It's all in the details

I went hunting for details with my trusty Nikon this morning. Fancy a little peek into our home? Come on in!

Details from the living room. Love how my sideboard turned out after I painted it white. On the coffee table are two scented candles that smell absolutely divine.



My Tandberg radio. The pride of the room!



A little corner for storing papers and mail before they're dealt with is a must. And the log actually has a practical purpose – it's a scratching post for the cat. My rocking chair is awaiting reupholstery and has a soft blanket over it for now. It's already been reupholstered once – and although it looks kinda cool, it's a bit busy for this smaller space.



I adore my retro footstool...



...and the chest of drawers in my hallway. I've jumped on the Dymo bandwagon as you can see.



My guitar also resides in the hallway. The note on the wall next to it reads: "I can't play the guitar". I wish I could, though.



A brief peek into the kitchen, where the windowsill holds nothing short of a miracle – I have never before managed to get an orchid to bloom for a 2nd time! Back in the hallway, we store our gloves, mittens and hats in this old wooden beer crate.



And we end the tour in my bedroom, where I am still totally in love with the wallpapered feature wall.



And, just because he's so insanely cute:



Thanks for stopping by Petchy's Palace – I hope you had a pleasant stay :)

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The one.

I've always found the idea of "signature scents" really silly. Variation, that's me! But I kinda met myself in the door the other day, when I experienced a near panic attack [no, of course I am not exaggerating at all...] after realising my bottle of CK One was almost empty. I realised, it's not just CK One. It's MY one.



Over the years, I have tried countless perfumes. Many nice ones, a few horrid ones, but I've always come back to this one. The one I was given a small bottle of as a x-mas present at some point in my teens. The one I have since bought a fair few bottles of. The one that smells just right. Fresh and clean, with a subtle punch – the smell of this perfume has followed me for years and brings back memories of many good times. This scent makes me happy. This scent is me.

Dear CK One: I can't promise you I'll never stray, There will without doubt be brief affairs with others. But I'll always come back to you!

Sigh. I've become one of "those people" - the signature scent people. I guess it could be worse! Must. Remember. To. Buy. A. New. Bottle. Tomorrow.

If you have a favourite scent, I'd love to hear what it is, and why!

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It's valentine's day ♥

And so I did get a card this year after all. Handmade by none other than the most important person in my life ♥



Hearts, sparklies, Mario and Princess Peach - now that's pretty special! And the green heart, the one with the googly eyes, is me apparently...

Happy valentine's day!

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Happy birthday, Ruben!

I can't quite believe it, but it's been six years since my little (or not so little anymore) boy was born. Yes, he turned six las Wednesday, and we celebrated today with great gusto! It's Mother's Day here in Norway today too, so yet another excuse for a party. R is completely obsessed with Super Mario at the moment, so of course his cake had to be... a Mario cake. What else?



A simple chocolate sponge cake was cut into shape and covered with buttercream frosting and MMF (marshmallow fondant). I always forget just how sticky MMF is to make. If you haven't tried it yet, don't be deterred. It's quite simple - but sticky beyond belief! My kitchen is usually covered in sticky stuff and icing sugar after I've made it.

Anyways, the cake. It took five hours to make. Yeah. It's good fun though, and so worth it, when I saw R's face light up at the sight of it. He was suitably impressed... There were leftover cake trimmings too, enough to make a toadstool... I put the candles around this, set into marshmallows - saved me from piercing that Mario cake!



I decided to use the rest of the cake trimmings to make cake pops - only realising after I had made the mixture that I had no styrofoam or other suitable thing to stick them in for setting. Hence the upside-down cake pops... They still went down a treat - I think my friend's daughter must have had about 4 of them. And they were seriously so filling and sweet that I had to pass after one.



I was actually pleasantly surprised to see that the fruit skewers proved almost as popular as the sugar laden alternatives. Yum! The base is half a melon, covered with tin foil after I had scooped out the flesh. Kids love this as it looks quite funky!



And with a cheesecake, a cream cake (the latter made by my mum) and plenty of hotdogs - we were all set to go!



Have you ever had seven boys and one girl between the ages of 5-6 under one roof in a fairly small flat before? No? I can tell you - the noise level is unbelievable. I think, if the volume is anything to go by, they had a good time. I'm pooped now though, and birthday boy himself is sound asleep. It's just me and my sofa all evening. Aaaaah, bliss!

Happy birthday, Ruben!

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More roses and an old measuring jug

It doesn't take much to make my week. Finding this beauty in a vintage-shop the other day was a good start...




...and my neighbour buying me wine and roses to say thanks for a favour didn't hurt either. Apart from the fact I don't drink wine (shhh, don't tell!). I wish I did like it though. I like the idea of a glass of wine, does that count?



I have a busy weekend ahead, we are celebrating R's birthday (he turned six on Wednesday – how did that happen?!) so I anticipate cake-baking and party-preparations galore. Hope you all have a great weekend!

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Poor, poor pussycat

Although R would absolutely love a house full of kittens, and kittens are cute and fluffy and all that, I'm not so keen on the idea. The prospect of being "the crazy cat lady" isn't all that appealing. When the cat started moaning and groaning worse than the lead actress in some poorly made porn film, it was time to have her spayed. And Tuesday was the big day.



The patient herself was blissfully unaware of what the day would hold, poor thing. I, on the other hand, was a nervous wreck. Handing her over to the vet that morning wasn't exactly my idea of fun. Picked her up again later that afternoon, and she was well out of it for the rest of the evening.

Instead of one of those lampshade-look collars they'd put a rather fetching body suit on her to stop her from licking her wound, and coupled with her acting like a raving drunk, it was hard not to laugh as the general anesthetic slowly wore off. She was walking around backwards, bumping into things and falling over - but I have never seen that cat eat as much as she did that evening, so I took that as a good sign. I did feel pretty cruel laughing though... Luckily we had been sent home with enough pain killers to last a week.

To put your minds at ease: the patient is recovering really well and is now just peed off with having to wear that stupid suit. I took it off her for an hour yesterday, to check the wound and let it air a bit – and the indignant look she sent me after I put it back on her said it all. If looks could kill, I'd be six feet under in an instant. If you have cats, you will be very familiar with "the look" I'm sure!

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Idyllic

Norway is pretty special. Correct me if I am wrong, but I don't reckon there are many other countries where you can pay a small yearly fee and a small one-time deposit for a key - and instantly have access to a network of over 400 cabins nationwide. More about how that works at the end of the post, first take a look at where we spent last weekend along with a friend and her son. This old storehouse (stabbur) actually has room to accommodate up to eight people, though that would be kinda crowded.




Pretty idyllic, huh? If you're addicted to modern comforts like running water, an indoor toilet and electricity - this might not be for you. But I welcome a break from it all - and they had a double-decker "utedo" to boot, which R labelled "totally awesome!"... Complete with moose toilet roll holders, of course. This is Norway, after all!



In the woods just nearby we found an old abandoned caravan. Pretty random... but great fun for the boys to explore. And for me to photograph.



Frozen toes are best thawed by a campfire:



More on how it all works, as promised:

"The Norwegian Trekking Association has a total of 460 cabins across the country. Of these, over 400 have lodgings. There are three types of cabins with lodgings: Staffed lodges, self-service cabins and no-service cabins."

The self-service cabins (like the one we stayed in) have a larder stocked full of food, that you can help yourself to. The system is based entirely on trust: you write down what supplies you have used, and pay for it along with the NOK 190,- fee per night for accommodation by filling in a credit card authorization form and placing it in a letterbox before you leave the cabin.

And it works. People generally pay their dues and leave the cabins tidy, clean and in the same condition they found them. No wonder I love my country!

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Friends

On rare occasions it just happens. You meet someone and instantly get along. It takes about 10 seconds, and then you think "Oh. Hello, new friend!" That's happened twice within just a few months now, in addition to the other fantastic friends I already had. I'm so lucky! One of those lovely people is @lizlizzard.



Thank you for the lovely roses, my friend ♥

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