Britt-Arnhild's House in the Woods

Easter Morning

text and images britt-arnhild

Easter Morning.
The happiest day of the year, the most blessed day in history. 

An Easter tree decorates the coffee table. Branches of red currant from the garden, magnolia from the flower shop.

Eggs from around the world.

A reminder of rebirth and new life.

Last night I served Easter lamb for dinner. Family filled our table. A tradition carried on.

I could have read The Passion from The Bible. Family members don´t all share the same belief so I did not.

Prayers was one of the side dishes though.
Blessings was another.

I have a special notebook where I write down recipes, menues and tales from dinners at The Blue Café. While writing in it last night, after the guests had left, I filled prayers and thanks between the lines.

And a tale was born.

A tale which will be saved for another dinner party.
Another celebration.

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

Christ has risen.

Happy Easter.

 

:::::::::

Photos: eggs gathered from around the world, shot with my macro lens.

 

Portraits during a photowalk

text and images britt-arnhild

From time to time I get an email or a comment, "is this really Marta?" "she looks so grown up" "isn´t she still a little girl?"

Marta was 9 when I started blogging.
Now she is 17.

Yes, she is a young girl.
A beautiful girl.

She doesn´t like to appear in Britt-Arnhild´s House in the Woods any more. But from time to time she still agrees. Like these photos which I took during a photo walk yesterday. We are home alone the two of us, and spend time doing a lot of mother-daughter "things".

 

 :::::::::::::::::::::::

Time flies. Our kids are growing out of the nest.
I tend to be much better in nurturing their roots than helping their wings to grow.

But I am working on it.......

 

Hi big sister, don´t forget to blog

text and images britt-arnhild

We waved goodbye to Moi, to farfar and to Terje who is staying behind to spent Easter with his father, and started our 1000km long drive home. Without our main driver. A long drive, through 10 counties. Starting at 8am, home just as the clock struck midnight. Stopping only when we simply "had to pee", except for one long stop.

Sout of Lillehammer my brother Torodd, his wife Kristin, Mathilde, Benjamin and Kristin´s parents  reigns in the most charming old homestead you can imagine. Solveig, Kristin´s mother, had invited us for dinner. Moose steak.

We were seated around the table, enjoying the jummy food when my borther asked for my camera. "Hi big sister, you have blogged about things much less important than this. Aren´t you going to blog about mother in law? Where is your camera?"

My camera was out in the car, we were all seated around the huge, old table, it would be rude to leave. But then I remembered I had my cell phone. Of course I would blog about this :-)

  

As we sat there eating, I sure missed my camera, not only for the food, the master cook, the homestead, the people.......no, all of a sudden a moose was outside the window.

My cell phone had to do again.

Upgraded to main driver I was given the luxury of a driver´s nap before continuing.

Solveig and Sigurd, Torodd, Kristin, Mathilde and Benjamin,
thank you
for your hospitality.

And a very special thank to Solveig for the moose steak, and the sauce! 

 

1001 reasons to love my husband

text and image britt-arnhild

I am starting a new category in Britt-Arnhild´s House in the Woods:
1001 reasons to love my husband.

 

There are at least 1001 reasons to love him......every day.

Like yesterday when we were driving around, showing Marius all the great places around Moi. We had stopped, and stopped and stopped again, my camera was getting hot, when, in the middle of a narrow road I crcied out. "Stop!"
And what did he do?
He stopped of course.

And I got this masterpiece :-) 

 

Reason #1:
he stops when I ask him to 

A Traveler. A Photographer

text and image britt-arnhild

Marius is visiting Moi for the first time.
Ingrid wants to show him everything. Farfar wants to tell him every family tale. Marta wants to play cards forever and ever.

Yesterday I drove the young generation to the nearby town Egersund. They had some shopping to do. They wanted to look around.
We set the time and decided to meet for lunch at the harbour. 

 

I was free to walk around with my camera.
A Traveler.
A Photographer. 

Traditionally a fishing town, still with the smell of fish.
Narrow streets, old wooden houses.
A shopping mall directing people out from the charming center........destroying yet another village, town, city.........

 

Remnants from the old, golden days.
It must have been a dream to live in one of these houses, overviewing the harbour. Now a huge, new building effectively has closed the view.

A traveler, a photographer, walking around.
Dreaming of the old golden days, hanging up photos to dry.......

....then realising that

time is HERE
time is NOW 

Curiosity got them.......

text and images britt-arnhild

The big party is over, Easter break is here and the days are streched out like a white canvas ready to be painted. Walking and hiking is on top of my list this Easter (so is letters written by hand, listening to farfar´s tales, teaching Ingrid to knit with many colours........and a few other things)

I had a couple of letters ready to be mailed yeasterday afternoon, one to India, another to Alaska, and as I was not sure that I had the correct stamps, I decided to walk up to the post office. A 20 minute´s walk, and when I walked back home I took a detour down to where the river runs out into the lake.

To look for the swans which we had seen through the binoculars through farfar´s window earlier in the day.

I saw the swans, but they were a bit too far away for the small pocket camera I had brought. The ducks were there though, coming towards me, hoping I had bread crumbs for them. Which I had not. Unfortunately.

Without bread they turned their backs.......

....but curiosity, it did kill the cat, but it also got the ducks back to the silver haired lady with the camera.

 

This duck dancing was last night. Now a new morning has risen, the sun rose from behind the mountains and hit the livingroom windiw at 7.19am, a blackbird sits on the veranda fence, looking in to me, singing.

Have a lovely day.

 

The old white wooden church

text and images britt-arnhild

Like everywhere else in Norway, the tiny little village of Moi, south west in Norway, has its own church. A typical whitepainted, wooden church, built on the edge of the lake. The church is surrounded by the graveyard park where we regularly visit the graves of Terje´s little brother who died when still a toddler, and mother in law who died some years ago.

People in Norway love their churches.
Untill a year ago The Church of Norway was a state church. This is changing, in a slow, important process. Still a great majority of the Norwegians are members, though fewer and fewer are to be seen in church during Sunday mass.

The church is a place for joy and for sorrow.
A place for art in words, music and colours.
A place for worship and prayers.

But most of all the church is
The House of God.

 

 

 

Filled with 90 years of life!

text and image britt-arnhild

Two weeks ago he was in hospital and we did not know about the future.
Yesterday he celebrated life.
90 years of it!

Thankfulness and praise framed the day.

 

Photos:
First one father in law with two daughters in law, four granddaughters
Second one three brothers, Andreas 93, Ivar 72 and Sverre 90 
Thirs one father in law, Ingrid and Marta 

You will not believe all the fun we had during the photo session.
Father in law was the craziest. 

A Stop Along the Way

text and images britt-arnhild

We spent 14 hours on the road yesterday, me, Terje, Marta and Ingrid. Starting from Trondheim at 11.30, we arrived at Moi in the middle of the night. A long drive. Quality time in the car. Good to be done.

We stopped for dinner at an art and crafts center, at Løiten Lys. A charming little restaurant, surrounded by small antique shop where Ingrid and I walked around while waiting fot the food.

In the toilet I found these charming posters, front pages from old magazines, in the 1930ies.

I couldn´t resist the text in the last one:
"Bugs and volcanos are more dangerous than wild indians" 

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

In a few weeks I will visit both Iceland and Nepal.
Volcanos and bugs :-)

:::::::::::

When we were small there was an old couple living in our neighbourhood. In their basement they had a library with kids and young adult reader´s cowboy and indian book. My brother Frode and I were invited to come and borrow as many books as we wanted. We did. And we wanted a lot! Both of us dreamed of cowboys and indiands and the wild west for years.
Once my brother told his friend that he planned to be an Indian Researcher when he grew up. His friend laughed and said "Haha, you can dream, but it will never happen". My brother was crying when he came home; "of course I will be an indian researcher. I am going to show them!

 

Today Frode is a priest up in the remote islands of Lofoten :-)

Easter break

text and image britt-arnhild

Easter break.
And almost ready for farfar´s party.

But first I need to pack down a few necklaces.
My bric á brac.

 

Do you have a favorite necklace?
I have many, and #1 on the list varies according to my mood :-)