Going on in the garden right now

Helleborus - fritillaria meleagris

anemone nemorosa - hydrangea / hortensia

tulips - daffodils

Our garden looked soo last year 

but now we have all these beauties 

to show that spring

is here:)

Refreshing the kitchen

For ages I've been meaning to paint the walls in the kitchen, and now finally I have - at least one of them. It's not a big change - going from pale to white on the walls but I love it. 

Hopefully I'll get round to paint the rest of the walls before long...

Before - a cluttered counter and painting the wall halfway finished.

How to get a fairly clean house by weekend

 

I've proven to be really challenged when it comes to housekeeping and organizing. I'd like a clean house come weekend as much as the next girl, but finding the time and energy to make it happen has been almost impossible.
Coming home from work on Friday afternoon knowing that a ton of housekeeping chores awaits
-knowing that whatever I want to do in the weekend I ought to be doing the cleaning instead
 - no thank you!

So what about the other days?
Thursdays and Mondays we come home late in the afternoon.
Wednesdays we're busy with my daughter's after school acticvities.
Which leaves Tuesdays for housecleaning
- I've tried that, and I do get a cleaning round done -
it's just that it doesn't last till weekend!
So then what?

What I worked out is this - don't know why didn't I think of it before :
I don't have to do it all in one go.
Do a little each day - nothing much - just a little !

Now I've made a schedule that seems to be working, and
inspired by (amongst others) Organizing made fun I've put up a schedule that goes like this:

Monday:
- dust (15 )

Tuesday:
-clean bathroom (15 min)
-change beddings (10 min)

Wednesday:
- clean kitchen (20 min)

Thursday:
-empty dustbins
- vacuum (30 min)

Friday:
-a simple wipedown of bathroom (5 min)

Saturday and Sunday:
NO SCHEDULED HOUSEKEEPING CHORES :)

Keeping in mind that for this to work we (usually just me) have to
continuously throughout the week
declutter,
tidy up,
 clean kitchen after use,
 do laundry and paperwork.

I realize that not every spot of the house is freshly cleaned come weekend,
but at least it's freshly vacuumed (which is the most important)
and the rest has been done sometime during the last week
so the house will have a fairly clean feel to it on Fridays.

It's not that this is revolutionary or new thinking,
but it does work wonders in our household:)

Mini-buns

This weekend we finally got round to bake buns again. Used the same recipe as before from Dagdrømmeren. 

This time we made some of them in mini size. 

Just cut the dough for one regular bun in four and we had the mini size we wanted.

Didn't fuss much about the shape:)

 Although they turned out a little bumpy they were also, by far,

 the most popular on the table 

and disappeared very 

quickly.  

Diamond and a bubble string

I've shown this living room shelf before.
But now I've just rearranged it a little
- removing some of the heavy colours
and adding a pink diamond in a frame and a string of bubbles.
When moving the stuff around the striped vase almost dissappeared into the frame:)


There are so many cool string lights around - and I really wish I had one.
But as I don't, I crocheted some bubbles and tied together on a string.
Kind of resembles, but no light though :)

Luxury

Starting off the weekend with a pile of chocolate - 

My favourite chocolate, milky and bubbley. 

And a cup of coffee - no milk, no bubbles :)

What a luxury:)

Happy weekend to everyone :)

Clouds and raindrops

As I'm moving towards more graphic pattern in my interor deisgn I wanted to make a change to these very flowery flower pots. 

I got out a black permanent marker and doodled away. 

Big black raindrops on the one.

And stripy clouds on the other.

Before -  too flowery

After  - stripey clouds

A simple, easy and fun change

Easy for the kids

Normally my daughter's been served all of her food ready made. 

Now that she's started to be more on her own, 

like weekend mornings and sometimes an afternoon after school, 

it's practical for her to be able to make something for herself to eat.

She's got a drawer in the kitchen counter that is all hers and contain glasses, plates, bowls, bottles and so on. Also a box of cereals and a box of different band aids.

Now she has easy access to the dishes she needs.

In the fridge we've moved the things she would need if, 

for instance, making a sandwich, 

to the bottom shelf - making it easy for her to reach. 

I've also started to precut the bread - I don't want her to handle big knives on her own just yet. 

No need then, for her to stay hungry and helpless; 

all is set for her to make her own sandwiches.

Happy Monday

Yet another lovely weekend is over, filled with a little bit of this and a little bit of that.
I've had time to do some crocheting, but didn't get anything finished - yet.
I finally got to watch the movie 'The King's speech' - which I've been wanting to watch for ages
and which was as good as I had hoped.

My daughter's been busy having sleepovers and playing with friends,
She wasn't too keen on coming for a walk in the mountain yesterday.
But she did and we had a wonderful trip.
The sharp, cold air gave us red roses in our cheeks :)

Oops, and this reminds me that we picked some twigs of weeping willows to decorate in our house -
and then we forgot all about them
and they're still in the trunk of the car...
Well, now they have to wait till the afternoon to be rescued:)

Anyways, we'ready for a new week.
Happy Monday to all of you!

Dressing up for the season

Growing children and changing seasons demand continous renewal of the wardrobe. 

My daughter is a dress up girl, birthday party season is eternal, it's spring
and May 17 (Norway's National day)
 is approaching.

It's a bit early but I've done the mistake before to wait too long,  

and then there were hardly anything left in the stores - it seems it's always the colour and the size we need that go first!

But this time we were early and she got the dress she wanted 

and we found shoes that fit her feet and go with the dress :)

My daughter is a dress up girl and she doesn't need a party to wear her dresses. 

Sometimes she wears them for some wild play, and it shows, but - hey, better wear out than rust out !  

Suddenly she'll have outgrown them any way:)

And now she is this fantastic age where she can do her hair and put on lip gloss,
and then eat ice cream in the most carefree manner - leaving it all over her face :)

Well, there has been some change over the last few months; where as earlier she got almost cross with me for telling her she's got something on her face,
now there's an - ooops! and she swiftly takes care of it.

The dress is sleeveless and ties together with a bow around the neck. Very cute!
Label How to kiss a frog Stockholm.

Kronprinsessene is also showing a girly dress today:) Check out the lovely blog here.

Easter wrap up and blog award

A giant Easter egg packed with no-candy surprises,  Homemade Easter chickens,  Easter cake, Packed and ready for a no-snow Easter day in the mountains.

Here's a collage of photos from our Easter days.
Never had the time got round to blog much this past week or so.
But now these lazy days have passed and we're back on normal pace again :)

Also, I've had the good fortune to receive two blog awards lately. 

I'm so thrilled!

First one was from the blog Maries fabrik that shows lots of inspiring interior decorating, DIY and crafting.

http://www.mariesfabrik.blogspot.com

And then from the  blog Min kreative hverdag which is full of beautiful photos and poetry.

http://minkreativehverdag.blogspot.com/


This is how the award works:
- link to the blog that gave you the award
- forward the award to 5 blogs with less than 100  followers
- answer 5 questions

It is, of course,
completely voluntary to join in on the award :)

Why did you start blogging?
Mainly I started blogging to document and inspire to the decluttering and organizing
of our chaotic home.


Which blogs du you follow?
I read interior design and crafting blogs mostly.
The blogs Chez Larsson and Den gode feen being long time favourites.


Favourite colour?
White
(But I could never live all-white)


Favourite movie?
I don't think I have one in particular,
and I love costume dramas and action movies alike.


What country do you dream of visiting?
Oh, I dream of a trip to the village England of  Poirot and Miss Marple,
preferably in the 30s and 50s :)


Well, this was fun :)

The blogs I'd like to give the award to are:
(repeating that it's completely voluntary to join in on the award)
Living four seasons
Turtledesign
Nordpå
Sorgenfrigate
La casa de agus

Hatching

An Easter story :)

So the Easter chicken is hatched  - and she found a place in the safety of the nest. 

We're enjoying quiet , slow, relaxing days of Easter vacation. 

All I've done is I've made these eggs, this nest and this chicken.

(For the eggs I used the pattern from Karen Klarbæks verden , 

for the nest and the chicken I was on my own)

Maybe these days have been too relaxing?