Britt-Arnhild's House in the Woods

Happy New (church) Year

Do you know that a new year started in the church yesterday? With advent, the waiting of a saviour to be born.

I celebrated it by taking part in a mass in Nidaros Cathedral, where I helped serve during communion.

Last week I took part in a prayer in the cathedral, in the small chapel of Johannes. There are two shrines on the front wall in the chapel, with paintings by Håkon Gullvåg. As usual the shrines were closed, with only the front paintings showing. Yesterday, a feast day, the first day in a new year, a day of hope, the doors were open and we could look into the shrine.

Happy New Year!

**********************************

The first nativity scene is up, a creche from Provence, bought during two visits there.

   *********************

The knitted ornament giveaway will continue every day during advent. Don't forget to leave a comment o n this post, tomorrow another name will be drawn.

Today's winner is Vonnie. I am praying for your granddaughter Vonnie. How is she doing? Please send me your address and I'll mail you a Christmas letter with a knitted ornament.

*******************

A new blog to visit today, not typical Christmas, at least not yet, but very colourful: Attic24

The day is here, the first candle is shining bright

The day, the first Sunday of Advent 2009, is still young. It is dark, it is quiet. The snow dusting from yesterday is still out there, making the day look clean. A promise of winter.

A Betlehem star is shining in the window, the first dark purple candle in the old brass wreath is lit. The advent basket is here on the diningroom table with me, and I have slowly started to unwrap it - a white angel made by my artist friend Solveig, a snow globe, a red glass ball (why is it that I never, never remember the English name of these ornament balls?) Dicken's Christmas Carol, Country Living's December Magazine from 1991, a Christmas creche from Provence.......and alot more. Day by day the house will start to look like Christmas, the fulfillment will come on lille julaften Little Christmas Eve, when the tree will be put up, decorated and the lights on the tree will shine, one day early since we have invited friends for our annual lutefisk party.

Terje and I will be attending the mass in the cathedral today. There I will help during communion, serving the blood of Christ. Tonight we are invited to friends for their annual advent party. Traditions are important. Old and new.

It is a few days early for the advent calendar yet, the first window is not to be opened untill December 1st, but I have my very own blog calendar which will be opened already today. I will ramdomly pick one name from yesterday's comment and then send a Christmas letter with a knitted ornament to the name chosen.

I have a small glass bowl here with numbers written on small sheets of paper. Yesterday's post has 15 comments (when I write this) and the winner will be..........#3 Penelope. Please email me your address Penelope and your letter will be on its way.

*************************''

The period of advent is for me alot about writing letters and cards to family and friends all over the world. The blog I will invite you to visit today is Letters & Journals. A great place to get inspiration. I am sure you will enjoy it as much as I do.

It is still too dark to take good indoor photos. Come back later and there might be a few photos of the creche then.........Now Terje is up making breakfast, I'll close here and help him by setting the table with our Christmas Spode.

****************************

May God bless your day and your advent. 

****************

The knitted ornament giveaway will continue every day during advent. Don't forget to leave a comment o n this post, tomorrow another name will be drawn.

 

While waiting.......knitted ornament giveaway starts today

Tomorrow is first Sunday of advent, the first candle in our advent wreath will be lit, a shining star will be hung in the livingroom window, purple will be the colour of the four weeks ahead, and slowly, slowly the purple will get some red and green companions....untill the red and green totally takes over some time around Christmas Eve.

I'll start writing the Christmas letters this week-end, and yesterday I came up with the idea of what to make to stuff the Christmas envelopes. Felted or knitted ornaments have been small gifts in my Christmas envelopes for years. a new design every year. I love the part when I must twist my brain to come up with yet another design.

 Yesterday the idea came floating all by itself while I was sorting though my yarn collection. Still a secret, as many of you will get one in your mailbox before Christmas.

My advent posts will start tomorrow. I have some new ideas up in my sleeve this year, and as always I'll need your help.

• every day I'll pick out one comment, the "winner" will get a Christmas card from The House in the Woods, with a knitted ornament
• every day I'll link to a new blog, chosen because of its advent or Christmas theme, its colours, words, photos or focus. please share with me your favorites.

************************

The winner from yesterday: Carol. Please email me your address.

Terje and I spent last night with good friends. When we drove home deep into the night the first snowflakes started to fall silently from the sky.

The world looks beautiful today.

A new garden post will soon be up in The Blue Garden. 

*************************''

The ornament giveaway sarts today, so don't forget to leave your comment.

The first blog link will take you to Nancy Lindemeyer's Journal,  She is the founding editor of Victoria Magazine. Enjoy!

Making space for advent, realizing I'm easily tricked.......

I have a day off, finally, and have spent the morning sorting though alot of old stuff, making space for advent bric and brac.

We have alot of extra room now with only Marta at home. Finally I can find places to display some more of my plentiful collections. Terje despairs, well actually he smiles and shrugs, Marta agrees with her big sister who once proclaimed: "Mamma, you (read - the way you decorate) is so old fashioned, I wonder if you were born before God"

I keep on playing, creating.......and my heart beams when long time, faraway friends come here for the first time, walking around in the house, enjoying my creations, my collections.....even open closed doors to see more

This is my home, this is the House in the Woods, and I want it to be a chest of creativity, a Pandora's Box filled with love and hope.

The House in the Woods is open to everybody, and it should be a place where you can come for playing, creating, eating, talking....or just being.

The bed in the guestroom is just made fresh again after the last guest left yesterday.

I was working my way though pile after pile from a basement cabinet when I came over a few handmade postcards from Venezia, bought in 2005. I remember talking to the artist listening to stories from is life. The postcards had been stucked away for fours years, but somehow they looked quite familiar. Suddenly I remembered why. Up in my House in the Woods office, on my desk, I have some Venezia postcards bought in June this summer. I took the old cards up and discovered that they are perfect copies of each other. The ones bought in 2005 are matching exactly the ones bought in 2009. They are not drawn by hand at all, but printed out as copies.....

....so much for the handmade cards!

Well, they ARE beautiful though :-)

And when it comes to the handmade parts....., some colours are probably applied by hand, at least I like to believe so :-)

  May be you want one in your mailbox? Leave a comment and I'll randomly pick one of you.

Venezia, Caffe Avec.......and soon back

 

• thank you to Mauro and all of you who played with us the other day

• the next Caffe Avec post is up here

• I'll soon be fully  back here.........promise

 

A favorite memory

A favorite Venezia memory,sorry, I am too busy today for a new post, but I'll soon be fully back.......

Photos allowed, or.......(a wink to Mauro)

Marta, Terje and I were in Venezia a few years ago. Usually when I am Venezia alone I love to walk around without a map, but this spesific day Terje was our map reader. The wonderful thing about Terje as a map reader is that he always finds her way. Somethimes along calles so narrow you never believe you'll come through. You always do. Just like in real life, Terje is leading me along, always knowing where to go.

On our way somwehere, I don't remember where anymore, we suddenly found ourselves outside a huge window filled with glass art, inside the artist was working. Our curiosity got us and soon we were inside.

The owner, yes you are right, of course it was Mauro, was working on a small turtle. Marta was thrilled and we decided to buy the turtle for her. "Come back tomorrow" Mauro said "and the turtle will be ready for you. Right now it is still too hot."

A few days later we were back, and this time I took photos, fully aware of a sign on Mauro's wall - I don't remember the text exactly, but it was something like this: Photos only for women who buys my art, or sleep with me......

Well, of course I couldn't take any photos the first day, as we didn't actually buy anything then ;-)

I told Mauro that I was going to write a blog post from his place, I got his email and when the post was done I emailed him the link.................and almost forgot about "my" glassblower.

A couple of years later I was back in Venezia, this time alone, and without a map.....then all of a sudden I found myself outside the same window, inside I saw the same man. I opened the door, walked in and that same man said: "Hey, you are the blog lady!" There and then a friendship was born.

I have taken tons of photos from Mauro's hsop since then, making sure every time that I buy something, remembering Marta's comment the first time she saw Mauro's sign; "Mamma, does he really mean that?"

Mauro, thanks for your comments yesterday. It opened my eyes and helped me understand why some shops don't want people to photograph their displays. I can't promis that I stop taking photos, but I will think twice before doing so, and before and after thinking twice I will think of you :-)

 I will be back in Venezia, I'll keep on shooting photos, which means I'll keep on buying glass ;-)

Or may be I must learn to make my own glass.......

And no matter what, I'll have more spaghetti vongole

For more posts, alot of more posts, from Venezia, go here......  

And here is a link to Mauro's page

Photos not allowed!

There will be a big dinner party in The House in the Woods on Wednesday night. Terje and I were out to buy flowers to brighten up the diningroom. I am allergic to most flowers, so finding anything suitable takes time. I don't mind though as I know I will find something and I love browsing flower shops.

After we found what we wanted, Terje went over to pay while I walked around with my camera. Then one of the flower ladies came over: "Sorry, you are  not allowed to take photos inside the shop"

Not allowed? Why not? What do they think I'll do with them? I flustered and excused myself, secretly smiling, happy that I alreday had several photos saved on my camera card.

Being allergic to the real flowers I can still enjoy the photos :-)

**********************

More photos over in Trondheim Through all Seasons

Welcome down to my basement......a room for creativity

Down in the dark, windowless basement I have a sewing room. Well, it is supposed to be a sewing room, but too often it is filled with bric a brac, with piles of papers, bags of yarn and fabric, books, magazines.....all the stuff you need to get out of eyesight in a hurry when unexpected guests arrive, and then never find the time needed to go back to do anything with is.

 As the holiday season is coming close, and as I have quite a few parties coming up, I want the whole house to be tidy. I might even find time during advent and Christmas to be creative, to make and play, to sew, paint, cut and glue, scrap..........But to do that I need space. This morning it was time do do something. To make the sewing room a room for creativity yet again.

I've been playing today, sort, keep or throw away, dust, organize.

Enjoying colours and textures.....

Dreaming of finishing a few old projcets.

It feels so good to have this task done.

Now it is playing time!

Do you have a room where you can play? Or do you dream of such a room? Please tell me about it.........my ears are open. 

I have time for chatting today....do you want to come over?

The first clementines are in the grocery store, a sign of Christmas somewhere around the corner. I have a  huge bowl here in front of me, enought for all of us. Are you coming over?

I have time at hand today, and in between house fun (like cleaning, vacuming, tidying.....) I hope to chat with my blog readers around the world.

We can sit down together with a pastry and some coffee.....

 We can listen to music, I've bought alot of new cds lately....

I'd love to change address with you, and take you up to my little blue room, my studio, where we can look through my stationary collection and my hundreds of postcards. Then you can show me your favorite, and may be find it in your mailbox in a few days.....

We can take a walk in the Blue Garden. The last roses are gone now, the snow has not yet come, but there is stilll alot to see......

 

Since it is Saturday I'll serve you our traditional sice porridge for lunch.....

  If you bring yarn and needles we can knit or chrocket........no, wait, you don't need to bring anything. I have enough for all of us, in every colour you can dream of

 

  

 So, what more would you like to do? A Saturday walk in the city of Trondheim? Of course we could do that. There you will see the first Christmas decorations up, a bit early in my oppinion.....

 
 
 But most of all we'll talk, we'll share stories. And don't worry. If you are too late for the last plane home, I have a bed for you.

I hope you are coming. I'm wating for you...........and let me know, what do YOU want to do when we meet. May be you even bring something for show and tell? Please do. 

Leave your blog address, and I'll come over to your place.