things I like lately

part of last year's minimal Christmas decoration | Agfa Precisa 100, Canon EOS 500N

- all things Christmas have started popping up in the blogs I read, on the news and in the shops I visit, and I'm trying my best to embrace it (just one month left! really?!)

- planning to do most of my Christmas shopping online this year, for example here

- deciding against gifts for Sara's advent calendar; instead I'm planning to come up with 24 nice little things we can do together in the days leading up to Christmas Eve

- this post by Anaruh/Listebloggen

- mini brownies from United Bakeries

- my funny eye/famapa's photos

- the new design of the Norwegian passport gets international praise - it looks gorgeous, doesn't it?!

- finishing a period of supervised field experiences at a local high school - one less thing on the agenda (until late January)

- looking forward to trying Ina's recipe for pulled pork

- watching Aristocats with Sara

- having a reason to drink Champagne tonight 

- - -

Things I don't like lately

- headaches

- too little sleep

- Sara being under the weather 

- cold chocolate (like when chocolate has been in the fridge)

- the amount of press professional athletes get (too much sports news when I drive to work in the morning) 

- a weekend ahead with exam writing (deadline Wednesday) 

- - -

Time to choose a winner of the giveaway! I asked my mother (who is sitting next to me on the sofa watching "Nytt på nytt") to say a random number between one and 21 (which is the total number of comments). She said nine which is Anaruh's comment. Congratulations A! Send meg en mail med adressen din, så skal jeg sense deg boken i løpet av uken.  

randoms, on film

winter 13/14 | Agfa Precisa 100, Canon EOS 500N

Mallorca on film, part X

the magical Cala Deia | Fuji Velvia 50 and Kodak Portra 160, Canon EOS 500N

our house renovation, week 11

Lots of progress in the basement suite. Paint, floor and bathroom tiles are done. Electricity is almost done. Bathroom units and the kitchen are coming up next week. Not long now until it's completely finished! 

Finding the right position of our terrace. 

Some decisions need to happen fast - like where the new window goes. So whilst I was away for studies at Stord, I tried my best to draw a little sketch (not too sure about my house drawing skills...), sent it to Sølve and then - in-between classes - explained/discussed it all on the phone. 

Voilà! New bedroom windows! Very happy with how the windows give the house a more modern look. (See photos of the house before here, here and here.)

And new livingroom windows (see before photo here). They have the same look as the new bedroom windows. 

The demolition phase of the ground floor is on. We are adjusting the floor plan of the bedrooms to make all three rooms as perfect as can be.

The walls by the huge window are coming along.

New windows to the left and at the far end of the room. 

Love finding traces of old life during the demolition phase!

Basement livingroom progress

No staircase yet though

Also some progress in the area behind the house - it involved moving around a few tons of rock...

things I like lately

from the archives; Tuscany 2011 | Fuji Pro 160S, Olympus mju

I almost finished this post on Friday, but got distracted and didn't get a chance to post it. So here you are, a things I like lately list on a Monday. 

- gin tonic on a Saturday night

- sometimes an ice cold Coca Cola Zero hits just the right spot

- this post by love and lemons

- the new Øyeblikk prints from Scandinavian Surface

- noticing my new habit of always filling gas and paying bills on Sundays

- Natalie's new planting calendar

- researching "industrial farmhouse kitchens"

- dinner date with Sara at IKEA

- dinner at Brygga 11 with my fellow PGCE students

- being super inspired after a fantastic didactic class

- feeling inspired to write my pedagogics exam

- driving from Leirvik to Åkrahamn on Friday in beautiful morning light

- my father-in-law's freshly made orange juice

- checking big tasks off my to do list 

- Siliana Salami (salami with Italian herbs), Philadelphia cream cheese and cherry tomatoes on my packed lunch sandwich (pretty much) every day

- leftover pasta salad for lunch (whole grain fusilli, salami, chicken, basil pesto, cherry tomato, arugula) 

- a student that reminds me a lot of one of my old friend from Bergen - brings back heaps of good memories 

- leftover sweet buns from 9th grade cooking class - instant happiness in the teachers' lunch room 

- handwritten notes - whole (Moleskine) books full of them 

- Sara is really into learning to hop on one foot 

- Sara sings songs from Hakkebakkeskolen all day long - brings back childhood memories from when I was into this story and songs 

- a LOT of progress in the house 

- even more sweet, happy comments on the giveaway post - which reminds me I have totally forgotten to pick a winner - I'll pick one later this week 

- - -

things I don't like lately

- an overwhelming to do list 

- having little control of my current stress levels 

- being very, very sleepy

- Vigdis is closing down her blog

Thais shoots film

Why do you shoot film, Thais?

I think the question should be "why not to shoot film?"

What I love most about film photography is that feeling of putting a great moment in a jar and later remind everything about it, when you come back from the lab: "This day was so fun" with a lovely smile upon your face. I can even recall smells. And it doesn't happen on digital. First because you can immediately see the result, so you lose the mistery in it, and also because, as much as we try, it doesn't have the texture, the tones, the contrasts and mostly the depth as film does. There's no surprise. Film has a sense of the human I don't think we find yet in digital. The perfect imperfection.

As a professional photographer, I still use a lot of digital on my work. Sometimes because of the "quickness" (specially in photojournalism), sometimes because of the "convenience" (can't imagine doing a whole wedding on film, although I'm up for the challenge). But film photography keeps me inspired. It's my way to freeze time.

You can see more of Thais' photos on her blog and Flickr. 

Mallorca on film, part IX

Cala Torta | Fuji Velvia 50, Canon EOS 500N