I am back!

Your favorite Polish stitcher is back... since a few days. I had to extend my stay due to a tough flu, cancelled planes (snow!) and I am now taking it slow at home, visiting doctors, making some awful tests (you don't want to hear about them!) and trying to cope with an acute medical problem. I was born impossible to diagnose and I guess I'll die the same way too ;-)

But enough of sad things. My stay in Norway was just fantastic... I'll post more pictures in the next days so stay tuned! I also have so many lovely things I received to show... and some of my own stitching. I did stitch - a lot!

In January, we made a short 3-days trip to Poland to celebrate my grandma's 100th birthday. Of course, our flight was cancelled (I'm very lucky this way) and we flew one day late but still in time... I'll come back to this, it was so special...


This year, there were tons of snow in Norway starting from middle January. The nature around looked like a fairytale... I so miss nature here in Warsaw. Almost every day, I walked with Happy and during the week-ends, H. came along... drove us to new places... revisited my favorite tracks, they look so different from the summer!

Just a week ago, we drove to Sørkedalen, a valley north of Oslo, also one of the starting points to hiking and skiing tracks, depending on the season, in the Nordmarka, a huge area of woods north of the town. I haven't been to that valley yet so it was a good occasion to discover and close my winter stay...

Happy was going nuts with smells despite the deep, deep snow. We soon learned why...

We played a lot with him. When I am in Norway in the summer, he has to be kept on the leash, which is less funny for him. There is a law forbidding dogs running loose roughly from the beginning of March till before the end of August. This time, Happy had all the reasons to be... happy! One of our games is that either I or H. hides somewhere far, and he has to find that person. On the picture below, he was told to wait but was so impatient to run and find! :)

Here you can see a little black spot running towards me at full speed!

Ah, another smell... what can that be?

Oh, I just love wintery scenery...

That cabin looked so cosy... but there was noone inside that day.



We met many cross-country skiers... What never ceases to amaze me, it's the people (especially young women) skiing with very heavy backpacks and sleeping bags, sometimes with tents... Most often, they'll spend a night or two in the great outdoors... sometimes, they head towards one of the shelters, attended (where spending the night costs just as much as a good hotel room in town, and mind you, Norwegian hotels are not cheap, not cheap at all) or unattended, where you need to pick up the key beforehand. Me, I still suck at cross-country skiing, so these folks are my true heroes.


We soon learned why Happy was so excited. There were many moose groups walking around. Back at the parking, a man told us he just crossed three, and when we drove back, we spotted one of them...

The pictures are lousy, taken from inside the car. The moose was very close to us and we didn't want to leave the car nor to use the flash. What a majestic, beautiful animal. They look so strong, but had you seen
it in the deep snow, when it started jumping and running... effortless, or so it seemed. When he crossed the road just in front of us, it stopped to observe us...The same evening, there were articles in the media telling drivers to be particularly careful... there are lots of moose on the roads. Because of the high snow, the leave the woods to walk where it's easier to walk... we were lucky to cross some :)

I'll leave you with an old traditional sledge...


A last snowed-in house..

And the ornament I made for Caleb, Cheryl 's newborn...

I knew I have to stitch that chart the moment I saw it. I find the words to be so touching, so sweet. Sharon, the designer, told me she was inspired by Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing.
The chart can be found HERE. I stitched it with overdyes on a piece of R&R linen, the words 1 over one. It almost killed me but the result was well worth it!
I am so glad you like it, Cheryl, and many thank yous again to Sharon for that chart... I really have a soft spot for it.

Baking in all ways

I finished the recent LHN design into a hanging pillow - Mylene will recognize the garland cording! :) Oh how it glitters in the evening, how it makes the room feel homey...


In my aunt's old kitchen, I guided two teenagers (one of my cousin's kids) through the meanders of preparing the icing, cutting forms, baking, decorated.... we were very busy for many days! The young lady looked so funny in this apron... I still remember using the same... some twenty years ago!


We created zillions of gingerbread cookies, in all shapes and forms, at all skill and experiences levels...




Those are my very favorite...


Don't they look like small daisies?

After a week, the whole living-room was filled with gingerbread cookies...

Everywhere you looked...


And I'm not even showing the two huge cardboard boxes I brought along to share with friends, to bring to my hometown to my father's, and to Norway... There, I packed my favorite shapes and colors... hush!

Gotta love that serious look on a teenager's face!

Oh Christmas tree...

It's still warm in Poland (3 deg. Celsius/37 Fahrenheit) and I needed to get into festive mood, so I got myself a tiny mini Christmas tree and decorated it with straw ornaments, very traditional of my country. I will transport it from the kitchen counter to the room after it's sparkling clean and I am packed for traveling again. I just put a few gifties down the tree, I need to pack the rest.
Now I am in Christmas mood. I had a good laugh when the other seller who arrived wanted to sell me the same tree for the double price, but well, he admitted later that they tell the price after looking at the buyer's face, adding that the first seller must have liked my smile. I made it broader :)

Thank you friends for your sweet comments, they made me smile today :)
It's still warm here for this time of the year and I don't really feel the atmosphere of Christmas. I've been to the post office and it was decorated inside, though. But, there are still no Christmas trees sellers down my building, invading the dog-walky-space but making it possible to walk dogs almost all night - they are usually selling to whoever comes at whatever hour. Not many days till Christmas, and they're still not here. Just like last year, they arrived late. I think they simply don't want the trees to die quick in this weather, it's still not below freezing temperature.
Yesterday, I made several of these trees, each different, and each of a different person. Easy gift with an amazing effect, if you ask me. If you still want to surprise someone, try them! I've sewn four in one evening - in hand, if you have a sewing machine, making them must be a breeze. Plus, they're sooooo easy to do. The end result depends on the fabric you choose - me, I chose to do the base in a different fabric than the main one. I've seen them plain, with buttons, beads, with garlands, the possibilities are endless.

Here are mine:


Have a look at the gallery HERE if you need inspiration. The pattern and the tutorial can be found HERE.
If you don't know that blog yet, browsing it is a must. I LOVE the ideas. The blog has a new address (given in the most recent blog entry) but make sure you see the old one too!

Good to be home

Hi everyone! I am back home for just a few days before I travel again for Christmas. I took advantage of my cousin driving to Warsaw today, which made it easy to transport humongous amounts of gingerbread cookies (photos later), pierogis of various types and other homemade goodies.
Ah, I've had a lovely time. The best family time one can have. I won't mention I'm brewing after a tough phone quarrel with my father, that's another story. I'll stitch to cool down ;-)
I so enjoyed spending time with everyone... going to the movies (to celebrate St. Nicolas on Dec. 6) with my cousin's teenager kids, baking cookies with them, laughing and chatting with my aunt... My cousins always say I should visit more often, because it's so "funny" then :). She has a wonderful sense of humor anyway, but she might laugh a little bit more when I come to visit :).
These are special days with grandma. Who knows how long she'll last.
Thank you for your comments and wishes for her... I am very touched for her :). Her birthday is not until January 23 but we are preparing the day already, about 40 persons will attend (well, less would be easier but so many people want to come on that special occasion).
When you think she was born well before the FIRST World War... Her life wasn't easy, she lost her mother very early, was then brought up by nuns, had to flee her home with grand-father and two young kids in 1943, I think, when the village was being burnt to the ground (and that part is not Poland anymore). She was a teacher, as her husband was, and after the war they ran an orphanage full of post-war children, most of them with a terrible history behind. Many of her pupils kept in touch with her until recent years.
She looks very good for almost 100. Her head is amazing too. Since I last saw her in September, however, there has been a big change for the worst, she walks with a stick as usual, but needs someone holding her other hand as she walks to feel more secure. But she still walks and eats and talks normally, and I know it's amazing. I know each of you could name several much younger persons in a much poorer condition, so I guess she's lucky - or has good genes. Actually, my aunt (picture below), who is my best friend and a real mother to me, looks very young at 72 as well.
Grandma has waves of weird questions and moments where she loses it a bit, but is back to normal short afterwards. It is however not easy, not easy at all to take care of an elderly person, as you all know perfectly, but I feel for saying so, thinking of my aunt who is literally glued to home - and I so wish she could have a life. So when I'm there, I ask her to visit friends, and I stayed a lot with grandma this week-end. Both my cousins do the same regularly so she can leave home a bit :).
This morning, I left:

- my aunt,

here with the youngest female cut, a real witch, if you ask me, very playful, I am told, but all I see and experience regularly is her claws thrown in random directions - actually in a rather dangerous way. If you ask me, that is.


She and my very own Toska (below) HATE heach other, with each and every hair and claw. Below, you can see Toska hunting her from her viewpoint. Viewpoints are very important in a cat's life when the enemy is in town, uh, at home. That evening, I and my aunt were very scratched when trying to divide both ladies. My forearms still look very special :)

Toska will stay with my aunt till February. Me, I wish her (my aunt) a lot of luck ;-)

- this morning, I also left the only male cat in the household, named after my own cat. The most amazing cat I ever heard of. Females can fight, doggie can bark, he won't move a hair. Or his tail. He'll just walk out, to have PEACE. I've never heard of such a patient cat. If I could, I'd steal him. But I won't - he's used to his own extensive harem and the great outdoors. The macho type. He wants food, hugs - and PEACE.


- and then there's the older female, a very sweet and gentle cat - highly respected by the other ones. Amazingly to me, Toska doesn't even hiss at her and leaves the room. I've come to think that she feels and respect her age, because two years ago, they were enemies. Can it be so? Do cat (devils like mine) respect older ones?


- Happy was of course... happy:

- my cousin is building a new house. Which makes it difficult to find a way out, sometimes.


- just a part of the big family garden, with a few of the many beds of roses. Flowers are a big specialty of one of my cousins.

Ah, but don't think I haven't stitched. I made this:

Homespun Elegance - 2008 ornament

ABC Noel House

If I may say so, I loved how it turned out! In the corner, I made a small bow with a tiny button:


I also stitched

Goode Huswife
The Goode Huswife's Book of Designs Vol 2
"Santa Claws"
stitched on Lakeside Linens, 36 ct.
with my choice of silks and overdyes

I made a funky tie-up :

and here's the fabric on the back:


And the recent LHN Baking - already sewn as a small easy pillow, but I need to add some embelishments.

I hope you all enjoy this pre-Christmas week!