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. 

Almost back to "normal"

The carpenters came Saturday morning (8AM). They had some corrections and finishes to do, and worked through the day. I think they finished around 5:30 PM, atleast that's when they called Hubby to say that they were finished.

Perhaps not that much difference from the last round of pictures, but the floor's done, the walls and roof painted - and the dust removed from the doors, walls and floor.

Livingroom, light and bright!

We've slowly started to move things back now - starting with emptying Peder's room so that he could go back to sleeping there. Couch, table and TV are back in the living room. 

There are spots on my lense..

Funny enough, there seems to be some spots on the lense of my Iphone camera. These spots are not on our walls, they just appear now and then. (I've tried cleaning the lense, but hasn't worked much so far..)

Hallway, with the door to the bathroom

It's nice to be done with the dusty part of redecorating. The reason why we haven't moved everything back the way it was, is that we're thinking of exchanging some of the furniture we had (shelves, etc) for new ones, lighter ones, but that's going to have to wait until all the bills are paid. (So far we're enjoying the space-y-ness of not having an overfilled livingroom - and Peder's really enjoying the ecco.)

Progress..

I took some new pictures of the redecoration process on Friday. (The carpenters were back yesterday, but - except from the hallway floor - there's not that bog a change.)

I think I have some smudges on my lense, those round spots are not on the walls.. The base layer has been painted, and the ceiling. 

Was a bit surpriced to find a pair of shorts left behind, and the new doors are still waiting in their packages. 

The hallway is almost ready for painting, and the door will be exchanged for a new one. 

But the corners still needed some more plaster (sparkel, as we say in norwegian). 

Today's Sunday. According to schedule, the electrician will come by on Wednesday, and the carpenters will be done by Saturday. I sure hope they manage to stick by their schedule - it'll be nice to move everything out of their boxes and down from the attic again. 

***

Happy Sunday!

Dusty..

Our entire apartment is covered in a thin, fine layer of dust.. I'm already daydreaming (nightmares?) about scrubbing down every room and rearranging them back to normal. Shit happens when carpenters are working in both the hallway and the livingroom. Peder's room is now being used as a livingroom (barely had space for the tv and the couch) and he's sleeping in our room while the work gets done. The plan is for the carpenters to finish by June 28th, but we'll see if they manage. 

While removing the wallpaper in the hallway, we discovered some funky colour combinations. How about three different (hopefully not all at once..) colours on the walls? Part red, part sea green and part yellow? 

The livingroom is a mess. I've got nothing else to say about that. The door's missing - we're changing new doorsnin the livingroom and the bathroom. I wonder how many days we'll be without a proper bathroom door.. Hmmm.. We went by the carpenter store today and selected new doors (and handles). I like the planning of fixing up our home - and the end results, but the middle part? 

I'm feeling very tired lately (have been up to around 1AM tearing down wallpaper for a couple of nights) and my sewing is just not happening. No sewing machine, etc.. I have a baby quilt (crib quilt) I want to start, but with all this damned dust? I think I'll stick to knitting for a couple of more days. 

Spam...

I think I have a secret crush on my spam filter.. After removing the word identificator, aka the I'm not a robot-function on the comments, I've had five spam comments in the last week alone! 

Luckily they've not been published, but recognised right away and ended up in a special little place - ready to be deleted. 

Now, five's not that much - but they're more than I've gotten in the last few years all together. I don't like spam - I prefer it when real people read and leave comments on my blog. (No, I'm not putting the safety function back on - not yet. If I get 50 spam a week, I might consider it.)

The picture is of my work pc last week. There's no fun trying to get maps when this is the results you're given after waiting for the program to finish thinking and processing your input. 

Daydreaming..

I'm spending the next couple of day tidying up, packing down and clearing our living room and hallway. The electrician's coming by on Friday, and next Monday the carpenters will start fixing the ceilings and walls (and floor). So, before that both rooms/areas need to be emptied and the wallpaper torn down. 

Martin and Peder are on a little trip. They left this morning and will be back some time early tomorrow afternoon. Until they return, I'm trying to get most of the small stuff taken care of, so that Martin can help me move the heavier stuff and furniture out of the way. 

Having a break now, and I can't help but daydream about traveling. I've been to London three times, but still I'd like to go back. 

View from the London Eye.

 I really like London - so big, but still so easy to go from A to B.

They've even got a Tardis!

I hope that I will be able to go back to London again, in a not so distant future. There's still so much of this city that I've yet to explore, and so many parts that I've visited - but I'd like to see them again. 

***

Oh, well.. 

Back to tidying and packing.. I wish I was done already.. :-/