Can you do a Cross Training Walk?...

The answer is: YES! I've been doing a different walk lately. This 30 minutes path is lined up with 10 different work out stations along the road. It is a Cross Training Walk path.

I sometimes even jog instead of walk as it is just about 1-2 minutes of jogging in between work out stations.

I jump over tree trunks, run around trees, do knee bends, jumping jacks, the plank, step up on stumps, push ups.

The day after my first round I was incredibly sore. I guess I over did it a bit, thinking 10 reps was easy peasy and showing off by adding another 10 reps to it... The soreness just shows what bad shape I am in. I might be good at walking nowadays but my muscles still needs a bit of a tune up. Especially my bum... Anyone feel the same? :) So I decided to collect some great simple exercises, easy to squeeze in a few times a week in the morning or the evening.

My favorite bum exercises are these:
1. Hip Lift
2. Lunges
3. Squats

And I try to combine these exercises with these abs exercises:
1. Plank
2. Bicycle exercise

I am curious to try something like this too, for variation:
1. Pass the block
2. Balancing act

I've done this beautiful Cross Training Walk twice now and am actually looking forward to the next one. Because I am choosing to jog in between sometimes, it feels like I am releasing more endorphins, which is a great energy boost!


My new Come Walk With Me challenge is to do this Cross Training Walk twice a week.

I have heard from some of you that you are doing great with your walking missions. I am so happy to hear that. :D Keep it up girls!

Today is yet another beautiful day. I walked uphill to the tunes of  Christina Aguilera, Lil' Kim, Mya and Pink's fabulous version of cool Moulin Rouge. It was great. :D

Now I am off to some fabric cutting and maybe some play with yarn. I am not sure which one to choose. Something crafty will come up soon. Until then take care, pick wild flowers, hook a granny and take a walk. :D

Kärlek
Annette

♥♥♥ Wild Flowers ♥♥♥

My favorite and my best. Picking wild flowers...

 Put them together in rough bundles...

Enjoying them in a jug.

Nelly and I pulled over the car and picked these by the road today.
A great moment of Mama-Daughter bonding.

 
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Kärlek
Annette

I choose SLOW...

One of my favorite SLOW picture collages from last year.

With age I have discovered that I am very stress sensitive. When I think back on the days where I could travel alone across the Atlantic with 2 hyper kids under 5 and a third on its way including flight delays in the middle of the night,  a number of backpacks, a stroller and hours hanging out in Economy class strapped in I just wonder: "How on earth did I do that?"

In my 20's I always wrote in my job applications that I had a high stress level... Today I would write "Stress level below low..." or maybe I wouldn't even mention stress level at all... But that is just now that I have discovered this and accepted it.

For years I've been stubborn to believe I still got it. That I still can juggle like that girl on the Circus who has a half dozen plates spinning on sticks without dropping them. It is just that my plates don't really stay on the sticks anymore. They are falling to the ground one after another... I have had a lot of porcelain pieces around lately. You get it right?

So I choose SLOW.

I leave 10 minutes earlier for appointments (because I am always rushing around like a headless chicken being 10 minutes to late normally...).

I have stopped writing To Do lists. They don't make me efficient, they actually have the total opposite effect. I' am slowly learning something from my Papa and my husband. They never write lists. My Papa is a very relaxed person and very efficient too. Just like Jay. I asked my Papa how he does it and he said :
- You know, I tell myself 3 things that I need to do during a day. Then I know I can accomplish my mission. If I have time left over I might add another thing to my list but most of the time I am telling myself "Well done. Now you can play. " Doesn't that just sound like a great way of life?
 I am practicing. Slowly getting there... I am choosing SLOW.


I will sit down for a tee and a magazine read, because I deserve it and I can do it.

I will lay down on a quilt under my plum tree, staring at the clouds and listening to my kids playing on the swings in the apple tree, because I am allowed.

I am thinking about introducing a day of doing nothing every week. To recharge.

I will go to bed earlier as I have noticed that just 2 late nights in a row instantly pushed me over the edge to a grumpy, stressed out, snappy person. Sleep is the key without doubt. Long gone are those days when I was jacked up on newborn baby hormones and could sleep in intervals of 40 minutes at the time 24/7...

I will take my time. Stop. Observe. Breath. Look. Smell. Be present. Enjoy.

I don't have to run. I choose SLOW. Even here in blog land. As you may have noticed. Blogging is not my profession. It is a hobby and it will stay a hobby. I love being here but I don't need to hang out here all the time. There are so many other things I would like to do. So I will see you around. Like friends do. Sometimes very often, sometimes less frequent. Because I choose SLOW. 

SLOWLY also leads somewhere. "Långsamt leder också någonstans... " Lisa Nilsson, Swedish fantastic singer. I really wanted to share this song with you as it kind of sums up how life sometimes can feel when we live in high speed life style. Click on the image to listen to this beautiful song about how she after a burn out choose to live SLOW. I have done a translation of the lyrics below:

I have come to move slowly. It has its different reasons.
My legs don't feel light anymore. The desire is not there.

I have come to stop trying. The feeling is full of trouble.
My stomach sort of twists up. The flow is not there.

But slowly also leads somewhere...

I've been so caught up in patterns. When one step forward costs three steps back.
There, to wake up on the wrong side. It's not an unusual thing.

And I have come to be hunted by the time. And go at a pace that is not mine.
My days are now much much longer. There we differ widely before and now...

But slowly also leads somewhere...

And I want to scream all over the world. I can breathe all by myself.
And I can fly around the Milky Way. And take down the moon if you want.
But I want to be at peace within myself.

But slowly also leads somewhere...

Kärlek
Annette

PS This post has surprised me. I did not plan this at all. It just sort of happened once my fingers started the keyboard dance. It has a therapeutic effect on me. It feels good. Does that ever happen to you?

Easily distracted...

There was a girl who loved to crochet. She loved it so much she just could not live without it. Until the day she hurt her elbow and couldn't do it anymore. So she learned how to make patchwork instead. She loved it so much she just couldn't live without it. Slowly her elbow got better and suddenly she found herself loving crochet and patchwork so much she sometimes couldn't sleep at night because of all the things she wanted to make. She experimented with colors, and styles trying to find what style was hers. One day plain, another eclectic. One day pretty, another day bold and whimsical. At times country, other days completely gypsy...

She was easily distracted, starting on new projects all the time. Leaving unfinished projects behind. And the pile of WiP's were growing quickly...

So one day when she looked at her latest new crochet WiP she thought: "Maybe I should document my WiP's to inspire myself to actually finish them..." So she did by writing this post.

When piling up her WiP's, spreading them out for a photo shoot her style suddenly stood out quite clear. This particular girl is not plain or pretty, although she might think so at times. This girl is eclectic and whimsical with a Scandinavian twist. Simplicity is the key. And colors. Many. Often. Everywhere. She is a big fan of what is homespun. "And that feels good to know", says the girl who is me.

What do you love? Do you know your style? How big is your WiP pile? I am curious to know. :D Now I am heading back to see which WiP I should finish first... or maybe I'll continue on my latest crochet WiP. Or start on a new quilt...

Added info after reading all comments: I am a Scorpio behaving like a Gemini, I guess... ;D

Kärlek
Annette

Emmy Bo's bunting

My little one is now officially 5. The birthday party takes place tomorrow. I asked Emmy Bo to pick some fabrics from my stash to make a bunting. She picked bunnies and squirrels, roses, flowers in pink and red and stripes... I added the gingham. I think she has got style. :D

Kärlek
Annette

Hi. My name is Annette...

A fabulous stash of treasured Tilda fabric and more...

I AM A FABRIC ADDICT! The other day I surfed an online fabric shop just for fun. But I soon found myself putting one fabric after another in the Cart... And then suddenly I pressed the Check out button, filled out my credit card details and pressed Purchase... I was happy. Felt so good inside. I've been waiting for this delivery and today it came. And I am so thrilled! I love this!

Who can resist fabrics like these? Honestly??? I'll give me right arm for these!!! Well, maybe not an arm, but a toe! :)

But of course I am crushed with guilt as well. Why did I do it? I have 2 book shelves full of fabric already. Half a dozen projects waiting to be finished and now yet another one? But I just couldn't resist this purchase. I have had this quilt idea in my mind for a little while now and when I look at these gorgeous pieces - oh my! This is going to be great fun. A fabulous quilt. Only for me. Annette's quilt this will be. Mine all mine. :D

And still... Next time I surf an online shop I will probably do it again. Put fabric in the Cart. Press the Check out button. Give my credit card details and press Purchase. And I will await another delivery with butterflies in my belly. Find them just as gorgeous as I thought they would be. Feel a bit guilty looking at all the fabrics I already have... And then I will start another project. I hope I will finish it before I get online again, put fabric in the Cart, press the Check out button...........................

Kärlek
Annette

Dreaming...

This is a house I often walk by. I dream about living here... Garage to the left, bedrooms where the three upper windows are, kitchen and living room open planned all down stairs.

This is our bedroom. We will have climbing pink roses on the front of our house decorating this old window to the most pretty window imaginable.

This is the entrance to the garage where Jay will work on his motorcycles all the time. We will keep the doors just like this. They are perfect!

This is the front door. Can you imagine the climbing roses surrounding it, climbing the walls. And can you see the portal that we built framing it to make it look absolutely perfect? I want lace curtains in the window and a wooden Welcome sign on the door. Swedish style with Dala horses and kurbits painted on it.

The lamp will stay. Absolutely. I love it!

This is our living area with big panorama doors opening up to the front porch. There will be big ceramic pots full of geraniums in bloom... We will have a nice set of wood furniture, a barbecue and of course a small hammock to rock yourself in on a lazy afternoon...

Above is the loft. It is a half top floor. The living room area is open up til the knock and the half second floor is built as a social area with book shelves and comfy chairs. The computer is here and you can see the view of the Alps from the windows that we will put into that wooden part all the way from left to right. I will have window flowers pots with climbing geraniums. Like every Swiss person has.

This is the entrance to a small storage area for play stuff and outdoor furniture stuff.

And the fountain will be great to fetch water in year around.

And we will plant apple trees and have swings for the kids and shady places to sit at. I will dry my laundry here on a string put up between the trees. :D

I dream. These pictures were taken in March... Next week I will take a walk here again and things will look a bit different. It will be more green.

I truly am a dreamer... I can imagine life here. I can hear us running around. I can see laundry waving in the wind on the clothes line. I can see myself sit there under a tree, crocheting and looking at the Alps. Do you dream like this sometimes? It is really nice...

Kärlek
Annette

Christopher's Quilt - VOILA!

Christopher came to this world last Friday. Welcome little fellow! :D I finished this baby quilt just in time. I am very pleased with the results. I would probably never have chosen these colors for myself but now seeing how they all blend together so well I think this is one of my favorite baby quilts! :D It is bold. Happy. colorful. Sunny. Grassy. Flowerly. Is that a word?...

It is made from 36 squares measuring 6 inches each. I used 6 different fabrics, only one is a new print from Stoff & Stil. The rest are finds from markets and thrift stores. I backed this quilt with a lush spring green fleece for the softest comfort. Backing your baby quilt with fleece makes it extra cuddly and cozy.

Happy colorful Monday!

Kärlek
Annette

Come Walk With Me Report - Week 9

I am proud and happy for my great efforts of walking this week. I have been walking my butt off. This is my report from Come Walk With Me - Week 9:

Monday : 45 minutes
Tuesday: 45 minutes
Wednesday: 40 minutes up hill
Thursday: 30 minutes
Friday: 45 minutes up hill
Saturday: 45 minutes
Sunday: No walking so far...
TOTAL: 250 minutes (4 hours 10 minutes) :D

My goal was 30 minutes a day. I have done even more than that...  It comes down to 41 minutes a day, excluding Sunday... Well done me!!! :D

And this is a report that just came from Simone at Kolora. It made me very happy!
"Well done :)))
I ran for 4 km this week (3 km is normally the limit) and sadly had bad headache the rest of the day...but the rest of my body was happy! And I still walk a lot upstairs and downstairs as we live in the first and second floor of a really old house with lots of stairs. I walked the kids to school and had to pick them up due to the broken foot...I cycled to the physiotherapist twice with my son! Hmmm, it was a good week I think! Enjoy the rest of the Sunday! Simone"

Jay and Emmy Bo finds a field in the middle of the woods. We will come back for pic-nic next time. :D

My favorite walk this week was when we went for a walk in the woods, me and Jay and Emmy Bo with a friend. The woods are so lush and green right now. It is just amazing. Wild flowers popping up everywhere. All muddy after all the rain, but with boots on - who cares?

Lets make a list of our Top 10 Walking Songs, shall we?
I have to admit that I am starting to get tired of my Walking Music selection on my iPod at this point. I have actually started to walk without the iPod just having nature as company for my ears. It is very calming and nice. But at work for example, I really miss the beat to get a really brisk walk done. Any suggestion on good songs to add? What do you listen to when walking? Let me know and I'll publish our Top 10 Walking Songs list later this week. :D

Bottle belt or not?
As weather is getting warmer I am also starting to get more hot and thirsty when walking. I think I am going to purchase one of these for my longer walks. A bottle belt. Is there anyone of you girls who has one of these and can tell me if they are good or bad? I guess I could just bring a bottle and hold it in my hand but having a belt seems more comfortable somehow... And it makes me look more sporty, which is a plus. :D







So, how did you do this week. Are you still enjoying your walks? Are you still getting out there?


Come Walk With Me - Week 10
I will keep on walking, hopefully just as well as I did this week, a minimum of 30 minutes a day. Little Emmy Bo's birthday is coming up which needs quite a lot of attention but I'll do my best. And just like last week I am gonna do the up hill challenge. Up up up. Maybe I will be able to sqeeze in 3 days of walking up hill this week. That will be my goal. Yes. What is your goal?

Happy walking ladies and see you soon.

Kärlek
Annette

Soon another baby quilt...

A new custom order for a baby quilt. This patchwork quilt is for a Finish girl who is expecting her first baby. She is supposedly very colorful and particularly likes green and orange. I think this collection of fabrics from my stash will be perfect. ♥

I have been waiting a long time for the right project to use that green fabric in the middle that I found on a market last spring... Looking forward to cut into this. :D

Kärlek
Annette

About a little girl...

Cheeky Emmy Bo climbing the apple tree. April 2012.

She is 4, turns 5 in only two weeks. Little Emmy Bo. A little person. Full of curiosity and adventure. I need to hug her more. Look at her more. Listen to her stories and funny questions... I look at her and I wish I had more of that naivety and natural capacity of living here and now. Catching the moment. Things seem so uncomplicated for little Emmy Bo.

Flowers from dear Emmy Bo. With too short stems for a real vase. :D ♥♥♥ April 2012.

I saw her from my kitchen window, come running from a friends home next door. She came to a sudden stop by our gate in the backyard. She kneeled down in the wet grass and picked something up,  something hidden in the corner by our raspberry bush. She walked through the gate and stopped and looked up in the sky with a frown on her face as mini rain drops probably made her wet. That scrunched up little nose. So cute... I wonder what was running through her mind right then and there?

A second later she set off in to me in the kitchen and even before opening the door I could hear her calling loudly:

- Mama!!!

She handed me two cute flowers with too short stems to be put in a vase while catching her breath.

- For you Mama! I found them by our... eeehhh "hallon" bush! (Swedish for raspberry as my kids tend to mix their language a lot being multi lingual...). Oh, how my heart was ready to burst of love.

I lifted her up to hug this little person that I once carried in my womb. And she clung on to me with her legs wrapped around my waist and I thought: "This is happiness! This is what living is all about.".



"Mama! Look! I took a picture of the moon!" Do you see the moon? Photo: Emmy Ciccarelli 28th of April 2012

Time passes so fast. Soon I won't be able to lift her up like that anymore. It makes me a bit sad as she is the little one in the family. Soon these "small people" days are over. And things will change. I have to be more aware and present before all this just passes me by without even being noticed...

Carpe diem.

Maybe it is time to really start practicing that expression for real. I find it so hard... I get so easily distracted by House Work, To Do lists and all these Have To's... But honestly, when stopping for just a moment and taking it all in all those chores suddenly gets easier to handle.

Blog tips:  Kate over at Foxs Lane's is a woman of three girls and married to her farmer boy. She reflects about life on her organic farm, shares her crafts and I have been following her incredible 6 month caravan journey she just came home from. I found her blog very inspiring. Her photos are fantastic. She is very good at living in the moment in my opinion and her posts all reflects the small pleasures, and struggles, in life. Well worth a visit if you are looking for a blog with great reading material and real life stories. She inspires me to catch the moment.

 Kärlek

Annette

Hexagon WiP update

I am proud to show you my first ever hexagon WiP progress. This will be sewn on to a pillow case I think...

Kärlek
Annette

Come Walk With Me Report - Week 8

Who would have known that COWS would be such a source for love? I am so happy to hear you share my love and that my cow sharing was worth reading. Your stories about cows, childhood memories built around this creature and how they make you all just as happy as me has been truly joyful reading. Big thanks, girls! And yes, isn't she lovely the licking Madonna? Ha ha ha! It was pure luck to catch her in that moment.

This time I want to share one of my most precious walks this week.
My work has some fantastic forest and field surroundings. I have 3 different routes that I can choose from depending on length of my break and weather. My favorite route is a 15 minute walk through the woods.

This Friday the sun came out for the first time in days if not weeks. Things are exploding around here. Just look at all these mini daisies I had to walk through!

I adore these white precious spring flowers. In places they cover the ground like a thick blanket, like here. At my office I have a teeny tiny vase on my work desk where I can stick a teeny tiny bouquet of flowers like this to brighten my work space. :D

This day I had forgotten my iPod which was a great thing. There are so many sounds to listen to in the woods. Birds, the breeze, the small creeks...

I remind myself how lucky I am having this type of nature next door to our dull office building. Isn't that just fantastic? It doesn't really feel like I am at work when I can escape out here on the small curvy paths in the woods on my coffee breaks.
 
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Friday was a great day for walking this week. I really felt happy being out there. Did you have a special moment this week to? Would you like to share it with me? I sure want to hear all about it. :D










So lets get back to Come Walk With Me Report - Week 8. It is not overly great but it is good compared to the Easter weeks. Please share your report by sending me an email or comment and I'll add you on to the list. This is my walking report.

Monday : 2 x 15 minutes in the rain at work
Tuesday: 2 x 15 minutes in the rain at work
Wednesday: No walking, only lots of nice sandwiches and baked goods at my Swedish Club meeting. Naughty...
Thursday: No walking. sofa delivery and a complete upside down house needed ALL my attention and still does...
Friday: 2 x 15 minutes walking in the woods at work and loving it!
Saturday: No walking
Sunday: 45 minutes in the morning. Very windy today!!!
TOTAL: 165 minutes (2 hours 25 minutes)

Come Walk With Me - Week 9

Next week I am going for the uphill challenge again. Summer is just around the corner and I feel like I have to make a REAL effort now to get into summer shape. This upcoming week I WILL walk every day, no matter what conditions or happenings. And I will walk 30 minutes every day, at least. What are your goals?

Kärlek
Annette

Lets talk a little bit about cows...

The cows are back behind our house since a couple of weeks now. I love having them around. It makes me feel very lucky to have living farm creatures so close by. I tend to take them for granted a bit but when I am having visitors I realize how exotic a bunch of cows can be.

This year they are a bunch of young ladies.

They are very curious.

Over the top curious at times.

They are cute, friendly and just nice to have there outside our backyard. They run up and down the hill in full speed at times. Going completely crazy. We watch them from our kitchen window if it is raining but often do we go outside to watch them.  Maybe pat them if we dare. I don't. But Jay does.
The kids play in the apple trees with the cows munching away below. How lucky aren't they to experience this when there are kids who never see a cow live more than in a zoo?

No, we are lucky to have these ladies around. In a few weeks they will go to the top of the mountain and the melody from their cow bells will stop. I love the ding ding ding, dong dong dong... Every cow has a different size and it is like having an orchestra right there in nature.

I love cows. I never knew I did until we moved here. But I do. They make me happy.

Kärlek
Annette