...a bit stressed...

We have had some really nice sunsets lately- but we are still waiting for Spring! 3 to 5 Celsius at night is NOT Spring! DD1 is being confirmated on Saturday, we've been rather busy with the preparations, cleaning and baking and finding the right clothes is a bit stressfull. Sheep got out today- there is very little grass in the fields, everything is 2 to 3 weeks later than usual.
First batch of guests , 9 in all, arrived today- one sister drove 700 kilometers (12 hours), the other 900(14 hours), expecting 6 more tomorrow. Good thing we have the seahouse with 10 beds ready to house them!

Lots of lambs too... We have had lots of neighbours too...do you see the deer? Photo taken at 10 am, and there were 4 deer very close to the road. Not enough food up in the mountains yet.

Det er ikke helt vår enda...3-5 grader om natta er kaldt!

Datter #2 skal konfirmeres i helga, så det har vært litt stress med baking og vasking og klær, og alt dette andre styret som gjerne følger med! Nå begynner gjesten også å komme, en bil fra Sørlandet (90 mil, 14 timer, 4 personer) og en bil fra Stavangerkanten(70 mil, 12 timer, 5 personer) kom nå ikveld. Imorgen venter vi to fra Østlandet og 4 fra Sunnmøre, det er godt vi har sjøbuda med senger til 10! 11 er det faktisk...

og så er det lam her. Slapp ut spælen idag, men det fins jo ikke mat enda, alt er 2-3 uker senere enn normalt.

Og så har vi noen nye naboer...hjorten koser seg på markene, selv langt utpå dagen! Fins ikke mat i marka enda.


Have a great weekend!
Ha en flott helg!

Knitting next time. I promise!

Det blir strikk neste gang! Jeg lover!

...gardening...

Look what I got in the mail! Lise had a give-away on her blog recently, and I won these cute heartpins- and blue stitchmarkers! They are great, and already in use! Perfect for when I'm knitting on 7mm needles, because of the wire. Thank you, Lise!
(btw: if you're planning on going to Prague this summer, Lise's sister has an apartment up for rent- more details on her blog here. )


Sjå kva eg fekk i posten! Lise hadde ein gje-vekk på bloggen sin nyleg, og eg vann stilige hjertenåler, og flotte maskemarkørar! Dei er allereie i bruk, eg strikkar noko på pinne nr. 7, og då passa dei fint med viren i enden. Tusen takk, Lise!
(forresten- hvis du har tenkt deg til Praha i sommar, har søstra til Lise ei leilighet der som ho leiger ut for sommaren. Sjå fleire detaljar på bloggen hennar her!) We've got almost summer here. The flowers are blooming, many of the farmers are already busy with the haymaking- especially those that have sileage or roundbales. We haven't started yet, hubby is in Houston working (any ideas of what he can bring home from there? Yarns, books, magazines???), and we will try to dry most of it as hay. I prefer that to the sheep, but it all depends on the weather. We've had some sunny days lately, but very windy and rather cold.

Det er nesten sommar her. Det blomstrar overalt, og fleire bønder er allereie godt i gang med siloslått og rundballeslått. Vi har ikkje begynt enda, gubben er i Houston på jobb, og kjem ikkje heim før etter jonsok. Vi prøver å tørke det meste til høy, eg fortrekkjer det til sauene, men det kjem jo heilt an på korleis véret vert. Vi har hatt nokre flotte, solrike dagar i det siste, men det har blåst ein kald nordavind her.

We have a proper kitchengarden this year! The potatoes are sprouting- barely...- we've had spinachsoup twice from our own spinach, we eat salad and radishes. I just wish I liked to garden...I've always wanted to like it, but sadly I don't. I'd like to have a nice garden, but I would have preferred if it came with a gardener...

We have tomatoes too. I just planted some outside, against the stonewall,, hoping they will thrive there. It's an experiment. I have a few plants inside too, but so far they are not blooming.

Vi har ein skikkeleg kjøkkenhage i år. Potetene kjem- såvidt- men det vart ikkje sett før 23. mai, og det er litt seint. Vi har ete spinatsuppe to gonger med spinat frå eigen hage, vi et salat og reddik.Eg skulle berre ønskje eg likte å jobbe i hagen...eg har alltid ønska å like det, men eg gjer det ikkje. Eg vil gjerne ha ei fin hage, men hadde foretrekt om den kom med gartnar...

Vi har tomatar også. Eg har akkurat planta nokre ute, under duk, langsmed steinane langs vegen, og håper at dei vil trivast der. Det er eit eksperiment. Eg har nokre plantar inne også, men førebels er det ikkje mykje som blomstrar.

But the cucumbers grow!!! We have 6 plants, and one especially is big. DD2 is talking to it and watering it, and looks at the fruits several times a day. They are as long as my hand, and there are many more to come! I call it my "new curtains". My mother-in-law wanted me to put up some curtains in that window, she felt that everyone could look right in (they can, but only when they stand on the road staring!). Now I have a live, green curtain! And people are probably staring more now, wondering what this is...

Men agurkane kjem! (Agurknytt;-)) Vi har 6 planter, og spesielt den eine er stor. Yngstejenta mi snakkar til den og vatnar den, og kikar på agurkane fleire gonger for dag. Dei er like lange som handa mi nå, og mange fleire kjem! Eg kallar det "dei nye gardinene" mine! Svigermor ville at vi skulle ha gardiner i dette vinduet, ho følte at folk stod på veien og kikka inn (noko dei kan, men då må dei stå og stirre!) Men no har eg eit levande grønt gardin;-) Og folk kikar sikkert meir no... og lurer på kva dette er for noko...

It never gets really dark at this time of year. Sun sets at 10:15pm, and the kids play outside till way past bedtime....not easy to get them back inside! The photo below was taken an hour ago...

Only two more weeks till school's out, and the sailing son will soon be home too. They have been sailing this week, and on Monday he will come to my "hometown". My sister will pick him up, and take a tour on the ship with him first.

Det vert ikkje skikkelig mørkt her på denne tida av året. Sola gjekk ned her kvart over ti ikveld, og ungane er ute og speler fotball til seint på kveld, det er ikkje råd å få dei i seng! Bildet nedanfor var tatt for ein time sidan...

Berre to veker att til skulen sluttar, og eldstesonen kjem heimatt. Dei er på tokt denne veka og neste, og mandag kjem dei til Kristiansand. Det var alltid "Byen" for oss før. (Ja, eg er vaskeekte sørlending- bortsatt på vestlandet;-D) Søstra mi hentar han, og får seg ein rundtur ombord først.

Take care, and have a great Sunday,- and summer ahead!

Ha det bra sålenge, og ha ein flott søndag,- og sommar!

...yarngifts, PIF, knitting and weather...

Finally back to normal-LOL! Both computers are working again, and I've catched up on my blogreading-so now I'd better write something myself! I tried to write a blogpost yesterday, but spent more than an hour trying to upload the pictures, and then the kids came home from school, so it was put on ice...


Where to start? Maybe with these little beauties? I got mail the other day... from Judy. I signed up for PIF with her a short time ago, and got these stitchmarkers (guess I uploaded the wrong picture, but here you see the cute little "cat"markers), and bamboo needles, straight in 8mm- just perfect! Thank you, Judy:-) PIF, you ask? Pay it forward. Well, I guess it's been around in the blogiverse for quite some time, but I'll still pass it on, the rules are as follows: I will pay it forward, and make something for three persons that say in the comments that they want to participate. I have a year- 365 days- to do this. So please, if you'd like to take part, tell me in the comments.

Do you remember the blue sweater from Feb.25, 2008 (couldn't figure out how to get the link...)? I had knitted it for my sister 20 years ago, but it was too big, too short and never used. I liked the colour though. So I ripped it, washed the yarn, and let it ripen on the shelf....I've started this sweater with it. The idea was to have a round yoke, but that didn't work out, so that piece ended up as a peplum instead:-D .There's a lot of cables on it, celtic cables and beehive pattern, even some hearts. I need to work on this when I'm alone, and now it's been put away for some time, so I can get some Christmasknitting done.

I've been more lucky (exellent English...)
Tracy had a give-away on her blog some time ago, and I won two balls of Smart- here are the mittens I made from it! I used The Shetland Traders pattern for Crofter's cowl.

Here's a vest I made for our 4-yearold neighbour, a vest in Silja sockyarn from Gjestal (their webpage didn't work today...). Cables on both front and back. It needs blocking! DD2 wanted to knit a shawl "with holes in it and so on", but turned it over to me after a little while. She's working on another in limegreen, really easy, cast on 3 stitches, knit, turn, *slip 1st st.,m1, knit to end,turn* Do this on every round until you run out of yarn.

This one is knitted in Kitten Mohair, one ball, it's just big enough around the neck.

Did I tell you that I got some yarn quite some time ago?
Andrea had a give-away, and I was the lucky winner of this yarn, Katia Azteka, 3 balls/300gr/540m. I really like this colour. I'm thinking of knitting a top/vest of it- any suggestions? I'd like to try something top-down for a change. I've never done anything top-down, exept for a babysweater. Some of this was written yesterday, and some today, so it's very messy- sorry!

Oh well, you'll get the view...I was off looking for 4 sheep that had run off(not far- they were inside the fencing!), and the weather was good and we even had snow! I startled two deer- got a photo of one, but it's not a very good one, so I'm not uploading it.

We've been busy with the sheep too. Every year we slaughter a few of our sheep at home to make
pinnekjøtt and sausages , so I've been cutting and salting and stuffing ...the freezer is filled with good meat. It's nothing I have to do, but it's a tradition, and I think it's important to keep a few of the traditions.

We've had snow a couple of times, and the sheep are waiting for hay. I always feed extra during winter.

Yesterday I tried to make a little video- we have a small river next to our house, nad with the rain and wind we've had lately, it was growing big. And really noisy! We use to think that we live in a very quiet environment- and yes, we don't hear a lot of cars and citynoises- but it's loud enough!

To all those of you celebrating Thanksgiving: I hope you've had a great day:-) Now that's a holiday we could have imported!

Off to feed the sheep...

Just want to say GRATULERER MED DAGEN to my sister...it's her birthday today:-)

Have a nice weekend!

I'm back:-)

Thanks for all your nice comments:-) I really appreciate it. Life has been busy lately, so there hasn't been much time for blogging, unfortunately. It's a lot easier to do when I'm home alone...like now, hubby left for Houston this morning, and the kids are in school. So it's just me and the cats.
Hubby's been home five weeks- he got an extra week becuse of Ike the hurricane. So he's been busy outside, we've got a new driveway down to the house, and we've done a lot around the seahouse.He's used the excavator, and also hired a man to help. Getting the stones in the right place isn't always easy.

But I've had a couple of hikes too- to look for the sheep. First nearly three weeks ago, the weather was gorgeous, and I had a great day. Found all the sheep too, but they were not ready to go home yet, so they ran off from me, and I didn't have the guts to go after them...I'm in awfully bad shape:-(
I took a few pictures though. Hubby bought a new camera, aKodakV1273, which I haven't learned how to use properly yet...and it's REALLY hard to find the pictures on my computer afterwards! It does help a bit when I remember to download them though...LOL! Hubby was unable to use, it has a touch-screen, and he can't see what's going on, so I got it;-)
It's a nice camera so far.

Enough of that! I was going to show you this set- I carried it along the day I went for the sheep, but it was too warm a day to wear it. So it only got out for display, I thought the background was quite nice. It's Crofter'sCowl by TheShetlandTrader. I made a matching hat. The yarn is SandnesGarn Alfa, a 85%wool,15% mohair blend, very soft, and a bit "sloppy". Colour 4323. I knitted it on 6mm needles, and it's very warm (yes, I have used it- last week when we went deerhunting. And no, I don't shoot, but I try to go anyway) More knitting- the lambjacket for the vet's little babygirl. There is a pair of
booties there too, pattern made by Laura, it's a great pattern and very easy. They don't show up very well, but they are really cute! I liked the sheep-pattern so much that I used it for a pair of socks....
This pattern from WoolyWorks, with a bit of my own ideas. I really like the edging on the cuff! They are knit mainly in Silja from Gjestal. The cuffs are done one at a time on 5 DPN's, the heel and foot done with magic loop. I always make a mess of it when using magic loop for colourwork!
Now over to something else...the wool:-) The kids, our sheepfarmer neighbour and I went looking for the sheep last Sunday. And found them. The kids did really well, and we got them all back home. So now we are hearing bells again. It feels good to get them back home. They weren't too eager to come, since the weather was so good, but now it's turning, and they are better off down here.

As I mentioned earlier, we went deerhunting last weekend...this is what met me when I crawled up a hill! 12 goats, very curious and friendly. They belong to a neighbour.
Hmmm, I still haven't figured out how to sort the pictures here- this one is taken when we gathered the sheep. The island in the middle is Selja, more info if you like. Behind is Stadhalvøya. This is the view from the deerhunting trip....a bit steep.... our farm is at the bottom, and we walked the sheep home over those mountains to the left of that little lake.
Oh, I've found a way to use that boat i wrote about earlier! We went to Drøbak this summer, the kids and I, and this boat was down near the harbour. Really cute! I think that will be a good way to use our boat which is beyond repair....We'll see next spring. It would be fun to have it next to the seahouse with some flowers and herbs.

We've done a lot with the kitchengarden too, planted raspberries and other berries, and picked the potatoes. Next week I'll get some asparagus from hubby's uncle, and plant. I'm trying to figure out more to plant now. Guess I'll just have to use the winter to plan more. Unfortunately I don't have green thumbs... I'd better stop here, there's more to share, but that will have to wait.

Have a nice day!

...a few finished objects...

Farming on the westcoast means quite some work during summer, to save the hay for the sheeps winterfeed. Those of you who has been here, knows that living here means a lot of rain. A lot! We seldom get several days in a row with sunny, warm weather. So this year has been an exception! First a long period in May with dry weather, then it got cold in June, but when hubby got back in late June, the weather turned again, and we saved a lot of dry hay, plus a few roundbales.

The old barn is filled to the rim with lovelysmelling hay! This will be great to feed the sheep with during winter. I prefer hay, it's easier to handle, and it smells better, also the sheep seem to like it.
The boat you can see a glimpse of, has it's own history-LOL! It's an old færing, and we used it a lot those first years we lived here. It's only for roving, no motor on it, but great to use for some fishing. When hubby was at work, I had to empty it for water every now and then, because it would lie at sea at all times, and it would be filled with rainwater(yes, it "sometimes" rains around here...). Since it's a wooden boat, it doesn't sink easily. But I had been emptying it for water, came back up to the house, and thought it lied just as deep in the water as before. Went down again, emtied it, this happened several times. I finally complained about it to hubby, and he just told me to keep on! Then he came back...and we decided to lift the boat out of the water to check it. It leaked like a strainer...it was the funniest thing to watch! Turned out it had been eaten to pieces by some sort of worms that would make lots and lots of holes through wood! It used to be a good boat, but it would be much to expensive to repair, so it's just been placed in the barn as a curiousity. We've been off on a vacation a few days, and before we left, the cherries were almost ripe, and the trees were laden with them...this is what we came back to: not a single cherry left! I blame the crows...

The sheep are shorn, we did that before we went, and most of them stay in the pasures like they should- these days mostly in the shade! It's a very dizzy photo, I know, I was standing on the road in the sun, and the sheep was lying around in the shadows. I also have a little garden this year, with some potatoes and salads. Looking forward to harvesting the potatoes, but it's too early still.I have done some knitting too. My green jacket is done and worn, and feels great! Yarn:
Føn from Gjestal, knitted on 5mm needles. The yarn is 70% bamboo, 39% cotton, and really soft, but extremely splitty! I've knitted some socks too,Rainforest from Sockamania in June. They were done by the deadline, but I didn't have time to blog about it! Then there are
these from Knitty, both socks knitted in Silja from Gjestal on 2,5mm circulars, two at a time, magic loop.And finally- the little sheep! Our neighbours got a baby daughter on Saturday, and I thought this would be the appropiate pattern for a veterinarian and her sheepfarming hubby! The pattern is from Svarta fåret, but I found it in a Norwegian magazine, NorskUkeblad # 35 2007 (Aug.27th, 2007) Knitted in Gjestal babywool. Most of the body was knitted in the car, on our way to Voss where we stayed while DS1 went to a concert...in Bergen! Yes, he did get tickets to Metallica, and yes, he loved it:-) The kids are finally waking up, they all sleep on the porch because it's so hot! Around 30 degrees Celsius, and a blazing sun is not very common! So we stay in the shade, the kids swim alot, and we do as little as possible, only enjoy the terrific weather! It will soon enough start raining again!

So, have a great rest of the summer- thought I'd share a little tree we spotted on our trip...this is an oaktree, hubby is walking under it...and it grows on my mother-in-laws birthplace! It's protected since many years back, and the sign has almost disappeared-again! It's gorgeous!
Oh, and if you don't know- there is a big event going on in Måløy this weekend, TallShipsRace!

Have a great day:-)

...more lazy days...

...admiring the horses...
...more horsepower...lots of fun on vacation...
...the view, back home...(at 11pm...)

I've got a new camera, and I'm trying to figure out how to upload those to blogger...actually I'm trying to find them on my computer...

...lazy summer days...

...picking blueberries in the sun...delicious....eaten with the pancakes during winter...or with milk and sugar, still warm from the sun...
...sleeping outside on the porch because it is so hot...Mr.Black joined them...
...the view never fails to impress me...I've seen it the last ten years...always changing depending on the weather....

Tagged!

(picture taken in Ervik in May. Other links

here and here.)

Ruth tagged me for an alphabetgame....

A- allsidig

B- "bonde", bokorm

C- ..carpe diem..

D- dagdrømmer, doven

E- enkel

F- forsiktig

G- godlynt

H- hissig, hjemmearbeidende

I- innadvendt

J- jente

K- kort lunte

L- lesehest

M- mor

N- nesevis

O- okay

P- perfeksjonist...NOT!

Q- quer er ålreite dyr- men sauer er bedre:-)

R- rotete

S- strikkende og syende sørlending:-)

T- tedrikker

U- ullelsker

V- vrang og vrien

W- ?

X- ?

Y- yngre blir man ikke...

Z- zzznork...

Æ- ærlig

Ø- ødsel...

Å- åpen

I'm not going to translate this! But I'd like to tag Tantehilde, Caroline, and Judy. Play along if you like, but remember: No obligations:-)

In other news: the back of my green sweater is done. Now to cast on for the fronts...

And DS1, the nearly 16-year old, is a happy guy these days! He got tickets for Metallica in Bergen on July 16th, and he got accepted into the school he wanted! It will be very strange not having him at home next winter, but this is something he really wanted, so I really hope he likes it.

That's it for now. Take care, and have a nice day:-)

...another update...

OOOkay...let's try again....being the computergeek I am, I managed to delete a whole post....also, we still have some computerissues, which means that I sometimes have real trouble reading bloggerblogs!
The big problem about updating so seldom, is that there are too many things I want to share! But today the photos uploaded real easy, that's why you get a pictureheavy post:-) I've borrowed a sewing machine. I got a call a couple of weeks ago, one of the workers at church wondered if I could help her with a project (more on that later), so I found out I needed to try it again. I haven't sewn for 4 years! It used to be a passion. Now I look at the machine and wonder how I shall use it. I've been digging through my stash of fabrics(oh yes, I have that too!)- or rather, my pile of worn-out jeans! That resulted in this bag. I'm not very "ladylike"-jeans and a t-shirt or woolsweater is my "uniform" at most occasions-LOL!- so bags are not often used....usually I use a jacket with roomy pockets for my wallet and keys. BUT sometimes a bag comes in handy:-) This one is made of one pair of jeans, lined with some cotton fabric. There are a couple of pockets inside, even a zippered one...but I had forgotten how to sew a zipper in a passepoiled pocket, so it looks rather odd! But it's an okay bag, and it works fine with me. I even added a hook for my keys! I've been digging through the bottom of bags more times than I care to think of, searching for those lost keys!
Then I knitted a sweater, in PT2, bought here at Eid Miljø. I found the pattern in a book called "Strikk og tov", but it didn't turn out quite as it should...it got a bit on the smaller side...so I ripped out a row around the bustline, and knitted the body down from there, with more incresing to make it more A-shaped. It is still pretty closefitting...but warm and nice, and just the right thing for the colder weather we're having right now. I'm a "frostpinne"! (translation needed:-)) But I have casted on for a summersweater too- found the pattern in the Norwegain magazine "Familien" 9/2008, knitted in "FØN" from Gjestal Spinneri (I couldn't get the link to work, sorry!) The yarn is 70%bamboo/30%cotton, very soft, and VERY splitty! I made a top for my 11-year old a few months ago, and it holds up nicely to washing and all that stuff. I'm nearly done with the back.
And then the church! E., who called me, works mainly with the children/youth, both the children's choir and the confirmations. Some years ago (probably 7 or 8...time flies!) the choir staged the musical "Noahs Ark". We made customes- elephants, giraffes, lions, chicken....it was fun, and the kids were doing great. Now, the 4-year olds were getting their books(each 4yearold is invited to church to get a book), and they wanted to emphasize on Noahs Ark. That meant a rainbow...and more animals...we got away with sewing ears that could be tied around the head of the kids. It looked great. And we made a rainbow...
Here's the choir- not as many as they should be, but still singing well! Some of them had dressed up as animals, you should be able to see a lion, a zebra and a monkey, at least.

Then over to something else- more fuzzyness! The rabbits are growing, and still very cute:-)
We've had summer here for more than a month! Warm, sunny, beautiful. Dry. Very dry. We walked the sheep a couple of weeks ago, so now they are grazing in the mountains for the next 3 or 4 months. The kids helped out walking them.
The chestnuttree is blooming...
Ad then the weather turned- it as so strange- we had sun, then all of a sudden the fog/haze came, and the sun disappeared! So, now it's pouring down. But we need it. As I said, it was dry.

I am quite sure that once I hit "publish" there are more things I want to write:-) I've been looking a bit a Ravelry- but haven't tried to figure it out yet. The computerissues...
Oh well, there will be time when winter comes...
But for now- Have a great summer:-) (I hope to be back soon...)