Goodbye Christmas!

Those who read my journal will know from my blip a few days ago that I was leaving my decorations up much longer than most do in the UK or the US. I decided to follow the traditions of my Swedish friends and not get rid of the tree until St Knut’s Day which is the 13th. I found out from my Polish friend that they keep them up until February 2nd - Candlemas Day. So - maybe next year??

Actually, I’ve also not felt like I had the energy to dismantle everything. This cold has really wiped me out. For weeks! But I decided today to get most things put away, even though it’s not yet the 13th. According to the Swedish tradition, even the tree should remain decorated, but while my tree and the lights are still up, I’m afraid all the decorations have gone back into the boxes. THIS box is just filled with all my dog ornaments! I have a lot now!

The house seems a little dark so I’m at least enjoying the lit tree for a few more days.

In other news - it’s a weekend, so if course there was Cross-country skiing to watch! This time from Dresden in Germany, and today’s races were individual sprint races. Tomorrow will be the team sprints. City races are fun and there are always lots of people as spectators. Some of the top skiers skipped the races this weekend as they’re still recovering from the gruelling 7-days of racing from the Tour de Ski after Christmas.