Britt-Arnhild's House in the Woods

The everyday life is the best life.......of course it is

@brittarnhild

Thank you for your comments to my previous posts. For a blogger it is of great inspiration to hear from the readers, and even more so when you, like me, know that so many of your readers are your dear friends :-)

I have read your comments, I have done more thinking, I love to wear my thinking cap, and I am back to where I began, and where I've always been - blogging about everyday life.

Every day life, the best life. yes, of course it is. Holidays, travels, extraordinary days.......we need them, we are lucky to be given them, but their main purpose is to give background to the everydays, the days which come and go like beads on a string, the days which make up our lives. Our holy lives.

Our winter so far has been dark and wet. But the night before yesterday it started to snow. Just a little dusting, but as it went on and on and on, still only dust, but dust that did not bow away, my world looked like a winter fairytale this morning. It is my day off, I had nothing planned, so the choice was easy.......

Out, out, out to shower myself in this blessed white. Out for a long walk, a hike, in my woods.

 

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Coming back home I did the first knitting podcast of 2019. Only in Norwegian, but there might be some knitting to look at anyway ;-)

 

 

 

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Active blogs these days:

 

Blåklokkeveien

Britt Arnhilds dagboksblader

Britt Arnhilds naturdagbok

Med bøker på menyen

Britt Arnhild´s House in the Woods

Fløy en liten blåfugl

Britt Arnhilds Blå Café

maskerade

Akeleiehagen

 

Back to everyday life, and in the thinking box

@brittarnhild

Back to work, back to everyday life, and (back to) thinking of where to take my blog. I write "the blog", though I have more blogs now than I can count. This one was my first, and it is the one I count as my main one. 14 years this January since I started Britt -Arnhild´s House in the Woods. That's a long time. First four m months on blogspot before moving over to Typepad.

I have put myself in the thinking box today.......and for a few days. And as I sit here I think I need your help. I do have some ideas, but still - what to YOU want me to blog about to make it interesting for you to come back. To read what I write, to look at my photos, to want to comment, to come back tomorrow to read and watch again.

I am looking forwards to hear from you.

 

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In my blog world today:

 

Blåklokkeveien

Britt Arnhilds dagboksblader

Britt Arnhilds naturdagbok

Med bøker på menyen

Britt Arnhild´s House in the Woods

Fløy en liten blåfugl

Britt Arnhilds Blå Café

maskerade

 

 

 

The lovely blue Teide bird, and a few others.

@brittarnhild

We have been up in the mountains today, to the special bird watching place we found last year. The Teide bird, the blue finch, was there, and a few others :-)

Tomorrow we fly home.

 

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Blogs updated today:

Blåklokkeveien

Britt Arnhilds dagboksblader

Britt Arnhilds naturdagbok

Med bøker på menyen

Britt Arnhild´s House in the Woods

Fløy en liten blåfugl

 

 

 

A special lunch on Terje´s birthday

@brittarnhild

It is Terje´s birthday today. My present to him was 12 small notecards, each of them "the value" of a dinner or lunch for two, and also each of them for one of the months in 2019. One dinner or lunch, at a new place, every new month. You can see pictures of the gift in my journal blog, Britt Arnhild dagboksblader.

Starting today, with the first notecard, I wanted to take him somewhere special.

I know John, a British author, who lives part of the year in Tenerife with his wife. Besides writing books John also writes about food and restaurants, so I contacted him, knowing that he was the one to give me the best recommendations. And I was right. John mentioned a few places, and sent me a facsimilie of what he had written, and I stated the long and tedious work of contacting the restaurant. Several emails and many tries to reach then on the phone, later, I had a table for two booked :-)

What a great place. When we arrived we were given a table and then asked to go to the counter to order. We understood very few of the Spanish names of fishes and seafood, but it was all there to look at, to point out, fresh from the sea. "We have no idea what to order!" I said, "but it is my husbands birthday today. Will you please make us something special"

Which they did!

We were so stuffed when we were finished, we had to go directly back to our hotel to rest. Terje near the pool, I in the bed.

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Terje.

 

My blogs updated today:

Blåklokkeveien

Britt Arnhilds dagboksblader

Britt Arnhilds naturdagbok

Med bøker på menyen

Fløy en liten blåfugl

 

 

And you can read more about John Searancke here.

 

The priest and the closed church

@brittarnhild

We have been to the capitol of Tenerife today, Santa Cruz. One of the places I wanted to visit was the old church, the oldest church more correct, Nuestra Señora de la Concepción, from 1502.

And old priest was standing halfway inside, halfway outside the church.
"Do you speak English? I asked
  ....... no answer
"Is the church open?"
.......still no answer, but he looked at me and I could see he was thinking.

Then he rose first five, then six fingers. "Six" he said.

I could of course have climbed up on this roof and asked the painters to let me in.
I did not though!

 

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Blogs updated today:

Med bøker på menyen

Blåklokkeveien

Britt Arnhilds naturdagbok

Britt Arnhilds dagboksblader

Fløy en liten blåfugl

 

Catch of the day

@brittarnhild

Las Galletas is one of a million small fishing villages in Tenerife. We stopped there for coffee before going to the beach this morning, and had a strolling the village afterwards.

The fisherman en in the village are out before dawn, and when they come in, their catch is sold at the local fish market. Small stalls selling fresh fish.

If I lived in Las Galletas I would eat fresh fish every day.

 

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Blogs updated today:

Fløy en liten blåfugl

Blåklokkeveien

Britt Arnhilds dagboksblader

Britt Arnhilds naturdagbok

Med bøker på menyen

 

 

Happy New Year

@brittarnhild

We said goodbye to the old year celebrating a service in the Norwegian Seamen´s Church here in Tenerife. The best way to say goodbye. The best way to welcome the new.

Then we walked out to see the fireworks, to kiss each other happy new year and to walk back to our hotel. I am not a night person, and we are one hour behind Norway, so this was late. Very late!

We slept long today. Then we had a slow morning near the pool, swimming, sun bathing, talking, almost sleeping :-)

But we are not people who stay at the pool all day. So after a couple of hours we found ourselves out exploring.

This is our 7th visit to the small volcanic island of Tenerife and for every new visit we realise how little we know of the island, how much there is to explore.

Like the little remote village El Puetito. At 11am this morning I had no idea it existed.......

 

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Blogs updated today:

Blåklokkeveien

Britt Arnhilds dagboksblader

Med bøker på menyen

Fløy en liten blåfugl

Britt Arnhilds naturdagbok

 

Making resolutions

@brittarnhild

I love to make resolutions. On the last day of the old year, and even more on the first day of the new. Long lists, this and that and everything....... New Year's resolution lists inspires me, make my days and my life richer.

I will not go into details of my lists here and now, I have other blogs and journals for that, but one thing I want to share.......as in 2018, as in 20127, as in 2016 ands many years before that, I will look for beauty. And colours.

Beauty and colours, just like I found in these plants this morning, outride the Aloe Park in Tenerife, only a 7 minutes drive from our hotel.

 

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Here is the link to the Aloe Park.
I have no idea what the plants are, have never seen them in Norway. May be some of you are familiar with them?

 

 

Back in Tenerife

@brittarnhild

Our "in the darkest winter we seek the sun week" has started. Very early this year, or rather late as we still write 2018.......for one more day.

We were up before 4am this morning, when the world was completely dark. 10 hours later we had landed, we had our our card for the week from AVIS and we were on our way to "our" hotel, Los Alisios, up in the hills above Los Christians, in Tenerife.

We are sitting out on our veranda now. The sun has just set and the light is balmy and soft, the light I want to wrap myself in.

 

In the middle of Christmas

@brittarnhild

In Norway we count the days of Christmas. The 23rd of December is Little Christmas Eve, lillejulaften,, 24th is Christmas Eve, julaften. And then we start, the 25th is the First day of Christmas, the 26th the Second Day of Christmas and so on all the way to the 30th which is the 6th Day of Christmas. Then comes New Years Eve, and from January 1st we start again, the First Day of New Year and the Second Day of New Year.......ands form then work and schools are back to normal and we stop counting. But Christmas continues. For some till the 13th Day of Christmas, epiphany the 6th of January, for others, like us, till the 20th Day of Christmas. 

This means the holidays and the celebrations have only just started.......kind of

Friend and family are coming here for meals and being together, we are invited to friends, and we enjoy every minute.

The coming week though, leaving early tomorrow morning, Terje and I will continue to celebrate in Tenerife :-)