{blogtoberfest 2010 day 30}

Missed another day yesterday, but at least I've blogged more here in the past month than I have in like - ever.

I'm quilting today. I have the day "off" from the family and I went to town with my mom (her suggestion) to get a pair of boots for Isabel and to get some errands done.
But this afternoon and evening I've been sewing up a quilt top for Sofia.

I have the center seam left then it's done, I think. I'm still debating whether or not to put border on it and if I decide to do that I have to decide how they're gonna look.

I used a free pattern from Oh Fransson called New Wave. I loved the look of it, but all those seams are tough to match for a n00b like me.

I'll have to see if I can live with it otherwise Ill have to do something about it.

We had the best garlic and lemon chicken for dinner and I want some ice cream, but I think I'll wait until the girls are in bed.

They are eagerly waiting for some Trick or Treaters (kids in Sweden are a bit unsure of when to go Trick or Treating and some years we had TorT for three days in a row.) but it looks like none are coming today.

I think a cup of coffee would be nice right about now, and I'll see about that ice cream too I think.

Also, Happy Nameday to my darling Isabel.

{blogtoberfest 2010 day 28}

Husband is home. Finally.

We get to keep him for a week, then he's off again.

No sewing today. I miss it. But I'm saving it for almost all of Saturday.

{blogtoberfest 2010 day 28}

They're painting some machine parts in the workshop at work today.

The guys have rigged plastic around the work area to prevent spillage - but from the outside it looks like Dexter's been here.

{blogtoberfest 2010 day 27}

So the girls were both really good last night. No fighting and almost no bickering. We drove to town to buy my Big Girl new winter boots.
I aimed for a quick in and out procedure and that's what we got. We left the school at 4:30 pm and we were back home at 5:25 pm. I'd call that success.

I got her a warm pair of snow boots. Like these. I had thought size 34 would be enough for her but she thought they were a bit too snug and hurt her toes so we sized up.
She's 6 years old and wears size 35 boots. Silly.

Then I showed her these boots. I like them a lot but her first comment was "They're Big Girl shoes".
I'm thinking they would make a nice Christmas present for her.

Once we got back home they wanted to help out with dinner and I actually let them (Go me!). They sliced up the sausage and Little Sister set the table and Big Sister opened up the can of beans and heated them.

Once they were gone eating they went to the shower when I asked them (Who are you and what have you done with my kids?) and took a quick shower.

Some Robin Hood on the xBox/movie computer later and then bedtime.

I had big plans on sewing buttonholes in the blouse and dress I had made for them, but the machine was in one of its moods and just blew raspberries at me and refused to cooperate.
I'll have to try another evening.

{blogtoberfest 2010 day 26} Turkey

We're having my parents and my in-laws over for turkey dinner on Saturday next week, so I have a bit of prep to do.

I used to make a turkey with a cider and maple syrup based seasoning, but the last three years I've made a brine and soaked the turkey for two or three days, following a recipe of Nigella's.

I don't remember everything about it, but it's water with lots of salt and sugar, orange juice and orange, onions, leeks, cloves, star anise, cinnamon, pepper and a bouquet garni.
Soak for three days then slather with butter or oil, salt and pepper and chuck it in the oven.

Serve with roast potatoes, gravy and side dishes.

I think we'll have pannacotta for dessert. I made some last week and the girls loved it. I put blueberries and raspberries in the bottom and poured the pannacotta on top. But I like an apple dessert with turkey so I'm thinking fried apple chunks with sugar and butter and cinnamon and cardamom in the bottom of a glass then pannacotta on top and a wafer or cookie made from puff pastry.
Oh - warm voul au vents with apples on the side ... and cardamom infused pannacotta, hmm, I think we have a winner!

A few years ago I made Tarte Tatin. But this sounds even better.

Now I just have to come up with some sort of soup to have for starter - carrot soup perhaps ...

{blogtoberfest 2010 day 20}

Ok, so my favourite pattern designer just sent a newsletter with info about a second upcoming fabric line and her new Spring 2011 patterns.

I am so screwed. Credit wise.

{blogtoberfest 2010 day 19} work stuffs

I have a looming deadline at work that I fear I will not meet. I'm dependent on one or more coworker for parts of it and one is out of the country for two weeks, the other is out of the country for two weeks followed by five weeks up north where he's hard to reach. A third coworker was out of the office today, working on site with some testing. And the fourth was working from home.

I have to have a manual written by Friday, and I have only got about 75 % of the material I need, and 50% of the directions I need. Two of them will be back tomorrow, so I think I'll set up camp in our work shop and pester the crew there.

I sort of want to have it done, not only so I meet the deadline, but also because I'll be sort of single parenting for the next three weeks. I need some buffers in case one of the girls get sick.

Next week R will be away three days. The week after that he'll be away two days and the week after that, five days. Not really looking forward to it, but we'll manage.

I have a sewing class on Wednesday next week, but my mum has promised to watch the kidlets and put them to bed that night. It's also her half day at work, so maybe she'll be able to pick the girls up from school/daycare.
I'm making pants for me at the sewing class. I made a toile the other day to make sure they'll fit. I need to add about 1/2 inch on all four sideseams to be sure but it looks good.

Maybe this will free up some mental room to make a few dresses for the girls. At least I hope so.

{blogtoberfest 2010 day 18}

I started tracing the Birthday Party dress from Oliver + S for Sofia yesterday.

I have been a bit intimidated by the pattern. It has three scissors and is supposed to be a bit harder than the other patterns.
I made a Puppet Show Tunic for Sofia this summer and that was a three scissor pattern, so maybe it's not a huge deal.

I hate it when I'm coming over to a friend who says "You're welcome to come over, but please ignore the mess." And when I come over the place is spotless.

I told my friend who's coming over tonight that our place is messy, but yesterday we managed to get some cleaning done.

I finally got around to really vacuum under our beds. Rickard lifted one mattress on top of the other so it was easier.

I also changed the sheets in all the beds at once. I usually stagger it so that I change the girls' beds but not ours. Mostly for laundry purposes. But not this time.

I also put Sofia's duvet into the cover. She has complained about being cold and wanted lots of blankets and quilts. But when she's too warm at night she starts to cough so it's a fine line to tread.

So tonight when we get home I'll get some laundry done. Hopefully I can swing by the store on my way home to get some more yoghurt for the girls' breakfast tomorrow.
We also need some sort of supper.
And I have ground meat in the fridge that needs to be taken care of - I'm making meatloaf.

I also cleared the kitchen last night and this morning I emptied the dishwasher and loaded what was dirty, so the kitchen is still cleared.

I hope she's not intimidated.

{blogtoberfest 2010 day 17} running weekends

Yesterday was one of those busy weekend days where you go to bed wondering what you accomplished.

Today I went up in our attic and sorted through all the children's clothes we've stored. A local clothes store is having a campaign where they collect their own brand to sell for charity and you get cupons for each garment you hand in.

I filled two big paper bags with clothes and I was planning to go to town tomorrow to hand them in, but I think it will have to wait until Tuesday. I have a friend coming over tomorrow to borrow my sewing machine.

If hers and my girls play nice together I hope to be able to trace a dress for Sofia. I've already started but it's taken some time. I have the facings to trace and I can't decide if I should do them in a contrasting fabric or not. I have enough of the outer fabric, but I might be able to use the cabbages for something else.

{blogtoberfest 2010 day 15}Thoughts in the morning

There was a golden fire lighting up our eastern horizon this morning. A fiery sunrise under a thick cloud cover bathed the world in warm yellow.

The glass feature on my office building is full east and the light reflected in the window panes and made it look like the building was on fire.

Even though I live in a big city, my drive to work takes me past horse pastures and crop fields, sheep pens and moto cross tracks. When I turned my car in towards the city again the buildings were all gilded and every window looked back at me, reflecting light.

We're in the middle of October, hurtling the year into November and the holiday season. There aren't many of these sunrises left this year. Not as I drive to work. In a few weeks time we'll change the clock. Time will Fall back. Mornings will be light an extra week but then the Earth's axis will have made its tilt and we're plunged into the winter darkness that is our trademark.

Sunrise will be only after I arrive at the office. Sleepy children in my car, not quite woken up before the daycare and school drop off.

Sunset will creep into the early evenings, slowly at first, then late afternoon and finally the sun will set some time after 3 pm and just like I drive to work in the dark I will leave in the dark. Light is for the few hours inbetween when we are ensconced inside.

It's so ordinary for me by now, and so miraculous at the same time.

We'll suffer this until Christmas when we celebrate not only a less and less meaningful Christian holiday but the turn of the year. The return of light. The winter solstice will be the season's last desperate stand before the Earth's axis inevitably makes another tilt and we face the sun once more.

But for now I will have to say my goodbyes to the light.

{blogtoberfest 2010 day 14}

So I missed out yesterday. My husband has a wicked cold so I didn't get a lot of time to myself last night.

Usually we share chores at bedtime (he'll do asthma meds with Sofia and teeth brushing and I'll do the reading).

He's home from work today trying to recover.

----

Tonight has been a bust sewing wise. I had hoped to get some seqing started - at least some cutting of fabric, but we crashed on the sofa after bed time.

And now it's a wee bit too late. *sigh*

{blogtoberfest 2010 day 13 - fail} Happy Conception Day!

7 years ago on Oct 13th I was at an IVF- clinic having 11 eggs removed from my ovaries. In the hours that followed 7 eggs were successfully turned into embryos (ok - zytoblasts I guess) and one was implanted 2 days later and became our awesome Isabel.



Three years minus one month later We had one egg thawed and implanted which became the lovely Sofia.



Happy Conception Day girls!

{blogtoberfest 2010 day 12} drive by blogging

I spent the better part of tonight reading a Swedish YA book (young adult) about long term friendship and secret love and teenaged romance.

It was somgood and I'm glad I managed to finish it to quickly.

Lately I've had trouble concentrating on books. There are so many ither things I want to do.

I think another chapter of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows are in prder so I can keep up with Mark Reads Harry Potter. Thne sleepies.

{blogtoberfest 2010 day 11} Poorly child

Well, when big sister got sick last week it was only a matter of time before Sofia caught a bug too.

Sleeping in mommy's bed all snuggled up in pillows and duvets.

Red cheeks from fever and being a bit overheated. Bunny-rag ever present.

{blogtoberfest 2010 day 10} Korv (Sausage) Stroganoff - recipe

This is a staple dish in our home. Korv Stroganoff, or Sausage Stroganoff. It bears a slight resemblance to a famous Russian dish called Beef Stroganoff - but the two are really not all that much alike any more. Not in our case anyway.

Aaany who.

You will need:



One ring of Falukorv (sausage). Onions and/or leeks. I used both because I had a leek in the fridge that I kept forgetting to use.
Garlic is nice in this. Crushed tomatoes/tomato sauce and creme fraiche. Some butter or oil to fry in, I use a liquid cooking margarine that I like. Roasted peppers from a jar - cause it was in the fridge and my littlest one doesn't like too much tomatoes.
Some dijon mustard is nice and I spiced it up with some left over sauce made from the peppers and some creme fraiche from the day before. This can easily be left out.

{blogtoberfest 2010 day 10}

When we bought our new Nikon D5000 this summer we started lending the old digital compact camera to our girls, and Isabel's been really interested in using it.



We were doing a jigsaw puzzle yesterday together and she wanted to take a few pictures of it.



And I decided to take a few of her with the puzzle.

{blogtoberfest day 9}

We did the Swedish Family Saturday thing today.

IKEA.

It wasn't as crowded as I had feared and we got out of there rather quickly.

The girls are at their grandparents' so we've been crashed out on the sofa with some tv-shows all night.

It's been nice too, but I miss them.

{blogtoberfest 2010 day 8} Winter upgrade

Library card generator from blyberg.net

I'm picking the girls up (at 2 pm! - Yay for Fridays!!) and I promised them fika in town today.
Rickard decided to take some time off this afternoon and meet us in town. Double-yay!

We have to upgrade the winter wardrobe for the girls. Isabel got a lovely purple coat last weekend, but she still needs new boots and jeans and leggings/stockings.
Today she wore a skirt and capri leggings with socks. It looked cold.

It also looks like I'll have to get Sofia a new coat as well. I can't find the one Isabel had at that age. I'll have to look again tomorrow.

I could use a new pair of gloves since I tore my old pair apart.

I also want to go to the home decoration/kitchen store and drool over the Le Creuset pots that I don't really need, but covet to no end.

{blogtoberfest 2010 day 7} My littlest one

Sofia helped Rickard change the water in the fish tank the other day.

I'm constantly baffled by how big she's gotten. It's so easy to forget that she's not a baby any more.
She's older now than Isabel was when she became a big sister.

When I put her to bed I read to her (sometimes) and when we are done she wants to read the story back to me. So I let her (sometimes). Then she asks for a song and when I'm done she wants to sing me something.
After lots of hugs and kisses I leave her and she'll sing to her teddies and bunny rags. She'll make up the songs and lyrics as she goes along and it's the cutest thing in the world.

{blogtoberfest 2010 day 6 - fail}

Oh, what a bummer - I missed posting yesterday.

Not really sure what happened, I guess I crashed on the sofa after bedtime and just sort of stayed there.

{blogtoberfest 2010 day 5}

Back at work today. Fall is starting to set in for real.

It was dark when I got out of bed but a lovely red sunrise could be seen above the neighbour's roof.

We have solar powered lights in the garden. They look so nice in summer nights but now the days are too short and overcast to charge them enough to last more than an hour or two in the evening.

Today is windy and a little chilly and the sky is thick with clouds.

Not the grey kind that threatens rain but the light dirty-white kind that will be around for a while making sure you don't get as nice a sunset as you did sunrise.

The fall equinox is no more than 2 weeks away and already I can tell the days are getting shorter.

Soon our days will be remarkably longer than in the north of Sweden.

I get an urge to make apple pies and stews and hearty soups. I think we need to find ourselves a pumpkin soon to bake and turn into soup.
The girls will love the roasted seeds.

When it isn't raining I think Fall is my favourite season. And we get to experience all four of them.

I've taken to lighting candles at dinner. The tea light holders have been in storage all summer but now they come out into circulation again.

Three tea lights on the television set. Two on the side board. Two in the dining area window. Two on the kitchen table. Two in the window above the kitchen sink and one in the other kitchen window. And five candles in the chandelier above the kitchen table.

{blogtoberfest 2010 day 4} cinnamon rolls and fevers

Isabel still had a fever this morning, and after breakfast I had a look at her throat and saw some white spots on her tonsils.

I called the doctor's office but they wanted to hold off making an appointment until tomorrow since it's not been three full days of fever. I disagree, but I can't really force them. Rickard's gonna call tomorrow and make her an appointment because the spots are still there and she has a pretty high temperature.

So she's been hanging out on the sofa and I've made cinnamon rolls with apple filling. I made her Mac 'n cheese for lunch but she didn't like it.

She's a trooper though and hasn't really complained about her throat. She was a bit bored and wanted to watch a movie this afternoon. But we had watched so many already I thought she should take a break. That was her only complain.

{blogtoberfest 2010 day 3}

Fall is setting in here in Sweden and we decided to get the patio furniture into storage today and clear out junk we never use and take it to the recycling station.

Yesterday I bought some flowers for the pots by the door and I arranged them today.

We got some kind of ivy from my aunt when we moved in three years ago, but sadly it died last winter when it was so cold for so long.
We emptied the pot already last spring at it's been standing empty since. It looked kind of sad.



So I got two medium sized chrysanthemums and two different kinds of heather and some silvery crawler plant I never caught the name of and set to work.



30 minutes later I had sweeped the flags of all debris and watered the flowers. I put a new candle in the lantern. Unfortunately it was a bit big, but it will be ok eventually.

Looking at the picture now I realise I could use some kind of garland or wreath by the door.

{blogtoberfest} change of plans

I started out today expecting a rushed and mad day. And it turned out just like that.

And then my big girl came down with a fever. In a bit over 90 minutes she went from a bit under the weather to 39.1, crashed out on the sofa.

I had a post planned about fall and changes of the seasons and stuff, but that will have to wait for another day.

Fresh start

Ok, maybe this is what I need to get this thing going again.

It's been exactly, to-the-day, a year since I posted last. I've kept up my sewing, but I've mostly posted on my Swedish blog about that.

I like the idea of posting daily, and I hope to keep it up now that I have an incentive.

Tonight I plan to enjoy myself at a local theater. We're seeing Spamalot. I mean, Monty Python combined with a Swedish favourite, Hipp Hipp can only lead to greatness. They have received stunning reviews.

Plus, my favourite auntie was on the staff making the costumes.

More later. Now I have some paid work to do.