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1 December - In the bleak mid-winter - December has arrived on cue, but Tim's car is still running happily on summer tyres - and just look at the trees in our forest (right - click for enlargement). Time to plant out the bananas, I think.

2 December - Wildlife - and not - On her way to Vikeså yesterday, Tracy was watching a couple of large eagles above the road, as well as a number of deer alongside the verge. Matthew, driving down the E6 from Bodø towards Nesna, had to stop to shoo reindeer from in front of the car. This evening our resident owl was screeching, seemingly right outside the house window. The only thing we're lacking is ... mice. After catching half a dozen per day all autumn, there's still not been a single one since Tracy threatened them on the radio a fortnight ago (see above). Today was our fortnightly bin day. We normally put out a collection of rather chewed-looking bags and sacks (different bags for different categories of recycling; stored in the barn), but today there were all intact. Not a single rodent-shaped hole. NRK radio certainly has impressive coverage.

4 December - Christmas lights in Egersund - Now that we're into December, the Christmas lights can go up in Egersund (both of the lights in Vikeså have been turned on as well). So on the way to swimming this evening we were able to capture a little of the pre-Christmas spirit in the town square (photo, left - click for 6 more).

Comments joanna - December 7th, 2014 Hi there! By the look of our weather forecast you could be needing those winter tyres Tim, Scotland is due a snow blast and it looks as if it could be swept across to you! It could also bring your rodents back!! The mice don't seem to be in my garage yet but the cold weather will soon bring them in!! Norwegian Met Office - December 8th, 2014 Dear Mrs Fort, As we are currently having problems with our seaweed and in any case your forecasts are much more accurate than ours, we wonder whether you would take over for a while? As you promised, it's just started snowing hard in Ørsdalen - but in a certain lounge there it's warm and cozy, with Christmas music playing and logs and unwanted bills burning merrily on the fire ...

8 December - Not just women drivers - Just to redress the gender balance after our tale of a woman driver in Oslo a few days ago, we have to report on a (male) driver of a pleasure boat out on the Oslo fjord. He had the great (and very unusual) misfortune that his outboard motor fell off while driving. At that point he was heading rapidly towards a shoal and needed to stop, so he threw his anchor overboard. Unfortunately (yes, there's more) his glasses got caught up in the anchor cable and vanished overboard along with everything else, and without those he was unable to see his mobile phone to ring for help. The story ended happily some time later with rescue at the hands of someone who spotted his out-of-control boat.

13 December - Santa comes to Sandnes - Christmas workshop at Tracy's church today, with crafts, Bible story - and (not a Norwegian tradition, but provided mainly for non-Norwegians) a visit from Santa. It was successful, well attended and greatly appreciated, both by families from the congregation and by a whole range of others, including a group of asylum seekers.

18 December - back on line at last - A man turned up yesterday to fix the internet, which has been off for a week. He was very efficient and effective. "No thanks, I'll not take a coffee - no time today. Another hundred houses to visit this morning to get the internet back on. There you are. Give it a try. If it doesn't work I'll be next door. Bye" Lightning has been busy throughout southern Norway for the past couple of weeks.

So this morning, with internet newly restored, we had a 3-hour power cut.

Have you ever allowed your potatoes to boil dry? Don't do it in Norway - or at least remember to hush it up if you do. I'm frequently astonished by what I read in the news, but on this occasion I don't think I'm capable of writing a comment about it; I'll just translate the news story as it stands (click image, right, to see the news story as it stood on NRK today).

Singeing fines
This year, police in Haugesund have charged 43 people for allowing pans to boil dry. Of these, one faced criminal charges and eleven were fined.
"In less serious cases we're talking of a £450 fine, but in more serious instances it ends up with criminal charges and court cases", says police inspector Thomas Utne Pettersen.
One in ten house fires in this country is caused by pans boiling dry; in many cases at night. Most cases are caused by people who are drunk or by elderly people falling asleep while their food is cooking.
"This is dangerous and can be expensive for you. Some people receive fines of up to £900", says Utne Pettersen.
"How seriously do the police regard this?"
"Obviously, we take this very seriously. That's why the fines are so large."

Old people fall asleep in the evenings? Disgraceful behaviour. The fines should be even greater. That would keep them awake.

Tracy has just arrived home with an armful of cakes she's been making this evening. Help yourself before we eat them all (left - click for enlargement).

Comments joanna - December 18th, 2014 Hi glad you are back in the land of cyber space! Oh dear its a good job I'm not in Norway a ruined pan is quite a regular occurrence here, I still can't get used to the speed of gas after the Aga! After lunch is the danger time for dozing! I blame the TV for forgetting the cooking not sleep!! Have a good Christmas and please pray for Sam and Suzie. Suzie has had a rough ride since having Joshua. He is fine and growing fast!! But Suzie is lacking stamina and is on the possible edge of baby blues after all she has been through. They are a darling family and I'm as attached to them as I am to you and your gang!! Tracy how is the body standing up to life at the moment, does the weather affect it? Jon - December 19th, 2014 Vis a vis the cakes, I would recommend saving the one with the most artificial colours (the Christmas tree cake?) to eat about an hour before you begin Julaften services - that should help keep you alert! Tim - December 19th, 2014 "... and next, we'll sing 'Hark the Herald Angels Sing' to the tune of 'red and yellow and green and blue' ..." Tracy - December 20th, 2014 Joanna, yes I do sometimes find the weather makes things worse but strangely not always. I do find myself longing for sun and warmth from time to time. John, no artificial food colouring in sight. Tim will have to resort to Smarties for the desired effect!

For Tim, it's a succession of "final" thises and thats at work. The last Sunday service at Bjerkreim last weekend; the last service of any sort today (three schools services); the last staff meeting and the last PCC meeting (with a presentation and meal!). Then on Sunday 21^st, the last anything at all - the Christmas concert. But in the meantime, a succession of "firsts" at Sandnes (the jobs are overlapping a little) - the first schools service the other day, as well as all sorts of other things recently. Exciting times! As we were discussing the other day, this is the first time Tim has left a job without moving countries at the same time. It really does make life so much easier when you can even stay in the same house!

20 December - in snow or shine - For Thomas Andrew, however, the thises and thats continue according to the season. It's been snowing all week (the ski centre by the tunnel opens today) so he's just fitted a huge snow plough with blower to his tractor in order to guarantee that we'll be able to get out (left - click for 2 pictures). But it's tempting to look back on sunnier times, when he was collecting hay in his pickup (right - click for enlargement).

Shortest day tomorrow, then we'll be heading back towards hay-days again!

Last year, we splashed out £20 in an auction and bought a grandfather clock. It has a pleasing tick and chimes every quarter. When it first arrived it kept reasonable time, but as time went by it evidently found it difficult to live with the slow pace of Ørsdalen life and started to run faster and faster, so that by a few weeks ago it was gaining quarter of an hour a day. As everyone knows, you can adjust the timekeeping of a clock by raising or lowering the position of the pendulum weight - but in this case the weight was already at its lowest-possible position (i.e. it couldn't be made to run more slowly). With a chiming clock you can't move the fingers back - at least, not beyond the previous chime, because that would make everything out of step. So the only way of dealing with it is to stop the clock and wait for time to catch up. But inevitably you forget to re-start it for a few hours, and that involves waiting for hundreds of chimes as you move the hands round all the quarters. The clock's future began to be in question. In desperation a couple of weeks ago I looked on the internet for advice about whether there were other ways of regulating a clock and found a clockmaker with a "questions and answers" advice page. All his answers seemed to start in the same way: "remove the pendulum and lay it flat on a table", before doing one thing or another - but he seemed to have no advice that answered our particular problem. Nevertheless, I took off the pendulum and laid it flat on a table. And prodded it. We then spoke earnestly to it and showed it a picture of the Ørsdalen jumble sale, before reuniting it with the clock. And do you know, it has kept perfect time ever since. A triumph of the scientific method and advice from the internet.

Comments joanna - December 20th, 2014 I think another alternative if it resorts to its old tricks is to add some coins to the pendulum, by experiment, making it a bit heavier can slow it down. I do know with some old clocks they have coins piled on the pendulum, may be cello tape could be needed. Further thoughts: how do you wind the hands? Sometimes extra weight on the clock hand weight can adjust time. Not on the striking weight!! If you can ease the weight on the hands that also affects the timing HAVE FUN and keep threatening it!!! Tim - December 20th, 2014 I'll bear it in mind - but for the time being the threats of jumble sales seem to be working perfectly. It was spot on against the "pips" at 2 o'clock!

21 December - Morning service at Tracy's church. In preparation for this we were up until late last night translating poems into Norwegian. At one point, in desperation, we had to resort to a rhyming dictionary to end one particular line, and the only word it came up with means something along the lines of "cuddly teddy", which considering the subject was King Herod was just about enough to throw us into hysterics. But everything was finished in time and the service went well. As occasionally happens, the congregation spontaneously decided to go out for a Chinese meal afterwards, so we all spent a pleasant hour or so there. The evening was the last of Tim's "farewell events" at Bjerkreim - the traditional Christmas concert (Tim officially changes over to the new job at the end of today). This was the third Christmas concert of the week at Bjerkreim Church and the weather was appalling - so we weren't expecting a big turnout. The church was full, however. When the PCC secretary stood up and said that this was Tim's last official appearance there was applause and cheering - we're still not quite sure how to take that.

23 December - Stavanger - It has become an established family tradition that on the 23rd we all have a day out in Stavanger, with restaurant dinner. This year we ate at a newly-opened Indian restaurant (companion to the excellent one in Sandnes) which was wonderful. Then 9 Lessons and Carols at the Cathedral, with Matt - and this year Katie - in the choir and Tim as organist.

Comments A Pat - December 24th, 2014 Belatedly ( have been busy becoming bionic) I am perusing Andys tractor and plough. Does he push or pull? What about the lack of some chains on one wheel? Does he do ever decreasing circles? Happy Christmas to all xxx Tim - December 24th, 2014 Andrew pulls (photo of him clearing our drive this evening, left - click for enlargement). I think the partial lack of chains is just bad photography; but decreasing circles would allow him to clear car parks very effectively - though it would result in a huge snowman in the middle. Merry Bionic Christmas to you too!

24 December - Happy Birthday Tracy - Katie made her an excellent chocolate-orange birthday cake (above right - click for enlargement), which we had together with an evening of games.

Happy Christmas to you all! - We've had a lovely day at home in Ørsdalen (except Tim played the morning service in Sandnes). Clear, bright and cold weather, helped by just a comfortable amount of snow, a beautiful meal, with a healthy, happy and contented family around the table. And above all, the whole message of Christmas. There's such a lot to be thankful for.

Comments Mary Berry - December 26th, 2014 Mousse is a desert made with air bubbles to make the structure lighter. A moose.is a deer type animal well distributed in Norway. No wonder Fudge was interested. I like a good pudding as well. Fudge - December 26th, 2014 I'd been meaning to write to ask whether you supply your mousse on mail order for canine customers. A well-distributed pudding appeals. The moose has been corrected in the text. Over here it would be called an elg (and you can see from this month's header at the top of the page - which features a Norwegian desember - that my owner's Norwenglish is getting decidedly end-of-year-ish).

27 December - breakfast on the balcony - not for us, but there is as usual plenty of custom on the bird table, including a very seasonal robin who looks as though he's just escaped from a Christmas card. Beautiful sunny morning (click right for 4 photos), so Matt joined us for a short walk round the block from the house (click left for photo series).

Comments joanna - December 27th, 2014 Lovely to see shots of Tune!! She doesn't look too bad for her age!! Tim - December 27th, 2014 Yes, she rushes around and still plays chase with Fudge (though she never catches him); if I can do that when I'm in my 90s (which she is when reckoned out in dog years) I'll be ... very surprised! Tracy - December 27th, 2014 [posted at exactly the same time as Tim's comment, but in a different room!] Joanna, Tune is doing really well, still chases Fudge around the perimiter of the house then barks in frustration when she can't catch him! Never the less, she's still the boss, will happily steal his food and demands to go first through doors and gates (after the humans if we make a point and insist though). Tracy - December 27th, 2014 Tim, you probably will still be able to catch me, because I'll be just as cronky as you!

In the evening we had the village Christmas "do" [juletrefest, for those who know what that is], with a short service, supper and games. It was all by candlelight - not by design but by power cut. The power was off in the whole of Ørsdalen for several hours this evening, which as the outside temperature was approaching -10, meant that the hall was getting a little chilly towards the end. Photo - round the unlit Christmas tree.

29 December - Our good friends Nils Olav and family gained a number of unnerving experiences. A slippery drive to Ørsdalen to visit us, followed by home-made mince pies, lemon meringue pie and Christmas cake (all very non-Norwegian foods). They survived - in fact, they claimed to enjoy themselves. In NRK's round-up of the year's most-read national news, the second-most popular item was none other than Nils Olav himself (see our report from 14 March).

30 December- was spent in Sandnes. Work, trekking the long and arduous trail round Ikea and then ... See the next exciting installment: 2015.

31 December - Happy New Year to you all!