First we take.... Oslo!

..after Leonard Cohen's concert in Oslo... we're just back after a **fabulous** evening.... Just unforgettable!!

(clickable)

HOE freebie exchange

Now that Karen K. in Australia received it, I can show what I stitched for her :)
It is a Sheepish Designs freebie, stitched on Antique Parchment linen from R&R, with my choice of GAST/WDW threads. For the finishing, I used silk blue marine ribbon, fabric from The FatQuarterShop and a hemp cord in rust color. I did some free-hand "embroidery" on the sides and to tack the ribbon to them. Oh, that was an ambitious project... even if it doesn't look so, it took me an awfull lot of time to do the finishing... As I always say, I am no fast finisher! Especially since I was trying to fulfill an idea of my own... I loved the result, which was a big pillow to hang and I am relieved to hear that Karen liked it too :) I was thinking that she might like to hang it at an entrance or her shop.... :)

Norwegian bunad (national costumes)

I've always had a strong interest in Norwegian bunads - in their different styles, origins, in the accompanying jewellery and it was a real treat some weeks ago to visit Norways' biggest travelling exhibition of private bunads. So many were exhibited... I spent a long time analyzing details and trying to remember various details :). Bunads are worn not only on May 17th, Norway's National Day, but also on all important occasions. In a way, I found it practical - you feel you've got nothing to wear for that cousin's wedding? You wear your bunad! At the beggining, I had to get accustomed to this habit - why would anyone want to wear a national costume for a family event? :) Norwegians have a very strong perception of their national identity and that's something I learned to love. Bunads represent the various regions, and you usually choose your own according to where your or your husband family comes from. In some families, teenagers get their first bunad at confirmation, sometimes one coming from their grand-parents, often in pieces that can be adjusted to size.

Oh see the details....

The two children costumes below represent Karasjok, a town in the extreme north of Norway, in Finnmark (Finnmark is a county in the extreme northeast of Norway. By land it borders Troms county to the west, Finland (Lapland) to the south and Russia (Murmansk Oblast) to the east, and by water, the Norwegian Sea (Atlantic Ocean) to the northwest, and the Barents Sea (Arctic Ocean) to the north and northeast - for more information and a map, click HERE).

These were a bit funny, they reminded me of our own Polish Zakopane style (prawda, Elu?)

That one was a bit out the ordinary (skirt)...

I love it...
But there were many, many more bunads...

Some from the world-famous Hardanger area... see the embroidery on the lowest two red bunads...

From some northern counties in Noway... (Troms etc.)

That would be one for Follo, the district we are in... (one of the three in Akershus county)...

Here's one from the Svalbard Islands...

Two from the Gudbrandsdal valley (I took that shot thinking of you, Tracy!) - one in the background. Some other regions...

See that beautiful handwork...
These were from Oslo...
More beauties...More bunads....

HERE is a short wiki article on this topic and I invite you to see more pictures I uploaded to a webshots album. I hope you enjoy looking at them!

It's all about pets.

Before I continue on this topic, I'll return to the Stokke chair (see post below). Oh, that one is killing me! Well, I always wanted one and they are close to impossible to find in my country. I mean the type - at one moment Ikea was selling similar ones but Stokke itself does not have a representative. Just as well, because I never realized that the advanced models cost several thousands dollars! Mine is supposed to be very good for the back and indeed, it forces the person to sit in a good position BUT as of now, I feel like I had blue marks all over on the upper part of the leg betwen the ankle and the knee. I've googled a lot and it seems some people can get knee problems from using these chairs while others swear by them and continuously buy the same type. Oh well, we'll see. I'll give it a chance a few weeks more but actually I think I must be too heavy and hence the pain there, because it's not the knees that hurt. I was thinking of bringing it with me back to Warsaw.

It's been raining and very cold (11 to 18 degrees Celsius) most of the days since three weeks and there's little improvement in sight. Aaah. While Poland is begging for rain after over a month of canicule, Norway makes my walks in the nature difficult. Still hoping for the next two months!! We'll be painting the house with H.'s friends next week-end - or rather we were supposed to, because now the weather forecast shows rain again... Sigh. That's sad news because H's friends only have time next w/e... H. has a fear of height and I won't venture either on a very high ladder! :)

But now I wanted to show you the actual reason of several weeks of blogging absence since the end of April. Each spring since two years, Toska the cat "feels the spring", smells the air and starts living a life "up". Indeed, in March, she starts finding ways to jump up close to the ceiling, on top of high furniture. One of her favorite starting points is to jump on the upper border of an open window (notice the protective nets I had installed...):

Once there, she either has a nap - don't ask me *how* she can find it comfortable! LOL - or - she jumps on the closest furniture... I was able to catch the last moment of a jump here:

Now, she either has a nap hidden in a dark place where no dog and no human can disturb her lazy cat a--.... or she continues exploring weird places...

Don't look at the mess on the shelves, I was sorting stuff...

It's a perfect spot to show her own human what ignoring means...


This could all be funny BUT... at one moment she has to jump down and more often than not, she chooses to use the landing runway that leads via my working table and laptop. I've tried to put different objects on the high furniture above it but she always finds a way to go on top of them, between them, or push them away :). My mornings are stressful in the spring... I try to continue sleeping while having an eye on her to prevent her from jumping up - but she always found a way. Stubborn furry thing! And then on that beautiful sunshiny Thursday in April, she jumped from very high *on* the open lid of my laptop (aka my work and life), I heard a terrible "bang!" while it closed... and farewell said the laptop. The hard drive was damaged. Followed long weeks of recovering data from backups, transferring all on the older desktop... while trying to work normally. Clients don't care about wild pets! :) I didn't enjoy spending money on the repair and new drive, oh no. I can't even blame her. She's spent two summers in a house with a big garden, she wanted fun, she wanted spice, she wanted to hunt, she wanted to smell nature. A small apartement is no fun for an animal who got used to wilderness. Ah. She's perfectly happy now in Norway, spends all the time she wants outdoor having a life of her own. Want proof?

Which countries have YOU been to? :)

Morning fun....

In Europe, I visited...


http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/map.php

I got myself a Stokke multi balans chair and I'm trying to get my legs used to it.... after two days they still ache! Oh please someone tell me it'll get better... One thing is sure, that's not a model for cross-stitching! :)

A nice finding

Someone was getting rid of this almost-new furniture which we fell in love with. H. always wanted to have one like this for wine glasses and such. For what would be about 19 usd, we brought it home and plan to paint it in a nice light mat colour (beause the wood looks a bit "not new" to our tastes) after we paint the living-room downstairs. Which should happen in a couple of weeks... I'm so happy about this one!

My own birthday goodies...

In the light of tons of regular work for next week (the nice sides of free-lancing, where there's Internet and my laptop is, there money is being made...) and starting paint work in one of the rooms, writing inspiration is just low today, but I decided I just need to kick my b--tt and update, update, update... even with no chronological order... or I'll never be afloat again with this blog...
So here we go for the next short update....
Nath' sent me which I invite you to see HERE because her pictures are so much better than mine... I made shots at 3 am, just before leaving for the airport...

Linda H., a dear friend who really *should* have an updated blog, sent me a chart off my list, with a very lovely birthday card:

Mylene sent me one of her beautiful handmade cards... which she is famous for, and the 200th birthday issue of the Cross Stitcher (UK), in which I found at least two projects I have to do... fast! LOL

My dear Polish friend Ela from France surprised me with a recorded voice message which she sent by email! We haven't met in real life... yet! ... so it's been a very sweet surprise! Since then I keep thinking that it is such a neat idea to get to know a "virtual" friend better, over the many
borders and seas that can separate two stitchers :)

A few days later, I received the most gorgeous package which I'll have to show you another day because days are dark now that summer is over... rrrrr! and the shots I made are just awful!

Hakon's mother came with a card for me and a pot of flowers, included the nice pot.... Here in Norway, there is a big tradition of sending or joining cards for different occasions... a lovely custom.

My father sent me some money, for which I bought this hanging Petunia x hybrida . H. bought the hanger later. The white color looks weird at the moment but we're going to repaint the house in a couple of weeks in a very light color, just off white (egg shell, they call it here) and it will be perfect then.