Fun fair

We've had a few weeks with unstable weather but on Wednesday this past week we got lucky.



I had planned to meet my Mom for lunch - and maybe even my Aunt who works in town - and then take the girls to Folkets Park (The People's Park - a park with a few big playgrounds, a mini-zoo and a fairground) for some rides and some play.



Both girls wanted to try out the harnessed trampoline but I only got really good pictures of Sofia using it.

The weather was great. A bit overcast but sunny and not too warm. We went for lunch, the Aunt could only come in for a quick Hello - she was in the middle of a very hectic start-up process for the next theatre production she is involved in.

Then we walked back to the Park and bought some tokens for the rides.



Isabel has never been big on rides and she made sure to choose the smallest, slowest rides she could, without a lot of spinning or speed.
Sofia appears to be a bit braver when it comes to rides, but she followed Isabel's lead and rode with her big sister.



We ended the day with an ice cream from Ben & Jerry's - well, Sofia preferred a doughnut. They both got to pull a string and win a stuffed animal.

Grading - how I do it

I talked to a friend about grading patterns the other day. She wanted to use a popular O+S pattern but it only went up to size 5. I have a few patterns in size 8 that I adore on Isabel, but she is migrating into a lengthened size 10 by now so this is something I have done a few times.

When I told her I had successfully graded the pattern in question to a size 6 she was interested to know how I did it.

So, here are some pictures of another pattern I was grading anyway - I hope it will give her and maybe someone else the general idea on how to grade a pattern.
It's not failsafe and there are probably many other ways to do it, but this is how I learned and it gives you a place to start - make adjustments as needed.

Also this works only on patterns where all sizes are stacked on the page.

Put a bird on it

After five weeks off Rickard went back to work yesterday. The girls and I are home together two more weeks before my vacation time is up.

We decided to do some crafts so in the morning we went to town to get some white tees. Not an easy task I tell you. Most stores prefer to sell tees with their logo on them, but at H&M we found what we were looking for.



The girls each got three tees to embellish.



I helped them get paint on the stamps evenly then they did the stamping themselves.

I prefer crafts that are easy to wash up and clear away so we mixed the paints on paper plates left over from Sofia's party. All the brushes were old and worn so I threw them all out after we were done.



The results were varied. I was given permission to print one tee for each girl and I made an artsy-fartsy owl on a branch with balloons (cause you know - owls need them to fly, right?) for Isabel but when I tried a "Roman Holiday" theme for Sofia (the crown and the Vespa) she out ruled me and requested skulls as well. So it's more of a "Roman Pirate Holiday" I guess.

I do regret now not getting more tees (they were very inexpensive) to try some transfers on. I got some transfer paper for my printer that I'm dying to try out. Maybe I'll give it a go on some ribbon I have to make labels.

Ah well, we need something to do next week.

Silence is Golden

Some days you can't really find the words to express what you feel.

Our next door country has been through an incredible tragedy and it's so horrific the words really fail me.

<3 #norway

Fish update

We bought fish last year. Two fan tail goldfish that the girls named Ubbe and Tess.

A few weeks ago they started behaving weird. They were digging up the plant we had in their tank and then they swam over it, splashing their tails so the water splashed on the wall behind the tank.

As a temporary counter measure we took the plant out of the tank and put it in a bowl next to it.

One day as I was feeding Ubbe and Tess I took a closer look at the bowl and saw little creatures swimming around.



Turns out the splashy behaviour was some kind of mating activity and they had spawned without us noticing.

The bowl held the plant and maybe 30 little fishes, not even half an inch long.

We moved them to a big vase we found in the attic and gave them new water.

Since then a few of them have died, but the ones who has made it have really grown and are starting to show the first signs of fantails.

At least that's what it looks like - it could be just fish poop.

Vacation days

Oh dear, it's been a while since I put something up here.

I've been on vacation for almost 2 weeks now and the days just blend into one another.

I have 3 more weeks off after this one is done. One of them together with Rickard and the final two alone with the girls.



So far we've been cherry picking at the grandparents' place. Made it into jam and cordial.



I've made strawberry freezer jam. I hope it will last us as long as last year's batch has (there is still some left from last year)



I sewed up a dress for Sofia. I hope she'll wear it on Saturday when we have company over.



I also made a dress for Isabel. It was supposed to be her birthday present but I couldn't wait.

Tomorrow is Isabel's birthday and she'll be going to the pool with Sofia, Daddy and Grandpa. I'll be at home making pies and maybe a dress for her if I can squeeze it in. I had intended to make it for her birthday but decided to sew her something else that she had asked for but we hadn't discussed in detail before - so I hope it will be a nice surprise for her.

More on that tomorrow.

It's my party and I'll cry if I want to! - Well, she didn't want to!

We had a party for Sofia last weekend. She turned 4 a month ago and wanted to invite her friends to a party.

She requested a dessert table like the one I made her last year and I obliged.



I made a lemon pound cake with lemon icing and we served home made strawberry syrup in little glass bottles.



Each child got a party favour to take home that I made myself from two paper plates that were stapled together and stuffed with candy, some streamers and a balloon. I decorated the plates with self-designed stickers and a ribbon.

I also made chocolate chip cookies that I slipped into cd-envelopes and put a sticker on. Kind of cute I think.



I also made her a cake as she requested. Chocolate cake filled with apple butter and sliced bananas. Frosted with whipped cream. I used the icing from the pound cake to write on the cake and it turned out spectacular if I do say so myself.
I haven't the world's neatest handwriting so this picture makes me proud even though it's a lousy picture.