Heading to bed at 4 am... working hard during my last week-end here, not happy at all!

Just popping it to show the BD exchange I stitched for Nancy K. So glad she likes it, I loved it too!

It looks bigger than it was on the picture, I zoomed to much with the camera. It is actually stitched one over one, so pretty small and delicate, with much fresher colors - it was a very grey day and even going out of the house didn't help much with the light!

December's Wishes by Blackbird Designs, 

from the book "A very fine collection"

So glad that you enjoyed the winter walk :) Actually all the huge amounts of snow are still there since Christmas, we only got some snow showers after that. Now I hear Poland got the very low (-28 Celsius this morning) temperatures we had for 2-3 weeks. I'm leaving Norway in 10 days or so and I hope we don't get THAT again when the plane lands in Warsaw! LOL Here it's not so bad anymore but I miss sun, days have been mainly grey the past week.
I keep hoping for more time during the day to update this blog with presents I have received, other photos... but work seemsto inflow through doors and windows and I don't dare to complain after the terrible job slump I went through the last two years.
I already miss the cat-boys. It breaks my heart to leave them again soon for some long weeks. I'm hoping to return after 5-6 weeks but that's a loooong time, if you ask me. These two little creatures brighten every day we have. I'll repeat myself again, but I really didn't know cats can be *so* gentle, social, friendly, cuddly and dependent on people. They are around us all the time, whether to sleep on our respective work desks or to ask to have their bellies rubbed. Always so dependent on each other, always together, always caring about each other. They sleep together, eat together, go out together... you get the point. Beware if one brother is stuck closed in a room! Brother # 2 will let you know immediately. They start to show their individual traits as time passes, but one thing doesn't change, the special connection that ties them together. I'll have to set up a slideshow to show you what I mean.
I pulled an all-nighter last night to deliver a text on time in the morning and I only slept 2 hours during the day - more work was coming in. I just feel for finding my bed and crashing in there for the night, so I'll leave you for today with this short update.
By the way, Kathy Barrick from CHS has been listing lots of OOP charts in her ETSY shop since Sunday. Some are gone, so I'd recommend you have a look in her Sold section - I am almost sure you could ask her for them with a positive result. I picked some charts I didn't know at all, like Katy Horn (I absolutely love it!!!), and Fanny Small, and In the garden, and Sampler folk....Go have a look before it's too late! :)
I've sent my Blackbird exchange some time ago, so I hope to be able to show it soon.
In the meantime, here are some WIPs I started during by the end of the old year and that will keep me busy for some long weeks :)

So. Where do we start? First, a chart I got and kitted the moment I saw it. Vintage Lace by Rosewood Manor. Something about the colors I liked. Now, even on 36ct., the end result will be BIG and I am not sure I like it. Hopefully I'll find a place to hang it one day. The fabric is Lupine by Picture This Plus, who amazed me with how fast they sent it (next day) and how fast it reached me here in Norway (just one week). How do  you like it? There are 14 parts and I finished almost 3 so far. The charts are not always easy to follow and the bad light in this old house is killing my eyes, but I love the colors.

Next is my start on CHS Shores of... I only got so far, later distracted by the WIP above and other small designs. It's my first of the series I'm stitching and it's surprisingly agreeable to work on, like most CHS charts.

The boys have busy mornings these days. I couldn't get a good shot of Lucky, so here you can see only Felinek, very still, very dedicated...

The reason for all this concentration? Blue tits! I haven't seen them around a lot this winter, sadly. We've hanged the food balls on two trees for them but they only came a couple of times so far.

And just in case you noticed some icky spots on the kitchen window above, you were very right. Here's how this window looks like:

 ... little cat paws all over the glass... you see, snowflakes can be very entertaining and it's very important to catch each and every snowflake you see!

Till tomorrow, hopefully!

What about a little winter walk?

The last ten days have been insane, I was swamped with work. The next two weeks will be just the same, but I promise to write back to all who I need to reply to. I'll return tomorrow (so many emails to write, so much to blog about), but in the meantime, why don't you join me for a little walk in the surroundings?
While you enjoy the snow, I think I'll finally hit the bed, I just slept 2 hours over the last 2 days... Did I mention too much work? (but let's not forget: work is money and money is stash!) :)

The house on the 1st picture is ours, the brown own the neighbouring one, which belongs to H's uncle.

The Queen of Hearts

That is how Tanya called this little cutie from her companion Valentine booklet. The Queen of Hearts won mine the moment I saw her.

I wouldn't be me if I didn't pick my own threads for it... I checked the DMC colors recommended and when on with a similar scheme but I choose silk for the dress. My Queen of Hearts had to be elegant. I added four silver/orange/transparent glass beads in the corners and a cluster of the same beads of my initiative in her hands. She looked a bit empty so I decided to have her look so like if she carried a bunch of flowers. Some red floss and white and red beads in the upper right corner and she's ready for St. Valentine!

A question

Has anyone seen Just Nan's Snow Deer kit with a *brass* frame (not silverish) at their LNS that they could get for me? (I'll pay all costs, of course)
It's just that I waited too long and now that I so badly want it, I can't seem to find it online, either all are sold out or the silver frame is left. If anyone could help me out with this one, I'll be so very grateful!

I received Tanya's Valentine booklet this morning, lots of cute charts. They come with no stitched photo included so it's a fun play trying to guess out colors I'd like etc. I smiled seeing "A little tea if you please" re-released in this booklet. When it first came out as a freebie, I finished it this way...

Actually, it became a whole set...

It's less cold this week-end, how nice! This week, I've beaten my life record: it was -28 (around 1 Fahrenheit?), totally crazy! The main topic in the Norwegian media was the COLD and when the Norwegians start to talk about cold, then it *is* cold. From what I am being told, it is not unusual to have -15 to -20 in the Oslo region for, say, a week during winter, but now it's been several weeks of much lower temperatures.
Hah! I'm brave. I wanted to experience how it feels being out at such temperatures and I had a 20 minutes walk with Happy at -24 Celsius. I can tell you it felt... special. He was fine as he had his coat on and even little shoes which he got used to quite fast. Beyond -20 he can't walk without them, it seems, he lifts his paws and is so suffering that it makes no sense to have him out other than a few seconds. And that's what we have been doing - we have a long line (20 meters?) that he runs on in the garden. We just open the door, he does his business VERY FAST and runs back home. And this many times during the day. Otherwise when it's warmer (-15 to -20) we have normal half an hour walks.
During the walk I started to write about, I experienced funny things for the first time in my life. That when you breathe (I had a warm cashmere scarf around my mouth), air freezes instantly at such low temperatures and 1) it freezes your eyelashes and glues them because of the vapor that covers them AND 2) that you get ICE in your nose.... Not funny! :)
Only later in the newspaper I read tips from the army winter-school in Elverum (where Americans and Brits are sent to just before they're deployed to Afghanistan, to prepare them for the cold and mountains) and other articles where they recommend to wipe your face from ice with your hand, skin to skin, once in a while, otherwise you can get frostbites (if you have your face covered with something). Lots of interesting tricks and tips. I didn't know either that wool is better than cotton as the inner layer against your skin (cotton is fine as long as it is dry).
Tell me, how did I land with a Norwegian better half? Me, who spent 11 years of my tender life in North Africa? Life is weird. From sun, sea and beaches to snow, cold and wild nature. But, the funny thing is, I love it.
My father would have screamed if I told him we sleep in an unheated room - I and H. both love it that way! The house has to be warm, sure thing, but we need to have it fresh in the room to sleep good, otherwise I wake up tired and sloggy. Of course, we sleep under goose feather sets, but no heating in the room :) I'd have opened the window a little bit but a) H. has his limits LOL! and b) they are frozen, the windows, with ice. So there.

Last week was so busy with work that I decided to spend this week-end doing nothing. N-o-t-h-i-n-g except for some cleaning, cooking, blogging and stitching, in good order.

Here is the ornament I sent to Ellen S. in the recent HOE Christmas ornament exchange. I love how it turned out and I just need to stitch it again one day for myself.

Homespun Elegance
"Festive Redbird"

I sent the ornament below to Hazel for the Prairie Schooler exchange.
Oh, that one took a good two weeks to stitch since I insisted on stitching it over one. It is done with DMC and overdyes of my choice. So glad that Hazel liked it!

Prairie Schooler
adapted from book #95 - Christmas Traditions

Some of you would like to see the cat-boys and I'll happily oblige! The photos below are of bad quality because I took them during the night.

They are always together. Always.

I mean, aren't the two brothers beyond cute?


Yep, they got a scratching post this week. When we drove to Sweden to do food-shopping (a tradition for Norwegians because across the border, everything is dirt cheap comparing to here!), we found this one for 1/3 of the Norwegian price. We're still thinking of buying a huge one one day, but on the other hand, won't they have more than enough climbing and playing opportunities in the garden once spring arrives?

So far, they love it... (well, excuse the pile in the background, H. is busy sorting old stuff)
I'll leave you with this picture of the enchanted winter world taken in the garden...


Have a cozy Sunday!

Time to show a bit of cross-stitch, don't you think? I've been babbling about all sorts of personal things when I returned to blogging (what a pleasure to receive visits from so many friends and meet new ladies!)...
Today, let's start with this star...

Christmas Star
by Faby Reilly Designs

Oh I must say it wasn't nice to stitch and took about two weeks to work and finish. Lots of color changes - which you don't see when it's finished. The designer charted it for DMC and used different shades of green and red. If I had thought about it earlier, I would have simply substituted all those for overdyes to get the same effect. And then the backstitching... eeeek. It doesn't follow the contours or anything. Now, when it's done, complimented with beads all around and in the poinsettia flower, I must say it's just gorgeous. I like so much Faby Reilly's designs so after a little time to breath from this type of chart, I will pick some other ones. Have a look at her website if you don't know her yet, some charts are just awesome!

Upon my arrival to Norway, I was greeted by this unexpected gift from Harmien... Oh the joy, oh the beauty! This cat angel by Bent Creek cheered us all through the Christmas period :) The idea for the finishing is superb, with the vintage bell hanging on a golden cord attached to the top... love it!

The next envelope was from Jennifer... a lovely card, a skein of funny colorful thread (always like to discover etsy sellers!) and lovely charts... What's best than receiving holiday cards from lovely people?


Earlier in December, Mylene sent me this nice package which took an awful time to arrive. The chocolate, as you can see, didn't survive the photo op'! LOL

Mylene stitched this lovely ornament for me... sorry the picture shows it a bit pinkish, it's not, it's a white-white fabric and the colors are so nicely coordinated, the finishing so well matched and neatly done... Love it, love it!!

One highlight of this Christmas was a package from my father and his wife, in which among others I found these amazing ornaments made of dough and seeds... it made me smile all the way not only because they are so beautiful, but also because it means she got me something "crafty" or "handmade", knowing I like handcrafts...
Almost the last thing for today, the lovely BD ornament I received from Cindy (NY) in the recent HOE Christmas ornament exchange. The hanger broke during transport (how weird!) so I will repair it and mask with a nice bead or something. Thanks again, Cindy!


And this week, we received a Christmas package from my brother who lives in Switzerland. Inside was a double Patrick Bruel's CD for me and for us both... lots of fancy French cheese! When my brother asked me what he could send to H. I mentioned camembert... but I was expecting only one! LOL
That and good wine and crackers completed our long evenings this past week... :)

Happy New Year!

We spent the last evening of the year quietly, at home, just as we wanted it. We watched Australia with Nicole Kidman, which took time to unwind and made the evening a bit boring, to say the truth :)
Usual calls to family past midnight, and here we are in the New Year!

For me, 2009 was a crappy year beyond words. Bad, bad, bad. Entirely forgettable. The crisis hit my business really hard and work really picked up only in November. Hopefully it will continue! I already have a few texts to deliver next week. Money, money issues and money worries dominated my thoughts and humor most of the year, sadly... In October, we lost my grandma after a long and painful fight. In November, my cousin's 14 years old daughter found a 1,3 cm "ball" in her breast. Oh the scare... she lost one ovary at the tender year of five. Turns out it is not dangerous, but it was a stressful wait. I was also badly shaken by the loss of a translator colleague in Paris who died after giving birth to her 3rd baby, leaving a one year old and a four year old. Unbelievable that at in our age, women can still die giving birth, but the doctors did whatever they could to save her. Sad, sad. Reading many friends' blogs and their sorrows confirmed it just wasn't a good year for many of us. I'm writing this with a warm smile towards Donna and Gabi, whose year was equally difficult...

I really wanted to write this yesterday, but time ran out fast. I am entering 2010 with lots of plans, hope, energy and smile. Actually I haven't felt that strength since many, many years. Cheers for the New Year! May we all have reasons to smile, stash to sort, lots of joyful moments to remember, few days to forget... Happy New Year, everyone!

Here's what I missed by not being home in Warsaw yesterday evening. A huge fiesta set up just three houses from mine (mine is on a nicer side street). Here are two movies from our main newspaper showing the preparations for the big party. You can see a bit of my usual surroundings. That big place called Plac Konstytucji was a "gift" from the Russians, built in the 50-ties. Remember, Warsaw was almost totally destroyed during the war. The style of that place is, well, what it is. We hate it and there are ambitious plans to hide and mask this and that and built modern facilities and expensive shops to turn it into Warsaw's own Champs Elysees. Chicken will grow teeth before it happens but we have faith in that day will come! LOL

Sylwester w Warszawie: Ogromna scena na pl. Konstytucji

Sylwester. Wielkie przygotowania

My Norwegian Christmas in pictures...

Christmas dinner at H.'s mother... her tree, though artificial, was splendid and I smiled seeing at least three ornaments I made for her during the years hanging there too..

H. got us a lovely assortment of traditional Norwegian Christmas cakes... for your enjoyment, I added their names...

After dinner, my H. distributed the gifts... a lot of joy and smiles!

Back at home, we continued celebrating with a tradition we have in my family, introduced by my father when I was a kid... the tailed part of the family gets a gift too! When it was only a dog, a double sausage was hanging directly on the tree :)

Happy the dog got a gift as well but he was very quick at eating it, so - no picture! LOL

Answering questions: Toska stayed at my aunt... it was no sense to stress her with a plane trip just for 6 weeks.
The cat-boys names are Felinek (black and white boy) and Lucky (grey and white boy). I liked your suggestions around Loki and similar names, but H. wasn't fond of it... close to it, we chose Lucky - because he is lucky, isn't it? :)

Over the next days, we relaxed A LOT! Just the way we wanted it...!

We got tons of snow and low temperatures... -23 Celsius yesterday (9 Fahrenheit?) Here's what H.' mother neighbouring little house looks like:

Our garden looks idyllic but I could only take that picture as the rest of the land is inaccessible because of all the snow :)

Happy enjoys it... moderately...

He seemed to say - 'Am I a seal or what?'

More later....

Merry Christmas to all my friends! Enjoy these special days.... Relax a lot.... Stitch a bit... Blog a little... Laugh as much as possible.... ENJOY!

WESOŁYCH ŚWIĄT!

We're back from Christmas dinner at H.'s mother... my first Norwegian Christmas... The cats and Happy loved going out in the snow... We're all tired after the last busy days and look forward to lots and lots of doing nothing the next days! :)

The cat-boys enjoy their first winter... Aren't they big? I swear they double their size within each month! :)

A longer pause

I have lots to post (and I apologize to Encarna and Lisa S. for not showing the beautiful pieces then sent me) but for the moment being, this blog will be on pause... a week or two more, a month, I don't know.
I am at my grand-mother's bedside since oh, so many days, waiting for a death that doesn't come, for a relief in grandma's suffering. My aunt and I are taking turns day and night at her bedside, so at this moment I am beyond tired. Her strong heart doesn't let go while all else is not working anymore. She can't even swallow, so we put drops of water on her tongue all the time. Tonight, I'll be 'on duty' till 4 am so that my aunt can get some sleep. Listening to this hard breathing, seeing her unconscious and obviously in pain is difficult.
At almost 101, my grandmother is leaving and I just don't have the inspiration to blog - and even time to stitch. But I'm working on a bigger job to deliver on Thursday, so I thought I'd leave a short hi here.
No real sadness, no despair... Grandma had a long life. But it's tough to accompany her in this journey that doesn't seem to end. Her strong body is her worse enemy at this moment.
Ah, I'll tell you - think twice before you wish anyone 100 years of age.

TADA!!! Meet my pear

See what I found in our garden:


A real pear! Did it grow there? Naaah, I made it for the Blackbird Designs exchange!! So glad with the result, really. It has now found a welcoming, warm home at Barbara's.
I used a Tilda pattern from the book "Home Sweet Home" - I love Tilda designs (and of course, she's Norwegian), though I am not a real "Tilda addict" as her fans call themselves. Don't really like the lady dolls - just like with Prairie Schooler, I am in the minority, it's not the Santas I like most (but the flora and fauna-related charts). Anyways, I am showing the original to the right - I like Barbara's more, hehehe! But this is where I got the idea.
The pear is not difficult at all to construct - but I have to admit it doesn't look like a pear at all till it receives a stem and a leaf (which I made but forgot to send). I chose to add a piece of wood from the garden, thicker, which I cut to the right proportions - and it looked fantastic.
The next step was to sew the BD design, the crow from "Souvenirs of Summer" onto it. I stitched it one over one but I am totally unsure of the count of the fabric, maybe 36ct? Really don't know. I am so hopeless at remembering such details that I need to check a close-up - did I use Lakeside Linens or R&R? Oh I'm so bad at those details.
Hah! I even bought the same Tilda fabric on a trip accross the border to Sweden. H. did the food shopping while I grazed in the Panduro shop.
I was not so happy with my sewing on the pear but Barbara is gentle on me and doesn't pick on the details :)
Two wooden buttons and the trick was done.

I was also delighted that the post service was so fast - sent on Wednesday in Norway, received in Holland on Friday!

And here's the bottom... these threads make the pear look even more "real"... but it's hard to see it on the picture.

I'll be back later with more to show.... but now I need to return to packing. I'm leaving Norway on Monday... sad, sad, sad days as I pack, sort, clean and enjoy every moment with the cat-boys! :)
We want to do as much at home as possible today so we can enjoy at least half a Sunday outdoor somewhere.

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!)