Busy weekend

It started with cleaning and food shopping on a thundery Saturday morning. Then to the gym for a good hour of body attack and then to Michelle, a mum from school who spent an hour and a half on my hair and make up for Noor's (my gym friend) 40th birthday party. It was a girls only frock party in her house. Around 50 women all dressed up having cosmopolitans and champagne. We went for a drink in The Stanley afterwards. We all chipped in and Noor's close friends made a book full of vouchers for all her favourite shops and reastaurants. It was a lovely but it also made me feel kind of sad. In this life where everyone moves away all the time it is difficult to find true/real friendships. It's not something I've chosen, it just comes with the oil industry. And I feel that I've neglected some of my friendships back home (or where ever they are..all over the world) So plan: I am going to do better and if you receive a phone call, a card and or a (email)letter in the near future, you know you matter to me a lot! I do have a couple of true friends here too, don't get me wrong. I am not lonely or anything, it just made me value friendships even more. Do I make sense? Anyhow, This morning we had a children's book event in Kings Park organised by the Dutch School. Really nice, a kind of hunt where the children met book characters and had to do some tasks to win letters. The letters made a word and with that they could "win" a bookmark. Sausage sizzle to finish off.. lovely. To  the beach in the afternoon for an hour or so and then to Renate, a Dutch girl I have met quite a few times but wished I made a little bit more effort and she's really nice but now they're leaving. But it was BBQ with good food and some nice people..
Hope you had a good weekend too!  Michelle's creation
ready for the party! http://acamping-sites.blogspot.com/

Another milestone reached!

response: (417) Expectation failed.
Making the most of my "Frank only" days before he goes to school full time next year...
Super proud! http://acamping-sites.blogspot.com/

Whale Watching and Rottnest Island

We had a busy, lovely weekend. Saturday we had Lukas' 2nd birthday party (Urmila's son) and then we had a yummy BBQ at my friend Corinne's house.  Corinne is married to Ed, an Aussie en also Bart was there with his Aussie wife Heidi. 4 girls and our 2 boys and they got on so well! We are hoping to go camping all together the end of November.
It was a rainy day, but they had a fire so it was nice and cosy still outside.

 Ed and the fire.. time for whisky..  Bart, Ed and Jamie
 The kids
Around the fire..

Later that night I had invited a girl called Inge over. I've met her once and really liked her. She's a dancer and has just finished her teaching degree here (masters of education) and needed help with her CV. Her husband came along and that was really nice too. I have just registered for her African dance class with Michelle, the sculptress from Willem's school and another girl called Anje. I actually met her in the Panta Rhei in Vlissingen this summer and she lives here now with her husband. Think it'll be fun and a good work out and so I will get to know Inge better too!

On Friday I went to a place called the Jazz Cellar with Anje and Peronne (she's leaving for Singapore in January, boohoo) which was fantastic! It's only open on a Friday and you have to be there before 6pm other wise it'll be full. Only a 100 people are allowed in. You go down steps in a (fake) telephone box and then we were met by some 70+ old men. He gave us 3 wine glasses. The rest (food and drink) you need to bring yourself. You find yourself a small table and around 7 pm the band comes on. Also 65+ year olds with their trumpets and trombones. Within no time everyone is dancig. Us included. King Louie from Junglebook, Oh when the Saints.. etc. Great and around 10.30pm they kick you out!
Totally loved it, so quirky. Full of young and old people having a great time!

And today we went whale watching, organised by Jamie's work woodside. We saw sooo many! Jumping out of the water and quite close to the boat. You can see the photos on Picasa. The boat then dropped us at Rottnest Island where we met the Quokkas again and played on the beach. It was a cool day, but it didn't rain. Another great memory!

Hope you had a good weekend too!
Some photos of the jazz cellar:

http://acamping-sites.blogspot.com/

Concerts

Finally some time to post again. November has been a month of many concerts.
It started with James Morrisson and Deni Hines in The Quarry. He's a famous Aussie Jazz Trumpet Player and the Quarry is a wonderful venue 10 minutes from our house. You bring your own drink and pic nic and sit under the stars overlooking the city lights. I went there with a bunch of girlfriends and had a great night


Then it was Portishead in the Swan Valley at the Belvoir amphitheatre. Also a fantastic venue. It was a nice evening with Jamie, some of his colleagues and 2 friends of mine. Just didn't like the band so much as they didn't interact with the audience..

19th of November I went to Band of Horses and Kings of Leon with Elleke and Katja (and their partners). Two bands I really wanted to see and thet did not dissappoint. It was also great to be in a stadium again.

And a week later I was back in the same stadium for one of the best concerts I've ever been to, with Jamie. It was totally full and the Foofighters played with so much enthusiam and energy! Dave Grohl was funny and the drummer, Taylor Hawkins,  was amazing. They played all my favourite songs and gave 7 encores!

Next week we'll go the the Quarry again to see Ross Wilson, an old Aussie Rocker and we've got many concerts lined up like Seasick Steve, Icehouse and Lenny Karvitz. Just heard Duran Duran are coming as well to a lovely winery...

It's so easy in Perth.. never too far away and almost always great weather!

http://acamping-sites.blogspot.com/

DCMA

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almost there

Jammen tror jeg ikke at jeg klarer å bli ferdig i år også. Gleder meg til julemarkedet på DogA i helga, og håper å se mange av dere der :)



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*Almost finished making stuff for the christmas fair. 

*My shop will be updated sometimes next week

I took the Pledge @ Pategonia

There’s a reason that ‘recycling’ comes last in the mantra: Reduce, Repair, Reuse, Recycle.

Recycling is what we do when we're out of options to avoid, repair, or reuse the product first. That's why I am so impressed with Patagonia for starting its Common Threads Initiative with the real solution: Reduce. Don't buy what we don't need. Repair: Fix stuff that still has life in it. Reuse: Share. Then, only when you've exhausted those options, recycle.

– Annie Leonard, author of The Story of Stuff (taken from Patagonia website)

I felt the need to post this campaign by Patagonia. "Don't buy this Jacket" Link Here 

I'm not sure what I think. The cynic in me says "yeah right" you know you want us to. And the optimist says "Even if they want us to why not do both at least it's a better message then, over consume" 
Most of us grew up making due with what we had because consumerism wasn't as popular as it is now or at least was a few years ago. I really like Patagonia products yet often they are out of my budget so I don't buy much. I live by the mantra buy quality = buy less STUFF.

With much reluctance I joined the pledge. I don't like joining groups but what the heck............................ Here is the pledge...

____I'd like to become a partner in the Common Threads Initiative to reduce excess consumption and give the planet's vital systems a rest from pollution, resource depletion and greenhouse gases.

____Patagonia agrees to build useful things that last, to repair what breaks and recycle what comes to the end of its useful life.

 

____I agree to buy only what I need (and will last), repair what breaks, reuse (share) what I no longer need and recycle everything else.

 

 

What do you think about this? 

in the making

Det er første søndag i advent og én uke til årets julemarked på DogA. Jeg er ikke akkurat i rute, men jeg skal da få til noe. Tror det blir smykker og barneskjerf i år.



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In one week I am going to sell my stuff at the Designers christmas fair. Not excactly ahead of my schedule, but hey. Necklaces and scarf bibs almost done.

one day off

Både mor og sønn har har vært syke og hjemme i dag. Dagens høydepunkt var da vi fikk en pakke levert på døra: Jeg hadde bestilt dette fantastisk fine putevaret fra Fine Little Day, og inni pakken fant jeg også dette heftet med dyretegninger som kan fargelegges. Det var egentlig så fint at jeg hadde lyst til å spare det, men Melvin ville det annerledes. Og det er faktisk enda finere nå.



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Both moter&son have been home from kindergarden/work today, and a delivery to our door made our day: I got this amazing pillow case from Fine Little Day, and there was this lovely little colouring book in there as well. Melvin loves it. 

more magic

Alle bilder: David Stenmarck.



Jeg syns at Havnehagan køl & vedbolag er sånt et fint konsept. Se flere bilder fra Davids utstilling i forrige post.



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I love this project. More pictures from the exhibition here.

Boulder City, Nev., a nice, warm stop for biking, hiking

Boulder City recently hosted the 24 Hours of Bootleg Canyon, a hardcore mountain bike race, but you don’t have to be that crazy to enjoy the more than hundreds of miles of bicycle-friendly routes, lanes and paths in the area, including the tough but easy-to-navigate River Mountains Loop Trail.

Boulder City borders picturesque Lake Mead, the biggest reservoir in the country, and not only is there plenty to do on the lake itself, but Las Vegas is only about a 40-minute drive away, as is the funky, old-school Railroad Pass Hotel & Casino, which holds the oldest active gaming license in southern Nevada, in nearby Henderson.

The view of Lake Mead from the River Mountains
 Loop Trail. (roadtripster)

But why would you spend time inside when there’s so much to do out in the nice, warm temps this time of year, especially if you come from somewhere cold? There was a bit of wind – ok, that’s an understatement; we nearly got blown off the trail – one day, but otherwise it was toasty enough to wear shorts and T-shirts the whole time.

The River Mountains Trail is not for sissies: It gains 1,334 feet in elevation, and it’s wavy-gravy the whole way. But it is paved, and the scenery, especially going past the lake and Red and Black mountains, is pretty spectacular. If you don’t want to take on the whole loop, you could just pick a piece and do it as an out-and-back to BC. We wound up getting off at Henderson for a breather and a late lunch; there’s a spur section that follows the road.

If you haven’t hauled your bikes, there are several rental shops in town. We used All Mountain Cyclery (1404 Nevada Hwy., 702-453-2453), which had a decent selection of Specialized hardtail bikes for $40 for a full-day.

They tried to talk us into renting full-suspension bikes at $75 per day, but we weren’t going to be doing anything serious in Bootleg, and so we settled for the hardtails. They don’t go overboard on maintaining the hardtails, so be warned; we had some issues with under-lubricated chains and shifters, as well as heavily patched tubes that blew, and they had given us a pump that didn’t work with Pressta valves. Just sayin’.

Bike shops are your best stop, though, to pick up trail maps, most of which are free. For $5, it’s worthwhile to grab a laminated copy of the one for Bootleg Canyon. If you’re not a biker, there’s a beautiful hikers-only trail called River Mountain that will get you into this great area; it’s about a 2 1/2 –miler, round-trip, out-and-back.

To refuel, Evans Old Town Grille (1129 Arizona St., 702-294-0100) is destined to became one of our favorite eateries, so friendly that on our first pass while walking our bikes around town to scout dinner options, a server chased us down the street to make sure we had a copy of the menu so we could think it over. We were rewarded that night with huge plates of food, including falling-off-the-bone-tender pork ribs in a sweet-spicy sauce and excellent shrimp scamp. Pick the Greek salad over the regular, for sure, and if you can, at least try to split a dessert (the watermelon sherbet pie is weird, but wonderful).

Also, we can vouch for Massage Therapy by Gloria, so necessary after all that exercise. There is a Gloria, and she has amazing hands (if you tell her you like “deep pressure,” she will oblige). An hour (and it’s a full hour, none of that sissy 50 minutes stuff) costs $60, and it’s worth every penny. Also, there were two of us, and so she brought in Katherine Weir, another local therapist, who’s also a serious hiker and understands those needs. Weir was great, too, and runs Kare by Kathy (702-497-7412). Same pricing.

There are several RV parks and campgrounds in the Las Vegas area; visit Go Camping America’s site to check them out. 

The roadtripster is the handle of a longtime Coloradan who travels the country by any means possible, sometimes in an RV, sometimes car camping or in the backcountry, with kids and without.

pyrography magic

Forrige uke var det åpning av Havnehagan køl & vedbolags utstilling på Bærum Kulturhus. Og for en utstilling! Jeg vet jo at David er flink med svipenna, men dette var fine greier! Hurra! Legger ut flere bilder etterhvert.



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I just had to show you these pictures from my friend David Stenmarcks exhibition. I can not even begin to imagine how much time he has spent burning every stroke into the wood. And the details! Just amazing. More pictures coming!

Folsom Zoo In California

Last week we went to The Folsom Zoo with my daughters Expeditionary Learning School. I have never been fond of zoos. However this zoo has the healthiest rescue animals who are the happiest animals I have ever seen. All the animals are fed organic food, the deer come up to be pet and the animals are loved by the staff. Check it out if your ever in the area.