Prairie Schooler exchange (2)

 from Prairie Schooler's book #165 - Sweeping cobwebs

My partner received her exchange so I can finally show it.
I sewed the stitched piece to a tiny orange bag made of Nepal wool, I thought the color suited well the theme of the exchange. On the sides, I stitched free-hand some cob webs and two spiders, the best I could - H. said they did look like spiders so I dared send the exchange LOL!
I added more cobweb on the front handle plus a big spider charm.

I swear the bottom line didn't look that crooked in real! I wanted the result a bit irregular but no matter how I took pictures, they showed it just awfully wrong.

Prairie Schooler Halloween Exchange

I received my PS Halloween exchange this week, it is so cute! Mary Louise chose to finish it as a coaster and it is a delight to watch. I might exhibit it or I might just use it so I can see it daily :)

I am back in Warsaw since a few days and very busy packing everything possible into boxes. Dear H. arrives on Wednesday and the next day we're going to drive it all to my aunt in Poznan. Moving out is exhausting! I'm working several hours per day and I see little progress but I still have 3 days and I think I'll be ready in time... not sure if I'll still have a backbone by then! :)

All is fine, just very, very busy with all sorts of things that need to be done after being away so long and before renovating the flat. I made arrangements with the person who will do all the works and I am just delighted he agreed to take care of all that.

But, I miss Norway, I miss H. and I miss Szpulka and Lucky terribly. Money allowing, I'm hoping to fly to Oslo to see them just for a couple of days by the end of November. Till then, it is going to be a lot of work, a lot of traveling.... seeing my family in just a few days is a soothing perspective though!

More later. Off to attack a big furniture with clothes and I need to arm myself with enough strong will to actually throw/give away all those old clothes "which I surely will wear one day because they're soooo nice" but which I haven't put on for... 15 years. Ah, moving out, decisions, decisions...

It's less cold this week-end, how nice! This week, I've beaten my life record: it was -28 (around 1 Fahrenheit?), totally crazy! The main topic in the Norwegian media was the COLD and when the Norwegians start to talk about cold, then it *is* cold. From what I am being told, it is not unusual to have -15 to -20 in the Oslo region for, say, a week during winter, but now it's been several weeks of much lower temperatures.
Hah! I'm brave. I wanted to experience how it feels being out at such temperatures and I had a 20 minutes walk with Happy at -24 Celsius. I can tell you it felt... special. He was fine as he had his coat on and even little shoes which he got used to quite fast. Beyond -20 he can't walk without them, it seems, he lifts his paws and is so suffering that it makes no sense to have him out other than a few seconds. And that's what we have been doing - we have a long line (20 meters?) that he runs on in the garden. We just open the door, he does his business VERY FAST and runs back home. And this many times during the day. Otherwise when it's warmer (-15 to -20) we have normal half an hour walks.
During the walk I started to write about, I experienced funny things for the first time in my life. That when you breathe (I had a warm cashmere scarf around my mouth), air freezes instantly at such low temperatures and 1) it freezes your eyelashes and glues them because of the vapor that covers them AND 2) that you get ICE in your nose.... Not funny! :)
Only later in the newspaper I read tips from the army winter-school in Elverum (where Americans and Brits are sent to just before they're deployed to Afghanistan, to prepare them for the cold and mountains) and other articles where they recommend to wipe your face from ice with your hand, skin to skin, once in a while, otherwise you can get frostbites (if you have your face covered with something). Lots of interesting tricks and tips. I didn't know either that wool is better than cotton as the inner layer against your skin (cotton is fine as long as it is dry).
Tell me, how did I land with a Norwegian better half? Me, who spent 11 years of my tender life in North Africa? Life is weird. From sun, sea and beaches to snow, cold and wild nature. But, the funny thing is, I love it.
My father would have screamed if I told him we sleep in an unheated room - I and H. both love it that way! The house has to be warm, sure thing, but we need to have it fresh in the room to sleep good, otherwise I wake up tired and sloggy. Of course, we sleep under goose feather sets, but no heating in the room :) I'd have opened the window a little bit but a) H. has his limits LOL! and b) they are frozen, the windows, with ice. So there.

Last week was so busy with work that I decided to spend this week-end doing nothing. N-o-t-h-i-n-g except for some cleaning, cooking, blogging and stitching, in good order.

Here is the ornament I sent to Ellen S. in the recent HOE Christmas ornament exchange. I love how it turned out and I just need to stitch it again one day for myself.

Homespun Elegance
"Festive Redbird"

I sent the ornament below to Hazel for the Prairie Schooler exchange.
Oh, that one took a good two weeks to stitch since I insisted on stitching it over one. It is done with DMC and overdyes of my choice. So glad that Hazel liked it!

Prairie Schooler
adapted from book #95 - Christmas Traditions

Some of you would like to see the cat-boys and I'll happily oblige! The photos below are of bad quality because I took them during the night.

They are always together. Always.

I mean, aren't the two brothers beyond cute?


Yep, they got a scratching post this week. When we drove to Sweden to do food-shopping (a tradition for Norwegians because across the border, everything is dirt cheap comparing to here!), we found this one for 1/3 of the Norwegian price. We're still thinking of buying a huge one one day, but on the other hand, won't they have more than enough climbing and playing opportunities in the garden once spring arrives?

So far, they love it... (well, excuse the pile in the background, H. is busy sorting old stuff)
I'll leave you with this picture of the enchanted winter world taken in the garden...


Have a cozy Sunday!

(I kindly ask you not to zoom on this one - who looks good after a 3 hours ride?? LOL)

We're back from our vacation in the (cold) wilderness since so many days, but days have been busy and maybe also I didn't have the inspiration to write. And since I fully subscribe to the idea of blogging without obligation... :)
I'll post photos and write more about the vacation in the following days after I have delivered a job for tomorrow, tonight I shall spend the evening typing away...


However, I just couldn't resist showing this last finish. I made three major changes: 1) I replaced the year with Jul (Merry Christmas in Norwegian), 2) I extended the red bar to the right in the window with the pine tree - a part was missing on the chart, I am not sure if it had a meaning I didn't understand or if it is an actual error but trust me, it looked weird the way it was. I mean the bars under the two red bells - see photo up.


and 3) I didn't use the brown linen included in the kit. I used 32 ct Belfast Planinum Pizzaz from Zweigart - see the blueish opalescent elements! It is just marvelous and I plan to use the half yard I got for many future works, especially ornaments. Just love it!! It played so well with the Crescent Colors floss from the kit. I wasn't so fond of the previous yearly kits - but now I see I might stitch them again on something else than the brown linen included in the kit - anything looks better than its sad color!!


This was such a fun stitch, like with all PS charts!! I especially love this finish... plan to turn it into a bigger pillow one day, but not very soon - Christmas gifts making has to happen first.
Till later....

Oh, I was about to forget - if you have nothing, I mean really nothing better to do after reading me, check THIS LINK to see our furry friends in real life. There are 4 more short movies uploaded (More from...). The quality is not so good because I filmed with the new iphone and the light was not easy. Some were made in the cabin and some in the old room the kiddos are using here downstairs. Enjoy!

Isn't he beauuuuutiful? :) How could anyone, really...

Sunday news...

See the lovely Prairie Schooler Santa Valerie sent me for HOE's Christmas in July exchange! I love this chart and I have stitched it for myself, but seriously, I could have a whole tree of them so I was delighted to see it when I opened the package :) And it's finished super nicely with tiny green beads all around - such a joy to look at!


But that wasn't all! Valerie stitched a little floss tag - how adorable!!! I am unsure which chart/designer it is taken from, but it's so very cute!! I love the colors and everything about it. Oh, now I see I forgot to take pictures of the back of both pieces, I'll update later. The two skeins in Christmas colors came with the tag :)

Valerie also sent two charts including one from my wishslist, a piece of fabric in xmas colors which I actually plan to use to finish an ornament I just finished and a big pack of American 100% natural, old fashioned hard lemon drops - so good! I had the pack open while we watched a movie with H. last night and I knew he's doesn't care much about lemon taste like I do, but since it seemed to be the only polite thing to do, I offered him one to try - and minutes later, he said "hmmm, they are actually crazy good!, did you get them today?" So I told him where and who I got them from :)

I haven't written much about stitching lately - but I did stitch quite a lot, just that I can't show the result as of yet. One is a piece for Nath's birthday - which I am delighted about, it turned very beautiful, one is the ornament for HOE's christmas in July exchange, and one is for the year-long birthday exchange Edgar organizes. The last one is not urgent, but I got the perfect chart and felt inspired to stitch it in advance :)
Now, if there is one I can call my summer 2009 project, it is the one below. You know how it is with some charts. You see them, you know you have to have them, it's an immediate story of love between you and the picture you see. And so it was with The Victoria's Sampler cyberclass for the chart "Tea Party Sampler". But it was a lot of money and the timing never was right. Then in May I read that they were taking it off the cyberclasses and only one more would be organized, so I splurged the money and even managed to have my friend Ela get the kit. Now, since last week it is available in normal sale, you can see it HERE. They're now showing it also as a framed piece, but the original idea was the one that I fell in love with, it's the teapot finishing. I drink a lot of different teas and collect china tea cups and sets, so I just love it.
Here's what I stitched till now - 2 installments out of 4, I'm working on the 3rd.
If I managed to make you love it and you plan to stitch it, beware - it is tedious work. Not much cross-stitch at all - it's composed of many, many specialty stitches which you need to either learn, or you know them from before. Most techniques I haven't heard of or tried before, so it goes slow and I will be most glad when it's done and finished and I can start another bigger project (not ornaments, I mean, which I stitch in the meantime). BUT, because there is a BUT, the result is absolutely so beautiful, that I can only encourage anyone with a bit of patience and time to stitch it. This will certainly be the most ambitious and most gorgeous piece I'd have done :)

It is raining almost continuously these days but when it rains not, I bike with Happy and sometimes H comes too :)
Here are some photos from yesterday. I biked from Siggerud to home, passing the post office on the way back to pick my exchange from Valerie.
The great thing here (it is valid for most of the most populated regions in Norway, I think), that villages and towns are interconnected with bike paths, which become country skiing paths during winter, provided there is enough snow. Now that I've built enough courage and muscles to try longer trips (I mean, really not long, but longer that directly in the nature around the village here), I'll be trying more ambitious and longer paths :) Since it is difficult to bike a round trip, I often ask H. to drive me somewhere and I bike home or the opposite, he picks me up from somewhere on his way back and he is a real love to want to do that, because most of the time, he adapts his driving directions and time so he can do that. He so likes when I do my "expeditions" in the nature that he'd do almost anything to help, I think :) Unfortunately, he has a hip problem and he can't come with us every time - plus, of course, I can be out during the working day, because I can adapt more or less when I work, while he works regular office hours ;-)
Yesterday, I was surprised to see how well the biking track is prepared between the two villages - making it so easy to bike. It goes in the woods but it very well maintained and quite wide also.



At home here, we're gradually adding more thuya trees on along
the border to H's uncle, and that meant we needed to get more good soil. And since we plan to add more fruit bushes etc., this would mean buying too many expensive packs of soil, so H. opted for ordering a whole truck of it, which was delivered by the farmer last week. Then H. borrowed a funny machine from a friend, to move soil - it doesn't "dig", but it lifts it from the ground and puts it in the container, then dumps it where you want once it's completely full. It's proved very useful here - the house is on a small hill (a huge rock) and H suffers a lot with his hip when walking up and down and around the garden, especially when he has to carry or push loads, so he smiled a lot :)

Happy, of course, was mostly interested in the perfume he could smell all around - the cow sh-t contained in the soil! LOL

Here you can see the small thuya trees H. put in and some dead ones he digged out. On the upper part the thuyas are very high now, then there are medium ones planted a year after, and then smaller ones... and then the number 4 thuyas as I call them, the youngest ones from last week.
You can also see the sweet cherry tree we planted two years ago. The first summer we got SIX cherries, then a little bit more, then quite some more now :) It's my favorite fruit so I can't wait till it grows and delivers a lot more. And we'll plant more :)

My Prairie Schooler exchange and another birthday package

Prairie Schooler taken from PS book 49 - Garden Verses

Here's the pillow I sent to Cindy for the PS exchange, all the way to Singapore - and can you believe it only took 4 days or so? Oh, I was delighted to hear that Cindy liked it... I have to tell you I had to fight with myself, a small voice was telling me to keep it but I was stronger than that! :) It is taken from the Garden Verses samplers BUT I changed colors to my choice of overdyes and it became quite colorful in the process. Loved it! I glued a very tiny red band around the pillow to complement it.
But, but, you just have to visit the PS blog and see the purse Cindy made for her partner in this exchange, I am still drooling over it days and days after I saw it for the first time! Ah, I don't have much sewing talents. Would love to be able make such lovely pouches!!
Gabi, if you read it, the fabric I chose is definitely under your influence :) Upon receiving the exchange biscornu from you earlier this spring, I decided to implement more darker linen in my projects... :) Not sure why, but I loved using light colored, natural fabrics... all sorts of light Lakeside Linens... trying to change my choices now and each time I do, I think of you :)
Here's the back, bad picture, I know:

Did you know there is a Just Nan lovers blog and one other for fans of La-D-Da? I just discovered and joined both... Passing the info further!!

Now, now, see the wonderful pillow and all the super lovely goodies I received from Carla in Peru from the Stitching Bloggers Birthday Club... It only arrived a few days late and it made me smile, smile, smile!!

First, the pillow... absolutely awesome finishing, the result is soooo very sweet and cheerful, with assorted beads all around! It is a pattern I didn't have but so wanted to, and here I get it already finished into such a lovely decorative item! I love it, Carla!
I'll refer you to Carla's blog to see more pictures.

And then, the goodies... Fantastic linen from Enchanted Fabrics, a company I didn't know, two other pieces of very lovely fabrics, lots and lots of variegated DMC floss, and a chart from my wishlist. Just wonderful!!

More later.... still more to show!!

So much to show, I will have to spread this onto several posts :)
I've settled down here in Norway for the summer... It's been busy days...
The trip went super fine... only the check-in people tried to convince me I didn't pay for two pieces of luggage, the procedure for checking-in the pets is awful comparing to the terminal I used before, the flight was heavy with turbulence...actually this must have been the second time I was really scared in a plane, and I've been flying regularly since I was 4 years old... Toska was fine, but Happy was very nervous when I got them in Oslo... then the customs officer tried to tell me their papers are not correct, but I knew better... I was glad to arrive home in the evening:)
The transition from downtown Warsaw to the nature here is always a special moment of delight... I can't have enough of being in the garden, of walking in the woods, around the surrounding small lakes, smelling summer... Yup, I am happy.
Thank you to *everyone* who took time on Friday to send me their birthday wishes here and by email... You made my day very, very special!!!
It all started with H. bringing me a rose... one rose... this is what I asked him to do - we went to the gardening center in the afternoon and I opted for garden flowers and herbs instead :) With the price of everything in Norway, you gotta make choices. I was busy planting and transplanting all week-end :)
In the evening, H. took me out for dinner at our favorite place by the lake... just a 5 minutes drive from home...

... and not much can beat the view from the table..

... I'll just show a picture of the dessert....


The restaurant as seen from the lakefront...

...the so lovely garden around... we always have a walk in there after eating...

This is actually a lake with drinkable water so it's protected, you can't bathe in it.

Talking about birthdays.... here's what I sent Harmien for her special day recently... I think I'll refer you to the pictures she took - not only on mine, the kitty still has glue in her eyes, but Harmien took hilarious photos of her Kisse making friends with kitty! :)



I had two packages waiting for me when I arrived here... One is the Prairie Schooler exchange - a lovely tin box sent by Lynda A., who told me it's stitched on a piece of Silkweaver Solo with DMC and Anchor threads. I love boxes of all kinds and this is such a cheerful addition. Thank you, Lynda!

And last but not least, oh no no no, was a surprise birthday package from Mylene... that I love so much!! Mylene picked items really to my tastes, a lot of nice pink :) That included lovely beads, overdyes, a hand-made floss tag, a lovely card, two chocolates... who disappeared faster than I had the chance to photograph them... and a wonderful chart from my wishlist!!

A close-up... see the lovely floss tag:

Thank you again, Mylene, for surprising me on my day!! :)

That was a long post... but please come back later, I have more to show - some exchange pieces which already got to my partners... and another fabulous birthday package from Ela... You'll see why I'm smiling from ear to ear today.... :)