyone said we needed to try Meatballs for the People, and we really did try to go, but could never book a table. When there are eight of you, you can't just show up at a restaurant in high season and hope to be seated. 

We ate really well in Sweden. There was pasta and pizza at an incredible Italian restaurant one day when we were all hot and tired and hungry, and we also ate some truly delicious fish at Lisa Elmqvist in Ostermalm Food Hall. We shared the herring plate to start, as we all wanted to try it, then I can't remember exactly what I ordered but it was salmon and it was very good. I tried Princess Cake (heaven) at the cafe at Drottningholm Palace and had a really good cinnamon bun at Gast Cafe (also, the interior design in Gast Cafe was so joyful - the pink tiles!). These treats were balanced out with cheaper meals outside of Stockholm and we ate breakfast and dinner at home every day which saved us lots of money.

There was a traumatic experience at this delightful little ice cream truck when I got over confident with my new-found love of liquorice ice cream, and ordered a tub salt liquorice flavour. It was saltier than the sea and I could not cope with it. I tried to offer it to everyone else but they (rightfully) looked at it dubiously and it was not money well spent. 

We explored the very pretty, historic Gamla Stan (old town) a few times during our visits into Stockholm. 

Gamla Stan is quite touristy, but we are tourists on holiday, so I never have a problem with this. We were easily able to find somewhere off the main streets to sit down and get a drink.

I loved the cobbled streets and the sandy coloured buildings.

We found a Dala Horse shop (there are many) and I was completely overwhelmed with choice and couldn't decide which one to buy. So many shapes and colours! So I didn't buy one, thinking we might return, but we didn't so I ended up buying one at the airport. Not very authentic, I know.

We walked up to the Stockholm Observatory which is situated on top of a hill with excellent views over the city.

I have printed off the above photo and have it framed. Happy memories.

The shopping in Stockholm was as good as you would expect. I think this was inside the Arhens department store and I bought one of those little Dala horse mugs. It makes me think of the holiday every time I drink from it.

One of my own very favourite parts of the whole holiday was exploring Nordiska Museem, a huge gothic building filled with exhibitions about life in the Nordic countries. 

It's full of information about how people live in Nordic countries: the food, work, houses, interior design, traditions.

I especially liked the part about Swedish traditions. Many of them are similar to ours in the UK, but there is also Kraftskiva, and Midsommar, and St Lucia's day in December. 

The rest of our time in Sweden was spent exploring smaller towns in the area (we stayed in just west of Stockholm). We drove up to Sigtuna, near Arlanda aiport, and had a lovely day wandering around Sweden's oldest main street.

The town had some of the "gossip mirrors" we saw in Ekenas in Finland, designed so you could see the comings and goings of the people outside from your own home.

We also explored some walks in the forests and fields around our village

And then it was time to say goodbye to beautiful Sweden. To leave behind the clean, stylish,organised airport selling liquorice and other treats.

To wave goodbye to that expanse of green and blue, the forests and lakes.

London seemed very grey in comparison.

But we did get some good views of the city.

It was a pretty perfect holiday, really. Great company, beautiful weather, and so much time to explore some countries that are new to us. Scandinavia and Nordic countries always fascinate me: their emphasis on social responsibility and doing things for the good of society, not just yourself, the culture, the climate, their relationship with the outdoors. I definitely want to return.

Soon I will show you a quick post with souvenirs and my holiday embroidery so far!