Yvie Burnett gets cosy in Scandinavia and does a voiceover in Cologne

Hello from Scandinavia. Over the years I’ve visited this part of the world many times because there are a great deal of very successful songwriters and producers based here.

I’m generalising of course but it often seems to me like the Scandinavians have it just right in terms of lifestyle.

The Danish word “Hygge” which is hard to translate but is all about cosying up and enjoying life’s simple pleasures, like lighting a candle or taking time for yourself, seems to sum up the way people live here.

We travelled here overnight on our tour bus from Cologne including a 45-minute ferry crossing so I’m ready to embrace a bit of that Hygge mindset on my day off today.

I’m starting by writing this in the sunshine beside the roof-top pool. I am of course fully dressed. It’s not bikini weather yet even though spring is upon us.

But having a bit of sunshine on my face is just so welcome. It’s almost like I can feel that vitamin D doing me good already.

We were in Paris on Sunday and the sun was shining there too although there was a bitterly cold wind.

The Scottish rugby players who travelled there to play in the Six Nations Championship against France that day wouldn’t have been worried about a bit of a cold wind.

There was a lot of friendly banter backstage before our show with both Scottish and French crews watching the match on a big screen.

I actually met some of the Scottish team afterwards and although they had lost the match they were still in good spirits.

North-east links

I was embarrassed by the fact that I’m not a rugby fan and that I hadn’t a clue who they were but they didn’t seem to mind.

My friends who are big rugby fans were telling me to get a picture with Finn Russell so I asked him and his fellow team member Sione Tuipulotu if they would mind having a photo in your life magazine this week.

Finn was very proud of the fact that his mum’s parents had been from Aberdeen so he had a link to The Press and Journal and the north-east.

If you look behind us you will see my friend Vic Forbes from Kemnay who is working with me just now. She was also very happy to meet those rugby boys as you can see by her face!

Supporters react during the Six Nations rugby union tournament match between France and Scotland at Stade de France in Saint-Denis, northern Paris on Sunday. Image: J E E/SIPA/Shutterstock.

Even though I’m not there right now, preparations for our TV show Scotland Sings which is due to appear on your screens soon, are well underway.

Voiceovers, which are the bits of narrative that link scenes together on shows, are recorded once the show has been edited and put together and I started to record these in a recording studio in Cologne this week with a link to my producer back in Scotland.

In order to do this, I was able to see little snippets of the show on a screen so I could talk along to them.

It was very exciting because it was the first time I had seen bits of the actual show beginning to take shape.

We spent hours doing this in the studio and there will still be more to do. It was tiring to get it right but I honestly enjoyed every minute.

Yvie doing voiceovers at a recording studio in Cologne.

No matter what I do work wise, TV presenting is always what I enjoy the most.

I really hope you all enjoy Scotland Sings when it is broadcast in a few weeks’ time. I will let you know dates as soon as I have them.

We as a team have really put our heart and soul into this show and I hope that comes across when you watch it. I will of course want to know what you readers really think.

Oh, and by the way I’m still enjoying my family popping up here, there and everywhere on this tour. This week Ollie didn’t have far to come as we were visiting his hometown of Amsterdam.