So we're in the process of prepping up for a 10 day visit over the easter holiday period which is only two and half weeks away and I currently having feelings of yay and eek. (Yay and eek should be characters from a mid nineties morning breakfast show....). So on the yay side, the ski slopes will be open, there should be plenty of snow on the ground to still frolick in and it will also be the first time we've stayed at the house. On the eek side, it's the first time we've stayed at the house and it's the first time we've stayed at the house!
Now your probably thinking....and? so what? (Good point in fairness but as ive committed to blog writing I have to keep it going plus it gets better, I promise (in my opinion)).
Well on the last work weekend of light and heating fitting I, at least made the house habitable to some extent, albeit the sanitary arrangements are some what below par to say the least, with a composting loo in the barn and running water courtesy of Imsdal (Norway's equivalent of Volvic but with cooler bottles). Which reminds me to talk about pants.....
So before I get back to the point in hand, one of Norways great little traits is its penchant for Pant. Pant I hear you ask? That's right Pant...the fact that you when you buy a drink in a plastic bottle you pay a surcharge (pant) and then when you take it back to the recycling machine you get your Pant back in the form of a printed receipt which is effectively a money off voucher from your next shop - genius! And of course the best thing if you're a kid is that if your parents save up your bottles and do them a in one go then there's usually enough pant for sweetie buying - kind of like a pants for sweets deal - oops did I really just write that because that sounds so very dodgy! Anyhow the point I was trying to make is that in Norway they actively (by charging) encourage good recycling practice and make the bottles more durable, but over here we stuff them in a green plastic tubs in our kitchen cupboards and then leave them in the alley where a large lorry drives up and collects them etc etc. ( good us of taxpayer money ...Hmmm) anyhow enough of pants. Where the hell was I ...
So back to habitable houses....one of things I'm trying to sort out is the basic cooking arrangements. Other than camping stove we have and log burners. So I've been looking into getting a cooker or even pushing the boat out and starting to plan out the kitchen. So I found an online appliance company, found a cooker and vent hood and then embarked on looking at deliveries and placing orders and here is where my problems started. The actual delivery dates were fairly well set ( Thursday's in our neck of the woods) but I suddenly remembered what about bridge? If you've ever watched grand designs and thought 'stupid fools' why didn't they think of that then be prepared for de Ja vu.....because whilst having the railway line and station to the village is great and provides us with access to the main line between Oslo and Trondheim it comes at a price, and in our case the price is the low bridge that splits our road from the the main road....oh and yes means lorry access is restricted -doh (if déjà vu is hitting then quite right). We did realise it was there but hadn't fully comprehended the full extent of the problem until the cooker company said they could meet us in the village and we could then drive the stuff up to the house! Now in the case of a cooker that that might be fine but thinking if we ever need a cement mixer then I'm not sure the hires cars boot is the best form of secondary transport....... looks like I might need to buy a tractor after all....
On a further eek point kath and I are sooooo excited to be welcoming our first guests in the summer for a short week of glamping at the house (just without the the glam bit ...we have warned them...so it's just ping) and whilst when I started to write this I had thought Broadsword calling Danny boy was from a Bridge Too Far (which if you've managed to stay with me so far would have made sense ) it is of course from 'Where Eagles dare' (or where Eagles date as my autocorrect churned out which is surely going to make a great film as well) and is the great call signs Richard Burton uses when he needs help from his colleagues back home..........so Edd if your reading this -you guys enjoy your stay with us in the summer ;)
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