Britt-Arnhild's House in the Woods

The beauty of life

@brittarnhild

I love being out in nature and as every season unfolds I tend to find it is the most beautiful one. My favourite, always my favourite. I have  over the years, struggled with the winter season, but more and more for every new year, I learn to love its uniqueness.

We live close to the forest, and going there for a walk, in spring, in summer, in autumn and these days in the depth of winter is a blessing I never take for granted. On skis, on snow shoes or on regular shoes, mother nature is there, awaiting me, offering me all what she has to give.

 

 

My new garden YouTube channel is part of this love of life, love of nature. With my smart phone camera I will search for beauty, for growth. For life itself. I made another video in English today. About the animal tracks. Marilee commented on yesterday´s video and the tracks I showed you, and you were right Marilee, they were not deer tracks :-) Today I tell you what they really are :-)

 

 

I was not prepared for all the fun

@brittarnhild

Several of you, here, on facebook and places like that, asked me if I would ever do an English video. When I started my YouTube channel yesterday, it was too much of a challenge just to figure out everything, from deciding what to say on the short videos I filmed, to move them from my cell phone over to my Mac, to download and start to use iMovies, to put the four videos together and finally remove them over to YouTube. I had Marta with me in Messenger, giving me advice along the road, but I felt pretty proud in the end when the video was finally up on YouTube :-) 

Then I sat down, looking at the finished video myself, promoting it here, in my garden blog and on facebook, and then I could start counting the number og viewers. Such fun!!!

Then the first comment came.......will you ever do a video in English?
Oh no! I told myself. To speak English while thinking of all the other things I have to figure out. I can never do that! 
I had a long and busy day at work today, with not one single second to think of YouTube. Then finally I was ready to go home. I still had some errands to do downtown, but the minute I opened the door out from the Archbishop´s Palace and could breath som outdoor fresh air, YouTube hit my mind. I realised it was still some daylight left, the days are getting much longer now as we are heading into February soon. I decided the errands can be done tomorrow, I wanted to take the first bus home and use tha last of the daylight to make another video. This time in English.

 

I did :-) And here is the link:
Britt-Arnhild on YouTube

 

On YouTube

@brittarnhild

I have some great news today. I am on YouTube! Yes, I am on YouTube!!!!!!!
13 years almost on the day since I started blogging, the year I will be turning 60. Several years afgter I actually opened a YouTube account. A dream has come true.

My first YouTube video is out.

The first video is from my late in January garden. Probably most of the videos will be from the garden, or my knitting. But who knows, there might also be some travel videos in there. And may be some other surprises as well.

If you want to know when I have a new video out, press the subscribe button (I will love if you do that)


So, here is the first one, a walk in the garden today to watch the deer tracks:

 

 

More thoughts on this journal through 60 years

@brittarnhild

I am looking through and old photo album tonight, perfect shoes for a walk down memory lane.

An online memory journal will be made in my Norwegian journal blog, Britt Arnhilds dagboksblader.
I do hope to be able to make the main book offline though, with words, drawings and pictures. Have not quite figured out how yet, but will find a solution.

And from time to time there will come "turning 60"-tales here as well.

 

Turning 60

@brittarnhild

I am turning 60 this year. On April 10th.
We will have a party on April 7th, a concert in our church, and then a meal.

The other day Terje and I were busy making invitations for the party. Now they are sent out, and the responses have already started to come. 

 

Turning 60.
A milestone.

 

I am thinking of starting a very special journal, looking back at milestone points in my life.

 

 

May be this journal could be made online, in Britt-Arnhild´s House in the Woods?

 

Feeding the ducks, and a little more

@brittarnhild

Leander is spending part of the weekend with us. After breakfast today we filled a bag with old, dry bread and drove over the the river to feed the ducks. The ducks were hungry and came as soon as we left the car, wondering what treats we had for them.

After our bread bag was emptied, it was time to look for some other birds.
The swans and cormorants were still there.

I see that several of you call then swans Berwick Swans. Berwick swans, Cygnus columbianus bewickii are not common in Norway. The ones in my pictures are Whooper swans, cygnus cygnus, or song swans as we call them in Norway.

They are so beautiful, aren´t they :-)

 

Free coffee accompanied with piano music

@brittarnhild

We will be doing some work and changes at home this spring, and went to IKEA this morning to start working our way down the list we have been making.

After we were done it was time for coffee.

IKEA has cheap coffee, and it is probably quite good as well.

 

We did not have coffee at IKEA though.

You see, my parents live not far away, so we stopped there.

 

To get the best coffee.

For free :-)

 

And not only coffee,
but also my mother´s homebaked cakes

 

and her piano music.

 

Afterwards it was time to call my brother in Reykjavik and sing the birthday song for him on his 55th birthday.

 

 

Out in the icy cold

@brittarnhild

The icy cold winter is still here. Poor birds. I wonder how they survive.

I drove over to the river after lunch, and met the swans, and a few ducks.

I have been thinking back today, to the many years I have not been friends with winter.
This is changing. 

Now I see more and more of its beauty.
Day by day.

 

A robin, a tit, a blue tit, and then.......

@brittarnhild

I drove over to the botanical gardens the other day, to look for birds. You see, I had heard that it might be possible to see a bird which is quite rare here in Trondheim, coming on winter visits from Russia from time to time.

The day was icy cold with a wind which felt like being hit by icicles.
I still walked around, managing to get a few shots.

A red robin, a blue tit, a common tit, but not what I was searching for.

But then.......

a couple of, or three actually, birders,
with cameras with huge lenses.

I walked over as silent as I could,

and there.......

 Is there something among the pinecones?

Yes, there is!

The bird I was seeking.
The two-barred crossbill :-)

 

Sucking nectar

@brittarnhild

We see him every day, the tiny little Canary Island Chiff-chaff. As we were sunbathing near the pool yesterday, he, or may be it is a she, was sucking nectar from a blooming aloe vera close to my head. What a change from the other day when a talkative young man from Denmark was what I found close to my head.......the sunbathing area at the hotel is quite full these days and the chairs stand close to each other. That´s why we love to travel around, and lick the sun at more remote beaches. Like at the nudist beach, which has become our favorite over the years.......where we swim and sunbathe with our swimming suits on.

It is our last day today. Tomorrow we fly north again. To winter and snow, and according to what Terje reads online from our local newspaper, the most perfect conditions for cross country skiing. He can´t wait....... I can!  

We did a hike in the desert down by Montana Roja yesterday afternoon. Brought with us a late lunch, a very simple one. Bread, water and two bananas. Sat on two stones to eat the food, with of course tasted delicious. Looked over the Grand Canary, watching the whimbrels.

Life is like that down here. You don´t make any special plans. You sleep late, well, Terje does. You swim. You bathe in the sun. You drive up in the hills for a coffee and some local sweet pastries. You go for a hike. You find a new fishing village when your stomach tells you it is lunch time. You get to know the young waiter at the restaurant where you eat your dinner. You buy a new handbag. You walk hand in hand. 

You cameratalk with your grandson.......

.......and when time is due, you look forward to fly home.

 

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Other updated blogs:

Britt-Arnhilds dagboksblader - my online journal

Fløy en liten blåfugl - my birding journal, one new bird every day

Blåklokkeveien - trees

and later today I plan to write a post in 

maskerade - my knitting blog