Something about taste...

I don't like dark chocolate... or let's say I used to not like dark choolate, but now I do... I guess it's what they call an aquired taste... We all know that it is important to let children taste a lot of different things, so they will develope their sense of taste. But really, it shouldn't stop there... I am 40 years old and I am still capable of aquiring new tastes... that's not a bad thing.

I am a coffee person but still I know that there are so many interesting tasty teas out there, and I would like to develop my tasteskills in that field. A good way to do that is to buy these little tins with just enough tea to get to know the taste.

And yes, the cans are beutifull and as empty, they are perfect for storing earrings.

Lots of earrings...

I have a tendency to complicate things just a bit... Or so it might appear to other people. That's, not really what I think... As a matter of fact, I want to simplify things and in order to do that I need to know everything about the subject in order to extract the important stuff. For me that's a good way to work, but lets face it, once in a while it can be really nice to just do something without thinking too much. My father use to have this cap with the text " get the job done ". So one day I let that be the motto and decided to make some earrings for myself. I am not an expert at this, but should that stop me... no... I sat down and created a bunch of earrings thinking I might use some of them a lot, other less and some I might even never wear, but for now don't think about it... just get the job done... Now it is time to wear them and maybe make some alternations down the road.




They are a combination of pearls, semi precious stones, and some beads, my parents have brought home from their holidays. I made most of the hooks myself and hopefully in the future they will be the base for some ceramic earrings, because thats really what all the tools and wire is for... good to make some practical test on myself... like will they get angled in my hair ? ( I hate that ) How easy are they to put on ? and will they be irritating when taking a nap in the middle of the day ( The one you never have the time for anyway... ) ?









So that was that... one day with earrings... no more no less.

So it WAS Christmas...

And what happened ? I guess December just goes by so fast. It seems the same thing is happening with the month of January, so who ever it is that has pushed the time accelerator, please slow it down...

I am not much of a Christmas decorator. I normally just put up some extra candles and light chains, and allow myself to splurge in fresh flowers.

But as we all know, kids love Christmas and they also love decorating, so I decided to put up a "tree" in the kids room. The idea was to make some ornaments with Seth and put that on the tree together with all the stuff he brings home from kindergarten. It was perfect. We only made what time allowed, and avoided any Christmas stress.

It started out with the mother approaching it the aesthetic way, and since she believes in not controlling kids too much, she let the child colour the leaves green, which of course ended with the child who( luckily has his own ideas ) went to get his other crayons and coloured them blue, and suddenly decided to draw some boats... I mean boats... just can´t seem to find the Christmas connection.... or is it just me...?

Now the "tree" has been taken down and a new year has started. Happy New Year everyone...

In the storage room we keep a giant roll of sturdy drawing paper, which is great for projects like this. I will let this be a reminder to never put anything on that wall, so other projects like making background for his kitchen/shop or theater will be possible.

So it is Christmas time again...

I am not a huge fan of Christmas decorations. Don't get me wrong, I love entering other peoples homes decorated with candles and ornaments, but in my own home I get frustrated, it gets in my way: I have to move it all the time to wipe the table or to get some space for work. And those fresh pine branches has a tendency to start looking very sad and dusty in few days. I would rather treat myself with more fresh flowers and leave the pine outside... preferable with snow on them. But then there are the kids and of course we have to have a calender candle for countdown to the big eve. very stylized and simple things don't seem to look good here anymore. Somehow it makes our home look like we need to clear the floor for toys, the tables for yarn, fabrics and other rather colourful things. So for the decoration to blend in it has to have some of the same ( rather casual ) feeling...




So, I took a trip around the house and collected one of the old red tea tins from the kitchen, some toys from Seth's room, and some porcelain mushroom and plastic berries, I had bought a couple of days ago.

That's when I had the idea. Maybe after Christmas I should keep the decoration things inside the tea can for next year, and since I have one more of the tea cans I could make one for Seth and one for Dea and let them have some of their small toys or even a pacifier that they don't use anymore.Inside the tin could also be a little piece of paper telling the story about each of the things. If I do that the same way every year they might get that sentimental Christmas feeling about it, and isn't that what it is all about...

This year it has a spinning top bought for Seth on a holiday in Sweden, a little wooden tree from his railway set, a green pipe cleaner bought for making his
costume last years local spring feast (Shrovetide), and a little snowman that was part of a snowman bowling set (sic!!) that came as freebie with his weekly Donald Duck.

Taking a stroll...

During the pregnancy, one of the things I was looking so much forwards to, was taking a stroll with baby Dea. I have such good memories of walking with Seth. It really feels good after all these hours, I have spend during my pregnancy, lying on the coach with no energy and the constant nausea... I always bring coffee, or (since this is my second child and time is not plenty) get a coffee to go and lucky for me, a coffeeshop making the best café latte ( Illy ), is just around the corner. Very often the destination is the local library. Often I leave home in the morning and return mid afternoon. Once in a while John calls me... "is everything all right ?" he says ... Oh yes, I am more than fine... He still finds it hard to believe that anyone finds walking to be such a pleasure... Some of my friends might be quite surprised if they read this as I am known for getting a little irritated when the `"lets take a walk..." thing comes up. But it is not really true. I realize now that normally I walk a lot while working in the studio and I often have my coffee outside, so fresh air and physical activity fills plenty in my life.




The pram is from an old friend ( thank you Kirsten... ) who bought it back in the 80´s for her son . The fabric of the hood had very 80´s like pastel coloured flowers which was not really my thing, so when we had Seth, I painted it and treated it with leather grease. It was fine, but after 3 years of intense use, it was not any more in a good shape. The colour had faded and it even had a hole in the hood. And this is how my brain works... off course I will just make a new one... How difficult can it be...? I will just take it apart and figure out how it was made. When one starts a project like this, you take the first step ( which in this case involved my father and extremely many tools... ) and then there is really no way back. At the same time I had the nausea to deal with. During a week when the nausea was not too bad, I finished sewing the hood. Then time went by ( with me lying on the couch ) and finally two weeks before due day it was time to mount the hood to the pram...




That's when the trouble started... Lesson number one... When one starts a project of this kind, finish it when everything is fresh in your mind and you can actually remember how to put this thing together. ... my father helped me, but all the time we ran into problems, most of them dealing with how to fix the fabric to the table when we were working on it. All the time my belly got in the way, I got frustrated ( read hysteric ) and we quarreled like fathers and daughters can do. At the same time we cracked up in a big laugh, since the situation was rather bizar...

All in all we succeeded. The pram looks beautiful and gets lots of comments on our strolls, but I am happy I don't have to do it again...




Now it is time for a walk...

Meet Dea...




Here she is 3 weeks old, and tomorrow she will be 4 weeks old. In one way it seems as if she was born yesterday and in another it seems as if she has been with us all the time.

She was born the 28 th of September, 6 days later than expected. Her weight was 4040 g. and her length was 55 cm.

This first month has been hectic. All of us are trying to get accustomed to the new situation. It sure feels a lot different to get the second child than the first one. This little girl has a very different temperament than her big brother, and as a baby, she demands a lot more attention than Seth ever did... But she is just so wonderfull. I still remember that moment two days after giving birth to Seth, when I looked into his yes and fell completely in love. The same thing happened with Dea.

I have spend this first month trying to fix some of those things that weren't taken care of during my pregnancy... and believe me, that's a lot of boring and not quite bloggable stuff... But I have to tell you that life feels wonderfull again. For the last months of my pregnancy the hyperemisis got really bad again, but that is all history now, and the coffee tastes good again, I can cook and is no longer haunted by strange smells.

My Christmas present...



Yes, I know this is a little late...

There are parts of my personality that is not concidered paticularly normal feminine features... one is : I don't know how to multitask... Once in a while I am incountered with a male person saying "you can do that you are a woman and multitasking is just your thing..." But no, I can't... I stick to one thing at a time, I focus and concentrate... Another is : I like gadgets. Not mobile phones ( They bore me crazy, and normally I have a hard time to remember to bring it with me, which is kind of the idea with a MOBILE phone ). But give some specific tool for the kitchen, my studio or even plain woodworking tools and I am thrilled.

This christmas I got an e-book reader... The kindle... And I was one happy girl. I spend hours reading the manual and testing and trying all kind of things. Now half a year later The things I partivularly like about this kindle is, that it has not a light screen. It uses the rather new technology called digital ink, which makes it possible to read outside in bright sunshine and also makes it very little powerconsuming ( It only uses pover when "turning pages" ). The result is this thin, cool to the touch 280 gram book, that can contain up to 1500 books. The digital ink, It is not (yet) in colour and therefor not particularly good to use for beautiful artbooks and other graphic heavy books, but for reading it is eminent and leaves you with a nice relaxed feeling of reading, that a computer just doesn't provide. But if you want to read about all its features, go check out Amazons Kindle website




I wanted to make a soft cover to protect my kindle, so I can have it in my bag and bring it with me everywhere. Some years ago I made a big piece of felted wool by knitting a big loose piece in Shetland wool on my knitting mashine. I washed it in the washing machine, and voila, I had the nicest thick piece of felt. I thouht that it would be great for this project. It was very easy and quick to make and I like the way the edges of the felt will soften over time. It has allready rounded the buttonhole to a nice teardrop shape. The big button is one I found secondhand and I sewed it to the cover with a thich warm yellow piece of cotton thread. I like the combination grey- yellow a lot. I made a tiny little bag for holding the cords and headphones ( I also use my Kindle for listening to podcasts...) I have made quite a few of these little bags, but seems never to have have eneough... I always make them with dobble fabrics, since it give it a not so floppy feeling. I always make the inner fabric white, since it just makes it a lot easyer so find the things inside than if the lining was dark. It has a dobble string system so opening and closing it is really easy.




These small, practical, pretty and nice-feeling solutions really make me happy and I am so glad, I finally got the time to treat my kindle with respect...

Getting ready for baby...

Since I got to know about Elizabeth Zimmerman, I simply just knew that if we were to have another baby, I would have to make Elizabeth Zimmerman's baby surprise jacket. I am certainly not the first to do that. This design has been knitted by so many people around the world numerous times since it came out in the sixties. It is a great pattern and I basically knitted it straight from the description, but after sewing it together I knitted some extra rib on the sleeves. The main reason for to why I did that is that the design is a a little short on the sleeves, and in my little family we produce tiny people with long legs and arms ( Johns genetics... ), but the other reason is that I wanted to be able to take the cuffs down and tie the ribbon, so these little hands will not get cold. Seriously gloves for babies ? ! ...that just doesn't work

This design is knitted in one piece and gives very pleasing stribes if using all different kind of scraps from the basket. If you want to see a lot of varieties on this design just try to google ( pictures... ) surprize jacket. I didn't wanted a multicoloured one because this cardigan might be all I have time to knit for this baby, so I wanted it simple so it can be worn easily with different kind of clothes.

I am very pleased with the combination of the orange and cream coloured yarn, it is perfect for either a boy or a girl. It was also a good feeling to use yarn from my stash...




We have started to have a little babytalk with Seth. This baby is not our first child, but it is the first time we get to have more that one kid around, and offcourse we are a little worried. Will Seth be jealous ? Will we be able to love this child as much as we love Seth. All those questions are not new to parents, and I am pretty sure we will tackle it all, maybe not perfectly, but absolutely just fine.

The rattle is going to be a gift from Seth to the baby...

Being a gardener...

No no, don't worry, this blog is not developing into a gardeners blog... I just have a few things to show you before moving on.

In the comments someone mentioned the word collection... and yes, I guess that's what it is all about. Finding those plants you are like getting to know them and their special needs.

Some of you might know that I grew up in a nursery, and of course I also did some work there. One of things I liked the most was seeding and making small cuttings. I still like that, and instead of going out to buy new plants the next season, I am harvesting seeds. At this moment the Pansy's are starting to look a bit worn out. I will cut them, put them outside and hope for them to bloom one more time in the fall. But first... harvesting seeds. Pansy's are not true from seeds so the ones I get next year might be a little different or a mixture of the colors, but that's part of the fun...




My dad showed me how to make these little seed envelopes out of small pieces of sandwich paper. I really like them. You can see the seeds through them and the sandwich paper has a nice crisp feeling to them. The person who invented these little wonders must have been some crazy Japanese gardener with an interest in origami, or at least that's my conclusion...




For collecting the seeds I have made some small bag in mesh that is pulled over the flower when it is starting to wither and secured with a little piece of wire. Then all I do is wait for the seeds to mature and collect into the little bag.




In the potting area, I would like to have a box containing all the tools I need, and of course the box should be beautiful and the tools nice and in good quality... So far I have made list of things I use, so I know what to wish for in a better quality and with more beauty




I have started to write notes down in my little garden book. I put in pictures and makes small plant portraits. It is really nice to look through and hopefully it will help me in planning the years to come in the studio garden and greenhouse

Last year I bought 3 Australian violets ( Viola hederacea ), and tried to take cutting from them, but it seems that the cutting where so moist that they withered away before the roots developed. My new attempt is to let them have the connection to the mother plant while the roots develope. To encourage them yo make roots have I secured them tight to the soil with little pieces of wire. I guess I am preparing for another child... The big question is : When to cut the umbilical cord...

Another thing I have done in my attempt to be a good gardener is to buy a propagator. With that I can give the little cuttings and seeds the ultimate environment for making roots and for sprouting. Like chilies that needs a very high temperature for in the soil to start sprouting.

Favorites from the greenhouse...

I have quite a few flowers in the greenhouse, but looking at all these flowers, I realise that it can be a bit too much, it seems that my preferences are going more in the direction of leaves and small flowers. But all in all a nice mix is wonderful



Another thing I have to consider is the maintenance level. The plants grow like crazy in the humid warm climate. Watering all these plants is quite a work, so a water post inside the greenhouse with a hose, is really necessary. Also the withered flowers need to be removed and the floor kept somehow clean from dead leaves, flowers and insects. It is a balance because it is still a greenhouse and to some extend it is okay with a little mess when you bring nature inside...




Living fairly north it is a wonderful feeling to see the speed of growth in the greenhouse. It is like having a little piece of the Mediterranean area, and makes me dream of experimenting with things like growing lemongrass, capers and ancho chilies (my favorite chili), but, let's see. Heat is not everything when it comes to growing, the amount of light is also an important factor. For some plants the length of the season here up north is too short to ripen the fruit.




When people asked me about what the greenhouse should be used for, I kind of tried to avoid answering, since I didn't really knew. That is not the entirely truth... I had lots of ideas but as with all other thing in my life, things tend to change, other idea pop up, some stays some don't, and in the end of the process I always have to conclude that it was best that it evolved slowly. I am at the start of the journey with this project, and still thinking, testing and rethinking it all. But at least it is a lot of fun...



At the end I have to thank you for the welcome back comments...what a nice feeling