Moving!

Time sure does fly when there's a lot to be done... We've been packing, packing and packing - the truck leaves on saturday morning! Today I'll be packing most of the kitchen utensils, except the really necessary ones of course - three plates, cutlery, a frying pan and something to cook stuff in, and it goes without saying that the coffee maker will be the last thing we pack. Can't have help without coffee to keep them going! The windows are mostly empty; we threw out some of our old plants yesterday, and the curtains are washed and hung, ready for my MIL to iron and hang in the new house (gotta keep her busy as well).

The main plan will be to transport H's room and her toys on the first load, and then H and MIL can stay at the rental to set up H's new room while the rest of us go back here and pick up another load. Unload, lunch, get in the truck again and pick up (hopefully) the last load. We'll put most of the banana cartons (yep, that's what we're packing up all our stuff in - that's a LOT of banana cartons!) in the storage and in the attic, and then we'll take our time unpacking only the most necessary stuff. After all, we'll be moving again before Christmas, so there's no use unpacking everything.

We have had some time to do fun stuff too, H and I - we've been to the beach a few times with my new friends from school (T and L - they both have kids about the same age as H), and H is loving it. I've even immersed myself in the wet stuff at the beach! It's actually kinda hot here - 30 deg. Celcius is high temps for Sweden, and we've been having it for a week now. I actually look like I've been outside, instead of my more normal "white as a sheet"-appearance. (Usually I take great comfort in what my mum (the nutty brown summer one) keeps saying: "White man should be white.")

I've had some time left in the evenings to do some finishing as well, but of course I've now packed my camera cord somewhere, so I can't upload any pics to the computer...

When we were at my parents' for a week, I had a morning in town all by myself - and of course I found myself a crafters shop - Lines hobby - with the most dreamy of all sewing rooms. About 40 m2 of fabrics, patterns, bags, books and everything associated with fiber crafts, with samples and all. I found a Rosalie Quinlan bag I wanted to do, and got some help finding the perfect fabrics for it - it will be a fantastic autumn bag, with sunflower lining :) I absolutely did not plan on spending all my money there - I was looking for a new belt for my jeans, for crying out loud! - but how could I not? It was a quilter's dream come true, and I'm not even a quilter! I'll have to remember to bring extra cash for stash shopping the next time we go visit my parents ;)

Now I have some packing to do, and no idea when I'll be online again. We don't have a telephone line or a broadband connection at the rental house (houseowner's mistake, not ours), but I'll do my best to come back here some time later in July. If all else fails, I'll go to the library and use the computers there. Until next time, all my love

Från Life, Stitching and Everything

Crafty comeback!

Woohoo! My crafty mojo is definitely back - I have a hard time finding enough hours for all the stuff I want to make right now... Mostly, it has to do with Barbies and fulfilling little H's wishes, but I'm also xs'ing into the dark hours of the night.

I've even got my new camera now, so I can show you some of what I've been up to! First off, my Barbie (from now on called Emma, just so there will be no confusion as to whose dolls I'm creating for here - no need to pretend) in her brand new outfit. A girl's got to have a nice formfitting cotton dress now in the summer for sightseeing and such, and of course a new handbag is necessary as well.


Credits: Background - my own pond in the garden, an hour ago. Dress pattern: from Barbiebasics (Lynne Sears) Handbag pattern: Entirely my own, just crochet in the round or something, and play around until you get the right shape (or comment here, if you want to know specifics) and make a chain of stitches so the doll in question can hang the finished handbag over her shoulder.

Other than that - I discovered the Twilight saga, that's why I've been away for so long now. I just HAD to see what all the fuzz was all about, read the first one and very soon realized I had to know what happened next - so of course I took myself down to the bookshop and bought the rest of them (in English, of course). I think the last one took me two days, the others a day each (ah the joys of being on holiday when the kid's in school). I had no idea you were "allowed" to write words like hadn't've - I was always told to only use one short form at the time... The times they are a'changing, aren't they.

My L&L Santa is coming along, but so far I only have a sleeve to show, so I don't. I will post pics when it's actually possible to see more than red, though. :)

I've got myself a summer job! Yay! At least we won't go bancrupt _this_ summer - I don't know about the next, I'll probably have to go to Norway and work a little (it's better paid) to afford some kind of a holiday next summer. I will be doing days for two weeks, and then I'll be working the night shift for three weeks after that. And then it's back to school again... I try to prepare for the autumn term by reading about viruses and bacteria, but I keep falling asleep... Any ideas how to stay awake? I won't be taking *that* book for the night shifts, that's for sure!

Oh my what a long post this turned out to be! And I haven't even told you about all the cardboard boxes everywhere - we're moving in 2 weeks! Yikes! - or that we've chosen the wallpapers for the house we're building! Ah well, that will be an other blog post. Gotta save some for a rainy day! :)

Lots of love,

This year's finals

are OVER!!! Yippee!!! I'm so happy, now I'm having a summer vacation - at least for a couple of weeks, then I get to practice a little in care of the elderly in my NEW home town :) I've got about 10 night shifts, and an unknown number of day shifts in the home care - it's not a huge income, but I think it will be enough - I need my summer holiday as well, to craft, move and muster up some energy for next school year.

Today I sang with the church choir for the last time, too. I kept thinking that this was it, and then had to remind myself that I have 4 more solo performances with my choir leader Ruben until we move. Actually, the two last performances will be when we HAVE moved, and the very last one is the day we sign the release forms on the house... Ruben had bought everyone a small "thank you for this year"-gifts - the little 'uns got small silver heart pendants, the bigger ones got bigger silver crosses (kinda celtic) - and I got a short speech before he presented me with a beautiful gold heart and chain. I'm wearing it now - and I will certainly remember my choir every time I see it. Not that I would forget them without it, but you know what I mean.

Stitching wise I have nothing to show - not that I haven't done any stitching, but my camera is acting up on me, and I've ordered a new one. I've completed the Just Nan Sizzle (both the "over the top" and the "in the tin" parts), and yesterday I started on something I've wanted to stitch for SOOOOO long now - the Lavender & Lace "The spirit of Christmas" (The pic is borrowed from Marilyn's garden, a yahoo group - I hope mine will look as good as this when it's all done and framed.)


Other than that - I've tried AGAIN to buy myself a Barbie to model for me, and this time I specifically said to little H that she is ALL MINE - it seems to be working ;) I've started cutting fabric for a white dress from the pattern of the fabulous molendrix (at least that's what it says on the pattern), which I hope to have completed this week. After all, that's what glorious sunshine and spare time is supposed to be spent doing, isn't it?

Teddy celebration

Through the Craft Room's comments, I followed the red line to another blog, which led to another blog with this gorgeous pincushion fairy teddy

And you know what? It's a giveaway! Just go to http://bearbits.blogspot.com/2009/05/celebration-continues.html and post a comment to enter the draw (all comments are private, that's why it doesn't look as anyone has entered).

This is so gorgeous, I wonder why I haven't thought of a pincushion fairy before? Hmmmmmm....

This week's schedule

So, once again the blog has been less than updated... I've been so busy, as usual, that I haven't had the extra energy to blog. You might ask what I've been doing, so I though I'd give you the lowdown:

Monday - group work, preparing for a teaching lesson on Tuesday + went to Gothenburg to see Rigmor Gustafsson (Jazz) with S. Left home at 0700 to drop off H at MIL's house, and got home at 23.30...

Tuesday - All day in school, teaching eachother stuff. Tried Ashtanga Yoga and got VERY light-headed! Went to MIL to pick up H, had dinner there, went home and as soon as S got home from work, I had choir practice.

Wednesday - Left home with S at 0900 to go to Skövde and meet a contractor to see if they were interesting. Had lunch at a Thai restaurant - great food - and went home. Made a stop in Lidköping at "the porcelain city" (they used to manufacture porcelain there, now they have moved the manufacturing but kept the fabric sales) to buy some glasses and other bits and pieces. Got home, picked up H, cooked dinner, fell asleep on the couch.

Thursday - Left home at 07.15, S took his own car, to go see another contractor (Modulenthus) and hear what their offer was. Looks good, great building time and I really like the salesman - he seems honest somehow... Went to school, did a bit of studying, did the grocery shopping and went home to do some more studying. Picked up H, made dinner, fell asleep on the couch. S was at a concert in Gothenburg, so we went to bed at 22.30 - it was an early show.

Friday - Home studies, at least that is what I call it. Lots of surfing and fondling all kinds of stash to see what I HAVE to take with me so I can craft a little while we're NOT in our own house. Went to rehearse this sunday's repertoar with the pianist, got home, had something to eat (a sandwich), picked up H early so we could do some gaming before making dinner and watching Peter Pan with her. S was at a concert in Gothenburg (3rd time this week!), so I went to be alone - S wasn't home until 01.00...

Saturday - is today! So far, the only plan is to try to get some studying done, and get the bathroom cleaned, so today looks relaxing enough.
Sunday (Tomorrow) - I will be in church from 10 till 12 singing, my inlaws are coming over with lots of boxes, so we'll start packing the things we won't need until we've moved to our own house again. (We're hoping to be moving in before Christmas, so the XMas decorations will definitely be stored.)
And then it's monday and school again...

So, that was my week - there's a certain pattern in the afternoons, don't you think? ;) How was your week?