Christmas in concrete

Yes I know, I usually think of concrete with garden and park decorations. And yes, there the benches and tables are perfect! But living in Sweden the garden has only a short season and then we move inside. These smaller objets are my best sellers at Christmas time. Definitely an orginal Christmas present or decoration!




Merry Christmas to all! God Jul!

Pepparkaks bak

Baka baka kaka......vem ska kaka smaka? Eller deg!

Jo, det inte bara betong man gör! Här bakas det för fullt ös.........När man är många och det finns mycket glögg, det är hur enkelt som helst!

Not as gray....

One way to light up the grayness! Ok, concrete is gray too but is not the same!
This is a bowl that I made that wasn't so nice on the inside so I turned it over and drilled a much of holes and voila! A lamp!

It is not as gray today as the frost lightens things up a bit. Wonderful dinner last night at Seb and Emilys. It is such a nice apartment. Now to get ready for this afternoons pepparkaks bak and feed them after all the work of rolling out the dough and decorating.

This is an experiment in making a sphere. I think the top should be more open, but was thinking of using it as a herb planter. Drilling holes and planting it like a strawberry planter. Maybe. It has to rest outside all winter and then I will decide.

Herresta ladan

Summer flowers! Nice to think about when it is gray,gray ,gray!! I do hope we get some winter soon because this gray stuff is too depressing. It is acutually good to go to work and get some light therapy.

Still here!

Still no water pouring out his mouth!

Finally the data is over it's virus and I actually bought batteries for my camera! I usually use rechargable but for some reason they wouldn't charge. I can't believe that it is already St. Nikolaus day and that means Christmas is just around the corner! But first birthdays! Today we celebrate Emily who is 21 and farbro Roland who is 85! And the kalas is at Emily's which means I don't have to clean the house!(still have to do the food, tho, Em is an excellent cook but this is my present to her and Seb-who can eat leftovers all week!)

I just had to put in this picture of a display we had at Herresta! When we have courses we usually have lots of things on display to give ideas of what you can make in concrete.That was in May but all the candles are lite on the adventsljusstake! I'm looking forward to springs and more courses!

door county concrete

Just had to try making a bird bath when I was in Door County. It is a little too shallow so probably better as a bird feeder, but the casting of mix on netting was fun!

Next time I'll try with a rhubarb leaf as it is easier to get a deeper bowl form than with hosta leaves. But you take and use when you can find in the garden, and in the recycle pile!

concrete projects for the garden

Många bord som jag gjorde när jag hade en veckas semester i Maj.


A few of the tables I made when I had a week off in May. Fun to make!

This big rhubarb leaf seems to be what everybody wants when it comes to "concrete in the garden" It has another week of curing before it should be lifted or moved around too much.

Made this bench out of concrete out at Vätö. The rhubarb leaf is resting on it and is almost finished.(needs to be cured for another week) The bench was a lot harder and heavier than I thought so I don't know how many of those I will make. Nice to have a resting place in the garden tho.

betong krukor

When mom and dad lived in California a few years, they had color bowls on their balcony. They were incredible! So now I'm trying to make my own. In this picture it kinda looks like the Olympic rings. Maybe I should try planting flowers in those colors? Forget it, black flowers!? The weather is still fantastic, warm and sunny day time and a little coolrer at night. Off to Vätö!

lär dig att gjuta betong bord!

jepp, these are some of the tables I've made getting ready for the summer season of sitting outside and having a drink on a table close by! Our deck at Vätö is pretty big and everybody sits close to a table this way. Color bowls in the background, I'll have to take another picture of those one of these days! Cheers for summer!!!

For your garden?

Yeah, the hole in the mouth is supposed to be there! I'm looking all over for a pump that is solar powered. The electric ones seem so big. And I saw a battery powered online but not in Sweden. The tub/bowl that the lion will rest on is still curing. I think I got the wrong kind of sand this time, or that I have too much sand compared to cement mix. I read some where that every time you try a new mixture you should write down on note cards the amounts so that is easier the next time to know what was good or bad. Good advice, I should try it some time! Still moving Emily out, the stuff at home now is probably stuff she doesn't want but.......her barbies and beaniebabies are going after her!!

Have lots of plants to put in the garden. I don't know why I ordered, bored at work and it was fun to order online from odla.nu and now all of a sudden theres this big box on my doorstep and I have to find room for it!

Herresta Lada

A sneak preview of our display out at Herresta! Agneta and I were out there this afternoon and set up a display of our stuff that we have for inspiration. (And forsale....) Marita has made it soooo nice there. www.herrestalada.se We have our courses there and eat great food!(and buy neat stuff in the shop) If you are the area (Sigtuna) you should try to go by there.

Spring spring

Yeah the spring cleaning is in process. In the garden mainly, who wants to be inside when the sun is shining? Time is sign up for our courses learning to make concrete for the garden out in Odensala.

April

Finally the weather is spring like. That means sun one minute and rain or snow the next. Time to throw out the Christmas flowers and in with the spring ones. Getting things ready for our display at Herresta.

Glad Påsk!

I realize that there is no way I'm going to do any more updating before Easter so, Happy Easter! This is on the deck at Vätö and hopefully will not blow away(probably just get rained on) Heart table and vase/candle holder in concrete. I realize that even with a good camera it is not that easy to take good pictures!

Spring cleaning!

We have green grass at Vätö! Last year or maybe two years ago there was so much snow we had to really shovel away.

Cleaning out bushes and leaves at Vätö and skraped off old leaves from the first step to the patio. I put that stepping stone there 4 years ago! Needs some new paint. The smell of spring is in the year and really excited about gardening.(As always this time of the year and then when the weather really gets nice there's too much other fun stuff to do and not much happens on the gardening front...........)

"vinter studio"

Like I said the guest room will never be the same! My sister said now you have a winter studio but it is impossible to work there! It is on my list to tidy up of course but what to do? I need all the molds at one time or another. I save other plastic forms for our courses out at Herresta, which will be in May. Dates have been set for the 10,11, 17 and 18th of May! And the 17th is already full! (a strange way for Norwegians to celebrate their indepence day!)

betong blom bord

I forgot to put in a picture of the table by itself. It is made of concrete of course! I was thinking of making another little ducky today but I have such a bad cold, can't think of doing anything. Don't have any energy at all. Time for another cup of tea.

OK, I know that I'm not been doing this blog as often as I should but it has been too depressing to even think about writing. January blues have continued on into February. Today is a super nice day and we see the SUN! How about that, and the days are getting lighter even if it still seems a long time until spring. I even took my concrete duck out for a sunbath! It feels nice and peaceful with just one kid home and that one is only into "wow", so it is quiet! ET is at volleyball as usual and MT at bandy.

The ducky is a new table I made(ok, the guest room will never be the same again, so any guests that come to visit will have to stay out at Vätö)

Here we can sit and wait for spring! It has rained so much here in the Stockholm area, the mushrooms are really growing. This is the warmest winter on record since they started keeping track of stuff like that instead of just talking about it.(over 250 years!)

2008

I Can it get grayer? It is January gray,grey gray!
Since we are still snowless(well there was some around New Years) I took a picture of a table I made last year. I had to brush off some leaves, but other than that concrete it good stuff to have outside all winter long. Think spring!