« November 2009 | Main | January 2010 »
January, my new red boots
February, in London
March, at Solastrand
April and cabin time
May, we plant a cherry tree
June, I try glassblowing and I climb Preikestolen
July, on Smøla, the small North Sea Island
August in Trondheim
September in Spain
October with the Trumpeter of Krakow
November in Prague
December, preparing for Christmas
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Here are links to the 12 months:
Love, Britt-Arnhild
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"Let's go skiing together tomorrow" I said. Words which made Terje happy, and sent him right down in the basement to prepare my cross country skis. Next morning I was up early, I wanted to do it all properly, and started the day with malking boller (sweet pastries), and hot chocolate to bring in our backpack.
The days are so short now, but during the few hours we have with the sun, the light from the low, low sun is remarkable.
As the name tells, the House in the Woods is situated right at the edge of the forest. We walk up the road about 200 meters, and then the ski tracks start. Mile after mile of lovely nature, free to use whenever we want
Norwegians are born with skis on their feet. So was I, and I started to use them almost before I could walk. The last years I have used them too seldom though, and yesterday I realised I am not anymore as tuff, as brave as I used to be. A 50+ body is getting stiff, and I felt unsure, almost afraid when we met the steep hills. "Well, I can always take my skis off and carry them down" I told Terje. But I never did, and felt so proud of myself. Practice makes the master.
Terje is out skiing "all the time". He followed me and my speed though, but as soon as I said it was time for me to go home, I only saw his back, full speed further into the tracks. Well, he stopped long enough to give me the backpack to take home first :-)
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By the way; the new Blue Café has opened, you can find my fresh boller there.
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....to walk together to the grocery store, hand in hand
.......Marta's happy laughter
............to have the kids home for Christmas
.........quiet, lonely mornings.......
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Photos from The Blue Garden, ice lanterne made by a neighbour
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Somewhere along the river walk we have to leave the river edge to walk the charming streets at Bakklandet, soon though we are back near the river again.
But as I wrote yesterday, today I'll write about books and reading.
Christmas has just started here in Norway. When my American friends undecorate their trees and store away Christmas, the tree here in The House in the Woods is just a few days old, and will still be up till at least the 12th Day of Christmas. Close to the tree is the sofa where I often sit during the days, during the nights with a stack of books close at hand.
I give everybody a book for Christmas, carefully picked, to be sure the book is a right one for the reciever (though so far Marta has been much more interested in the crime I bought for Ingrid's boyfriend than in the Girl With Peal Earring I bought for her.....). And when I say everybody it includes myself....to make sure that I gat a book for Christmas I always buy at least one for myself. A perfect deal, isn't it :-) This year I actually gave myself three books, all by the Irish travel writer Dervla Murphy. I have almost all her books now, and can think of no better way to armchairtravel the world than with her words as my ticket.
So far this Christmas I've travelled the Middle East world with another travel writer though, William Dalrymple and his From the Holy Mountain. My dear friend in India, Carolyn, told me in one of her emails some time ago that to understand the world it is important to try to understand the Middle East, and I am doing as I was told. With the help of old and new travel writers I try to learn as much as possible from this special area of our world. For some reason I seem to concentrate on Syria, and in my Christmas stocking on Christmas morning there were more books......all had Syria as their theme. I might not go there for real any time, well who knows, may be I will.....but nothing prevents me from going there via my books......
Travel writing has been my favorite reading for years, but there are of course other books as well. Every month I try to focus on one artist, one style, one period. Now in December I am enjoying Alphonse Mucha, the artist which was completely unknown to me untill I "discovered" him in Prague a couple of months ago. I bought the book Alphonse Mucha by Sarah Mucha, and enjoy learning more about this Noveau Art artist, this master of posters, and his work.
I have a few ideas for my January theme, but haven't quite decided yet. Any good suggestions?
Marta and I started to read The Hobbit a few days ago. I haven't read it in ages, well, not since the boys were young. What a lovely treat to go back to it, to discover it again, this time together with Marta. Lord of the Rings might be next on our list, but then we'll need ALOT of time.......
I keep tracks of the books I read over in The Blue Bookshelf.Going back to see when I read during 2009 makes me realize that I so easily forget. We started to talk about books around the table a few nights ago, and I could think of so few books that I've actually read lately. I believe this is partly because I read so few of the best sellers, so when people start to talk about them I am often blank. I also read too few Norwegian books, and since most of my friends concentrate on the Norwegian book list, well, I am blank again.......
But reading for me is of course not to follow the lists......but to dream, to travel, to enjoy, to capture words, to discover something new, to relax.
Fiona B, you mentioned children's book yesterday and wrote that you are a little embarrased to tell that those are what you are reading. Oh please don't be. I love children's books, and read alot of them. One of the loveliest gifts this Christmas came in the mail two days before Christmas. A gift from Elizabeth Wix, a blogging friend though several years. She sent me her latest book; Jane and the Essex Serpent. That's the book I plan to start reading today!
Thanks for all the book suggestions in your comments to yesterday's post. I write them all down in a special notebook I have, and who knows, one day I might read just your book :-)
Happy Reading Day!
Here is a link to my other book posts......you have to scroll down quite alot to come to the actually "Booktalk on a Sunday"-posts, but there are alot of other book talks as well.
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No way around, all this eating, all this food, had to end up with a walk. Terje wanted to go cross country skiing, I wanted a walk downtown along the river, and cute as he is, he went with me first, then took his skiing in the afternoon.
With temperatures far below zero (Celsius) and an icy wind, our walk ended up being a cold experience. Cold though lovely. No need to use rouge, my cheeks were naturaly red the rest of the day.
I gave Terje a camera for Christmas, one of those small, handy ones, so easy that even dad can use it ;-). He brough it with him, but never ever took the mittens of his hands. Luckily I brought my big Nikon, and forced myself to take of my kidskin gloves, again and again......
Photos from the walk will continue tomorrow, then accompanied with some booktalk.....I am thinking about starting up my Booktalk on a Sunday again, though this time it will be on a Monday :-) What are you reading this Christmas?
But before I end here and start making breakfast for me, Ingrid and Terje, (Marta and Marius are still asleep) I have a cute photo of some British at the Marinen Park near the river, trying out skiing for their first time :-) (I didn't want to take a closer photo of all their tryings and failings ;-))
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Torgeir put the words to it: "You know, th best thing about Christmas is not the gifts, it is the food!"
All our kids + Marius, are home for Christmas. They all live in Trondheim, but none of them had any doubts. We are coming home for Christmas. Will there be beds enough for us?
Our diningtable is covered with the red tablecloth Terje bought in Avignon in Provence some years ago, and around this table we share all our meals. Torgeir is right, the food is important, though he forgot one thing, being together is what really makes the food so good, so blessed.
In Norway the main Christmas meal is on Christmas Eve, but for the past 4 or so years we have started a new tradition, a lutefisk dinner on the night before, on lillejulaften / little Christmas Eve. We fill the table then with family and friends, different guests every year. I love lutefisk or cemical fish as some Australien guests called it a few years ago, but I also know that alot of people dread eating it, so there is alot of food to go with the fish - potatoes, peas, lefse, bacon, sausages, a white sauce, mustard......This year a family of five came, only the father had tried lutefisk before. The mother and the three grownup kids were brave and gave the fish a try, and actually I think they liked it.
Marius comes from Lofoten, some beautiful island up north in Norway. This was the first time he tried my lutefisk and he loved it. At least that what he told me ( he is the biggest fan of my cooking)
Christmas Eve Day is a day of waiting. There is always alot to do in the kitchen, and since I am alreday spending so much of the morning there, it is easy to cook a huge pot of rice porridge for lunch. There is always a skinless almond hidden in the porridge, and the one who finds the almond is given a little prize - a marzipan pig :-) When Terje was a boy they made a dessert from the porridge, adding whipped cream, serving with strawberries and the one who found the almond had to do the dishes.....
I remember one Christmas during my childhood. There were four of us + mamma and pappa, and mamma teased us, putting almonds in 5 of the six plates. I got an almond and believed I got the prize, which was given to brother Frode who did not get an almond. What alot of fun we had :-)
Then finally Christmas Eve comes. It starts with a Christmas Carol in church and then back home to a house filled with the wonderful smell of pinnekjøtt (read more about it here) There are different food traditions from different part of Norway, luckily both Terje and I were used to pinnekjøtt from our childhoods, so we didn't have to fight over the menu when we married.
For dessert we have cloudberry cream, also a childhood tradition of mine. I already told you about Terje's childhood dessert tradition, so I don't need to point out that I won here, do I? The kids are not very fond of moltkrem / cloudberry cream, so this year Marta asked if I could make karamellpudding (some kind of creme broullé) as well. I couldn't say no of course, and two days before Christmas I made karamellpudding for the first time in my life . I've always had my mother or my father in law there to make it, but father in law is at home (south in Norway) this year, my parents went to Berlin with brother Torodd to celebrate Christmas there. I struggled, but made it - though the result was not quite as good as the ones we are used to.
On Christmas morning Terje and I are the first ones up, and before going to mass in the cathedral we make ourselves a simple breakfast. Then, after the mass, it was time for the big Christmas lunch. Usually we are invited to my parents for a traditional fish dinner/lunch this day, but with them still in Berlin, we did it different this year.
The lunch is filled with alot of cold goodies, fish, meat, cheese, eggs and salmon, jams, and different types of bread, and it lasts a long, long time. Talking, sharing stories and jokes, playing games and puzzles is an important part of the meal.
Almost as soon as the late lunch was finished, we started to prepare the dinner, and late last night we again gathered around the table, this time for turkey with a stuffing made from a recipe we got years back from an old relative of Terje, aunt Anna. She had spent most of her adult life in the US, and brought alot of exciting recipes and traditions back home to Norway when she moved back in the late 60ies.
Well, this was a glimpse from our Christmas table traditions. Hope you like it.
It is early morning on the 2th Day of Christmas as I write this. The house is quiet with all the others asleep. Writing about food is making me hungry, I wonder if there is some food to find somewhere.....
What about you, do you have any Christmas food traditions to share?
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All I want for Christmas is......to hear from you, my readers. Well, it is not all of course, my wish list is long with words like peace, joy, love, end of powerty, climate justice.......and books of course, always books. But here in my virtual, still very much REAL, world, my one and only wish today is to get to know my readers a little more.
I am overwhelmed by yesterday's comments, love suggestions and stories from your own life. Thank you each and every one of you for the time and effort you put into your comments, your letters and emails you write me.
Still I am selfish enough to want more.......... a comment, and email.......just a few words, or more to let me know about who you are. I know from typepad's stats that there are so many of you.
In my mailbox this morning was a lovely surprise, an email from one my my blogreaders in Belgium, Nicole. This was the first time I've heard from her, not long ago Antonella in Italy wrote me an email to let me know that she reads my blog daily.......and I can go on making this a long list. Such emails are treats of gold to me.
And now I want more :-)
I promise to get back to you, visit your blog if you have one. Now I am waiting, eager like a little child on Christmas Eve.
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The beautiful photos are from downtown Trondheim yesterday, when I ran around to do my last minute Christmas shopping. Never too busy for photos though.
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As soon as I was dressed I had to run outside to enjoy it all. I have already, days ago, been out with my tongue stuck out of my mouth to taste the first snowflakes. Now I wanted to see the Christmas tree from outside. Peeking though the windows in the House in the Woods.
Terje and Marta bought the tree yesterday while i was at work. A real tree is a challenge because of my allergics, a fake tree is completely out of the question. We decided to try pine this year to see if it would be better than last years silver spruce. A pine can't compare to a silver spruce of course, and I felt so dissappointed when I came home and saw the tree. "Oh no, we can't have this tree. It looks so thin, with so few branches......."
How bad could I be? Here Terje and Marta had done their very best, just for me, and I had no positive words to give them....... The tree is decorated now, and shines with dozens of lights, a collection of old and new ornaments..... and I know I have an appology to give as soon as Terje comes home from work today.
Dear readers, please help me out...... How can I best appologise to Terje, and also to Marta, for my unloving words?
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The last stop during my 4 hours in Copenhagen, a mass for Climate Justice in the cathedral, with the Danish Queen, with bishop Desmond Tutu, with Archbishop Rowan Williams......and alot of others.
When we were queeing outside the cathedral, my friend Sindre Eide played Oh What a Wonderful World, right in front of a melting polar bear.
Only a very few of the thousands of visitors in Copenhagen that Sunday had got tickets for the mass, most of the Norwegian activists had to watch it all on a huge screen outdoors. I was among the lucky ones. A few days before we left from Norway, I got an email with a ticket, my name written on it, and information that the ticket was personal. The first thing I realised after we left the ship was that I had forgotten my ticket....in a plastic file in my suitcase.
Oh, NO!
We were 1200 people leaving the ship, I sent an sms to my friend Estrid, Sindre's wife, who had sent me the email with the ticket. "Will you believe this Estrid, I forgot my ticket on the ship!!!!!!!"
Seconds later I got a reply:" Don't worry, I printed out your ticket just in case. Let's meet in front of the polar bear before the mass"
That's what good friends are for :-)
How good to sit down in the cathedral before the service started. In silence. In prayers.
In admirations of Thorvaldsen's statue of Christ.
What an honor to be in the cathedral together with the queen.....
...to listen to Archbishop Williams' words......
...to be blessed by bishop Desmond Tutu....
And to be proud because my friend Olav Fykse Tveit has become the new Secretary general for the World Council of Churches, from January 2010.
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Copenhagen will stay in my mind for a long, long time.......
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