Let it go.....

I can't believe in 4 years we've managed to avoid any reference to Frozen in any of our posts, but as we prep for another weekend away in a few weeks time, without the kids, (yippeeee....or alternatively .....shame.......nah let's stick with yippee ) we are becoming aware of the rapidly dropping temperature back in Norway.

I got a quick update today on work progress and it's a bit too cold to work. Too cold I hear you say! But then I checked the weather and sure enough it's -25 at the moment so I don't blame them....Especially as the heating isn't on! 

I got sent some great (if not rather scarey ) photos of the inside of the house all frozen (yes I did say inside) but this one is my favourite as not only does it frame the neighbours stabbur (small style of barn ) beautifully, but it looks like Elsa has touched the window pane. Beautiful ;) ...now more importantly where the hell are my thermals! 

Ps. I'm pretty sure that at one point in the past i did mention that the church in Røros was the inspiration for the church in Frozen.....no? Well if i didn't, it was,....sorry.....just let it go....and cue the music....

....it's chriiiiiiiistmas...( to be said in a holder stylee)

Well we've just returned from our final weekend before christmas in Norway. (Well just over a week ago now) Our original plan was to get the house 'civilised' by christmas this year and we're not far off!

I no longer have roof envy (yes that is a proper condition....google it ;) ), the house is once again solid thanks to new timber floor beams and more importantly foundations, and we actually have bedrooms at last! When we first looked at the house we spent quite a lot of time working out how to house a bathroom and then how to get bedrooms into the existing floor plan without loosing the original. But the new layout means we can now house our family easily and the house can also be adapted for guests and when we get the en-suite in place, also means that we will have a great master suite (for us most of the time) but for guests when required. Hurrah :) 

Despite being involved in designing and commissioning building work for the last 20 years in the UK, the last year has been quite an eye opener. From the simple things like realising that dishwashers get plumbed in via the kitchen tap with a special shut off valve on the tap (trust me when/if you travel in Norway you will see this! -  it flummoxed me for years what the switch on the tap did!), that you can't just convert a room into a bathroom (you have to use membranes to protect the wall and floor structure before you tile & vinyl) ......although i recently found out that they recommend this in the UK as well, that you have a little heat sensor under your cooker hood that shuts the power off to the cooker if it gets too hot, so you don't forget about pans unattended! 

I know, I guess you had to be there ...but very important non the less! 

So Christmas is upon us we're not quite there yet and poo ing in the barn is ongoing ( I will miss it when it's gone, although I'll secretly still use it as it's the one place I take a poo in quiet! If you have kids you'll understand!)

Anyhow, thank you to all the people, old friends, new friends, new neighbours,  family (old and new), Magnus and his team of carpenters, John and his masons, Kjetil ( plumber and snow patrol rescuer) , Jan and Ove (electricians), structural engineers ( mr b) and anyone else who made the last year possible. 

Finally the pieces of the jigsaw are starting to fall into place....

God Jul. 

One final thought....what is actually in jul brus! Tastes good, but if any Norwegians actually read this then please enlighten us :) 

Turbulence

Ned and I were chatting the other day about flying. He was very excited and told me his favourite bit about flying is "where the plane goes up and our heads go back". Realisation dawning, I said "You mean take off?". "Yes mummy, and the bit where the plane goes up and down and up and down" (complete with actions!).

Well on our latest trip he certainly got his wish! As the plane started its decent into Trondheim airport, we hit turbulence and side winds; the lady next to me was looking scared; I grabbed onto the armrest; small children were crying, but from the other side of the aisle there came giggling and whoops of joy from Ned.

Trust....

I started drafting this post about a year ago but never finished it.....however because of some of the things which have occurred/ are occurring in our local community recently, I felt compelled to finish it off!

We travelled to western Norway back in 2013 for a big summer expedition with the kids for my 40th birthday and despite feeling a little under the weather I was adamant that we needed to visit a place called Hoddevik (one of Norway's well known surf spots). There was one particular image which was embedded on my mind, which was of the name sign to the village perched high up on the mountain road that eventually dropped down to see level along a switch backed single track road.

The entire journey just to get to that sign post had been pretty epic, a 2.5 hour drive from the summer ski area of Stryn along some insane roads, complete with one ferry crossing and then finally arriving at this amazing vista.

As we dropped down into the village there was even a surf shop/ B&B which i hadn't even imagined and the beach, of course (and quite rightly so) was pretty deserted. There were a couple of surfers playing in the small swell, an old beaten up camper van and a tent, few picnic tables, the skeletons of some old boats and it was heaven! It was how I'd always imagined it, desolate and isolated by english standards, but actually quite inhabited by west coast Norwegian standards!

We pulled up at the only beach car park, albeit you could park on the road and also along the harbour if you needed to. The car park had direct access to the surf, a couple of people were camping in it, there was a toilet block with some showers and some brick made bbq areas where you could light the obligatory fire (moreover to warm you up when you got of the water, we were there in summer and there was a still bite in the wind and the sea was pretty chilly!)

We spent a good few hours there and when we came to leave, Kath pointed me to a little timber kiosk, no bigger then the sort of things people in the uk sell flowers and eggs by the side of the road. In it was a pad, a pen, an enclosed post box and a sign - we had no idea what it was or what it said. At the time we thought no more of it and carried on our merry way none the wiser.

Peddle forward a couple of years to last October and we were scouting out the mountains up around Hessdalen where we had been told about this amazing toll road leading up to the mountain lake and that we had to take it.

At the entrance to the toll road was another of these said kiosks, except this time with the luxury of 2 years of being slightly more fluent (ahem .....its all relative...) in Norwegian and by association, i.e its a toll road, ergo you probably need to pay, we figured it out.

So the poster has prices on for the use of the toll road / car park - it's a single rate for the day (which is really cheap or you can buy a week, month or annual pass) BUT here's the best thing........ you write your registration number on a piece of paper and pop that and your payment into an envelope and post it into the letter box! There's no CCTV, no man in the booth, no checking, it's all based on trust. On the toll road at Hessdalen there also composting toilets (i.e maintenance free), little shelters to have fires in which often people leave candles, sticks, matches and in one even some kids toys! (I guess the local school use it?)

Can you imagine that happening in the UK!!!.....I must one day also tell the story of the honesty bar at Fagerness airport! - yep that's right folks at an airport there is tea, coffee, snacks and other drinks and when you take one you just put your money in tin... Exeter airport take note!

So this is a public apology to owner of the Hoddevik car park, but when i return I will put in double to make up for my oversight. 

So how does this relate to our community situation, well maybe we should try the trust box out - see how it works at Saunton or other beach car parks...........what do you think?

Also, as an aside, at one toll booth leading up to Killingdal there was a magpie lying at the base of the booth.... I later found out that in Norway you get paid for shooting magpies as they are considered vermin, so maybe the last person forget his wallet, but luckily for him remembered his rifle............

Tåke!

This word means fog in Norwegian.  I don't like fog. 

We learnt all about fog last week, and the impact fog can have on flights.  We weren't the only ones, most of the flights to the South East of England (and Amsterdam) were delayed by the fog.

We arrived a the airport, went straight through to the departure area to wait, and noticed that the flight to Amsterdam was delayed. The kids played, and we caught up with social media & emails as one does these days. Ah, the bliss we felt, not knowing how much the fog was going to distrupt our best laid plans.

Our flight was called, and we all trooped off through passport control and into the departure gate to wait for boarding. We waited a bit more, and a little while longer before being told that there was a 3 hour delay due to fog at Gatwick. Had that happened in the UK, I think the reaction of the passengers would have been different. We politely listened to the rest of the announcement, and Norwegian Air offered us all meal vouchers - could you imagine one of the other budget airlines voluntarily offering meal vouchers? (Turned out to be about £35 worth of meal vouchers too!)

Now, the flight normally leaves at 6pm and arrives at 7.30pm and there are usually lots of children on the flight home.  This time was no exception, so after some food, Jim put a DVD on the laptop and got all the kids to watch.  Other parents shared snacks and the atmosphere was actually quite relaxed - the kids were happy and occupied.

Eventually the flight was called and we departed at 10pm.  To be honest the flight was actually really smooth, apart from the landing where we literally came out of the fog and landed with a bit of a bump. With no hold bags, we were through passport control and customs and back at the van by midnight with minimal pushing and shoving to get on the bus to the car park; I have sharp little elbows!

Now, I was due back at work at 9am Monday morning, but Jim had the day off work, so the deal was he would sleep on the flight; I would sleep on the drive home. Thanks to the fog, I was required to stay awake (eventfully permitted to have 3 x 20 minute naps, 1 on the m4, 1 on the m5 and the last one on the link road back to foggy North Devon. Although the last nap might have been a little bit longer than the regulation 20 minutes......)  The kids were brilliant and slept all the way home, woke briefly to be put into bed and slept until 7.30.  Jim and I finally fell into bed at 4.30 before getting up at 7. 

And you know what? We all made it to school, nursery and work on time, dressed and with everything we should have had. 

Relaxed

I'm not going to say it too loud, but I think we're relaxed.

It all started when we had dinner at Gatwick. We went somewhere different where the atmosphere was less frantic that the pub we normally go to. We had a window seat so the kids could use their free binoculars to look at the planes (although not terribly useful in the dark).  There was enough time for duty free shopping and for the kids to have a lovely time in the play zone. Oh and Jim managed a nap too!

There was a slight hiccup on the flight as we hit some nasty turbulence, but the kids don't know that it might be something to be scared of, so giggled like maniac and said it was like going through jelly.  

We had some chores to do before getting here, and even though the roof isn't finished, the kids rooms aren't quite finished, we don't have a porch and steps to get into the house (strange contraption made of panels and scaffolding bits) and Jim fell down the trench in the basement having told the kids to be careful, it is very lovely to be here. 

Mountain folk...

Bolig Drøm

With our next trip to the house getting ever closer (and it being half term), excitement is building. We also have a meeting planned with the plumber and Magnus, our builder.

It is with this meeting in mind that I am spending my Saturday afternoon listening to radio 2, and looking through the many Norwegian interior/homes magazines trying to gain inspiration for the bathrooms! #happydays