Autumn is not my favourite time of year - I' m a summer-person and I always feel melancholic and a bit sad when the leaves fall to the ground and the flowers go into hiding for the winter.
OK, I totally agree that the autumn colours are magnificent and beautiful, but I still so prefer the warmth and light of summer. Living on the west-coast of Norway, the days are usually wet and grey at this time of year, so those beautiful, crisp autumn-days are a rare treat in our little corner of the world.
We did actually have one of those days a few weeks ago, and on a walk in the woods we came across these beauties - so toxic but so pretty:
And here are just a few more pics to set you on your way down melancholy lane...
A little recap...
I guess this post will have to be a recap of the last month, and a reminder of the happy things that has happened in the midst of the rollercoaster life we've lived lately. There have actually been a few very happy moments, and right now I feel that the purpose of this blog is beeing served...
This is my way of taking a step back to see and appreciate what good things I've actually achieved and experienced when everything felt chaotic and crazy...
Since my last post, little Missy has turned 7 years old! Unfortunately I had to be away on her big day, travelling abroad on a business trip that could not be avoided. It was a little heartbreaking for me, since I've never been away on my kids' birthdays before (...and hope never to be again...), but when attending her "birthday wake-up" via Skype I could see (and hear!) that she had the best of mornings, and that my absence was not a major concern to her...
I did come home the next day, and to compensate I promised to make all her favourite cakes for her two birthday parties...
When she started listing up her wishes, I soon realized that compromises had to be made...
We would have ended up with at least 10 cakes if all her wishes were to be granted...
For the family-celebration, we therefore agreed on a "4 in 1 compromise":
a (very) pink, heartshaped, oreo-cake covered in roses...
For her next party, with all the 15(!) girls in her class, we needed at least two cakes. This time her colour of choice was light blue, so we settled for the same cake as last time, only in different colours, as well as a really yummi merengue cake decorated with butterflies.
Her birthday party was all girlie-girlie pastel, and I'm sure I had just as good a time as her preparing for this...I just LOVE pastel colours ❤❤❤❤❤❤
This lovely weekend!
In spite of the massive rain we've had the last couple of days, this turned out to be the best of weekends!
After a lovely summervacation came to an end, I feel like I've been caught in a rollercoaster of getting back into the everyday chaos of work, school, after-school activities etc.etc..
To top it all, both me and Mr. C have been travelling a lot for work, so the "at home-logistics" have been even more complicated than usual...Being a "single-mum" for three active kids for almost 3 weeks can be rather challenging, I have to say. To all you single-parents out there: you have my utmost RESPECT!!
So after a few crazy weeks, I've finally landed......This weekend has been one of those blessed ones without any plans on my account. My favourite kind of weekend!
Mr. C is out of town, our two boys are at camp, so it's an all-girls weekend for me and little Missy.
And what a weekend it has been!!
It has been pouring down outside, so we've spent almost the entire weekend indoors, doing our favourite things : crafting, reading, listening to music, watching movies and generally just having a quiet, cosy time together.
My girl is five years younger than her brothers, and while we carefully and with great enthusiasm introduced our boys to the classics (by our own definition, of course...) in film and literature as soon as they reached the proper age for it, we sometimes tend to forget little Missy in that respect. ...That's one (of the few) disadvantage of being the youngest, I guess...
We have already done that and been there, and forget that she still is new to many of the things her brothers already knows....
Yesterday I realized that she has never seen the brilliant "Finding Nemo", one of my favourite Disney movies, so right now this is on for the third time this weekend :-) I sit here giggling to myself listening to Dory speaking "whale". Hilarious! :-)
We've also started reading the epic masterpiece of C.S. Lewis, "The Chronicles of NARNIA", and she just can't get enough. ❤
I loved these books as a child, and read all of them for my boys a few years ago. Now I've started all over again for little Missy, and to my great joy, my two big boys also snuggle up in the sofa when I read this, so I guess you never get to old for Narnia.
I also love the movies (not to mention the old BBC series from when I was little), but these will have to wait until all the 7 books are finished...(if we can manage to wait that long...)
One of the many, many wonderful things about having children is that you get to experience those magic moments from your own childhood all over again throught your childrens eyes - just remember to take the time to treasure it!❤❤
This weekend, I decided to do just a bare minimum of housework. Filling and emptying the dishwasher, doing the necessary bit of laundry (which is actually quite substantial...)to survive a new, hectic week, making a huge lasagne to last us all weekend (to avoid having to make more dinner..)
The rest of the time I have dedicated to doing happy things for myself and my girl. ❤
Little Missy have created a beautiful mess of paint, glitter and sequins, making some creative art from paperplates.....
She also made me the most beautiful keychain. This just made my heart melt....❤❤
And a little crocheting for Mummy, of course....
I always have way too many projects going on, and I really need to focus on getting some of them finished and done. The problem is that when I finally have two whole days dedicated to crochet and crafting, my head just spins and my heart sings, and I start everything at once...
I have so many ideas, and get so much inspiration from all the lovely books I've found on Amazon, not to mention all the incredible talented bloggers out there.
Below is just a few of all my WIPs that I really need to finish soon...!
I started this "Bling-cushion" back in May, and still haven't finished it! I've made all the flowers, and joining the rest of them is easy-peasy, the problem is getting started with the very boring backside, which will be a plain granny square in beige....
I'm totally in love with it, though, so I should just get my act together and finish it!!My favourite chair needs a little bling in this dark and grey time of the year....❤
My version of the South Bay Shawlette is slowly growing, and I LOVE it! So soft and light and warm.
I'm planning to add some lace and beads to the edging, but still have a lot of crocheting to do before it's big enough. This is going to be a BIG and snuggly shawl!❤❤
This is a blanket for one of my boys, inspired by the Circus Patchwork Blanket of the incredible talented CocoRose!
I actually had started making these hexagons before I found this blogpost, but was originaly planning to make this in only a few tone-in-tone colours. But when I stumbled over this beautiful CocoRose blanket, I decided that all my scraps should be used and a colourful, happy blanket was the right thing for my boy. I have now made alle the 160 hexagons in 20 different colours, and are currently building up the currage to start the joining-frenzy...
Unlike the CocoRose blanket, I did not want to make this a join-as-you-go blanket, pretty as it is. I like to have the opportunity to see all the finished patches, and to arrange them in the final colourscheme after they are all done. Another reason is that I usually bring a little crochet project along on long car-rides, and it is so easy to take my needle and my yarn along and whip up a patch or two whenever og wherever I have the opportunity. You can not do that with a big, growing blanket....
The "big blanket joining" is a great activity to do now that the nights are longer and darker, and I can cuddle up in my favourite chair under the warmth of my growing blanket.
I'm planning to join them all in a cream colour flat-braid join...I'll keep you posted on the progress once I get started...
The recipient of this blanket loves it already, and he can't wait for me to finish this so he can put this in his new room. My "problem" now is that both his brother and little sister want a similar blanket, so another 2 blankets are in the pipeline....i.e. 300 more patches to be made and joined....
Just a few words of praise about CocoRoseDiaries
Of all the blogs I follow, the CocoRose Diaries is my favourite and the most inspiring for me. Sometimes I feel like she writes about my life and my feelings - it is almost a bit creepy...
Unfortunately, the talented Vanessa has decided to leave Blogland for a while, a decision I respect and completely understand, but she will be sorely missed never the less...
All her old posts are still there, however, so if you have not visited her blog yet you are in for a wonderful treat ❤This woman is just one of a kind, and her photos and crafts are incredible and so full of inspiration. Enjoy!!
Drifting away..
OK, I'm drifting away here again, and have to get back to this wonderful weekend and my crafting adventure..
I bought this book from Amazon almost a year ago, planning to make this lovely cat for my nephews and nieces for Christmas - last year......
That obviously did not happen, but this weekend I made my first attempt on this cute creature, and I have to say I'm kinda pleased with the result ❤I have some trouble getting his facial expression the way I want it - this guy looks a little grumpy - but I guess practise makes perfect, so I'm now well into my Amineko nr. 2....The plan is to make at least 6 of these little cuties before Christmas...
The pretty Mary-go-rounds...
Earlier this summer I had a play with some new cotton yarn I bough. I loved the colours, and - again - I found som great inspiration at CocoRoseDiaries.
She had made these lovely and colourful "Mary-go-rounds" from old bracelets, and refererred to this great tutorial from another talented crafter out there in Blogland.
I found some cheap bracelets at H&M, and made a few of these pretties, not quite sure what to make of them; pictureframes, bunting??
I left them in a box for a while, but yesterday I took out the rest of the bracelets with a great idea in my head....you just wait and see:-)
A little jump-start on Christmas....
A few weeks ago I felt a flash of Christmas inspiration coming along, and started this Grannystripe blanket in festive Christmas colours. The plan is to make this a BIG and cosy blanket for our couch.
(I can just see myself and Mr.C all cuddled up under this with a cup of warm Gløgg, watching my all time favourite movie: Love Actually....) ❤
Anyway, my little Christmas inspiration came out in full bloom this weekend, and I've now started on a full "Christmas-collection" of blanket, cushions and ornaments....
Here is a little sneak-peak of what I indulged myself into last night, after little Missy was sound asleep...
A creative mess ❤
LOVE the festive colours ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
Tah-dah! My H&M bracelets all dressed up for Christmas....
These could be used as ornaments for the three, a festive bunting or a nice decorelement for wherever and whatever...
If this "collection" turns out half as good as it all seems inside my head, I will probably make a separate blogpost about this a bit closer to Christmas..
So, I guess this turned out to be a long post after all - about all and nothing, really...Just some bits and pieces of my happy things at the moment.
I know that the next couple of months will be crazy work-wise, so my blogging will probably be the last priority on my list, but hopefully I will manage to leave a few posts now and then...
Instagram and Facebook are both faster and easier than blogging, so I'll probably upload a few pics there from time to time...I'd love for you to follow me there, too.
Just click on the sidebars at the top of this page, and you will find me :-)
I wish you all a wonderful week with lots of love and happy moments.
Don't forget to treasure the little things that make you happy - if you look for them you'll find them❤
