Oh the joys of making friends through blogging... I "met" Julie through Ela, and see how these two fantastically talended ladies spoiled me rotten!! They know I admire their work and they know I love stuffed animals... it's a shame they are too busy to show their work on their blog!

Not only Ela made the most beautiful mouse for me.... isn't it the loveliest mouse you've seen? I simply can't stop looking at her!

But this biiig mouse was joined by a small cat (just so she doesn't feel threatened) made by Julie:

I love to make stuffed creatures once in a while and I know how much detailed work goes into them... thank you so much!!

Did you think this was all? Nah! The mouse and the cat were joined by this lovely representative of another kind:

Ela likes quilting, something I haven't yet tried my hands on.. for the time being, I can admire her detailed work! She also included this hand-made bag (scrapbooking is yet another one of her talents) with a beautiful skein of thread:

And that still wasn't all...she remembered I like working with felt and there was also a kit ready to make a little gingerbread man - I am still hoping to find time this week!

Ela and Julie, Julie and Ela, thank you so very much again... you know how much I am glad to have you as friends! Now that I've gathered enough points for a free plane ticket to Lyon, there is no excuse not to meet sometime next year ! :) Or here in Poland - Julie, I hope I can show you a bit of my new town :)

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.... :)