Adding Surface Area to our Holidays....

So for those that have been have been following my blog, you'll know that my husband and I have been working on improving our sea side cabin for years. This year we're adding porches, replacing two windows and painting walls. For the work that we did last Easter, see this post:


http://plaskdesign.blogspot.com/2009/04/working-together-as-team.html


But now we're doing the fun stuff. The stuff that's easier to do, quicker to build. And looks impressive.


Everything started out well from the beginning. My husband purchased his materials when there was a sale at the lumber yard. I myself was stunned. I never even knew that lumber yards and building material stores had sales. The result was that we were able to get everything we needed instead of just half of it. And here it is:



You'll see that one piece of clear fiberglass/plastic on the top of the pile. We need that because last Easter my son did this:




While swinging way too high on this:

We haven't actually gotten to that part yet.... but we're working on it.

And so in addition to all the materials we bought we still have our previously purchased materials that will also be used:

Here's a reminder of where we last left you at Easter, having dug holes and made huge cement blocks, on which the vertical supporting beams will be placed.

And this is how far we came yesterday, just after lunch:

I was trying to get my husband to wave to me. His response was to become very irritated and told me to come down and help him (as opposed to vaccuuming the crumbs that kids had left all over the living room floor because they decided to take their breakfast down from the table so that they could play with all their little Bankugan toys).

I spent 45 minutes helping him put up the last vertical supporting post, as well as securing it to the cabin itself. I also got three big horsefly bites that I am still treating with aloe vera.

But all this was good - it would have taken him at least twice as long to complete the job himself. And soon after that he was able to complete the days work:

I am so looking forward eating dinner out here in a couple of days.

Premier of Else-Gunn Cowls... and a surprise from my favorite girl.

There's a woman who lives in my neighborhood, Else-Gunn. A totally cool woman. She's a very good friend to one of my neighbors and one of her children is in the same class as one of mine. Over the past two years I've had the oppurtunity to have many conversations with her. She's always smiling. She always has something funny to say. Even when she's really irritated at something, her humor bubbles over. So even if you really agree with her that the situation is down right awful, you're giggling.


She has to be one of the nicest people I know, and during the last couple of months I've had the oppurtunity to slowly get to know her better.


A week or so ago she decided to give me a big bag of gorgeous yarn that she had collected.... and had intended to knit cute things from. But sometimes the best of intentions don't work out. It was so nice of her to give it to me and I am very grateful for her thoughtfullness.


Right from the beginning, I had made it my first priority to make her a cowl as a thank you. She did let me know that her favorite color was pink.... and I am almost finished with her project. But first I had to think up a good idea, and practice a few times before setting to work.


I found a beautiful shell technique that looks stunning. I've made two cowls already, which I've taken pictures of:


This first one is made from a dark pink cotton (this one is not her's). It is 95% finished as I need to add some buttons to it. I was thinking mother-of-pearl. It's a little hard to see, but I hope the shell pattern comes forth a little bit.

Here is a second one that I have done witha combination of two types of white cotton. The plan is to naturally dye this one (and others I will make from cotton) using natural materials I can find from the nature surrounding my cabin.

It's my intention to make a lot of cowls of this style, in different colors. And all of them will be under the title Else-Gunn Cowl.

Fame is always fun to pass out to others.

And here is a man's cowl that I've almost finished knitting. This is 100% wool in a fantastic bright red color. Great for sports fanatics.

And then later today I got a bit of a surprise.

It was rather warm today, and after a few hours of swimming in the ocean, I decided to head back up to our cabin to start getting dinner ready. My daughter came with me and once inside she asked me if she could work. This is quite different from just painting or coloring, which she also does.

This was just perfect for me and left me free to make dinner.

About 20 minutes later she comes to me with this:

The light had already started setting.... but what she's made for me is a new diary/journal that I can use (having seen that I was coming to the end of one I am working on presently).

I was really stunned. I mean, I have always thought I have the greatest kids. I have always had the opinion that they are more thoughtful, considerate, and have more empathy that the average kid. But this rarely invovles me. It usually involves everyone else BUT me.

But maybe sometimes it can be my turn too.

Spring In Norway

Spring started showing arriving at my sea-side cabin. Here's what we're all dreaming off while we work our day jobs during the week.


Daffodils that are sprouting.

The blueberry bushes starting to grow and prepare...

Green leaves that are regrowing on the plants we've been trying to get rid of.

The rose bushes that will soon be blooming.

Rogue Easter Lilies popping up in the strangest of places.

Wild strawberry plants peeping up by gravel road...

Buttercups sneaking up in the grass.

Other yellow flowery-tree like plants that I don't know the name of blossoming.

The cherry trees blooming.

And my daughter wants to get back to her wilderness training.

My Working Space

One of my collegues from the European Street Team on Etsy had a challenge to all members: blog about your creative workspace.

This has taken me a bit of time to do as I, in the big scheme of things, do not actually have a permanent workspace.

I do have my sewing corner under the stairs of my house and I have done a lot of creative sewing in the past. However, at this point in time, my life is so busy that I am only sewing patches on the knees of my son's pants. But I will come back to this creative corner sooner or later.


Notice the newspaper articles I've been featured in as well as the pictures that my daughter has drawn for me in order to help me become more creative. I do miss sitting in that corner.

The next most popular place to work is on my living room chair in the evenings (below). Lately this has been happening more and more infrequently. But I do manage to get at least 30 minutes in before I need to go to sleep. Even if I don't create anything worth keeping and need to take it apart, I do manage to relax my mind and heart rate which makes falling asleep after a hectic day that much easier.

It's not often that I am a passanger in our Pajero. But those times that I am, I do some easy knitting.... the kind that can be done without looking at my project and thus avoiding car sickness.

Last week I managed to do a bit of knitting at one of my son's feild trips. We went on a big picnic at the north end of the large island we live on. After visiting the museum, wading in the super cold ocean water and eating our packed lunch, everyone else pulled out their coffee thermoses while the kids were running and playing in the fields. I took out my current project. I only got 10 minutes worth of work done, but 10 minutes here and 10 minutes there makes an extra project every week.

And today I did a bit of knitting while at the aquarium. I planned it right and we were able to get a window seat in the cafeteria just before the seal show started. My children happily ate an ice cream while watching the seals and all their tricks. I got to begin on something new.

So basically where I can take my work with me, I can have a work space. It would probably be easier to think of where I cannot do work:

• on an airplane (damn those terroists!)
• in the dentist's chair
• in the movie theater
• in bed after my husband turns off the lights.

Otherwise, I guess the rest is fair game.

Crab Fishing, Fish Fishing and Getting The Creativity Done!

Today was a wonderful day. The sun was shining, there was very little wind and it felt almost as if summer had come. A good day for not doing any work and being with the kids

Now, I can write a long list of all the things I can do. Let's just say I've picked up various skills here and there, legal and otherwise. But one thing that I have not yet learned to do is drive a boat. I mean, it looks pretty easy, especially if one takes it slow. And considering all the other vehicles I can drive, legally and otherwise, it shouldn't take me long to learn. But in the meantime I need to wait for my husband to give me a lesson or two.

And since my brother-in-law was using the boat with his family in the beginning of the day, I spent the day crab fishing with my children.


We had help from one of the bigger cousins, who was also waiting his turn to use the boat. Here my son is given a lesson on how to bait the crab-fishing-pole. Yes, in Norway you can buy fishing poles made just for fishing crabs. I have yet to hear of anyone actually catching a crab this way. Instead it appears that this is a fun way to give all the smaller fish in the area a free lunch. Which is much more exciting for my kids anyway. If an actual large crab appeared, I'm sure it would monsterously terrifying to both of them.

The first thing you need to do is find some sort of shell animals. When I do this, I tend to go hunting for mussels. In this case, my nephew has chosen to use those cone shaped shellfish that glue themselves to large bouders. Then you take the nearest available rock and in proper primitive, neanderthal style, you smash the living daylights out of it.

And then you squish the flesh between the clothes peg that is found at the end of the fishing line.

Point number one: I do not know why clothes pegs are used instead of fishing hooks. Having said this, I don't see how either do a good job in actually catching crabs. If of course we continue to work with the theory that this is crab fishing and not simply providing free meals for underpriviledged fish.

Point number two: My nephew has a bandage on his hand because he cut it badly the previous week during a scouting adventure in the forests of Norway.

And then you bend over the edge of the dock and you wait.......

And you wait......

And you wait....

Finally my nephew, being as clever as he is, decides to find some super small fish hooks and re-ties the fishing lines. After another 30 minutes the result is this:

A makeshift aquarium of three small fish who thought they were getting a free lunch and a lot of shrimp that just got in the way.

But low and behold, my brother-in-law and family come back from their boat trip early than expected (he actually hates fish and is relieved every time they come back without fish - we secretly think he visits the places where everyone knows you can't find fish) and my mother-in-law gives me the elbow and suggests that we take the boat out.

You can imagine the the kids are filled with glee.

Now, for the little bit of complaining that I do, I really do have a pretty cool mother-in-law. My kids adore her, and she is absolutely a super cool mor-mor (grandmother).

Knowing that my kids are still small enough to think our boat is a true racing boat, she hits the throttle and roars around in circles on the water.

Who's not having fun here?

Soon enough we go to a good fishing spot and start our gamble with the sea.

Who's not having fun?

Almost immediately my son gets a fish. This was great for him and now we have dinner for tomorrow night.

This was however the only fish that we caught in 45 minutes, though we did get 2 strong nibbles that bend the rods, and got stuck on the bottom 3 times.

And for my fellow members of the European Etsy Street Team, I have actually been completeing some projects! (We can't just be having fun all the time, can we?) :) I was able to complete this during my afternoon coffee. It will be up in my store next week.

I definitely can't wait to get back here next weekend.

I Got Myself New Boobies....

I finally did it! I went against what family members and friends had been telling me for years... that what I had was just fine. There was no point in going bigger. People should love me just the way I am.

Well I have to say, I have thrown caution into the wind and have followed my own desires. I bought myself some new boobies, and I LOVE THEM.

Here they are:




Aren't they perfect? I purchased them from Greece, and you can hardly even tell!! And already all my products just look great on them.

They peek out nicely, but aren't graphic at all.

They bring forward certain attributes.

Even when hidden, they still enhance. Isn't that what they say, that it's the mystery that the most intriguing?

If Janet Jackson can flash herself, then so can I!

Me and the Glass Coca-Cola bottle. We've got our curves and we love them!