Header picture: Light dusting of snow on the garage roof

Happy New Year!

Why did the moose cross the road? - To get to the other slide - see this film clip.

5 January - It didn't take long before we get the first lake picture of 2018; early evening just at the other end of the Ørsdalen tunnel (right - click for enlargement)!.

Comments joanna - January 6th, 2018 The lake picture is fabulous so glad it has appeared so early in Jan! Is very cold with you or moderate as with us! I'm glad I'm not in USA! Tim - January 6th, 2018 Thank you Joanna! Pretty moderate here - minus 4 or so today - but dry and sunny, so it's lovely. I'm also glad we're not in the USA - and not just because of the weather!

Matt spent new year at the flat in Germany and reports that the town square (shown here in more peaceful times) at new year's midnight was awash with fireworks. People were shooting home-made stick rockets up out of champagne bottles, and even though he stood by the church, well back from the actual centre of things, it was still hair-raising and necessary to dodge the occasional out-of-control firework. Sounds like the health-and-safety regulations that restrict Norwegian fireworks to next to nothing haven't even begun to take effect there — but also like it was a real experience.

Speaking of health and safety, today's news reports that the highways authority (just to be on the safe side, you understand) have decided to close this stretch of road and tunnel, at least until Thursday. Can't imagine why.

Who is this that was singing outside our bedroom window last night?

Comments joanna - January 6th, 2018 obviously owl calling, well countering, it could be the sound male and female Tawnys make when getting to establish closer bonds!! I'll try and do some on-line checks!! joanna - January 6th, 2018 Been checking and am pretty sure its a Tawny owl and the churring call made between established pairs!! Tracy & Tim - January 6th, 2018 Thank you very much, Joanna! Tawny owl was mentioned between us - though we were not at all confident of it - so we were very pleased! Nice to hear them. Someone else is going "twit twoo" this evening in the traditional "owl-imitation" manner (which we're assuming is not a burglar in the forest calling to his look-out). joanna - January 7th, 2018 The twit twoo is the pair, he does twit and she answers with woo sound!!

15 January - Not deep, not crisp, not even even; it's just windy and not-go-out-ish this morning. Tracy's gone out.

Comments joannan - January 16th, 2018 I do hope that Tracy got back!! It all looks pretty but I do hate snow! We sure had fun with it in our early days at the farm! It poured here yesterday and today it is sunny but with a cold cold wind!! Tim - January 16th, 2018 All fine, Joanna, thanks! Tracy was a bit delayed by stuck lorries and she didn't come back home last night, but it was a planned overnight stay. I'm in Sandnes as well today. 2 foot 6 or so of snow on the drive this morning and a certain amount on the roads around and about (photo of town road this morning) but nothing out of the ordinary. Hope it warms up for you soon!

17 January - Now it is deep and crisp and reasonably even: several feet of snow, just like in the good old days. View from the house this morning (panorama - click to enlarge and scroll side to side). My car is parked half-way down the drive because the snow is deeper than the clearance under the car.
Ski centre by Ørsdalen tunnel getting a bit of night-time maintenance - click picture, left, for photo.

Comments joanna - January 18th, 2018 just been watching Oslo and the snow, also saw the new singing sensation doing a tour round Bergen in the sunshine, she admitted it was unusual as it usually rains!! Hope you can dig yourselves out before too long, I always had a sack of spuds and well stocked larder at the farm in the early days!!!

21 January - Baptism service at Tracy's church on Sunday (photos, right). This was a special service in lots of ways, but for two reasons in particular. One is that it was a great milestone for the lady, originally from Australia but settled in Sandnes, who was baptised at the service. She had rather liked the idea of being baptised in the river, for which Tracy and Norkirken have a track record, but as neither she nor Tracy were interested in trying to break the ice there at this time of year, copious jugs of water were used inside the church. The second reason that the service was special is that it will be Tracy's last morning service in Norkirken. She's now been in charge there for 9 years — a very long time to be at one church. Last September she was offered a post somewhere else and was about to accept it before finding out some hidden issues there that changed her mind. Now, though, she's resigned as of the beginning of March, when she is to take over as Team Rector at another church in Sandnes, at least for the rest of the year while she decides how she likes working for the Church in Norway and whether she wants to continue there. Some other things in the pipeline, too. So the service was one of two "farewells" (the evening congregation will be having their own a month later).

Last summer we included a film of driving from home to Sandnes among the greenery and roadside flowers. In the winter it's ... different. The whole drive takes way too long, but we put together a shortened compilation of bits of Sunday morning's journey to Norkirken. Come along for the ride (or just a bit of it — we'll stop and let you out at any point, although remember it's a long walk back). Click picture, left, for film clip.

27 January - How many plumbers does it take to ... - Today's news reports that a flight that was taking 84 plumbers on an outing from Oslo to Munich (this story is true, honestly) had to turn back within half an hour due to a technical problem — the plane's toilets were blocked.

28 January - Today, Tracy began her transition from Norkirken with a baptism service in the main town-centre church in Sandnes (where Tim plays, so we were back to the old team event). Photos here.

29 January - Pulled over by the police - Today's news is more down-to-earth. It regards a man in Kongsberg (120 miles east of here) who was stopped by the police while skiing through the town, due to his poor technique. The police report says that the man was unable to ski adequately in classic or in skøyte (those are the two alternative styles of cross-country skiing) so, although he wasn't actually representing a danger to anyone, they chose to drive him home. The news report says that "they come down hard on poor ski technique in Kongsberg, and the man was quite simply disconnected from his skis on the spot." By way of excuse, the paper adds that the man was rather drunk at the time.

31 January - We're flattered to note that the BBC news has not only borrowed our plumbers story from the 27^th, but even borrowed our introductory line (How many plumbers does it take ...). But at least you get the news 4 days faster on this page than on the BBC.