Näversöm

My grandma always used to be working on this type of needlework (she passed away in 1984) and I didn't know what it was until about a month ago. It's called näversöm. I did a little searching and I found this website, Ethnic Fiber Art, with a great explanation of what it is exactly as well as a database of all sorts of different styles of needlework. If you are interested in finding out about the needlework of your heritage, this is a great place to start.

Näversöm translated is Birch Bark Embroidery, aptly named because of the pieces of birch bark the women would use as a frame to stretch their work over. I don't know much about needlework but in näversöm there are apparently only four stitches used.

I have been thinking awhile about learning some type of needle art - mainly to use it as a diet technique!

Garage Sale Open Season

Okay, so maybe A Girl Named Timi and I tried too early to start our annual garage sale hunting...but it was a nice day in the Puget Sound area and we were hopeful and wanted to get out of the house for a while. Unfortunately it seemed the only garage sales were those folks who have perpetual garage sales. Needless to say my hunt for the elusive greatest object of the season was a bust. But the day wasn't - I had a great lunch at the Snohomish Bakery and found out Joyworks (a fabulous store if you haven't been) in Snohomish, Washington has their own blog!

On a Scandinavian note, check out this antiques website, Swedish Country Interiors, they have some really great stuff. I am always on the lookout for new wall art and from looking at Swedish Country Interiors I came across this artist, Greta Lann. My favorite piece is 'My Kitchen Window'.

Wow! 36 people have looked at my little Swedish blog!

I was searching for pictures of the perfect stuga, which means cabin or cottage in Swedish. I was having a helluva time finding anything I liked. Then I came upon Swedish Stuga in Oregon. I just think this B&B (I don't know what else to call it) looks beautiful. Plus, it is the traditional red color. I am not sure when I will get there, I have a full list of travel lined up for this summer, maybe in the fall - which would be even better!

My favorite part is you can forage for chanterelles. Not that I have ever picked mushrooms, it just makes the whole thing sound more romantic - rustic food, nice bottle of wine, golden leaves of autumn, you get the picture I'm sure!

Besides my understanding is chanterelles are very Swedish ;)

What should this be?

I am still trying to decide what I would like this to be...for now I'm just going to write about things I see around the web I think are interesting and things happening in my life.

Lately I have been in to finding out about my heritage - especially since my mom is turning 70. She is Swedish - I am first generation American. I recently started taking Swedish language classes because I realized when she is gone her Swedish will die with her. The rest of my aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. all live in Sweden and without my mom to interpret we will probably lose touch. I am carrying the torch! Although, unlike Americans, most of them speak at least two languages and know English well.

My Swedish class is great. I am in my third quarter and now we have a nice core group of 5 of us who are serious about learning the culture and language. I take my class through Bellevue Community College in Bellevue Washington. BCC seems to have a really great foreign language program in their Continuing Education department. They even started offering Finnish this quarter. I was contemplating taking it but my Swedish instructor had said Finnish was similar to Hungarian, Norwegian was most similar to Swedish and Icelandic was the equivalent to Norwegian as Old English is to modern English. I am not sure where Danish fits into all of this, but I have decided my next language will be Norwegian.

My Mortality

My mom turns 70 on Tuesday...she doesn't seem 70 to me. She seems the same that she has always been. A few more wrinkles, but still full of life. One thing I've always admired about my mom is she has never been a complainer - EVER. It's amazing to me that one person can live a whole life without bitching. Maybe she does vent to her friends. I know I did not inherit that quality from her. Although I think I should try not to complain.