Expeditions of the unknown

My "sisters" from Germany are spending their summer here i n Norway, working alittle and just visiting. I have three sisters from Germany, all former exchange students that lived with our family. They've become part of the Feldmann family, proving that love is thicker than blood any day! I miss them terribly when they are not "home" with us, and we're lacking one girl this summer to complete the set. But getting all five of us together is a tricky task as we all grow older, have lives and jobs that eat up our time.

I am however, very grateful for every minute spent with these brilliant girls! Last weekend we gathered at the cottage for some silly fun, good food.  

It's been raining so much in Norway this summer, this day was a very rare day of sun. We enjoyed it to the fullest by having breakfast at the picnic table, and staying outside for ages.

After breakfast we went wor a walk, or rather, a wade into the cottage stream. It runs just across the field, and is usually NOT this deep. But we still decided to go exploring the fairytale woods. It is truly magical in there... We all felt alittle like Indiana Jones :)

It was a perfect day! Even Hokus thought so, but then again, that kitty is nearly always happy-go-lucky!

I have a couple more days worth of work to put in at my job, and then I am off for 3 weeks pure bliss! One week will be spent exploring Wales in the UK (Going to the Royal Welsh Agricultural Show) and the other two will be spent doing fun stuff, in and out of the cottage. 

Have a GREAT weekend!

photos by evafeldmann.com my sister!

the old garden chair...

I had these old garden chairs.... and I was about to throw them away when I had a brilliant idea of making one of them into a garden swing for my large birch tree!!! I put my handy-man-dad on the case, and a few days later I could swing the summer nights away....

He cut off the legs, added some new support (that I still need to paint as soon as the wood dries up!!!)

I bought some cheap ribbon and tied it to the chains for some extra colour and whimsy... They blow ever so pretty in the wind!

now if it would only STOP RAINING!!!!!!

Days fly by...

Summer has so far kind of rained away for us here in Norway, but I don't complain too much. I am used to these "english" summers anyway. And I LOVE storms... I love sitting out on the porch when the sky goes dark, the wind picks up and you can see the rain travel across the fields to the drum of thunder rolling!

yeah, but I really don't mind the sun either!!!! I wish for some sun now!

It's been a crazy month, lots to do, and not enough "me time" at all... I've been able to pull off a few minor projects, but none are really finnished. I hope July will be better. I have at least, no horse shows to plan this month!!! That's something :)

So what did I do?

-I got my kitchen garden going! Yay for me!!! It's still not painted, and looks a bit messy... but I have veggies!!!! Imagine that....

- dad finnished the chair swing for the big tree But I need to paint it, and get it hung up there.

What did I want to do this summer?

- get the guestroom done!

- paint my buffet in a dark navy colour!

yeah... well the summer is not over :) There is still time!

Tomorrow my "sister" from Germany comes, and on sunday yet another sister from Germany arrives. Two of our past foreign exchange students are spending 4 weeks here with us! I simply cannot wait to see them again!

And thank you so much for all your sweet sweet comments on my surgery & weightloss! It means alot to me!

ME....

Went to a Viking Fair today with my sister, and on our way home we snapped a few shots... Some of these photos I actually like :)

Here is something I don't think I've shared before.... read on....

Since March I have lost alot of weight, and I am still shedding them off by the week! Yay me!!!

I am finally starting to feel like my self again, comfortable in my own skin. I was always a chubby girl with boobs and thighs and I always will be...

But when the weight started being very unhealthy and dangerous, as well as being a natural stopper to what I wanted to DO... there was time for majour changes.

After years of struggeling to shed them, and nothing working at all. My doctor finally told me I had only one choice left... surgery.

So I had surgery done in March (a sleeve gastronomy), and since then life has been pretty much great. I feel great. I work out, I eat right, I can do exactly what I want to do, and not worry about my body not being able to.

It was a though choice to call, but one I will never regret. It's still a long way to go though, and I have to remind myself everyday to be GOOD to my body!

See... this was me, last September... less than I year ago. Those clothes no longer fit me... :)

My sister and I. Eva donning her viking costume :) I can finally raid her closet!!!

Q&A time

A lot is going on here these days, I have so much in the books. So many things to plan and do, it just leaves zero time for anything else... and then to spice it up alittle... Mr. Cold came over to say hello... and brought me the gift of sneezes, snot and fever! Yay! Aren't I the lucky one?!

Either way I am just popping in to answer a question I get asked ALOT these days...

"what paint, and shade, did you use on your dining chairs"?

well I used TWO shades of colour. Both in high glossy oil-based paint (Lady Interior from Norway).

The colour codes are in Norwegian too, and I just dont know if they would work if you give them to international sellers.

The first colour is a darker shade, called "lavender". It is an old colour used alot in the 50's in Norway. A sort of toned down turquoise (gray'ish). It's muted and lovely.

The code for that one is: 3010-G10Y

The lighter shade reminds me more of a tiffany blue. Still muted, but just a tiiiiny bit lighter than "lavender". The code for this one is: S2010-B90G

two of my chairs are in the lighter colour, the rest is in the darker shade.

Let me know if you end up getting the shade mixed in the US or the UK ect. I would love to know if they understood the codes :)

On Display

I have collected Figgjo china for years now, most of it is tucked into my two slim glass display cases, but I felt my cups just didnt shine there... So I decided to add some hooks to my platerack, and they show off so much better now.

I screwed the hooks in by hand, no measuring tools. So they do look a bit helter-skelter... and thats the way I like it. Careless organization really...

I mainly collect the mint green patterns, but sometimes other colours sneek their way in, like the pale yellow ;)

The buffet underneath is something of a puzzle for me. I have wanted to paint it for years, but could never decide on a colour... but I think I might have cracked that code now, and will be out buying paint tomorrow :) Stay tuned!

Hippocampuses galore

They have always held a special place in my heart... they look like dragons, the swim, they mate for life and the father carries the babies in his belly full term... ah to be seahorse would be wonderful!

When I was in the UK last summer I came across an old beaut up frame in a charity shop, inside was the real treasure, three dried, ancient, seahorses... the naturalist in me whooped and my heart skipped a beat. Seahorses are collected and dried for art, something that really bothers me. But these were clearly very very old. And those are the only ones I would ever buy. I tossed the frame and mounted the seahorses on some scrap fabric in a new frame. I love them. They have moved aournd quite a bit, but they now reside in my newly beached up diningroom.

....I am not a good enough zoologist to tell you the species these little beauties are, but they are certainly of the Hippocampus genus :)

and then I found me another one. This one never swam a day in his life, but he is perhaps even more dear to me. Would you like to hear his story?

This is the paque that my grandfather got for swimming. "the Seahorse" is something you get when you swim like...well a seahorse. He worked hard for this. I found him buried in the shed. The name plaque has sadly dissapeared, but I might work out something else. When I found him he was in bad shape, he had fallen off his plaque, which was a dull brown. The seahorse himself was a boring copper colour. He needed some sprucing up before being let into Vinnord. So I took out my paints, mixed him a few aqua colours and stained the wood several times before sanding it a bit down again. Then I stained him in a blue-hue verdigris as well. And look at him now! I absolutely LOVE him... He swam right up on that wall, and fit right into the cottage!!! After years of neglect in the shed, he once again is a shining pillar of strength and endurance!

I'm sorry I didnt get to snap a before photo... in my eagerness to start him I simply forgot! I love easy and quick projects like this one!!!