Ikke ferdig progress

While David and his brother and Adam went skiing in Sweden I tried to make progress with my ikke ferdig list - specifically the ten year quilt project. When I started this blog it looked like this... and now it looks more like this...

So I am making progress - honest. David still sees it as an unfinished project - but never mind!

But shhhh - don't tell him about another project that has made the ikke ferdig list....

It's going to be a jumper (hopefully) like the blue one in the picture next to it. I'm using some wool that I think we got years ago on holiday somewhere in Scotland, I think this is it's third reincarnation as the previous two incarnations (both knitted by other people) didn't "suit my head" so I didn't wear them. Fingers crossed this will be third time lucky.

Eating with the neighbours

I feel like I'm playing a bit of catch up with the blog.... we finally had our (current) neighbours over for dinner at the weekend. We didn't cook curry as we'd first thought, but did cook a tried and tested Delia Smith recipe http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/pork-chops-baked-with-wild-mushrooms-and-creme-fraiche,982,RC.html followed by Stjørdalsblink, which is a recipe I found in our Norwegian cookbook (Norsk Mat og Kultur) and is a very easy custardy apple cake. It all seemed to go down very well - even with the kids, who we had also bought back-up frozen pizza for, just in case.

A sad day

We've found out that we're going to have to find somewhere else to live as our landlord is moving back to Norway and needs to sell where we're living so that he can buy a house where he's being moved to. Good for him, but sad for us as we really like the house and the garden and the view etc. Oh well, we'll cope. We've had some thoughts about buying, rather than renting, but I think we'd then lose one of our financial perks of the work transfer out here in the first place. So, discussions all round and thinking caps on.

Spring already?

Not sure - but maybe spring is here?

This is the snow man I built with Jo two weeks ago - it's just about melted. It's sad. Maybe there will be more snow and I can make another one. Fingers crossed.

Friluftsliv

Went on a truger tour this weekend up through snowy valleys and over frozen lakes. Six hours of hard work with fantastic views and a real sense of getting away from it all was deemed nothing more than a trip to a mound by our more knowing Norwegian friends! How 500m of vertical ascent can be deemed or described as a mound is somewhat baffling and probably mystically cultural. If you need to ask if it's a mountain - it's not.... still, mountain, or not you can't beat the views!

About bloody time

Snow has finally arrived and it's started to feel more like winter than spring. Although we do have our first snowdrop out....

we're looking to playing with our snow shoes (hopefully tomorrow), or at least be able to make some snow angels.

2007

Happy New Year!

Instead of relating what we did for Christmas and New Year, we thought we'd write a list of Christmas and New Year firsts for us:

• Had our first Christmas and New Year in Norway (obviously)
• Cooked and ate Ribbe (thanks to one of the list coming up)
• Looked after Pusur the cat
• Moved my first project from the ikke ferdig to the ferdig list - I guess Lille Bamsa is better at finishing things than me!
• Tried aquivit
• Had a goat on the Christmas Tree - which remains unburnt
• Suspected twitching siting of a White Tailed Sea Eagle
• Paid 66kr to cross a bridge
• Went to a Norwegian farm shop
• Played canasta
• Saw first dragon movin in Norwegian
• Visited skydsstation in Baklandet and had fiske suppe
• Made and ate Norwegian waffes (twice as they were so good)
• Acquired our first cookbook på norsk

And here's a piccy of Pusur now that she's calmed down and completely chilled out.