King of the Cottage

 

Lets just get one thing out in the open right away:

 

I LOVE my CATS :)

 

ask anyone who knows me and they will all answer you this:

Miss Tee in the cottage is just a few cats away from being that crazy cat lady.

the O-man allready calls me the crazy cat lady. I would pretty much do anything for my little furries.

And how could you refuse them anything when they're all such huge personalities and cute as a button to boot! Let me present you to Mr. Hokus! (the Girls were not available for photos at the time being. They were having their beauty sleep)

 

 

This here is my youngest, Mr. Hokus. A large white male of 1,5 years. Total heartbreaker of course. And gets away with a lot of serious mischief! He is just absolutely full of energy and it drives me insane at times.

 

One of the favorites spots is the kitchen window, it looks out on the porch and the front door where he can watch out for visitors. It is in fact a beloved spot for all my cats.

 

Owning cats, or rather, being owned by cats, is a truly brilliant and loving experience. I have been cat-less for short periods of my life, and will not ever go back there. It is a dismal place to be.

 

But like I said, having cute furries around the cottage is not all smiles and sunshine.

Like for example when Hokus decides at 5 am that it is breakfast time, and starts the procedure of waking me up. Which doesnt work all that well at 5 am let me tell you! What does my resourceful boy do then you might ask?

Oh let me tell you... he goes to work on my bedroom walls! Shredding the wallpaper... and yep, that does it too. I get up! There are several shredded patches of wallpaper in my bedroom now. Alltough I have managed to make him stop by talking to him sternly, my once beautiful bedroom is just a little less presentable now.

 

 

Then there is the case of the Muddy paws! No one, I repeat; no one of my other cats manages to get quite as dirty as this wee boy. He is just a master at the art of muddy paws. And he likes to "Paint" on the sofa, the bed or just about any newly washed floor.

 

 

Oh and if you ever come over to the cottage wearing a scrunchie for your hair. Do not put it anywhere. Hokus will find it, and he will assume it is his personal play thing!

Not to worry though, if we can't find it anywhere it is sure to turn up in the water bowl the next morning. One morning I got up I found no less than FIVE of these resting at the bottom of the bowl.

 

Other things he likes to do for my entertainment (or to simply test my patience) is climbing on top of the tv (I still have one of those massive tv's from the 90's) where he hangs over the screen watching movies along with me. I am actually concidering getting a flat screen for this reason alone.

 

And then last night he decided licking the hand soap was a good idea. To the O-mans great entertainment. Newsflash: cats doesnt like soap either, and make funny faces when tasting it.

 

Or placing both front paws firmly in the waterbowl, kick off with his hind legs and "drive" it around the floor. Water splashing everywhere...

 

most of all he just wants to be where I am. No matter where that is: shower - Cooking - or his favorite: changing the bed covers. He even recognizes my car and comes running when I come home from work.

 

One thing's for certain, life is never ever dull at the cottage!

 



Spring Celebrations

 

Confession: I have still not removed my easter/spring decor... I wasnt able to stay much at the cottage during the celebrations. My well went dry, and cottage life is made rather hard without any water. Thank goodness for the outhouse loo. But it's still rather freezing here in Norway, and the experience was very very cold!

 

 

The water is back by the way....

 

So I am content with leaving the chicks, eggs and bunnies out just a little longer really.

And because was able to borrow my sister's bad ass camera... well I have something to show you at long last!

 

Spruced up for spring. My smallest Aqua candle stick broke the other day. I will have to try and glue it back together.

 

The balls of moss were made by stuffing real moss into these metal balls I found at a flea maket last Autumn. The smart little bunny man was painted by me when I was little. My grandmother, who passed away suddenly in febuary this year, made and painted porcelain figures. Sometimes we gor Our own figures to paint too.

 

 

My newest additions. Glittery white, victorian bunnies! I absolutely love them!

 

I like to keep it a bit crisp and simple, airy if you like during spring.

I cannot tell you how much I long for brighter summer days right now. I am tired of snow!

 

My Beach cottage style that always invade me during summer is slowly making an entry again too. The white whale is back where it feels right at home. Stacked up on Three rusty wonderful flower frogs.

 

 

A small selection of my vintage easter egg Collection. I usually hang these in branches in a huge vase. But seeing as I had a bit of a water issue this year, I gathered them all in basket instead.

 

My Avon Bunny! I found this cutie at a fleamarket as well. Complete in his Box, with the candle still intact. The scent was gone (it was supposed to be a scented candle), but I burned it up and replaced with a tea light. I absolutely love him. So cottage cute it's a bit painful!

 

I truly hope your easter was brilliant! Mine was, despite the lack of water!

 

I have my sisters camera for another day or so. And will try to shoot loads, so I have Things to update with for a while. Thanks for not giving up on me!

Dressed in thirty...

After I had my weight loss surgery a year ago I have lost quite a bit of weight... and I can now see the woman I think I am in the mirror... For the longest time the person staring back at me, simply was not anyone I could recognize...

Am I satisfied? Uhm... some days I am, some days I am not.

I am still curvy, and somewhat overweight... but the diffrence is still striking. I wish I could loose those few extra pounds... but keeping up the diet regime is getting harder and I need to pull myself together if I want to stay like THIS and not gain the weight again...

However, I can not see myself as a thin woman, I will always be curvy. And I want to be as well...

But for those good days, when I feel absolutely fabulous, I love to get dressed... and I have worked on my style these past months. Creating a fun, colourful and vintage look for myself. I love getting dressed, and I belive I am doing it very well now, at 31 years, I finally see ME...

That dress was a steal, at a thirft shop. I absolutely love it! Perfect pattern and colours! Just enough cuteness and whimsy!

And now that weather is finally thawing on us, I can pull out the leather biker jacket I bought last summer... I love that jacket, all the details!

I am sucker for details..

so maybe there will be more style post from now on, mixed in with cottage delights.

I was never any good at stilts by the way! :)

And just for comparison... this was taken at my heaviest... September 2011

and now its bed time ;)

(photos by Monica Snopestad, & old one by Eva Feldmann)

the BIG question

Yeh, so not much happening here right?
Well I do have things I would like to show, but no camera to use... so I will hopefully get something soon...

But for now, you guys keep emailing me, several times a day in fact, about one big question...

What colour did I use on my dining room chairs?

yes... well I have answered this in post several times over the years, but I realize it is hard to find... so my solution is this: Come this weekend I will pull myself together and rightly try to SCAN swatches of the paint, make a page with my colours for you to print, use as you like.

Seeing as the code is USELESS internationally...

So hang in there ;)

-Tee

Belated Yule...

Well isnt it christmas in july... no wait... january!

Sorry for taking my time with the yule post this year, really! But I desperatly needed a better camera to shoot, and had to borrow my sister's fancy one! :) And what a pleasure to photograph it was! Now it's on my wishlist, and will likely never happen :p But maybe she will lend me it once in a while ;)

So behold, and feast your eyes on Yule at the Vinnord Cottage 2012...

the newest addition, a snowy girl... I love her wee expression and she GLITTERS! So how could I resist... really?

I love fake snow, and glitter for the holidays! 

silver baubles and assorted nuts in a vintage bowl.

See that rusty iron crown? Found it in the cupboard under the stairs I did!!!

Since I dont have a mantle piece, this buffet is my major decor area in the diningroom :)

Almost all of my santas have been bought at fleamarkets throught the years... 

the tealight glasses was a gift from friends. And the glittered pony a christmas project by me. Glitter, white paint and voila... christmas pony!

My hallmark "santas of the world" collection. Small, but very well loved. Norway - because thats where I come from :) Germany because thats half my roots! And England, or UK, because part of my heart always lingers there after I lived in Glasgow! I really want a scottish one, and an american one as well. Preferably midwestern as I used to live a little in Nebraska... but they are hard to come by :( The two first were a gift from my Nebraskan family and might just be my favorite santas!

 Little elf children in Norwegian national costumes!

childhood photo of my granny... I've borrowed this a while now, and need to remember to take it back to her!

And now into the bedroom

 my walls in the bedroom are light aqua, and I decorated with dressing up the wreath that always hangs there... easy-peasy

I hope you enjoyed this holiday tour!

Have a great new year everyone!