white as linen

Still winter or allready spring?

2012-02-17T13:11:00.000+01:00

After our weekend in the snow I'm in the process of finding ski shoes for every member of our family. I found one pair at our local goodwill. And there I saw some old wooden ski...

But I coudn't justfy to spent 100 NOK on something I did not really need.

So I went home without buying them.

When I told one of my sons about it he informed me that we actually had two pair of old wooden ski on the garage loft. (they belong to my parents-in-law).

So for now it's still a little winter around here.

mountains

2012-02-14T17:04:00.001+01:00

Day 1

Day 2

What a fantastic weekend!

quiet on my blog

2012-02-07T14:41:00.000+01:00

I know. Life is busy. Life is good and sometimes hard. This blog is just a tiny aspect of my life...

On Friday we had a birthday celebration for our little girl.

Some primulas and using what I had around the house...

Writing the guests names directly on the paper plates...

Adding a bow to the chair of the birthday child....

and reusing the garland I made for babyboys birthday last year, added a little party mood to the dining room.

Later that day we had a family party for both her and boy nr2 who turns eleven in February.

This boy makes me laughing!

weekend

2012-01-22T22:10:00.000+01:00

I started to paint our bedroom grey yesterday - love it so far... :)

But today it's Sunday and we had sun...

In the woods we went, meeting up with some other families from church...

My two oldest boys and I followed the trail a little further up and enjoyed the view

(and some mommy-time ;)

Some places the trail was pure ice...

Just enjoying the beauty of God's creation.

farm house table

2012-01-08T13:43:00.001+01:00

... and the last of christmas flowers.

(What is it with me that I can't throw away flowers before they really have died? ;)

The farmhouse table is our old IKEA Norden table with some planks on top.

I'm happy how it turned out, but not really sure with the color I used for the legs.

I just painted them once and I need to do one more coat...

(see the plastic sheet is still under ;)

The color is a light grey, though a little darker than the bench, but the slight pink/purple hue is bothering me.

My inspiration pic was some shades darker... shall I get new paint?

scource

I think I have to. Or will mixing it with some black paint do the trick?

New Year and christmas recap

2012-01-04T09:52:00.001+01:00

Happy new year!

The older the children get the more I appreciate holidays and school breaks... so good to have everybody home, even Mr Viking was home every day between christmas and new year!

Add the beloved aunt R to the mix (who spent her christmas break from her bible school year in England here with us) and everybody's happy!

Christmas eve we set up a long table in the kitchen/dining room and enjoyed traditional pinnekjøtt for dinner.

The table cloth wasn't ironed - but cloth napkins give the feeling of some luxary ;).

Mismatched wine glasses, my grandmothers silver cuttlery and my husbands grandmothers china.

Some straps of Hadanger lace and some burlap and a little greenery.

And my husband made the best mashed rutabaga (yellow turnip) I ever tasted!

Merry christmas!

2011-12-23T23:32:00.000+01:00

fourth of advent

2011-12-18T16:50:00.000+01:00

We finally lit the fourth candle (finally for the children - a little too quick for me).

December has been busy. Once more I spent a night at hospital, this time with my little girl who got a hard soccer ball kicked at her head, which resulted in a concussion.

We are thankful that she got over it quickly.

Than my husband lay new flooring in our entry - I'm SO thankful for this. The old stained carpet with it's strange blue color gone!!! :)

Anyhow it's soon christmas and yesterday I finally got the chance to get some greenery from my in-law's garden and made several wreaths and I added some greenery around the house...

... and finally the christmas feeling is here!

a day's worth of wood

2011-12-07T21:18:00.000+01:00

The temperatures have dropped below the freezing point.

That means keeping the fire alive is high on my priority.

It's strange to have only one child home in the mornings.

But we enjoy these mornings tremendously, he and I.

And the more is going on in the afternoons with homework, music lessons, soccer practice and cooking dinner...

but in the evenings we lit some candles and gather in the living room while the wood stove still spreads its warmth.

even in the stable there was no room for them...

2011-12-06T12:47:00.000+01:00

because babyboy thinks it makes a great garage for his cars ;).

Funny. But it made me think.

Am I so busy, that even "in the stable" there's no space for Jesus?

Restored.

(at least until babyboy needs another garage)

a little christmas in the breakfeast nook...

2011-11-30T22:28:00.000+01:00

The christmas season started rather dramatic for us.

In summer I started again to work a little at the local nursing home (I'm a R.N.), so I was still at work Saturday evening, when babyboy crashed into a door while having something in his mouth, which lead to an injury at one of his tonsils and back in the throat.

After I came home (instead of hanging advent stars in the windows - as I had planned), I organized a babysitter to come over and packed my toothbrush while my husband went to the local ER with babyboy.

They sent us to town to the hospital.

I spent the night with him in hospital and Sunday morning the doctors decided it was best to sew the injury with some stiches under a general anaesthetic.

It was not a nice feeling, laying my unconcious baby down on the operation table, leaving him there while I had to leave the room.

But everything went so well. We could take him home with us already the same day. And now, three days later everything is just fine. ;)

I even got some christmas decoration up by now!

This year's advent's candles are nearly the same as last year's.

Just that I turned the mugs around. To keep the candles secure a little hot glue does the trick.

And I used red candles.

In my childhood advent wreath's always had red candles.

Tomorrow is first of december.

The count down is about to start!

2011-11-29T14:11:00.000+01:00

the dark season

2011-10-31T12:28:00.000+01:00

November is around the corner. It's the month I celebrate my birthday. So I decided to take the month of :).

yesterday on the beach

I mentioned earlier, that I've been doing some re-focusing, decluttering and attempted to simplify our life.

While we made some progress, I feel we are not quite there ... will we ever be?

Scince summer I have been working some afternoons/evenings at the local old people's home.

While I love my job as a RN, I don't like spending time away from my family.

Anyhow I have decided to cut down my online time and to take a blogging break for november.

I still will check in her sometimes and catch up on my favorite blogs.

And hopefully I will be ready to come back inspired for the holiday season in december.

Love, Margitta

diningroom

2011-10-26T12:26:00.000+02:00

Next step towards my farmhouse dining room was to haul my scandinavian bench from the hut back into the house.

Oh yeah, I promised to tell how I stained the shelf.

Vinigar and steelwool did the jobb.

before

It was just an old yellowed pine shelf.

I followed this instruction by Lil blue boo.

And now it looks like that:

Now I just have to sew a cushion for thid bench...

and the light fixture...

and paint the ceiling...

this is slow decoration at it's best! ;)

Getting all cozy for fall...

2011-10-21T17:29:00.000+02:00

It's raining and stormy outside,

temperatures dropped the last days,

it's getting dark early...

Time to get it cozy inside...

Enjoy the weekend!

a trip to Oslo

2011-10-20T13:32:00.000+02:00

Do you sometimes feel this urge to do something crazy? We did last week. This time it involved renting a caravan and driving over the mountaines (covered with the first layer of snow) to see the capital.

Oslo, here we come!

Oslo get's often called the largest village of the world.

True, one doesn't exactly get the metropolitian feeling one get's in Paris or London, but than we had no trouble to find a parking lot right in the city centre.

And the kids we're excited to see the king's castle and the changing of the guard's.

(Although the boys agreed that joining the king's life guard was not very tempting, scince it involves wearing some ridiculess hats and standing very still most of the time ;)

Another highlight was visiting the Kon Tiki museum and learning more about Thor Heyerdahls expeditions.

Little princess bought a package with shark teeth(!!!) and thinks that's the coolest thing she ever had.

Creating memories.

Visiting new friend and a new church.

(Thank you family Myrland for your welcoming home!)

And most of the time these kids are really fun to have around! ;)

when blogging friends become friends IRL

2011-10-18T09:44:00.000+02:00

I first started to follow Merethe's blogg "Many little blessings", because her blogg title had caught my I and I realized - like me - she had five children and we shared the same faith.

And than, look at her cozy house!

Merethe has a great eye for detail!!!

And her kids look like they came right out of a magazine...

So, when we had the chance to visit this family last week, we were excited.

They live in eastern Norway, but as we planned a little trip to Oslo their town was on our way.

So here we are!

Thank you so much, Eirik and Merethe for your hospitality!

And I really hope you'll make the trip over the mountains soon to visit us ;)

Fall Break

2011-10-10T13:02:00.000+02:00

The kids have fall break from school this week and I'm taking a little blogging break.

But first a little more about the craft/sewing room:

With five "men" in the family, this will be the retreat for us two "girls".

My little daughter really loves to draw and craft, so she got her own desk.

(if the boys want to join us. they may of course, but usually they are quite busy with soccer, computers, biking, reading.... ;)

I organized all my sewing stuff and nearly all the craft supplies...

The build inn's hold my fabric stash.

I still need some curtains... first I wanted to use some light blue army sheets, but I think I rather go for something white and frilly!?

See you next week!

girl's room inspiration

2011-10-07T20:47:00.000+02:00

I'm gathering inspiration for a little redo of my daughter's room.

Isn't this a really sweet girl's room?

I found the pic on pinterest (here), but the scource leads to nowhere...

so if you know it's origin let me know.

scource

This is another room... but I love the stripes!

scource

Add a plastic spoon (!!!) mirror.

And perhaps a little yellow?

scource

Is this the way to go?

how sweet to hold a newborn baby...

2011-10-06T13:02:00.000+02:00

This week I had the pleasure to photograph a two week old baby.

It was really fun!

Even though she was not very willing to fall asleep ;)

So small, yet so much personality!

I'm no professional photographer and have no clue what I'm doing,

but it gives me joy and I hope to learn more!

I just wish I had taken more pics of my own newborn's...

(next time - if there will be a next time ;)

next step

2011-09-29T10:56:00.000+02:00

Next step towards my farmhouse diningroom was to add open shelving.

This shelf cost me 10,90 NOK (less than 2$).

The staining technique is so simple and cheap...

I'll share more about it soon.

Next step is to exchange the lightning fixture... have allready another thifted one ;).

But allready now I enjoy having a cup of tea here!

Welcome!

(Never mind the floor is dry by now;)

Farmhouse style?

2011-09-28T11:01:00.000+02:00

I'm dreaming of a simple farmhouse style dining room/breakfeast nook...

So when I came over these chairs at the lokal goodwill I thought I could make them work.

The problem is now they remind me of a german Sauerkraut and Bratwurst restaurant...

they have this shiny golden brown finish:

If they looked more like that, I would be really happy with them:

frugal farmhouse

You know what I mean? Any idea what I can do to make them more look like that?

Anyway they are super sturdy, and that's what we need with four boy's in our family ;),

and I was more than ready to throw out the cheap IKEA chairs which started to get really beaten up.

Another option is to paint them gray and pair them with my scandinavian bench:

Visit my pinterest dining room inspiration to see in what direction I want my breakfeast nook to move...

beautiful fall

2011-09-27T14:10:00.000+02:00

Sun. Crisp air.

The doors of the old church down the road got painted light blue - love it.

It would be a nice color for our front door, too.

It's strange to just have one child in the mornings - but we enjoy each other tremendously. ;)

I seldomly post pics of myself, but here I snapped one of today's outfit...

I got inspired by this pic I found on pinterest:

I had not thought of combining a light lacy dress with dark leggins and boots - but had both! :)

not too shabby

2011-09-22T13:36:00.000+02:00

Working on my "new" sewing/craft room these days...

The desk was one of my first thriftstore finds here in Norway many years ago.

Want to see the view from the window to the left?

It's westward and we can look right over the pond towards America... or probably rather Canada!

*mestanding+wavingtoallmybloggingfriendsovertheglobe*

More to come on the sewing room as I get along organizing it ;)...

Lucky me...

2011-09-19T23:30:00.000+02:00

My husband bought me a new lens while being in the States. I had not much time till now to really try it out, but I took some quick shoots this morning.

I was really lucky thrifting last week. Usually I'm more drawn to cool colors, but now for fall I fell for a little rusty orange...

finally...

2011-09-17T14:03:00.000+02:00

I'm looking forward to tonight, expecting my husband back from a job-related trip - he has been 10 days in the United States. I doubt I'll get the children to sleep, even so we don't expect him before midnight. :)

(September 2010)

And I became aunt for the 14th time today!

Welcome to the family, baby girl!

Happy weekend, everybody!

Sailing with dolphins

2011-09-14T21:28:00.000+02:00

While crossing the Skagerrak (the north sea between Norway and Danmark) with their sailboat, my brother and his family were accompanied by dolphins. My niece (16) put together this amazing clip:

Enjoy!

Fall

2011-09-12T12:48:00.000+02:00

Fall has come...

(to be honest we had spring until july and scince august we had fall - summer was this day we had more than 23Celsius / 74Farenheit)... this circumstance made people talk about the weather ALL THE TIME - and norwegains always talk about the weather (me incluted).

Really they do.

So now I'm done with it. No more hoping for more summerdays. Just enjoying fall...

I have no camera this week, so to warm up for fall decoration - a little recap from last year.

Høst = Fall

2011-09-08T19:32:00.000+02:00

Love it. It's genius.

My friend Rie's bedroom (from Home and Harmony )

was the first pic to be pinned in my bedroom file.

All my inspiration boards - so far - you find here.

Welcome!

life buoy wreath

2011-09-05T12:10:00.000+02:00

I started out with a standard straw wreath and this:

Bought at Aldi (!) in spring when they carried garden items.

But scince we have a teak front door (at least for now - but that is another post),

I wanted it to pop a little more and painted the wreath with some diluted white paint.

Now it reminded me of these traditional plaster used on broken arms :o

But then it suddenly remided me of a rustic life buoy!

And with our surname being very nautical and living a stonecast from the sea, I always can go for a costal look.

But I wanted it to look rather vintage than kitchy coastal ;)

I first tried this - but ended up like that:

I think it looks better on the wall on the side of the door, though.

Find more wreath inspiration here:

in my living room - right now...

2011-09-02T14:06:00.000+02:00

I love using trays for displaying beauties on the table - it's so easy to clean the table up...

Sick child recovering from a stomach bug.

Yesterday he read through this (in german).

I doubt he'll finish " The Lord of the Rings" in one day, though ;).

Lucky babyboy, getting salt crackers even though he didn't have the stomach bug ;).

I so love this well worn thrifted "oshkosh"!

And he loves "Thomas, the little tank engine".

Happy weekend!

Finally

2011-08-30T19:26:00.000+02:00

See, this porch railing out there?

It needed a coat of paint. Badly.

Finally I'm doing something about it...

in the rain

2011-08-29T12:05:00.000+02:00

wearing a bridesmaid dress (!), rubberboots, a rain hat...

and a pearl necklace.

photos credit: Mr Viking

butterflies

2011-08-25T15:25:00.000+02:00

Beauty in everyday life!

This flower is called butterfly bush in norwegian. Because butterflies like it.

Yep, there were five of them .

Bringing color, beauty and a greeting from him who made them - and us - to me today.

1. day of school

2011-08-22T12:28:00.000+02:00

Finally. Long anticipated. 1st day of 1. grade.

Going to school is not that frightening if you have three older brothers in the same building.

one in 5th grade

one in 4th grade

ond even one in 7th grade

Having good friends helps, too.

"Welcome to 1st grade"

Yet, there's so much new...

but, I know she will do so well!!!

working hard

2011-08-20T15:12:00.000+02:00

There has been some hard work going on at our house recently.

With the help of extended family the men have digged around the basement of the house.

New insulation and new drainage...

With them working so hard, it was my responsibility to provide food and fluid.

green hutch

2011-08-15T14:06:00.000+02:00

It could be aunt Othalie's kitchen hutch.

(My mum has an old hand me down hutch called aunt Resi's hutch, after her grandaunt Resi.

"Mum, where's the medium glass bowl?" - " Oh, it's in aunt Resi's hutch..."

And everyone knows exactly where to look.)

But those of you knowing IKEA realized of course that it's just an boring standard IKEA Leksvik hutch.

Unfortunately there is no aunt Othalie who has old furniture to hand down to me.

before

This poor Leksvik hutch was rather beaten up.

But with a little paint and some distressing it turned out rather charming.

I'm not really sure if I keep the fabric.

I taped it inside the glass doors because we kept CD's and DVD's inside...

Would a thin white cotton fabric look better?

What would aunt Othalie do?

painting a venyl floor

2011-08-11T13:12:00.000+02:00

This is what used to be my guestroom.

It had a hideous pink/grey 80's venyl flooring.

I had some leftover acrylic floor paint.

Quickly done. Not perfect, but so much better.

dining room

2011-08-04T23:27:00.002+02:00

Recent mini make over of our breakfeast nook:

When we first moved in I hang black wallpaper on this wall.

It was kind of cool, but stealing so much light.

before:

now:

I love how light the room is now, but there's still some things to do:

paint the ceiling

exchange light fixture

find cheap and beautiful chairs

I really dream of building a window seat with two shelves for this wall.

But for now it's a dream.

inspiration

Finally

2011-08-03T22:22:00.000+02:00

We've been at the beach today.

It was a bit cloudy, but the temperature finally hit 20 degree's (68Farenheit)!

See? There are some brave ones out there in the water... Me? Not.

fresh fish

2011-07-31T00:16:00.000+02:00

Our two middle boys had really fun fishing last week - and made a good catch: a quite large cod, and some smaller fish.

(should have taken a pic before I beheaded them ;)

Anyway, we had some real fish'n chips.

And there's some satisfaction in eating food, that does not come from the store.

our beautiful country

2011-07-29T00:42:00.002+02:00

We spent last weekend at my brother's house.

(they are on holiday themselves...)

The most tragic weekend in Norways younger history.

It was surreal following the news, while sitting at such a quiet, secluded, beautiful spot.

The view from their living room.

My sister-in-law has an unpretentious, yet personal style.

I like it.

They are a very musical family, and I love how they display all the instruments in the living room.

Thanks, F and M, for letting us stay and relax for some days!

a sad day

2011-07-23T15:46:00.000+02:00

My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone who is affected by the horrible things

that happened in Oslo and Utøya yesterday.

a summer party

2011-07-19T10:31:00.000+02:00

Babyboy turned two earlier this summer.

Eventhough the temprature was still around 60 Farenheit (ca 16 Celcius), we opted for a outside party.

We had a blast, eventhough friends and family had to cramp together in the hut when it started raining,

and eventually we ended up in the livingroom :).

Suddently he's two, talks and still makes me laugh. every. single. day. A LOT.

in memory of Hagbart

2011-07-17T15:19:00.000+02:00

Hagbart was an old sailor living down the road.

For many years he worked on the sea.

He died some months ago.

I will remember him for all the times he raised himself in our simple church gatherings, not complaining of his poor health, but always speaking about was Jesus did for him.

And I will remember him, because one of his old sea maps is hanging in my diningroom now.

wonderfull smelling roses from the garden

PS. Sorry for beeing away for so long. Everything is well with us. It's just that summer suddently catched up on me... But we still wait for a little warmth to arrive at our northern latitude - having mostly around 14-16 Celcius ( below 60 Farenheit).

aqua blue

2011-06-15T08:11:00.000+02:00

For the last year I have incoperated more and more aqua/light blues into our home - now there's a touch of it in nearly every room. All these pics have been posted before and some rooms have allready changed a little again, but no pic is older than one and a half year :). I just wanted to do a house tour - sort of... Here we go:

Livingroom

Kitchen

bath

bedroom (before)

Nursery

(this was actually the first room I used aqua blue)

boy's bedroom

bedroom (now)

Hut on the deck / outdoor kitchen

my inspiration blog

2011-06-14T21:44:00.000+02:00

Before I had my inspiration files on tumblr, now you can find them here:

margittas inspiration

GARASJESALG - YARDSALE

2011-06-10T08:39:00.002+02:00

to my local readers:

STOR GARASJESALG

LØRDAG, 11.06. 2011

kl 10.00 - 19.00

i Snartabergveien

(i Grimsby)

Siden eg har skifted litt stil det siste året, har eg lyst til å kvitte meg med en god del pynt og ting.

Så her er det masse skatter å finne!

Dette er bare en liten del...

Noen møbler blir det og, for ex disse stoler:

coral red

2011-06-01T15:39:00.000+02:00

On the field below my parents in law grows red poppies.

It's such a great complementary color to aquamarine, I had to pop some on my bedside table and take some pictures.

I sewed a bolster pillow out of an IKEA fabric.

Because of our light summer nights we have light proof shades, but as they usually come in a boring grayish white, I painted stripes on them. :)

bedheads, a bedside table and vintage shell prints

2011-05-27T16:10:00.000+02:00

Why is mom's and dad's bed such a favourite place for kids?

Can you believe we've been married for nearly 13years, but never had real bedside tables?

Well I came over this beauty at salvation army some weeks ago.

Cute, but unfortunately just one of a kind...

Do you know where the other one might be? ;)

The shell prints I printed out from vintage printable.

These prints I layered on top of some burlap.

(the rope in not some kind of nautical decoration, but incace of emergency to climb out of the window - in sleepless nights I lay awake pondering wether I actually would manage to climb down a swinging rope from the second level....)

Happy weekend!

Pillow talk

2011-05-24T14:57:00.000+02:00

Last year I found four pillos for 100NOK in the sale section of a home goods store.

Two with toile, and to aqua blue ones.

(As previously shown in this pic.)

But I never told you that I always just showed you the backside of the aqua ones. :)

Because the print on the front was not really my cup of tea.

While not totally bad, it somehow did not work for me.

I bought the pillows anyway, because

they were cheap
I knew I could do something with them
they had some really cute pompoms attached

With a floral print they make some summerly touches for my living room.

inspiration

2011-05-19T17:48:00.000+02:00

Spring has come even here in Norway, but the cold wind still keeps us from sitting outside... but to get into the mood some yard pics from last year:

Waiting impatiently for warmer weather... :)

17th of May

2011-05-19T10:40:00.000+02:00

Celebrating living in a free country.

Celebrating constitution day.

A hard earned thrird prize ;)

Somehow we managed to NOT take any good pictures this year.

So I have to include one of the last years childrens parade ;)

Hipp, hipp hurra for Norway!

lampshade

2011-05-11T13:00:00.000+02:00

I made a lampshade from my japanese Echino fabric.

This old lampshade was a boring beige and I didn't like it.

I removed the old fabric and measured the new.

Than I sewed along the needles and pulled the fabric over the shade.

Hotgluded the edges. Done.

my man

2011-05-07T13:10:00.000+02:00

The best of all husbands, my own Mr.Viking celebrated his birthday this week. We shared an early quiet breakfeast... I'm so thankful to have this man. When I first mentioned him in my dairy nearly 17 years ago, I wrote: "This guy know what he believes in..."

That's why I feel so secure with him. He knows what he stands for. And finding out together how to spent our lives, raising our kids and trusting God means everything to me.

I love him.

fabric...

2011-05-04T14:41:00.001+02:00

After three weeks of travelling we're back to Norway.

Spring has come.

I brought this old ladder home with me.

And a gourgous piece of japanese fabric from

Echino by Etsuko Furuya.

Isn't this the most beautiful print ever?

But what to do with it?

Pillow?

Lamp shade?

Skirt?

I can't decide...

Easter

2011-04-23T18:59:00.001+02:00

(On the "Feldberg", the highest peak of the black forrest)

O power of love, all else transcending

In Jesus present evermore,

I worship Thee, in homage bending

Thy name to honor and adore;

Yea, let my soul, in deep devotion,

Bathe in love's mighty boundless ocean.

Thou art my rest, no earthly treasure

Can satisfy my yearning heart,

And naught can give to me the pleasure

I find in Thee, my chosen part,

Thy love, so tender, so possessing,

I joy to me, and every blessing.

To Thee my heart and life be given,

Thou art in truth my highest good;

For me Thy sacred side was riven,

For me was shed Thy precious blood.

O Thou who art the world's salvation,

Be thine my love and adoration.

Gerhard Tersteegen 1697-1769

(at the graveyard down the road in Norway)

I'm back

2011-04-18T12:32:00.001+02:00

First of all thanks for all prayers and well wishing. I got moved by your sweet comments. In periods I have trouble with joint pain, but with warmer weather I start to feel better :)
I'm back to blogging. But aswell back to the house I was born (home births were quite uncommen in the 70's!!!) and lived in my childhood. My parents live still here. A special place to me.

My parents bought this old (build in 1908) teacher's house ca 40 years ago.

It was in a desolate condition. Over the years they added, rebuild and formed the house into a wonderful place to live for their family of eight. In addition our grandparents did live upstairs.

It's located in the Rhine valley, at the feet of the black forest mountains.

It's still spring, but the vetegable garden is prepared and we have already enjoyed some early lettuce.

So fun to have a grandma who has hens.

It's good to be back.

It's wonderful to enjoy spring.

Be still

2011-03-31T08:40:00.000+02:00

Due to a broken camara lens and some health issues I'm taking a little bloggbreak.

"Be still my soul and know that I'm God."

He knows. And he cares.

And even here in Norway spring's around the corner.

(But the pics are from May 2011)

I'll be back. ;)

"new" sofas

2011-03-28T13:13:00.000+02:00

Two weeks ago our oldest and I traveled to Bergen. It's an three hours trip and it involves a ferry ride.

I so much enjoyed the company of my big boy.

The trip involved meeting friends and family.

And an afternoon of stolling through the city ALL ON MY OWN (can you imagine what a seldom treat this is for me? - it was the first time I was away from babyboy over night!)

Did I shop? Actually I went to a bookstore and bought a book, found a nice Café, ordered a Cappuccino and read for several hours...

And I went to a certain swedish furniture and other fun stuff store and got a new slipcover for one of the two sofas I bought used (one in Bergen, one here on the island).

That equals two "new" sofas for 190USD/1050NOK and a very happy wife!

Thanks David!

A sunburst mirror made from flower tags

2011-03-22T20:59:00.048+01:00

When sunburst mirrors first entered home fashion... honestly, I hated them.

But it seems even I get influenced by what's "haute couture" ;)

They grew pretty quickly on me.

Especially those made of wood...

In fall I made one of driftwood.

Than I sold it.

So I copied Nester's craft paper eddition.

It was a tad to small on this wall.

Than I saw those cheap flower tags at store (Biltema)...

and I kept my eyes open for a round thrift store mirror.

I played around a while with how to arrange the tags.

After finding how I liked it best, it was just to warm up the hot glue gun...

And voila:

Sunburst mirror

Nr 3

the fascination of running water

2011-03-22T14:53:00.000+01:00

Japan and our living room

2011-03-19T09:22:00.000+01:00

Some days ago I cut some bare branches in the garden and look at them now!

Isn't this amazing?

Out of nothing - green leaves, soft pink flowers.

HOPE!

In the background yet another sunburst mirror I made some time ago.

Now it makes me think of Japan everytime I see it.

Land of the rising sun

So does this little bonsai tree.

Day of silence

2011-03-18T12:54:00.001+01:00

Praying for Japan

Spring wreath

2011-03-15T22:53:00.000+01:00

Inspired by Laylas spring wreath I created my version the other day.

I actually had a wreath where I had twinned cotten straps around for a base.

So I used it just as it was.

Than I hotglued some stuff on it I had lying around...

a mix of flowers and buttons.

I hung it outside on our old weathered door, hoping for spring.

Five minutes afterwards it started snowing.

Japan

2011-03-14T11:59:00.001+01:00

Japan is very much on our mind. My husbands family lived in Japan several years in the late seventies/early eighties. One of the places they lived is Miyako, one of the costal towns that is severely damaged.
We pray for the people there, especially for the pastor and members of an evangelical church of whom we yet not know if they have survived the tsunami...

A norwegian missionary we know lives about 40kilometers away from the nuclear power station which is in trouble. She want's to stay with her japanese family and friends.

Pray for Japan.

Kitchen inspiration

2011-03-10T18:07:00.000+01:00

Gasp! Isn't this kitchen beautiful!?!

Flea Market Trixie

Check out how Flea Market Trixie transformed a dull kitchen into this lovly place.

on tour and a tip

2011-03-07T13:46:00.000+01:00

Yesterday we drove about an hour into some fjords visiting a small church. I didn't take my camara along.(sometimes it's best just to enjoy life, but the picture above is from the area, and it looked jut like this ;).

The drive on an early Sunday morning was beautiful.

The afternoon we spent having potluck at a playground together with friends

Even though spring is yet to come the days are longer now

and my daugther came in with the first snowbells the other day...

Happy new week!

Feel the need to tackle some organizing projects?

Tsh at Simple Mom is doing a five week organizing series.

My Kitchen

2011-03-05T11:34:00.003+01:00

(May 2010)

Because NIB's challenge in March is to show our kitchen, I took some new pics today...

(hence my cleaning frenzy the last days ;)

These cute boxes are from this shop: AnnaJohanna.

There are no major changes scince I painted the kitchen last April.

Babyboy got a amall table and chair - and he loves his little space...

And after our old fridge broke down we got a new (to us) side by side...

One of the best decissions when painting my cabinets was to remove some of the doors.

To add an old desk as kitchen island has worked very well aswell.

And the sawhorse is a favourite spot for the kids to eat some snacks.

And this is how the kitchen looked before:

I link to: Cottage and Vine

kitchen talk - I need help!

2011-03-03T11:59:00.001+01:00

Yesterday 10.30 pm I started to declutter and scrubb my kitchen kabinetts. I was restless. Sometimes it's convenient to channel such feelings into something productive... ;)

Two weeks ago I got so frustrated with my inability to keep my kitchen neat and clean, that I joined the Flylady.

So now I dutyfully shine my sink every evening and slowly this shining habit spreads to other areas of my kitchen...

Are you keeping up with the dishes?

Have you experience with flylady? Did it work for you?

Any other suggestions to help to keep a kitchen clean?

fleeting beauty

2011-03-01T15:03:00.001+01:00

Isn't a bunch of tulips a fleeting beauty?

They bent.

They die.

I still can't throw them out.

Because they still somehow are beautiful.

And today they remind me that imperfect still can be beautiful.

Just like my life.

Just like the door that does not shut properly.

Or the chairs that need a coat of paint.

And they tell me that in my strive for perfection I so quickly forget to enjoy the beauty God placed in my life.

So I thank God for my little man eating yoghurt with his hands (because mommy is busy taking pictures) and for a new friendship to the one who gave this lovly tulips to me...

convex mirror

2011-02-24T13:27:00.001+01:00

I'm still alive. Did I have a blog?

Many years ago, while still living at our old house I bought a convex mirror. Because it was cheap. And because it was old. And because I can't pass by a good deal.

Than I never found a good spot for it. Finally it was hung on a nail in the attic and I forgot about it (yes, just like my map).

But than I read this blog post at Pure Style Home on convex mirrors and I suddently realized I had a forgotten treassure in the attic.

I don't know how old it is. But it's definately before WW2.

It has some scratches on the glass, which I don't mind.

If I remember right I paid 30NOK, perhaps 50NOK (5 or 9USD) for it.

And I dream off getting some board and batten up on this wall :)

But most of all I wish this freezing cold wind to stop and spring to come!

Cozy mornings

2011-02-17T11:11:00.000+01:00

It has been cold the recent days and in the night we got again a little snow.

So after Dad has left for work and the big boys for school, we start our day by having it cozy ...

Afterwards out they went into the snow, but loosing the mittens is no fun... ;)

Daily Bread

2011-02-15T13:16:00.000+01:00

I have to admit I have a soft spot for soft pink. :)

So I fell for these bread boxes they have at Kremmerhuset.

(Which is one of my favourite home goods store here in Norway)

But I really don't need a bread box, because I keep our bread in a drawer - and I don't want more clutter on my counter tops.

But than I remembered my husbands old breadbox...

And with some coats of paint I got my soft pink breadbox.

But then, I didn't really need a breadbox, remember?

But I needed a place to keep our bibles/devotionals...

"Bread of life"

Lamp re-vamp

2011-02-10T15:21:00.005+01:00

I don't like clothes shopping. Shopping groceries - no fun. To motivate me to get the grocery shopping done I treat myself with a stop at my favourite goodwill/thrift store. THAT makes my heart beat faster.

This must be the most quirky find recently:

While being nearly so kitchy that it had been fun to keep the lamp foot as it was, I still decided to give it a little make over:

I gave it a good cleaning, filled it with fake apples and glued some burlap around the yellowed plastic base...

I like how it adds some fun to my living room. The shade I got at another goodwill. It looked like new!

And I like how I can chance what's inside the lamp.

Any ideas what I can stuff inside?

Edit:

Mr Viking likes the lamp.

He thinks I should fill her with candy.

I think she won't be left alone with candy inside. ;)

pompons from tissue paper

2011-02-07T11:08:00.000+01:00

Nå har silkepapir pompons kommt opp øver senget til prinsessa...

Er da noen som har lyst på slike så har eg masse silkepapir (av den mørkerosa) siden jeg kjøpte en stor pakke...

God Mandag!

2011-02-05T01:16:00.000+01:00

A Vintage Vine has awarded me with the Stylish blogger Award. Thanks!

The rules are to tell 7 things about yourself:

I was born at home
In my teens I dreamed of emigrating to New Zealand
I have observed an obduction (while being a nurse student)
I can't sing
I have shaken hands with Princess Diana
I've managed to lose two suitcases at Miami Airport (being 19 and travelling to Haiti on my own)
I have eaten frog legs in a restaurant in France

I pass the Stylish blogger award on to these seven beautiful blogs:

Many little blessings

Hegemors Store Lille Verden

Check out these wonderful blogs!

Norwegian Winter

2011-02-02T20:14:00.000+01:00

Several people have inquired how I cope with norwegian winter. It's a difficult question to answer. Because for us it's kind of just how it is. Dark in winter. Light in summer.

(scource this is polar light seen from Lofoten - much longer north from where I live)

But norwegians certainly have developed some strategies to cope with the darkness:

Decorate, prepare, celebrate and get totally crazy about christmas the whole month of December - and before you realize the darkest month has gone by.

(the King and his family in front of a huge gingerbread house inside the castle)

Put as many lamps of all sorts and sizes you can imagine into your livingroom.
Truly believe there is no such thing as bad weather - just bad clothes and

truly believe the best playground for children is nature and they have to play outside everyday - even if it's dark.

( Did you know that three times 15minutes in a week of sunlight is enough for producing Vitamin D?)

invest 100 Kroner to get some fresh tulips from the Netherlands in January/February

(I actually have a lovly bunch of tulips on my diningboard but it's too dark to get a picture now :)

as soon as the first sunrays warm the air in spring digg out the bikini and get as much sun as possible

It's not very expensive to travel to Spain/Turkey or other places in southern Europe. So many travel there for a vacation during the winter month. Many retired norwegians actually live in Spain.

But I really do long for spring!

Do you have any tips on how to get through the dark winter month?

Plain English

2011-02-01T10:59:00.000+01:00

There are some interior images that make me catch my breath.

This is one of those.

plain english design

The color, the light, the texture, the craftmanship...

About Plain English:

Plain English is a traditional joinery company.
We use the techniques of 18th and 19th century cabinetmakers.
Skilled joiners make our cupboards by hand in our Suffolk workshop.
We don't like gadgets and plastic bits.
Most of our drawers run on candlewaxed wooden runners.
Our shelf pegs are hand turned for us by a small company that makes wooden nails.
Our baskets are hand-woven for us in Suffolk from willow grown along the banks of the River Box.
The local forge makes our iron shelf brackets and hanging pot rails.
The pull-out trays in our floor cupboards were copied from the slides in an 18th century linen press.
Sounds pretty amazing...

I don't want to know the prices!

Go here to check out Plain English kitchens.

flowers & girls

2011-01-31T18:30:00.000+01:00

I have to admit I'm a little more exited to prepare for my little daughters birthday than for the boys'.

(Even though I have organized parties with themes like jungle, universe, detective, Italy, etc)

She wanted "flowers" as a theme.

How fitting for January- looking forward to spring!

She helped a lot with all decoration and wrote all name cards by herself.

I wanted to make tissue paper flowers a la Martha Steward for a long time, ever scince I saw the beautiful bedroom my friend Rie from Home and Harmony created for her four girls.

(read about it here)

But first I had to find out what tissue paper is called in norwegian and where to get it.

I succeeded.

Unbelievable my little girl turned from this

to this

within the last six years.

I'm so happy to have her!

weekend fun

2011-01-28T14:26:00.000+01:00

The battery of our camara isn't working anymore... arrrggghh....

My boy Nr2 (9years) made a little video this week. I like it. ;)

Boy Nr4 is keeping my hands busy. He starts to talk now, and all his siblings are cheering along...

Happy weekend!

layering mirrors

2011-01-26T11:36:00.000+01:00

House Beautiful Photo: Miguel Flores Vianna

I must be the queen of unfinished projects. A long time ago I announced I would give my up-stairs bathroom a mini make over.

Than I wished I never had mentioned it... :)

I'm still not done.

But I like my layered mirror.

First I thought about framing the mirror, but adding this darling thriftstore mirror (which was gold before it came to my house) adds a little interest and I'm happy with it....

Speaking about mirrors, I really got inspired by this cool DIY sunburst mirror:

Ii's Michelle from Ten June who made it.

I especially love that it's so LARGE!

I blieve in moving furniture...

2011-01-24T13:08:00.000+01:00

Because:

it's free
you can instantly give a room a new feeling
it burns calories
you have the chance to really clean behind the furniture
it helps to relief cabin fever (which I get if it's raining for days/weeks)
...

Need any more reasons?

now

before

In autumn I had moved our bed into this arch in our bedroom.

It was cozy.

On friday night Mr Viking mentioned that it was kind of annoying that he had to crawl into the bed from the bottom end. I agreed.

(Mr Viking did not know that my plans for saturday already involved a bedroom change :)

"But isn't this the wall where your faux fireplace has been???"

I am amazed how well you follow along.

The thing is, we have no warming in this room.

In winter it's f.r.e.e.z.i.n.g cold.

Which we dont't mind as long as we have good bedding we love to sleep in a cold room.

But as cozy as this corner was, in winter it's actually too cold to sit there...

And I believe interior has to have a function...

Over to this room:

It has been boyNr2 and boyNr3's room.

But they had moved in with boy Nr1.

So it functioned as playroom.

I want to use it as family room.

As the kids grow older the need for another living room is growing.

But the tourquise color had to go - I felt like sitting in a swimming pool.

(even though it's not very long scince I painted it that way - what was I thinking !?!)

So the fireplace moved.

More of this new family room later....

lovly childrens room's

2011-01-21T17:36:00.000+01:00

At Norske Interiørblogger the January challenge was childrens rooms. There were so many lovely rooms - it must have been hard to choose some winners...
Here are some I liked best:

ralfefarfars paradis

lykke-bo

den gamle stil-de svunne tider

pitoresk

mias interior

And for a teenage boy this room must be a dream:

hegemors store lille verden

Happy weekend, everybody!

quirky candle holder

2011-01-19T11:44:00.000+01:00

Just a little impression from my January livingroom...

I love sukkulents and zinc pots.

See that little candle holder with antlers attached to it?

I paid 5NOK (0.85USD) for it at my favourite thrift store!!!

It makes me smile.

Otherwise I'm busy preparing the guest room today, scince we expect a visitor.

And somehow all sewing projects pile up on top of this bed...

Our old house and...

2011-01-17T19:03:00.000+01:00

...why I have not been blogging for a week

(Note: all pictures are from our old house. In January 2009 we did a house-swap with my parents-in-law.

We loved this house which we had fixed up the previous years... but it was getting too small for our growing family)

I think last week I had a blog-block.

I just was so busy with life.

And we are in a process...

thinking.

praying.

asking the big questions

Where are we in life?

What do we want for the next years?

Do we have our priorities right?

Mr Viking and I have been laying on the bed and been talking for hours.

That is good.

Is it just the new year?

(the word "mid-life crisis" is lurking in the back of my mind... oh no, we are not THAT old!)

At the same time I have been sorting out, throwing away, purging and getting organized...

and I really start to long for spring!!!

Do you find yourself in the reflective corner this time of the year?

children's bedroom

2011-01-10T14:32:00.000+01:00

NIB utfordring for januar er "barnerom". Tenkte jeg viser litt hjørna til eldstegutten. Han er elve år. Han lærte å lese før han begynnte på skulen og jeg vet sannelig ikke hvor mange bøker han har lest siden.

Idag, når jeg kom opp for å ta litt bilder, låg C.H. Andersens eventyr oppslått på nattbordet - på tysk (vi er tospråklige). So dette er ikke "staged". Men eg har jo redd opp senget ;)

Universet har fascinert ham siden han var en liten gutt, så var gleden stor når besteforelderene gav ham stjernekikkert til jul.

Han har begynnt å spele gitar sist sommer.

Seng: fra fretex for noen år siden

Sengetøyet: Princess

Kommode: arvegods (malt)

New sunburst mirror

2011-01-08T18:27:00.002+01:00

Since my homemade sunburst mirror is for sale, I had to replace it with something else.

How convinient that the Nester just posted about

how-to-make-a-sunburst-mirror

the day after I took down my old one!

This is the Nester's original mirror

I had all that was needed on hand - a free and quickly done project is what I love!

This is how my copied version turned out.

Mine is a bit smaller and will not hang there for long - but works fine as space filler until I get something else.

Happy weekend!

Linking to:

white as linen

Still winter or allready spring?

mountains

quiet on my blog

weekend

farm house table

New Year and christmas recap

Merry christmas!

fourth of advent

a day's worth of wood

even in the stable there was no room for them...

a little christmas in the breakfeast nook...

the dark season

diningroom

Getting all cozy for fall...

a trip to Oslo

when blogging friends become friends IRL

Fall Break

girl's room inspiration

how sweet to hold a newborn baby...

next step

Farmhouse style?

beautiful fall

not too shabby

Lucky me...

finally...

Sailing with dolphins

Fall

Pinterest

life buoy wreath

in my living room - right now...

Finally

in the rain

butterflies

1. day of school

working hard

green hutch

painting a venyl floor

dining room

Finally

fresh fish

our beautiful country

a sad day

a summer party

in memory of Hagbart

aqua blue

my inspiration blog

GARASJESALG - YARDSALE

coral red

bedheads, a bedside table and vintage shell prints

Pillow talk

inspiration

17th of May

lampshade

my man

fabric...

Echino by Etsuko Furuya.

Easter

I'm back

Be still

"new" sofas

A sunburst mirror made from flower tags

the fascination of running water

Japan and our living room

Day of silence

Spring wreath

Japan

Kitchen inspiration

on tour and a tip

My Kitchen

kitchen talk - I need help!

fleeting beauty

convex mirror

Cozy mornings

Daily Bread

Lamp re-vamp

pompons from tissue paper

Norwegian Winter

Plain English

flowers & girls