Norwegian Stuff and More

I decided that I might fit in one more post before a new month begins. We're in the middle of a three day weekend, and I am so, so glad for another day off. For some reason stress is really taking a toll on me this year. That's just the way it goes.

I guess I should battle the stress by more stitching (which I haven't done in six weeks or more) and exercise. Does that sound like a good plan to you? I can't do anything about work stress, so I have to find ways to battle it.

I wanted to first share a photo of what we see in the backyard when we're around in the morning. It shows the prelude to the daily battle between our backyard western scrub jays and our local squirrels. I had never seen squirrels around here until lately. I do think our peanuts beckoned them here! We live in a city that has a population of about 300,400 people. I guess I didn't realize there were too many squirrels around here, too.



And one of the scrub jays:




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About a month ago we went to a Festival celebrating our Scandinavian heritage. We had an absolute blast! The food was great, the music was fun, and we even dressed in native garb and posed for pictures. No, they're not being shared here!

Over the years I've bought or received various pieces of Rosemaling. This craft comes from Norway--my late grandfather's birthplace.

Here's what I bought at the festival:





And here is the Norwegian flag flying in front of our house on one of Norway's flag days. I'm very glad to be an American, of course, but I think it's fine to acknowledge one's heritage. It's amazing to imagine my late grandfather sailing over here from Norway in 1904, at just age 16, all by himself on that ship. In steerage, of course. Someday I would love to visit his homeland. I've heard it's beautiful. My grandpa lived in Minnesota, but he also visited southern California a few times. He loved the mountains around Los Angeles, and told my mother it reminded him of Norway. Isn't it funny that no matter where we go, our heart always seems to long for home?



Thanks for stopping by today.

Embroidery Floss That I Adopted

I have not been here in so long! Life has again been just too busy. I haven't stitched much in the last six weeks, either. Haven't had a chance to read many of your blogs. I miss reading them so much. Hopefully things will settle down soon at work, and I will have more free time to spend stitching, reading, and blogging...not to mention all the other things I like to do with free time.

Thanks for all your kind comments about Summer Queen. I really must pull her out soon!

I have a  friend who recently handed me a plastic bag. Here's how it looked:



She said, "Thought you might like this embroidery floss." I have only one close friend who stitches, and she hasn't done it in years and years. A few more people I know used to stitch when it was popular in the 80s and 90s, but they've all given it up completely. I brought it home about a week ago, and just for kicks took a few photos of my progress in going through the floss.

Here you are:


I found a pair of tiny scissors in the mess. They're marked "Overland Germany". I wonder what the story is behind those scissors?



Now as I sit here, I wonder if you've ever received leftover stitching supplies in the form of floss..all tangled up? What did you do with it? You may remember that a few months ago another friend gave me an old WIP/UFO that's a stack of teacups stitched on Aida (See the post from March 28, 2010). I haven't done anything with that yet! I really will work on it "someday".

Finally, here is what I ended up with in the end:



I decided that truly I didn't need these 18 skeins of floss, but nonetheless I did add them to my floss boxes. Shame on me, I didn't take the time to wind them around the little cardboard bobbins. Some of the skeins look old in that the labeling looks like the kind from years and years ago. Even though I didn't wind the floss around bobbins I did, however, take the time to pour myself and my husband a glass of merlot. I will enjoy that glass of wine now, knowing that the large tangled mess of floss that remains is in our wastebasket. Yes, I know it could be strewn about the yard and one of our backyard birds could pick it up for its nest. In reality, I've tried that for years and not one bird has ever picked up even a tiny strand of thread. So it's in our wastebasket, for good.



Thanks for coming by today! I appreciate your visit here.