What time? Oh, that time..

Time seems to have been running too fast for me again. Here I am, thinking it's just been a wee bit of time since my last post - and suddenly we're in the second half of November!

My last post may have been on October 31th, which isn't too long ago, but when the thought running through your head says that your last post was a couple of days ago - then it just doesn't add up.. I feel like a lot of things don't quite add up these days. I mean, this morning a colleague and I went out for coffee (good coffee, not crappy, makes you feel sick, office coffee machine stuff) and the coffee shop had a sign reading 37 days till Christmas (we celebrate on Christmas Eve here in Norway, not on the 25th as so many other countries do). Well, where did that time go?

Angel, made a few years ago.

 With Christmas decorations popping up everywhere, especially in the streets and the stores, the urge to prepare lists and start shopping/making hits me like a brick wall. I have some ideas that I think will work out - but there are always those special people in your life which are really hard to figure out stuff for. I mean, how hard can it be to get a really good idea? Very!

Snow from Trysil, picture from ages ago.

 But I am looking forward to snow. I like snow. I miss snow. Do I like the late fall/early winter season here in Oslo? Nope. Why? Because it rains.. It's been raining for like a month now. Most of the trees have lost their leaves, which are on the ground, rotting to a mushy brown mudlike yuck (sorry for creating pictures..). A few weeks ago we had some snow falling during a Friday afternoon (but, since it was too moist, it barely stayed on the ground for more than an hour). I think I spent most of that afternoon listening to Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby singing Christmas carols. Which was nice - nice voiced and nice background music for work (I like listening to music while I work).

One of my mother's angels.

I'm looking forward to decorating our home for Christmas too. Since we're going away for most of the holidays, we're thinking of decorating a few days early. (Us being Norwegian, we have a tradition of not putting up any or just a very few decorations until December 23rd.) It is, however, nice to be able to enjoy the decorations and the lights for a few days before leaving. 

A yearly tradition, loved by many!

Today I'm off to the post office with Peder. I told him I had to go there to send a parcel today, and he really wanted to come. Which is fine by me, it means that I won't have to stress to get to the post office right after work and be worried about getting stuck in a line and being late picking him up from kindergarden. Instead I'll go pick him up first and then we'll both go. I wrapped the parcels yesterday, and barely managed to squeeze them into the bubbly envelope I'm sending. I sure hope the receiver will like them, otherwise she's free to return them (I wouldn't mind keeping them for myself)! Just joking, I think she'll love them!

Happy Halloween!

(I love this move!)

Trash throwing view

This was my view when I turned away from the trash cans this morning. Not a bad start on a very nice, but a bit chilly day. (Too bad I spent most of it in an office.. And tomorrow they say it's gonna rain..) 

Early Saturday morning

Friday to Saturday we had a child-free night. Hubby's parents were in town, and when Peder heard that they were leaving for the night, he asked if he could sleep where they were going to sleep (at hubby's aunt's place). I woke up early Saturday morning, and decided to get all my errands done before everybody came back, and had a nice, quiet stroll down to the subway by myself.

Not many cars or other people out, I think I met two or three others on my 10 minute walk to the subway station.

The sun rose over the park, and the blue skies were a welcoming sight after an almost full week of rain. 

Most of the leaf has fallen off the trees, but some trees are holding on to their leaves a little longer. No longer green, but yellow orange-y brown against the green grass.

Some birch leaves on the grass near the botanical gardens.

The sun seems to be burning like a roaming fire behind the birch trees.

From golden yellow-green to orange-y brown, the leaves show their colors against the white building.

Completely covering the grass near one of the playgrounds. 

I managed to complete my errands in a couple of hours and barely made it back home before hubby's parents came with Peder. There's been a bit of illness in our house lately - first hubby got a cold and then Peder - I ended up getting a sick leave for six days a couple of weeks ago, and now hubby's home sick (with sick leave). I hope we're getting all this crap done with now, and that the rest of the winter will be healthy and calm. (I think we need it - it will be busy enough when the new year comes, if we're not going to see more illness too!)

Oh, concerning SSCS-stuff? I'm almost done with the main parcel, the extras are fixed, and I'm thinking about the ornament. I feel the pressure coming, as the days seem to fly by in a whirlwind, but there's still a couple of weeks left until the deadline. 

Handquilting!

It's not often, but some times project just goes along so smooth that before you know it, you're handquilting a project you'd love to keep for yourself - but also enjoy making for your SSCS-"victim". 

I just hope the receiver will like it as much as I do..

(Just a sneak preview.. It's not Christmas yet..)

And so..

The knitting continues..

Another ball of yarn, another range of colours. Multicoloured yarn is actually quite fun to knit with. 

And playing with filters on my camera is also fun. 

The actual colurs are a bit clearer, though, the second picture is without filter. 

***

Have a nice evening!

Comfy..

There's not many things that can beat a chilly feeling like being wrapped in a quilt while sewing down the binding. It helps too, that the batting is wool. :-)

My view..

This has been my view for most of today.. 

Ended up on sickleave for the rest of the week. Throat and ear infection.. Lots of naps to follow.

Fall's here!

The other morning there was even frost on the cars parked in the street.

Anyone else humming the song from Frozen?

Enjoying..

Variegated yarn! 

Finally Friday

Happy weekend!

Fluffy and golden

The sun rose while I was on my way out this morning. I stopped to take a picture of the fluffy, golden clouds scatteted across the sky. 

Happy Wednesday, everybody! We're halfway to the weekend now. :-)

One hectic day.. (picture heavy post)

Yesterday I had the "joy" of getting up at 03:50AM to sneak out of the house.. took the first bus I could catch to go downtown and take the airport express train. The plane left at 07:00, and the destination was Trondheim!

Nice view from the air.

 I'd been invited by the bosses from work to hold a presentation at their monthly meeting, and after a 20 minute presentation, answering a few questions and giving some comments, I had the rest of the day to myself, before my plane went back to Oslo.

Apparently, I found the dentist district!

Hubby should've been with me, as the whole city is full of old signs and buildings, but I managed to take a few pictures for him.

A dragon on the side of the old post office.

The coolest lamp ever! also at the old post office.

A dove delivering a letter at the, you guessed it, old post office.

A pub, with the name "The Family" - with the sign/font from
"The Godfather".

"Mormors Stue", where I had lunch.

The local paper - since 1767.

The view going home. 

It was a very long day - I left home before 04:30, and wasn't home again until closer to 18:00. Managed to take a nap every now and then - on the airport express train, on the first plan, on the bus to the airport going home - and on the couch at home - before finally going to bed. 

Walking around Trondheim I managed to find a few of the shops my grandmother used to go to for sewing supplies - which was fun. Also the café where I had lunch is a place she used to take my sister and I for lunch or cakes when we visited. 

I hope to go back there soon, without the stress of a potential presentation hanging over me. (The presentation went great, by the way, and I was asked to do it again on Monday - this time for the people I work with.) 

But right now, I'm just longing to go to bed and get some more sleep. *yawn*

Good night and sleep tight - don't let the crafty bugs bite. ;-)

Busy September

Today's the last day of August, and September is knocking on the door. The first month of fall is here, although I will admit that I've brought out candles and a blanket some time ago (mixing in the fact that I've struggled with a cold and the evenings have gotten both darker and cooler, lighting candles in the evening makes the whole world a little more snuggly).

It'll be a busy September, at least for me, starting on Wednesday. Two days workshop at work with one of the projects I'm working on means that I won't be able to attend the first guild meeting after the summer.. A little sad, yes, but seeing as I haven't finished anything yet, perhaps it gives me a second chance to get something finished.

Let's see, what's the next activity.. well, next week I have both a whole day workshop for another project, and I will travel to Trondheim (and back again) in one day for a meeting. I will be making a presentation for the bosses at my job (not something I'm looking forward to, but it needs to be done). And the week after that there's a two-day gathering in Lillestrøm (a city about 12 minutes away from Oslo, by train) where my colleagues and I will gather from all over the country to try to learn better ways to do our jobs. In between all that, there's my swimming class on Mondays, Peder's dance class on Thursdays, Martin's climbing at least once a week. *phew*

An old picture from the archives.

So, what else is up..? Well, I've been looking forward to a few events coming up later this year (and next year) but it seems that a few of those will have to go by unattended by me. 

In a couple of weeks there's a quilt festival outside Oslo (more closely, at a hotel in Gardermoen, the airport). I've decided not to attend - first of all, it would've become ridiculously expensive to spend the weekend there and  attend courses. So I've decided to skip it, and miss out on meeting some of the many great designers in the quilting world. Oh well, there will be other chances. 

The next event is a crafts and Christmas expo in Lillestrøm (12 minutes by train from Oslo, as previously mentioned). I'm planning to attend with my mom, at least for one day. There will be shops from all over the country and with relation to many, many different crafts there. We attended this one two years ago, and it was great fun! Last year I missed it, though, because the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who was in London that same weekend, and we had to make a choice (we'll probably not be around for the 100th anniversary, so the choice was basically quite simple). I'm really looking forward to the expo, both seeing new shops, getting new inspiration - and maybe even crossing off a few points on my Christmas present list. (Memo to self : get that list started, apparently it's only about 179 days left 'til Christmas!)

Earlier this year I missed the huge Norwegian Quilt Guild meeting in March, which was a little sad - but to be honest, I thought it was too far away. Every couple of years they've arranged the weekend in or close to Oslo, which has been great. Close to major airports, easy to travel to, and - for those of us living in Oslo or the area around - easy to take a day trip to visit. However, it seems that next year it might not be so close to Oslo as they first announced. I've heard something about it being moved to a new area - and when the announcement reads Oslo, I'd be quite disappointed if it turns out to be true (and the event is moved to some far-off location). False advertisement? Oh well, we'll see how it turns out. I think that the sign-up's will be included in the next magazine. But I have a feeling that there will be much thinking and planning involved, should I think about attending next year (and not just for me, there'll be other things and others to consider too - I might just forget about going in the first place). 

Oh shoot, now I'm feeling a bit sad.. Guess I'll try to find something a bit more cheerful to think about - like planning the welcome to this world gifts I need to make to three new babies coming early next year. January/February babies need a bit of wool, right? I'll have a look at the patterns I have, perhaps small vests or hats will be suitable.

Not a very productive summer..

I blame the heat.. it's been record warm in Norway this summer, with a steady 28-29++ degrees celsius all through June and July, and over into August. Which means that the mood for knitting is in the mind only.

And as goes for sewing? Well, my sewing machine got packed away in June due to our planned redecoration of the living room and hallway. We ended up giving away my sewing table (need the space for something else soon enough) and after the rooms were finished, my sewing machine is one of the last things not moved down from the attic yet.

I've gotten a little bit of hand sewing done, a few stitcheries and playing around with english paper piecing (EPP) but no finished there either.

Guess I've been a lousy crafter this summer..

But! We've travelled around parts of Norway this summer, going to zoo's and climbing parks (outdoor, up in the trees). It's been an active and action-filled summer for Peder - one which we hope he'll be able to remember.

Petting guinea pigs.

Climbing accidents..

Skull playground!

Suddenly shy when meeting a pirate!

One of the "heroes" - the pirate Langemann.

Captain Sabeltann - a known character for all
Norwegian kids!

Orangutan baby and mom enjoying the sun.

Playful tiger - cute kitty!

Sunshine peeping through the rainy clouds.

Testing..

A new project in the making. No pattern, just testing and playing. 

Wazzup?

I've been a poor blogger this summer, but the last month has been active and busy. The three of us had three weeks vacation, and I have a ton of pictures to show and stories to tell - which I will share soon. With tropical temperatures here in Norway this summer, temperatures about 5-10 degrees higher than usual - there's been little crafty going on. Too hot! 

I'll leave you with a picture for now, and get back to blogging about this summer a little later.