Looking back

~And the last OPAM 2011 report~


It's almost weird to think about that this year is almost history. Only one day left of 2011!!!
I just can't believe how fast time flies!
I'ts been a year with ups and downs, fun and joy. I haven't been sewing as much this year like I've used to. But I guess when your health is the boss of what's going on in your life, I will have to say I'm thankful for every hour I've been able to be creative. It's my therapy, and most of all.... passion in life :o)


I thought I should make a collage with a photo of every finished projects this year. I've made 17 finishes, and I'm satisfied with that :o) Some of them small, and some pretty large ones. 

Looking at the photos, I realize a few of them are actually still in my house! I'm used to give away almost everything I make, but I've been making projects for myself and my own family this year :o)


I have to say I'm looking forward to a "fresh start" in 2012, and I look forward to start new projects and finish some of the ones I've already started. I've got some UFO's laying around still ;o) 


I'm looking forward to have a lovely dinner with my family tomorrow, at New Years Eve. I'm making turkey for us all, and that's my favorite :o) Yummy!!!


I wish you all a

Happy sewing,
Laila

Christmas gifts and something new

Hope you all had some nice and cozy days with family and friends, and that the Holidays did bring joy and also some nice surprises :o)
I've had a great Christmas evening with my family, and we had a lovely dinner with desserts and lots of nice presents for both the kids and us grown ups.


I made only two of the Christmas presents this year. One quilt for my parents, and one for my Hubby's parents. 
The first one is a quilt I made starting in December, and finished the last stitches just the day before Christmas Eve. It's made from a pattern designed by Anni Downs, from the book "Some kind of wonderful", and the quilt is called "Snuggle quilt".
It's quilted on my longarm machine with a pantograph pattern called "Daisies Galore". 

(click on the photos to make them larger)

The next one is a quilt I started piecing in june 2008.
It's called "My blue heaven" and a design by Bonnie Hunter,  I found the pattern over on her web page. 
I finally got to quilt this large quilt when I got my longarm machine, and it's quilted with a pantograph pattern called "Quirky".

Today we did celebrate my mom's birthday. We where supposed to go to my parents place for dinner, but the storm last night cut the power to their house so we made dinner at our place instead. We had a lovely meal, and coffeè with desserts after. I've had lots of quality time with my family during the Holidays, and that's what Christmas is about :o)


The day before Christmas, an envelope with a pattern I waited for, arrived. It's a table runner with snowmen. I just adore snowmen, they are sooo cute! This is a pattern I ordered from Kathrine's quiltestue a while ago, but since she was sold out I had to wait till she got it back in stock again. I traced the motif on to cotton fabric today before the dinner party started, and I am now ready to start stitching. I guess it woun't be finished until next winter, but that's fine by me :o)

Aren't these just super cute? It's been a while since I made a pattern with snowmen, and I will enjoy every stitch :o)

The new year is only days away, and I've already made plans for what to finish and what to start working on the next months. I've got some exciting events next year, and I can't hardly wait! 
I'll write more about that in a later post. Got to check up on those bed bugs now, off to work tomorrow.


Wish you all a great new week, and happy sewing to those of you who have time to enjoy working with needle and thread :-)


Laila

A little sneak peek

I've finished quilting a quilt today, a Christmas present for someone close ;o) Since I'm not able to show you the whole quilt yet, I thought I should give you a little sneak peek anyway :o)

The quilt is quilted with these cute daisies and loops all over. (And yes, you can see where I had to rip out a seam that was misplaced ;o)
Now I'll be working on the binding, so I guess I'll be enjoying some hand sewing this evening.


Trying not to think about everything that should have been done for Christmas. I have never been so unprepared for the Holidays before, but there's nothing I can do about it other than doing the best I can. 
I haven't got to send any Christmas cards, but I will send greetings on facebook to the ones I keep in contact with, so I figured that will have to do.


Hope you all are having a nice Sunday, and wish you all a great new week!


Happy sewing,
Laila

A visit and some quilting

On Monday this week, I had a great visit of Merete and Matt. Merete is the dealer of Innova longarm quilting machines here in Norway, and Matt is working as a technician at ABM International, the company that is the supplier of Innova longarm quilting machines.
Matt was checking that the machine was working well, and set up right. Thanks to Hubby who helped me set it up, it was not much Matt had to adjust :o)


I'm so happy about the great service from Merete too, and I'm so thankful for having the opportunity to ask her about how to do things on the machine. 

Last week I decided to be tough enough to load up the "Laila's garden" on "Miss Monster", and since Merete gave me some advice the last time she was here about what to quilt on a quilt like this, I just figured I should give it a try. I've been playing around on test-pieces of fabric and thought it was about time I tried to quilt on a 'real quilt'.
I had to rip out many seams in the beginning, but I learned how to use the machine for this custom quilting, every step on the way down the quilt. This is how it looked like when I was finished:

I think I will do some more quilting on the purple inner border, but have to figure out what I want in there first.  It's the very first quilt I've quilted like this, so it's not perfect! But  it's a start, and I think it was so fun to do! I know what I have to do different next time, and will definitely make another top with applique for custom quilting. It's so fun!

I've been practicing the pantograph patterns on several quilts now, and feel a bit comfortable with these. That means I don't use that much time to finish a quilt like I did in the beginning. I'm hoping to finish some more care quilts with these patterns,too, when I'm done with the things I need to do before Christmas. 


I'm trying not to be stressed about all the things that needs to be done or should have been done, I already know I'm not able to bake a lot, clean every spot in my house and so on either way. I plan to do what I can, and I plan to enjoy the days before AND during the Holidays. I think my kids and my Hubby is more happy about having me around smiling than sad and exhausted because I stress about every thing I should have done. It's not worth it, at all...


I was supposed to go on our local quilt guild's meeting tonight, but had to stay home and rest instead. Hope the rest of the ladies have a nice time with gingerbread and gløgg (mulled wine), and I also hope to see some photos from the projects in "show and tell" later :o)


Wish you all a great week, and hope you take time to enjoy some moments during the days before Christmas

A productive weekend

This weekend I finished the quilt for my DS1. I started working on the "Comfort quilt" right away when the issue #3 of Vignette by Leanne Beasley where released back in July. I have been working on it now and then, and since I pieced all the blocks a while ago it didn't take much time to join the blocks into rows, and the rows into a top. I loaded the quilt top on the longarm machine and finished the quilting on Saturday. DS1 told me a while ago which pantograph pattern he wanted me to use, and also which thread he liked the best. Finished the binding late last night, and I was so happy to see how it turned out!
I used wool batting for this, and it's so light! I will definitely use wool batting in quilts later too.

I just couldn't resist taking some photos of the quilt outside in the snow today. It started snowing late last night, and it looked like a Christmas card outside when we woke up this morning :o) I have to admit I like the snow ;o)

I cut most of the pieces for the "Mill Girls" quilt when I joined the quiltalong for this quilt. 

I haven't made any blog posts for a while, so I haven't got to tell about the progress on it. I finished the blocks and did piece them into rows last weekend. Need to cut the large pieces to join the rows, and will be working on the hour glass blocks for the border.

When I was at Quiltegården a month ago, I bought the latest pattern from AnnAKa, and I've been working a little bit on one of the stitcheries the last week. Slow progress since a bug with fever decided to stay for some days. 

So happy to feel better, and looking forward to get back at work tomorrow. 
Wish you all a great new week,
Laila

Still here...

I'm still here, just haven't had the energy to make any blog posts in a while.


A while ago, about three weeks, Merete came to visit me to see how "Miss Monster" is working. She is such a talented longarm quilter, and I'm so thankful for the things she teaches me. She always gives me an advice whenever I need one, and I just can't wait to try the different things I've learned. Time haven't been on my side lately, but I'll get there :o)

After spending some hours at my place, we headed downtown to Quiltegården for a cup of coffee and a chat with the other ladies that where there this evening. Merete had several quilts she had quilted, and you should have seen the gorgeous quilts that all where ready for binding! I didn't take any photos of them, since I guessed the owners would love to show them on their own blogs ;o)


We had a great time knitting, sewing, chatting and drinking coffee. And of course! We had the pleasure of eating the best chocolate cake I've EVER tasted!!! I will for sure ask for the recipe when I meet the lady that baked the yummy stuff!!!
I also met two ladies I haven't seen in a while, and that was so nice to see them again!

We've had some gorgeous experiences when it comes to  sunsets this month. Several days in a row we've been able to look at some really great ones. It's hard to capture with a ordinary camera, but you get the idea, right?

I've been making some progress on my "Mill Girls" quilt, but haven't taken any photos. Will do when I have finished the rows. I have finished all the blocks, 20 that is, and look forward to finish this quilt. I really love how it looks already.

A fever knocked me out late last night and have been keeping me company today, so I wasn't able to go to work, and not much going on in my sewing room either. Hopefully it's better tomorrow, so I'll be able to get back to work, and some sewing in the evening. 

I'm hoping to get started on a couple of Christmas gifts soon, and I'm trying to figure out what to make. I'm a little late, but I know I will at least get some finished by Christmas as long as I can decide what to make. 

Two finished quilts in a week

I am so satisfied with two finished quilts in a week. I would never finish the quilting on these two quilts so fast if I had to quilt them on my domestic sewing machine. I just LOVE the longarm machine, and look forward to finish all my tops in a few months. 


The first photo is a quilt I made for the charity project. I finished the top a while ago, and I'm so glad to be able to deliver the quilt at my local quilt guild meeting next week. I used a pantograph pattern, and I'm pretty satisfied with the result.  

The next quilt is the one I worked on this summer. I used the Bliss line from Moda, and I just love these colors, even if I'm a big fan of the japanese fabrics. This one is also quilted using a pantograph pattern. The loops is not at all perfect, but at least I got a lot of practice. Finished is better than perfect, right?

I've been working on the longarm machine just a little bit this weekend, but I'm hoping to practice some more freemotion quilting as I move on. 


Wish you all a great and creative weekend ♥

Laila

Progress on "Mill Girls"

Hubby and the two youngest spent the weekend at my in-law's, and I've enjoyed being  able to spend a lot of time in my sewing room. It's nice to be "home alone" now and then, and be able to do a lot of stuff without thinking about meals at the right hour, housework and so on... Just charging the batteries and do whatever I like to. But it was sooo good to have them back tonight. I don't need more than a weekend "off".


I finished the block #8 for the "Mill Girls" quilt before I headed to bed late last night. I like the result, and hope to finish the 20 blocks soon.

I made one mistake though... can you see it? I guess I was staying up too late last night ;o) I'll correct the mistake when I continue working on the rest of the blocks, but I will have a little break a few days. Need to practice some longarm quilting, and I hope to do some progress on my oldest son's quilt next week and finish the quilting on more charity quilts.
We're not supposed to do a fast progress on the "Mill Girls" quilt, so I'll put the blocks away for a few days without feeling guilty.


Haven't been sewing at all today, but I've done some housework and laundry beside doing a little knitting. I'm making a shawl using a free pattern by DROPS. I haven't taken any photo of it, but you can find the free pattern here: 


Norwegian: Garnstudio.com
American: Garnstudio.com


Wish all of you a great new week, 
Laila

Two of the blocks for the Mill Girls quilt are finished

Like I told you in my previous post, I'm attending a quilt-along for the gorgeous "Mill Girls" quilt on a Yahoo group called SBS and other Elm Creek quilts. Today is the first day of the quilt-along. I'm so excited to work on this beautiful quilt, and I do look forward to get to see all the different quilts the ladies will be making. Yesterday I got to cut some more fabrics, and I also got to play with some of the hourglass blocks, and pieced some of them. Today I finished a nice little pile of them, and I think they look pretty good :o) A lot more to finish, but I'm looking forward to get a lot of sewing done this weekend. 

Finished two of the blocks, and I like the way the fabrics looks together. I just love these japanese fabrics! And they work so well with a lot of other fabrics too. I'm very pleased to do some stashbusting, a lot of these fabrics where bought long ago and some recently :o)

I'm looking forward to make them all, it's 20 blocks we need for this quilt, and get to quilt it on the longarm machine. 

Wish all the other ladies good luck on their "Mill Girls" quilt!
Happy Sewing,
Laila

Did my first attempt on a tutorial

I'm attending a quilt along for the gorgeous "Mill Girls" quilt on a Yahoo group called SBS and other Elm Creek quilts. It's a quilt from Jennifer Chiaverini's "More Elm Creek Quilts" pattern book.

I think the sign up is still open, but if you have questions about it you can check up on Anne Ida's blog or ask to join the group on Yahoo.

These are the fabrics I'll use in my quilt. I think I will add some brown fabrics too, but well see.  

Since the "Mill Girls" quilt include a lot of hourglass blocks, I thought I should make a tutorial about how to make these without any clean cutting after they are pieced. Hope you'll like it and find it helpful :o)

You'll find the tutorial by clicking on the "Tutorial" tab on top of my blog.

Today I got a package in my mailbox. The coffee jar and a bumper sticker I ordered, arrived :o) I just had to put the bumper sticker on my longarm machine, I think it belong there ;o)

I ordered the jar and sticker from Lena at "Bare maa ha det".

 It's getting late, so I'll jump to bed pretty soon. Tomorrow I'll cut some more fabrics for the "Mill Girls" quilt, and maybe make a block so I can see how it will turn out with the fabrics I chose.


Happy sewing,
Laila

A perfect Sunday

Mr. Winter came knocking on the door yesterday. It's really getting colder, and the temperatures did crawl just below 0 late last night. Today it's changing from rain to snow, and a chilly wind too. I'm so glad I can spend the day indoors. "Miss Monster" and I are dancing with thread today, and I'm having so much fun! A perfect Sunday :o)
I got to finish the quilting on a charity quilt last night, and today I finished charity quilt #2. I'm trying to quilt using a pantograph pattern called scallop grass. Not easy, but as I go I can see I'm making progress. That makes me really happy!

I've got more charity quilts to finish, and I think I'll use the same pattern since I'm slowly getting the hang of it. 


I'm having Merete's advice on my mind all the time, PPP (Practice, Practice, Practice). Hope it will result in some pretty quilting in a while :o)
Wish you all a great Sunday!

Happy sewing ♥

Laila

Practice makes perfect...

I'm still trying to make friends with "Miss Monster". I'm trying to figure out things as I go. I'm not going to use the patterns I've been trying to make on real quilts yet, but I really hope to work out something that I manage well in a while. 


This is the last pattern I tried. It's not at all perfect, but I'm getting there one step at a time. This is like learning to ride a bicycle for the first time, and everyone knows how that goes the first lap :o)

I'm thinking that it will be fun to use this pattern i a quilt soon, I really like it, so with some adjustments and more practice it will look ok.

Happy sewing ♥

Laila

One more charity quilt

Wow! I'm posting two days in a row! Not weeks between, like I've been doing for a long time :o)


I got to quilt one more of the charity quilts today. It's similar to the one I finished yesterday, and I quilted loops on this one too. Not so advanced, but since I'm a newbie with this longarm quilting thing, I'm happy to get them looking ok :o)

Hope to get to practice more, and learn some new patterns I can use, and manage. It's fun, but also difficult to  get it like I want it. Practice makes perfect, right? Hope "Miss Monster" and me will be good friends :o)
Just hope my neck and shoulders like this quilting method better than the freemotion quilting on my Bernina.


Are you living in Norway, and interested to learn more about the Innova longarm quilting machine and frames, you can ask Merete Ellingsen about it.  She is the dealer of Innova here in Norway. She has been so helpful to me, and I'm so glad I can call her when I have questions about "Miss Monster".

Happy sewing ♥

Laila

Dreams come true if you let them

Ever since I started quilting, I've been dreaming of a long arm quilting machine. I've tried to do free motion quilting on my Bernina, but it's no good for my neck and shoulders. Small project works well, but all the larger quilts are stored away in bins, just waiting to get quilted...


Three weeks ago I ordered an Innova long arm quilting machine with an 8' frame. 
Merete Ellingsen, who is a very talented proffesional long arm quilter and dealer for Innova, helped me out. She is the first person in Norway using this machine, and I can't wait to learn a trick or two from her :o) 
I'm so thankful for her help, and I didn't need to wait long before it arrived either. It came early Friday morning to Trondheim! Several weeks faster than I thought! Whoohoo!!!
Hubby picked it up after work, so I shouldn't have to wait util Monday to get it delivered on my door. 
A couple of hours after midnight, we had build the frame and attached all the pieces that came in bags and boxes, and placed the machine on top of the frame :o) 

It was quite easy to follow the manual to build this frame, all the bags where labeled, so it was easy to use the right parts at the right places :o)


Isn't she gorgeous? 

I call her "Miss Monster", and she is SEW HOT! 
I got to practice for the first time earlier today, and I LOVE  this machine already :o)
After a few hours of practice, I loaded a quilt top on to the frame, and I think I used a couple of hours quilting it, instead of using many, many hours basting the quilt on the floor using about hundred pins or so...


This is a charity quilt made by an other lady in my local quilt guild, and I have one more I hope to finish tomorrow :o) 

I hope to spend a lot of time with her, and I just cannot wait to finish up all the quilts I have almost finished! 


I finished the main part of the "secret quilt" last weekend, but I cannot show you yet, because I have to wait for fabrics for the borders. But I can assure you, IT IS GORGEOUS! I'm so excited to show you!


Earlier this week I finally got to finish some more blocks on the "Comfort quilt" I've been working on this Summer. I've finished four big blocks, and almost every small block are done too. Can't wait to get this one quilted with "Miss Monster" :o) 

I wish you all a great Sunday, and hope you're enjoying some time with needle and thread too :o)
Laila

I'm still here!

I've been totally neglecting my blog (again) for a while. I haven't felt like doing much sewing since I've been bothered by a nasty cold the last two weeks, and it's been stealing all my energy. I think every second person I know, have had this long lasting cold, so I guess it's a typical Fall-thing.


The other day I got to put the binding on a table runner I made before Christmas last year. Since I didn't get to finish it back then, I put it in one of my UFO-bins. It's nice to dig out a UFO that don't need much work before it's totally finished :o)
I finished sewing the binding by hand last night, and it's all wrapped up ready to be given as a present to someone in my family later today, as a wedding present :o) 
I've made several table runners like this, and I have to admit it's one of my favorite patterns. 

I'm so happy to tell you that my mom finally fell in love with patchwork, and she has made some lovely blocks from a pattern called "Britt-Lisa's blomsterkurver" made by AnnAKa.
She is almost finished with a pillow (needs quilting) and the stitcheries for a table runner. Looks great, right?

I think it's so fun that she is into patchwork, too. I think she's addicted already :o) 


It's a beautiful Autumn day today, the sun really makes the Autumn colors sparkle. I wish I was feeling better, so I could do a little photo-walk today, but I guess I have to take it easy a couple of days more. Running on low batteries, would make it a very short trip anyway. 
I will try to do a little progress on the secret quilt I'm working on instead. Hand sewing is a nice and easy thing to enjoy on a day like this :o)


Wish you all a great weekend!
Hugs ♥
Laila

Some knitting for tiny babies

There has been not much sewing going on here for a while, since the migraines decided to stay for several days this time. But since I'm feeling better, I hope to enjoy some hours in my sewing room the next days. I've been knitting a little bit though. I'm just not made for sitting with my hands in my lap, even if the headaches are bothering me.
So many of my quilter friends are attending something called Amandaprosjektet. It's a project everyone in Norway can attend by knitting tiny mittens, socks, hats and blankets for premature infants. Since I am a knitter too, I wanted to attend this project. I've finished a little hat, a pair of mittens and I'm working on a baby blanket.

My twins where born three weeks before they where supposed to be born, but since they both where around 3 kilos, they didn't need much special care like many too early born babies. I remember how small they where, and that most of the clothes I had bought for them where too big for a long time. It's a nice thing to be able to make a little difference for those who aren't so lucky like us. 
My mom are knitting for the project too, and I'm looking forward to deliver the things we're making in a little while.
 I've got some of my friends to start too, so there will be some more knitting during the Autumn and winter that comes along soon :o)


I'm lucky to have a handyman in "da house" :o) I've seen a lot of shelfs I like here and there on the internet. Yesterday Hubby started making me one. He finished it today, and came home with this:

He started to paint it this evening, and it's looking so great! Just a couple of strokes more of white paint, and he can add the mirror on the back and get it up on the wall.

There will be added some pegs on the bottom of it when it's finished. I'm thrilled! It looks just like I wanted it to be! Woowhoo! Just trying to figure out what's going to be his next project ;o) 


See you soon, 
Laila

Finally a finish!

I finally finished my drawstring bag today! I'm doing the Happydance now :o) Been sooo long since my last finish, so it was about time! Now the ladies attending my class can see how it looks like :o)

It's not a small drawstring bag, the height is 36cm and width 31cm. Perfect to bring some stitchery or knitting to go :o)


I'm off to keep working on the "Secret project". I'm looking forward to show you that one :o)


Happy sewing,
Laila

My new project

In October, my local quilt guild is having a weekend with several different classes. I was asked to teach one of them, and if I could make a project about needleturn appliquè. I've been thinking about this project for a long time, and after throwing away my first try, I ended up with this:

It's the needleturn appliquè block I'm going to use in a little bag. A pompadour, like we call it over here. I will have to finish the leaves and the middle of the flowers before I finish the rest of the bag, and quilt it. It's small and pretty simple. Just big enough to get finished in a weekend. 
What do you think? 


Just a couple of ladies have signed up for my class util today, but I hope there will be some more now when they can see the project we're making. I will work on it and get it finished this weekend, so the ladies in my local quilt guild will be able to see the finished project. 


Wish me luck ;o)


Happy sewing,
Laila

I've missed Blogland!

I haven't been making blog posts as often as I wanted to, and I haven't been able to  follow all the lovely blogs I love reading, so often these days. But I guess I'm not the only one, busy with other things... There has been a little bit sewing though. I've finished the block #1 of the "My garden" BOM by Lynette Anderson. I will finish the appliquè on all the blocks when I've finished them all, and decided which fabrics to use. I love the colors of the threads, and I have so many gorgeous japanese fabrics I want to use :o)

One of the reasons I haven't been around much here in Blogland is that I've been doing some rearrangements in my home. I've been doing a bit of painting, and I'm far away from finished! 

I'm painting my dining chairs and table white. They used to be black! I love the way they turned out! Not finished, needs a lot more paint before I'm satisfied.

I've also painted the walls in my living room, too. But cannot make up my mind... I hope to get "the right color" and finish it soon. 

We've also made some changes outside on the back of our home. Hubby is working mostly with help from my dad, my mom and our boys. I think it will look great when we're finished :o)

I'm looking forward to plant some trees and plants when he is done :o)

It's not hard to see the Autumn is near. I like Autumn, with the gorgeous colors it brings. I'm trying to keep my Summer flowers alive, but I guess they've seen better days than this. It's been pouring down the last couple of days, and it's getting colder. Hope the rain will stop, and to be able to get out for a walk with my camera again soon. 

Speaking of taking photos. 

I bought this Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5 a little while ago. I wanted to get a camera to have in my purse, and the DSLR  (Nikon D3000) is way to big to bring with me everywhere!

This camera takes great photos, and if you are looking for one which captures great pics without using a DSLR, this is the one I would recomend!!!  It has the coolest auto capture, so if you're not so happy about making all the settings yourself, you just use the intelligent auto setting (IA). It's great to do that sometimes, instead of doing all the thinking yourself ;o)

I'm so satisfied with the photos taken indoors when it's getting dark. Even with no flash, this camera captures good pics! 

I'm not an expert, but just telling you about my own experiences ;o)

Hope to get some sewing done during this week, and hope to stay a lot more here in Blogland from now on ;o)

Hugs ♥

Laila

Giveaway

I think you would love to enter this giveaway, it's just AWESOME!
Pop over to Sew We Quilt/Stash Manicure and check it out!


Good luck to you all :-)
Laila

Back in Blogland again

I'm finally back in Blogland. It's back to work on Monday again, after having three weeks off work. I feel like the three weeks of summer holidays went by so fast!
I got to so some sewing done, but not at all as much as I planned to. I have finished a lot of sewing on the "Comfort quilt". Just a few blocks needs to be cut and pieced. It's looking good so far :o)

I went to Denmark with my family, together with my brother's family. We rented a house in a place called Odsherred, and we had a great time. Since my kids are getting young men busy with their own stuff every day, it was so good to spend some family quality time with them. We went to see different places, and also enjoyed family dinners (bbq),playing games. We spent a lot more time driving than planned, but we had a great time after all :o)


Our furball, Fabian, had to spend the week we where away at a shelter for cats. It's the same place we adopted him from when he was three months old. The poor thing had not been comfortable, and he must have missed us terribly. Not eating much during the time he was there, and not at all interested in the people who worked there.
I've never seen him so happy as when he came home. He was constantly following us around the first two days, must have been so afraid of being left alone. He even followed us into the bathroom. He seems to gain some weight again, and he is more calm now. I will never leave him like that again, so next time we're going on a vacation we will have someone he knows to look after him, poor thing. I'm just glad he's a happy cat again!

We haven't had any great weather at all this summer. Mostly rain and forecast. I've tried to take some summer photos, and since I bought a new lens for my camera, I had to take some walks despite the weather. As long as it's not raining, it's fun to walk around looking for things to capture in a photo.

When I went for a walk the other day, I didn't see only flowers. I found a bunch of four and five leaf clovers too. I've always looking along the roadside when I walk, looking for these. 
Will they bring me any luck? Who knows, but I sure hope so :o)

Last Friday, when we where heading home from Denmark, we got a call from my mom about the bomb in Oslo. We had to drive by Oslo to get home, and she was worried we had to drive through Oslo on our way back to Trondheim. We got to turn on the radio to listen to the news when we got to the boarder of Norway. We heard about the shooting at Utøya outside Oslo, and it was all just so sad. 

It's been a week since the terrible day, and all of the Norwegian people are still in shock and really sad about the terrible things that happened. I have to admit it's almost too much to take in. 

I'm thankful that the people in Norway stay together even more after such a bad incident. 

My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families.

Before you judge, Act. Before you speak, Listen.
 Before you hate, Love. Before you write, Think. 
Before you pray, Forgive. Before you quit, Try.

Wish you all a peaceful weekend,

Laila