Moomins in Winter

My good intentions of daily blogs, with lots of fun things to show you, just won't happen. I think it's the lack of daylight. However, despite my inability to function during winter, I find myself drawn to snowy scenes and wintriness, and that whole Scandinavian thing of mysterious dark woods.
I put it down to the Moomins.

I'm not sure I ever read more than one Moomin book when I was young, but I rediscovered them several years ago, mainly because I was drawn to the illustrations (by the author, Tove Jansson). The Moomins are sweet, delightful characters with a wonderful philosophy of life. Then, a few years ago, the comic strips that Tove Jansson created, started to be republished in book form. I think I like these even more than the novels. They are beautifully drawn. Just look at this strip below, with the flower stem creating the break between panels, and Moomintroll's tail breaking out of the frame. I love all those flowers and grasses!

And look at this strange, reindeer-like animal, with floral fur! Isn't he beautiful?

I would love to be a Moomin (just look how beautiful their house is!). And very sensibly, they hibernate. (Occasionally they've broken the rules and stayed awake in winter, though.) When the first snow comes in November, Moomins know it's time for their winter sleep. Moominmamma tells them all to fill their tummies with a last meal of pine needles and to put their woollen knickers on. "Then everyone crept into his bed and making a cosy nest for himself, pulled his blanket over his ears and thought of something nice..... Outside the snow fell, thick and soft. It already covered the steps and hung heavily from the roofs and eaves. Soon Moominhouse would be nothing but a big, round snowball. The clocks stopped ticking one by one. Winter had come."