Free Holiday Collection eBook!

If you are a “celebrator” of Christmas, Merry Eve before Christmas Eve!

To give your holiday traditions a little boost, I’ve created a free ebook, Little Farm for the Holidays: Celebrating the Christmas Season Homestead-Style. 

This little book is a collection of true-life stories to add a bit of spirit and old-fashioned cheer to the season—and maybe, a bit of magic. It’s available exclusively at my newsletter Solstice issue, A Season of Giving! 

My newsletter is free and open to all, so you don’t have to subscribe to take a look at the book. It’s easy—just click the PDF button.

I’ve included plenty of Christmas stories of course, though I imagine most folks are too busy to read much this weekend. Still, you’ll (hopefully) find more inspiration to help you celebrate all the way into January!

And if you are too busy to read, I hope you’re finding small moments to catch your breath, have a cup of coffee/cocoa/tea/holiday cheer, and enjoy the topsy-turvy-ness of the day.

By the way, if you’re in the midst of the “Elf on the Shelf” tradition at your house, may your creativity keep flowing—to find new and exciting locations and activities for the Elf! 

I really appreciate all of you who have visited here this past year. Whatever you are celebrating this time of year, take care and be well! 

Elf on the Shelf vs Trolls…Final Christmas Countdown, Part 4!

Zip lining Elf at my grandkids’

The Yule Lad trolls, an old-fashioned bit of Icelandic whimsy, are probably a bit too scary for most kiddos. Luckily there’s a relatively new tradition that seems to be giving Santa Claus a run for his money: the Elf on the Shelf!

Of course our grandkids are all over this entertaining holiday johnny-come-lately. 

But at a holiday party this week, chatting with some moms, I learned just how much the Elf on the Shelf, or let’s call it, the EOTS, is a crucial Christmas ritual! 

You’d think parents have enough stress about Santa. But the EOTS ritual represents a whole new level of pressure—which lasts for weeks!

Now, we all know that starting right after Thanksgiving, the grownups in the household are responsible for either hiding the Elf every night, or involving the Elf in various activities. 

Kids can then begin each day with a fun search for the Elf, or coming upon it in an entertaining location. But during all these weeks prior to Christmas, grownups have to put the Elf in a NEW spot each night! 

Playing poker with his “homeys”

I also learned Mom/Dad can’t repeat the hiding spot or activity. So forgetting to move the elf is fatal. 

I heard about two parents who forgot to shift their EOTS until the last minute. Dad had to quickly distract the kids and get them into another room so Mom could move the Elf.

One mom shared about an extremely indignant 4 year old who found his Elf in the same place as the day before. 

The little guy was so cross about it he moved the Elf himself. Which leads to another fatal error: If you touch the Elf Santa won’t come!

The creative pressure, I hear, is immense. Days on end of having to come up with new and different and most of all, fun spots for the Elf! Also, even after kids get older, they apparently still require Mom/Dad to carry on the ritual. 

If you’ve been checking out my series on the Yule Lads, the Lads’ tradition seems pretty straightforward. And dare I say, simpler. Today, there’s only 3 more Lads on the way, with 3 more nights of troll mayhem and pranks.

Although being trolls, all the Lads have big noses, December 22 brings the Lad with the biggest: “Doorway Sniffer.” Since he loves to smell baked goods, he uses that big schnozz to stand in doorways, sniffing out any cakes and Icelandic lacebread he can abscond with. 

On December 23, another hungry troll, “Meat Hook,” arrives with a pole—and a hook at the end. He hovers near the kitchen, and when the cook isn’t looking, he’ll hook any meat from the pan.

The last night of the Lads is December 24. “Candle-Beggar” is perhaps the biggest killjoy of them all. On the most important night of the season, Christmas Eve, the night of light and celebration, he will steal any candle he finds. 

It seems to be by Christmas, the Lads have pretty well cleaned out all the food in Icelandic households! I guess the Elf is looking pretty good in comparison, despite being high-maintenance.

Speaking of Elves and Trolls, our resident Lord of the Rings fanboy, my husband John, and I just had a spirited discussion about both Elves and Trolls—as well as Dwarves, and Hobbits. Santa is reputed to be an Elf…or is he a Fairy? 

If you come down on the Fairy side, you might like Morgan Carey and The Mystery of the Christmas Fairies…It’s on sale this week, details in my post from last week, Christmas Countdown Part 2!

Still on sale though Christmas!

Christmas Countdown with Trolls, Part 3

Photo: Official Iceland website

The countdown with those naughty Icelandic trolls, the Yule Lads, continues!

Now, I’m all for the lighter side of the holidays…no movies like “Bad Santa” or “The Nightmare Before Christmas” for me. 

But the Yule Lads are more pranksters, rather than out and out bad. Yet before we bring back today’s Yule Lad, we should know about their mother…

Gryla, the mother of all these 13 annoying trolls, is a troll as well…and actually evil. 

She was the traditional way people controlled wayward kiddos. In fact, Icelandic parents would let their children know that if they misbehaved, Gryla could come and abduct them!

Sounds like far more effective social control than what the Yule Lads could dish out, simply giving a bad child a rotten potato.

But to me, the Gryla legend seems really dark for Christmastime…so let’s focus back on her offspring. Today, December 19, brings back yet another food-obsessed Yule Lad, “Skyr-Gobbler.” He’s the one who scarfs up the Icelandic yogurt-like dairy product. 

December 20, “Sausage-Swiper” arrives. He hides out in the rafters of houses where meat is smoked, and grabs sausages whenever he can. 

The Lad coming December 21 is apparently not a foodie…instead, he veers on creepy: “Window-Peeper.” He peers through windows to check out whatever stuff is worth steeling. 

You may wonder, with all this bad behavior—nothing but making trouble since December 12–where the heck is the Yule Lads’ father? And why doesn’t he take them in hand?”

Well, legend has it that Leppaluoi, their dad, isn’t quite evil, like his wife—but simply lazy! Maybe not into parenting either. So it looks like it won’t be anytime soon, that Gryla says, “You guys are going to get it when your father comes home!” 

Please excuse my not including all the intriguing accent marks that accompanies these Icelandic names. And many thanks to the official Iceland website for the legend of the Yule Lads! 

Countdown to Christmas, Part 2 & Holiday eBook on Sale!

In case you missed this Lads’ pic…

A 2nd Christmas Countdown…with the Yule Lads!

And here we are on December 14, to continue our tale of the Lads…

As I mentioned in Part 1, the Yule Lads are a Christmas tradition from Iceland for the 13 days before Christmas. 

To me, this tradition adds a bit of light and magic to the holiday busy-ness.

Starting on the 12th of December, a troop of trolls, the Yule Lads, will creep down from the mountains, one Lad each night, to create mischief in the towns and villages. 

The Lads’ pranks seem to focus on what was really important in days gone by…your sheep, your light during these dark days, and most of all, your food! 

The Lads’ visits do have an upside…they will leave candy in the children’s shoes. But only if you’re good! Or you’ll find a rotten potato instead of a treat.

Today, December 14, marks the arrival of Stubby, the shortest of the Lads…and thus begins a series of raids on Icelandic kitchens everywhere. Stubby, despite his small stature, tries to steal bits of food from frying pans. 

Stubby looks so jolly I figured he could have his pic here twice

Judging by his pic here, he also seems to be the most good-natured of the Lads. Look at that grin! He’s probably happy he’s first in line to scarfing the kitchen goodies. 

The next night, the 15th, Spoon-Licker goes for the spoons used to scrape food from pots and pans. And December 16, along comes Pot Scraper to continue the theme, eating the food any one is dumb enough to leave in the pots. 

The 17th is Bowl Lickers’ night, to lick all the inside of the bowls used for mixing food. Apparently he has zero discrimination, since he even goes for the pets’ bowls!

December 18, there’s a little break from all the food-stealing…Door Slammer arrives to disrupt the holiday peace, by slamming doors all through the night. I imagine he scares the sheep too.

So there you are, those naughty Lads, from December 14 - 18! If you’d like another way to enjoy the buildup to the holidays, there’s always reading a holiday book…And here’s one of mine on sale!

Morgan Carey and The Mystery of the Christmas Fairies, Book 2 of my middle-grade fantasy-adventure series, has been chosen by Barnes & Noble for a special ebook holiday sale! 

Middle-grade fantasy

Feisty 5th grader Morgan and her 3 mischievous cousins venture into an enchanted forest, where a magical Christmas tree leads them into adventure…and danger. The family-friendly novel is perfect for nature-loving kids, grandparents, and fairy fans everywhere! 

You’ll also find the ebook on sale at Amazon, Kobo ebooks, Apple, and all ebook retailers. FYI, just for fun, I created two different covers, but they’re the same book!

A new cover!

For more Christmas entertainment, you’ll find a country “Tannenbaum” story and a touching Christmas movie in my December newsletter, O Christmas Tree & a Holiday Rom-Com! 

As Christmas draws nearer, if you’re busy with holiday preparations and feeling stressed, I hope you’ll find a few peaceful moments!

Countdown to Christmas…with the Yule Lads!

Stubby the Troll…Photo: Office Iceland website

For all of you who celebrate Christmas, doesn’t this time of year seem to rush by with a swoosh?

If you’re like me, with less than two weeks to go til the big day, you’ve still got a full to-do list of holiday baking, cards, and figuring out gifts. This year, I’m even more behind hand than usual: our Internet satellite dish went kerflooey last Monday.

We are finally back online today, but I lost a whole week of holiday prep. Now, I don’t do a whole lot of shopping, and we keep things pretty simple here at the Little Farm. 

Still, I had a few things to buy online,  since we have Voice over Internet phone, I couldn’t call in my order either!

But over the years, dealing with plenty of power outages and infrastructure meltdowns over the holiday season, I’ve learned to be pretty relaxed about what I can and can’t do by December 25. 

At the moment, being back in the Internet business, I’m feeling quite celebratory—and instead of stressing over having only 13 more days to go, I’m going to have fun counting down to Christmas with the Yule Lads!

Photo: Official Iceland website

The Yule Lads are an Icelandic holiday tradition, with just the kind of fun and whimsy to ease your stress. According to legend, starting with December 12, a bunch of mischievous trolls—13 of them—creep down from the mountains to do pranks, create messes, and steal food! 

Now the trolls do have a positive side. Each night through Christmas Eve, a troll will leave candy and treats in children’s shoes—but only if you’re good. If you’re not, you’ll get a rotten potato instead—which I think is way nastier than the lump of coal Santa leaves for naughty ones. 

Tonight, December 12, watch out for “Sheep-Cote Clod”—his goal is to sneak into your shed and harass your sheep. I’m sure you’ve barely gotten your flock settled down and milked, before the next Lad arrives the following night…

December 13, along comes “Gully Gawk,” who slurps the foam off the milk in your bucket. By now, the sheep are probably thoroughly rattled…but you’re in luck. Stubby, the next Lad in line, will be heading into the house to make mischief.

December 13 also marks the feast day of St. Lucia, another Scandinavian tradition. The youngest daughter of the house wears an evergreen wreath—with candles in it!—and first thing in the morning, serves the rest of the family coffee and sweet buns. 

Which sounds really lovely to me—though the daughters left the nest a long time ago. I’ll have to get my own bun. Still, Christmas isn’t meant to be like a Hallmark holiday movie, all eggnog in frosted mugs, a perfectly decorated tree, and well behaved people. 

The eggnog gets spilled, the cat climbs up the tree and knocks it over, and the toddler is having an epic tantrum! 

At your house, maybe you’re dealing with something similar. But perhaps you can be inspired by the Lads…and despite the messiness of life in general, and all too often, the chaos of the Christmas rush, I hope you’ll find room for joy!

You’ll find O Tannenbaum in the garden, and all about the wonderful movie “Last Christmas” right here in O Christmas Tree & a Holiday Rom-Com, my December newsletter!