Warmt in scandinavia

If "tell me something typically scandinavian?" was a Family Feud question, most people here would come up with Ikea at first. Scanadinavian often means bold lines, whites, straight cut minimalistic things. I'm far from being an Ikea fan or extremely modern achitecture myself, but I must admit I love old scandinavian things. My visit in Iceland this summer only confirmed that. I love scandinavia!








I'm crazy about lopi wools, knitting patterns, embroderies and cross stiching. I love comforting, traditional scandinavian accessories and sceneries. In fact, living in Iceland for me would be a dream come true, and I brought back from it a bunch of handknitted goods. I also happened to find some amazing things here and there that reminds me of the 19th and early 20th century typical designs I really enjoy. I only wish I could knit faster! It takes me ages to knit a simple moss stitch scarf, I can't even picture learning all those patterns!

Here are some of my Icelandic goods I cherish. The mittens and socks were purchased at the same time from an old lady in Stykkysolmur not speaking a word of english. Sheeps in Iceland are higher in number than humans. You can find them everywhere! On roads, on the craziest hills, a few meters away from mudpots boiling, on the most isolated gravel road sipping on some fresh water, in laval fields covered in moss. They have a wild life until they get captured by their owner so they can shave their thick layer of wool off.





Also pictured: A grey "icelandic" sweater I found for $1 at charity and those brown handknitted "norwegian" mittens I found on etsy last year.


Here is a etsy treasury of a few scandinavian looking items I wouldn't mind adding to my collection of things!

Recent

It’s been dark when I wake up in the morning, and as dark as I come back from work at night, making it harder and harder for me to take nice photographs. Since all the things I want to tell you guys about require photos, it’s been slow here. The ideas aren’t missing though, and I cannot wait to tell you about a few escapades and projects into the makings around here. It’s harder for me to blog on week nights as I am trying to keep up with tasks and relax a bit. During the day, I am in school with the kids and I have a busy schedule of 4 or 5 workshops a day, most of the days. So early morning weekends it is!



Until I can take photos and scan them, here is a quick fix of recent acquisitions. I’m especially crazy about this handwritten baby arrival letter dating 1923 I found in the tiny drawers of this fabric box. I am still waiting to hang these beautiful copper pots and pans my mom found at charity for 2 dollars each. She gave them to me as a part of my birthday present earlier in October. I recently added to my collection a beautiful copper kettle I still need to scrub inside. Some tiny aluminum particles can be found when I boil some water in it. This tiny folding chair was found at Todd Farm earlier this fall, and some bits of succulents I tried to salvage from a dying plant. The last picture isn’t new perfume, neither is the La Durée box, it’s just one of those “end of the roll” shot.







I’m also facing a dilemma as I have a $60 gift certificate in a kitchen supply store. Should I splurge and take it as a rebate on a Creuset pot, or buy new cake molds and latté bowls? Those last two can easily be found antique and it makes it so hard for me to buy them new. On the other hand, spending 340$ on a Creuset makes me gasp!

Hope you have all a lovely weekend, I am off to have yummy eggs florentine with some friends for breakfast.

The Hidden Words

I went to see a The Barr Brothers' concert yesterday and the first half was assured by The Hidden Words, a new band from Montreal, featuring members of Clues and The Unicorns.

It's based on texts of the Baha'i "religion", which I sort of heard of before. It has a swet taste of folk, accoustic and gospel feel to it. I had a mild crush on the accordionist! He had the perfect clothes to match with his accordion.

They don't seem to have a website or anything out yet, but I found those two little clips on youtube. Check them out!

Last bits of summer

 I miss long summer days and evening light; berries and the abundance of produce at the market. I go out for breakfast a lot in the summer. La Croissanterie in the Mile End reminds me of France a lot, maybe because 1/3 of the menu calls for goat cheese. They have a great selection of vegetarian lunches, and their chocolate croissants are to die for! The decor is amazing, filled up with old copper accessories.  I also love Aux Derniers Humains (in which Sara is on the 4th picture.) The waiters are the friendliest people. One morning they even asked us if we wanted a drop of cognac in our coffee!

The weather forecast calls for a warmer and sunny weekend, exactly what I need. We've been dealing with some pet health issues and the sun couldn't be more welcomed. Happy weekend everyone!

Visit in MA.

Sometimes 3 weeks ago I went to Salem, MA to visit Tess once again. We had a lovely weekend filled with antiques, pumpkin tasting food and lots of pistachios eating while Sam drove us around all weekend. We quickly went to an estate sale where we found gorgeous early century linoleum and a few other bits, then we explored Antique Alley in NH on the Saturday. We also visited Esther, Dan and their unbelievably cute baby Leelee.

On Sunday, we woke up before the sun to catch up on habits that seems already established as a to-do when I visit: Todd Farm. As always, my trunk was full of amazing goodies to bring home, leading me to do a major clean up of my closet to be able to stash from of my new treasures in our tiny place. Later in the afternoon, Esther, Dan and Liam joined us for an afternoon reunion and a lentil soup. Elise also popped in for an hour and gifted me this extremely yummy pumpkin pastry and amazing bread I brought back home.





I really meant to take photos of Tess' place as it's extremely pretty. It was dark and cloudy most of the weekend so please bare with the darkness. This is all I ended up with  as I try to limit my shots when I use film cameras. I will come back for sure and will try my best at picking a sunny and wonderful day!





You should visit Tess' blog very soon since this is extremely soon-to-be an old version of their family portrait. It's going to improve in a few hours. Stay tuned!

Apple picking and a new start.

Hi! Welcome to my blog. Like 3 million of people (or maybe more?) I start my own blog. It will mostly consist of photography, adventures, vegan and vegetarian recipes, homesteading tips, foraging and bits of my life I bother to share with the world.

It was a bright sunny afternoon of September, perfect cardigan weather. Jeff and I jumped in the car and drove to Mirabel to pick organic apples. I made some apple butter I shared with friends when I drove to Massachusetts late october. Here is the recipe I used. I would use less lemon if it was to be done again!