One of those days.

Head full of cotton today, wonder if I might have allergies (the grass is allegedly in bloom now). I'd win a sneezing world championship easily!
Lucky me though. Because I have a daughter who served me breakfast in bed today. When sharing a bowl of muesli yoghurt with two messy-haired stars in bed, with the rain pouring down outside, I forgot about sneezing and puffy eyes and lethargy. It was one of those moments, on one of those days.

Gone fishing.

Work & play.

One of those overcast summer days with the mildest, most soothing wind. It's like being embraced by it, walking in the fields. We were looking for cows. We didn't find any. Instead, Ronja went fishing with our neighbours and Mum attacked an enormous pile of laundry. Then we changed all the linen on all the beds, opened the windows, then Ronja came home, without any fish but with bubbles of laughter and fresh air, then Freja and Ronja went to bed, dogs were fed, greenhouse was watered, and then Mr. Payne forced Mrs. Payne to cut his hair.
Now, music and rest.
Images in my head of the afternoon light coming in the bedroom windows, the smell of clean linen, the sound of the washing machine going all day. Floors mopped. The drawing Ronja made. The dogs flying over the fields. Our old neighbor chopping wood. The little robin who so often lands on a fence post in our garden.



Thank you.

New secrets revealed. Yay!

It seems like almost every time I wander around in our new (old) house and garden, I find treasures and hidden beauties. It puzzles me that I've not noticed them before, but I tell you, there is a lot of stuff there, and the garden is completely overgrown. The place has been left alone for over ten years, so its botanical diversity is to say the least chaotic and out of control. Very exciting, and with promises of a lot of work to do for us!
So todays discoveries: Cute boxes and yippie: a peony! (The little monkey in the photos is a treasure, but I knew about her from before and she was not found up at the house.)

A midsummer night's garden party.

We defied the gloomy weather and took the sun in our hearts with us into the garden! (At least until the mosquitoes tried to eat us alive.)



Thanks guys, nights like these make me so happy!

Indie!

She's not having it any other way, she is now feeding herself on every meal. My heart breaks a little.
I wave goodbye to the baby, and welcome the toddler with a huge kiss hello!

Arty-farty.

Three times creative Paynes today:

Ronja rushed home from school (her last day in 1st grade!) and took straight to painting - outside of course, like real impressionists do. First thoroughly examining the landscape, then giving her version of it on the canvas. Blue sky, the sun, grass and flowers. Beautiful!

No. 2: Mrs. Payne, making her first quilt. So much fun! So happy! Seams not straight, but who cares. Where's the charm in perfection, anyway?

Last, and least in size but not in significance: The Littlest Monkey, constantly creative, both in how she tidies up our house and in her different hairdo's.

Mr. Payne is the more realist kind, at least today. I guess someone's gotta be that, too.

What to wear?

...could have been the content of my thought bubble in this photo. We are going to a wedding tomorrow, and yes, although we probably are not the chic'est of fashionistas in the village, I have given this some thought and worry lately. Mr. Payne is easy: He has one outfit and will wear it. I, on the other hand, have several.
Anyway. I have landed the outfit, and I'm happy with it. (To any new readers: This is NOT a fashion blog.) So the photo above is lying, I am not bewildered. I am a happy hippie. Looking forward to seeing my two beautiful friends getting married.
It brings me back to this w o n d e r f u l day:


It was all I could have dreamed of, and more. I hope tomorrow will be like that to our dear friends, too. We're ready for a celebration, no doubt!

The first cut.

We're making hay on our fields this year, and a few days ago the first cut was harvested. A bit of a milestone! The grass grew high and beautiful, so we hope the quality of the hay will be equally good. Unfortunately, the harvest in our kitchen garden looks long lost, as the seedlings just won't grow. The soil there is very sandy, so because we didn't mix any compost or manure in, it's almost like planting seeds on the beach. Only the hardy beans and cucumber are coming. Luckily, the greenhouse looks like it's doing its job - the tomatoes and herbs are thriving! So I guess we'll be buying a little more veg in the shop this year than we planned to - but it's all a part of experience, isn't it? You win some and you lose some, and hopefully a little knowledge is picked up on the way.

♥

The best!

Today is a wonderful day, it is the birthday of my hero!
This thought struck me: What or where would I have been now if he hadn't been born? - and gosh that was a terrifying prospect. So I quickly left that thought, and we all went out on a day out in the woods and by the water - fishing, walking, munching & lunching - in short, a solid and sound way to celebrate our Mr. Universe! We made a bet about who would catch the first fish, and you can tell by the pics who won. Como siempre! (She has great fishing luck, that girl. We think it's all about the fishing songs she makes up along the way. Creativity hey!) In our defence, it was the only fish caught today.
The day was rounded off with a visit from my parents who brought cake (as good in-laws do), and then soccer on the lawn. Now: Santana, a slurp of wine and a very chilled out atmosphere.
And, I can tell - a very pleased birthday boy!
Hoping everyone has had a fresh and lovely day off today!

Sharing.

Sometimes, but not very often, I find things on the internet that strike me, like BANG! - into my spine. It's a little bit like reading or seeing me outside of myself, there on the screen. It's really a feeling of kinship. It's strange, but very comforting. I found something like that tonight. So I'll share it with you, this post from "the spirit of the river".

Little one.

Her cheeks are rosy red, her cherub skin is burning, eyes are like glass. She clings to us, falls asleep, wakes up again, sighs. Startles as sleep catches her, awakes with a jolt, cries a little. Then back to sleep. As I put her down in her bed, she grabs my finger with her hand. The grip becomes looser as she drifts back into her feverish dreams, another jolt, she looks up at me sitting by the bed.

I'm right here, baby. You can sleep now.

Wild flowers.

Pure beauty!

Phantom Ronja.

A year ago today.

This photo makes me feel all fuzzy inside. I look so tired, so happy, and so proud. Motherhood like a wave rolling over me, again. There is nothing like it.

Two years ago today.

Inspired!

Me and the girls visited a wonderful new exhibition today. It is in an old barn made into an art space - for kids! This is their second year, and both last summer and this, they have imported exhibitions from Denmark. It is so inspiring and awesome! The kids can touch, climb in, explore, hide in, hear and play in the artwork, and it's mystical, a bit scary, very catchy and just simply an experience out of the ordinary to enter this barn.
And yes, I am proud to say that I have worked on this year's exhibition - I filmed the kids sitting in the trees (they sit there and tell us about dreams they've had). Great fun and a great privilege!
There was one area which was made into a city, with buildings, lights, sounds, and many secret hiding places, rooms, caves and closets to climb into, and there was one completely white, heaven-like room that you had to climb through a small tunnel to get to. Exciting for both big and small.
Greetings from an inspired mum who's gone straight home to plan projects in our little summer milking barn!




Ps: I know the girls look very serious in the photos, but it just goes to show how flabbergasted they were, haha!

Today:

Drank tea and played cards with Ronja, finally got around to painting the second hand Tripp Trapp my mum bought us, discovered new seedlings in the garden, yay! - went for a long walk in the forest with friends (it felt very appropriate to walk to the top of our wood/hill/mountain on Ascension day), had coffee & chocolate, brought the baby pool out and ended the day in a splishy splashy summery way. Rosy cheeks, new bathed babies, cheese sandwiches, bedtime, thank you, it was lovely, all of it.

Sunny afternoon + Freja.