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.

During the times when life is at it's cruelest, and days are at their darkest, being able to see out into the distance is comforting for the soul.

Purchasing Gifts on the Internet

Living half a world away from family and friends for over 10 years does make gift giving difficult. What size are they now? What are their likes and dislikes? What can I purchase that doesn't weigh too much, won't break or won't be confisgated by customs in other countries?

I found a solution to this for Mother's Day. For those who do not live in North America, Mother's Day is the 1st Sunday in the month of May. (I think - I'm starting to get these days mixed up now.... if it's not the 1st Sunday, then it's definitely the second). I found a great seller on Etsy makes home made soaps and jams. Bovine Bubbles located at: www.bovinebubbles.etsy.com

(For those looking for a more precise location, she lives in Saskachewan.)

I fell in love with the pictures of her products. While her tripple digit feedback attests to the quality of her products, her store attests to her success as a business woman. This is what I ended up buy for my mother:


Peppercorn Lime Bath and Body Bar

Pear Shea Butter Soap


Citrus Sunshine Bath and Body Bar

Sweet and Spicy Garlic Jelly (Although I think my Dad will really like this).

Blueberry Lime Jam

White Peach and Vanilla Bean Jam

Kiwi Lime Daiquiri Jam

I can imagine her before me, soaking in the tub after a hard day at work.... or having a slow Sunday morning breakfast with a cup of good coffee, some toast and one of these delicious jams. (And I can see my father using the garlic jam when he's cooking some sort of roast on evening).

In addition to these great photos and great feedback, Bovine Bubbles is registered with both Canada Health and Saskachewan Health. And all of her products are labeled nicely with a list of ingredients. And, small notes can be added to gift wrapped packages, wishing friends or family members Happy Birthday, Merry Christmas, Happy Mother's Day or even just a Thinking of You.

Do check out her store. It will be worth it!

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.

A Means to an End -

This friday the trip to the cabin was almost hell. A major accident had blocked the only road north out of Bergen and we were stuck in the middle of it.

With no way out.

With four hungry kids in the truck (we took two extra just to be sure the experience would be as extreme as possible).

And no way out.

And myself looking at the gas guage which says I have less than a quarter tank of deisel.

And no way out.

But we made it out.

When we got to our cabin it was freezing could. A lovely north wind was blowing, which guarantees sunny skies, but not the cloud cover to hold in the heat.

So I gave each of the kids a small suitcase, while I loaded myself up with a big backpack, two grocery bags of food and a large duffle bag of washed linens from our last stay. We all hurried along the pathway to our cabin, rushed in and closed the door behind us. I made dinner and we all ate like wolves (everyone was excused their lack of politeness at the table tonight).

And then I dressed the kids in winter jackets and hats and sent them out to play for a bit.

And then I made myself coffee, poured it into a thermos mug and went out myself.

And saw this:


(stage left)

(stage center left)

(stage center right)

(stage right)

In an instant everything is vanished: clutching in and out of first gear for over an hour, 4 kids asking how much longer it is before they can get out of the truck, me wondering if I'm going to make it to the gas station before I need to call a tow-truck, me getting very hungry and very irritated at small, little people who are also very hungry and very irritated.

It's just me, my coffee and my breath rising from my lips. Not bad for a Friday evening.

Working with Nature --

I am pleasantly surprised. Not shocked, but there's not a lot that shocks me anymore. I've come to expect the best and the worst from those of us living on this planet. It's all the stuff that happens inbetween that intrigues me and impresses me.

So imagine my pleasantly surprisedness when I found some great yarn (in my favorite yarn and fabric store) which was made from BAMBOO. I've now finished my first product from it, I am so completely satisfied with the yarn that I can't wait to get my hands on more of it.

Still, it takes me a bit to wrap my brain around the whole idea. I mean, we start with this:



(minus the dog)

and this:

(the above photos were stolen from http://www.bamboogarden.com/)

and end up with a product like this:

The benifits of using bamboo yarn are numerous.

1. It's a completely renewable resourse. Even the hard cored, left handed environmentalists will be happy. The bamboo can be harvested without destroying the plant itself, leaving the plant to continue growing so that it can be harvested in another 6 months.
2. By itself, it is completely biodegradable.
3. Has the ability to be dyed by 'natural dyes'. This is better for the evironment. (And until this point I had not given much thought to unnatural dyes that are harmful to the environment being used on other types of yarns. Hmmm.... food for thought).
4. Bamboo yarn has natural anti-bacterial properties. (Great news for me working in a day which involves wiping a lot of snot and being sneezed and coughed on regularily throughout the year).
5. Bamboo also has natural ultra-violet light protective qualities (perfect for that full body protective sun-suit I'm thinking of knitting)
6. Bamboo is softer than silk. (This I can personally attest to. My fingers were happy little fingers while working on my first project)
7. Bamboo has a beautiful NATURAL luster.

This is my first product with this great material. Soft and silky against the skin.... This is my new favorite invention since peanut butter.

I look forward to showing off future products.

All is of course not perfect in the real world. This is true of bamboo yarn as well. The one downfall that I have been able to research is that it does absorb water and expand when soaked in water.

But as always in my life, when life gives me lemons I do try to make lemondade. In this case I'm thinking: Asset enhancing swimwear for both men and women.

Working Together as a Team -

This is a close up of my sea side cabin, located approximately 1.5 hours north of Bergen, Norway. It's a family retreat, where everyone goes to relax and fill the soul with the time and space that daily life takes away from it. My husband aquired this property from an elderly family member over 20 years ago, and when he took it over it was falling apart in every sense of the word. All the windows had been broken by storms, two of the walls were rotting out, some of the floor boards had broken through to the stone basement below.

Since I have joined the picture 11 years ago, the two of us have been working together (in every sense of the word) to rebuild this place. We've replaced the roof. We've extended the building and extended the kitchen on one side (where one can see the white door) while adding a bathroom with a ecological toilet and a space promised for a small foot-pump shower (which is a big improvement from the bucket in the basement that was available when I first moved here) as well as adding a second bedroom on the second floor.

This summer we'll be extending the wooden porch around to the sea side of the cabin.





8 years ago we build a porch in front of the doorway. Before there was only wet dirt and cracking cement. We also added the fiberglass roof so that we could be outside when it rained.

3 years ago, after replacing the roof and extending the cabin, we added a porch on a second side of the house. At the far end where the railing is we've enjoyed many breakfasts looking over the sea, while listening to my mother-in-law shouting good morning to us from her own cabin further up the property.

Now we're going to extend the porch into a balcony on the sea-side of the cabin.... both to get even closer to nature and to find a bit more privacy.

Now the problem is that while we do have access to a concrete mixer, it is located further up the property. And considering that it rains an awful lot on the west coast of Norway, the ground is almost always saturated with water. After a quick discussion, my Viking husband and I decided it would take just as much work to mix the cement by hand as it would be to take the concrete mixer up and down wet grass.

The descion was made pretty quickly. I had dug the holes to solid rock while Viking searched through all of his materials to find planks that could be used to make forms. I would mix the cement and he would carry it and fill the forms. Mormor would make sure the kids did not get in our way.

The lesson begins:

Two parts sand from the wheelbarrow above....

Plus one part gravel.....

Plus one part cement.....

(Which in the end, when using my shovelfuls, turned out to be about 4.5 parts sand to 3 parts gravel to so-and-so much dry cement. But in the end, it was good cement).

There's the dry mixture.... almost looks like BisQuick Mix, doesn't it?

And there's the final, usable product. Which also resembles BisQuick Mix when the milk has been added.

After almost 2 hours and 9 small batches of cement later, all the forms were filled.

And always the romantic, Viking needs to leave his mark.