The days are getting shorter; the light glows paler; the wind is colder. You can tell that winter is on the way.

This weekend it's Alla helgons dag or All Saints'Day as we would know it and as such, a public holiday. I know that the actual date in the Christian calendar is November 1st, but after a complicated history resulting in them combining both All Souls' Day and All Saints' Day, this holiday falls on the weekend following November 1st here in Sweden.




As I've mentioned on a previous occasion, Sweden doesn't celebrate Halloween even though I have seen some Halloween lollies and decorations in a few shops. The Swedes do celebrate All Hallow's with the tradition being to honour the dead by lighting candles at their grave. This doesn't seem so unusual until you visit the cemetery and gaze in wonder at the scene spread out before you - a constellation of light that resembles the milky way. I don't think I've ever seen so many candles all lit at once as I have at a Swedish cemetery on Alla helgons dag (and also on Christmas Eve).




I have always found the abundance of candles, each representing a member of the living hauling themselves out to the cemetery in usually disagreeable weather to remember their dead who have returned to the dust from whence they came, a touching and beautiful sight. The cemetery is dark and quiet despite the number of people there and this atmosphere is always quite moving. Every Swedish church yard turns into a similar sea of light as Swedes commemorate their dearly departed, laying fragrant pine wreaths and lighting lanterns on their graves.




November begins with the dead as All Hallow's is the first Saturday and continues with ever increasing darkness as the year slides towards the Winter Solstice. Even the name itself means dead month, though it is likely more in the sense of harvest than of death. Alla helgons dag (All Saints' day) is a wee bit of a misnomer since in the cemetery it is not the saints the candles pay tribute to, but to all of the dead, a.k.a. All Soul's Day which was abolished in many protestant churches during the Reformation.

In the dark northern latitudes, it is obvious that the Christian church co-opted the tradition of Samhain, repackaged it in a different mythology and resold it to the locals. However it retains much of its pagan flavour since, at least traditionally, the day involves not only lighting the darkness but offerings of a harvest meal. I've also read a few bits of lore such as if the sun shines at all between All Hallow's and Christmas, then there will be a beautiful summer. While I doubt there is any truth in that, it's good to have something to look forward to in this, the most dark and difficult month in the Swedish year.

Over the weekend we continued with some home renovations, installing this in the kitchen.

I had these in my kitchen at Nynäshamn and came to love them. It was one of the regrets I had about leaving that flat. So I was delighted when I spotted something similar for sale at IKEA and found the perfect spot for it in the kitchen.

We have also finished wallpapering the hallway, which was quite a fiddly job. We used the same paper as the living room, adding a decorative border under the ceiling moulding. The paper is from a series called Old Swedish or Gammalsvenska Östanbo in terracotta. Now if I was clever and could work photoshop, I'd be able to add the border picture to the wallpaper picture for you, but instead you'll just have to use your imaginations. :)





I don't know whether it's the time of the year, the darkness, Lambi's recent 14th birthday or the fact that we are taking her to the vet next week, but I'm feeling a little wistful about her. I don't know if any of you have read the book A Dog Abroad. It's a wonderful story written by a Canadian vet named Bruce Fogle, who now lives in London. It is the follow up to his very successful book Travels with Macy and both books deal with his travels around America and Europe with his gorgeous, lively, fun-loving golden retriever, Macy.

Anyway, I was really shocked to read that Macy has died, aged only 6 years. In a very moving article in the British newspaper The Independent, Bruce has written about what it is like to lose a pet. Read it if you can possibly bear to. If you have a dog you'll surely understand this:





I thought of just that today when we took the little furball for a romp in the woods and through the autumn leaves. Time after time, she would bound through the bushes, chasing leaves. She always came back to us, just checking we were following before she took off again. The sound of her shuffling through the leaves along the path towards us as she rushes to reconnect, then dashes off again, brings a big smile to my face. Walking with her is as Bruce Fogle says, truly life-affirming.