Nordic Simplicity Podcast

Our digital paths have crossed a couple of times over the years, chiefly through Tina’s blog Three Drops of Sunshine, back in the day when I frequented Facebook.I am delighted to introduce Tina Csomo as the guest on this podcast episode. “Me being placed in the wrong Season is kind of like trying to jump across a river and I’m aonly making it alf way”Tina is a self-declared “obnoxious but responsible dog mom”, and in addition to the story of how she became a “dog mom”, you will enjoy listening when she tells the story of her colour analysis Season journey, from Light Summer to Bright Winter. You will also hear Tina’s take on how to handle the voices of Facebook friends, specifically get invaluable advice on how to find a healthy Facebook group to join! Also, we touch on the unexpected consequence of losing a loved one. The dog is only part of it. Tina’s family has a history of enjoying goofy hats, and here is a photo of Tina’s mom wearing one of them:Tina loves her car almost as much as she loves her dog Bear. Here is a photo of both of them:How to connect with TinaTina has a nicely curated Pinterest page, which you can find here. Find Tina’s blog Three Drops of Sunshine here. It has been dormant for a while, but she says she has plans to resurrect it. Links to resources that are mentioned in the episodeAnna Lazarska is now welcoming students who want to become 12 Season Sci-Art based personal colour analysts in Europe. You can find information on this here.If you are interested in training as a personal colour analyst in the US, look up Cate Linden or Christine Scaman of 12 Blueprints.Eckhart Tolle is a mindfulness teacher and his book The Power of Now is excellent, and the book Guardians of Being is about the way animals help us stay in the present.Bernice Kentner’s book that Tina talks about is this one: Color Me A SeasonHow to connect with meYou can find me on Substack, or on my website Nordic Simplicity.Do you know someone that I should interview on my podcast? Please let me know!PS: Did you know that if you tap the heart (that shows you like the post), re-stack (that’s the recycle symbol below) or write a comment, it not only makes me giddy with happiness, but also helps others to see this post?Nordic Simplicity is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and a jar of pickled herring ideas for dressing with Scandinavian ease, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.What you get when you subscribe to Nordic Simplicity:* Scandi style, simplified and ready to implement.* Weird and sometimes true facts about living in Norway.* Interiors the Scandi Hygge way, without having to move to a cabin in the woods.* Tips on how to use colour to look like you just returned from a fresh, brisk, invigorating walk, even though all you did was shuffle over to your coffee maker and back.What you don’t get when you subscribe to Nordic Simplicity:* A litter of Norwegian Forest Cat kittens delivered at your doorstep. (You wish, right?)* Trendy fashion tips involving über skinny models looking like they are ready to drop dead from boredom.* Tips on how to do wing-tip eyeliner. Get full access to Nordic Simplicity at nordicsimplicity.substack.com/subscribe

Are you a one book at a time reader, or a multiple books at the same time reader? This is one of the topics we pondered. Come join Lisbeth and me as we ask each other this and other questions, and we talk about books, our shared fascination for castles and ruins, and and we both agree about what is the truest luxury.Lisbeth also shared some thoughts around what she calls “the many faces we have throughout time” (such a beautiful sentence that I had to make it into the headline for this podcast episode), one face as a child, one as an adult, as a spouse, and then when we are retired, how to reconcile ourselves with the face of that phase in our life. And also, we talked about how we all need to feel useful.And you get to learn a Swedish word: Fika!Lisbeth readsFaust by GoetheThe World of Yesterday by Stefan ZweigNo Angel by Penny VincenziMadonna in a Fur Coat by Sabahattin AliMarie Antoinette’s Head by Will BashorThe Razor’s Edge by Somerset MaughamJorunn readsBeartown triology by Frederik BackmanThe Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim (and will soon read Elizabeth and Her German Garden)The Lost King of France by Deborah Cadbury. In the podcast recording, I mistakenly called this book “the lost prince” but that is an entirely different novel, The Lost King of France is about the young son of Marie Antoinette.And of course we talked about foodRegarding the Spätzle we talk about (the ultimate comfort food if you ask me), here is a link to a recipe for Käsespätzle. Which is Spätsle with cheese, for those moments when the mouthwatering, melt-in-your-mouth deliciousness of plain Spätzle isn’t enough. It’s like macaroni and cheese, but better... And if it sounds daunting because you don’t have a Spätzle maker, look up this link for some really handy tips on how to make Spätsle without one.How to connect with LisbethHer blog is called The Content Reader and you can also find her here on Substack.This podcast episode is free, so please share it with others who might enjoy listening! Get full access to Nordic Simplicity at nordicsimplicity.substack.com/subscribe

A conversation with Jenny Cundy, born in England, now living in rural south-west France.Listen to Jenny tell how she met her husband Bob Cundy and became his assistant as they traveled the world creating documentaries as freelance film photographers and how they ended up settling in a small, remote village in France.Bob passed on a few years ago but Jenny still lives in the old farmhouse that she and her husband restored, where she leads a busy life dividing her time between her large garden, her tiny pond with two frogs, costume sewing for the local English theatre and she is always ready to lend a helping hand to friends.She recently decided to take up painting again, something she hasn’t done a lot of since photography became her career. And it is never too late, she has started taking painting classes.Our conversation moves between reminiscing and talking about books we have read and what we both love to cook. And clothes. For a fashion aficionado, she is very down to earth (I think gardening does that to people). Her favourite accessory is scarves. And she always wear a curated collection of interesting bangles and bracelets. I couldn’t resist asking for a selfie with Jenny before I left, displaying our matching sun hats in her sun-drenched courtyard:PerfumesWe discovered a mutual love of luxurious scents, and discussed our different taste in perfumes.Jenny’s favourites: Guerlain Mitsuko (the vintage edition), Guerlain ShalimarJorunn’s favourite: Frederic Malle SuperstitiousBooksJenny recently finished River Kings by Kat Jarman. In the same vein, she recommends The Ancient Paths about the Celts by Graham Robb.She is presently reading Night and Day by Virginia Woolf.After we turned off the recording, we returned to the topic of Virginia Woolf and Jenny talked about Virginia Wolf’s book Flush - A Biography, which is about the beloved dog of Elisabeth Barrett Browning. Barrett Browning loved her dog so much. Here is her poem called To Flush, My Dog. I hereby add Virginia Woolf’s book about Flush to my reading list, and thank Jenny for her time, it was such a wonderful conversation!Connect with Jenny via her photosTo see some of Jenny’s food and people photos, they are available here.How to connect with me:You can find more content from me and lots of stuff about simple and efficient dressing with Scandinavian simplicity here. Thank you for listening. This post is public so feel free to share it with someone who might be interested in quiet conversations about books, rescue chickens and other things that makes life worth living.Subscribe to Nordic Simplicity, to dress like you mean it, feel like yourself and find out why cat sniffing and gardening is better than shopping for clothes: Get full access to Nordic Simplicity at nordicsimplicity.substack.com/subscribe

I am not only interviewing strangers. Sometimes it is lovely to sit down with a friend and listen to her story too. This is Sigrid. She is one of the coolest people I know:My friend Sigrid Fangel who lives in the same town and we spent the better part of an hour chatting at my kitchen table.But before we sat down, she lured me into the sea with her. What we talked aboutSigrid is an avid chillswimmer, she swims in the sea all year. As I am fascinated by the weirdness of this strange sport, I asked if I could join her. And before you could spell goosebumps, I was swimming around in seawater, learning how to breathe calmly even though the water is only 10 degrees (Celcius, not Fahrenheit). And I survived, and grudgingly had to admit that it was strangely invigorating and I might actually do it again with her. Chillswimming will not dethrone my favourite hobbies of drinking wine and reading a book while looking out at sea, but interestingly enough it did not scare me from doing it again. We also talked about being scared and doing it anyway, and about anxiety, and about finding your own style by just becoming yourself, and of course we talked about chickens. As one does.The darker side of Norwegian cultureJanteloven - The Law of Jante, the unwritten Scandinavian societal norm. The Author Aksel Sandemose wrote about a fictional town called Jante, and the rules of conduct according to the Law of Jante are:* You're not to think you are anything special* You're not to think you are as good as we are* You're not to think you are smarter than we are* You're not to convince yourself that you are better than we are* You're not to think you know more than we do* You're not to think you are more important than we are* You're not to think you are good at anything* You're not to laugh at us* You're not to think anyone cares about you* You're not to think you can teach us anythingIt’s basically a crash course in How To Acquire Impostor Syndrome. This is a part of Norwegian culture that we are not particularly proud of……Books we talked aboutUnquiet by Linn UllmannThe eighth life (for Brilka) by Nino HaratischwiliThe Book Thief by Markus ZusakOn The Calculation Of Volume by Solvej Balle Get full access to Nordic Simplicity at nordicsimplicity.substack.com/subscribe

This podcast episode is a conversation with Michelle Adams. We had all kinds of internet problems while recording, which involved Michelle having to migrate through various rooms in her house in order to get a stable signal that allowed us to talk without the Zoom connection freezing, or the sound breaking up. Thankfully, Michelle has the patience of an angel, and I got to use this recording as a very useful practice in editing. I managed to edit away the worst stakkato noises of where the sound started breaking up, but the sound quality definitely leaves something to be desired here and there. Any disturbance in sound quality is entirely a result of my lacking ability as a sound engineer. Michelle is what she calls a woman “of a certain age”. And one of the things we touch on in the chat is how old do you have to be to be “of a certain age”? We also talk about books (of course), and also discussed parakeets, cockatiels and chickens as pets (as one does), and chatted about being introvert and how lovely it is to interact with the resident dog and other wallflowers instead of circulating in the crowd engaging in small talk.We also talked about why I became a colour analyst, and we debated what Michelle shall bring on an Alaskan cruise. Sadly I will not fit in her suitcase.Michelle reads a lot on Substack and here are her favourites:Living Small - Laura Fenton Southern Voice - Beth Yarbrough Wildhood Wanted - Kristi Keller Four Corners of the Southwest - Jan Spell Nordic Simplicity (of course) - Jorunn HernesWhat Michelle is reading right now:Inspire (NLT) Bible: The Bible for Creative Journaling from Tyndale PublishersBooks that have made a lasting impression on Michelle:East of Eden- John Steinbeck The Cask of Amontillado- Edgar Allan Poe Macbeth- William ShakespeareWe talked about being introvert and here is the system she mentions:Florence Littauer, who writes about 4 primary personality types: Choleric, Sanguine, Phlegmatic, and Melancholy. Her book is Personality Plus.How to connect with MichelleMichelle has her own substack! You can find it here.How to connect with me:You can find more content from me and lots of stuff about simple and efficient dressing with Scandinavian simplicity here.Would you like to be a guest on my podcast? Write a DM to me here on Substack or click here to write me an email. Get full access to Nordic Simplicity at nordicsimplicity.substack.com/subscribe

This is me, Jorunn, introducing my podcast.Put down your cup of tea and submit a suggestion for someone to interview on the podcast (it could be yourself)! And brush the toast crumbs off your sweater and request a topic to address. Just drop me a note either by email or as a DM here in Substack. I promise I will put down my cup of tea, gently lift the cat from my lap and do a happy dance just because I will be so happy to hear from you. Get full access to Nordic Simplicity at nordicsimplicity.substack.com/subscribe