Britt-Arnhild's House in the Woods

The painting and the real place

@brittarnhild

There is a painting on the wall in the home of my brother and sister in law. Well, there are many paintings, but this one has always caught my eyes because of the dramatic nature. It makes me think of the western coast of Ireland, but now my brother could tell me it is from Iceland, not far from keflavik International Airport. Yesterday Terje and I had "a day off", we borrowed Børge and Stina´s car, and we drove west.

It was a wet and very windy day. Perfect for several coffee stops along the way.

And we were dressed warm and rainproof, which made us have a million photo stops along the road.

The more I see of this country, the more it fascinates me.

 

Well, our drive went on, the rain stopped, though the wind got harder, and suddenly we were at Reykjanestá, where the painting was made.

The landscape was dramatic, and the force of the wind made us very cautious. Being a Norwegian I know that you never know the full force of nature. But what a beauty. What an amazing beauty.

Our fingers froze. Our cheeks went red. Tears in our eyes.

The cliff from the painting.

 

 

.......and then a day and another performance.

@brittarnhild

Ágúst acts not only in one, but in two theatre performances this weekend. Last night was a bonus for Terje and me to take part in, Saturday at lunch time the main reason came. Blai Hnötturinn, The Blue Planet at Borgarleikhúsid in Reykjavik, The City Theatre. The book which this performance is based on is written by an Icelandic, Andri Snær Magnason, and is translated into English, The Story of the Blue Planet.  A lovely tale about sharing, sacrcifice and love for the world and its people.

Ágúst gave me the book some months ago so I knew the tale, but over a morning coffee, it was time for my brother Børge to retell the story for Terje.

Reykjavik has a million coffee houses, cafés and restaurant. We found the funniest, which I plan to write more about in a coffee and travel post in Caffe Avec later.

The performace was amazing, a firework in light and sound and colours and dancing children. It was stricktly forbidden to take photos, but when it was all finished and we applauded like mad, I sneaked my small camera up from my purse.......

.......and lucky me, I already had two screenshots from snaps sent me by Ágúst earlier in the day, while he already were in the theatre, practicing.

 

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Later in the day we were invited to a vernisage, with watercolours made by the cousin of my brother´s father-in-law,

and I fell in love with one of the aquarelles, Summer kiss from the veranda.
But that´s another tale.

 

A special night in Reykjavik

@beittarnhild

It started with the most amazing dinner. While Terje and I had been out for a walk, in rainy, windy, Reykjavik, my brother and sister in law mad made the table and prepared a most amazing welcome dinner for us. In their charming penthouse flat in the capital of Iceland.

No matter the weather, nor the season, my brother has a grill out on their small terrace, overloooking Reykjavik center, and he uses it all year long.

This time he had kangaroo meat on the grill.

Something we had never, ever tasted before.

Believe me, it really tasted so good :-)

 

After the meal it was time for the first part of our main reason for coming to Iceland this weekend. Àgùst acting in the performance Stéfen Ris.

Before the performance.

And after :-)

What an amazing performance. We don´t understand much Icelanding, just a few words, but we had been explained the plot in advance, and had a most lovely evening following the story.

Stéfan Ris has a facebook page, where you can see more photos. You find it here.

 

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I have followed Ágúst and his love for theatre for some time no. In January 2013 I wrote this post about Ágúst and his best friend, the boy who now had the main role in Stéfan Ris, make their own private performance.

 

Theatre here, there, everywhere

text and images britt-arnhild

Three nights a week at the National Theatre for Macbeth.
A role in children´s´television on Icelandic TV.
Up early to shot a scene for a movie.

 

This is not enough for Àgúst.

"Aunt Britt-Arnhild, I love acting. I want to act all the time. I will never stop" 

Àgúst and his friend had been to the theatre Saturday morning to watch Karius and Baktus by the late Norwegian Thorbjørn Egner, and as soon as they came home, the livingroom was transformed into Jens´mouth.
The boys wrote their own version of the story, and spent hours playing and acting.

The aunt from Norway had a lovely time,
watching two boys too busy for computer games.

Not difficult to see that this is a mouth, is it?

 

Do you know the story about Karius and Bactus,
the two tooth trolls?

  

 

Àgúst, you are inspiring me.
I tend to spend to much time on the computer.
I´ll learn from you and do some "playing and acting" instead.

 

 

You find the original post here.

 

 

 

text and images britt-arnhild

Three nights a week at the National Theatre for Macbeth.
A role in children´s´television on Icelandic TV.
Up early to shot a scene for a movie.

 

This is not enough for Àgúst.

"Aunt Britt-Arnhild, I love acting. I want to act all the time. I will never stop" 

Àgúst and his friend had been to the theatre Saturday morning to watch Karius and Baktus by the late Norwegian Thorbjørn Egner, and as soon as they came home, the livingroom was transformed into Jens´mouth.
The boys wrote their own version of the story, and spent hours playing and acting.

The aunt from Norway had a lovely time,
watching two boys too busy for computer games.

Not difficult to see that this is a mouth, is it?

 

Do you know the story about Karius and Bactus,
the two tooth trolls?

  

 

Àgúst, you are inspiring me.
I tend to spend to much time on the computer.
I´ll learn from you and do some "playing and acting" instead.

#filltheworldwithhope

@brittarnhild

 

I have not posted any political comment on my facebook wall today. It has been hard, but I decided early not to directly comment the US election. Without any comment from me, the newsfeed is still overflowing with posts about the new elected president. Most of the words and photos flightens me. So much anger, so much hate, so many ugly posts.

Dr. Olav Fykse Tveit, a Norwegian and a man I know and deeply respect, now the General Secretary of World Council of Churches then posted this on his facebook wall:
The presidential campaigns in the USA are over. The Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace continues. More needed than ever.

I couldn´t agree more, and after a while decided to post home instead of hate. I challenge you to do the same.
#filltheworldwithhope

 

Here is what I posted:

There is a cart in my life, a cart which follows me aroud, wherever I go, whatever I do. The cart is my treasure chest, inside it I have collected what I need to walk the path which is for me to walk.
Many of the items in the cart is of no use, neither for me nor for the world. Some are even dangerous. At the same time the cart has room for more. A lot more.
Every morning, every night, every hour of the day, I fold my hands and ask God to help me let go of what doesn't belong, to make room for what is needed.
#filltheworldwithhope

 

 

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You can read more about Pilgrimage for Justice and Peace here.

 

Another tree had to go

@brittarnhild

Today it was time to cut down the third of the five huge pines which have been growing right outside our livingroom. They have grown too high, they are too close to the house, so there is no other option. They have to go.

Terje is cutting them doen himself, one every autumn, which gives me a break. I still have two pines left. And so have the birds. And the squirrels.

I was out in the garden, working shoulder with shoulder with Terje, feeling sad because of the fallen tree, when I decided we could make the day special anyway.

It is November. The first snow has come.

 

What about a barbeque?

When snowflakes covers my world

@brittarnhild

Yesterday, just after breakfast, the first snowflakes started to fall, and it continued to snow on and off during the day. Not much yet, so far the earth is only slightly dusted. But as the temperatures are around or below zero (celsius that is), the snow is not melting. Not even when the sun shines.

Our house is situated so that we have no sun for a few weeks every winter. But for the moment the sun shines on the garden, for a shorter and shorter time every day.

I don´t want to miss the beauty.

 

Trondheim filled with orange scarves

@brittarnhild

If you walk around in Trondheim these days, you will find dozens and dozens of orange scarves. They are made to help us make our city a warmer, more friendly city. They are made to give a warming hand to people who are cold during the winter. I am not sure how to translate the motto of thre campaign, but it is something like - please one who is dreading Christmas.

The orange scarf campaign, which is run by the City Mission, will give a lot of people a better and warmer Christmas.

I had fun yesterday taking photos of scarves spread arund in the city.

Next year I think I will knit a few scarves for the campaign.

 

 

Terra Incognita

@brittarnhild

I have been following the work for some time now. A couple of weeks ago it was finished, and now we have a new memorial in Trondheim. Just behind Vår Frue kirke, Our Lady´s Church. The memorial is for the victims of July 21st 2011, when 77 innocent victims lost their lives. One man, so much evil.

Five young people from Trondheim lost their lives during the terrorism on the small island Utøya, and the municipality of Trondheim has made this memorial.

Terra Incognita.
An unknown territorium was revealed in the middle of our lives. On maps terra incognita is marked as blank spots.

When I saw the white memorial for the first time, my though was - this doesn´t fit in here in Trondheim. We don´t have any white stones like this. This is all wrong.

Since then I have been back many times. No, the white doesn´t fit it. Yes, this is all wrong. And that´s how it is meant to be. Terra Incognita. An unknown territorium. A blank space.

Let us pray that what happend 21st of July 2011 will never happen again.

 

The red fallen leaves make it all the more dramatic. All the more wrong.