Colors of the Season

Picture 1.
Easter Day or Jewish Pescah is celebrated every year the first Sunday after the first full moon after spring equinox.
In Norway we call it Paaske and start the celebration Palm Sunday in memory of the day Jesus rode in to Jerusalem on a donkey to hold the holy feast with his disciples. The week in between we call the silent week.
The picture of eggs for fertility and a rooster in memory of Peter's betrayal are common Easter decorations.
Pagan and religious hand in hand. The sun cult did also celebrate the spring equinox as one of four majors. The sun cult is known and many reminiscences are found in our region dated back 7000 years or more.

Picture 2.
I let the young children designed by the Swedish artist Carl Larsson be a symbol of new life. N.B. The boy is wearing red suspenders.

Picture 3.
After the long and dark winter time, we now have 13,5 hours of daylight. I am in desperate need of colors, even if the frost took three of my outdoor geraniums, I fill the kitchen with an indoor rainbow.

Picture 4.
I like reading interior blogs. I'm amazed at the engagement and ingenuity young women decorate their homes.
Now and then I steal an idea. Like this one. Using an old wooden box after my dad for presenting tea boxes. The text spells First Class Citron.

Picture 5.
I found the old box in the carpentry shed.My father was keen on
having every thing in it's proper place. A dear memorabilia.

Picture 6.
Colors on thermoses, but white candles for me. These are recycled from used church candles and of fine quality. They burn slow, with no dripping and they are low priced. What more can one ask for?

Picture 7.
Daffodils are the proper flowers for Norwegian Easter, since they are named Easter Lilies.
I fell for this Ranunculus when grocery shopping. It might with a little good will be described as orange with a hint of red!
Happy Ruby Season to all of you.

Magical Mystery Teacher is hosting Ruby Tuesday 2 together with Gemma Wiseman

Norwegian Easter

There are three times I need to be in the the home where I grew up, and where my mother still lives; summer, Christmas and Easter.
Since I left my birth-home to study I have always striven to get home for these celebrations. This year we had 6 cats in our care, and therefor had to split the vacation.
We somehow got to share moments together, the core family; my mother, my brother, our daughter, husband G and myself.

Tommasi white wine, feathers and a huge egg, all symbols of Easter.

My painting of a knitting woman always reminds me of my mother.

My mother with some of her new year production. She has already given three pairs of socks away.

As usual we played Chinese Checkers, and as always my mother beat me.
No mercy when it comes to games in the Ljung family.

Breakfast table. My mother has painted the porcelain Easter breakfast set.


Pagan Sauda. We are standing on the Hovland (Hoofland) farm looking up on the Hoofland peak. I was there once with my Dad, so it's kind of my special mountain. Hov or Hoof is the place where offerings to the pagan gods took place.
Eating eggs are also related to easter morning. Pagan fertility rite, as is the color yellow, the Easter color.

Indoor roses with throbs, a reference to Christ.


We celebrated Easter night (Saturday) in Haugesund, making a bonfire on the terrace.
The blond nights are already here. We sat outside till 3 a.m.

Easter Morning in our garden both tulips and narcissus sprung during the warm Easter week. Paske is Norwegian for Easter, from Hebrew and not pagan at all.
Last hint of ruby on our red shrub. It was once a big tree, withered and is now grow up from a root.

Visit teach Mary for more Ruby Tuesdays here

Palm Sunday

Today is Palm Sunday in Norway, and the first day of the Silent Week.
In most towns the stores are closed, only gas stations and some restaurants are open. The churches have services today, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and First and Second Easter Day.
Do all Norwegians go to church? No, they don't. They use this Silent Week to travel up in the mountains, skiing or they shine up their boats for the summer season.
Ever since I was a girl there have been Easter camps, with skiing and services combined. The churches divide different ski resorts beween them, and take the gospel out where the people are.

This is a part of our bedrock culture, it's who and what we are.
Or it used to be. The times they are a-changing in old Norway too.
The changes in educating systems are slowly turning us into a secularized nation. It hasn't happened over the night. If so, I guess some of us would have stood up and protested.
Little by little, year by year our country is being uprooted with no new fertile soil left.
We are defined as consumers, soldiers, - or "burdens to society" the day we spend less than we receive.

Still the Silent Week exists. The law says no noisy outdoor work is allowed. The machines are parked along the road shoulders or in barns.
Lawn mowers and nail guns rest, we can hear the birds singing all day without lorries scaring them to silence.
Welcome, silence.

Jesus was a Jew. He celebrated Passover with the disciples. The scripture says he died for Jews first and then for Greeks. He wasn't killed by Jews. He was tortured and killed by Romans, Italians.
Neither did Jesus die for the white Europe. He carried the sins of all the world with him on the cross, that we all may have eternal life.



P. S. In wikipedia I see it is called the the holy week . Silent is because they didn't even chime with the church bells.
I like that silence. We have so many words, and so little time for contemplation.

Happy Easter

What have we been doing lately? Not much. Weeding straw, moss and- weeds. As you will see, Mrs. Mac; there's enough moss left to feed a heard of rein deer.
This beautiful card came all the way from India, inspiring me to make this post. I haven't sent one single greeting card this year either.
Thank you so very much both for the card, and for taking the trouble posting it, dear Amrita.
I know these things are much more troublesome for you to get done, than it would have been to me. Even so you took time to do it.
I am very grateful.

The five kittens are taking much of our time. Gunnar spent a day teaching them to use the cat toilet. He has patience and will to make it work.

Now Ms Kitty has taken over the job.

Last year I used totally wrong words my Easter decorations. I've later learned that the proper words are twigs and rooster.
Whatever has happened to the English language since I went to school?


The Easter parade on our kitchen table.

Me taking a swing in the garden. More moss and snow drops.
Picture by Serina.

Shy crocus.

The most beautiful book in my collection. A cookbook from 1938
which I bought last week.

A congregation on the island, Karmøy, is selling books to raise money to build a new church after the old burned down.

We have been buying for a good cause.

And for our own pleasure.
Happy Easter to all of you.

BLUR RUBY TUESDAY

Today is Second Easter Day in Norway,the fourth holiday since Maundy Thursday.
Serina's Easter vacation is over.Easter to us has always been visiting family and getting visits.
Playing cards, reading crime novels and eating far too many Easter eggs.
Time to tidy up decorations, take some photos and pick up the other sides of my everyday life.
The snow is finally gone, the garden, my best mean of recreation, cries out for attention.
Tomorrow hiking with the ladies.
I just love this time of the year; the naked spring.
Outside our kitchen window the lilac leaves are green, bursting buds. The sallow has had "ducklings" for quite some weeks.
Step by step We are walking hand in hand with the spring.
My "April fool" this year was deceiving my loved ones to believe blue tulips had come forward from under the snow.
Not very nice. In a month I think my tulips will be here...

Originated by MaryT, check hers for today