Afghan delivered...

...in good hands! H. got it in Switzerland. And you know what? He appreciated it to its real value, many months of work. Now to see it hanging somewhere... LOL! But he was amazed with the amount of work, the details etc. I managed to fringe it by hand before leaving (that alone took many, many hours, so I think I'll let myself be tempted soon by a sewing machine LOL!) and two squares in the bottom left corner are not done yet, but I'll stitch them fast during a next trip to Norway. It's only a piece of broken tree trunk.
For those who don't know yet the little story.... A few years ago as we were hiking above Zakopane, in the Tatra mountains in Poland, we met a mommy bear with two adorable cubs, just 2,5-3 months old, not more. This was one of THE moments of our relationship... We sat for a moment on broken bits of trees with my old aunt to watch the view, look at the map, and go further after a short moment of relax, and then what do I see? The first baby bear. I don't think I realized the danger, I just pointed at it and said: "Oh look at that!!" with delight. That all happened before I read anything about bears and danger and wilderness - and the outcome of such meetings. It would never occur to me to feel in danger there, so close to civilization. H. and my aunt froze, looked at each other and ordered we pack everything fast, but without panick. The little one was just jumping around. Mommy not in sight. My aunt decided we should go further up - and what do we see? Another little bear rolling in front of our feet, on the path, sort of intentionnally falling from a higher path border made of sand, I think. Now that was scary. We turned back. I still remember the look and the eyes of the second cub - he looked at us so surprised, almost friendly. I think he just couldn't figure what those two-legged creatures were! We didn't see Momma bear. She certainly was *very* close and as we were told later by specialists, she probably didn't attack not because we were 3 humans, but because we behaved perfectly (judging by bear's criteria) and because neither of her kids made a sound. They were too young to be scared, they were just there to play and eat berries, they never met humans before and didn't understand the danger, that is what saved us. We returned fast (very fast, if you ask me) to our car. An unforgettable experience... Since then we've been reading lots of reports about meeting bears and well, there are not many people who met cubs so close and survived.
And when I saw this afghan pattern, I just couldn't believe my eyes: the scene is almost like the one we lived, but maybe a moment after? The bear mom and her two kids dancing around, happy that the humans left LOL! The ones we met were much, much smaller than on the afghan design and I can tell you that no soft toy can reproduce how sweet a real small bear looks! :) Even the view of the mountains is like the one where we were sitting, and the fallen trunks... just the eagle wasn't there, but what do I know?
So many reasons why H. really loved his gift... :) and I was delighted! Though I must say, I am happy to be over with it. I didn't find it very pleasant to work on a biiiig piece of heavy, warm fabric, with a multitude of colors (a whole bag of DMC)... Now to move on to other projects!