easy as soap

i'll try not to swear.
but really....
i had it all set up for a good soap making time. i had spent weeks gathering the right ingredients, the right amount of courage, and reading and rereading the instructions from several different sources, in english and norwegian, just to be sure to get it right.
and everything went well, until i took the soap out of the mold and started cutting it into blocks.... it crumbled. not into, well, crumbles, but into layers of soap, making the oddest shaped blocks. this won't be of use to anyone, i'm afraid. damn! (ha! i did it again!)
if anyone has any experience with this, please let me know what i might have done wrong!

corner view bergen, norway; back window view

i don't have a back door and i'm honestly not certain of what's my back window either, as the back of the house is really the front and the front is really the back (i told you it was an odd house). so i took some photos through the windows that are at the back of the house (which is really the front). shall i continue to confuse you, or shall i just show the darn pictures? :)

no surprises here; more trees.
- kitchen window (i told you i was a tea drinker)
- my son's bedroom window
- bathroom window
- and to give you a break from all the green stuff:
-sunset
- 02.10 in the morning, a week ago. now it's even lighter at night, and come next weekend, there will hardly be any sunset.
other backdoor/window views around the world:
jane, ladybug-zen, ian, bonnie, esti, sophie, cele, modsquad,caitlin, joyce, ani, kim, a day that is dessert, natsumi, epe, kaylovesvintage, trinsch, c.t., jeannette, outi, schanett, ritva, francesca, state of bliss, jennifer, dana,denise, cabrizette, bohemia girl, ruth, dianna, isabelle, amber, a girl in the yellow shoes, mister e, janis, kari, jgy, jenna, skymring, elizabeth, audrey, allison, lise, cate, mon, victoria, crescent moon, erin, otli, amy, ida, caroline, lisa, dorte, kimmie, la lune dans le ciel, nicola, malo, vanessa,britta, virgina, april, rebecca, b, kyndale samantha, karen, kristina, angelina, dorit, goldensunfamily, sophie, janet, mcgillicutty, desiree, di, travelingmama, aimee, sunnymama amanda, ali, jenell, guusje, britta, juanita, pamela, inna, daan, myrtille, cris, ibb, susi, jodi, lily, jillian, doobleh-vay

it's a good day to die

can't help wondering what went on in the mind of this one during it's last minutes in life...
'hm, let's see, where to die, where to die... oh, there's a great spot! my striking yellow stripes and my black modesty blaise'y body will look just splendid right there...'

well, i couldn't agree more.

30 minutes later; found by my daughter, partly dissected, drawn and cut.

sweetness

we grabbed our bikes again yesterday and went for a ride. we went to a local viking market, but for once, the camera stayed in my backpack for most of the time. probably because we met several friends and were engaged in conversing more than looking. i did manage to catch this little girl, though - cute as a button in her tiny viking outfit.

we came home with several jars of honey - acacia, honey with nuts, seeds and fruits, honey with apricots and cherries, spicy honey for marinade, honey with cinnamon, ginger, cacao. the beekeeper was a very nice man that came all the way from poland to sell his goods. and good it was :)

conversation overheard

big brother preparing a bath.
little sister comes running in.

- oooh, can i please come into the tub with you?
- no.
- oh, please, please?
- well, maybe.
- pleeeeeaaase....?
- alright, then.
- thank you, thank you so much!! i promise i won't pee in the water!!

corner view bergen, norway: the beach

i didn't expect to get to a beach at all in time for this week's theme, but we suddenly had summer coming our way. saturday, we grabbed our bikes, and spent the whole day cruisin' around in the sun. we stopped at a, hm, well - beach, i guess (we don't really have beaches in my parts, you'd have to go south or far north for that). a gatherer by nature, my daughter had her eyes fixed to the ground during the whole stay. 'mum, i found a shell! here's another one! mum, here's a really big one, and look at that one, it shines!' i grabbed her chin, raised her head and said, 'look, honey - the whole place is covered with shells'. 'woooooooow...'

even though we ate all our food and drank all our water, you could safely say that our backpacks were just a teeny bit heavier as we left.

other beaches around the world:

jane, ladybug-zen, ian, bonnie, esti, sophie, cele, modsquad,caitlin, joyce, ani, couturecoucou, kim, a day that is dessert, natsumi, epe, kaylovesvintage,trinsch, c.t.,jeannette, outi, schanett, ritva, dongdong, francesca, state of bliss, jennifer, dana,denise, cabrizette, bohemia girl, ruth, dianna, isabelle, amber, a girl in the yellow shoes, mister e,janis, kari, jgy, jenna, skymring, elizabeth, audrey, allison, lise, cate, mon, victoria, crescent moon, erin, otli, amy, ida, caroline, lisa, dorte, kimmie, la lune dans le ciel, nicola, malo, vanessa,britta, virgina, april, rebecca, b, kyndale
samantha, karen, kristina, angelina, dorit, goldensunfamily, sophie, janet, nicki, ruth, mcgillicutty,
desiree, di, travelingmama, aimee, sunnymama
amanda, ali, jenell, guusje, britta, juanita, pamela, inna, daan

frog mummy

we found this all dried up frog on a canoe trip today. it's incredible, you can see its spine! i almost felt like jørn hurum when he discovered ida (well, not quite the significance, but still - ahem).

it now has its new home on our verandah. we're hoping it will dry up even more so that the faint smell, which is - hm, interesting - will go away.

noticing...

• her blue shoe flying off her foot as she swirls
• him pretending not to know that i'm taking pictures of him
• the different colours of my knitting needles