Back to blogging

Your favorite Polish stitcher is back to blogging! :) Mylene sent me an email last week to kick my b-tt out and it worked, thank you Mylene!

The cast is off. It was indeed unexpectedly a real, first-time-in-my-life fracture. I broke the trapezium bone in the wrist/hand, it is located sort of at the base of the thumb, so what hurt was the thumb and not the hand or wrist as such. I was lucky - what broke was not the bone itself, in which case the cast would have had to be on for a double period (iiiiick!) but a sort of tubercule this bone has in its upper part - so I had the cast for about a month, I think. After the MRI, the blue version was replaced by a red version of my choice (there were 6 colors to choose from :)) which freed my thumb ans was thus a little lighter. I had a lot of work during this period and my work involves typing all day so I certainly appreciated a little less weight to carry, my shoulder was really hurting at times. With this version I could type with 4 fingers of the right hand, which was neat but of course I had to be careful, so I only typed what was related to work or otherwise urgent. Don't ask me why the thumb was freed, the orthopedist said that the lenght of the cast provided enough support for the wrist and indeed it did. It felt weird however and I had to be much more careful in not hurting it.

Now, what more. As of now I'm back to stitching, though not as much as I use to, also due to lack of time. H. had two weeks off work but we didn't have a summer vacation as such. In a way, it was a good thing, because anything we would have planned would have been a loss of money this year. It rained in Norway for eight full weeks - morning till evening and evening till morning, and now the sun is back but it also rains daily. We managed to do some trips in the region and boat trips on the Oslofjord though. I hear that the rest of Europe didn't have a good summer either this year.

I walk a lot with Happy in the surrounding forests, and we so enjoy these moments. Sometimes it is one hour daily, sometimes I make longer 3 h expeditions when clients don't keep me busy. I've walked in all directions around here and "explored" new tracks and walking possibilities. Norway is all up and down bigger and smaller hills, so I'm really tired and happy to return to the base - home :)

I'm about to buy my flight ticket back tonight. I plan to return to Warsaw late on Sept. 3, which just the hand luggage (laptop/cables/work necessities), Toska-the-cat and one smaller luggage. Hakon will fly in a little later for a week-end with Happy and the other biiiig piece of luggage. He suggested so because of my right hand.

I'll be updating the blog regularly now and should post a lot in the next days, however due to the limited stitching I did in the last time the posts won't be much related to that. Only usual rubbish and pictures from the region/Oslo.

I've rewared myself and ordered a couple of kitted charts, among which Barrick's new Fraktur Flower and the rest I just can't remember at this moment :)

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer (uuuuuh, more than I did mine!! LOL)

Biscornu frebies

You biscornu lovers, you just have to see this one:
http://kissycross.twoday.net/20070712/

Isn'it is just amazingly beautiful? I have yet to make a biscornu myself and I only own one (thank you Mylene!!) ... they sort of intimidate me. I know, I should try my hands on one. However, inspiration is lacking for the moment. But if I ever try to make biscornus, I will surely remember this one. Oh you know, you see a cross-stitched piece and you just know you have to... :) I am just stunned by the beauty of this one!


There's a simple blue one here too and lots more:
http://misst.canalblog.com/

Norwegian hytter

"Norwegians love to escape to their holiday homes and cabins known as hytter. Not to be confused with "huts," the holiday getaways have grown increasingly comfortable and spacious over the years"...

Read more and see pictures here for an insight on Norway:
http://www.aftenposten.no/english/bildeserier/article1884655.ece?start=1

Also, Norway's westernmost 'hytte':
http://www.aftenposten.no/english/bildeserier/article1884520.ece

We've spent holidays at a large number of hytter over the years and most were very memorable days. We so enjoy being in the nature.

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

Waiting to know more

(edited with note to myself: shouldn't blog when having a "down" moment!)

Hi everyone,

Thank you so very much for your words of support here and in private. They mean so much to me!
[deleted]
The magnetic resonance check is scheduled for next Wedneday in 3 days and then I should see the doctor on the same day or the next. [deleted] That's when I'll know how long a regular white cast is needed, if I have to return to Poland to have the hand operated etc.
In that context stitching is something I miss a lot BUT... so many more serious things are more important currently.
I'm already planning which projects I will reward myself with once I CAN stitch! though! LOL I swear I'm going to be good to myself!!

On another note, it hasn't stopped raining day and night since 5 weeks, can you believe? I follow the Norwegian style of life and don't care :) I'm having (almost) daily long walks with Happy. Nature is all around here, just a 5 mn walk to the nearest small lake, forests etc. I just love it here.
On my daily walk:



H. is almost finished with the new sitting place outside. The wooden terrace is ready since a month or so but he's doing works around it and I've been planting flowers (via his hands) :)

Hand in cast!

(you will excuse the uglybackground, it's a room we haven't renovated yet and the house belonged, well, to a lovely but older person, H's mother)

Just a quick hello to explain my disappearance. I made a bad fall 8 days ago in the garden and well, I finally made xrays today at the emergency in Oslo. The xray didn't show any fracture but the doctor suspects that the scaphoid bone (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scaphoid) might be broken, in which case I will have a cast for 8 (EIGHT) weeks. I have to undergo a magnetic resonance check this week, it can only be seen there. Otherwise the hand is just twisted. Anyway, for the first time in my life, I have something put in a cast, from the fingers up to the elbow, and it's the right hand. Not, not, not funny! They decided to immobilize it while I do the MR, maximum 2 weeks. That's be two LONG weeks, if you ask me. I can't even lace my shoes so H. does it for me in the morning before leaving for work - just so I can walk the dog etc. It's too cold for open shoes.
So, silence from me it will be till I can type faster and better. I am able to type very slowly but it is SLOW with the left hand and some fingers on the right hand, painful (strains the right hand that has to carry the cast) and NOT funny because my work involves typing all day etc.
Plus I have to cover all costs myself but that's a whole different story.

So I just have to say sorry! to anyone I should have written to. I'll be back when things are better.
Oh what a bad summer.

Need I say more? No stitching for me till who knows when. Bleeeeeh.

Hmppffff!

Please scroll down to Sunday posts below or click here to see my gifts from Irene and Mylene (this time in alphabetical order) - I had created a draft post on Sunday and though I edited it now, instead of posting it with today's date, it is mixed with older ones. Bleeeeeh Blogger.

Late birthday post (1)

My birthday was three weeks ago, where does time fly?? Soon it will be time to start Christmas projects :) Thank you everyone for your wishes, I was so surprised to receive many lovely messages and cards by e-mail! They were so important this year. As I mentioned before, this year I didn't celebrate because I was flying to Norway just a few days later. H. invited me for dinner in our favorite restaurant by a lake. This is one of the most beautiful places on Earth to have a dinner and yet it is not expensive. I mean, it is Norwegian expensive, but the prices don't affect the location. I need to find photos from last year, I didn't feel for taking the same ones, so I'll just post the two I took now; however they don't show much.

Still in Warsaw, a funny thing happened. This year my father forgot about my b-day LOL! And I was vicious, oh sooooo vicious, that I only jokingly mentioned it to him 2-3 days later when he called me to say wishes because of the Day of the Child - he still considers it a point of honor to call me every year and always says I'm still his child even if I'm grown up :) I am not sure if this day is celebrated elsewhere, but at least in Poland it is meant more for persons a bit younger than me :) Point is, this time he called me one day early! LOL Then I almost regretted reminding him about my b-day (but one day he found find it out himself and then think I was hurt by his silence) because he went into a sort of hysterical reaction, so unusual of him. He kept repeating "How did that happen? How could I let this happen? My memory fails me, I am getting old!" so I took all the time and care of the world to reassure him that it *really didn't matter* because I knew he wishes me well and it was just a birthday! I heard him shouting to his wife "Do you know what happened? I can't believe this is possible! We forgot about Ania's birthday!" and he was so shocked... Anyway, I did what I could. But the following day, someone rang at the door. I thought it was the mail man with a package Donna announced but when I opened, it was a messenger with a gift basket. I was so surprised! I didn't get that many in my life LOL! My first thought was that it's from H. and the second why he would do that one day before my flight to Norway. The flower would die during the summer... Then I read the card that was attached and... it was a small gift basket from my father. He must have asked to have it prepared for the Day of the Child because except the bottle of egg liquor, the basket was filled up with sweets :) It was such a surprise. We don't usually do gift baskets in the family!

Inspected by The Queen herself :

Food, Norwegians and Sweden

What do they have in common?

See description of the Svinesund bridge from Wikipedia: Svinesund is a sound separating the Swedish municipality of Strömstad in the province of Bohuslän in the county of Västra Götaland from the Norwegian municipality of Halden in the county of Østfold.
Two bridges, the old and new Svinesund Bridge (no:Svinesundsbroen sv:Svinesundsbron), span the sound. The Swedish side is extremely popular with Norwegians who flock to buy cheaply in Sweden, where a large shopping area can be found immediately after crossing the sound. Following the erection of the new bridge in 2005, road taxes must be paid to drive into Norway using either bridge, and to drive into Sweden using the new bridge.

Today we were among the cars crossing the bridge. H. left work a bit earlier, was home around 3pm to pick me up with Happy and we drove to Sweden, about 1h-1,5 h by car depending on the traffic - or much much more. There are road works since I don't remember when and it slows down the traffic a lot.

I'm sure you know Norway is THE most expensive country of the world. My brother lives in Switzerland (which I don't consider a cheap country) and he often says it sounds impossible, but Norway is MUCH much more expensive.

So, what the Norwegians do, is that they drive accross the border to Sweden and fill trunks with as much as they can put into. Customs limitations don't let them buy whole trucks of food, otherwise they (we) would. Today we bought 20 kgs of meat, mostly chicken, which we love, and other needed stuff such as washing powder, pet food, cosmetics, spices, etc. Trust me, the difference in price makes it worth to drive there for shopping. Just a minute or two after crossing the border, an artificial village of big halls awaits - all built for the Norwegian!

It is not possible to stop on the Svinesund bridge, so this is all I could get as a photo today for you, which I always regret, because the fjord is so beautiful there. On one side - Norway, on the other - Sweden. Oh, and I realize these pictures don't show anything. They're just here for the record ;-)

(view to the old bridge)

Late birthday post... (2)

See that beautiful present I received from Mylene!! I was doubly thrilled because I have never done neither received a biscornu before... It's my first and it's GORGEOUS! I was soooo happy to discover it after opening the envelope. Mylene does such beautiful work (and beware, I hear that she's joined the quilting world recently!). I think the cording is made with the same thread as used for the pattern on thebiscornu. And you know what? The little button has "For You" written on it. How suiting!! And the giftie was accompanied by one of Mylene's worlwide famous hand-made cards, which I am now lucky to have more than one! :)

Now, my birthday surprise from Irene for the 2007 exchange within the Stitching Bloggers Birthday/Christmas Club ran by Becky. See all the neat goodies I received! Irene sent it to me directly to Norway and was it a lovely package to unpack! She sent me the cat/mouse Workbasket chart (from my wishlist, thanks so much, Irene!), the Norway heart from The Victoria Sampler, and here is a decription from their website:

Norway - "Tweed Stitch and Hardangersom"

Official Flower: Purple Heather

National Animal: Elk

National Bird: The Dipper

National Symbol: Milk

The Tweed Stitch, right under the Dipper bird, symbolizes dark green trees and deep fjords this country is known for. The Hardanger Heart, represents the specialty stitch technique we know and love, which has it's origins in this northern country. This geometrical drawn thread work takes its name from a town on the southwestern coast of Norway on the Hardanger Fjord. The technique is still used for parts of the festive folk costumes, and bridal wear, as well as household linens.

What else? A beautiful needle minder from Kelmscott Designs, which I always wanted to have, three different skeins in pink, my favorite color! and an extremely cute little tin box with Canadian chocolates, that vanished in a short time! They were delicious.

Irene took such visible care in picking the right items for me that I was particularly touched... thanks so much!

Again, Mylene and Irene, I am sorry for taking so long to show off these wonderful presents!

Pillow for Cheryl

I posted a link to Cheryl's blog before, but just for the record, here it is. I absolutely love the color combination. I picked an odd piece of Lakeside Linens 40 ct. linen - and my eyes didn't thank me for that LOL! and a skein of a color named Melon from The Dye Shop that alas doesn't exist anymore.

Next giftie will be for the ten thousandth reader, but that's a long way to go :)

Design: Pique et Pique (France)

Fabric: Lakeside Linens 40 ct

Threads: The Dye Shop (color -Melon)

The Queen...

Thank you...

...for your numerous messages on and off this blog! It's such a warm feeling to get in contact with you all again, thanks so much for your comments :) I've already sent many late e-mails out, some still wait in the queue :) Today was a bit windy here though sunny and I don't have much work for Monday, so I am sitting at my laptop most of the day and catching up... Watch this space this week-end :)
PETRA - I had a big broad smile when I read your comment :) Actually I had told H. to have his camera ready for when I exit to the arrival hall. Even my aunt kept telling me I am trying to do Mission Impossible. With 3 pieces of luggage and 2 transporters with pets, I wondered myself. What the picture doesn't show well is that one of the suitcases is huge, the other not so enormous, plus hand-luggage and Happy's transporter biiiig. I chose a bigger model than I had to wen I bought it last year because I wanted him to have loads of space inside. I decided not to stress though, chose a very early flight when I had to be at the airport at 5 am (!!!) because I figured there wouldn't be many planes cheking out and that - most importantly - whatever I do, however I behave, whatever ridiculous I and it might all look - at 5 am most people try to fight sleepy eyes and simply won't care. True! I didn't stress too much but I must say that if not for a wonderful family (a father with 3 grown-up daughters) it would have been much harder. They offered to help, carried my luggage, helped at the x-ray stand (pets had to be taken out, their transporters x-rayed and then put again in) etc. I was sooo thankful.
When it comes to photos from here, I'm afraid they might be very local this summer. Money is on the low side and we have tons of expenses related to works in and around the house, so we might not move much from home except for trips in the nature around. We've travelled so much and I've seen most of Norway already, which is not nothing if you look at its lenght and of course I LOVE to see, experience and discover, but it might be so that I won't have that many spectacular pictures to share this time. I realize that people expect to see perfect beauty and fjords when they hear 'Norway'...
SHARON - I am not 'back' LOL, I am here till late August or early September :) And I am so enjoying being here.
NATH - Merci pour ton gentil message ! Dieu que j'envie tes talents multiples ! Le sac est absolument génial :)
ELA - alez oczywiscie, wklej prosze :) Gdanska chyba nie zalicze tego lata, ale co sie odwlecze... :)
When it comes

In Norway!

I'm in Norway already, since 10 days and I haven't updated my blog in a looong while.

First, I would like to ask forgiveness to *anyone* who I haven't replied to yet - especially Donna, Mylene, Linda, MaryK and many others. I feel extremely guilty but I just have to say the last period was pure madness, so if you read this, PLEASE forgive me, I am terribly sorry, I am not ignoring anyone or nor caring, definitely not, I just wasn't able to cope with everything! During some periods days should last 48 h.

I'll update the blog with photos later but now I just wanted to write a quickie to say hei! (the Norwegian way) to everyone and first reply by e-mail before I go on here.

The last period in Warsaw was hot in all ways - weather, work and packing :)

The trip by plane went super fine:

You can only see Happy's tongue but he really is there in the lower transporter. Actually things went excatly the opposite way to what I expected. Toska (aka The Queen) - I thought she would be extremely stressed and need a long week of time to recover, but all the trip (airport, plane, drive home) didn't seem to impress her at all. She was CALM!!! like I don't know what. She amazed me totally. On the other hand, Happy had a great trip last year but this time he was extremely stressed and made sounds from the moment I got the transporter with him at the airport till the moment he could finally go out outside the airport building, and he asked with his paw that I finally open the damn prison, and cried and cried. He's such a calm dog normally so I was really sorry for him this time. The procedure at the customs went super fine. I have to go through the red section (goods to declare plus live animals) and some of you might know that the veterinary procedure to "import" pets into Norway is of the toughest ones. The customs officer was very careful in checking all official stamps, writings etc. but all had been prepared in the smallest details by me and it went fine. I was first a little bit anxious because the man was so "official" and not smiling, but I know they have to be so - and Norwegians often are that way anyway - but usually a big honest smile follows and that's what happened this time too.

H. was waiting for us and we drove home making just a small stop at our fav' pet shop to buy a thing or two more. My darling had bought everything himself the previous day: dog and cat food, litter and litter box, scoop, bowls etc. It was the first time The Queen was about to visit Norway :)

Since then I had tons of work and deadlines (also known as dead lions among translators) to face and many were the days I worked most of the day and night.

I'll continue later but I'll just add I'm making long walks in the nature with Happy, we work in the garden planting trees and flowers, and I only picked my needle yesterday.

I was actually about to reappear here on Monday, but on Monday... Happy escaped and I don't have to tell you what trying to find a lost dog involves. Police, other services, driving around till the wee hours of the night, and FINALLY getting him back a day later. I'll make a seperate post about that to describe how efficient and amazing the Norwegian can be!! Anyway Happy is back, but it's easy to see the whole thing was a huge stress. He slept all the evening and during the night, he hugged to me with his nose on mine, and he was just a ppoooooor little doggie all too happy to be with those he loves - and who love him. Dearly, as would say H., as we had to fork out over 200 usd!! to have him back. Yikes. But all the world knows Norway IS expensive. To those who haven't yet experienced Norway's expensiveness, I'll say: try to imagine it, multiply by nine, raise your hair, say Holy cow!, raise your hair and you might be close :)

Nath from France has received her little surprise and she already stitched one piece :)

Cheryl received the pillow I made for her as a giftie for being the 5000th to visit my blog and I am more than delighted to read the comments :) I loved the result myself and I am so glad she liked it!!!

I just love making new friends through this blog!! :) Thank you so much for enriching my life!

(toldya we all enjoy our time here!)

Away...

I know I disappeared :) But after a week filled with stress and too much thinking, I had taken the decision to just pack and leave for some days at my family - and I had such a great time that the stay elongated to almost 12 days :) During that period I really didn't feel for blogging... just had too much of a nice time :) To those who might think I was on vacation, I hasten to add - nope! I took my laptop with me and worked normally. My free-lance status means I can do excatly the same job as at home, anywhere there is an Internet connection. I am sure I don't have to convince you that working in the garden here, surrounded with gorgeous flowers in full bloom is just heaven comparing to working in my tiny flat in the center of a big town. Hah! I enjoyed every minute spent with my family. Gradma is slowing down with every day passing but she's just amazing. At 98,5 she's in better shape than most 80 years old people I know. Both my cousins with families live close to my aunt and visit very often. And the 4 cats and 2 dogs provide additional fun :)

The GREAT news is that despite a non-celebrated :( birthday next week, I have my plane tickets bought and ready for June 2nd, which is Saturday in more or less two weeks - I'll be leaving for my summer in Norway and I just can't wait!!! Now I need to fulfill the last steps of the veterinary procedure for both Happy and The Queen which means the next 10 days will be VERY busy. Happy has already taken the plane last year to Oslo but it'll be a first time for The Queen. And H. flew with me that day so it all wasn't that terrible despite the obvious stress. This time I'm facing taking a taxi to the airport with a) two big suitcases b) hand-luggage reduced to laptop in a hand-bag c) one big transporter with a dog d) one smaller transporter with a cat e) me and myself f) my STRESS, hey, I just have two hands!! I don't have the smallest clue how I'm going to cope with all that, kicking luggage with my feet while talking gently to my pets and holding tickets etc. in my hands. Well, I'll tell you. If I manage to do it, I'll be a proud gal. I keep telling myself that this is doable. The problem was that there weren't any cheap tickets left and the cost of H. flying back of worth to pick me up from Warsaw and help with the logistics was really prohibitive. Ya all know how travelling can be costly.

So, I've promised to live my birthday like it's just another day in the year and SMILE because in just a few days, I'll be flying to Norway! Waaahoo!!

Donna, I know I've been tagged, will reply asap! I'll be back home tomorrow. It's awfully HOT and my cousin and wife are going to Warsaw by car tomorrow so I'll travel with them instead of taking the train.

To the little giftie I promised - only Mylene posted a comment that day and I had promised Cheryl to put her name in the "hat" as well, resulting in her "winning", so if you see this, Cheryl, please send me your snail mail addy to fjordgirl at gmail dot com :) Mylene signed up for a PIF form me so a giftie will fly to Holland in due time :)

I've finished Their Song and started working on another piece. Pictures - soon.

I'm just sending this quickie as midnight approaches and I need to get up in just 5 hours, so I'll post more pictures tomorrow, if time allows.

A mood for celebrating

I really don't know why, without any apparent reason, I feel for celebrating everything today. Must be this horrible allergy/homeopathy text I got rid of this morning, because otherwise it's a gloomy week. Outside it rains very often, it is grey, a time for stitching, heh! ;-) The text for tomorrow is about registering trademarks in the EU so that'll wait, I'm doing a short break. And the phone is still silent between Norway and Poland, a consequence of last Saturday's tough talk between two people who love each other dearly but who sometimes have some issues to solve, like everybody :(.
So, apart from walking Happy and visiting the pets shop (didn't I say the word celebrating at least once today? LOL) - I got bones for doggie, tasty cans for The Queen and other rubbish to spoil them both ;-) ... I'll do pretty much nothing today.
And since my nephew celebrated his 5th birthday last week, here are some photos I took last December in Cheeseland.

On the first picture, it's me (the grey whale - WHO took that picture??? - ah yes, my brother... sigh) in the middle, H. (the tall Norwegian, you must know how to recognize Norwegians ;-)) and my sister-in-law. Jeremi poses in the center. When you ask him to pose, he becomes soooo serious. But when I take a shot in a natural situation, here's him!

5000 ahead!!

Yay, that is amazing! I wasn't planning to celebrate blogiversaries, but to hit 5000 visitors is nice enough to send a broad virtual smile and...

AND.... ON THE DAY (be it today or tomorrow or any day later) that my blog's counter hits 5000, if you leave me a comment saying more or less you're in for that, I'll put your name in a hat - naaaah, to say the truth I don't have a suitable one but I WILL write names on bits of paper, put them in a bag and proceed to an honest drawing LOL!) - and I'll send a little giftie to the winner. I promise it will be nice :)

Aaah yes... I won't be reminding you on that... so keep watching the counter! ;-) You have to leave a comment on that very day :)

Just for the fun of celebrating, smiling and to say thank you for reading me!

Busy week ahead

I wasn't very efficient today and work awaits with three very different texts to work on, and not very easy either.
I've only got a few stitches more to do on my Prairie Schooler stocking.
Replying to Vonna : well, if I want to be fair, I can't say why this stocking is not a winner :) Whatever I could say it would reveal which is mine LOL! and I want to be fair to Linda S-H who's the only other person participating. On the other hand, if you know me by now, you'll immediately know which one is mine ;-) I'll just say that I imagine a winning stocking as a more classic one, while mine is more sampler-like and very personal :)
I think we may have to wait quite long for the PS folks to choose the winner because our listmom Linda McM will be on a well deserved, super exciting holiday (waving to Linda! have a super lovely trip!!) this month.
I really made this stocking for fun, for the joy of participating in the contest and not to win anything (though that would be nice, I imagine :) I never win anything!). And now that that stocking is done and just waiting to be ironed, I must say I love it.
I also have to describe which element comes from which leaflet etc. but I'll do that in a free moment. Yikes, why do we have to work :(

No stitching?

Very wrong! I'm stitching very fast but I can't show it. I'm working on the Prairie Schooler contest stocking - with the idea I am not doing it for a contest, but for fun. There is no way my stocking can win, instead it will be a very personal one :)
Some days more and I'll be able to stitch on my WIPs.

On cats, dogs and birthdays

Cat queen is finally fine and back to normal, more or less :). She finally started to come for hugs in the morning. Well, her version ;-) The alarm in my cellular phone rings in the morning and she runs fast, jumps on the bed near my face and I take her in my arms :) She doesn't show more appreciation for me as a human being than that, but that is still a long way we have gone together since a little bit more than a year. I still have to be careful because there are plenty of things she doesn;t like, but she *is* changing, I swear she is. One the mornings when we sleep together nose to nose, belly to belly and her paws on my cheek, one could almost think she likes me! LOL I hope Happy forgives me for talking about her mainly on my blog, but with Happy, it's very simple - he is HAPPY. Always :)
Must say my own father did something very surprising two weeks ago. But from the start...their dog had a very ill heart and died while they were away in Switzerland and Canarian Islands. Now, I woulnd't have gone on a vacation if my dog was _that_ ill but that's me. My brother thinks I'm extreme that way, but my pets are parts of the family and as long as I don't have kids, they're my kids, my best friends, you name it. Already last Christmas their doggie was so bad that I suggesdted many times that they help him leave, but my father's wife was hysterical at the thought. I'll viciously say she was doubly hysterical, from what I've heard, when she learned that his condition worsened suddenly the day they left for vacation. I felt so, so very sad about how they handled it all. But then you can't tell other people how to behave with their pets/kids/hubbies/hobbies etc. ;-)
Anyways, five days after they returned, they took not one, but TWO doggies from the shelter! I am sooooo very happy about that. That they took dogs from a shelter, and that they took both they loved. One is already at home, it's a small black mix-breed aged 4-5 months named the same as his two predecessors, and the second one will arrive next week after the necessary procedure the shelter insisted on following (vaccinations, neutering etc.). She's 3 and redish, named Tara. Nice :) Both are small.
Now I must say my reasonable father surprised me. His wife is particularly good at forcing her wills on him, but he has some limits, and having two dogs is not something I would every thought he would accept. I am really happy :)
On another note, I am upset about my summer. I should fly to Norway on June 1st for 2-3 months, but the administration of my building had the wonderful idea of organizing not one but two types or works concerning my part of the building. One is putting additional heat insulation from the outside and the other, oh horror! is changing water pipes in both the kitchen and the bathroon. I love the idea! NOT! Problem is that they don't know the dates, I can't buy my plane tickets, and on the whole flying from Norway for a week or two for the duration of the works will be an expensive trick. So I don't know... and I don't know when I will know anything! That annoys me severely. Apparently I am the only person interested in knowing the exact dates :) RRRr-rrrr-rrrr. Might be I'll stay home this summer and just make trips here and there to avoid the heat when it arrives. Mind you, it won't be any day soon, after 10 not so warm days, we're facing 10 not so warm days with rain!! Each day.
So, H. was supposed to fly in for my birthday and take me back with him ;-) Mainly to help me with numerous luggage pieces, a dog, a cat and my nerves LOL! Now the situation being as it is and money being on the (very) low side, I think I'll suggest he doesn't come now. After all, a birthday is just a day.
Does anyone long after their childhood birthdays? I feel that whatever H. does, it's never as nice as it was in the ol' days :) My parents made it very special that day, also other family members. On the other hand, H's birthdays weren't celebrated that much, and well, he's Norwegian ;-) so the intensity of that day is not the same ;-) He does his best, but it's just not the same. My birthdays are never as nice as I would like them to be. My father used to wake me up with a delicious breakfast on a tray and the whole day he treated me very special, the day was so full of joy. For H., apart from the dinner out - or any other nice thing we do (usually we are away somewhere) it's just a day - and he's not behaving differently really. I don't know, maybe when you have kids, they know how to make it very important... Or maybe I am generally too nostalgic, which I am well known to be! :)
Heh, my nephew is 5 since Thursday! I sent him a biiiiig package which he received a day late, but his parents said it's great, because the birthday joy was then spred on two days. My SIL told me that when she came back from work, she saw Jeremi all excited, with red cheeks and all, shouting he got a package from aunt Anna, I can visualize that :) I promised another trip to Geneva soon, maybe without H., so we can spend a few days playing and having fun together and he'll have his aunt for himself :)