Cat lovers, help!

To all you cat (and generally pet) lovers, please send me some moral support. I am mentally exhausted and my head is a mess. I know it'll be better after a good (????) night's sleep, but at this very moment, I feel a big whirlwind in my head.
It's late and I am very tired, so I'll make the story short.
We drove north of Oslo to something somewhere [...]. We decided to return using a longer road east to the border with Sweden and back home, so I could see the nature there. Then we decided to cross the border to see what it looks like in Sweden in this very part where we where (total boonies). Beautiful nature. Small villages (actually a fragment of the size of what one would call a village), we had waffles with coffee, just wonderful. Just houses and farms deep in the forests and fields. We were about to cross the border from Sweden back to Norway and we stop because I wanted to make a picture of the double border sign (see below). Mistake, big mistake. When we stopped, we went out of the car to see the weird structures you can see on the photos. It's an association who makes a point to mark the way (a group of? - need to read more about it) Norwegians escaped from Oslo through the wild woods all the way into Sweden. And then it happened.
Two little cats went out of the woods, so very friendly to us, making small sounds, climbing out jeans, rolling in the grass, playing. Weird place, me things. {..shortcut..}
H. starts the car and I start talking about rescuing them. {..shortcut..}
H. argues we can't do that, they must belong to someone, what would I say if etc. etc. {..shortcut..}
We try to find ANY house around. No house. Just woods.
We return. Cats still there.
We drive again home. H. pi----d off, me almost hysterical. I make him stop at the only cabin near the lake we can see. We climb over the chain barring the road, down to the cabin. No people and to me it is sure they haven't been there this summer {..shortcut..}
So the cats aren't from there. Most probably, someone dumped the cats there so they either survive or someone finds them. I really don't know what was in the heads of these people. I don't want to find out. And I don't want to meet them.
We drive back again to the cats.
Some Polish (funny!) bikers had stopped there and said some Swedish car had stopped also a moment before, so weird it looked, these small tiny cats in the wilderness.
It starts raining *heavily*. Before we make the few steps between the car and the cats, we are soaked. The kittens are half-hidden in a bush, scared, crying.... My heart cries out loud too, we grab the kittens,place them on my knees and drive.
Now, the next 2 hours home were a nightmare. Not because of the cats. They slept, purred, climbed on me, licked me, they are the most wonderful little creatures I've ever seen. And obviously very dependent on each other.
But H. is super angry. He won't keep the cats. And I will return to Poland in September with my cat and my dog. He doesn't want the responsability. He has noone to take care of them when he travels for work. On both sides of the house, his uncle and mother hate cats. He works long hours. Etc. etc.
And then the major argument, he doesn't want a zoo at home. Three cats and a dog is a little much.
He is very angry at me because I try to convince him to keep them and find all the answers about how possible that is {..shortcut..}
We're home since 2 hours. No problem between the kittens and Happy the dog. They raise all hair but nothing happens. They even ate from the same bowl. No problem, I think.
Now, Toska. My devil cat Toska, who absolutely hates all other cats. Doesn't tolerate them. Chases them. Scares the ---- out of them. Makes a hell on Earth to them. Well, amazing, amazing surprise. She smelled one and backed off. She keeps a distance. Is unhappy, it seems, but no agressivity on her side. Well, I had checked they are both males, that's why I allowed myself to take them at all. Not sure how it would be, but it is not a real problem this evening.
Well, it's H. or the cats. That's the way it is now. He wants to find them a *good* home, I don't want that. Also, they need to stay together.
Please send some good vibes tonight. Till tomorrow for a new report.
But, aren't they crazy cute????
Also, anyone experienced with cats, how old can they be? My aunt said 2-3 months. What do YOU say?

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 :)

Wrong is who thinks I'm on vacation here :). Each time I'm coming to Norway, people wish me a good vacation - but vacation it is not! As a free-lancer, I can travel all work wherever I want, provided there is a reliable and fast Internet connection and that my laptop survives its trip to the destination. Work has been (very) slow this year, but it changed a lot in June and I find myself typing away all days and some nights... I won't complain, mind you, money pays bills and money pays stash :) and I have perfect working conditions here - through the window in my working room, I see trees, squirrels, all types of birds which provide a lot of entertainment, neighbor cat fights, neighbor cats visiting and playing... I just adore my summer here. H. has installed air conditioning in the lower part of the house, so even on the hotest days, I can work all I want without sweating... Once a day, I do a bike trip with Happy tied to his springer-thingy (is it known in other countries? how popular is it in the US? it is actually produced just a few kilometers from here) through the woods, around lakes... or I walk with him in the nature... and frequent walks in the garden make great pauses when I work... The first part of the month, it rained A LOT. Now, since ten days or so, temperatures are in the 27-30 degrees Celsius range, so it's been HOT and not really good weather to be out long, it feels like opening an oven each time I peek out. So H. and I often bike late in the evening, even around 11 pm - remember it is more north here than the rest of Europe and days are very long, nights very short...
And I've been awfully sick again for some days, and then had to work, work, work fast! to be able to deliver jobs in due time.
All that to say I am really sorry I sort of disappeared from the blogging world - and I am especially sorry that I am posting pictures of exchanges (today) and more birthday gifts (soon) this late. Diana and Leah, I hope you'll forgive me - you've sent me awesome exchanges! :)

Here they are, I hope anyone who sees them turns green with envy ;-)

First, the HOE Just Nan exchange I received from Diana. Oh, see that purse/little bag!! I love, love, love it!


A close-up on the handsome little guy... isn't he just PERFECT?

The bottom... ah, Diana is so skilled in sewing!


The lovely extras, including a Just Nan pattern from my wishlist!


But that's not all... let your eyes feast on the next gem, the Blackbird designs exchange from Leah...

Leah wrote it is a design called Flock of Birds from the My Heart is True booklet... one I don't have yet, so I totally didn't know it contained this sampler chart with birds! And I so love those... Leah couldn't have chosen better... and everything is just wonderful about this pillow, the colors, the fabrics, the work.... I couldn't believe how lucky I was when I opened the package! Thank you so much again, Leah!!

However, what is not perfect, is my pictures... Can you see that fly on both of them? I didn't see it when taking the photos... looks like Norwegian flies need a lesson in politeness! :)

Hah, I know you like this pillow...!

I'll leave you today with a fresh bunch of peonies I picked this morning in the garden... They are my very favorite flower and H. couldn't have made me more happy yesterday when he let me choose two more species at the gardening center. We're getting a truck of good soil tomorrow so I'm only waiting for it to plant them :). Norway is very rocky and so is the garden here. The house itself is built a little higher than the level of the road, on a huge rock and wherever a plant (or even grass) needs good soil, H. has to provide it, otherwise the ground is just a layer of clay on rocks.

Aren't they beautiful? If it only depended on me, I'd plant different varieties of peonies absolutely everywhere! :)

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.... :)