Category: Hygge House
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Danes are the Happiest
“Over the past 30 years, in survey after survey, this nation of five and a half million people, the land that produced Hans Christian Andersen, the people who consume herring by the ton, consistently beat the rest of the world in the happiness stakes.” Morley Safer in a Feb. 17 CBS News 60 Minutes story…
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Pie Town, New Mexico
On one hand, I\’m juggling the most wonderful, happy news and events and on the other, a mound of frustrations and headaches. It always seems to be this way; balancing the good and the bad. Sometimes people have the impression that, for me, everything is easy and wonderful and never a drop of rain falls…
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Frenchless in France
Currently enjoying Linda Mathieu\’s Blog, Frenchless in France in which her guest blogger, Emily is doing a great job of sharing Provence.I\’ve only ever been to Provence in the winter (February, for my birthdays), but I actually really love it then. It\’s when you get to really see the towns without fighting mobs of tourists…
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How to Brighten Dingy Whites
I have for years endured shared public laundry facilities in which the machines were old, dingy and overpriced. Not to mention all the weird washing liquid people used which would often discolour my clothes or leave me with a rash from all the chemicals. For mostly everything but towels and bedding, I hand washed so…
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Ikea Expedit Shelving Unit
My first few flats were decorated in nothing but Ikea since I, like most people starting out, couldn’t afford anything else. I also had zero style and liked the pre-bought simplicity they offered. But having to put it all together, not having it withstand (all my) moves, plus seeing every piece I owned in every…
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Washing & Drying Clothes the Green Way
Although I purchased (and fell in-love with ) a washer/dryer last year for the house, I now share one very old washer/dryer with a complex of 8 flats. That one washer is quarter happy, always has crud around it from all the harsh chemicals people use (why?!) and seems to be constantly in use. This…
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Ribe, Denmark
You can see my mum just in the doorway buying flowers for our visit with family. I was visiting family with my mum in nearby Esbjerg, and we decided to do an overnight in Ribe. Situated on the western coast of the Jutland Peninsula, Ribe is oldest existing town in Denmark and is known for…
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Candles in Copenhagen
It seems everywhere I turn in Copenhagen there are candles burning. Little ones, big ones, white ones, pink ones. Never scented, always plain and always, always going; in shops, restaurants, and on streets for no particular reason, like the little candle above. The past two days I\’ve been staying in Nyhavn; a trendy part of…
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Copenhagen Sights of Note
Arriving into town at 8AM after a flight from New York, my mum and I weren\’t exactly wide eyed and bushy tailed (especially since I couldn\’t sleep because I kept watching Marie Antoinette. Those visuals!) So when we checked into the Front Hotel in Nyhaven (a once bad area that is now trendy and charming)…
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Candles are hygge
A great part of the year darkness rules in Denmark. From the beginning of October until the end of March, the lack of sufficient daylight influences the average Dane’s mental health. One of the means that the Danes are mobilizing against this gloomy period of darkness is the Danish “Hygge”.”Hygge” is a way for the…
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Home Keeping
In the last several years, a growing body of scientific evidence has indicated that the air within homes and other buildings can be more seriously polluted than the outdoor air in even the largest and most industrialized cities. Other research indicates that people spend approximately 90 percent of their time indoors. Thus, for many…
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Can a washer and dryer change your life? Yes!
For as long as I can remember, I\’ve had to use coin operated washing and drying machines which meant that often my clothes would go missing or come out not so clean. The old machines would leave smells that weren\’t mine and it seemed almost futile to use \”free\” detergents (free of chemicals and perfume)…
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Roses
It was the roses that first struck me when I pulled into the drive of the house. The front and side yards were lined with bushes that were blooming like mad. I knew that my little patio rose bush of one blossom would be happy here, and that perhaps I could too.After the boxes had…
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Simple pleasures
I\’ve spent the morning losing myself at my favourite nursery; roses were in full bloom, lavender was smelling divine and the rosemary was far too perfect to pass up. This, gardening, in one of my indulgences.I have a fairly large, beautiful balcony, shaded by lushes trees on one side and the lake on the other.…
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Ladybugs
This morning whilst admiring the first tulip to bloom in my garden, I noticed that I had a problem – aphids. I fetched a bag of live ladybugs from the garden shoppe, gave them a \’hip hip\’ talk on the drive home and then put them in the fridge until dusk (their supper).A quick spritz…
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Ordinary acts
The ordinary acts we practice every day at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest.Thomas Moore, 19th-century poet.
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The house
It used to be a rather shabby house with an overgrown yard, paint peeling and various spiders as tenants. But several months ago, after almost a year of being for sale, someone purchased that shabby little house and began to transform it.Each day I would walk to the post and pass the house and each…
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Simple home
There are moments, such as today, when there\’s a certain feeling in the air that I long for the day I can return to France to live. Since packing up and boarding a plane aren\’t viable options today, I settled on baking a traditional French yoghurt cake and listening to the Amelie soundtrack instead.Let it…