A new book

At the moment I'm busy making a book for my sweet nephew Andreas, who is getting confirmated on Sunday the 4 th of May.

I made a similar book for my niece a few years ago when she had her confirmation. She got so happy about it, and has told me later on that whenever she reads it, it makes her smile.

The purpose of the book is to gather all the wonderful experiences, my little family have had with Andreas. We have loads of pictures as well, which will be inclueded in the book. And of course lots of sweet words about Andreas...

And while I was picking out the photos, I really had numerous trips down memory's lane:

About the trip to France, nut-cracking on Livø, funny New Years Eves, birthdays, bathing on hot summer days, music fesitivals, tree climbing......

I hope he will like it.....

Poppy Anemones

The other day I got these 2 wonderful Poppy Anemones from my dear friend Lise Lotte. They are from her own garden....

The fact that I have a friend like her, who wants to embellish my day in more than one way, is simply a georgeous thing....

I just put some bulbs of Poppy Anemone into the soil in my own garden, so hopefully I will be able to make Lise Lotte just as happy as I was about them - next year....

On a ride through town

During the weekend two weeks ago, my children and my husband spend an amount of time on something they don't usually do - at least not the children!!

When Christian and I were younger we used to ride a motorbike. Not a big fancy one - just a simpel old one. But that was good enough for us, who didn't have the need for fast driving. It was only meant as a means of transportation.

We had it for a year or so, then I got pregnant with Anne-Sophie and gave it up.

But recently Christian's two younger brothers both got motor cycles - big, fancy ones which can ride fast as . . . .

I did see it coming and it didn't take long before Christian had to go for a little ride on Morten's motorbike....He in fact had several rides during some weeks, and one day he thought it was time to give Emil and Anne-Sophie a ride.......if they wanted to, that is!!

They both did!! (Unfortunately - if you ask the nervous mother!!)

So there you go...Emil and Christian on the "bike"!!

And Anne-Sophie - laughing - at the motor cycle too.

I must tell you that Christian is a VERY responsible man, who doesn't drive fast or crazy at all....and that goes for motorcycles too.

Ever time they drove past our house, I was standing there all ready to photograph them as they drove by. (People must have thought that I was a bit weird)

They all had a blast!!! Even the nervous mother....

Loop

A fairly long time ago, I found a georgeous little yarn shop on the internet. It's called Loop and carries so many different and amazing things...

Of course they have loads of wonderful yarn in very cozy surroundings...

Like this tempting 100% organic cotton - Blue sky - I just love knitting in cotton (although it sometimes is very annoying with little fibers tickling your nose!!)

And haberdashery - oh, haberdashery....who can ever get enough of that?

But they also sell items from various designers.....

Like this happy Chocolate cake tea cozy from Donna Wilson. I wish I was a tea drinker, but no!!

Tait and Style made this little cushion. The pattern and the colours are simply enchanting - the cushion also comes in yellow and brown pastels..... I keep returning to the pictures of this!

The next time I go to London, I will definitely try to visit this shop. And if you want to do that too, then here is a simply map, which can show you the loopy way....

Ladybird skirt

Details with "lace", originally uploaded by lille-ursus.

I'm really not that much into lace on clothes. But today I decided to give it a go! Because I like to find out new ways to make my clothes change a bit, and get other expressions.

I thought it would make an OK finish to the little - size 4-5 years - skirt, if I put on the elastic, red lace which I bought a while ago at Smaa Tekstiler.

It was easy to do and I actually got satisfied with the result.....So maybe it's not the last time that I use this kind of notion on my sewings....

Smell of rain

Last night the rain began, as promised by the weather forecast....Christian toke a walk in the dark garden and called me to come and join him. "Just smell" he said when I came outside. "Isn't it wonderful?"

And I must admit he is right...the smell of rain hitting the dry soil after several days of sun and warm weather, is simply geourgeous. It brings back lots of thoughts of memories from days in my childhood and smiles to my mouth...

But still - who wouldn't wish that it was time to stand in the garden under one of these, on a hot summer's day??

Finally

......."the book" is here....Just have a little foretaste of it by looking at these fine models!

The most adoring tops for summer. I think my niece Emma would look even more beautiful in one. Pastel colours maybe, would suit her dark hair wonderfully....

Or how about this funny frogsweater for a boy?

This one is SO beautitful too - I can imagine it in a grownup size!

Many, many more wonderful things to knit and crochet....I was defininately not dissapointed. I think you should go get it ;0)

New houses in the garden??

In order to get more of these little beautiful ones into my garden, I have planted special butterfly plants.

I have always been extremely facinated by this amazing animal, which possess such grace and an incredible palette of colours. And the fact that it flies around in the air with effortless ease, simply amaze me even more. We already have butterflies, but I would love to have more...so I began to see what else could be done to attract them.

Then I found out, that special butterfly houses can be bought and installed in the garden.....I have heard of houses for ladybirds, but never for butterflies!

The house can give the butterflies a place to rest at night and during winter. All you have to do is to put a bit of branches into it.

Old fruits can also make butterflies love your garden, and you can make special "sugarstrings" to hang in your trees and bushes.

And finally there are certain plants - as I mentioned - which can attract them as well. Maybe I should buy the Buddleja daviddi, which Emil and I have been planning to get for so long?

Lavenders and Thyme we already have, but perhaps Thistles - which I by the way love - should find their way into our garden?

And while we are at it, why not place an apartment for these chubby fellows too.....

Sunny days

This weekend the wonderful weather finally came to us here in Denmark !!!

It made people around us smile, and gave us the beauty of open flowers....

Eventhough is was so amazing outside, I didn't really have the time to enjoy it for real. But luckily it looks like we are blessed with the warmth of the sun for a few more days. Then I will definitely be outside!

I did, however, get to plant all of my peaflowers in my greenhouse and enjoy all of the little Lavenders which I made the other day. I hope they will grow - it should be rather easy, and I did it before - so I will be able to plant them in my garden in a short time....

The postman brought sunshine as well - new adoring fabrics from the USA came today. I just LOVE the one with the sheep....

...but the ladybirds will do just fine, too!

And the many measuringtapes, they make me smile...

The weekend also brought far too much dog talk!!! But that's another story - at the moment we are talking about a Cocker Spaniel....but who knows what it will be??

The battle of dogs

Yesterday we got some fantastic news: I'm no longer allergic to dogs!!!! I have had asthma and allergies since I was 23 years old, but recently I read an article written by a Swedish expert in allergies. It basically told that if you are very, very lucky, your allergies - in this case to dogs - can ebb away over a period of ten years....

I was so excited because we have always been keen on having a dog in my little family. It was almost to good to be true, so we tried not to expect too great things from this article, before I had it checked out at the doctor. Well, I already gave you the answer to the test! Now we just have to agree on which kind of dog we are going to have!!!! Not an easy topic I tell you.... We all think that it isn't going to be a big dog - our house is simple too 1912-small-room-like for that kind of dog.... 2 dogs have come under review and we all read and read about the dogs and their good and bad points. And here are the carefully chosen dogbreeds:

the sweet little west highland white terrier

and

the - also cute - wire-haired dachshund

As things are at the moment, 3 of us are in favour of the westie and 1 likes the dachshund...

The battle continues.

And.............some more sewing and ironing

The trousers for the summerdress I made last week is now finished. I'm quite happy with the combination of Gingham fabric and dotty bias tape.

The pattern for the trousers is very simple - without any details. I chose that because the fabrics are so "loud" in themselves...

Another lovely printed fabric is the one I have used for this little dress size 6 months. Two of my cousins are pregnant, and I need to have a bit of baby clothes tucked away for presents.....

It also gives me the opportunity to sew baby clothes - I just love that. Every time I make it, I wonder about how tiny it is and how any child would ever fit into it!

The dress is all done - washed and ironed, just the 2 buttons on the shoulders are missing. Whenever I sew I ALWAYS iron a lot as well. I find it extremely important to press the seams and hems during the sewing process, in order to get a beautiful result. Some people might think that I'm fussy with all that ironing, but I don't mind....

Granny for a day

Yesterday I had a very special, little visitor.... Late in the afternoon my doorbell rang, and when I opened the door I saw our little opposite neighbour boy - and my dear friend Liselotte's boy - Oskar. He is 6 years old and goes to pre- school. He was standing there on my doorstep with his white hair and smart French football clothes - and in his hands he had a piece of paper. "This is for you, Ulla" he said and proudly handed me the paper.....

It was an invitation for grandparentsday in his "fritter" - (A "fritter" is a place where almost all Danish children go after school untill their parents gets off from work.)

At grandparentsday you spend time with your special little friend or grandchild and get to see the "Fritter" and all Oskar's friends from school.

I was all emotional and happy, and assured him that I would love to come and be his grandparent for a day...

For the rest of the day I couldn't help thinking about Oskar and his invitation. It warmed my heart so deeply......and made my me smile broadly!

And when I think about it today I still get emotional!!!

I'm getting old and soft in my mind - or that I have always been; soft that is! And my hair is turning grey - what a wonderful thing that I'm going to grandparentsday with Oskar.....

The necessity of cardboard suitcases

Tiny cardboard suitcases have always been in my life as long as I remember......

When I was a child my little red suitcase, was where I kept the clothes for my dolls...sometimes I replaced the contence and put in whole new and exciting things.

When my children were small, they both got a suitcase from my parents. Emil had a blue one and Anne-Sophie got a red one.

When ever they were going somewhere, we packed their little suitcases with books, pens, paper and other of their favourite things.

And when my big daughter started her 1st big knitting, a little red cardboard suitcase was what she chose to have her knitting needles in....

.

We somehow can't get rid of the suitcases which have a very certain sound when you open them.

I'm still rather fond of them too, and I'm not the only one. So many women on flickr collect them. I bet they had them in their childhood too.....

Now a days the sellection is much bigger...you can buy the suitcases in all kind of shapes and colours. Not just in red & blue like in my childhood.

See how many I found by googling....I definitely need some new ones! Like the one below from Marimekko...

Finally something for boys

For a VERY long time I haven't really made anything for boys at all! I have been sewing a number of dresses, blouses and trousers for girls, and whenever I have order fabric, it has always been with little girls in mind.

A few days ago I really felt the need to change that, and that is why I cut out fabric for 2 pair of trousers for boys. One in size 62 cl and one in size 5-6 years.

I did, however, also cut out a summerdress size 110 cl, but that was only because I tend to sew on 2-3 things simultaniously....

For the big trousers I wanted to use the fabric you see above, which I bought at Skals Håndarbejdsskole's summermarket last year.

My eyes caught this wonderful fabric right away and I immediatly knew, that I was going to make it into boys' trousers.

(I actually had hoped that I could persuade Emil into wearning trousers in this beautiful fabric, but I knew that the result of that conversation was a foregone conclusion......)

And that is why I made these with adjustable elastic in the waistline and a pocket with little white stars.

The summerdress is done as well.....the fabric is in paleblue, red and orange. The pattern is mostly for warmer days, but I think that a thin t-shirt with long sleeves underneath the dress would look fine.

The straps are made from Gingham in red & white, and I plan to make a pair of trousers in the same fabric (and size) - I think the Gingham would suit the dress perfectly....

If you wonder what the tiny trousers looks like, then I will have to dissapoint you! They are not done yet, but the fabric has the most adoring colour and has tiny robots printed all over....

Pretty 'n' pink cupcakes

Pretty 'n' pink cupcakes, originally uploaded by lille-ursus.

They didn't look quite as on the picture, but they tasted sweet and fine....

A Wonderful surprise

When I opened our mailbox today, I found a big, brown envolupe in it. It had my name on it, and eventhough I order fabric once in a while, I wasn't expecting anything from abroad.... I rushed inside to open it and this beautiful presents and card met my eyes....

When I read the card I could see that it was from sweet, little Lise - Gitte's 5 year old daughter.

The card said "thank you for the skirt" and Lise had written her own and my name so beautifully - see for yourself - oh, it went straight to my heart.......I got all emotional.

Emil was just as keen on unwrapping the present as I was, but I don't get surprises in the mail that often, so I wanted to do it myself! (Yes, I know!!)

And look what was inside of it - a wonderful book about cupcakes!!! I LOVE cupcakes so much...and so does the rest of my family.

1000, 1000 tak søde Lise :0)

And a whole lot of thank you's to you as well, Gitte - you have no idea how much it warmed my heart - truely!

Well, after running through the house (with Emil at my heels!) to show my cupcake book to Christian and Anne-Sophie, Emil and I just had to find out which ones to bake......TODAY!

There were SO many options that it was hard to choose. There was Banana & Fudge cupcakes, Vanilla cheese cupcakes, Rosemary & honey cupcakes and many, many more...

But since the book was mine, I got to decide ;0)

This is the darlings which we are going to bake...Emil has been tapping my shoulder meanwhile I have been writing this post. He looks forward to making them - and so do I!!

Thanks to the sweet Lise, who loves pink, we are going to enjoy yummy Pretty 'n' pink cupcakes right away!