Well my dears, what can I say! Yes, you heard it right! Now, instead of gypsies we are Vikings! Wait, no! We're still gypsies, only we now have a viking stationed in our garage! Does that make sense? Of course, I’m only referring to our new 2018 Forest River VIKING 17RD trailer, that is! And I’m super-duper excited! So excited, in fact, that right after we brought our new travel trailer home on Friday, we packed everything up and went out on our first Viking trip regardless of weather, the cold and the amount of rain we got over the weekend.

Just in case you don’ know it (which I much doubt, of course), the Vikings were seafaring Scandinavians engaged in exploring, raiding and trading in waters and lands outside of Scandinavia from the eighth to eleventh centuries. Now, we’re not Scandies by any means, but we are definitely people engaged in exploring, searching, storming in and invading all sorts of open spaces surrounded by abundant nature where we can roam freely and plunge for a while! 

So, if that applies, then we’re vikings too! But really, it all comes to only one word: Camping! Or Glamping! Because when it comes to camping, I much rather go glamping. It suits my personality so much better you know! So come on in, let me show you around!

This is our cozy little room now. I have to be careful how I decorated it thought, because the Fisherman is a minimalist who prefers the unadorned, but comfortable things, and you know me… I love pillows and veils and pretty fabrics and all sorts of romantic looking pretty things, such as this chandelier. Isn’t it cute!

And this lovely pendant heart. I love it so much! Both, the chandelier and pendant have to be taken down every night when sleeping here, because the Fisherman is a funny-grumpy old fisherman who won’t stand having things jingling or hanging too low over his head, or too many pillows on his bed or this many gypsy veils here and there, just like I love. So I rather not provoke him, in case I might have to end up sleeping with an Imp!

I miss having two bedrooms where I can play and decorate, but we now have acquired an entire bathroom with a shower, and toilet and all, and that’s an improvement.

I want to cover all walls in our little bedroom and thus I tried different methods and different things this weekend to see what I like better... I tried some lace curtains, a mandala, then some longer, wider white curtains, and still can't decide what I like. Wallpaper maybe? I didn't want to use a lot of color this time, and tended towards a more subtle more sophisticated kind of a room. So for now is mainly neutrals in here...

I haven't done much in this area... and don't know if I want to over decorate it either, because I love that clear large window, opened and letting in all that light. I was going to wallpaper the table, then, decided for a tablecloth instead, some pillows to match and large globe fairy lights.

Love these lights so much and the soothing romantic light it shed at night, that I’m getting more for this area, and for our room too. I can already hear the Fisherman protesting because there’s too many things in the way or because his head got caught in the cords and so on… but I just don’t care! More lights will be! Hehe!

I was thinking of a proper name to call our new trailer and for a moment thought about naming it Lagertha, who was, according to legend, a Viking shieldmaiden and ruler from what is now Norway, and the onetime wife of the famous Viking Ragnar Lodbrok, but it wasn’t entirely ‘me’. I wanted something more personal, so I came out with “Cielo Vikingo”, which means “Viking Sky” still gypsy, still me and still the model of our new travel trailer:

Year: 2018

Make: Forest River

Model: Viking 17RD

Class: Travel Trailer

DESRIPTION: 

The 17RD layout offers a beautiful rear dinette surrounded by windows. The Queen bed is located in the front end of the trailer. The bed lifts for a large storage area. The kitchen is to the left with a single sink, two stove burners, microwave with range hood, and refrigerator. The bathroom has a corner shower and toilet. Plenty of storage. 

Unit Options: This trailer has a 13,500 BTU Roof Mount Air Conditioner, furnace, 6 gallon water heater with direct spark ignite (DSI), water tank monitor panel, LED lights, Electric awning, Microwave with range hood, 2 burner cook-top, 6 cubic refrigerator, TV Antenna, Stereo with outdoor speakers, Outside Shower, Aluminium wheels, spare tire and carrier.

So that's what our new home on wheels looks for now, but I know it will evolve soon!

Von Voyages!

In the gypsy caravan

Goodbye to our gypsy caravan,  Bella Rosa! 

We'll always remember you!

Oh Winter, what can I say!  Yes, my dears, it looks like Mrs. Winter has decided to prolong her stay around here—a little bit longer, a little bit bitter, a little bit meaner, too.  If you pay attention to details and what’s going on around you, you may even see her quietly strolling the garden; the twenty-five foot taffeta train of her winter white gown sweeping off the garden’s floors, and dragging dead leaves and posthumous snows as she moves along. Oh yes, it snowed again a little bit last night and it will continued on snowing today too!

And thus, is has been extra cold around here again, and the sky is steel gray and sunless and the garden is sleeping.  As you can understand, I had to stop my work out there and go back to my usual hibernating mode, and flannel sheets, and flannel nightgowns, and more hot coffee, and pretty coffee mugs. One of my favorite things to do on a winter day is going upstairs to my gypsy room and stay there as long as I can—reading, browsing over my collection of home and garden books and magazines, decorating, changing things around, creating, and so on and on… 

I had always thought that the round table in our theater room was too big and too out of place with the overall atmosphere of the space. It made the room looked too crowded and updated, so I took it out of there and it is now sitting here in my gypsy room—covered under a gypsy mandala to follow the rules here, of course!

This room is not only my gypsy room, you know!  It is also the backstage and changing room of the girls and the napping room of a certain Fisherman!  We all love it here!

It is sometimes my prayer room too, and the room where one of the most extraordinary miracles of my life happened a while back, in a time when I desperately needed God's reaffirmation.  You can read all about it here!

It is so peaceful here, so colorful and cozy! 

The geraniums by the window, are blooming!

I love my gypsy room, and one thing that this happy place has helped me discover is that my soul is drawn to the color orange. Whatever it is when it comes to color, I always chose orange. I’m attracted by the color orange and I am prone to choose it over any other color. I did a little research the other day on something called “color psychology”, or what our favorite colors have to say about our personalities and boy it truly described me!  

This is what I found out about the color orange:   

Orange, the blend of red and yellow, is a mixture of the energy associated with red and the happiness associated with yellow. Orange is associated with meanings of joy, warmth, heat, sunshine, enthusiasm, creativity, success, encouragement, change, determination, health, stimulation, happiness, fun, enjoyment, balance, sexuality, freedom, expression, and fascination.

Orange is the color of joy and creativity. Orange promotes a sense of general wellness and emotional energy that should be shared, such as compassion, passion, and warmth. Orange will help a person recover from disappointments, a wounded heart, or a blow to one’s pride.

The meaning of the color orange is stimulating, vibrant, and flamboyant. While made up of red and yellow, it carries less aggression and fierceness than the color red due to its combination with the calming color yellow.

Studies show that the orange color can create physical effects such as increased hunger, heightened sense of activity, increased socialization, boost in aspiration, stimulated mental activity, increased oxygen supply to the brain, increased contentment, and enhanced assurance. Orange also helps aid decision making, and enhances happiness, confidence, and understanding.

The color orange is a very hot color and often provides the sensation of heat. While orange is a common color associated with summer and the hot sun, often associated with being a main color of harvest and autumn due to the changing color of the leaves and pumpkins.

While orange does stimulate the appetite, it is a common color found in citrus fruit and is often associated with Vitamin C and a healthy diet. Orange is a popular color in restaurants to encourage the feeling of hunger and contentment.

The color orange has very high visibility and is often used to gain attention. It still gets your message noticed without the bold, in-your-face presence that the color red has.