This conversation took place two days ago:

me, showing something: H., does it look like a pear?
H.: - Yeah, not really.
me: - Oh? Why not? I mean, it's a perfect pear?
H.: - Well...
me: - Pfffff. You have no sense of art. It's a perfect pear.
H. - So why do you ask me, if I don't know anything?
me: - Oh well.
me, trying again: - Hey, see, isn't that an absolutely beautiful, perfect pear?
H.: (...sigh...) - Oh YES, it's so beautiful, an absolutely perfect pear!! ...(silence...) isn't that what you wanted me to say?

I resisted the urge to... well, you know. He's just a man.

The pear, you ask? You'll have to wait to see :) A week or so.

I've finished and sent my PS exchange, I'm almost done with the finishing part on my BD exchange.... stitched a PS piece for myself, but need to do the finishing so I can show it properly... and tonight I plan to start on the LHN "Snow" piece that Gigi is offering on her blog and the benefits of which go to the Unicef. Two more designs come with the LHN, but I only like one of them. It is possible to pay with Paypal. To see and/or order, click HERE.

It's getting late, but I thought I'll post a short update about our cat boys. They got their next vaccines this week, they were also chipped (answering to comment: tattoos are much less popular here, I'll hope for the best that they don't get cancer - but then I am much more worried about the street and the risk of them being hit by a car next spring...) and they got their European Union/Norwegian passports :)
We weren't planning to that fast, but we just had to and the boys were neutered yesterday. I spent a long time searching the web for info about the advantages and disadvantages. Had I known it would be so painless and fast, I wouldn't have worried beforehand.

The boys upon arriving home...


Happy checked on them from time to time till they woke up. It was sort of funny to see cats sleeping with totally open eyes, it's the first time I saw it.

Our new vet has a home practice and I just stayed in the room and watched the whole intervention while it happened. The actual surgery part took less than a minute! What took time was all the preparations - injections of morphine, local anesthetics, antibiotics, vitamin B, shaving, cleaning... I and the vet (a woman) had a fun time observing H. who was really uncomfortable about the neutering part and just left for a 40 minutes walk! He became so pale and all... She said all men react that way! LOL

They were supposed to wake up after 4-10 hours and to relax for 7 days.
Well, they started to wake up after 2,5 hours and already at night, they were fighting, running, chasing each other, enjoying life at fullest. Nothing could be done to stop them - nothing at all! Like if nothing ever happened. We just had to stop worrying about the open wounds (no stitches, it starts to grown after 3 days, we were told).

They're just the most adorable cats on Earth I know. Watching them play is endless joy - and then they are perfect companions, they're more like dogs than cats. Humans are so important for them... They sleep close to where I type and they're on my lap when I stitch... they follow H. till the shower cabin... And then Felinek is vocal (his brother is not at all), he asks for water, for food, he complains when he's forbidden smthg (Felinek - no! - meeeeow!! I said NO! - meeeooooo!!!!) LOL
They come for hugs in the middle of the night and they generally are always around.
H.? He's so fond of them!! He made a clean space on his work desk where we laid a soft plaid for them to sleep on... He's planning to clean a sort of hall room in the basement where we plan to put a climbing/playing furniture for them, money allowing. They're such a joy!
(answering to Anonymous comment - thanks for the tip about wet food, I didn't know about that issue. We won't have them on wet food only, much too expensive, but they get some daily and they drink a whole sea of water in addition to their dry special food so I think they should be fine. Actually I almost worried at first seeing how much they drink!)

(I kindly ask you not to zoom on this one - who looks good after a 3 hours ride?? LOL)

We're back from our vacation in the (cold) wilderness since so many days, but days have been busy and maybe also I didn't have the inspiration to write. And since I fully subscribe to the idea of blogging without obligation... :)
I'll post photos and write more about the vacation in the following days after I have delivered a job for tomorrow, tonight I shall spend the evening typing away...


However, I just couldn't resist showing this last finish. I made three major changes: 1) I replaced the year with Jul (Merry Christmas in Norwegian), 2) I extended the red bar to the right in the window with the pine tree - a part was missing on the chart, I am not sure if it had a meaning I didn't understand or if it is an actual error but trust me, it looked weird the way it was. I mean the bars under the two red bells - see photo up.


and 3) I didn't use the brown linen included in the kit. I used 32 ct Belfast Planinum Pizzaz from Zweigart - see the blueish opalescent elements! It is just marvelous and I plan to use the half yard I got for many future works, especially ornaments. Just love it!! It played so well with the Crescent Colors floss from the kit. I wasn't so fond of the previous yearly kits - but now I see I might stitch them again on something else than the brown linen included in the kit - anything looks better than its sad color!!


This was such a fun stitch, like with all PS charts!! I especially love this finish... plan to turn it into a bigger pillow one day, but not very soon - Christmas gifts making has to happen first.
Till later....

Oh, I was about to forget - if you have nothing, I mean really nothing better to do after reading me, check THIS LINK to see our furry friends in real life. There are 4 more short movies uploaded (More from...). The quality is not so good because I filmed with the new iphone and the light was not easy. Some were made in the cabin and some in the old room the kiddos are using here downstairs. Enjoy!

Isn't he beauuuuutiful? :) How could anyone, really...

Traveling...

On the way up north, the boys refused to stay in their transporter. Made for a funny trip (not)! On the way down to Oslo, they were just perfect.

Some solutions... (Yup, H. is a saint. Confirmed.)


Poor Happy trying to make himself small... Having Toska that close means nasty things. Trust him, he knows - and even if she is very calm and nice when in the car, doggie remembers...

Expectation....


Late night junk food at the gas station Homemade pizza leftovers I packed for the trip... we just stopped there to "empty" the menagerie and get some light from above to see better :)


And then two weeks of happiness.


Yup. Traveling and good food, good wine. Some elements of a good vacation time.


This is the Spicy Bacon Chicken - got the idea reading Tanya's blog and made it twice already. Fantastic!!With mashed potatoes, heavenly.

They are staying!!!!!!

THEY ARE STAYING!!! Can you hear my joy, my relief, my excitement? A couple of weeks before I even expected approaching H. with any definite plans regarding the kittens... the decision was made unexpectedly easily, smoothly and joyfully on Friday.
Surely being being away and relaxing from home and the usual daily stuff helped... :)
Seriously, I didn't have much hope.... no expectations.... I didn't push my H. (I mean not too much LOL!)... I let things happen by themselves.... and the little fellows knew how to find a way to his heart... Oh that's maybe not precise, H. loves them a lot! But keeping them, well... only a few days ago he was saying "no, I don't want cats now" (meaning problems when he travels for work etc.)....
But then Felinek (H's favorite, the sweetest, softest one), the black kitten, put a whole plan into action... He started sleeping on H., waking him up by walking over his face and licking it softly till H. woke up to see a pair of tiny black eyes observing him... He developed a system of jumping on H's knees and purring, looking him in the eyes with love, presenting his belly to scratch, miowling distinctively to get water/food/go out etc. And giving so much love...
THEY ARE STAYING!! Both, together, not separated (how could we?)... in Norway. We'll do the whole veterinary procedure anyway just so they can travel abroad in case of emergency.
The plan is the following. I and H. will fly to Warsaw with Happy and Toska on Sept. 14th and lots of my luggage, H. will return to Norway in some days, the kittens will stay at a nice cat pension for the few days. I think I'll only stay in Warsaw one-two-three weeks, then I'll travel to my aunt+++ for a month or so to help with my grandma (if nothing wrong happens till then, what can you know at the tender age of 100,5 - her condition suddenly worsened recently). And then to my father for Christmas... after that I'll be back in Norway for a couple of months.... spring in Poland... back for summer 2010 to Norway... :)
As you see, I'll have to be particularly careful with giving the right addresses for exchanges and such! LOL

We still don't have a good name for the grey kitten - Huggy doesn't seem to work well, because Happy comes immediately :) We'd like a name that is funny but warm at the same time... If you have any ideas, please leave them in the comments... I promise I'll read all!! Any name related to his grey color is not nice enough (charcoal, smokey, cashmere etc.) and I can't seem to be able to find the right-sounding name at all! He's smart, courageous, strong, lovely... and beautiful! :)

Now, how did we end up with THREE cats and a dog?

I tell you. Miracles happen. But then, these kitties are really, really special.

Want to see the two brothers on vacation here in the wilderness? Scroll down :)

Exploring barns and all sorts of weird places is very important.... How did he get there?? There is no floor or stairs leading to the upper floor of this old barn...


Told you, lots of weird places...


Happy did his best to control what the cats were doing...


But sometimes dogs weren't allowed in!


Also sometimes, they found really scary things in the fields...

But generally, things went fine, the exploration went on for many hours each day....


They also learned to climb....


Yup, they're having a good time here. Still two days of vacation before we all return home...

Two finishes

One that will surely be framed... Very small, stitched over one:

Outline Art Garden Sampler
by By the Bay Needleart

And one that I would like to turn into a box top:

New England Reindeer Sampler
by Elizabeth's Garden

Sunny Wednesday...

Ah, there is justice on Earth. Sometimes :)
After days, weeks, what - over two months? of rain (really, I think we haven't had more than 10 days in total of real hot summer days - and I can't even remember now when it started raining.... what a summer!!), Wednesday was gorgeous. I checked and checked the weather forecast and it still showed full sun for today, so we drove 1 h west of Oslo for a full day out... wonderful! I'll post pictures tomorrow. Our feet are tired, but the trip was fantastic :)

Today, I'll just post pictures of the HOE Christmas in July exchange I sent out... haven't heard from my partner, but I checked with Jill so I know it was received last week, so I can post it. I wanted to stitch this chart since long, so when the occasion presented itself...

The Starry Wreath
designer: Bent Creek
from JCS 1999 Christmas ornaments magazine
- my choice of overdyes and Mill Hill gold beads

And this little bird flew to one of my best friends for her birthday tomorrow... Hopefully it will arrive in time.

See, I had to give him a little silk ribbon scarf for the trip, winds can be cold and tricky...The last time I saw it, it was ready to spread wings and fly to its new owner...


Meanwhile, in the cat world...




Here's them with Toska at the top level of her tolerance, but she has to be sleepy to let them be that close to her. Always a paw ready to slap the curious intruders... No maternal instincts :) Well, at least she doesn't chase them. They're really the first cats she lets live, my aunt can witness to that :)

That said, I'm really happy that they have the unrenovated part of the house to play in, they really have curious ideas!! Also, they are quite active at night, they start exactly when we go to bed, so we have to close the door so we can sleep. They were scratching the door at 5-6 am each day to enter and play again (playing means lots of running and making all sorts of things fall to the floor) and always woke up poor H. who couldn't fall asleep again, so a solution had to be found, a spray to keep cats off strategic points. After they bit off cables and unmounted the Internet socket by hanging on its cable, these and more spots had to be sprayed as well. Seems to work fine so far! Now we only hear thumping sounds like if it were a group of elephants running and not two kittens, but that doesn't disturb us from sleeping sound.
We were to a new vet yesterday, one that charges 50% for the 2nd cat, for any treatment - and that is a big economy. They got their second general vaccine, now it will be rabies in two weeks. They also got their claws shortened. Huggy (always ready for new adventures!) didn't seem to mind, but Felinek cried and cried like a small baby and it made our hearts melt.... He's a real softie, always a step behind gray brother, always careful...
This vet has her office in her own house and her prices are really competitive. AND the good news is - she seems to be really smart. When we mentioned Poland, she immediately told us that the long veterinary procedure is not needed [Poland has rabies, Norway hasn't] so 21 days after the rabies, they can go! Now, we haven't made our plans yet... and it also means that the decision about keeping Felinek or keeping both has to be made much earlier than December... will keep you updated. I still need to check with the Polish vet. authorities but after reading EU legislation docs for many hours, it seems she is right! If so, this means we only need to fork out 1/3 of the costs we feared and we would have been enraged to find out *afterwards* that all this wasn't needed! One more point in favor of the new vet.
We were thinking of driving the whole zoo by car to Poland, a first for us, we always take the plane, but it seems that this would require the long vet. procedure and much more hassle.... Indeed, while Poland is classified in Part B Section 1, Norway in Part B Section 2, Sweden in Part A of Attachement 2 of Resolution 98/2003......yada yada yada, and Danmark and Germany same as Poland, with different requirements and rules, we'll give up and most probably H. and I will fly on different days to transport our menagerie to my homecountry for the coming winter. Norwegian (the airlines) can only carry 2 pets on board of their aircrafts.
Needless to say, it was and is a big relief to find a home for one or both of them with my aunt..... she has a heart of gold.
Now, how did we end with 4 pets, 4 tails and 16 little feet you say? :)

All about cats :)

First, I want to wholeheartedly thank everyone who took the time to respond here and by email. Seriously, your support meant a world to me during the first days. I was totally hysterical for the first days - not knowing WHAT to do, HOW to solve it and HOW it is going to work out was killing me. I just had a big fog in my head and was almost lunatic. Let me try to explain - I am very rational and well organized and all, but rescuing two kittens two months before leaving Norway, knowing they can't stay here and I can't take them there (to Poland) was killing me. I saw no issues. So please, please do forgive me that I hesitated to write earlier but all I could write here was questions and not answers and noone needs to read long ramblings of a very stressed person ;-) I knew that the first days would be the hardest and that whatever decisions we would make, we needed time and rest to think clearly. For 2-3 days, H. refused to cooperate about taking decisions about the kittens, he was no less stressed than me and he was returning tired from work, so I only pushed him to some limits ;-)
Now, a DISCLAIMER for those of you who don't know my H. I think I just have to write it so you don't get a false impression. He has a heart of gold. He loves animals. He has this magical magnet built in him that makes the wildest cats approach, climb and sleep on him. He is also a zoologist (biologist) and he loves nature just like I do. BUT he also knows limits (I sometimes don't and let my heart guide me, that's how I once rescued Felek, our legendary late doggie, when I already had a german shepperd, all that in a small flat), he is reasonable (I am not and I most often see this as quality, not sure if it makes sense to you LOL!), and then he also raises very valid questions to which there is not an easy or cheap answer, and to which I always find unreasonable and expensive ways of solving the situation. Such as where to locate all the zoo when we travel - and especially I travel a lot. I still haven't done the final move to Norway and even if/when I move here on a permanent basis, there are more chances than not that I will keep free-lancing and flying out to visit my closest family in 3 different locations in Poland and Switzerland. My grand-mother is 100,5 years old, my aunt and father are aging etc. And there are vacations to think of. And both neighbors on both sides - H's uncle and his wife and H's mother HATE cats. In case of emergency, the uncle would obviously help - once Toska was here with H. and H. was taken suddenly to hospital (remember he had a very serious heart op' 3 years ago), the uncle visited Toska daily for two weeks to do the basics. She certainly felt alone, but she got food and all the rest. It was winter and snow, so he wasn't letting her out. However I think that H. can ask only for this extent of help and only on an exceptional basis. Also, here in Norway people tend not to bother others with their problems and try to find other ways than asking for help first.
And then there is Toska, the cat I took from a shelter 2,5 years ago. H's experience with her is not very enthusiastic. Obviously he accepts her and remarks how much she has changed for the better under my loving care, but she is NOT an affectionate cat. When upset, and she is (most) often upset, she can bite, scratch etc. Especially this summer, she spends all days and nights outdoor and only comes home to "charge the batteries" as we call it. All she wants from us is food and peace. And now that the kittens are here, she wants us around even less :). Toska will stay till her old days are over, but I was not lucky picking her and I love her like moms love a difficult teenager. But love, she doesn't give too much of it. Sometimes... :)
Now, to the kittens. We almost immediately decided that we would keep them (at least, I was saying...) till middle or end of August. There are dozens of adds about rescued and other home cats, dogs kittens to give away at this time of the year. Obviously, people (want to) get rid of them but talk of allergies, change of family situation, moving, new babies etc. Curiously, this all seems to happen in June and July!! So we decided to do the vet procedure, take them with us on the vacation we booked (that's going to be easy... hmpfffff.... 3 cats and a dog plus 2 bikes and the rest of the hiking stuff and a 7 hours drive each way...... don't ask me!) and take decisions later. From the first moment, we knew that we would only give them away (IF, that is)... to a very good home.

So, Huggy...

... and Felinek....

... got their first vaccines and health cards...

... more to come next week, and then rabbies (will tell why below) two weeks later, and then two weeks later... and the castration.... and the ID chips... So many vaccins and other treatments - IF they are will travel abroad... read further....
And that actually has gradually emerged as the MAIN problem. The whole procedure for TWO kittens will cost us over 1700 usd within 4 months. Add to this, litter (they "produce" quite a lot, if you ask me!!! we use bag after bag), kitten food, toys etc. They killed all the furry mice so we're on a mice diet for the moment, I can't buy some every day LOL! They LOVE playing. With everything. My mobile phone cable was particularly tasty so I don't have a cable anymore... aaargh! :)
Well, we argued A LOT about their future but I'll spare you that. Yes, those of you who wrote that you can't force your partner to accept unlimited numbers of pets are very right and I saw that point quite clear. It's just that I was totally panicked as to what to do.
AND - we totally love them, from the first second. We can't believe how anyone could get rid of them in such a cruel way. Now that I know them, I am absolutely sure they spent most of the day in that forest - and they were starved. They don't climb on us and jump now unless they're very hungry - which means they were already hungry that Monday.
We made sure that they are not "someone's" cats - it would have been quite a relief to find out we can drive them back somewhere. But first - our vet checked and they don't have implanted chips and second - see the map at the link HERE. We studies it well over the next days and it completely clear they were dumped there to die. As I wrote before, it's just wild and deep forest around. If you look at the map where all the lines meet at one point, more or less centrally, it is where we found them, directly at the borderline between Sweden and Norway. They were continuously crossing it :)
There is a small path from the main road to the lake to the upper left (west) - that's where the cabin we walked to is - desert. The other small path to the west just leads inside the forest. The only house you can find is far to the east - I mean, a few minutes by car, but clearly impossible for these two kittens to come from there.
I smiled at the vet - you were all right about their age, which shows clearly how much I knew about kittens (before I read a lot online now). They were **about** 4,5 months old, over 5 months old today, judging by the teeth they have. Most baby teeth gone, from what I understood. They look big when they "extend" but when they cuddle up, they are still tiny, tiny :)

And, I mean, they are adorable. Friendly, sociable, they love us and we love them. I mean, I love them to death and Hakon likes them - a lot. They are also very tied to each other and somewhat different. The grey one (Huggy) is insatiable when it comes to ideas - he makes things fall a lot, he jumps a lot, runs a lot, and loves to get love, but in reasonable amounts :) He prefers to sleep with small brother or alone. Now, the black one (Felinek) is playful, of course, but is also more calm, less brave in contacts with Toska, less courageous - AND he comes to sleep on our lap and to get hugs - a lot. He is a real love. He is so touching... but then I don't want to sound biased. When they both look at us with their sweet little eyes and give their little bellies to scratch, our hearts melt totally :)

They are exceptional, you see. We knew it from the first moment they run to us at the border. I don't have any experience with kittens, but I didn't imagine them so very used to people. Well, after my experience with Toska, I didn't imagine that there are cats who let you play with their paws and love it either!! So maybe they're my reward for all the pains she gave me initially? LOL
Okay, so before I write a whole book about the kids... Here are our options so far - they might change, but as of tonight, here's what we might do.

A - they both stay here. H. possibly tries to avoid it and well, I see that 3 cats and 1 dog is a lot in my chaotic schedules. Who knows, though. That decision will be made late in August.
B - IF I have to choose, I am keeping the black one. That is one sure thing. If WE don't keep both, I/we keep Felinek. He is too special. He is mine.
C - I got confirmation this week that either my aunt + my cousin and wife (who are building a house on the same property and are total cat lovers) will take both or one cat, or my other cousin + wife and kids (who live 5 minutes away) will take 1 or 2. What a relief!!! My aunt +++ had two dogs, the last one died not long ago, and she had many cats, currently 2 females and 2 males, all half indoor and half outdoor cats. One male is still sort of wild. The other cousin who lives nearby has a female dog and two male cats who fight with each other with ferocity since 2 years, so I'd really prefer it's my aunt and the other cousin who take my kitten(s). The only downside is that a busy road is close to the house and several of my aunt's cats perished killed by cars. Well, I think if I give away the kitten(s) to someone I don't well know here, there is the same chance it can get killed or given away at one moment, so this is an eventuality I sort of have to accept. Anything is better than dying in that forest, right?? Plus, 1 or both will get total love and care with a family who is very fond of animals and used to having lots of them. My cousin and wife rescued 2 black kittens 2 years ago at a parking but the male (Felinek looks almost the same as him) died killed by a car and the female died of unknown reasons last year, she was always sort of weak.

For the rest - either I stay here till December - that's how long the veterinary procedure will take with a short trip to Poland, or H. will have to take care of them till then. If they travel abroad, the kittens need rabbies shots twice and then an expensive blood test, passports etc.

So, the general plan is set up, the details will have to be worked out within August... All this is going to cost extremely much, but when you're like me.... with the job slump I experience, this is a real problem. I took the decision to go on stash diet till next spring - if that's the price I have to pay to give the best I can to these cat babies, then be it. I am ready to do it. I'll also probably try to sell a big part of my stash on ebay at one moment to cover the costs. If it has to be that way, it will be so!

I will of course keep you updated when details become more clear. Felinek will be mine, I just need to get H's acceptance, sort of, but I think it shouldn't be too hard. Huggy, I don't know... If I don't manage to keep him here, he'll have the best home possible in Poland with my family. (I forgot to add, for the sake of clarity, that I really can't keep 3 cats and a dog in my very small flat in Warsaw - especially because Toska will chase them like mad and especially because the two kittens would have a hard life there, plus Huggy would ruin the place in two days LOL! I can already visualize both of them running in the room... not!)

Now, I'm sure you know more than you wanted to know! :)

Don't they look....

.... adorable?

Here, playing with Happy - who seems to actually enjoy their company and sometimes plays with them! He is absolutely terrified of Toska, but then who is not... ;-)

Here Happy licked Huggy on the head and patted him ;-)
... and then told H. that well, they could stay, after all!

He shares his bowls with them sometimes...

... and let them rest...


... so they can play afterwards! (the toy was temporary, we got them real ones soon after)


THANK YOU SO MUCH, friends!!! Everything seems to work out well, slowly, now if we could only win the lotto to cover the costs!

Oh and please don't mind the ugly old wallpapers and floors etc., we're keeping the zoo downstairs in what once was the grand-parents' part of the house and which will be totally refurbished one day... but they can ruin it to their liking (says me, H. doesn't agree! LOL)