Merry Christmas to all! Hope you're enjoying time with your closest ones.... Enjoy it!
It's been a quiet but lovely evening here, we missed my brother with family who can not come from Switzerland before the New Year due to my SIL's work obligations, and we missed my H., who could not be with us this year. He spent it with his mother in Norway which gave me an opportunity to babble in my poor Norwegian when we exchanged wishes over the phone. Also, as I mentioned earlier, terminal illness hit a member of the extended family and I am thinking of them all at this very challenging time. Grandma Bronia made it till Christmas but that's about all the positive I can write about it...
So it's been more silent, less cheerful, but still a lot of joy to be with my father and his wife. I hope you and your families had lots and lots of wonderful moments... :)

Wesołych Świąt!

This year, I also tried my hand at Christmas trees made of gingerbread... they were a real success and so many friends of friends of family members wanted to order one! :) Maybe next year... This time they went to very special people, who are in bad need of a smile.

Some made me think of a fairytale...

Others were in a different style, but surprisingly they were prefered by some viewers...

So yummy-looking!

 Yes, but when it's not about cats... it's often about cats and little birds, as this picture can attest!

My aunt's kitten was mesmerized by that unexpected guest... I had to hide it very well right after! See what dear Harmien surprised me with in November... A darling little bird!

My cousin asked "ist that a decoration?" - and here I thought we were intelligent in the family...LOL!

 Birdie was accompanied by a highly practical little pouch for tissues... how suitable for the season! I like it so much that it now lives permanently in my handbag. Thank you so much again, Harmien!!
 

It's not all about cats, you know... ;-) Here is a heart with a stitcher and the word Noel, which flew to Nathalie in France.

 Marjorie Massey - Le Passé Composé - Coeurs - H7

 

Right before starting its trip in the sky accross country borders, here is the feline friend (again, a mouse! :) I sent to Harmien, with a little jingle bell attached to the upper left corner:

Chouett'alors - Treve de Noel

stitched on Lakeside Linens with overdyes and gold thread

 Oh the joys of making friends through blogging... I "met" Julie through Ela, and see how these two fantastically talended ladies spoiled me rotten!! They know I admire their work and they know I love stuffed animals... it's a shame they are too busy to show their work on their blog!

Not only Ela made the most beautiful mouse for me.... isn't it the loveliest mouse you've seen? I simply can't stop looking at her!

But this biiig mouse was joined by a small cat (just so she doesn't feel threatened) made by Julie:

I love to make stuffed creatures once in a while and I know how much detailed work goes into them... thank you so much!!

Did you think this was all? Nah! The mouse and the cat were joined by this lovely representative of another kind:

Ela likes quilting, something I haven't yet tried my hands on.. for the time being, I can admire her detailed work! She also included this hand-made bag (scrapbooking is yet another one of her talents) with a beautiful skein of thread:

And that still wasn't all...she remembered I like working with felt and there was also a kit ready to make a little gingerbread man - I am still hoping to find time this week!

Ela and Julie, Julie and Ela, thank you so very much again... you know how much I am glad to have you as friends! Now that I've gathered enough points for a free plane ticket to Lyon, there is no excuse not to meet sometime next year ! :) Or here in Poland - Julie, I hope I can show you a bit of my new town :)

What a pleasure to learn that the Christmas gifties and cards I sent out this year are arriving in due time... I couldn't send to all persons on my list due to lack of time, but I promise to make up for it next year.

Can you believe that Christmas Eve is... next week?

Here is the piece I sent to my friend Ela in France. The picture is bad unfortunately, but trust me, this new frame by Just Nan is another beauty they made... I made the same gift for H's mother and I have an extra one to stitch and frame one day for myself :) I used the recommended threads but substituded the fabric (too grey for me) for a more cheerful effect.

 Just Nan - Holly Bows 

Pre-Christmas news

Just wanted to send a few lines in the cyberspace before finally heading to bead at 3 am. Ouch! Can you believe it took me 10 (TEN) hours to pack gifties for family and friends, to give and to send away? How do YOU do it? Does it take you half that time? I am sooooo tired and a bit frustrated! Wrapping, packing, protecting, writing addresses, finding addresses, it took soooooo long... and the night will be short. Eh. But - it's such a joy to give joy! I love giving gifties!

I also wanted to reply globally to those of you who asked off the blog. I will be in Norway from December 30th and I believe it's better to send Christmas mail there unless you're really sure it will arrive in time to my address in Warsaw (Poland). If you don't have my address there, just ask!

And to answer a question I've been getting a lot recently... Well, yes, no, I am not sure anymore where I am at any given day. A few days here, a few days there, and I swear to those who want to hear me that by the time I've sold my flat and moved my Polish belongings to Poznan, I'll live the most sedentary life you've heard about (I can always dream). Anyway, the goal is soon to be commuting between Poznan and Oslo and wipe Warsaw off my residential map. I'll then be a bit closer to my father's town as well, 2 and not 4 hours by train. And I'll have my family, those I love most, in the same town, I'm so looking forward to it :)

I've been shortly in Norway, then a bit in Warsaw and since then at my family in Poznan, to help with Christmas food preparations among others and to bake a million gingerbread cakes (or so it seems). I was supposed to return last Monday, but my flight wad cancelled due to heavy snow and so it continued all week. We're snowed under! I asked for a refund for my ticket and I am hoping to take the train instead on Monday, with Toska, who'll accompany me to Norway at the end of the month. My aunt will start renovation works and due to Toska's bitchy character (she can't close her for many hours in one room with other cats), I'm taking her along. Happy The Dog will stay here at my aunt till spring, he loves it here and it's no sense to drag him along in planes, trains, cars and between countries in a regular cycle.

I also have some sad news, cancer has hit pretty close again, my cousin's mother in law was diagnosed two weeks ago and she might not make it till Christmas. Grandma Bronia, as we call her, is not my direct relative but she's been in my life for years now, a warm person who's had a hard-working life and we're so sad to accompany her in her last days at just 78. Everyone's helping in his/her own way and I've taken on me to produce zillions of gingerbread cakes, because she won't be making some this year for her part of the family. I am glad I can contribute in my small, limited way. It's such an awful thing to learn and go through right before Christmas and I wish I could do more, but she's at home surrounded by a whole bunch of loving persons and I know they're doing all they can.

Trillium - the tool the teacher was using is a handmade pouch made of a plastic sleeve for documents (!). I've made a picture which I'll post very soon so you can see. With this decorating technique, a little bit of icing goes a long way so the pouch has to be small and flexible. She had been trying all sorts of materials over the years and she;s confirmed it works best with the sleeves. I can certify, I tried other materials and it just didn't work well.

My eyes are closing.... more during the week-end, I have lovely things to show that I've received lately!! Have a great w/e, everyone!

Hello from Norway!

A quick note from Norway... a short 4 days stay to see H. and the cats (oh Szpulka has grown!! she hasn't forgotten me in a month! she is sooo affectionate!- but no time to make photos). I am drowning under work so this will be a real quickie.
On Wednesday, my flight was at 6am... what an idea! I had to get up at 3.30 and when you work and pack till 1 am, you can basically forget being efficient the whole day, I was a zombie. I walked through the new terminal in Warsaw (just a couple years old), it was basically deserted at 4:15 am: 

The old terminal was full of life, though. There was a thick fog over the airport and just as we were about to be redirected to another airport, the pilot landed, with no visibility almost. He informed that the fog conditions were just slightly above their landing minima. I didn't check the weather before leaving, and it had been +19 C in Warsaw last Sunday. I couldn't believe my eyes upon landing: winter has arrived to Norway! Only -4 C but a substantial amount of snow. WINTER. Here's what it looks in front of the house:

Apart from a short trip to the shopping center to buy some Christmas gifties, I kept working *all the time* which isn't funny but sometimes you don't get to choose. I'm flying back tonight, landing in Poznan this time, for another stay at my aunt and Christmas cooking/baking preparations.

Last Saturday I attended a workshop on baking and decorating gingerbread cakes, it was just fabulous!!! The teacher was Slovakian and knew everything about the subject and within a few hours, she taught us so much!

Each of us got a few already baked cakes to decorate with also a little bowl made of gingerbread as well. Sorry I don't have a picture, but decorated in the same style, these bowls are sooo beautiful!

Enjoy your week-end! I'll return with photos of lovely gifts I received from Ela and Julie :) (I thought I had them on my hard drive but it looks like I haven't copied them yet from the card)

 Thanks for liking my free-hand spiders!! Seriously, when I draw anything by hand, you could see anything in it ranging from a lizard to a cow, so I was enormously proud to have produced spider-looking spiders! :)

Dear H. was here for a week and we drove a big part of my belongings to my aunt in Poznan where, with my cousin's huge help, they were safely brought up to the loft, where spiders (real, this time) and dust gathered since 1958 will guard them till time comes to transfer all that to my new flat.

H. flew back to Oslo yesterday. His leg looks just awful, my aunt took care of his wound daily, me, I was about to faint, and I am not so easy at that ;-) Yesterday, at the weekly visit, the surgeon said a skin transplant might not be necessary and all would heal... before summer. Ah, the good joke! As it is, H. is awfully tired with that leg thing but, what can we do.

The plan was to empty the flat more so the man who'll do the works to prepare it for selling could start working, but I am drowning under work and need to concentrate on that. So works might start in January only. Anyway, the goal is to put in on sale on March 1 and I think I'll make it work.

I'm flying to Norway next week for 4 days  to visit little Szpulka and Lucky    to meet my better half at hearing which my father only sighed loudly on the phone. Haven't I just left Norway? Don't I have tickets for end of December? Yup, but Wizzair tickets were cheap and I'm missing the little one too much. While H. was here, his old mother visited both cats two times daily - another person reconverted to cats! LOL

Still no time to open blogs, still no time to post finishes, but I'll try to write from time to time. ***Please excuse me*** for not being better at visiting your blogs lately, I am so sorry for that. I am currently scratching my head HOW on earth I can find time to make and to send some Christmas gifties but I have some done and if I find time to do the finishing... but these won't be big packages this year and I might have to send just cards also....

Talking about cats, there's a new addition at my aunt's. Last week my cousin was walking home with family and they saw a car stop near a park, unload something and drive away at full speed.

That something was this little cutie and - of course - she's staying. She looked awful when they rescued her, had to take antibiotics for a few days but is now a little ball of happiness. We're not sure of the age. Possibly between 2 and 3 months. No name yet :)

I am *so happy* another little cat was saved, she wouldn't have survived the cars on the road or the night. I am sure you think the same of the driver who threw her out. Yes, I know. Slow torture wouldn't be enough.

Prairie Schooler exchange (2)

 from Prairie Schooler's book #165 - Sweeping cobwebs

My partner received her exchange so I can finally show it.
I sewed the stitched piece to a tiny orange bag made of Nepal wool, I thought the color suited well the theme of the exchange. On the sides, I stitched free-hand some cob webs and two spiders, the best I could - H. said they did look like spiders so I dared send the exchange LOL!
I added more cobweb on the front handle plus a big spider charm.

I swear the bottom line didn't look that crooked in real! I wanted the result a bit irregular but no matter how I took pictures, they showed it just awfully wrong.

Prairie Schooler Halloween Exchange

I received my PS Halloween exchange this week, it is so cute! Mary Louise chose to finish it as a coaster and it is a delight to watch. I might exhibit it or I might just use it so I can see it daily :)

I am back in Warsaw since a few days and very busy packing everything possible into boxes. Dear H. arrives on Wednesday and the next day we're going to drive it all to my aunt in Poznan. Moving out is exhausting! I'm working several hours per day and I see little progress but I still have 3 days and I think I'll be ready in time... not sure if I'll still have a backbone by then! :)

All is fine, just very, very busy with all sorts of things that need to be done after being away so long and before renovating the flat. I made arrangements with the person who will do all the works and I am just delighted he agreed to take care of all that.

But, I miss Norway, I miss H. and I miss Szpulka and Lucky terribly. Money allowing, I'm hoping to fly to Oslo to see them just for a couple of days by the end of November. Till then, it is going to be a lot of work, a lot of traveling.... seeing my family in just a few days is a soothing perspective though!

More later. Off to attack a big furniture with clothes and I need to arm myself with enough strong will to actually throw/give away all those old clothes "which I surely will wear one day because they're soooo nice" but which I haven't put on for... 15 years. Ah, moving out, decisions, decisions...

We've had several beautiful days of lovely sun despite the cold temperatures which some nights dropped to -6,5 C/43,7 F. Winter surely comes early this year! Within a few days the garden froze and the nature changed colors to a burnt orange, but the sun made dog walks so enjoyable. Today, the whole world has changed to an unfriendly atmosphere of strong wind, rain and general grayness. Not nice! Toska refused to go out, Happy did his morning obligations very fast, Lucky (who has short but thick woolly fur) went out for an hour and returned running at my first shouting, totally wet and hungry.
I don't have work since over a week, which is almost a blessing or at least what I really wanted to gather thoughts and stack up on good energy before my return to Poland. The last weeks had been stressing and I was overworked, so I am accepting these few days with a big smile. It's a good time to catch up on lots of small things at home and at my computer.
H's leg is healing but very slowly and it's definitely a difficult case. Nurses continue to come daily to change the specialized thingies on his wound and he drives to see the surgeon once a week now. Still on antibiotics (which we laughingly call anti-idiotics) because of the staphylococcus aureus infection he got at the hospital and a part of the wound has opened wide (eeeeek) but the necrosis seems to heal.
I feel so sorry for him, that it all is due to the blood thinning medicine he is taking after his heart op' and unfortunately such problems arise with a sad regularity even though he's very careful at preventing them. But it is also an eye-opening situation, what do we know that will happen to us later in life? He'd been in perfect health till the age of 50, and his heart condition was not due to high cholesterol, obesity or anything like that. It was suddenly discovered there was a genetic malformation in the heart, his life was saved and the quality of his live is perfect, he's certainly just as/more active than any of his active friends, but very regularly, problem arise with the blood. He goes to have it checked bi-weekly if it's okay or daily when it's not, but sometimes the problem occurs in between the good periods and most often the values jump because of a simple cold or medicine. He has now returned to work and can walk a lot better so I'll be leaving for Poland on Sunday, with Toska and Happy. Not that I look forward to it, because *a lot* of tasks await me till Christmas, but I already got my ticket back to Norway before the New Year, and that eases the heartache a bit! (also that of leaving little Szpulka here).

My blogging was so erratic over the past year that I thought it would be a good idea to catch up on the crafty part and post finishes from that period. To start, here is a box I sent last year to Jill F. for her birthday (exchange). I was so proud of me! I painted the box inside, covered it with matching fabric outside and glued a white cardboard piece to the bottom. I knew that Jill liked purple and peacocks s I chose this pattern and adapted the color. So glad she liked it! It is a bigger size box that can be used to hide all sorts of crafty treasures :)

Pinberry Lane - Mehitable Wright's Redwork Sampler

Among the birthday goodies, I added this hand-made felt hedgehog, because Jill likes them.
I used a pattern I found on the web after searching long for one I liked and I stuck pins in it :)

I'll leave you with this heart-warming video of Szpulka and Lucky. I am sure you will melt down! We sure have a very patient dog :)

Guess what? I am still in Norway. Dear H. had serious complications after his leg operation, his blood got too thin, made an internal bleeding in the wound and he had to be re-operated two weeks after, with a bacterial infection to top it all and also a part of the skin after the second op' died and they're not sure yet how bad it will be :( This time they kept him in 10 days to handle the whole situation very seriously. He is back home today but not in a very good shape, to say the least. He's been in a lot of pain the last weeks, he's very pale and a nurse is coming in daily to change the thingies on the wound. They don't want the wound to be opened at the usual doctor so it doesn't get infected again (more). He's also supposed to be seen by the surgeon every third day at the hospital and they say it will take weeks to heal!
As you see we've been through a lot lately, I stayed to take care of him, none of us thought he would be away so long, so I cat-sitted alone. Had to change my flight in a hurry already once, and now we've decided that I stay 2,5 weeks more. Walking is very painful for him so I clean, cook, handle the furry family, do the shopping, deliver lots of hugs and all that's needed to help at this moment! Poor H. was operated 3 times in 6 weeks, that's a lot!
I was very busy with work as well during that period so I'll come back with crafty news tomorrow. In the meantime, I'll leave you with this sweet shot of Szpulka and Lucky. She's growing soooo fast! :)

Kitty love

My friend Nathalie in France received her two end-of-summer gifties, so I can show them now. First, an Atalie little piece, it was my first time to try my hand on spider roses and I must say they are both very easy to do and very decorative. I played with colors so this is not the original version Atalie designed.

Atalie - Cassandre

stitched with my choice of silk threads

Then, one of my first medium-sized tatted pieces, which I sewed onto a hand-made red little pillow.

Summer came to an end so fast, but I still try to enjoy the nature around here in Norway, already thinking of my return to Warsaw at the end of the month.

One walk we did was just a few minutes from home, close to Stallerud, a local farm, but we used a path I haven't yet been to and Hakon hasn't walked since many, many years. As it turns out, it is very much used by locals, we met peoples walking, biking, jogging, bathing... Funny, because it's a pretty much secluded place out in the forests.

I picked this season's last raspberries - there are plenty of them growing wild on the sides of the streets, old abandoned gardens and lots in the forests around. They are smaller, sometimes much, much smaller than the ones you buy, but quite good nonetheless! :)

The funny part of the walk was to discover this bathing spot floating on water, with a large area with bonfire places, benches... quite lovely!

Happy made sure to explore the shallow waters this time. He is terrified of water usually, never goes in unless he is very very thirsty during a long walk, but even then he is so scared and behaves like water is attacking him at the smallest move. We usually have good fun of it :)

 Nature is preparing for the winter sleep. Norwegian woods are filled with big rocks, something I am not used to at all in Poland.

Dear H. will be at hospital for a couple of days to remove a lump on his ankle. The operation will take place tomorrow at the Radiumhospitalet, the largest cancer center in Northern Europe, as Wikipedia affirms. They chose to do it there because of where and how it is located, but there is no fear of finding cancer cells in it. They have to do a big and deep cutting and take care of nerves and muscles, from what I understood. Otherwise there were lots of preparations to make his blood thicker, he hasn't been taking his blood thinners (which he's taking after his major heart surgery in 2005) and it's been controlled many times the last three days. So the scare, if there is a small scare, is not really the lump on the leg, but more his heart/blood issues but I feel the staff at the hospital has been taking it very serious and all has been prepared well :)

In August, H. was at a normal hospital to operate an aggravated bursitis, but only under local anesthesia. He showed me that picture later:

and I commented - how could you sleep with your leg that high up? To which he replied - I told you I didn't sleep for three nights, didn't I? I can well imagine! LOL

He's been very busy the past days to finish lots of garden works in preparation of the days he won't be able to walk too much.
As for me, I am making plans for the fall and winter, thinking about packing my flat in Warsaw for the big move to Poznan, booking plane tickets in between several cities, summer is over, it is going to be a very busy few months for me.
I will be reducing my stash greatly so I will offer some charts here as well. I think I have enough lovely stitching and tatting projects to keep me occupied for a long time so it's no sense I keep dozens of charts I won't stitch. The only thing I wish I had more of is silks, overdyes and Lakeside linens! I am positively addicted to them! LOL But a big part of my charts collection has to go. What do I do with the old ones noone would buy and which I would hate to trash? What do YOU do with them?

By the way, someone had the good idea of repainting the main building of the Polytechnical School in Warsaw, I live across the street from it. Take a look HERE for a photo - they carefully analyzed samples of the old yellowish paint that was used 34 years ago but it turned out pink! Light pink, okay, but pink! The result is so awful that they stopped halfway and from what I understood, it's being repainted using a different color. I am anxious to see the result when I'm back! LOL