Strawberries?

Strawberries in October? Yup.. 

Very strange..

Oh dear..

Time sure is flying!

I'm sewing up a storm of secrets - and I need to blog about London. It seems like a dream - until I check my bank account.. 

Almost everything falls in the category of secrets - but some things do not. 

I'll be back when the storm of secrets settles to a breeze (shouldn't be long now..). 

Some more finishes

This summer, during our stay in Trysil, my mom and I worked on a kit from Anni Downs called Village Sewing Trio, consisting of a scissor keep, needle book and pincusion. When we went home, I only had a little work left on the pincushion (filling it, and sewing the decorative stitches around the edges). The set came together swift and easily - what took the longest time, I think, was to cut and prepare all the little bits and pieces.

My apologies for the dark picture..

After seeing the tutorial for the Simple Zipper Pouch at the Fat Quarter Shop's blog, I got hooked on making them. I've now completed four of them - two I've shown earlier, and here are the final two. 

Yellow and gray is a nice combination of colours.

The same goes for aqua and lime.

The pattern is so very easy, and it's easy to make little changes to make your own variations. (In these two, I've skipped the top edge above the zipper - I didn't like how it turned out on my first two, all bulky and weird..) I've used mini-charm packs for the front, and a plain or contrasting colour on the back. Lucky for me (? haha) I have about a hundred of these mini-charm packs.. Lots and lots of colours to play with!

The yellow-gray one is currently in my bag, containing my hand sewing project for a trip that's happening this very weekend. (I'm very excited!)

Getting ready for Fall

It's October! It's Fall! And our tiny garden (and patches) are slowly getting ready for fall.

Our sunflowers have bloomed and died, so on Saturday we went to Plantasjen and bought a couple of lyng (ericaceae) and planted those. 

A fell asleep during a short walk, so I ended up sitting outside in the shade (until it got too chilly..) while she napped. We're very pleased with getting all the house painting done - and not having to think about painting anymore this year. (Some of our neighbours are not completely done yet..)

It was a nearly cloudless day, warm in the sun - but a little chilly in the shades. 

***

I'm tackling our garden project soom too. Our tomatoes need to be cut down and harvested (those that have any chance of getting ripe) and the boxes cleaned up before winter's here. It's already October - winter can come quite swiftly, if it decides to.

A trip to Gjersjøelva naturepark

A sunny and warm Sunday saw us taking the trip to the nearby Gjersjøelva naturepark, where there is a small marina and a very old water-run saw (and mill).

A needed to take a nap, so she and I took a walk down to the nearby marina and enjoyed the view (and the boats of many sizes). 

We could see Hvervenbukta, where we collected shells and pretty rocks a few weeks ago, from a different angle. 

This old house reminded me of my grandparents' cabin in the woods.

An old steam-engine saw.

The old saw was called Gurisaga.

P tried fishing for the first time - and although he didn't catch any, he thought it was fun. :-)

Trip to Sundvolden (with work)

My office took a trip to Sundvolden a couple of weeks ago, as a joint teambuilding, extensive department meeting and Christmas party. Workrelated pictures are usually quite boring, so I'm not going to post any of those. Instead, here are a few pictures taken in the area around the hotel. 

It was a lovely and sunny day when we came (and the day after it was gray and foggy..). 

I found this stack of wood kinda fascinating. The change in colours, how some had cracked.. A picture one could keep looking at and see new details everywhere.

A tunnell leading from the gas station down to the water. 

It's not easy to take pictures towards the sun, but the view was just spectacular!

Sunshine reflecting in the water near the (tiny) marina.

More wood - this time a lumber wall of a small building.

The wall of a trafo-station. The spiderweb was gleaming in the light of the sun.

Orchids growing near a small stream. I don't think I've seen this particular one anywhere before. It was small, but very beautiful.