Britt-Arnhild's House in the Woods

A proper post about our week-end

 

We left Trondheim after work on a sunny autumn day, the further south we came the more grey the sky became, and when it was time for a cup of coffee, which we had planned to drink somewhere outdoors along to road, we ended up inside a café. The fields with the ripe harvest is beautiful in its dark yellow.

 

Driving along Norwegian roads, even main roads, is never boring. Be careful, don't drive to fast, be prepared to enjoy life!

As you can see the car in front of us is also in its way to the bike ride.

 

As we always do when Terje takes part in "birken", we stayed overnight in a small, very primitive cabin at a camp site. Very charming, very romantic, reminds us of old times when summer vacations meant camping. Well, at least this time it was not snowing when I had to visit the bathroom during the night, but it was wet in the deep grass, it almost fet like swimming. As I left summer in Trondheim and we were away for only one night, I had brough only one pair of shoes. They were soaked aready the first night, and I am afraid I've got a cold. I am crossing my fingers for my upcoming visit to Spain.....

 

I left Terje at Rena and drove the two hours "around" the mountain, via Elverum and Hamar to Lillehammer.I did a little detour to take a stop at Løiten, and found several antique stores there. The first photo is from the book attic at Løiten Brænderi. What a heaven. I was tempted to buy alot of books, but remembering my overfilled sheves at home, I resisted. Now I regret it of course.

 

Along the road I passed an old wooden house with the ANTIKVARIAT sign. We have passed this house so many times when driving south to my father in law, but never had time to stop. On Saturday I had, and I spent a lovely half hour inside the house, treasure hunting in the small rooms.

 

Can you see the samon pink small gass in the middle of the photo? It is now mine :-)

 

When I payed for my treasures I looked out the window behind the old lady who took my money. I almost stopped breathing. Such beauty! "Oh, wait, I must take a photo out your window" I said to the old lady. She looked at me smiling, but it didn't look like she was able to see the same beauty as I saw.

I love this photo. I will make stationary of it. I will print it out and hang it on the wall in my new studio.

 

At Lillehammer I went right away to a small store in Storgata, OLIVEN, ready to spend all the money I did not spend on books. Olive oil, balsamico, tinned olives,olives in oil, sundried tomatoes, tea with chilli - all best quality. The owner's smile was broader and broader. "I am showing you the best I have as I don't think you mind about the prizes" she said. Well, I do mind, but not there and then :-)

I finished my shopping spree with a caffee latte and some writing for my upcoming book. Mother and brothers, if you read this post "kan man ha det bedre?????"

 

Then it was time to start looking for Terje. I passed alot of cyclists and bikes and knew that it must have been a dirty, wet ride!

 

So many dirty men! And here is the most sexy, most charming of them al!

  

Yesterday Terje was busy cleaning his bike and his clothes, and then he digged up som potatoes and I made potato soup for lunch.

A week-end for my memory chest.

Along the river Nidelven

 

I have so much to show you from the week-end on the road, and while I am working on the blog post, I thought you would like a walk along the river Nidelven. Some of these photos were posted in Trondheim Through all Seasons yesterday, but then together with other words.

 

We came home around midnight last night, and were met by two happy girls - Marta and Mathilde. Today Terje is busy cleaning his bike, his backpack and the clothes he used during the ride. Oh my, the mountain tracks were wet and dirty  yesterday. 17000 bikers took part. I have never seen so many dirty men in my life.

 

"Dirty men?" Terje's face was like a question mark. "What about all the dirty women?" "Well," I replied, "may be you saw all the women, I only looked at the sweaty, dirty men in pure admiration!"

 

We are invited to friends for dinner tonight, so I don't need to cook, but I am making plans for lunch. What about a potato soup made on potatoes fresh from the backyard, and a foccaccia still warm from the oven?

Do you want to come over and join us?

Antiques along the road

 

With Terje somewhere up on the mountain, cycling "Birkebeinerrittet", I have alot of time to be a traveller. Well, alot of time is an exageration. Terje needs a little more than 4 hours for the ride, I need a little more than 2 hours to drive "around" to pick him up at Lillehammer. But still there is time to explore new land.

 

Aong the road I suddenly found an old, old wooden house with a huge sign - ANTIKVITETER, and I had to stop. I am not much of an antique buyer actually, but this house looked too tempting.

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I have stopped the car along the road now to make this blog post, but my mobil connection is too unstable, so I'll let these two photos be an "amuse bouche" (wrong spelling???????), and will post ALOT more later, some time when the connection gets better.

Now I am off to pick up Terje........

The city wakes up.

 

"You must walk in the city in the early morning hours, then you'll see a different city" Merisi said to me when I came to Vienna in June. The first night I stayed in a flat near the tram line, and as the trams started their work around 5am, it was easy to follow her advise.

 

I am never up that early here in Trondheim, but the other day, when I had a dentist appointment, I decided to take an early bus which gave me time for a walk in the city during the wee hours.

 

Trondheim looked different. Few people around, the colours more gray in the morning, still flowers with a promise to sparkle the day.

 

Vår Frue kirke / Our ady's Church, is open 24 hours a day, and some of her good friends, the morning birds, were around, enjoying a cup of coffee, a cigarette, some talking. Trondheim is a blessed city to have a warm, caring place where you always can find a shelter, somebody who listens, something to eat, light a candle for a prayer.

 

Is it really too early for a coffee?

 

But not too early to start working.

 

The dentist's office is near the canal. I always like to walk near water......

 

No more need for another dentist appointment in a year. I celebrated with a croissant and a caffee latte.

THANK YOU!....and a quilt winner

 

The winner is......LILLEHAMMER....

sorry, just kidding. I am packing for Lillehammer,where the Winter Olympics were held in 1994, and never will a Norwegian forget the words of the president of the Olympic Games when Norway got the Olympics! And never will a Norwegian forget the magic winter days of February 1994 when the eyes of the world were set on this village of Lillehammer. Just a small place in a small country, but huge for a couple of fairy tale weeks.

Terje, the boys and I bought ticket for men's cross country skiing, and late one night we took the night train down from Trondheim, arriving at Lillehammer early the next morning, spending the day in the ski tracks and then the night train up to Trondheim again the next night. We sang, we danced, we cheered with a million other Norwegians when Bjørn Dæhli won the gold medal, we smiled to everybody, taked with everybody, and everybody made room for everybody to stay in first line to cheer. Yes, it was pure magic!

But I am not here today to talk about Lillehammer. That's for another day.....may be. I am here to say a big THANK YOU for all your lovely comments when I wrote my I Wonder post, and to announce a winner of the clown quilt.

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the winner is

 

 

DARLA!

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I'll wrap the quilt and mail it to you as soon as I am back home from Lillehammer, well, hopefully I'll find time to do that before leaving for Spain next Thursday.......

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The quilt shown in the photo is one of my favorites, it is made around 1994 and I've named it "Kom kylilnger små, som neppe kan gå" (an old Norwegian nursery rhyme)

More travels from the dentist chair.

 

I am in the dentist's chair again. This time for my annual check. No pains, still a chair which easily makes me feel uncomfortable. To forget about that, I armchairtravel.

Last time I went to Laos and took you with me, today I am armchairtravelling to New York.

 

In October 2002 I was sent to NY for two weeks by the Church of Norway, as an observer at the UN General Assembly. I was thrilled when I was asked to go, then hesitant - little me, wouldn't I get lost in the UN building? And two weeks all alone?

I ended up loving it. This was my first lonely travel, and it soon lead to many more. Now I often have my very best travels when I am by myself.

 

I stayed in NY for two weeks, enjoying every single moment. Didn't feel alone a minute. The days were spent in the UN building, observing meetings, learning, trying to figure out the way this house breathed. In the afternoons and during the week-ends I was a tourist. Two Saturday nights spent in the MET, every single day a walk in Central Park, some days for hours. Breakfast at Borders every morning, where a heaven of travel books opened its doors for me - I bought a ton and had an almost impossibe time with my suitcases when I travelled home. And I met up with a few friends.

Kathy came up from Chicago to show me her favorite spots of NY, Gay invited me to Afternoon High Tea at The Plaza (!!!!!!! I'll never in a million years forget it!!!!!!!), I made new friends in the Norwegian Seamen's Church and among other Norwegian NGOs and observers of the General Assembly.

 

 

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Hey, the dentist appointment is already over. Where did time fly?

I wonder

 

I wonder if there will be time enough. Time enough to continue blogging on a daily basic. Time enough to stay in contact with my readers, to write you back, to visit your blogs.

For months now, ever since late May, I have had time at hand. Time to open my computer every afternoon, every night to play with words and photos. Time to open my computer every morning to post the day's blogpost, to reply to your comments, to visit other blogs.

I have made so many new friends through blogging. Several of you I have now met in person, so many of you I am getting to know better through emails, letters, phone calls.

I hope to contiune. But blogging is not ony about posting something every day. It is as about "giving my best", creating a blog worth reading, making a place where you want to come back to read, to post a comment, to share your thoughts.

Life is busy right now. The job takes alot of energy. I should have done more writing for my next book, I have so many travels coming up. Life is busy. Life is good.

I wonder if there will be time enough.

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By the way - don't forget the quilt giveaway. There is still room for more comments.

While working with colours

 

I am working with colours these days. Reading about them, writing about them. Photographing colours. Surrounding my life in colours.

 

I hope to share some of it in a blog post. Some day.

 

Life is busy now though, and writing no longer has top priority during my days. At least not right now.

 

The colour post might come tomorrow, it might come next week or next month...

 

....or it might never come. Anyway, I'll keep on filling my life with colours. I'll wrap my life in the rainbow, God's bow of hope.

 

While waiting for the colourpost, why don't you come with me for a walk on Burano, this beautiful island in the Venezian laguna.

What a new blog might lead to....

 

For years I have been thinking of creating a blog about Trondheim. Almost four weeks ago I finally did it, and all of a sudden I see Trondheim, the city where I was born in 1958, the city where I have lived almost all my life, the city where I work, with completely new eyes.

 

I bring my camera where ever I walk, and if I have a meeting somewhere in town, I find a short detour, just to walk some new paths, to find new treasures. I think that I know the city like my own jeans pocket. I don't! Every day there are new places to see, new gems to explore.

 

This summer I have started a new "just for me"-tradition. Every Saturday morning, just after breakfast, when the world is still quiet, I drive downtown and walk around for a coupe of hours. Shoot photos, sit down somewhere with a caffee latte and a snack, and then may be do some shopping before going home to make lunch - some food at the markets, a book, a cd, a small treasure at an antique shop......

 

Every Saturday morning I visit a new part of the city.

 

Every Saturday morning I find something new.

 

When I sit down for coffee by the end of my walk, I take up my small notebook and make notes of what to blog about in Trondheim Through all Seasons, or I read a little, write in my diary, or just watch life.

 

When I started the Trondheim blog I said to myself - will there be enough to blog about every day? Now, almost four weeks later, I see that I aready have photos and stories for several years.

 

Trondheim, more that 1000 years old, about 170.000 inhabitants, a charming mixture of old and new.....

 

I love Trondheim.....

.....and I want to share my love with you!

 

Don't forget, The House in the Woods has a guestroom ready.

 

When are you coming?

The icing of a long week

 

The first week in a new school turned out to be a long week. Marta is a shy girl and she needs time to adapt. Time and energy. I decided the "first week of school - cake" needed icing, and every afternoon we did a special "just us" thing.

 

A couple of afternoons just the two of us, then Terje wanted to come with us, and one afternoon we met Ingrid to celebrate her big day.

 

The weather has been lovely, and when Terje came with us, we took an early night walk at Solsiden, to have coffee at Bare Blåbær (only blueberries, or "just a piece of cake")

 

A blueberry pie to die for.....

 

 

Solsiden used to be an area for ship building, the last years it has become a floorishing shopping and café area.

 

The Flower Bridge crosses the canal over to Solsiden.

 

The first week is over. Marta's energy level is rising fast, and this week-end she is superbusy with new and old friends.

 

While Marta and a friend slept long this morning, and Terje was out cycing, I took my Saturday morning walk in town. To make photos for my new Trondheim blog, to have my morning coffee and to do some shopping - bread from a favourite bakery, fish from the fish market at Ravnkloa, a cd with Berlioz's music, a bottle of white wine.......

 

Woooops, I had no idea that Marta took this photo of me while crossing the Flower Bridge.