Britt-Arnhild's House in the Woods

The charm of autumn

Every season has it's own charm, and when a new season arrives I always find it "the best one".

We went for a hike in the countryside behind our house yesterday after dinner. Packed a backpack with cinnamon pastries, coffee for Terje and me, apple juice for Marta, and two buckets for picking berries. Had no goal to fill them, packed them just in case, but while I am writing this Terje is busy in the kitchen cleaning the berries we found. Blueberries and mountain cranberries, or foxberries as they are also called. Marta picked roe berries, not for canning or freezing, but to play with, blowing the berries through a hollow stem.

The roe trees are beautiful right now, heavy with red berries. Some say that we will get little snow during the winter when there are many roe berries in the fall, the trees will not carry heavy weight twice. Others say the contrary, roes heavy with fruit is a sign that we'll get a snow filled winter.

Back to work.

After four weeks of vacation and studies I am back to work. But was lucky and had a soft start as we (the staff where I work) have been to Røros for two days.

Røros is an old mining town/village, on UNESCOs World Heritage list. It is situated a little more than two hours south of Trondheim up in the mountains.

We had long indoor days working together as a staff, but also had an hour walking around the village with a guide on Monday afternoon, and started Tuesday with a mass in a tiny little church outside the village together with the local clergymen.

I've always been fascinated by houses, and most of all by painted, wooden houses, which we have so many of in Norway. Røros is a paradise for lovers of wooden houses, and during the guiding my camera was busy, busy. I go to Røros several times a year and have loads of photos from the village, but I always get new glimpses through the camera lenses. This time I loved shooting the church, "Bergstaden Ziir" from different angles.

Beauty in late summer garden

You don't have to stand out with an overwhelming appearence to be of great beauty. Sometimes a blush of colour can be enough.

I look around in my garden and find beauty everywhere. The summer temperatures are falling and autumn is not far away, so I am drinking in all the beauty I can, collecting sweet memories for a long and dark winter.

Busy blue café

The Blue cafe has had a busy week-end. Saturday we had friends here for a French/Italian dinner, ate indoors because the temperatures can be quite low in the night. Today we have eaten all meals outdoors enjoying a wonderful Indian Summer.

Work and school have started now and the days are getting shorter, but the hot and sunny week-end no one could take from us. When the blue table wasn't done for mea,ls it was filled with books, notebooks, pen and paper and my laptop. A perfect work table.

Summer Fun

We have a favorite place for swimming in the summers. A plcae in the woods where we almost always are alone. Well, not quite alone. The ducks know the place as well, and these five bathing ducks had a great time trying to wet each other.

Summertime memories. Childhood memories. I collect them and can bring them out when I need them.

It is important to learn to live fully in the present, but to master that it you must learn to also live with your memories, especially the sweet ones. Happy children, sun, nature....my collection of memories is steady growing. What about yours?

The wall is changing.

Another week, another bedroom window, another view. I took this photo in Oslo yesterday morning, the last day I was staying with my good friends there, and looking through my new photos this morning it reminded me of the bedroom window photo I shot in Copenhagen the week before.

Here the wall is no concrete anymore, half of it os wood, half is opening up with air and a pine tree.

The wall of my future is also opening up like this. I am taking decisions, I am making plans, I have to let somethings go to achieve other things, and light and fresh air are flowing more freely, showing me that I am making the right decisions.

Came home from Oslo late in the afternoon yesterday. Came from heavy rain to a warm and sunny garden, meeting my warm and sunny family. Terje, Marta and a friend of her met me at the airport bus station - some confusions as the station is right outside the football(soccer) stadion in Trondheim, and "Aha" had a concert there last night, so everything was terrible crowdy. Came home to dinner ready in the blue garden, prepared by Ingrid and boyfriend. Had a quier night, a long walk with Terje, unpacking, playing with beads with Marta, starting to make preparations for French/Italian dinner with friends tonight.

Finding the way.

The first week of studies in Oslo for this semester is almost finished. I am more than halfway to my master degree now, and there are so many decisions to be made, and so much planning to do to be able to keep on with studies, book writing, work, travels and everyday life.

I was confused in the beginning of this week, but now I am starting to see the light. Though there are so many different ligths to see. It confuses me, and I want to follow them all.

Photo: restroom at "Strøget" in Copenhagen

How we love our children.

In Copenhagen last week I found this mother and child. From the angle where I was standing there was a church in the background and for me it became a wonderful confession of how we as parents are lifting our children to God.

As a mother I sometimes feel so unsure, so small, in lack of confidence, worrying about the kids. How will they manage life, how can we as parents make them strong enough to meet realities when they are growing too big to hide under our wings when danger comes? What will meet them out there, and how will they manage?

Ever since the kids were born my best way of managing has been to lift them up to God. "Look God, thanks for creating this unique child, you love her/him and you want the best for her/him. Please keep her/him close to your heart always. Amen"

The Wall

Starting a new semester is like open up a window, what can you find outside? Right now my eyes seem to focus on a wall, high, massive, though filled with charm and new possibilities as long as my eyes open up to see the possibilities.

A wall can be decorated to hide the ugly spots, to hide the greyness, to brighted it up. You can decide to keep the wall as it is, and if you do you can still decide what you actually see - a huge, gray, concrete square, ot a square filled with life, colours finding their way out of the gray, vividness.....Or you can try to climb the wall, finding out what is waiting for you on the other side.

I have a few walls in my life this semester. Some will not be possible to move, and it is my choice to see their beauty and their life. Some will have to be climbed or put down and I will find out what is hiding on the other side.

This photo is from the B&B where we stayed for three nights in Copenhagen last week.

The blue café

One day I would love to open The Blue Café in My House in the Woods. I would make the food in my red kitchen, using recipes from my growing collection of cookbooks and handwritten scriblings collected from travels, or from cookbooks inherited from my foremothers.

For lunch I would serve bruscietta, or a simple salad freshly picked from the garden. Some customers would like to visit the vegetable garden to pick their own salad or flowers for toppings, and of course the garden is open for everybody. Another lunch dish, or perhaps a starter, will be pasta, plane or with a rich herb sauce, and of course with another salad.

The guests shall not be too many at once, I will have time to sit down and chat with everybody and new friendships will be made over the tables. There are also a few free beds in my house for guests who want to stay over night to enjoy breakfast the next morning. And of course the garden is always warm, sunny and inviting.

And if you are in a hurry, which I do hope you are not, I can serve you just a cup of coffee and a piece of chocolate brought home from one of my many travels.

Tempted? I will let you know when the café opens.