Sue's purchases and travels

Shop was closed for a couple of days due to snow.  Main roads were okay after one day BUT could not get out of my street nor could I find someone to shovel drive at shop.  But we opened Saturday and were happy top help lots of people find Valentine gifts for their loved ones.  I, despite everything, still love snow and will leave you with more photos from my most recent Swedish trip!

Labels: snow, Sweden, Swedish Antiques, swedish art, swedish gifts

There was an article in the local about the ten tackiest Swedish Souvenirs.  I'm pleased to say I do not carry MOST of them.  You can't have a  Swedish gift shop and NOT have an assortment of Dala Horses.  I also offer what was deemed the cheesiest gift:  A Moose shaped cheese slicer!  I guess there is nothing cheesier than cheese.  Good thing they haven't seen the Viking slicer I also offer...might expand the list to eleven items!http://www.thelocal.se/20140115/ten-cheesiest-swedish-souvenirs
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Labels: Swedish Antiques, swedish gifts, tackiest swedish souvenirs

Home and looking at my photos.  Those I took while on the road around Dalarna are magical!  See for yourself:

Labels: Akersblad hotel, Dalarna, sweden snow, Swedish Antiques, swedish gifts, Tallberg

 Dorothy and everyone else we are home!

Labels: klaradal swedish antiques, original art, SAS, Swedish Antiques, swedish art

I must be getting older. There was a time when I could stay away forever....no rush to come home...but today I am ready.  I guess if Peter and David were along it would be different.  I didn't have a chance to get lonely on this trip...lots of visits with family and friends of family AND many vendors who have become old friends but....there is something about being home.  My arrival to said home is delayed.  I have been in Copenhagen airport for two hours and have another one to go.  I spent most of yesterday packing and re-packing and yet still my luggage was 10 pounds overweight...each bag!  Kind SAS guy let it go.  I took photos of the storage unit and auction house so you can see what is coming but....phone and lap top must be fighting because they refuse to share with each other.  I will leave you with a photo of my sights today...airports at Copenhagen and Stockholm!  Come see me at the shop!  We will have a mini reveal and Valentine's party on Saturday Feb. 8!

Labels: arlanda, klaradal swedish antiques, klaradal swedish gifts, Swedish Antiques, swedish gifts

Today I awoke to a snowy Dalarna.  Everywhere I looked was a Christmas card.  (Especially given that so many Christmas lights and window candles were still aglow) I caught up with e-mail in the charming room shown to the left with a fire to warm me and a great view of the snow covered midsommer pole and an interesting tri-pod of Christmas trees.  I hated to leave but there was a four hour drive ahead of me AND one more stop at an out of the way Loppis.  (second hand shop)  I have arrived in Solna where I will continue my shopping and packing.  My hotel is having problems with their wireless connection so my ability to share photos may suffer....but we'll see!

Labels: Akersberg Hotel, Dalarana, klaradal swedish antiques, klaradal swedish gifts, Solna, Swedish Antiques

My drive to Dalarna was lovely.  It was sunny and the light reflecting off of the snow covered pines and birch trees was magical.  Most of the lakes that I passed were frozen.  I was hoping to spot a moose but, alas, did not.  I did manage to spot two favorite second hand shops.  At the first one I found this fabulous lidded bread bowl.  I have never seen anything like it.  I wonder if it was used to help the dough rise?  It would make sense in this cold region where even now, in my heated room, my fingers are chilled from the draft off my window.  I also found some sweet Sami items including this small knife and equally small bread bowl.  The small items will probably travel home with my in my suitcase.  The large bread bowl will have to wait for the Summer container.

Labels: antique bread bowl, Dalarna, klaradal swedish antiques, sami, Swedish Antiques, swedish bread bowl

The week before I left for Stockholm NPR ran a piece on Sweden, the game of Bandy, and Somalis.  It seems that Swedes are working with Somali youths to teach them Bandy, a classic Swedish game played on ice, in an effort to help them assimilate into the culture.  I had never heard of the game before.  Imagine my surprise when I learned our young relative, a twelve year old girl, plays on a Bandy team!  Tonight I went with her Grandfather to watch her practice.  Their drill included having everyone lie on the ice and then get up quickly and skate to the other side.  There were lots of practice shots and a few of the Bandy balls (hard plastic and often pink) came very close to hitting us.  (no protective glass between the rink and sidelines)  It was a delightful cold crisp evening!

Linda in uniform on the bandy rink

Linda in a practice drill of Bandy

Uh...no thanks I'd rather stand!

Labels: Bandy, klaradal, Sweden, Swedish Antiques, swedish gifts

Labels: klaradal gifts, klaradal swedish gifts, marimekko, marimekko napkins, Swedish Antiques

The boiler at Klaradal refused to kick in yesterday.  Temperatures INDOORS plummeted to 54 degrees.  We had just received a shipment of the Nordic stripe socks shown here and I put on a pair to ward off the chill.  They really helped!  The good news is the repair men were able to get the heater going.  The bad news is they said I needed a new boiler.....just what a small business owner wants to hear. Oh well....at least we have heat to finish out the year and I don't have to resort to putting the nordic socks on my hands!

Labels: klaradal swedish gifts, nordic gifts, nordic socks, nordic stripe socks, Swedish Antiques

Labels: christmas shop maryland, holiday shop, klaradal, Swedish Antiques, Swedish Christmas trees, trees stolen

Klaradal now stocks these Sweet Cardamom Almonds.  Just another cardamom fix for those of us who aren't inclined to make a loaf of bread. Plus..don't they keep telling us that nuts are healthy?  So an apple a day along with 6 sweet cardamom almonds.  mmmmm

Back to baking before I head into the shop.

Labels: cardamom, holiday gifts, holiday shop, klaradal, Swedish Antiques, swedish antiques maryland, swedish candy, swedish treats, sweet cardamom almonds

Everytime I attend a Scandinavian bazaar I always buy a loaf of cardamom bread.  I cannot get enough of that spice which is why I was thrilled to find Cardamom Ice Cream in the local Organic Market.  It is made by a company called Three Twins and the ice cream is named Dad's Cardamom.  It's fabulous. 

Labels: cardamom, cardamom ice cream, holiday shop, klaradal, Swedish Antiques, swedish food, swedish gift, Thanksgiving, three twins

This Thanksgiving my mother-in-law will not be joining us.  She is 96 years old and though pretty strong is not capable (nor comfortable) coming to our homes and doing the long drawn out Thanksgiving feast.  We will, instead, join her at her assisted living location for an early brunch and then have a later Thanksgiving Dinner.  My own parents passed away years ago and so, it seems, that the table gets smaller each year-with no grandchildren in the very near future.  This long preamble brings me to the Swedish All Souls Day tradition of placing candles on graves.
There is no religious connection but rather all individuals gather, with candles, at local cemeteries and place them on the graves of loved ones AND on those graves that don't seem to have someone to visit.  It is a lovely way to remember EVERYONE who is gone from the life.  Not just war heroes, not just the famous, and not just those we loved but anyone who has been in our community.  It's quite special and the imagery is breathraking.  We were once driving through Sweden on November 1 and were told to look out for these and, sure enough, we would see lovely glows, every few miles, at the local cemeteries.

All of this has made me decide that this Thanksgiving I will have a candle lit for those who are NOT at our table...as a way of including everyone who has meant so much to our family.

Labels: All souls day, ekelund linens, sweden tradition, Swedish Antiques, swedish gifts, Swedish holiday shop, swedish textiles., Thanksgiving

One of my favorite things about Stockholm is the abundance of flower shops in the city that have racks outside of wonderful blossoming plants.  The springtime always offers a profusion of tiny pots of  narcissus and grape hyacinths.  This original watercolor, in the shop now and priced at $65 brings back such memories.  It is of a group of crocus and brings with it the promise of spring on the coldest day of winter. It also makes me remember a house in our old town of Wayne PA that would have a front yard that read "wow it's spring!" in crocus.  (By the way...the painting is still available as of this writing...it is about 8x10 and we could easily ship to you.  Just drop us an email...klaradal@aol.com)

Labels: crocus, fine art, holiday gifts, holiday shop, Holiday shop Maryland, klaradal, Stockholm, Swedish Antiques, swedish gifts

Today is my 27th Wedding anniversary.  (No we did not purposely plan to be married on the anniversary of JFK assassination :(     though everyone asks!)  We were married in the chapel of Main Hall at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster PA.  My parents lived in Lancaster and I am an F&M graduate class of '78.  Shown in the photo is the Irish Catholic Priest (Father Sullivan from St. Leo the Great Church) and  Estonian Lutheran Minister Pastor Rudolf Kiviranna of NYC who married us.  Little did I know that about 10 years later Peter and I would be adopting a baby from Estonia (a country I knew little about until meeting Peter!) Nor that 10 years after that I would be running a Swedish Antique and gift shop! As to the wedding.... I remember that the Estonian Minister spoke of the fact that Peter's paternal grandmother and Aunt had survived decades in Siberia.  The catholic priest quoted "Fiddler on the Roof" with the line "Goldie do you love me?"  Very interesting mix of cultures!  At the reception the Estonians gave lots of toasts and my Mom's family did the mummers' strut.  (Still love the Mummers and every year Peter gives me tickets to the parade--did so again this year!)  Here's to 27 more!

Labels: Estonian Minister, F&M, franklin and marshall, Gifts, Holiday shop Maryland, klaradal, Mummer's strut, Old Main, Pastro Kiviranna, Swedish Antiques

This year for the first time in many years I am hosting Thanksgiving.  I always try to be a little creative with my place cards and want to do so now.  I usually use mini pumpkins but they all seem to be gone so I  headed to Michael's to see what ideas they might offer.  Answer:  None!  Thanksgiving was gone!  It was Christmas everywhere.  Klaradal has fallen to the pressures (economic) of starting Christmas early but we still have an area reserved for Thanksgiving decor and paper products.  We also, always have some Ekelund linen that while not specifically a fall item will fit the bill nicely.  When hosting dinner I need to use a large tablecloth but always use an Ekelund linen on my front hall table.  These two would be perfect candidates to indicate the joy of autumn.  The darker runner is called Mustiga and the lighter is Astrakan both are under $45 and available on our site.  (or will be, an Ekelund order is expected in the next week)

Labels: astrakan, ekelund linens, ekelund runners, holiday gifts, klaradal, mustiga, olney md, Swedish Antiques

 The photo on the right is a recent view from my kitchen window.  We live in the suburbs of Washington DC (just outside the much mentioned beltway) where deer are a quite common occurrence.  Some neighbors hate them because they eat plants BUT I just love to see them grazing and sometimes sleeping in my yard.  I guess that is why I love the Deer Head vase shown below.  It is just $20 an provides seasonless design.  This photo shows it with evergreen.  I show it at the shop with bare branches(lower photo)   It would be fun to hang a few small Christmas balls from the limbs of the branches.
It would look great in the spring with forsythia or cherry blossoms.  You also could, for Easter, add feathers to the branches as they do in Sweden.  Unlimited choices!

Labels: danish gifts, deer head vase, finnish gifts, god jul, holiday gifts, klaradal, norwegian gifts, Swedish Antiques, swedish gifts

Just learned that the game Candy Crush is by Swedish Gaming company King AND that King is Sweden's best workplace.  I first heard of this game when good morning America did a piece on how it had many women gambling.  I guess I should have vowed to avoid it but instead tried it right away.  The game is really addictive and you can easily waste an hour playing it.  The gambling part is that you are offered, for 99 cents, the chance to have 3 more tries or get a boost that helps you finish a level.  I am pretty frugal so was not about to spend any money but can see how easy it would be to do so.  I finally deleted the game from my kindle and cloud....no more temptation to chew up time.  It's the holidays!  There is no time to spare!

Labels: candy crush, holiday shop, king gaming company, klaradal, maryland holiday shop, Sweden, Swedish Antiques

A customer hosted us for dinner last night.  She is a combination of Norwegian, Sweden and Irish.  The homemade meal was purely Swedish with Swedish meat balls (fresh made NOT from Ikea) and a great apple pie made with a batter rather than a crust.  Could be a future Thanksgiving staple.  Photo shows it with ice cream but we had it plain and it was fabulous!



http://www.food.com/recipe/swedish-apple-pie-44729

Labels: antiques maryland, christmas shop maryland, gift shop maryland, klaradal, Swedish Antiques, swedish apple pie