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Posts tagged christmas
Dry orange slices for decoration
06039 days
First I sliced an orange
Then I decided to add lemon and lime as well
I placed the slices on a baking sheet and dried them in the oven for a few hours
Oops, the slices burned quickly at the end...
I used the dry slices as decorations for the advent wreath. But tomorrow I will throw away the burned slices and buy more decorations and better candles.
Gizmo in Santa’s hat
26040 days
I tried to take a Christmas photo of Gizmo,but he was only still for a a few seconds...
...before he shook of his hat and wanted to do something else
Shining stars
06040 days
by Emma
in Living in Malta
Stars are shining in our windows now
- Advent wreath without decorations
We now have red-and-gold coloured star in the livingroom and a golden star in the study. Unfortunately the light from the energy bulbs are very white and cold, but maybe I’ll get used to it…
I bought this advent wreath today, but I didn’t find any better candles or decorations. I’ll buy that tomorrow on Bay street.
Shopping all day long
06040 days
by Emma
in Living in Malta
…well, in the afternoon at least.
We got up late this morning. I think we were all tired, even Gizmo. After breakfast Kalle played guitar hero, while I lay on the couch half asleep, listening, with Gizmo sleeping in my arms. Mmm, it was nice!
We didn't buy anything in the first shop.
Here they had a lot of stuff and we bought 2 Moravian stars
I think the maltese people like Christmas lights a lot. The more they blink the better it is.
Flashing stars... not my type of Moravian star
Sweet memories!
In one of the stores I found porcelain figures just like the figures that me and my sister got when we were children. I still have mine, but it is broken and glued together again.
Mixed peel
We also went to Pavi’s for grocery shopping, and I bought ingredients for ginger bread and mulled wine (glögg). But we didn’t find all the spices for glögg. I think we spent 40 minutes trying to find bitter orange peels (pomerans-skal). The only peels they had was a box of diced and coloured mixed peels. I bought it of pure frustration, but I think I will use the peel from fresh oranges instead.
Gävlebocken soon on his feet
06042 days
by Emma
in Living in Malta
They have started to build the goat in Gävle now. I wonder how long he will live this year?
Status at 13.47
The biggest Christmas Goat in the world
The strange history of the Gävle Goat began in 1966. A man named Stig Gavlén came up with the idea of making a giant version of the traditional Swedish Christmas goat of straw. The aim was to attract customers to the the shops and restaurants in the southern part of the town centre.
On 2 December the 13-metre (42,6 feet) tall, 7-metre long, 3 tonne goat stood on the square. At the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve, the goat went up in smoke. The perpetrator was found and charged with vandalism.
The Gävle Goat has been burned down 22 times since then.
There are two webcams showing Gävlebocken on his website (in both Swedish and English): http://www.merjuligavle.se/Bocken
Gävlebocken has his own blog (in both Swedish and English): http://merjuligavle.blogspot.com/
…and he is also tweeting! http://twitter.com/Gavlebocken
Christmas decorations, sushi and a king!
06043 days
by Emma
in Living in Malta
After work today I went to Valletta with Kalle, Brolle, Frippe and Martin. Frippe wanted to have more of the sushi he had at Premier last time he was here, so we all went to Premier for dinner. The guys all had sushi and I had 4 kind of tapas. I liked it a lot!
It was nice to walk down the main street with all Christmas decorations which lit up the street.
Outside Savoy
Still some people out when we went home
On out way to the car I noticed that there were a lot of police officers walking along the main street and just as we were about to leave the main street, a caravan of police cars and motorcycles came through the gate. When I came home I read in timesofmalta.com that the Spanish king Juan Carlos is here for a 2-day visit, so I guess that’s who we saw.
Spanish King Juan Carlos has arrived in Malta on a two-day state visit.
The King was greeted by President George Abela and was introduced to the Prime Minister, the Chief Justice, the Cabinet, the diplomatic corps and senior civil servants. He also inspected an AFM Guard of Honour after the anthems of the two countries were played.
The King will hold official meetings tomorrow with the President, the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition and will lay a wreath at the foot of the War Memorial in Floriana. Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Moratinos, who is accompanying the king, will have talks with Foreign Minister Tonio Borg and sign cooperation agreements.
Queen Sofia had to cancel her visit to Malta because she is indisposed.
The farewell ceremony, tomorrow afternoon, will be held on the Palace Square in Valletta.
King Juan Carlos?
Buy Christmas cards – check
06043 days
by Emma
in Living in Malta
During lunch hour today I took a walk down on Bay Street to look for new slippers. I didn’t find any slippers, instead I bought a lot of Christmas cards.
Another warm and sunny day on Bay street
Buy Christmas cards - check
- Christmas at Marks & Spencer
I’ve started planning for Christmas now
06043 days
by Emma
in Living in Malta
This is fun.
I really do like Christmas and all the shopping and everything. I just didn’t realize that first Sunday in Advent is less then a week away. In my mind I would say it’s still 4 or 5 weeks left until first Sunday in Advent. Yeah, no need to hurry.
But OK. I was wrong. So I do need to hurry.
Blev det fel i huvudet nu?
…as Kalle usually ask me when things don’t turn out the way I want it to and I get upset. I can be a control freak sometimes, I admit.
I’ve made a list.
- Advent wreath. It’s a must.
- Moravian star. Also a must.
- I would also like electric advent wreaths to put in the windows.
- Recipe for mulled wine (glögg). I’ve never made it myself. Only bought the ready-to-drink-bottles…
- Gingerbread would be nice.
- …and saffron buns!
- Red table cloths
- Lots of candles
- I want Julmust badly, but I guess I have to do without that this year.
- Some kind of Christmas decorations… maybe a small artificial Christmas tree?
- Christmas gifts for our guests and gifts to send to family and friends
- Christmas cards and stamps (I need to send them soon I guess…)
- Find out more about the local Christmas traditions
- Send my Christmas wish-list to Santa
Kalle asked me earlier today what I wanted to do this coming weekend. Now I know. Shopping!
Is there anyone who can help me with recipe for homemade Glögg?
Not many people at Plush today.
06044 days
by Emma
in Living in Malta
…but they have christmas decorations on the windows!
Window decorations at Plush
More Christmas decorations
06044 days
by Emma
in Living in Malta
Today I’ve seen a decorated christmas tree in a window and people carrying christmas flowers. Our friends bought christmas candles this weekend. And I haven’t even started to think about it. I guess I’ve got some shopping to do. That’s fun!