winter melody

we have never had such a winter before. we've had glistening snow, blue skies, sun and freezing cold since before yule. a few days ago, my mother had -27 C (-17 F - is that right? i tried several converters, but they all say the same). she lives a 15 minute drive from us. We haven't had it that cold, but we've been down to -13 C (9 F). the coldest temperature measured so far this year in norway is not from the north, but from the eastern part; -41 C (my converter says -41,8 F, and that has to be wrong! someone?).

so we keep on sledding. and others keep on skiing. after all, that's what we norwegians do, you know :)

(btw, did the title of this post make you too think of donna summer?)

explosive inside

in spite of an ever present, smiling, calm buddha, holidays spent inside tend to get a bit explosive. so we kept on sledding. that's the beauty of owning a car; you can actually go on a sledding tour to seek out the best hills.

new years eve

just in time for the fireworks, we took our neighbourhood kid with us and went sledding our way into the new year, until 1.30 in the morning. i can't imagine a more fun way to greet the new year. hope you had a good one too!

not a political post

a week ago, i wasn't sure what was the worst of things - that our world leaders decided to ignore basic scientific facts and experiment with the future of the human race, or the fact that i hadn't sent any yule cards yet.
hm.
well, since this is not a political post, i'll skip right to the essentials;
never, ever, ever be tempted to think that you have everything under control if the calendar says 'december'.
you don't.
don't be tempted to try out your newly aquired stress management skills. they don't apply in december.
i did try that out, only to wake up to (literally) "Holy Shit!" on the 18th. i've never had so little preparations to do, yet never had such a stressful pre-yule time as i did this year.
to me, the beauty of yule is in all the handmades, and this year there just were'nt enough of it to make me happy.
i managed to squeeze in this little project for my daughter - a last minute project made the night before.

this is something i was inspired to make last year, after a friend sent me this link. i decided i could do it myself, and bought a ready made cardboard suitcase.

i only had a few hours, so there was no time for fancy decoration. i didn't have any shiny new objects to put inside either, so i used the stuff that was already hers - only making a tiny needle book and giving away my own measuring tape.

i'd love to have given her some proper knitting needles and some embroidery thread, but that will come later. so far, she's thrilled and loves it very much. i put a new piece of linen on her embroidery hoop, and she immediately started embroidering a bright yellow sun. out of ordinary sewing thread, but still - very appropriate!

did you make any gifts this year? please leave me a link to your blog so i can admire it and get inspired - i'm always hunting for good, homemade gift ideas!
(btw, i have to admit, that by now, i actually really miss blogging - and you guys!)