Britt-Arnhild's House in the Woods

We love it when we find new places to hike

@brittarnhild

Like last year and the year before that, we have a goal to do 100 hikes together, Terje and I, also this year. We had a great start the first two weeks of the year, on Tenerife, with hikes every day. Then, after we came home, we've had more challenges with snow and ice everywhere. Still a few hikes, with spiked shoes, but finally, it looks like spring is here, at least here on the coast where our cabin is situated, and I feel this overwhelming, amazing joy of spring.

A couple of weeks ago our daughter Ingrid and her family found a new place for perfect hiking out here, and today we went to the same place.

The snow has only recently melted, so no wild flowers up yet, but we could walk with our sneakers, still with dry feet, and we could smell spring everywhere.

I know I said there were no wild flowers, but we could see hundreds of snow drops in a garden we passed.

 

 

This man

@brittarnhild

This man. My man.

This man had his last day at work yesterday.

From today, September 1st, we are both seniors.
We wake up together every morning, we go to bed together every night.

A new epoke in our life together is about to start.
We both look forward to it and plan to enjoy it.
Together, but also apart. The healthy way. The paths of love.

This man.
My man.

 

 

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

 

 

Married to a road engineer

@brittarnhild

When you are out driving with a road engineer, you never know what is behind the next corner. We are at our cabin now, after spending some days driving up from the southern tip of Norway. It is possible to do the distance in one (long) day, with a few ferries along the road, but why do it in a hurry when you can do it at snails pace?

Well, part of, or rather most of, the driving was done along main roads, but as soon as we had the possibility to drive along one of the old historical roads.......well, we did!

Taking pictures from the car when we are driving is not easy, and of course we could not stop every fifth minute. But Terje is a good guy, when I say stop, he stops (sometimes.......) and when I say jump, he jumps (sometimes.......)

Of course it took so much longer to drive these historical roads, but it gave us some fantastic moments.
Can you imagine being a road engineer a hundred years ago. Not to say a simple road worker.

Imagine meeting a car here, as we did many times :-)
Well, one of the cars had to back and luckily, drivers in Norway, on these narrow roads, are all very polite. Often both we and the other car backed. 

 

:::::::::::::::::::::

Thank you for visiting my YouTube-channel 
And if you have not done so yet, well, it is never too late :-)

 

 

 

A special lunch on Terje´s birthday

@brittarnhild

It is Terje´s birthday today. My present to him was 12 small notecards, each of them "the value" of a dinner or lunch for two, and also each of them for one of the months in 2019. One dinner or lunch, at a new place, every new month. You can see pictures of the gift in my journal blog, Britt Arnhild dagboksblader.

Starting today, with the first notecard, I wanted to take him somewhere special.

I know John, a British author, who lives part of the year in Tenerife with his wife. Besides writing books John also writes about food and restaurants, so I contacted him, knowing that he was the one to give me the best recommendations. And I was right. John mentioned a few places, and sent me a facsimilie of what he had written, and I stated the long and tedious work of contacting the restaurant. Several emails and many tries to reach then on the phone, later, I had a table for two booked :-)

What a great place. When we arrived we were given a table and then asked to go to the counter to order. We understood very few of the Spanish names of fishes and seafood, but it was all there to look at, to point out, fresh from the sea. "We have no idea what to order!" I said, "but it is my husbands birthday today. Will you please make us something special"

Which they did!

We were so stuffed when we were finished, we had to go directly back to our hotel to rest. Terje near the pool, I in the bed.

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Terje.

 

My blogs updated today:

Blåklokkeveien

Britt Arnhilds dagboksblader

Britt Arnhilds naturdagbok

Med bøker på menyen

Fløy en liten blåfugl

 

 

And you can read more about John Searancke here.

 

40 years

@brittarnhild

The anniversary came, and went. We were in Italy and forgot all about it. It is 40 years since Terje said "I think I am in love with you......." In 40 more years I am 100. Will you still love me then Terje?

 

Just another garden project

@brittarnhild

Summer in September. The very best thing you can do on a Sunday afternoon then, is to start on a garden project. With Terje as my garden apprentice, expert on digging, I am making a new extension in a corner of the main flower bed.

First some digging to remove plants which has become too big.

One moved away, another one into the new bed.

And here it is. My plan is to fill it with a collection of lovely blue gentianas, inspired by my visit to the botanical garden in Tromsø.......by the way, I am working on a post from there in Caffe Avec tonight.

 

 

:::::::::::::::::::::

Jippi!!! The post from the arctic-alpine garden in Tromsø is up in Caffe Avec

 

When Terje´s sunrays gave us Dionne Warwick

@brittarnhild

Yesterday was the last day of this year´s St.Olav´s Festival. as always a week filled with so much wonderful program. Every night there has been a concert in the courtyard of the Archbishop´s Palace, the huge scene just outside my office window. When I open my window I could almost touch it. The theme of the festival this year has been "body", on a wide range of layers, and in the beginning of this week a small competition was posted by the festival on facebook - post a picture with a body theme, the best image would win two tickets for last night´s concert.......with no one else than....... Dionne Warwick.

In July 2010 I posted a picture of Terje here in Britt-Arnhild´s House in the Woods, with the words:" Let me look close at you pappa. Your face is suntanned, the wrinkles around your eyes are not. It is like your eyes are the sun, your wrinkles the sun rays"  I posted the above picture, and I WON!

We had a wonderful night with this amazing singer.

The highlight when she sang with her granddaughter Cheyenne Elliott.

 

By the way, my office window is just behind the green lit tree climbing the wall.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Thanks for your nice comments on yesterday´s post. I still have a basket full of Italian tales.......almost, and will continue to post them, from time to time.

 

 

Come on Terje, let´s make a selfie

 

I am sitting in a hotel room on Murano, looking through my photos from the last weeks. In the room to my left Leander is asleep, in the room to my right Terje, Ingrid, Marius and Marta are playing cards.

Looking through the photos is like reading a travel memoir. 

Looking through the photos is like standing in the middle of a sun flower field, taking selfies.

 

Looking through the photos is like living a dream, knowing that it is still there when you wake up.

 

 

View through a kitchen window

@brittarnhild

I love the view through my kitchen window tonight.
And I love the man who has filled this wheel barrow.

 

 

 

Cross country skiing with headlights

@brittarnhild

This year of turning 60, I have decided to do things I´ve never done before. Like cross country skiing out in the darkness, with a headlight. This is something Terje often does, but for me it was a new experience. Yes, I have been out skiing at night before, but then in tracks which had light.

It was magic, pure magic.
Why have I not done this before?

One thing is for sure. I will do it again!