today

in the garden:

in the house:

i meant to buy her an apple tree for her garden...

...as it was her birthday.

instead, i made her linen napkins from the remains of an old sofa cover, printed with some of my hand carved rubber stamps.

a moleskine garden diary, also printed with stamps.

a stamped card;

paper apples.

for now.

she's not lying

it's not just incredible good, but ridiculously simple to make.


my friend mona's homemade chocolate spread took me about ten minutes to make and put on jars (scroll down on her site for english). i see why she lets her 4 yo make it!

tip: you won't need the most amount of butter that she lists, and you won't need to add sugar (ahem).

corner view bergen, norway: coffee...?

i don't drink coffee. i don't think it's good for the body, but that's not why; i just don't like it. i've tried all the varieties, because i realize how great it must be to drink yourself awake (!), but no. and until my husband went to china some years ago and came back with 2 kilos of green tea with jasmin flowers, i didn't drink tea either. he talked me into trying it for a period. as a result, my chronic sinus infection that came every winter, disappered. now i drink green tea every day throughout the cold season, and every time i feel the slightest hint of a cold approaching. it's kept me well for 3 years.

***
EDITED TO ADD:
no, i'm not a dunker and i don't take sugar or anything else with my tea :)
for other corner views around the world:
jane, ladybug-zen, ian, bonnie, esti, sophie, cele, modsquad,caitlin, joyce, ani, kim, a day that is dessert, natsumi, epe, kaylovesvintage, trinsch, c.t.,jeannette, outi, schanett, ritva, dongdong, francesca, state of bliss, jennifer, dana, denise, cabrizette, bohemia girl, dianna, isabelle, amber, a girl in the yellow shoes, mister e, janis, kari, jgy, jenna, skymring, elizabeth, audrey, allison, lise, cate, mon, victoria, crescent moon, erin, otli, ida, caroline, lisa, dorte, kimmie, la lune dans le ciel, nicola, malo, vanessa, britta, virgina, april, rebecca, b, sunnymama, kyndale, samantha, karen, kristina, angelina, dorit, goldensunfamily, sophie, janet, nicki, ruth, mcgillicutty

national constitution day/three things

1: local celebration

2: city celebrations

the 17th of may is the day when all norwegians get quite full of their norwegianness. i've never been able to get that feeling - at least not by these celebratory means. but yesterday was different, as...

3: NORWAY WON THE EUROVISION SONG CONTEST!!
ok, i haven't really been able to get into that thing either, and haven't watched the esc since i was a kid. but now i have kids myself, and whaddayaknow. i was happy to find out that it was still as tacky as it used to be, that the music was still really awful (but let's not forget that this is where abba had their breakthrough with their winner song waterloo), and a bit sad to see the pompousness had lessened. most of all, winning the contest with a performance involving a fiddle and hallingkast (traditional norwegian dancing) the night before the 17th, actually sparked some national pride even in me. so today i was able to sing along with a bulging heart; yes, we do love this country...

if you want to see some really beautiful bunads (national costumes), go here, here, here, here and here.

goose bumps

i just discovered a norwegian singer, ane brun. i've heard of her, but not listened to her music. she has an amazing voice! it always takes me some time to get into a musicians 'thing', so right now i'm listening to her own compositions, sorting impressions. covers are easily reckognised, though, and she does some amazing ones. like 'big in japan' - remember alphaville? well, if you know the original song, be prepared for something entirely different (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIiRXQTsWTo). she makes it sound like a leonard cohen tune. and cyndi lauper's 'true colors' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYdZKEGP7bo) - amazing! when i spotted this pj harvey cover, i was sceptical. harvey is a favourite of mine, and favourites are selfdom done justice to by covers. but this one is truly beautyful. takes my mind off the big celebration tomorrow (norwegian constitution day, meaning i have to fix national costumes either too big or too small, sort through the whole house hunting for dresses, shoes, and other representative clothing. i do hate representative clothing).

of all our hearts

hooray for you on your birthday

we want to congratulate you

we're all standing around you in a circle now

see us marching!

bowing, nodding, curtsying

circling around

dancing for you

hopping, jumping, leaping

wishing you of all our hearts

all good things

tell me; what more can you wish for?

(the norwegian birthday song)

someone had his birthday today. someone had cupcakes in bed, was treated with a massage, was served a delicious dinner, got a present and a note from an aspiring bi-linguistic daughter, and had apple cake with ice cream in the evening.

happy birthday, my love!

(do i spot some grey in that hair?)