The children have begun their autumn break today and there will be no school in the upcoming week. Although I will be working, I have decided to do it from a distance. The house I wrote about here is our destination, and I hope we will have a wonderful week there. Internet access will probably not be a frequent occurrence, however, and I don't expect to be posting anything until the week after. Happy Halloween everyone!

I've been very busy lately due to a pretty heavy workload. It will most likely continue like this until Christmas, but I hope to be able to have a day or two now and then to relax as well. I had a deadline today, but now I'm taking a break, giving myself the time to see the autumn colours and do something else. It feels pretty okay.

I really like the humour in Therese Sennerholt's posters... and yes, I tend to view chocolate as one of life's true necessities.

I know it's only mid October, but I have begun to think about Christmas presents and what I would like to do in terms of decorations here at home. I have always preferred a Christmas in white and silver, but last year I began to long for at least some elements of red. Primarily, I thought of buying some bed linen in red, but I didn't get around to it. It was a horrible autumn last year, and I simply didn't have the energy then. This year, however, I have.

I have already ordered the bed linen above from Ellos, hoping the quality will be good enough. They will arrive a bit late, not until the end of November, but there will still be plenty of time until Christmas. In the collage above I decided to include some of my other Christmas favourites: The modern classic candlestick, Elflugan, from Scandinavian Design Center, the Dala horses in the form of a jigsaw puzzle and the classic Lovikka mittens from Rädda Barnen Shop, the huge 118 centimetre star from Watt & Veke was found at Syster Lycklig, and the Season candle holder from Georg Jensen at Dansk Design.

Finally! My favourites... still a bit sour, but the smell promises wonderful months ahead. I think I'll make a batch of my citrus-walnut-chocolate salad.

I'm drawn to mellow colours, the softness of sheepskin, lit candles, and cuddling up on the sofa at the moment. And I really like my new pair of Bonfire shoes from Rocket Dog. It's getting colder outside now, and I somehow like it. I just wish we had a fireplace... and a cat. I just wish I could have a cat... Hmmm... this wishing bit doesn't work that well.

Sheepskin from Shepherd, candleholders "Kivi" from Iittala, Dorothy sheepskin bag from Designer Desirables, Siberian silver tabby cat from Zazzle, and a nice interior from Decor4u.

As a teenager I sometimes read the serial stories in my mother's weekly magazine. Most of the time it was quite simple stories of love lost and found, and I didn't really remember them afterwards. One of them caught my attention, however: Margit Sandemo's Kungakronan (The King's Crown). It tells the story of a group of university students heading out to the Norwegian west coast to investigate a possible Celtic archaeologic find. One of them is an archaeology student, one is an almost finished medical doctor, and two of them are in Celtic studies. True to the romance genre, Sandemo focuses quite extensively on the relationships between the the characters, but I have to admit that I found the allusions to Celtic history and the story of the finds much more interesting.

As the years went by, I kept remembering this story. It was at the back of my mind when I toyed with the idea of studying Celtic languages at the university, it surfaced when I met Gaelic-speaking friends in the UK, and it made me read the Arthurian stories with greater interest. I have looked for it now and then over the years, and whereas I did remember the name, Kungakronan, the name of the author was lost to me. Remembering the story again a few weeks ago, I decided to have another go at finding it and this time I did. (Thank God for the Internet!) I ordered it and yesterday I re-read it for the first time, with a knowledge of its influence on my life and how I approach my work. I'd better thank Margit Sandemo for awakening my interest in research and old cultures.

My oldest son was in the kitchen and the vacuum cleaner got in his way. Slightly annoyed he asked:"Why is the vacuum cleaner in the middle of the floor?" Making a point that he might very well help out a bit more, I responded: "It's there to make it convenient for you to vacuum the kitchen." His quick response: "Oh yeah... I'll do it when tigers fly over Canada." I laughed and said "yeah, yeah..."

Then I decided to play a trick on him. I looked up a photo of the Toronto skyline, searched for a leaping tiger, and put it all together in Photoshop, while my youngest son was giggling beside me. When I was done, I said to my oldest son that he'd better do the vacuuming now since tigers indeed are flying over Toronto.

His face as he looked at the photo made it all worth it. But he hasn't been vacuuming... yet.

Work again. I'm sorry. The view from my "real" office is not that bad either. The sea and the islands can be seen behind the trees.

It's a wonderful day today. The sun has risen, the sky is blue, and the temperature is 7 degrees Celsius. We're doing the laundry, but otherwise we have very little planned today.

I wish you a wonderful weekend!