Spent the best part of Saturday foraging for wild pine mushrooms, cleaning them and then preserving them. Helen, Craig, Seth and I had a full on session of 'hugge' as we sat by the heater in the afternoon with the rain gently falling outside the window as we sipped a few quiet drinks, listened to some chill out music and cleaned and chopped all of the mushrooms that we had foraged in the pines for, earlier that day.
For anyone who doesn't already know about 'hugge' - it's a Danish word, pronounced 'hoo-ga' which basically translates as 'cosiness' and describes anything that we do that brings us that cosy-comfortable feeling, and Autumn and Winter are clearly the best times of the year to experience 'hoo-ga.'
Denmark is one of the happiest countries in the world, and they mostly attribute that happiness to their ability to embrace the dark times of the year by getting all 'hugge' and they swear by it.
Things that create that 'hugge' feeling are things like woods, wools and leathers, lamps and candles, cashmere socks, favourite knitted jumpers and pots of tea or hot chocolate. Eating homemade pie in front of the TV, inviting friends out for a comfort meal, reading a book under a doona, eating a bowl of homemade soup or chili and wearing your ugg boots. Preserving and preparing foraged foods, having a sleeping cat on your lap, collecting pine cones, eating freshly baked biscuits straight from the oven and pajamas in the day time. Your favourite beanie or gloves, crackling fires, spices like cinnamon, chili and nutmeg, mellow music and any other thing that warms you up and lifts your spirits on a cold dark day or night.
By having a little 'hugge' in the home, we can learn to not only tolerate the darker months, we can even learn to embrace and celebrate them. We can begin to invite the quiet respection that these months offer us and allow ourselves to move at a slower pace, we just surrender and enjoy the change of the season. The nights don't seem as dark when they are spent in a relaxing and cosy manner.
'Hugge' teaches us that the darkest moments of the year can be some of the best moments of the year if we can just go with the flow and embrace them completely, which sounds pretty good to me. Lord knows that I am all about the 'hugge!'
For anyone who doesn't already know about 'hugge' - it's a Danish word, pronounced 'hoo-ga' which basically translates as 'cosiness' and describes anything that we do that brings us that cosy-comfortable feeling, and Autumn and Winter are clearly the best times of the year to experience 'hoo-ga.'
Denmark is one of the happiest countries in the world, and they mostly attribute that happiness to their ability to embrace the dark times of the year by getting all 'hugge' and they swear by it.
Things that create that 'hugge' feeling are things like woods, wools and leathers, lamps and candles, cashmere socks, favourite knitted jumpers and pots of tea or hot chocolate. Eating homemade pie in front of the TV, inviting friends out for a comfort meal, reading a book under a doona, eating a bowl of homemade soup or chili and wearing your ugg boots. Preserving and preparing foraged foods, having a sleeping cat on your lap, collecting pine cones, eating freshly baked biscuits straight from the oven and pajamas in the day time. Your favourite beanie or gloves, crackling fires, spices like cinnamon, chili and nutmeg, mellow music and any other thing that warms you up and lifts your spirits on a cold dark day or night.
By having a little 'hugge' in the home, we can learn to not only tolerate the darker months, we can even learn to embrace and celebrate them. We can begin to invite the quiet respection that these months offer us and allow ourselves to move at a slower pace, we just surrender and enjoy the change of the season. The nights don't seem as dark when they are spent in a relaxing and cosy manner.
'Hugge' teaches us that the darkest moments of the year can be some of the best moments of the year if we can just go with the flow and embrace them completely, which sounds pretty good to me. Lord knows that I am all about the 'hugge!'
A DARK SONG
Release Date: 2017
Rating: MA 15+
Running Time: 100 mins
This independent Irish horror film directed by Liam Gavin, unfolds in the most unexpected of ways. By delivering a unique blend of deeply emotional interactions with truly creepy interludes, A Dark Song could easily be the most original horror film of the year.
Grieving mother Sophia purchases a remote house in Wales and hires an occultist to assist her with performing a black magic rite. Sophia hopes that the ritual will summon her guardian angel, which in turn will allow her to speak to her dead son.
This is pretty freaky stuff, but it is freaky in the best kind of way. I really enjoyed this film, it delivers lots of intrigue and mystery, which kept me puzzling about the possibilities until the very end.
Steve Oram and Catherine Walker do a terrific job of their damaged and oddly enduring characters, and the intense soundtrack brings an ominous and unsettling edge to the overall effect of the film. Filmed mainly within the confines of the sprawling Welsh home, most of the action happens within small confines and between the two main characters, making this a movie with claustrophobic and escalating levels of unease.
FINAL SAY: Black magic interludes.
3.5 Chili Peppers
Release Date: 2017
Rating: MA 15+
Running Time: 100 mins
This independent Irish horror film directed by Liam Gavin, unfolds in the most unexpected of ways. By delivering a unique blend of deeply emotional interactions with truly creepy interludes, A Dark Song could easily be the most original horror film of the year.
Grieving mother Sophia purchases a remote house in Wales and hires an occultist to assist her with performing a black magic rite. Sophia hopes that the ritual will summon her guardian angel, which in turn will allow her to speak to her dead son.
This is pretty freaky stuff, but it is freaky in the best kind of way. I really enjoyed this film, it delivers lots of intrigue and mystery, which kept me puzzling about the possibilities until the very end.
Steve Oram and Catherine Walker do a terrific job of their damaged and oddly enduring characters, and the intense soundtrack brings an ominous and unsettling edge to the overall effect of the film. Filmed mainly within the confines of the sprawling Welsh home, most of the action happens within small confines and between the two main characters, making this a movie with claustrophobic and escalating levels of unease.
FINAL SAY: Black magic interludes.
3.5 Chili Peppers
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