Party day ... morning...

While we still had our beauty sleep ...;0)))

somebody started the flight to the north of Sweden...

We had breakfast...dressed up in pink...

ALL OF US...:0)

And started to prepare for the party...

Louise had filled her suitcase with pink/white dotty tablecloths...

and a pink serving tray...

(also a stroke of genius of Petra to involve Louise in some PINK..:0)...no problem was Louise answer to Petras questions about PINK..;0)

First guests to arrive was my Mum and Dad...:0))

and the puppy "Märta"

(They started early in the morning driving for 2 1/2 hours)

Brother Gussar was kind to do the milking of the cows for them...

Thanks brother!

Dear dear mother of mine...and Märta...

( notice the pink scarf..:0)

A knock on the door!!!

And the long way distance guest arrived...

My brother Anders from Stockholm...

Big smile!!!!

(totally fooled here ...

never ever thought he would come since we were to meet at Easter...)

Such a wonderful surprise!!!!

And dressed up for a pink party with a pink shirt

and hot pink socks...LOVELY!!!

Anders and my dear Dad caught in conversation...

Really would have loved seeing Dad in some pink..

but I guess the limit was reached...

he said he came with pink skin...:0)))

And it works for me...:0)

Louise continued with preparations...

(See how fast her hands moves...:0)

Nice to have parties like this so my old china comes forward...

Inherited this from my dads aunt Irene...

pink and grey Royal Tuscan china from England

It's so thin and just beautiful...

tea tastes so good in them...

when I feel luxurious I use them and enjoys my tea even more...:0)

Pretty pink tulips from Mum and Dad...

Viktor ( with a little pink in his T-shirt)

...raised a hand to take care of Märta...

Dear daughters of mine and Jimmy came...

miraculous they seem to have succeeded

to not be on any close up photos... Bummer!!!

But photos of what they came with...lots!!!:0)

show on next post...promise...:0)

Lars had prepared some lunch which we ate before

the other guests came...

Salmon fish soup/casserole ....Mmmmm....

Satisfied and happy we could just wait for the guests...:0)

---XOX---

 

Before and After Part 2

 

Still have some photos to show of our "whitified" home...

First up is the stairs from "hell"

(if you haven't read about my frustration regarding the painting of it...

go here...)

Before photo...of a very dark pine stairs to the second floor

And this is how it looks

after 4-5 coats of paint

....pheeeewwwwww!!!!

Ha ha!!!!

So well worth all the work!!!

(But I have to confess a lot of tears have fallen)

It's so light that nowadays Molly can't hide under the stairs...

like she use to when there is time for her manicure..lol

Viktor said the first day when he walked down the stairs...

(with just one coat of paint...)

"It's like coming down from the clouds"

...and he is so right!

(Another Schnibble quilt and my Christmas gift from Louise this year)

I just love this sign...:0)and the quilt too...;0)

Quilt made from a pattern by Carrie Nelson

with Rosalie Quinlans first line of fabrics...

Well... I can't say how happy I am over how all this turned out...

the light really makes such a big difference...pictures can't show everything...but a lot!! :0)

Next thing up for some white paint was the hallway...

A very narrow and dark entrance...

with a cupboard in the middle of one wall

...don't know why they put it there?

And how we have let it be there...blind as newborn mice???

Still havent thought out to have it here

but it's getting along...

The removing of the cupboard was a good decision

...it's now more light and airy...

Still have the windows to paint...but that will have to wait until summer...can't be done now!

Picnic quilt pattern by Carrie Nelson made in Swedish retro fabrics and my still unfinished Great Granny Along quilt...

New storage for mittens, socks or whatever needed to be fixed

instead of that missing cupboard...

found these ...suitable for my income

...and so far it works just fine!

And a perfect place for my birthday gift from last year

...the little mini gardening/light house...

Still no lights fixed in the hallway

...so little battery blossom branches fixed some light!!

 

Still have some furniture to paint...

But for now I'm pretty content with it all...

these pine furniture will be painted some day...

But first I have promised Viktor a makeover in his room!!!:0)

Hmmm... Do you spy a new quilt in the corner...:0)

yes..it is...

and lots of lovely and marvellous gifts

displayed underneath the quilt...

Someone have had her birthday!!!!

Back with that another day...:0)

See you...love always...

---XOX---

 

 

 

 

Before and after... Part 1

Here it comes ...

Pictures from our "whitified"

home...

Before picture from the TV corner...

(Hah...didn't see Molly sitting in the picture first...

But there she is...holding a purple blanket...lol..)

Don't look at the mess...no need in cleaning up before the painting!!

After the painting...

Biggest difference is how much higher the room felt when we painted the beams white...and of course the light...;0)

But this corner was the lightest even before...

Here is a picture from the other end of the room...

The dining area...

(Messy...;0)

And after...:0)

The green walls were so much darker than I thought...

I just love all the light!!!

And we did buy a new dining table and chairs...:0)

It was IT!!!

Painted some furniture...this one had pine top before

and was antique white...looked dirty...but not anymore!!

In our little kitchen there was yellow wallpapers...

never liked them so now the walls became white...

like it so much better...

Lots of photos...so better make a part 2...

See you...

---XOX---

 

Happy...

This time I have a GOOD excuse for not blogging!!!

I simply haven't had the time...

Sometimes in life you just know...

now it's time to do what have been on the mind for years...

And this time...we did something that I am so happy and thankful for...

I don't think I can thank my children and Jimmy enough for all the help they have given me with my crazy and totally wonderful idea....

The starting shot was Lars going away for nine days to Stockholm...

We have a saying here in Sweden that goes like this...

"When the Cat is away the Mice dance on the table"

And so we did...;0)

(Lars did know our plans...so he wasn't totally unknowing...)

So what did we do...a white make over of the first floor!!!!

You all know how I love the light...not dark dark dark...

so Viktor said why don't we "white-ify"

So the 22nd of February...

right away after Lars leaving the house...;0)

operation WHITE-IFY started...

All furniture that wasn't going to be painted was moved to Lars bedroom...don't think we could have squeezed in something more into that bedroom...:0)

Saturday morning we all were prepared for painting!!!

We had chosen a colour called Light and Space..."Artic Light" a colour that reflects daylight up to 40 % ...can you see me smiling already!!!!!:0)

I thought I had pretty white walls before the painting...

But as you can see...they were NOT!!!

Jimmy was the king of ceilings...

The Paint king as he told us...;0)

Petra was fastest of us all...

Without her speed we probably would still be painting!!

The most brave ones were put on the risk painting areas...:0)

5 metres up to the second floor...in the stairs...

Not an easy task!!!

We had had our thoughts on how the dogs would react to all this...

But I must say that they behaved most wonderful..despite all the mess and little space they had to be at!!!

BRAVO!!!

Viktor got the most difficult areas to paint...

We needed a small and limber person for that...

I'm NOT!!!

Linda was a rock when coming to fix us all something to eat...

and serving us all day with food and "Fika"

And she was the specialist on all things small!!!

Here goes one of the last green walls...

Can't say I'm sorry!!!

We saved the worst part till the end!!

The stairs!!!

We had made such good plans on how to be finished by the time Lars were to be home...

But ...the plans were no good!!!

First coat...no problem...

We happily painted that stair from (hell) with

Such a good mood...

Petra, Jimmy and I...

Second coat of paint...wouldn't fix on first coat....

Aaarrgggggghhhhhhh!!!

I won't say what some of us said!!!

And worse...

They have never ever had this problem at the store...

No problem at 99,9%

But that didn't help us!!

So...we had to sand the paint down...grrrr...

Test paint after some days....grrrr..

Still the same problem...

GRRRRRRRR!!!!

Back to store...

Now they held their hands on the head and closed their eyes when seeing me...:0)

A phone call to the head office...

With a tip to sand the paint lightly before painting...

And wait one more day so the new coat fixed!!

Tap tap tap...

Time ticking...

Sigh...

But now it fixed!!!

JIPPIEEEE!!!

Thanks Petra for all the late night painting!!

( poor girl...working and studying and full time work at mums place)

A BIG THANKYOU to all

I couldn't have done this without your help!!!

Viktor

Linda

Petra

Jimmy

...Molly and Zorro...

THANKYOU

Was it finished by the time Lars came home...

NO!!!

This is how he had to check his email

On arrival day...:0)))

But lets say...

He was very surprised by how everything looked...

Back with pictures on the finished first floor!!

---XOX---