gloomy gardens

A visit to a japanese garden a couple of weeks ago.
Right before spring bursts.
My silly absence is starting to bother me.

winter melody

we have never had such a winter before. we've had glistening snow, blue skies, sun and freezing cold since before yule. a few days ago, my mother had -27 C (-17 F - is that right? i tried several converters, but they all say the same). she lives a 15 minute drive from us. We haven't had it that cold, but we've been down to -13 C (9 F). the coldest temperature measured so far this year in norway is not from the north, but from the eastern part; -41 C (my converter says -41,8 F, and that has to be wrong! someone?).

so we keep on sledding. and others keep on skiing. after all, that's what we norwegians do, you know :)

(btw, did the title of this post make you too think of donna summer?)

explosive inside

in spite of an ever present, smiling, calm buddha, holidays spent inside tend to get a bit explosive. so we kept on sledding. that's the beauty of owning a car; you can actually go on a sledding tour to seek out the best hills.

new years eve

just in time for the fireworks, we took our neighbourhood kid with us and went sledding our way into the new year, until 1.30 in the morning. i can't imagine a more fun way to greet the new year. hope you had a good one too!

krohnegården

forgotten post from earlier this summer. or should i say; forgotten post from the summer. now it's been raining for a month and fall is already here. we're planning to do something about that, though.

digging for earthnuts. on our first 'date' (we don't really 'date' in norway), my husband and i went for a mountain hike and he showed me how to find earthnuts in this very field.

we took our kids back to the lake we used to live nearby when our son was born. i don't think i've ever walked around this lake without at least one of our two dogs accompanying, and our cat following behind us. it was a bit sentimental to be there, since they're all dead from old age now. we plan to do something about that, too.

hm, raise the dead, turn the season?

to be continued....

corner view bergen, norway: places of reflection

the weather cooled down, we even had some rain. the earth was screaming for it!

this week's corner view theme is places of reflection, places to just be...
for me, that is the great outdoors, all by myself. and it is a luxury i no longer have.
my husband nicknamed me 'the librarian' very early in our career as a couple, and yes, i am an introvert who needs more quiet and time to think than most people (and now you know how we see the stereotypical librarian!). i need to be left alone, to not be disturbed, to be able to finnish my thoughts and have a sense of being at home in myself.
add to that the hilarious fact that i've been blessed with a very high spirited family - husband, son, daughter, the whole bunch - they're all very talkative and fond of music turned up real high - and the obvious reveals itself: there's no way i can think, contemplate, reflect or 'just be' around these guys. not in the sense that i used too, anyway - i've had to rethink the whole concept. and there's no way around it: in these busy years of my life i don't manage to both spend time outdoors with my family and tend to my own needs for contemplation and communication with nature.
so i have periods of time where i stay up late instead.
i go outside on the verandah and soak up the solitude in that last precious hour when everyone else is asleep an no one can disturb my thoughts, or lack thereof.

and this is why i have pictures of our sunsets and sunrises all in the hours between 00.00 and 04.30 a.m...


p.s. be sure to check out the gift sertificate in my previous post!


other places of reflection 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, francesca, state of bliss, jennifer, dana, denise, cabrizette, bohemia girl, dianna, isabelle, amber, a girl in the yellow shoes, mister e, janis, kari, jgy, skymring, elizabeth, audrey, allison, lise, cate, mon, victoria, crescent moon, erin, otli, amy, ida, caroline, lisa, dorte, kimmie, la lune dans le ciel, nicola, malo, vanessa, britta, virgina, april, b, kyndale samantha, karen, kristina, dorit, goldensunfamily, sophie, janet, mcgillicutty, desiree, di, travelingmama, aimee, sunnymama, amanda, ali, jenell, guusje, britta, juanita, pamela, inna, daan, myrtille, cris, ibb, susi, jodi, lily, gillian, jeanette, athena, pienduzz, latisha, clairette, satsuki

a visit up the hill - and a gift certificate for you

this is where she lives...

my friend lives up here on this hill. she bought the house when it was just a small cottage without a bathroom and toilet, and has rebuilt it into quite a palace. there's no road up to this house, only a steep forest path. she actually gave birth to her daughter up here, before it was rebuilt!

on the way up, we were greeted by a deer and her child.
oh, and these cuddling slugs.

so - on to the mystery gift certificate:

i was contacted by a sweet lady at whoogaboots, who wants to give you all a gift sertificate worth 30 dollars to use at the whoogaboots store.
All you need to do is visit their website and enter the code EARTHANDLI into the cart. they ship to all countries and there are no conditions, but the certificate will expire in two months. so if you fancy a pair of genuine ugg boots, made from merino sheepskin, to wear both in the summer as in the winter - head on over!

corner view bergen, norway: staple foods

sorry i'm so late, but i've been a bit sick today. feeling better now, although 'food' isn't really a high priority right now...
if you ask for the most typical food here nowadays, the answer will probably - and sadly - be this:

yup, frozen pizza.
if you ask for traditional food from western norway, you might regret you asked. if you're sqeemish, don't scroll down, or you might feel a bit sick yourself.
although eating this particular dish is mainly kept for enthusiasts (and some brave tourists), smalahove is probably the one thing you'll hear mentioned most often when asking about western norwegian traditional food. it scares the shit out of foreigners and most norwegians too. smalahove, - literally 'sheeps head', is an old tradition from these parts of norway, from back when one had to be frugal to survive. formerly a poor man's food, this is today considered a delicacy.

i picked the least scary picture. just go ahead, google it, and enjoy the photos of it in various stages of being eaten. like, when there's nothing left on the plate but the scull and the teeth.
smalahove is usually eaten in the months before christmas, and yes, you eat everything. including the eyeballs. for some, eating this has become some sort of test to show how brave you are. but i think this is limited to your first try, as most people discover that it's actually just salty lambs meat and quite good. perhaps except for the eyballs. i wouldn't know, i've never tried it and i'm not particularly tempted!
(at least, i was decent enough to wait till you'd had your breakfast :) )