Thoughtful friday #1

Pregnancy is a process that invites you to surrender to the unseen force behind all life.
-Judy Ford

The journey

Photos taken on holiday this autumn. I stumbled upon these while searching my computer for something entirely different. Soon, at least soonish, these photos will fade into a wage (but good) memory, and the doll will be substituted with a baby. Another person. A real person. I need to tell myself this quite often. Although I’m well into the second trimester and the baby moves around in there like crazy sometimes, even though my energy levels are at an all time low, my back hurts already and I have the occasional attack of heartburn. Still – I need to remind myself – I need to try and get the idea of having another person in our life – our family. It’s very strange and hard to get used to. I guess it’s something I/we cannot prepare ourselves to – it happens, and we’ll have to take it from there.

It has been, and still is occasionally, a bit hard. This pregnancy is so different from the first one, but still so similar. I’m pregnant at another time of the year, and that has definitely made the first trimester (with the extreme nausea) even harder – especially emotionally. It was a tough ride for all of us as a family.

It’s better now – so much better without the nausea. I can feel happiness again, I can feel the rollercoaster ride of emotions linked to (I guess) every pregnancy. Butterflies and shooting stars. Euphoria and anxiety. The waiting, the preparing, the getting ready, the reading of articles and books (all the things you forget in just a few years!), the internet surfing on forums and web shops (all the things you’re told you need… well, that’s a good thing about the second time around – you know you don’t need much), the talks with friends and family about their experiences and expectations, the choice making…



But here I am, and soon here she/he is, and we’re all waiting and trying to get used to the idea in our own way. What an adventure, and what a spiritual journey it is. For all of us. Motherhood, fatherhood, becoming a sister. That’s what I’m hoping and aspiring to write more about; the spiritual journey of pregnancy and birth. And what a blessing to be pregnant now – when the sun is soon to be “born” on the winter solstice.

Apple Chutney

For the kindergarten Christmas fair.

Honey cake/gingerbread cake

I love making this cake when Christmas is approaching. It’s an old and traditional Norwegian recipe (or that’s what I’ve heard). Although it’s called “honey cake”, it’s very spicy – like gingerbread. This cake keeps for a long time as long as you keep it wrapped in foil or in an airtight container. The recipe even says that you should not cut the cake until after it has been in the fridge for a week. Let’s see if we can wait that long ;)

Set the oven on 175 degrees Celsius (ca. 345 °F).

150 grams of butter/margarine
100 g sugar
150 g honey
3 eggs
225 g plain white flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
½ tsp black pepper

Mix the butter, sugar and honey until it has a creamy consistency. Add the eggs and spices. Sift in the baking powder and flour and mix.

Use a rectangular bread tin – butter and dust with flour before you pour the dough in and straighten it out a bit with a spatula.

Bake for about 45 min. – 1 hour (my recipe says 1 hour, but that is way too long in my oven. Check on the cake once in a while to determine how it comes along).

Cool and put it in foil or some plastic wrap and put in the fridge for a week.

Serve with butter or cut it lengthwise and butter it before serving.