resurrection fern

lest we forget

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today is remembrance day in canada

some have the day of work and others observe a moment of silence at 11:11

i was in the midst of a clinic filled with people needing medical attention at that time

on my return home i passed by the empty war memorial on the edge of my town

the sun was setting and the light was so very beautiful

i usually just want to get home, get cozy and relax after work but i stopped

parked the car and walked over to see it up close

never having done so in all the years i have lived here

i read all the inscriptions and the names of brave souls who died in the first and second world wars

as someone mentioned on the news today

remembrance day and wearing the poppy is not about condoning war

but about giving thanks to those who lost their lives

so that we may be free

and so i did

give thanks

 

 

early one morning

just as the sun was rising

the end of daylight savings time

my body just wanted to be lazy

cuddle up with some knitting or a book

drinking warm brown liquids

but i got out my handmade woolens

and headed to the nearest forest

when i saw the snow covered railing down to the path

and the first glimmering crystal of ice on a leafless branch

my body caught up with my mind

and i had the most wonderful walk

i think i had the forest to myself

until i met up with some friendly dogs and their owners

on the path back to the road

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my treasures are in nature and they are priceless

xx

m

 

 

instagram weekend

as just as the calendar turned to november

first snow

first window frost

first snowman

there was no shortage of sunshine on sunday

inside and out

and as lilith has been telling us for weeks no

indeed

winter is coming

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once upon a time

in the land of resurrectionfern

lived a dancing fairy princess

and a gentle dragon

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they became the best of friends

xx

a guest post

lili taught herself to use the camera on my ipad yesterday

and i am really in love with her perspective and compositions

her favourite subjects being her ballet slippered feet and her

sweet little brother whon she still calls baho or brother

or lucky if he is being especially adorable

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she even caught oma changing "lucky's" diaper

:)

 

using up every last bit

long before i went to iceland i decided to knit myself an icelandic sweater for the trip

i am very fortunate to have a lovely little wool shop just a few minutes walk from my front door

owned and operated by a norwegian

i told her what i was looking for and she showed me the upstairs storeroom

if i helped her carry bags of peer gynt yarn downstairs into the back sale section

i could have what ever i wanted at half price

of course i took her up on the offer

decided on the colours, took her advice on how many balls of each to purchase and away i went

i knitted up my sweater during the coldest winter months

enjoyed wearing it in iceland

but i had so many balls of yarn left over

i think she misjudged by size since when i went into the shop i was wearing one of my thick winter parkas

i challenged myself to see just how many other things i could knit up before the wool ran out

i met lachlan a fair-isle vest for his first birthday

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a cowl with triangles

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two toques with giant colourful pompoms

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and lastly i made a fair-isle brimmed hat that i think might just look darling on lilith

i added three coloured tassels

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i only have a ball of ivory yarn left

some mittens perhaps

:)

(i only used a pattern for the icelandic sweater and the rest i just made up as i went along)

 

buying fresh local produce

well as lili has been saying "winter is coming "

and with winter come "magic snowballs and snowmen"

in fact we might have our first "magic snowflakes" this week

and with the cold weather comes the last few saturdays of our local farmer's market

every saturday morning , except when I have been away travelling ,

I have gotten up early and headed down to the market , basket and totes in hand

to load up on some of the prettiest produce and the tastiest I can find

it was only towards the last few months that I decided my haul was so beautiful

that i should immortalize it in a weekly photograph

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on instagram a friend of mine

a vegetable grower herself

said the last one looked like a christmas tree

i think lilith

is influencing me

last saturday when she saw the string of lights in my living room she declared

"i love christmas oma"

:)

 

 

røros part two

this is my very last post about my travels in norway

i thought i would share a little more from røros

because you will see it holds more attraction than just a visit to the blanket factory

and looking at all the wonderful wooden doors

it was a grey, rainy day but the town was colourful enough for us not to really notice

i loved the art in a small cafe and shop we wandered into

i also enjoyed watching the girls eat Fløtegrøt

we tried to avoid some really nasty weather on our drive back towards oslo and although it was probably one of the least beautiful of all our campsites , at least we were dry

my lovely travel companions dropped me off at the airport

and drove to arendal to return the rental car

we travelled about 2000 km

and took at least as many photographs along the way

i find myself dreaming about my next trip to norway

we want to see the far north and especially the lofoten islands

i also really loved how greenland looked from the air

and may put that country on my ever growing list of places i want  to visit

:)

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xx

the doors of røros

røros is a unesco world heritage site

it was a copper mining town from the 17th century

up until 1977

the beautiful older town is completely made of wood

there are wonderful views of the town

from top of the huge slag heap

i will show a few of those in the next post

this one is devoted to the doors

i want to buy wool in all of these colours

and knit a fairisle sweater or vest

xx

m

 

have a wonderful weekend

the røros tweed blanket factory

dear røros tweed

some of us travelled from across the atlantic to visit you

and others travelled almost 2000 km by car

and off the quickest way back to oslo just to visit you

looking forward to buying some lovely woolen blankets

and seeing up close and personal where they were made

these enthusiastic young women even went to see the factory

where the wool from the lovely norwegian sheep is spun

for your blankets

one such lovely lady called your factory weeks in advance to enquire about a tour

and whereas you did say you would be able to accomodate us only if you weren't terribly busy

when we arrived at shop opening at 8am and clearly were the only customers there for most of our

visit your not so friendly front staff member told us no tour would be possible as "everyone" was too

busy

you have no idea how you disappointed my daughter and her lovely friend

and as you can see we took our own tour around your factory looking in the windows

and the only things that were busy were the machines

the workers were sitting around , drinking coffee, smiling at us through the windows

we all purchased and love our blankets but perhaps next time when you see eager, adoring customers from half way around the world you will instruct your staff to show them more kindness and warmth

margie, rebekah and nancy

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