A renovating Easter 2013 @CasaR

While most of Norway is spending their Easter at their mountain cabins we will be renovating. It’s the last room in the house that has stayed untouched. So we thought it was about time to take on this project.

The weekend has been spent tearing out everything. As with everything else in this house, there is always a surprise. This time we found cork tiles glued to the concrete floor when we removed the worn oak wood flooring. After crawling around on all four tearing up the tiles I feel sore all over.

Before starting on this room I thought I had planned the finished result in my head.With a big sliding door wardrobe on one side of the room. However after tearing everything out we liked the open airy feel the room got. So back to the drawing board.

The house has still not been decorated for Easter. But I still have time…

a little Easter inspiration borrowed from Flickr user Moline

- have you ever started a renovation project that didn’t end quite as planned?
- what’s your latest renovation project?
- finally, as this is a Easter post, how do you decorate your house for Easter?

We @CasaR wish you all a Happy Easter

Out with the old

and in with the new…

This week casaR got a new washer cum dryer. Our previous washer was also a dryer, but that function died a while back. But since the washer still worked we had decided to wait with getting a new one. But the other day while doing the laundry it decided to light up like a Christmas tree and just stop in it’s tracks, mid-wash.

With a baby in house we can’t be without a washer for many days before the mountains of laundry grows. So we went looking for a new washer. We have been very satisfied with a previous Ariston washer/dryer…so when we came across the upgraded version, we didn’t see any reason not to buy it.

the 8 year old Ariston AML125

the brand spanking new Ariston Hotpoint Aqualtis

The new washer does bigger loads of laundry (the washer does up to 10 kg loads and dryer loads up to 7 kg) compared to our old washer that did up to 5 kg wash loads and 4 kg dryer load. The new dryer is therefor a little bigger in size, but still fits in our little corner. I do have to admit the new dryer does look a bit intimidating…

Inside on the outside

Officially it’s called reversible double knitting…but when I saw this I had a hard time finding the technique as it has a number of names. But after doing some research I gave it a try and I am very happy with the result.

I made it bigger than a standard baby blanket as I wanted a blanket I could use in BabyS cot when her down duvet becomes too hot. So I wound up with a 72 x 94 cm blanket.

It has stars sprinkled  all over, eventhough you can’t see it in this light. As I didn’t have a knitting pattern I just did some calculating and drawing on squared paper. I used the star pattern I previously used on my fire lighter box cover.

these stars are so versatile

I used a 100% wool yarn called “Ullteppegarn” by Gjestedal. For this blanket I used about 8 skeins – 4 of each of the two colors, grey and lilac.

It was super easy to do the double knitting, way easier than I thought at first. All the techniques you have to masker is knit and purl!

Here are some videos to help you get started;

A little intro to double knitting	This is just part 1 of 3–casting on
	An alternative way to cast on

I finished the blanket a few weeks ago, but blogging about it always takes longer. BabyS wants to play on the computer too when it’s out.

Not a bad Tuesday…already taken a morning stroll with BabyS, knitted and blogged and it’s not even 2 PM. How has your Tuesday been so far?

Baby boom

Here at CasaR we are still adapting to our new life. About a week ago BabyS turned 9 months. Time sure flies! With me slowly returning to work and DaddyO gradually staying more at home with BabyS, we are still adapting to new stuff all the time.

Barely over the shockwave caused by BabyS arrival, we are now seeing that all our friends are starting on their second round. Babies are literally popping out of the woodwork, with babies expected left and right. With the upcoming baby boom I’m hoping I have time to craft a gift to each baby.

When my friends were expecting their first child diaper cakes were all the craze. So I made a few for the coming parents. I thought that since they already had received a diaper cake, I didn’t want to make another one for them…I try to be a little original. If you are a close friend and expecting….stop reading now! These days I’m all about knitting, so this time around I thought I would knit a wool baby blanket.

I’ve decided that I will follow Pickles baby blanket pattern for a few, and a self made reverse double thread knit blanket for a few (will try to write up a post on that soon). The rest I haven’t decided yet…I know that each blanket will take some time to knit, so hopefully I will have enough time to make them all before the boom hits.

I’ve started on one blanket…and it sure is taking time when knitting on 2,5 mm knitting needles.

Kindergarten time

Today is the deadline for applying for a kindergarten spot for BabyS this fall. We put in the application a few weeks ago, with the option to make changes until the deadline today.

We sent our application in digitally thru the official website http://www.barnehager.oslo.kommune.no/oslobarnehagen/soke_og_bytte_barnehage/

There are MANY kindergartens in the city district we live in, so narrowing it down to max five - you can only apply to a maximum for five spots- takes some work. Not knowing what to look for, we sat down and did some research. Not finding much help online, I turned to friends with kids in kindergarten for advise.

Some of the advice we got were:
- does the kindergarten have pedagogical educated employees?
- ratio: children per caretaker
- is the kindergarten divided into “departments”?
- opening hours?
- geographical proximity (location, location, location)
- meals?
- how do they handle absence due to sickness amongst the employees?

Our process before applying for a kindergarten were as follows;
- With the above“criteria” at hand I made a spreadsheet and inputted the kindergartens we were considering.
- I read up on the kindergartens homepages – those who had.
- I contacted the kindergartens and asked if we could come by for a visit.

One of the most surprising things I learned during this process is that very few parents take the time to make a visit to kindergarten they consider placing their child in. Would you trust your child in the care of a complete stranger? Most parents are on maternity leave when the kindergarten application is due, why not take your baby for a stroll to the kindergartens your are considering?

After we had made a visit I also made a note in my spreadsheet about my gut feeling. Based on all the information in our spreadsheet we sent in our prioritized kindergarten application.

Now we just keep our fingers crossed that BabyS gets a spot in the kindergarten we had at the top of our list.

- how did you choose the kindergarten for your kids?
- did you get a spot in the kindergarten you had at the top of your list?

Simply amazing

Well my friends it’s almost time…for another season of Amazing Race Norway. Saw the trailer the other day and I’m excited.

Freddy dos Santos is again the host – hopefully this time he won’t spoil all the action with his contant talking. Last season he kept the viewers constantly updated on the teams whereabouts and how many minutes they were apart…spoiling some of the fun of not knowning.

the trailer shows this seasons teams

Was disappointed when I didn’t see my friend amongst the teams. Since I knew he had applied and went for several rounds of interviews last fall. Eventhough he had told me his team didn’t make the cut, I was secretly hoping…can’t win’em alll, hopefully he’ll apply for the next season.

So mark your calenders! The season premier is aired on Tv2 this Wednesday March 6th.
For those of you who want more updates, follow their FBpage here

- which of the teams are your cheering on?