Britt-Arnhild's House in the Woods

Peaceful days at the cabin

@brittarnhild

It is still a couple of weeks till our summer vacation starts, but we were able to take a few days of and headed for the cabin. Five days here, just the two of us, feels like heaven :-) We did a hike this afternoon and stopped for coffee down near the ocean, where a bench and a worn table has been set up, using old driftwood.

Finally, after weeks of cold rain, they say this summer so far is the coldest and wettest in almost 150 years, the rain has stopped. It is still cold, but the sun is out, at least partly, and not long after Terje took this photo of me weeding the cabin garden, I could take of my scarf and my cardigan, and really enjoy the rising temperatures.

I was not the only one. Butterflies, flowers, birds, we were all dancing with joy :-) 

And the no rain weather is supposed to continue! Oh, pure joy!

 

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In my blog world today (will be updated):

maskerade, my knitting blog

Fløy en liten blåfugl, my birding journal

Britt Arnhilds naturdagbok, my nature journal

Akeleiehagen, my garden journal

 

 

 

 

From maskerade, my knitting blog

@brittarnhild

A month has passed since my last post here. A month? Time flies for sure. I have knitted quite a lot duding this month though, and I have made several vlogs on YouTube. I will add the videos at the end of this post.

I finished this shawl a couple of days ago. The pattern is a new one, by Sofia Kammeborn. You can find the pattern, in both English and Swedish on ravelry, here.  I have used the yarn finull from Rauma Ullvarefabrikk, pure Norwegian wool. It has been a favourite yarn of mine for many years. You can get it in a wide range of colours. I decided to go for a summer green garden.

I took these images in the rain the other day, all of them for my instagram account @brittarnhildsstrikkedagbok. Bookworm as I am, I often include books ins my photos there. Can you see which book this one is? Well, I guess the name of the author can give you a clue :-)

 

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A Secret Garden

@brittarnhild

For more than 35 years I've spent part of every summer at Moi, a little village south west in Norway. Every summer I have passed the old, white painted house, knowing that behind the walls five sisters were living. All five are dead now, the house is sold and for the first time I was able to see behind the scenes. Both the house and the garden are under renovation, the house and its four floors a treasure. But the most charming gem is the garden behind the house, a garden which you cannot see from the street.

An old green house. A dam with a single yellow waterlily, huge yellow alchemillas.

A real secret garden, for sure!

 

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In my blog world today:

Britt Arnhilds dagboksblader, my online journal

A new episode in my vlog:

 

 

Terjes first day at school

@brittarnhild

We have been south in Norway for a few days, to Moi, the village where Terje was born. The village where we used to spend every summer for almost 40 years. Now, with both my parents in law death, we seldom go back, but this weekend a birthday celebration in the area gave us the excuse we needed.

Terje´s brother and his wife still live at Moi. We stayed with them, and the first morning, when we were enjoying the fresh morning out on the terrace, Terje pointed down to the school. "Look at that old  building" he said, "it was built in 1963, the year I started school. I still remember my first day here. We were all treated with saft (homemade fruit juice) and skoleboller ( a traditional Norwegian pastry with icing sugar, coconut and egg cream, skoleboller means school buns :-))

It took us about 90 minutes to drive back to Moi from the party we were at. In the middle of the Nordic night which never gets dark. The perfect time to talk about childhood memories.

 

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Today in my blog world:

Britt Arnhilds dagboksblader, my online journal

Britt Arnhilds naturdagbok, my nature notes

 

 

Glimpses from my every day life

@brittarnhild

A blooming garden

A new sweater for Terje

Books and knits everywhere

Hiking under the blue sky

 

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Thank you from the deepest of my heart to all of you who liked the YouTube-video, as I asked you to do <3

 

Here is a fresh one, for those of you who are interested:

 

 

 

May I ask you for some help.......

@brittarnhild

I am trying to get my latest vlog episode on YouTube a bit more visible. As it is now it seems like it is almost completely hidden among several million other videos. May you please open the link I will insert below here, and when you come to the video, please press the thumbs up button (the like button).......you need to have a youtube account to do it.

You do not need to watch the video, but if you do, you will hear me sing a Norwegian baptism hymn, and you will be taken on a walk in our garden, which looks amazing just now.

THANK YOU!!!

 

 

 

Knitting in Tuscany

@brittarnhild

For several years I've spent a week in Tuscany, at a lovely old farm with a 1000 years old church, Santa Maria a Ferrano. I am part of a Norwegian group which runs retreats there. Next year one of our retreats will have knitting as a theme.

The retreat will be from April 26 till May 2, and I am so happy and proud to announce that the Swedish knitter Sofia Kammeborn will come with us. Sofia has the blog Kammebornia, she is on instagram as @kammebornia and she and her husband Dennis has a YouTube channel with more that 10.000 followers.

I am working on a shawl pattern which the participants at the retreat will be the first to get.

 

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This time the language during the week will be Norwegian and Swedish. But who knows, one day we might do it again, in English :-)

One man's death another man's bread.......

@brittarnhild

A pattern I am working on, a shawl for a knitting retreat in Tuscany in April/May 2020

Den enes død, den annens brød, one mans beat, another man's bread.......is a saying we have here in Norway. I do not have a death to report, knock on wood, but still I find the saying a bit appropriate. The last months, well, for almost a year now, I have spent every single free moment knitting. I have loved it! I still love it. My fingers do not always agree though. I have arthritis, I try to forget that I have, but every single day one or two or all ten fingers remind me.......do not forget us, do not forget our arthritis....... So far I have managed to close my years, but these last days they've cried so loud, begged so heartbreaking, I have to listen. To tell myself and them that knitting is good for them, that creating with needles prevent them to get too stiff.......well, they don't listen anymore.

Terje´s lopapeysa, in the pattern ridder

What death and bread has to do with this? Well, with less knitting I get more time for other things. Like keep up my blogs :-)

First garment knitted to myself in 25 years :-)

 

The new YouTube videos are up since my last post here:
(let me know if you have any questions about what I am talking about)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first in about 25 years

@brittarnhild

About 25 years ago I stopped knitting garments to myself. I believed I was too big for anything hand knitted.
Today, several kilos later, I have knitted myself a summer top, I have gained more kilos and many more years and I am proud of my body.

 

In the video I talk about this, but I also have some beautiful footage from Bergen.

 

A weekend in Bergen

@brittarnhild

Terje and I are in Bergen for the weekend. It is spring, the sun is shining, the rain is falling, love is in the air and it is the annual music festival Festspillene.

We take the cable car up to Mount Fløien and have the "of course we must take a selfie here"

We hike in the woods,

and go to a concert at Trollhaugen, Edvard Griegs home. Schuberts Dia Schöne Müllerin

We walk, and walk and walk.

We have lunch with friends from Iran

and we are ordinary tourists.

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Now Terje is on this way back to Trondheim while I am still in Bergen, till tomorrow night, for some work meetings.

 

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My lates vlog, YouTube video. Even though you do not understand Norwegian, I am sure you'll enjoy the footage from our cabin.