A Sunday Drive On A Saturday

We are experiencing a wave of beautiful weather lately with only small light showers every once in a blue moon just to keep things nice and green. It’s really gorgeous around here right now…

We decided to run over to Sweden to do some cheap shopping for ourselves and Julia’s confirmation party next weekend. Our inlaws are here until after the confirmation so they followed along in their RV.

We had a lovely drive and passed lots of quaint places…

…and big gorgeous farms…

We also passed an area where there were tons of giant rocks all around. Stig said they had rolled down from the mountains probably- only problem was there wasn’t exactly what you would call mountains in that area…so who knows where they came from, but they sure made for an interesting landscape…

While in Sweden we found lots of goodies- of course!! We always do, summer shoes were bought in for everyone, tons of meat was bought, beer and wine, and monster energy drinks. We also found these guys….

Why….hello boys!!! Nice to see you! Boy have I missed you guys!!!

Oh doctor doctor!! You must help me! I have a condition, I think it’s called Norwegianitis…I get panicky, feel like everything costs so much and go crazy each time I cross the Swedish boarder…I think if you want to get to the ROOT of my problem…

I think you need to look at some of my symptoms…

I know, I know, a moment on the lips forever on the hips….I’m doomed….do you think you can help me Doc?? What’s that??? Stop going to Sweden??? But……then I wouldn’t have my “symptoms”……..hey, you know what? I’m suddenly feeling better…yeah, thanks anyways Doc!!!

Until next time my friends….

Flowers Flowers Flowers!

Life is funny. Yesterday was the one year anniversary of my mother’s passing. I’ll never forget my Dad calling in tears saying she was gone….and how badly I wanted to be with he and my sister and of course my mom. The tears, the anguish, confusion, disbelief, sorrow…it was too much to deal with…I was in a state of shock to say the least.

Not a day goes by I don’t think of my mom. Still in a bit of disbelief that such a beautiful, vibrant, amazing woman is gone at such a young age (60years). It’s wrong, I know, but sometimes I find myself looking at older people and thinking, “why do they get to live and not my mom?” But it’s a question that will never be answered and the simple truth is, no one knows when their time is over..who will live longest and who will only get a short time here…that is why- and I know I’m sounding like an old record- but make the most of every day.

A year later and I have been offered a permanent position in my job, it’s summer, we’re awaiting another litter of puppies, and life is moving on. It’s going so fast I sometimes feel I can’t keep up, but it’s good…it leaves me little time to think about my loss- even though she does sneak into my thoughts every now and then, I’m not a basket case…I am living and I’m loving and I’m happy. I think my mom would be happy also about that. She knows I love her and I’ll never stop and I’ll never stop thinking of her and missing her…but she would have wanted us to go on living- if not for ourselves- for her.

With that said, I’m busy getting my garden in order…summer just isn’t summer without the greenest of greens and the rainbows of colour dotted throughout my garden…here is some of the goodies I’ve bought today to plant in my gardens and my pots around the house…I’m not done- not by a long shot but it’s a process buying in things for your garden and pots.

I spent about 900 Norwegian kroner on the flowers you see in these photos plus a twin hanging basket to the last photo…several of the flowers will only bloom this summer and then never again, but I always try and get flowers which will come year after year- that is money well spent in my opinion- but you also want the beautiful summer flowers to perk the place up in the summer, especially after a long hibernating winter!

The puppy box is out again and awaiting the little lion cubs who will live there for eight weeks. A little over a week until they should arrive…keep your fingers crossed that things go smoother then last time.

We are going luxury style this time compared to last. Last year we had the puppy box in our bathroom, with no place to sit, nothing to watch or do…here we have two yummy leather couches, TV, and an exercise bike (should I feel inspired) all within easy viewing distance to the babies…ahh….this is going to be great…(I hope).

Another good piece of news is after a very long search, we’ve finally found a couple willing to take on our problem child- Redman- whom we got back when he was almost 9 months old with insecurities, unsocialized, and on the boarder of puberty. Not a fun combination and he’s definitely been a handful and we’ve been doubtful if we’d ever find anyone who would want such a challenge. But we met a lovely couple who live in the heart of Oslo who would like to try and give him a better life then he has had in his earlier homes- so lets hope and pray they can turn this rowdy youngster into a wonderful adult.

Redman says, “who you talkin about grandma? Sweet little ol’ me???” mmmhmmmmm….yep!!!

Until next time my friends….

A French Love Story

First off, as promised, here is a photo of yesterday’s dinner…brace yourself…it was GOOOD!

For the sauce on the salmon I mixed a little chili sauce, some soy sauce, a little oil (any kind is fine), and a little garlic pepper. After I brushed on the sauce I threw some sesame seeds over and then let it sit in the fridge a bit…maybe a half an hour? Baked this at 350F (180C) for about 15-20 minutes…the majority of you know me by now, I seldom time things, just look at it and say- NOW it’s done…hahaha…

After dinner last night I felt like getting my hands on some dough…but what to make? I looked through my cookbook and came across a lovely photo of some french bread with blue cheese…it looks so yummy….so I decided it would be french bread. I made the dough out of the following recipe which is in Norwegian but I’ll translate, this is enough for two breads:

25 grams yeast (I used dry yeast mixed with a little warm water)

1 kilo all purpose flour

1tsp sugar

2 tsp salt

2-3 Tbsp Oil

6-7 deciliters of ice cold water

I mixed the dry ingredients, then added the yeast and the water..mixed well and poured it out onto my kitchen counter where I proceeded to indulge in my French love….kneading the beautiful dough like a romantic French lover….eh hem…excuse me, got a little carried away there…

After the dough wasn’t sticky anymore I put it back in the bowl, tucked it in under a plastic cover and put it to rest in my fridge overnight. Next morning I took it out again on my kitchen counter which was lightly dusted with flour and rolled out two loaves of bread which I let rest on the baking sheets for about 30 minutes. You then bake the breads on the lowest rack in your oven at 250C (about 425F) for ten minutes (10 minutes) and then turn the heat down to 180C (350F) for an additional 30 minutes. At this stage you’ll also put a small pan of water under your baking sheet…and when you’re done your bread should look something like this….

The more rustic the better in my opinion….This has a nice chewy/crunchy crust and soft center to the bread…and yes, I had a slice with blue cheese…it was heavenly…just like it looked in the book!

Jen over at Muddy Boot Dreams commented yesterday about my lilacs…but Jen, if you’re reading this…you’ll see you misunderstood- I doubt seriously there will be any lilacs this year as my darling Captain thought the trees needed trimming and took off the tops on all of them…

But who knows, they might come…we can wait and see…

In the meantime I’m enjoying these sweet wild pansies that are sprucing up all around my yard…

And the cherry trees are in bloom…lovely isn’t it?

We have removed some small trees which were hogging some valueable garden area, yesterday. Now I’m trying to think what I’ll put in there to give this area a burst of colour…I think Thursday I’ll head to the local garden center and see what I can find…any suggestions are welcome!

One of the things I love about living in the woods is that there isn’t just blooms in my gardens but everywhere…like these along the road up to the house…

Wish I could tell you what these are (if anyone knows- let us know in the comment section please!) but I’m not an expert in the garden..I love to play around in there but I go mostly off of what pleases my eyes and not plant names..

Well, I’m off to a meeting at work…hope you all have a lovely day and don’t forget to leave a comment that always makes me so happy!! :-))

Until next time my friends…

Chicken Seniorita And A Taste Of Summer

While I’m waiting on dinner I thought I’d share yesterday’s dinner with you…and yes, I know what you’re thinking when you see the photo below…something is missing….and it’s probably a salad…just didn’t get that far and besides this meal had it’s veggies in the chicken…

I’m bad with recipes and I made this up so I’ll just tell you what I did ok?

Take one family size package of ground chicken meat (about 700 grams) and to this add about a quarter of a red onion finely chopped, 3/4 of a green pepper finely chopped, a tiny box of corn nibblets (drained first), and a package of taco spice mix. Finally add a couple eggs and mix it all together really good…this is fun if you aren’t shy about getting your hands all gooey…just get in there and squish it all together…mmmm…

I use teaspoons of the mixture which I put in a frying pan with melted margarine…fry them up on each side and when they are golden or slightly crispy looking (like mine ;-))) Then take them off and keep them in a bowl under foil until the rest are done- easy peasy eh??

For the potatoes I chopped up…geez…I don’t remember…about 8 good size potatoes in smaller pieces and let them boil up until they were soft. While they were cooking, I roasted some garlic cloves in olive oil with some pepper and then when that was done (about 10-15 minutes under 180C/375F) I mashed them and added them to the potaoes, along with a good chunk of butter and a little skim milk (hey….it’s soon bikini season, need to balance the butter out with the skim milk…hehehe….do you believe that?? hehehehe) I have this spice I bought in Sweden called potetmos krydder- not sure what it is..but when I don’t use this I use garlic pepper in my potatoes. However I used roasted garlic…so if you don’t have this potetmos krydder then just use some salt and good ol’ pepper. MIX well…adding a little milk at a time until you get the consistency you want…then serve…NAM!!! So easy and so good!!!

Tonight we’re doing salmon filets which I splashed a little soy sauce over and chili sauce, some garlic pepper and sesame seeds. Baking this and then serving it with veggies and rice…I’ll take pictures and tempt you tomorrow ok?

Been outside all day working in my garden. Now I have to tell you, I’m no expert on the garden business but love to dabble in it…my biggest problem is I am not sure what is flowers and what is weeds…everything looks green and full of potential…but I cleaned out the garden and it’s gorgeous…definitely have a lot ready to bloom and I’ll be filling my blog with photos of my garden in the days to come. For now, check out my photos of the flowers I bought for my front porch planter…aren’t they lovely?

Summer is a coming my friends….even with the forecast of rain in the days to come…I will not complain…I can walk on the ground without trudging through knee deep snow…and I can sit on my veranda and hear the songs of all the birds here in the woods…life is really good even with a few rain showers every now and then…

Until next time my friends….

A Celebration Of Sorts…

Today would have been my parent’s 40th Wedding anniversary had my mother still been alive. 40 years in today’s world is quite an achievement and there were no signs that anything would have changed for the rest of their lives had both still been alive. They had a wonderful marriage, one to be admired and appreciated. One that exuded love in everything they did and said to each other. The end of my mom’s life was a testament to their great love as my dad devotedly never left my mom’s side. We should all be so lucky to have that kind of love in our lives…

Despite my mother’s passing and no more anniversary celebrations- we still have a reason to celebrate!! Yours truly got the job she applied for!!!!! I will now be working 60% as a cook in the same nursery I am in now. In October/November we are moving to a brand new nursery and there will be a kitchen with all kinds of top modern equipment so I can prepare great meals for the kids and even better- teach the kids about making food and just food in general! I’m really excited! My friends who were in the interview told me it’s been so difficult for them to keep it a secret because they wanted to thank me for such a great interview after I had been in with them and for such great food but they couldn’t show favoritism. They told me knowing what they knew about me from before and then I gave apparently a rock solid interview and it was apparent to them without a doubt that I was the one for the job!! Can’t tell you how happy I was to hear all of this!!! So HURRAY HURRAY!!!

The Captain arrived home the same day I got my news which was like the cherry on my already fabulous day!! He was so tired so we made it an early evening Friday and Saturday we went to Hamar with Redman to meet a very nice couple who might be interested in having him come live with them- keep your fingers crossed it works out for the “little” guy.

This morning I wanted to make a special breakfast and biscuits with honey butter sounded yummy….only problem is I couldn’t find the front part of my very well used cookbook from Better Homes and Garden…(maybe the dog ate it???) Anyhoot…I went online and searched under Light and Fluffy biscuits and got this recipe:

2 cups flour

4tsp baking powder

3tsp sugar

1/2tsp salt

1/2 cup shortening (I used margarine)

2/3 cup milk

1 egg

Mix margarine and dry ingredients until it makes a coarse crumble. Add wet ingredients and knead until you get a workable dough. Roll out til it’s a bit thick (I like thick biscuits) and use a big glass to “cut” out your biscuit shapes…then bake at 350F (180C) for about..uff…I forgot to look…maybe 15-20 minutes? You want them golden brown…to make honey butter I took a couple tablespoons of butter and drizzled yummy honey all over and mixed then put it in the fridge to chill a bit….scrumptious!!!!

I have never used an egg in my biscuits before but this turned out great and for those who remember my previous biscuit recipe we used cream of tartar- that is excluded in this recipe so this works better for my European friends who can’t get cream of tartar.

The sun is out and I’m in here- WRONG…so I’m going to let you go my friends…will be back tomorrow…have a super day!!

Until next time….

I Have A Dream…..About Fences…

I want more then anything to fence my yard in so my dogs can run around like this…….

….. whenever their little hearts want too…

But I don’t want just any ol’ fence, I want a special type of fencing which was used a lot in the olden days of Norway…it is called a skigard and looks like this…

and this…

You can decorate these fences by planting some lovely winding flowers that grow up and around the fencing and through it….I can see it now…

And if we are going to do this properly we need the really cool entrance gate as well…..

I figure this type of fencing could be on both the front sides of the property and we could do regular net fencing on the back sides…as this type of fencing is very very expensive but it is suppose to last forever..(almost)

I stumbled upon a really neat artist on facebook named Amy Bolin. She does sweet character paintings of generally big dogs. However, I noticed she didn’t have a leonberger so I kindly brought this to her attention and low and behold, check out what she put out on her facebook page this morning…

It is my Bently Bear playing in the snow….isn’t he just so sweet you want to eat him up?? hahahaha…Amy puts her paintings on t-shirts, cards, calendars, cups, you name it and I’m waiting for this one to come out in a sweatshirt form…

You can check out more of Amy’s stuff at her websites she lists on facebook: Amy Bolin on Facebook  If you don’t do facebook (which is totally cool) you can check out her work here or here.

Finally, Julia and I ran some errands today and one of the errands was taking Gismo here to the vet…when we bought this inexpensive “cozy” animal just to have something to entertain the dogs with…we had no idea he came home infested with mites…after finally understanding that his funny little sounds ALL the time and his constant scratching weren’t normal we got him to the vet and four treatments later (at about 600 Norwegian kroner per visit) he is doing much better thanks…he’s feeling wild and wooly and ready to hit the road….cause he was born….born to be wild….

2 days (and heck yes I’m counting) until the Captain comes home!!!!! We’re suppose to be getting tons of sunshine and warmer temps the next days, this is probably cause my sunshine is coming home from Brazil…:-)) You’re welcome everyone!!

Have a super day and until next time my friends…..

 

Bunad

Today is Norway’s National Day and with that let me first congratulate all my Norwegian readers with their national day! HIPP HIPP HURRA!!!

Traditionally one walks in these parades which baiscally consist of just people in their fantastic Norwegian national costumes or Bunads, as they are called, waving their flags and cheering for their country. Very simple yet spectacular when there are so many different types of bunads and all the red, white, and blue flags waving.

According to the Norwegian Husflids lag (Handcrafts team) there are over 70% of Norwegian women with bunads in the country. A combined total worth in bunads over 30 billion Norwegian crowns!! There are over 200 different types of bunads (one place I read said there were over 400) and generally the bunad you choose is from the area your family originates from. If you are new to Norway with no Norwegian connection you often choose the bunad for the area you move too. The bunad is often the dress of choice on the national day, weddings, baptisms, and any other very special celebration.

Below are some examples of various types of Bunads (don’t worry I won’t show you every type out there!!)

Telemark Bunad from the community of Telemark

Aust-Agder Bunad from Aust-Agder community

L-R, Trønderbunad, Øst Telemark bunad, Nordmøre Bunad, and Graffer bunad from Oppland

Someday I hope to get a bunad from where my great grandfather’s family came from, Toten.

These three types are from the area where my great grandfather came from, from the left you see the Vest Oppland Bunad, in the middle is the Totendrakt, and on the right is the Landingsdrakt. Which one do you like the most?

As you notice in this photo the bunad is not exclusive to women, and I think it’s fabulous to see a man in a bunad. The men’s bunad from Nordmøre where Stig is from is amazing…

Don’t you think the Captain would look hot in the bunad on the left?? Oh yeah….well, it is good to have dreams! The bunad is an expensive outfit costing often over 20,000 Norwegian crowns but it is an heirloom and you never have to think what you’ll wear to celebrations…so it’s probably worth it, right?

Before I go, I want to share with you what I got yesterday :-)

Sheep skins!!! Aren’t they gorgeous? I’m going to find a place for all of them, the two with most black I’m thinking would be nice on my sofas downstairs which is black leather. I’ll keep a couple upstairs as well and then I was thinking I’d have two for when we are hiking or something and need something nice and warm to sit down on? I’ve seen that done, in the winter, they lay out sheep skins to sit on around a cozy fire…looks so nice!! I’m so pleased with these!!

Until next time my friends…..

My Anti-Depressants

It was suggested that for my blue mood I could try some anti-depressants…first of all, I rarely take headache medicine unless I just feel nauseas…I am not a big supporter of medicating for everything…and sorrow and pain is normal after what I’ve been through. Yeah I have days that are harder then others and the pain is really bad, I cry til my eyes are swollen….but I think that is good…I’m getting the pain out and just to make sure it stays out…I take three of these….

And if these don’t help and the pain is still really bad, I add a few of these….

All of these things combined usually snap me out of my blue mood in no time and they aren’t harmful to my body…..unless of course they run straight at me in full speed, that might hurt…

I am so grateful for the support my blog friends have shown me. It says so much about you that you can care about someone you’ve never met but perhaps it’s that human understanding of having gone through similar situations that bond us? Knowing the pain one is going through even though it’s not the same pain? I think this pain is normal, even though it’s not good to go through and I’d give anything to have my mom back and things normal again….this is life. It’s just hard when you think you’re moved on and suddenly you fall apart….a voice, a sound, a memory, a thought, an experience, a smell, something brings you crashing back down again just when you thought everything was ok and you were good to go again…Perhaps it is also a thought about your own mortality when it comes to a parent dying? I’ve watched grandparents die and while it was extremely sad, you still had your mom and dad…your core family….you were ok….but then your parent dies and your core family is weakened and you also start thinking- yikes….I’m next…..not a pleasant thought, but perhaps something that is contributing to the difficulty of losing my mom? I’m just guessing and by no means a professional but it seems logical.

I will get through this time and I’m sure there will be more days of sadness to come, but I’ll get through those also. It’s amazing what a good cry, a hug from your child, or a kiss from your fur baby can do for you….and soon my beloved Captain will be home and I’m always happy when I am with him..it’s good my friends…..it’s all good….

Until next time my friends….