Christmas seems to come earlier each year and catches me underprepared. It wasn't always like that, was it? Remember when we were kids - it took a whole year from one Christmas to the next. It seemed to take forever! But now - We just get over one Christmas and the next one begins to loom. I wonder why that is so?

When I was a child, Christmas was wondrous and magical time. It was a time in which I believed in a Santa who effortlessly visited every child in the world and left them gifts from their Christmas wish list.

Now, as an adult, it's still a special time, but I will never be the same, and I will never be able to recapture those same feelings of anticipation and excitement and sheer delight as seen through the eyes of a child.

However, there are still some things that delight me, including the gingerbread house display in centrum. Each year there is a local contest and this year, people have really outdone themselves. I am fascinated by gingerbread houses. They're so much fun and imaginative and I love seeing all the amazing things that people can do with them. People make houses, castles, scenes and whole villages.

It completely fascinates me as I come from a culture where we just don't do that (probably because it is too darn hot to bake). In Adelaide, I remember a little Hungarian bakery that I passed in James Place each day. Is that Budapest bakery? At Christmas they sold small gingerbread houses that looked like tiny fairy homes. I used to stand in front of the shop and admire them and marvel at the art involved in designing and then making and assembling them. Now I live in a country where it is very much the done thing and where you can buy them in kit form at the local supermarket. I'm going to try and make one next year, I think.

Anyway, the winner was announced by the local paper today:



We went down to the local real estate agent's office to take a look at all of the entries earlier today and I was gobsmacked at just how much trouble people had gone to. You can click on the pictures to make it bigger and see them in closer detail.



This one features a local manor house called Herrhamra Gård. It was enormous and really very detailed. Can you imagine how long all of those windows took to do? The other smaller hose, which was also on the front page of the paper was called Läkarhuset - and refers to a local controversy over whether the council should offer doctors a luxury house in order to entice them to come and work in Nynäshamn. The lack of a full time doctor here has been an ongoing problem. As long as I've been here it has been a succession of locums who stay a few months then move on. So that was a bit of social commentary as well as a cute house.



These were a few of the others on display. What a pity that nobody had thought to cover the cardboard cartons so they looked a little more presentable! There are the usual cottages, a nativity scene, a woodland scene and in the far background is a gingerbread version of another local structure - the oil refinery terminal, complete with storage tanks, pipes and offices.



This view shows the old station house - a beautiful old wooden building down by the harbour. It was a very detailed model, with even the clock displayed, along with the old fashioned telephone box on one side and the traffic lights that are by the pedestrian crossing over Järnvägsgatan. There was an older woman also admiring the display and she thought it was the best one for many years. I tend to agree.

I've been flat out cooking today, making my share of the Christmas goodies to share with the family. As half of them are vegetarian and the Swedish julbord does not offer a lot of vegetables, I've made a few things to bring for them. I did a Spanish stew full of onions, garlic, bell peppers, aubergines, zucchini and black olives in a spicy sauce of tomato, coriander and jalapeno. I'll make some fresh cous-cous to serve with it. I also made a salad of red onions, chickpeas with a pesto, lemon dressing. In addition, I did a few dozen leek and cheese tarts and some basil flavoured felafel balls. I think that should keep them happy.

Today is the final day before julafton. In Sweden, we celebrate Christmas on the 24th, so tomorrow we are heading up to my brother-in-law's home in Huddinge to watch Kalle Anka, eat dinner with the family and hopefully tomte will have something for me as I haven't been ALL naughty this year - in fact I've been pretty nice.

You Were Mostly Nice This Year!

Sure, you had your naughty moments... but guess what? Santa was probably sleeping when you were living it up. As far as he's concerned, you've been on your best behavior. So cross your fingers, and you might score good presents.

The only thing I'd like to see is some SNOW! It has been plus degrees for the last two days and all of the lovely snow has gone. I figure that if it is going to be cold, it may as well snow so we get something pretty to look at. Unfortunately, it seems that my wish for a white Christmas will not come true this year. It's the first year I've been here on Christmas Day and not seen snow. I suggested travelling to the far north where they have tons of snow at the moment, but that was not enthusiastically greeted by the other members of the family. They would rather be in Australia, where Christmas is more like this!