Hello from Norway!

A quick note from Norway... a short 4 days stay to see H. and the cats (oh Szpulka has grown!! she hasn't forgotten me in a month! she is sooo affectionate!- but no time to make photos). I am drowning under work so this will be a real quickie.
On Wednesday, my flight was at 6am... what an idea! I had to get up at 3.30 and when you work and pack till 1 am, you can basically forget being efficient the whole day, I was a zombie. I walked through the new terminal in Warsaw (just a couple years old), it was basically deserted at 4:15 am: 

The old terminal was full of life, though. There was a thick fog over the airport and just as we were about to be redirected to another airport, the pilot landed, with no visibility almost. He informed that the fog conditions were just slightly above their landing minima. I didn't check the weather before leaving, and it had been +19 C in Warsaw last Sunday. I couldn't believe my eyes upon landing: winter has arrived to Norway! Only -4 C but a substantial amount of snow. WINTER. Here's what it looks in front of the house:

Apart from a short trip to the shopping center to buy some Christmas gifties, I kept working *all the time* which isn't funny but sometimes you don't get to choose. I'm flying back tonight, landing in Poznan this time, for another stay at my aunt and Christmas cooking/baking preparations.

Last Saturday I attended a workshop on baking and decorating gingerbread cakes, it was just fabulous!!! The teacher was Slovakian and knew everything about the subject and within a few hours, she taught us so much!

Each of us got a few already baked cakes to decorate with also a little bowl made of gingerbread as well. Sorry I don't have a picture, but decorated in the same style, these bowls are sooo beautiful!

Enjoy your week-end! I'll return with photos of lovely gifts I received from Ela and Julie :) (I thought I had them on my hard drive but it looks like I haven't copied them yet from the card)

 Thanks for liking my free-hand spiders!! Seriously, when I draw anything by hand, you could see anything in it ranging from a lizard to a cow, so I was enormously proud to have produced spider-looking spiders! :)

Dear H. was here for a week and we drove a big part of my belongings to my aunt in Poznan where, with my cousin's huge help, they were safely brought up to the loft, where spiders (real, this time) and dust gathered since 1958 will guard them till time comes to transfer all that to my new flat.

H. flew back to Oslo yesterday. His leg looks just awful, my aunt took care of his wound daily, me, I was about to faint, and I am not so easy at that ;-) Yesterday, at the weekly visit, the surgeon said a skin transplant might not be necessary and all would heal... before summer. Ah, the good joke! As it is, H. is awfully tired with that leg thing but, what can we do.

The plan was to empty the flat more so the man who'll do the works to prepare it for selling could start working, but I am drowning under work and need to concentrate on that. So works might start in January only. Anyway, the goal is to put in on sale on March 1 and I think I'll make it work.

I'm flying to Norway next week for 4 days  to visit little Szpulka and Lucky    to meet my better half at hearing which my father only sighed loudly on the phone. Haven't I just left Norway? Don't I have tickets for end of December? Yup, but Wizzair tickets were cheap and I'm missing the little one too much. While H. was here, his old mother visited both cats two times daily - another person reconverted to cats! LOL

Still no time to open blogs, still no time to post finishes, but I'll try to write from time to time. ***Please excuse me*** for not being better at visiting your blogs lately, I am so sorry for that. I am currently scratching my head HOW on earth I can find time to make and to send some Christmas gifties but I have some done and if I find time to do the finishing... but these won't be big packages this year and I might have to send just cards also....

Talking about cats, there's a new addition at my aunt's. Last week my cousin was walking home with family and they saw a car stop near a park, unload something and drive away at full speed.

That something was this little cutie and - of course - she's staying. She looked awful when they rescued her, had to take antibiotics for a few days but is now a little ball of happiness. We're not sure of the age. Possibly between 2 and 3 months. No name yet :)

I am *so happy* another little cat was saved, she wouldn't have survived the cars on the road or the night. I am sure you think the same of the driver who threw her out. Yes, I know. Slow torture wouldn't be enough.

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...

We've had several beautiful days of lovely sun despite the cold temperatures which some nights dropped to -6,5 C/43,7 F. Winter surely comes early this year! Within a few days the garden froze and the nature changed colors to a burnt orange, but the sun made dog walks so enjoyable. Today, the whole world has changed to an unfriendly atmosphere of strong wind, rain and general grayness. Not nice! Toska refused to go out, Happy did his morning obligations very fast, Lucky (who has short but thick woolly fur) went out for an hour and returned running at my first shouting, totally wet and hungry.
I don't have work since over a week, which is almost a blessing or at least what I really wanted to gather thoughts and stack up on good energy before my return to Poland. The last weeks had been stressing and I was overworked, so I am accepting these few days with a big smile. It's a good time to catch up on lots of small things at home and at my computer.
H's leg is healing but very slowly and it's definitely a difficult case. Nurses continue to come daily to change the specialized thingies on his wound and he drives to see the surgeon once a week now. Still on antibiotics (which we laughingly call anti-idiotics) because of the staphylococcus aureus infection he got at the hospital and a part of the wound has opened wide (eeeeek) but the necrosis seems to heal.
I feel so sorry for him, that it all is due to the blood thinning medicine he is taking after his heart op' and unfortunately such problems arise with a sad regularity even though he's very careful at preventing them. But it is also an eye-opening situation, what do we know that will happen to us later in life? He'd been in perfect health till the age of 50, and his heart condition was not due to high cholesterol, obesity or anything like that. It was suddenly discovered there was a genetic malformation in the heart, his life was saved and the quality of his live is perfect, he's certainly just as/more active than any of his active friends, but very regularly, problem arise with the blood. He goes to have it checked bi-weekly if it's okay or daily when it's not, but sometimes the problem occurs in between the good periods and most often the values jump because of a simple cold or medicine. He has now returned to work and can walk a lot better so I'll be leaving for Poland on Sunday, with Toska and Happy. Not that I look forward to it, because *a lot* of tasks await me till Christmas, but I already got my ticket back to Norway before the New Year, and that eases the heartache a bit! (also that of leaving little Szpulka here).

My blogging was so erratic over the past year that I thought it would be a good idea to catch up on the crafty part and post finishes from that period. To start, here is a box I sent last year to Jill F. for her birthday (exchange). I was so proud of me! I painted the box inside, covered it with matching fabric outside and glued a white cardboard piece to the bottom. I knew that Jill liked purple and peacocks s I chose this pattern and adapted the color. So glad she liked it! It is a bigger size box that can be used to hide all sorts of crafty treasures :)

Pinberry Lane - Mehitable Wright's Redwork Sampler

Among the birthday goodies, I added this hand-made felt hedgehog, because Jill likes them.
I used a pattern I found on the web after searching long for one I liked and I stuck pins in it :)

I'll leave you with this heart-warming video of Szpulka and Lucky. I am sure you will melt down! We sure have a very patient dog :)

Guess what? I am still in Norway. Dear H. had serious complications after his leg operation, his blood got too thin, made an internal bleeding in the wound and he had to be re-operated two weeks after, with a bacterial infection to top it all and also a part of the skin after the second op' died and they're not sure yet how bad it will be :( This time they kept him in 10 days to handle the whole situation very seriously. He is back home today but not in a very good shape, to say the least. He's been in a lot of pain the last weeks, he's very pale and a nurse is coming in daily to change the thingies on the wound. They don't want the wound to be opened at the usual doctor so it doesn't get infected again (more). He's also supposed to be seen by the surgeon every third day at the hospital and they say it will take weeks to heal!
As you see we've been through a lot lately, I stayed to take care of him, none of us thought he would be away so long, so I cat-sitted alone. Had to change my flight in a hurry already once, and now we've decided that I stay 2,5 weeks more. Walking is very painful for him so I clean, cook, handle the furry family, do the shopping, deliver lots of hugs and all that's needed to help at this moment! Poor H. was operated 3 times in 6 weeks, that's a lot!
I was very busy with work as well during that period so I'll come back with crafty news tomorrow. In the meantime, I'll leave you with this sweet shot of Szpulka and Lucky. She's growing soooo fast! :)

Kitty love

My friend Nathalie in France received her two end-of-summer gifties, so I can show them now. First, an Atalie little piece, it was my first time to try my hand on spider roses and I must say they are both very easy to do and very decorative. I played with colors so this is not the original version Atalie designed.

Atalie - Cassandre

stitched with my choice of silk threads

Then, one of my first medium-sized tatted pieces, which I sewed onto a hand-made red little pillow.

Summer came to an end so fast, but I still try to enjoy the nature around here in Norway, already thinking of my return to Warsaw at the end of the month.

One walk we did was just a few minutes from home, close to Stallerud, a local farm, but we used a path I haven't yet been to and Hakon hasn't walked since many, many years. As it turns out, it is very much used by locals, we met peoples walking, biking, jogging, bathing... Funny, because it's a pretty much secluded place out in the forests.

I picked this season's last raspberries - there are plenty of them growing wild on the sides of the streets, old abandoned gardens and lots in the forests around. They are smaller, sometimes much, much smaller than the ones you buy, but quite good nonetheless! :)

The funny part of the walk was to discover this bathing spot floating on water, with a large area with bonfire places, benches... quite lovely!

Happy made sure to explore the shallow waters this time. He is terrified of water usually, never goes in unless he is very very thirsty during a long walk, but even then he is so scared and behaves like water is attacking him at the smallest move. We usually have good fun of it :)

 Nature is preparing for the winter sleep. Norwegian woods are filled with big rocks, something I am not used to at all in Poland.

Dear H. will be at hospital for a couple of days to remove a lump on his ankle. The operation will take place tomorrow at the Radiumhospitalet, the largest cancer center in Northern Europe, as Wikipedia affirms. They chose to do it there because of where and how it is located, but there is no fear of finding cancer cells in it. They have to do a big and deep cutting and take care of nerves and muscles, from what I understood. Otherwise there were lots of preparations to make his blood thicker, he hasn't been taking his blood thinners (which he's taking after his major heart surgery in 2005) and it's been controlled many times the last three days. So the scare, if there is a small scare, is not really the lump on the leg, but more his heart/blood issues but I feel the staff at the hospital has been taking it very serious and all has been prepared well :)

In August, H. was at a normal hospital to operate an aggravated bursitis, but only under local anesthesia. He showed me that picture later:

and I commented - how could you sleep with your leg that high up? To which he replied - I told you I didn't sleep for three nights, didn't I? I can well imagine! LOL

He's been very busy the past days to finish lots of garden works in preparation of the days he won't be able to walk too much.
As for me, I am making plans for the fall and winter, thinking about packing my flat in Warsaw for the big move to Poznan, booking plane tickets in between several cities, summer is over, it is going to be a very busy few months for me.
I will be reducing my stash greatly so I will offer some charts here as well. I think I have enough lovely stitching and tatting projects to keep me occupied for a long time so it's no sense I keep dozens of charts I won't stitch. The only thing I wish I had more of is silks, overdyes and Lakeside linens! I am positively addicted to them! LOL But a big part of my charts collection has to go. What do I do with the old ones noone would buy and which I would hate to trash? What do YOU do with them?

By the way, someone had the good idea of repainting the main building of the Polytechnical School in Warsaw, I live across the street from it. Take a look HERE for a photo - they carefully analyzed samples of the old yellowish paint that was used 34 years ago but it turned out pink! Light pink, okay, but pink! The result is so awful that they stopped halfway and from what I understood, it's being repainted using a different color. I am anxious to see the result when I'm back! LOL

An evening walk...

Through the fields...

and through the woods...

A little giftie I sent to someone I often think about... someone whose life hasn't been the easiest or the funniest, and I meant this as a little talisman for the future :)
It hasn't arrived yet and I hope this person will enjoy the little surprise.

The soft fabric it lays on is the same I used for the backing.

Midsummer Night Designs - Angel in my pocket

stitched on Lakeside Linens (misplaced the color tag), 36 ct.,

with variegated hand-dyed thread

I'm just about to stuff them with whipped cream... :)

We're just back from a delightful Indian dinner at Flavours of India, a new place that just opened this month in the nearest town. Yummy, yummy! Fantastic nan bread and ginger/pistachio ice-cream, among others. I'll be back tomorrow with a longer post, as I am still catching up on emails to lots of people who've been patient enough to wait through my longer absence, but I'm closer to the surface now :)

Here is a pillow I sent to Ela earlier this year. It was my first time sewing ric-rac in between the front and the back pieces and you can't imagine how much time it took me to eventually visualize it how to do it! LOL It is a nice piece of soft green velour rickrack. Ela loves pink and green just like me, so I was happy to adapt this monochromatic piece to use these colours. I sewed decorative half stitches all around.
I almost miss this pillow but I know it is in wonderful hands! :)

M1 - Monorammes série 1

Marjorie Massey (Passé Composé)

Meet our new little cutie :)

Those of you who have me in their Facebook contacts have seen the little princess, but here she is officially!

Remember my last sad message? Life is much more cheerful now :)
A couple of days after I wrote my last post, the house was hard to be in. Everything reminded us on Felinek, but the worst was how Lucky was changing - and changing fast. I think we were heading into having a very depressed cat. He started to avoid me even more, then started to hide under the darkest corner of the largest bed, just so I could not find him and stayed there for hours, till H. came home. His attitude was making us even more sad...

That day I was able to convince H. to drive to Oslo's local shelter to see if we could find a little cat that would be joyful, playful, but at the same time cuddly, social and liking human presence. With one cat that is not exactly easy (Toska) and one shy one (Lucky), this was important. We were actually thinking of a little boy and this one caught our attention:

This was Saga's brother - Solan. But I and H. believe in the theory that when you choose a pet (if you're in a situation where you are choosing which is not often here since we seem to rescue little needing creatures), it needs to "click" between you and him/her. It didn't "click" with Solan. He was not as sweet as he looked on the picture and not very interested in us. Two other little females weren't either. Then out of a sudden, and mind you - this was after 2,5 hours in a little non ventilated room so we were getting exhausted - one of the ladies brought this little cutie, and love happened, both ways :)

Her official registered name is Saga but we might change it, as we don't use it. I call her Szpulka (Schpoolka), which means a little bobbin of thread in Polish, but it's a bit (cough, cough...) difficult for Norwegians. So we'll see!

Szpulka is very different physically from her brother. She is partly a Norwegian Forest Cat (click HERE to learn more) and some distinctive marks of it, among others her fantastic tail. The were found on July 12th walking on the streets in the district Sagene in Oslo, hence her name. When you think that she was even smaller at that time! How could anyone, I ask myself one time more? They spent two days in a voluntaree's home, then two weeks at the shelter, and here she is!

She is about 3,5 months old, but really mini-mini-mini! She looks much bigger on the photos than she really is. Just a little thing the size of a squirrel, smaller than a ferret! H. says her little body feels like an eggshell when he takes her up so he has to be careful :) She doesn't know how to meow yet, she issues little peeeps and squeeks like a little mouse so it's pretty funny.


And she must be the most friendly little thing I know. She spends most of her time on my shoulder or around my neck or on my chest or... when I type, presses her little wet button nose on mine, licks my face, puts her little paws on my cheeks and usually falls asleep while holding my nose with one paw. Basic need! LOL

It works fantastically fine with the other three tails. Toska ignores her, Happy would like to play but she's a bit afraid of his size, and Lucky - well, we're hoping for friendship or more :) I'm working a lot on socializing them in the sense that we would like them to be very good friends and here is where we are today:

 They're currently snoring together in Lucky's bed on H's desk. Life is good!

And now, I promise the next post with be about crafts. Serious.

Felinek - a sad post

It is with a heavy heart that I am writing this.

Back in July, we "celebrated" the cat boys first anniversary in our home, with the special menu you can see above. It was exactly one year since we found them left to die in a deep forest on the border between Norway and Sweden. First, it was a hard fight to have them stay with us. H. rightly believed one cat and one dog was enough to love and spoil. But within a couple of months, the cat brothers managed to occupy an ever-growing part of H's heart. A few months after, he told me he now actually prefers cats to dogs. And his mother who didn't like cats _at all_ fell in love with the two lovely brothers.

They remained so attached, so important to each other. Still sleeping together from time to time, still washing each other, so dependent on one another. We knew we would never let them be separated. Felinek sort of took care of Lucky, who is a very calm, quiet, careful cat who prefers the company of my H. to any other. He's not very fond of me.

But Felinek, our lovely black and white little cat, had grown to a wonderfully positive, happy cat whose presence brightened everybody's life. Every person who met him loved him so much. Always curious, always ready to play, to cuddle, extremely social, you'd think his role was to make everyone smile.

Felinek, our little ray of sunshine was killed by a car a few days ago.

When he didn't come home one morning, we feared something might have happened, but it rained heavily and we hoped someone had taken him home. That night, I heard a woman's terrible scream at 2 am and wondered for hours what it could be about in this peaceful neighbourhood. That same night, H. had been admitted urgently to hospital and his leg operated the next day, nothing too serious. When he was leaving home, I felt that everything was going to go wrong. A weird feeling I can't explain. And Felinek didn't come back in the morning. Over the week-end, we put posters everywhere around here and we started getting calls from many, many people - so touching really - but the cats weren't the one we were looking for. Just as exhausted after a many hours' search yesterday, we were on the way home, we got a call. It happened that night, just meters away from our house. The nice man was keeping the little body as he had decided to ask around if someone's cat was missing. We took him home.

Felinek will be burried in a nice spot in the garden. We cried all night and today is only a little better. We just ordered take-away food as the little things of life seemed to hard to handle today. We are just devastated. Lucky is constantly looking for his brother and it just breaks our hearts to pieces to see him walk around, smell place after place, not finding comfort. Our vet told us to let him smell Felinek and he did it, licked him on the face (which brought even more tears on our side), but I don't think he understood. It is just heartbreaking.

We grow so attached to our little friends, don't we... I think it is harder for people who like us don't have children, I don't know...

Felinek was such an exceptional, unique little being and life without him will never be the same. Never ever. In the meantime, we try to double efforts to surround Lucky with love and care. For him, it's even worse.

This is the last short movie I took of them both in "their" room. We called it the cat room as we use it less so we just placed old armchairs for them to enjoy.

I'll be back with happier, crafty news, but at the moment, I'm having a hard time trying to cope...