Britt-Arnhild's House in the Woods

Booktalk on a Sunday 26 - A Life with Books

"I bet you loved to read as a girl too?" - Fleur asked me this question after I listed some of my favorite things to do as a girl.

I loved to read as a girl, and I love to read now.

Thinking back to my childhood, some of my strongest memories are about reading - how I found the door to The Borrowers world at the age of eight. How my mother had to hide a book for years after my crying reading the first sentence in a book,"I am an orphan", and she had to explain to me what an orphan is. Spending almost two weeks in hospital when I was 12, during which time my father went to public library almost every day after his workday had finished, to find new books to me (that's when I discovered Mary O'Hara's books about Flicka)

Growing older I spent a winter in Narnia and the next spring wandering around with a hobbit, I spent long days with Kristin Lavransdatter and Olav Audunsøn (both by Sigrid Undset).......and so I can keep on for a long time.

My visit to Uppsala of course included visiting bookstores, an antiquarian where I found a the fifth diary of Anais Nin, another store where I bought a book about Carl von Linné, the son of Uppsala.

Books surrounds me wherever I am. While uploading photos for this post I have Jane Austen's Persuasion on the desk beside me. As I have mentioned earlier it is my goal this winter to reread all Jane Austen's books. I have finished Emma, and Persuasion is next on the list.

I always love to hear about new books and authors, and to listen to what other persons read. What are you reading right now? Which is your all time favorite book?

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I have a treat for you this week - my choice for Blog of the Week is Charlotte Lyon's house wren studio. Charlotte is a talented artist living in New York. We have a mutual friend near Chicago, and many years ago I got one of Charlotte's books, between friends (you can read more about this if you follow the link) for my birthday from my friend. Shortly afterwards I was going to NY for two weeks, my friend came up from Chicago to meet me, and we hoped to meet Charlotte as well. Things didn't turn out as planned, but a year ago I got a comment in my blog one day from Charlotte. She had discovered my blog by chance and wondered if I was the Britt-Arnhild who knew her friend. I am especially in love with Charlotte's snowmen, and I dream of adding one of them to my snowman collection.

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Music today..........Let me think about it and I might give you an update a little later. It is still quite early here, we were late home after celebrating the 50th birthday of a dear friend last night, but had to be up early as Terje just left for a work trip to Germany. I will have four friends over for an Italian dinner tonight, so probably I will play some Italian music. May be Roberto Murolo.

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The photos are of Marta and her cousin dog Winnie, taken one night in August. And as she still is saving to buy her first digital camera, apprenticing for a photographer career, I have promised her a little money for every comment left :-)

You make me smile.......

A smile is my way of paying my blessings forward. My smiles often come from good memories. Like this post which I posted in October 2005:

At our cabin I have three books by and about Tasha Tudor. I love reading them, looking through them, getting inspiration from them. Last time we were at the cabin Tasha inspired me to make a few decorations, Still Lebens, using the autumn nature around me. And when you are inspired nothing is difficult :-)

It was too late for the summer flowers, but nature was still filled with colours, and I loved bringing a few of them indoors.

The fox berries didn't last long on the table though. The girls ate them right from the plate, and I saved the last ones to eat with my dinner.

The roe berries lasted longer :-) They are too bitter to eat.

Nights are always very cosy at the cabin. We don't have electricity, only use candles and oillamps. Well, the last few years we've also had sun cell, so we have reading light all night now. I still love to enlighted the cabin with candles though.

I love the view through the livingroom windows. The table and chairs are placed to get the best view of the fjord and the mountains. The windows are huge and the curtains are almost always open. We want to enjoy the nature and the sjy as much as possible.

And what is better then, after a dark and sory night to enjoy berakfast in the rising sun on the terrace:-)

Barbara has awarded me with a You Make Me Smile award, and I am trying to pay it forward by inviting you all to a sunny Saturday at our cabin. 

My blog has developed during the three years I've blogged. Our cabin is the same, and always open to you.

Some favorite smiles (I am passing this award forward to you):

Adventures on Brook Road

A Fanciful Twist

Allsorts

on the needles

At our cabin I have three books by and about Tasha Tudor. I love reading them, looking through them, getting inspiration from them. Last time we were at the cabin Tasha inspired me to make a few decorations, Still Lebens, using the autumn nature around me. And when you are inspired nothing is difficult :-)

It was too late for the summer flowers, but nature was still filled with colours, and I loved bringing a few of them indoors.

The fox berries didn't last long on the table though. The girls ate them right from the plate, and I saved the last ones to eat with my dinner.

The roe berries lasted longer :-) They are too bitter to eat.

Nights are always very cosy at the cabin. We don't have electricity, only use candles and oillamps. Well, the last few years we've also had sun cell, so we have reading light all night now. I still love to enlighted the cabin with candles though.

I love the view through the livingroom windows. The table and chairs are placed to get the best view of the fjord and the mountains. The windows are huge and the curtains are almost always open. We want to enjoy the nature and the sjy as much as possible.

And what is better then, after a dark and sory night to enjoy berakfast in the rising sun on the terrace:-)

As a Girl....... A Traveller's Year - October

As a girl I loved to walk on crisp, dry autumn leaves.

I still do.....

As a girl I collected colours.

I still do.........

As a girl I was drawn to water.

I still am.........

As a girl I had a sweet tooth.

I still has........

As a girl I could never have enough flowers.

I still can't.......

As a girl the church was the center of my life.

It still is.......

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I spent the three first days of this week in Uppsala in Sweden. All photos are from there.

Venezia memory

Are you ready for a gondola ride?

I am back to work after almost three weeks on the road. Mind and heart filled with memories colouring the long working days of autumn.

Cabin life with friends

Saturday night spent with cabin friends.

Talk. Laughter. Friendship.

And a long walk home in the complete darkness of the autumn night.

Autumn Walk in Trondheim

While I am away a few days, in Uppsala on a HIV/Aids seminar organized by the Church of Sweden, I can offer you a walk in my city Trondheim.

Marta had autumn break last week, and one day we had a mother/daughter day downtown.

We started with coffee and creamcake at Café Bristol, one of the old art cafés in town.

Local artists frequent this traditional café, the most famous is the painter Håkon Bleken.

The flowers and vegetalble stalls at the market square are closed for the season. But a few roses can be found around blooming freely while waiting for winter.

Trondheim changes during its four season, but the charm is always there. You are welcome any time, The Blue Café has always a table ready for you.

I am packing books for my flight. This time Colette's Cheri will go with me. And also Out of this Century. Confessions of an Art Addict, the Autobiography of Peggy Guggenheim. Ever since I started to visit Venezia I have been fascinated by this woman, her life and her art museum.

A Gardener's Year - October

The garden season in my Nordic Blue Garden is short. Frost has already been here on a short visit, but left again. When we left for our cabin on Thursday everything was covered in a thin white snow quilt which now has melted, and the last sparkling colours can again be enjoyed briefly.

I spent all Wednesday and Thursday morning out in the garden preparing the coming winter and next spring, and had put the last bulb into the soil when the snow started.

More bulbs were planted at our cabin yesterday, so spring will be a colourdance at both our homes.

*** Love all God's creation,
both the whole and every grain of sand.
Love every leaf,
every ray of light.
Love the animals,
love the plants,
love each separate thing.
If thou love each thing
though wilt perceive
the mystery of God in all...***

-Fedor Dostoevsky (1821-1881)

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With this cold weather I am game for sweets, and at the blog Paris Breakfast there are always enough sweets for the whole blogworld. Carol, your blog is my Blog of the Week this coming week.

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I am off to Sweden tomorrow morning, for three days, so please forgive that I don't have much time to visit my favorite blogs.

Painting with music

A memory from my childhood is my fascination for the music my mother created. Sweetest were the nights when I went to bed with an open door letting Schubert, Mozart and Grieg fill every corner of my room.

I wanted to learn how to make this music myself, and when I was 7 my mother took me to her own old teacher, Mrs. Buen. We walked there, to a part of our city with big fascionable villas. Mrs. Buen met us at the door and took us to her music studio where her black piano was the senter.

I practiced for many years, and at some point I even did quite good, but somehow the music would never flow the way I was used to hear from my mother's fingers.My piano playing was stored away in my creativity chest, and almost forgotten

I have started to play again. At least to give my stiffening fingers some excersise.

Marta is living through my old fascination for my mother's music, and this week she asked grandma "Can you teach me to play?"

Autum break means time to play, and Marta's fingers have been drawn to the piano for hours every day.

Photos: my two Martas playing earlier this week. We were invited for dinner to my parnets - Terje, Marta, I and my camera (photos will be posted over at The Blue Café), and after dinner, music filled the air.

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Many more Venezia posts are waiting. Autumn break takes us to our cabin today, leaving behind a garden ready for winter (see The Blue Garden blog). The first snow came just as I had put the last tulip bulb down yesterday afternoon. Only a very thin snowquilt, but it tells that King Winter is around the corner.

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Update: Freefalling asked me about my favorite music. Here is a list of the five cds I mostly play these days (next week the list will be a different one)

• Vocalises with Natalie Dessay
• Duets with Anna Netrebko and Roland Villazón
• The Art of Fugue by Bach
• Schubert Trout Quintet
• Carlo Gesualds Madrigali

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My opera this month is Die Zauberflöte

A caffee latte and a palazzo

I had finished my morning caffee latte and paid the bill. I was about to pack my moleskin into my purse when the man at the other table greeted me "Buon giorno". I smiled and greeted him back and a friendship started to develope.

Dottore Feli know everything there is to know about Venezia, and for two hours one Sunday morning he shared willingly with a traveller from Norway.

Such moments are sparkling gold for me and I listened with all senses. First sitting at the small table at Caffee Gelateria Causin (Merisis, you know that café well.....) but after a while he took me around to visit places not mentioned in the guidebooks - the highlight was the Armenian Palazzo where the piano nobile was breathtaking.

You can read more about the palazzo here.

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Note: The first photo is my favorite from this trip to Venezia.

Can I buy your heart?

Do you remember Glasshandmade and the charming Mauro? During my first afternoon in Venezia, after leaving my suitcase in Nati house and visiting Billa for groceries, I went out strolling around without a map - my favorite way of getting to know the secrets of Venezia. Suddenly I found myself outside the tiny little shop where Mauro has his glass workshop. I went in, said Buono Sera......and Mauro recognised me at once, giving me a broad smile saying : Oh, you are the blog lady". (So it's true, blogging can make you famous,lol)

I visited Mauro, my favorite Venetian glass artist, several times during my week. He even invited me out for coffee. And when my friend Dagmar came down from Austria to spend a day with me, I took her to Glasshandmade and bought two red glass hearts, one for me and one for her - as a remembrance of our friendship and our shared love of Venezia.

Saturday was my last day, and when I sat down with my caffee latte in the morning, the woman at the neighbour table wondered where I had bought my beautiful glass heart. I told her about Mauro and his art and even marked down the way to his workshop on her map. Unfortunately she had very little time in Venezia and I don't think she had time to find Glasshandmade. The woman couldn't take her eyes from my heart and suddenly said "Can you sell me your heart? I can pay alot!"

I couldn't sell it of course. It was my last day La Serenissima, my bus for the airport would soon be leaving and I had no chance to visit Mauro again.

Mauro, next time I come you must give me several of your hearts, and I can walk in your city as a living display selling hearts for you :-)

Big photos: I am struggling in front of the mirror to get a good heart shoot.

Small photos: Mauro creating a cat which he gave Marta, me and Maura at coffee bar, Mauro's angels - they took me by charm and one went back to Norway with me.