You better start early..

If you want to be creative with fabric. Just look at Mini, who discovered a pile of fabric in his grandmother's suitcase this morning.

I'm making beds for all of you. 

 The sun was shining bright, making it a little difficult to take good pictures, but I think you can see how he's arranging all the fabric into beds, with blankets on top.

This is grandma's bed. 

On Friday I had the urge to finish something that's in my pile of "construction work". (Maybe it was the fact that the whole apartment's looked like a construction site for most of these past two weeks.. but I really had to finish something.) In the pile I found this jacket I'd knitted for Mini a couple of years ago. A thread break had caused a hole, and it had spent most of the last 18 months just waiting to be repaired. Looking at it, I thought it was quite roomy for being a jacket knitted in size 12-18 months, so on Saturday I asked Mini if he wanted to try it on. 

Roomy - and short-sleeved.

Well, there's nothing to say about the width of the jacket. Could've used another inch on the length, maybe, but it's not that bad either. The sleeves? Oh, another two or three inches, and he could still use this today. I think it's funny.. I thought it was a little big when I knitted it - but seeing this, I must've been waaaaaay off when it comes to tension. Though, I do love the colour - gorgeous gray - and the buttons are so cheery and bright. :) I'd knit it again, that's for sure! (The pattern is called "Little Ivanhoe", designed by a norwegian lady, and is available through Ravelry.

So, with hubby in Boston (on some kind of design conference) and the kitchen /apartment a mess, what have I been doing in the evenings after Mini's off to bed?

Candles, white wine and Criminal Minds..

Well.. knitting - a little - stitching, some appliqué, finishing some projects, planning new ones, dreaming, watching season 1 and 2 of Criminal Minds, and enjoying a glass of ice cold white wine. The bottle in the picture came home with me after a 23 hour cruise to Denmark with some colleagues a couple of weeks ago. Just the right size for me - I think it's about 2 glasses - and the flavor was nice and mild.

***
Right now I'm listening to two carpenters working on our kitchen. They come in every now and then to ask about something (and I'm hoping that the long list hubby left me with is covered during today's session..). I don't like to "play boss" when it comes to these things.. I like to have a plan at the start, and see that it's all done when it's finished. They know (or should know..) what they're supposed to do, so I shouldn't have to babysit their every move, should I?

Outside the sky is nearly cloudless.. it's almost 22 degrees celsius in the shade - and I'm stuck inside.. At least it seems like they're working fast. They've been at it for about an hour now, and the cupboards are more or less up on the wall. (No, I'm not checking up on them, I'm trying to stay out of the way as much as possible - but when they ask me to check things, I come.)

Just a little bit more patience.. (I hope..)

MIA - or, How to Test Ones Patience



Image from the internet.

 I've been a bit MIA (missing in action) lately, mainly because of our apartment looking like a construction site (well, perhaps not that bad, but..). The old kitchen's been torn out and we've had carpenters, plumbers (and next week an electrician's coming) and stuff going all over the place (the fridge is in our bedroom, stove in the living room, and the freezer box is currently in Mini's room).

Yesterday the last missing pieces were supposed to be delivered (the remainig cupboards and stuff) - yes, you read correct, supposed to.. but, when hubby phoned IKEA, wondering why they hadn't called to set a time for the delivery truck to come, they suddenly informed him that the delivery had been moved three days - so they weren't coming yesterday, but rather on Monday! (Apparently, there's alot of deliveries to be made these days.. well, that sucks, because we'd made our order almost a month ago, and had carpenters that were to come in today (Friday) to get everything done..)

I find it very strange that they didn't even bother to call or email to inform about the change in schedule.. I mean, we'd made plans with everybody (carpenters, electricians, etc) and there was quite a fuzz to have to reschedule those guys too. (Not to mentioned the fact that we've now been without a proper kitchen for more than two weeks.. and I'm getting pretty sick of it all..)

So, should I dare to hope that things will (..finally..) be finished and back in order Tuesday night? Or is that keeping my hopes waaaaay to high?

Blooming.

Due to the late spring in Norway this year, it's taken some time for the grass to turn green and the flowers to bloom. 

I thought I should show you some pictures taken these past few weeks, showing some of the blooming going on.

First off is a bouquet of flowers which arrived on our door a few days ago. Long story short, but I've decided to change jobs, and my new employers sent me this bouquet of bright yellow, happy flowers, welcoming me onboard.  

Flowers from my new employers.

We've been spending some extra time on our walks back from kindergarden, because Plutt wants to pick flowers. He's obsessed with picking dandelions! So when he was busy picking dandelions, I found  some rainwater trapped in these leaves.

Raintrappers?

So for the past week or so there's been a glass of water and dandelions on our living room table. So very charming, Plutt's first flowers.

Dandelions were never more beautiful.

And these guys are finally blooming too! In Norwegian we call them syrin, but I think they're called lilacs in English. On my way to the bus I pass at least two different kinds - light purple and dark purple. I like the smell of the dark purple ones, the lighter ones smell a bit stronger in a way.

Lilacs / syrin.

Plutt and I met this guy on our way back from kindergarden one afternoon. Not quite sure what kind of bird it was, but it looked like it didn't mind us passing by quite close to it.

A bird with a view.

And finally, our pink tree (don't ask me what kind it is.. I have no idea..) bloomed suddenly when the heat came - and just as sudden, it was over and all the pretty pink flowers were gone..

Backyard beauty.

***

Well, this is all for now. I've got some projects that I'm working on, but seeing as I have a couple of days planned to be packed with sewing activities - the summer meeting at the quilting guild, amongst others - I ought to have something to show in a little while. 

Until the, take care!

Sunday baking.. again.

Another Sunday - another batch of cinnamon rolls. Yum!