Eurovision baby!

I love Eurovision. Unashamedly and only with a little bit of irony. Most years I watch the TV coverage and laugh loudly at Terry Wogan, and most recently Graham Norton's commentary.  Most years.  The last 2 have been different.

Rewind to May last year and we were camping at Thruxton race course. It was my birthday. We were listening to the radio commentary instead (not as good) and I made a random comment to Jim that the Swedish entrant was the favourite. He argued with me a bit, but given that I am a Eurovision nerd he gave up swiftly. So we made a bet. If Sweden won with Hereos by Måns Zelmerlöw Jim would take me to Sweden this year for my 40th birthday.

Måns won. Stockholm won the right to be the host city for this year.

I can hear you asking 'Did Jim honour our bet'?

I'll let you be the judge on that!

We have a plan......

Traditionally friday afternoons should be about a round of golf, a drink in the pub with work colleagues, networking with contacts.......well in fairness  i don't play golf, never drink with the office and networking....well that seems to mostly happen on twitter and Facebook nowadays! ......or there is the blog!

I/we haven't cranked out a blog post for a few months, not because we don't want to, but a tweet or a Facebook share sometimes to reflect what you want to say is just so much easier and quicker! Anyhow, i don't  believe the blog is dead, but Friday afternoons seem a good blog time! which, whilst I mention it, if you love Norwegian things and the joy of Norway then follow the Norway Times blog on here or their twitter/facebook feeds - It's written by a lady called Gill, who I have no idea who she is (hello if you reading this...now that's a test!) , but i do know one thing, is that she pretty much nails some of our own experiences on life in norway!.......so drop in and check it out.

Now, back to the plot......"there is a plot?" I hear you say, there surely is.......

I'm back from a father /son weekend away at the house, where I assumed the role of son for a change, albeit when my dad  accidently left a few things behind at security on the table before heading through the scanner and then apparently got locked in a toilet at the airport on the way home, it felt like I was being the dad again (in an eye rolling way)....... (i know my dad reads this ...so hi dad  and happy fathers day for sunday :) ) .

A photo taken from our trip to the lake at Øyungen

We visited because major works on the house are now pretty much now complete. We have water, drainage, electrics, a new roof, repaired foundations, a bathroom, bedrooms and a kitchen and rather excitingly some new windows! Now these aren't just any old new windows, but beautifully made triple glazed traditional windows made in Røros (from Røros vindu og dører) which were fitted by the gents at Bergstadden Bygg and look fantastic. But more importantly (and don't laugh) .....they actually open! Which is a big thing for our little house which has had sealed windows for who nows how long!

The master bedroom nearing completion;

The conservationist in me was quite against the idea of replacement windows and I have become a bit of geek on window repair and restoration over the last few months, buying a few books, looking at some new tools (always need new tools  for a new job right? or is that just a man thing.....a bit like always needing new shoes........; ) ) I even asked the builder to keep the old windows for when I get time to try and repair the others that are left.......we have 20 windows on our house, so it might be some time! ( albeit one of my favourite houses on the drive from Trondheim to Ålen has about 50 windows on so i'm quite glad i could never afford that house!)

We were also really pleased to be successful with our application to obtain a grant from the Norwegian culture fund for emergency works to repair the large barn. This included roof repairs and removal of the loose foundation stones and propping of the corners, where the large boulders have been removed. It's great that the country is actively seeking to promote the preservation of their built culture and realise it's importance. Our house and the large barn are on the Sefrak register for buildings of historical value, and whilst our little barn isn't, it forms part of the traditional 'Trondelag' layout of the central farm house with 2 barns perpendicular forming an open courtyard.

I'm glad I wasn't on the roof doing the repairs!

So with our efforts at easter and my dads help at the weekend, we now have a master ensuite bedroom almost ready for occupation and possible letting for guests in the future ;) and more excitingly and the reason we haven't blogged or done much else recently since easter, is that we  have pretty much bottomed out the design (and costs) for the conversion of our little barn to a hytte. We are super stoked that this looks like it will get off the ground towards the end of this year and be ready for use in 2017, because it means we then not only have the house for use, but quality accommodation in a fantastic location (on the side of our little bit of mountain) to  rent out for guests in Norway. So hopefully in 2017 will be Vilkommen til Nordic Snø for anyone who wants to experience this place also!  Watch this space............

The little barn in summer & winter;

Going on a bear hunt

We are 3 weeks back from our easter trip and amongst the usual DIY, yelling at the children and travelling malarky, there were some pretty exciting goings on going on...........well for us anyway!

It was a close call as to what constituted the major high point (when in fairness there has been so many).......but aside from buying and installing a new washing machine and a tumble dryer (even I was little excited to be able to wash some clothes whilst on holiday.....and the tumble dryer has a light inside which lights up your washing when  you open the door....no more lost socks....i really need to get out more...) we finally managed to hike up the mountain at the back of the house.

It was probably our fourth attempt to actually get up the mountain after many failed episodes;

Aborted attempt 1 - Ned was scared of the forest as there might be unfriendly trolls/the Gruffalo might be lurking.

No.2 - the above still applied + there were too many ants and the mountain was steep...he has yet to grasp the concept of a mountain.

No.3 - All of the above plus the resident cows were particular menacing and decided to chase me, who was chasing Ned, after Grandpa told us specifcially  not to run in a field of cows.....I was however impressed that my arm waving a yelling stopped the stampeding herd!

So attempt 4 it was.

We finally assembled the troops at about 10.30 on a Sunday morning after a good brunch of pancakes, bacon and maple syrup and Kath prepared her first ever batch of Norwegian dough for some bread making on our return (more on that another time ;).

It was a beautiful sunny day without a cloud in the sky, we made up a ruck sack of some  hot chocolate, sweeties and of course a couple of Kvikk Lunsj's for the adults we're still Maisie they are made with beer and not suitable for children. Fully suited and booted, we set off on our bear hunt.

The start of the hike was out the back of our house, past the neighbours and into the tree line and about as far as we had got previously.

The going was pretty steep, but the snow underfoot was quite easy going. On previous excursions, we have always had trouble finding the route, but this time I had done a bit of a pre trip reckie the night before and we quickly found and then followed a snowmobile ("don't call it a skidoo as thats a brand name...."...i  was once told off  in Norway for calling it a skidoo!)  trail.

We were soon stripping off layers as we climbed higher and higher and up through the trees. Ned managed to forget about the trolls, there was no sign of the gruffalo,  and despite the moaning form the kids they seemed to forget about how steep it was!

After about 40 minutes, the tree line started to break and eventually we started to head onto the mountain plateau. The snow mobile trail eventually finished and we came across the snow mobile happily parked unattended with a cross country ski trail leading from it further up the mountain. It's always hard growing up in the UK trying to imagine leaving things lying around unattended without someone taking off with them!        ...... Welcome to Norway :)

When we broke out of the tree line we of course had to stop for snack.....well it had been at least 10 minutes since the kids had eaten something and there is only so much you can take of ......can i have a snack!

Whilst the kids were feeding I headed up further and then persuaded them they should definitely make the effort for the last 10 minutes. We headed up to follow the winter trail marker posts and just took in the beauty of the plateau and the 3 summits which led off. Sadly these weren't reached for this trip but we had finally made it - to the top of our mountain.

... and how did we get back down..... well after making some quick snow angels, having another snack and staring open mouthed at how beautiful this place is.....when your come to Norway, you realise you do that a lot!......we did the only thing any sensible family in our situation could do...zipped up our jackets and snow suits and slid down on our bottoms! - that's right 45 minutes up and less than 20 back down.....oh and despite billing it to the kids as 'going on a bear hunt'....not  a single bear in sight......we'll have to save that for another trip ;)

...never a dull day ticking away..

The second Christmas Jim & I were together (back in the mid nineties!) he made me a clock. It was beautiful & moved home with me regularly (I was a student). On it was written lyrics from a Pink Floyd song 'Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day'. We were living apart, and I think the words were meant to comfort me......

It was repaired regularly as it was made of perspex & was often damaged in transit. However one day it was deemed beyond repair.

I have specific ideas on what I want in this house and my kitchen is in dire need of a clock! I searched for ages, only finding a Danish clock which satisfied my criteria. Except, as is the case with many things I covet, it was widely expensive and so the search continued.

This Christmas, my search was over as Jim made me another clock.  It is made from driftwood we've collected as a family & a heart shaped pebble I found on a beach. It is beautiful. 

And as I sit here (when i wrote this post a little while back), by the log burner writing, the delicate tick tock-ing is no longer ticking away moments that make up a dull day, but is now inscribed "never a dull day ticking away".... and with 2 kids, 2 houses, in 2 countries and far too much to do....no words were  ever more truly spoken!

Happiness.......

This one's a bit off topic, and I apologise for it, but it sort of ties in.

For those of you who don't know us very well, Ned, our son, is dairy and soya intolerant. He was diagnosed when he was 10 months old, and at first it was a steep learning curve for us, but then a load of internet research, a dash of common sense, a pinch of my mum's wisdom and a Swedish company called Oatly, it got easier.

Oatly make oat milk, which Ned could have (this isn't the time or place to go into it all; I'll save that for a special occasion!), and it meant that I could substitute this, along with a sunflower oil based spread, into baking and cooking (my other, other life). 

I discovered through the the Oatly website that they don't just make oat milk. Oh no, they make vanilla sauce (sort of custard), cream for coffee, chocolate oat milk, yogurt, and ice cream.  But hardly any of that is sold in Devon, if in the UK at all.

So imagine our complete and utter joy at finding one of the local supermarkets here sells chocolate milk, and the vanilla sauce.  One happy little boy.

Then imagine that you find the ice cream, bear in mind that Ned normally has sorbet or an ice lolly, and imagine that you find a Norwegian version of chocolate monster crackling topping that is also dairy free (although I shudder to think what it does contain!)

This is what you get.......

One extremely happy little boy.

Now if they only made cheese........

Banker på døren.....

It's 7.45 in the morning and I'm tucking into my healthy commuter breakfast of a Kit Kat en route to Birmingham. Whilst the other commuters are clutching large coffee cups and eating healthy nutritious snacks containing some kind of super fruit or nutritious fibre nut combo, The semi melted Kit Kat has strangely hit the spot, albeit under much disgust from the adjacent passenger (the super fruit consumer).

One of things I often do on this journey (aside from eating melted chocolate products for breakfast) is attempt to read the Norwegian newspapers. There's a very handy app which has norwegian radio stations and papers all for free. 

Partaking in this on the train has 2 benefits;

1. You can concentrate because it's quiet (mostly, with the exception of the early morning enthusiastic talkers, who are sat right next to each other ! YOU DO NOT NEED TO SHOUT TO EACH OTHER or the yes it's Caroline and I'm on the train.... Well get this if you're on the train and on your phone, it works by radio wave type things And isn't connected to the person you are talking to by a piece of string and a yogurt pot. Caroline in the seat behind take note ....I will hand her the link to the blog when I get out)

2. It makes the person sat next to you think you are foreign or intellectual or both....(I am neither) but it does take the heat of the fact you have just woken up, have a creased face and are eating chocolate for breakfast.

Anyway, the point is ....as usual there is a point ....is ....that it's a good time to try and learn a bit of norwegian. Now, papers are good because they come with pictures. So like Ned, who is currently learning the life of Biff, Kipper and Chip and their adventures of flipping pancakes or going to the zoo by simple words and then looking at the pictures, I am currently doing the same; only the part of Kipper is played by Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton is rocking Biff and I think the Norwegians are as scathing of him as the Brits and sensible Americans ( or the sake of alienating the American reader I'll resist the temptation to ask the question - can those 2 words be put together ....) . ( oh did I? ....well I didn't mean to ;) )

So I'm getting the gist of the story. Kipper is basically doing well despite being a bigoted racist nut job and Biff is holding the centre ground and challenging the fact that Kipper knows what the hell he is talking about. As far as I can work out no one has yet been to the zoo and the pancakes aren't good....

So I read a post blog yesterday by a Canadian expat called Jill which hit the nail on the head regarding our Norwegian communication skills which referred to having the vocabulary and communication skills of a toddler when speaking in Norwegian....and to be honest despite almost 4 years of on off learning it's not progressed well (refer back to the bag / sausage incident last summer).

In true toddler form I'm currently reading the kids Rødhette og Ulven, which of course is the tale of Red Riding Hood. 

Whilst I have failed endlessly to try and communicate with the builders, plumber, and electricians in Norwegian because their English is always so good (despite them saying otherwise!) I did manage to at least make reference to døren as in banker på døren (knock on the door) as the guys have done a beautiful job being able to reuse some of the original old doors I found in the barn for the new openings into the bedrooms and ensuite. They have been set into new door frames and reworked into new doorsets by a local factory in the village who undertake bespoke joinery work.

Now if you'll excuse me about read and see if Super Tuesday is similar to shrove Tuesday and what type of pancake Kipper has rustled up. 

Moving forward

So last weekend we got away for a planned quick break without the children under the guise of  coming to check on the building works - of course we also planned some fun things to do!

However, before some sneaky skiing,  there was the slight issue of putting up curtain poles, hanging the curtains and generally making the kids rooms feel a bit more homely and less like a shoe making workshop before our next family trip at Easter. (For those who join us from new, the  2 main rooms of the upper floor of the house, we think, were solely (pardon the pun) used for making shoes and weaving work and for drying leather and dyed fabric. This is due to the fact that all of the paraphernalia from 2 looms, drying racks, vices, work benches etc were still all in place prior to us subdividing one of the spaces into a more manageable size!)

Our flight was delayed and we were an hour late arriving in Trondheim, so we stumbled to the hotel and fell into bed - just remembering to set the alarm.

A leisurely shower, to make the most of the hotel facilities as we don't have running water at the house, a quick breakfast, hire car collected and we were off to our second home in Norway - IKEA.

IKEA is so much better without children, although I (Kath) was suffering from a distinct lack of caffeine, so was a little bit grumpy. Bathroom bits, laundry room bits and 12 curtains poles later; a very heavily laden down hire car hit the road.

The day was beautiful - snow covered trees, frozen icicles at the side of the road, snow covered rivers and this sort of blue light, it was lovely to be coming back without the kids.  Although just to make sure we didn't miss them too much I did occasionally ask 'Are we nearly there yet?', 'Can I have a snack?' and other gems our kids say. It was the same weekend last year when Jim and his dad arrived into the middle of a huge arctic storm which brought excessive snowfall, closed roads (almost unheard over here and resulted in being rescued from the road outside the house by a friendly neighbour - who is now our plumber - takk Kjetil!)

We arrived at the house to discover 2 of the building team just packing up, Mads and Einar, and insulation carefully packed into the kitchen & bathroom windows. Prior to travelling Jim had emailed Magnus to see how the work was coming on and despite an answer still had no idea of what we expected to find.....(the message got slightly lost in translation!) When we arrived to see the builders packing up, Jim asked if they had finished for the day and they happily replied "no we are finished!" which was quickly then followed by the ultimate question! "Have we got water?" ........".yes " came the reply, "you just turn it on here!"

Well to say we were both happy was understatement of the year and even better still, not only did we have running water but also a fully plumbed in kitchen and finished (bar the accessories) bathroom! 

I don't think we stopped smiling! I (Kath - Lol) very nearly kissed them both.  So we have a boiler, hot and cold running water, kitchen and bathroom sinks plumbed in, a flushing loo and a shower! Those who have followed (well, put up with) our freezing barn pooing experiences will now be delighted that we no longer have to endure sub zero backdrafts and can (like normal people) enjoy a warm seat.......ah bliss... (although I think Jim will secretly miss it and the kids never disturb you when you are in the barn).

Despite ensuring that we skied saturday afternoon finally enjoying our local ski slopes (just 2 km away) we managed to clean out the kids rooms, hang the curtains and poles, lampshades as well as hang the curtains and blinds down stairs, assemble a coffee table, kitchen unit and utility room sink......phew....its beginning to feel like a house and not a hut at last.

So here are some pictures taken inside of the bathroom (not great photos but at least show some progress!)

...........vi snakkes!........