doings

June-July 2010

1 June.We're all enjoying having a house full of family - Matt is here at the moment, as are Bob, Pat, Clare and Vicci. This afternoon we went down to the lake to fish. Bob was warned there'd be nothing to eat this evening if he didn't catch anything, so no pressure. Click picture, left, to see how it went.

7 June. Internet connection returns, after nearly a week's absence. We rang the internet providers on Friday to have a moan about it and they told us that it was a fault on the repeater station that distributes our broadband signal. I asked whether they were working on the fault and there was a slight hesitation at the other end of the line. "Actually", said the man, "have you any idea where the repeater station is? We're not sure". Ah well, now back in business.

It's only a couple of weeks off the longest day, so sunset and sunrise are now not far apart. Further north, of course, they've long since met and crossed, so that sunrise occurs before sunset (which gets very confusing). (photo, far left, of sunrise seen from the house at some unearthly hour of the morning - click for enlargement). The photo is looking up the valley, in the same direction as the webcam picture but with a longer lens. The apple trees are in full blossom (photo, middle left, of apple tree in early-morning mist - click for enlargement).

On Sunday, Sandnes (where Tracy's church is) was celebrating 150 years of "town" status with an open-air service in the town centre, attended by some 2500 people. Katie sang a solo (click picture, right, for enlargement) - and did very well! Click here to see/hear video (via YouTube).

The last couple of days it's been even hotter than before, so lambs and dogs have been looking for shade. In between other things, We've been painting the house, with a great deal of help (photo, mid-right).

Knife problem at school. Had a note home from school today reminding us that for the forthcoming school trip in the mountains (Thomas' class) all pupils must have with them a good, sharp hunting knife. Wonder whether they'll have an X-ray machine at the door to check that pupils are carrying knives as instructed?

8 June. As the summer holidays approach (another week or so), we're getting end-of-term events. Katie's class spent today down at the beach, and then this evening there was a class party for children and parents by the lakeside, with barbeque and swimming or fishing in the lake. (Photo, right - click for another picture)

9 June. More of the same - house painting, lambs being a pest and fishing trips (Photo, left, click for enlargement).

11 June. A whole new experience. Thomas Andrew is away in the mountains for the weekend, ungathering sheep. Katie is away for the weekend at a camp. It's just the two of us, alone together. Last time was, well, 21-and-a-bit years ago. We've had a seafood supper and a film and we can do whatever we want ...

12 June ... so we spent this afternoon at a fjord-side spa having a massage and sauna.

13 June. End-of-session service at Tracy's church (Norkirken). No more morning services until August. Click photo (left) to see some pictures

The latest way to train Norwegian hunting dogs - a radio-controlled bear, here in use at an army base in mid-Norway. They've got a radio-controlled wild boar as well. (Photo, right).

15 June. Celebrating one year! Looking back through these pages it's been quite a year since we moved here, but we've enjoyed (nearly) every minute of it.

16 June.The school bus is handy for all sorts of things. Apart from taking children back and forward to school, the driver will collect your shopping for you, or on occasions take stranded people out of the valley. The kids are quite used to the bus stopping at some house or other for the driver to hand over a bag, in return for a very quick coffee. Today we bought a large wooden swing/climbing-frame contraption from Vikes�. It was much to big to get home in any other way, so Tracy persuaded the school bus driver to bring it home for us. So it was that a bus managed to get up our long drive (if that cement mixer managed it this winter, then the bus could too!), and the driver roped in a passanger to help unload all the bits.

17 June. Tim off to play a couple of concerts in south-east Norway; Tracy, Andrew and Katie at a cycle auction. It is still very hot and dry (as it has been the whole time for the past month apart from the other week when we had visitors!), and while we're enjoying the summer weather we're hoping the well won't dry up! School finishes for the summer tomorrow, and Tracy has already done the same (now just working from home) so we're in holiday mode. Have planned a short trip to Denmark and Legoland and a week in Spain for later in the summer.

23 June. Midsummer night in �rsdalen. This was our introduction to life here as soon as we arrived last year; it was odd to experience it again now knowing everyone so well. (Click photo, left, for picture sequence).

We were talking this morning about our impressions of the past year - about what has struck us the most about these first twelve months here. A few of the main points are:

• The way things are. We've enjoyed the relatively non-confrontational way of things in Norway. Even the politicians disagree politely: "you might be right, of course, but I feel that ..." There's been no economic downturn or recession in Norway, either: everything is "business as usual" and ordinary people are unaffected by what's going on in other countries.
• Community. There is a sense of community in this valley. Everyone consults with each other, knows each other's business, and helps each other. And everyone turns up for events like last night's mid-summer bonfire. All the children (and there are a lot for such a small and remote valley) get on and do things together, irrespective of age, and none seem to get left out. There's a fortnightly childrens' club which gets a 100% turnout of everyone from the age of 6 months to 17 years or so.
• We are enjoying having absolute silence. You can sit outside on the balcony in the evening and hear nothing - no traffic or general clamour. Just the river (except when it's frozen in the winter or nearly dried up as now). We also get absolute darkness (except just at this time of year when it doesn't go dark): we have no street lights, no light polution in the sky, and only a scattering of distant farms. It's all very peaceful and we love that.
• Not everyone would, of course: we must be vaguely nuts.
• Security. Not just a matter of not bothering to lock the car. When an unfamiliar car comes into the valley people actually ask each other "do you know who that was?". Last autumn I was in the bank in the district's main centre, Vikes� (half an hour's drive away). The sole assistant at the bank had gone out on some errand or other, so the place was unattended. And on the counter were rows of bundles of thousand-kroner (�100) notes. As I stood and waited for the assistant to come back another customer came in, and we joked about the bank going over to self-service. The assistant eventually came back in through the front door and apologised for making us wait ...
• Despite this winter's snow, the weather's a lot dryer than we've been used to for the past few years, and the summer is hotter and sunnier than it ever gets in the UK.

Our first home in Norway was on the Arctic island of Lur�y. Visiting the neighbouring island of Tr�na (photo, right) involved an overnight stay (because the boat only went once a day), but as there are no hotels or anything there this means staying at someone's house. So it was interesting to read in the news the other day of a hunt for a missing person at Tr�na. The man had turned up on the ferry one day and didn't turn up to go back the next - and no-one knew where he'd stayed the night. Afraid that he'd wandered off and fallen in the sea, the lifeboat was called out. The lifeboat crew found the man immediately - asleep in the lifeboat. This isn't actually as daft as it sounds. The ferry to Lur�y moored overnight at the mainland with all doors open so that anyone arriving during the night could just drive straight on board, help themselves to some coffee and go to sleep in the lounge, safe in the knowledge that when the ferry left early the next morning they'd be on board. We did it many times. We never slept in a lifeboat, though.

25 June. In the absence of his tractor, Andrew has to restort to other means of transport (click photo, left, for an update on the lambs).

Today there was a funeral in �rsdalen - the first since we came and in fact the first for some years. The little chapel that is part of the village hall was packed full of people, and after the service the procession walked up the lane to the little white-fenced churchyard.

26 June. After some weeks of drought, it finally rained a little yesterday - but only a drop. The streams are still completely dry and the river is reduced to a trickle. So far there's no sign of our well running dry, but we're keeping an eye on it.

Back to sunshine today (though still a little cloud - see webcam). Chopped down 11 large trees this morning - nearly a half of what we'll need for the winter. The really big job, of course, will be cutting them up and carrying them back down the mountain!

29 June. We've slipped away for a few days in Denmark. Other than a short visit to Denmark on our way to England many years ago (the visit in which Matthew got lost in Legoland and Tim got his head stuck in a modern sculpture) we've never had a family holiday in Denmark before. We're enjoying it very much - and it probably won't be our last visit! Yesterday we spent the day at Legoland (click picture, right, to see sequence). This morning we visited Silkeborg and now we're just off to a water park for swimming.

The tourist office in Silkeborg had an exit door with a temperamental electric sensor, which meant that a couple of old ladies ahead of us in the queue had some trouble getting out. The first time I was in Denmark (quite a few years ago, when I was giving some concerts there) I travelled by train and was puzzled by the behaviour of the people walking through the carriage. When they reached the end of the carriage they all raised their hands above their head and bowed low before continuing. I assumed this was some strange Danish religion (a way of showing respect to the next carriage or something) until I tried to walk that way myself and found how hard it was to locate the sensor to open the automatic door.

Continuing the search for transport (picture, left).

30 June. At the end of a few very enjoyable days of holiday we're now sitting on the fast ferry almost exactly half-way between Denmark and Norway and really rather looking forward to being back in the peace of �rsdalen. Couldn't be better!
8pm. Home!

1 July. Dogs home from kennels. But what have they done to Tune (photo, right - click for enlargement)?

We've been putting together a swing / climbing contraption this afternoon, while the dogs (having more sense) have been hiding in the shade. Nearly finished (photo, left - click for enlargement) - just a climbing wall attachment and a slide to add to it.

Why is there so much scenery on this blog? Glancing back over the past year, it does seem that there are a lot of shots of mountains, trees and rivers. That's mostly because that's what you see wherever you look in Norway. But years ago, a story was told about a time when every country in Europe was asked to write a book. The book could have any title, provided it was about elephants. The British book was entitled Elephants I have shot , the French book was L'Elephant et l'Amour and the German was a philosophical Prologomenon to a Future Metaphysic of Elephants (probably in several volumes). The Finns wrote of Finland's Debt to the Elephant and the Swedes of What Sweden did for the Elephant during the Second World War, but Norway's book was called Norway in Pictures. Look round any bookshop in Norway and you'll see the truth of this - but there is some excuse!

2 July Transport problem seems to be solved. (Click photo, left, for trees sequence).

Twenty-odd thousand silver birches notwithstanding, we planted four copper beeches in the garden today - one for each of the children - so we're going to enjoy watching them grow over the years to come.

The Valley of Heat. Just past 11 at night after yet another extremely hot day and the thermometer is still showing 24° C (75° F). In the middle of the day it was 35° (95° F). The lady at the Town Hall said that �rsdalen has a reputation for trapping the heat and being hotter than anywhere else (something we've not heard before, though we've thought it all year).

Still using the black lamb as a paint brush for the house (picture, right).

The Getaway Wheels. The local paper for our neighbouring district (N�rb�/Varhaug - by the sea about an hour's drive from here) reports today that a police patrol attempted to stop a motorist at 3.30am, but he got away "at high speed" on his moped.

3 July. A neighbour invited us this evening for a boat trip on the lake and picnic on a beach half-way along it. It was an opportunity to see some of the abandoned farms along the banks and to hear a bit of the history of the people who used to live there, as well. A great evening. (click photo, left, for picture sequence).

4 July. 9am and the thermometer is just creeping up to 90° F ...
... so we spent this evening on the (seaside) beach an hour or so away (picture, right).

Set of 4 aerial photos, ranging from the whole of �rsdalen to just our house.

11 July Tim & Tracy's wedding anniversary today - now embarking on 24th year!

We've both spent many days this summer painting the house, and now it's nearly finished. Yesterday we borrowed a hydraulic platform in order to do the highest bits (such as the boards at the highest points on the roof). All that's done and there are just a few (fairly accessible) bits left.
So we started our wedding anniversary at quarter past midnight with Tim wielding a scrubbing brush heavily laced with white spirit, removing paint from Tracy's hair. Click photo, left, for a couple of pictures of Tracy being driven up the wall - or was she just feeling elevated?.

Peeping in photo, right - click for enlargement.

There was supposed to be an outdoor service today, so (after a few weeks of hoping for rain because of drought) it has poured down. Outdoor service was hastily moved indoors.

Interested in salmon? There are webcams and webcams. Here is one providing live underwater pictures from a Norwegian river, so you can watch the salmon swimming past. If you're lucky they'll even give you a wave as they pass by. (Click photo, left. Takes a moment to start up and there's a bit of introductory text before it gets going - just be patient!)

Last Autumn we had a picture of someone moving house - a little cottage being trundled down a country lane on the back of a lorry. This time, it's a very large 3-story town house being moved out of the middle of a row. (Click photo, right, to see a sequence of 3 pictures). Quite some extraction: must be a big commission for the tooth fairy afterwards.

Apart from salmon, Norway is famous for Moose. We had a succession of stories last winter about things the moose had been doing (jumping from ski jumps, cleaning salt off people's cars, karate kicks in painful places for indiscrete motorists, peeping in through people's windows and what not). In the summer they have to look for new forms of entertainment, such as playing at "bull in a china shop". Here (photo, left) is the result of a moose getting into a shop. It apparently rampaged through a cafe (tables and chairs flying in all directions) before going through into a supermarket where (according to the manager) it went for the Clausthaler before running out again. Obviously dissatisfied that the cafe wasn't licensed.

14 July. One of the pleasures of Summer in Norway is swimming in the rivers, lakes and sea. Today, as the temperature passed 100°F, we went up the river to swim. (Click picture, far left, for two larger pictures). Tracy doesn't often indulge in river-and-lake swimming in Norway, apart from the occasional shallow river when it's extra-hot. Many Norwegians, though, swim outdoors all year round and this winter photo (not today's!) (right; click for enlargement) is provided in case you need cooling off. Yes, it is ice.

... and then Tracy made some spectacular lemon drizzle buns for tea (to get a bigger bun, click the little one, left).

15 July. Pouring down. (Right). The rain is bouncing a foot off the balcony. The drought is (hopefully) cancelled. We looked at the mountains a minute ago and thought for a moment that it had snowed - but it was just the sun reflecting off the rocks. Big rainbow (Photo, left, click for enlargement).

At least the children's passports have arrived, by courier from D�sseldorf (Europe is a strange place). The DHL delivery lady had driven specially from Stavenger (hour-and-a-half's drive away - "never been out here before") and her next stop was Flekkefjord (2 hours south of here) so she obviously has a lot of driving to do.

16 July. Top story on today's NRK news (the equivalent of the BBC) for West Norway is that a deer has been nibbling the trees in someone's garden. (Click photo, right, for the full drama, complete with 11 photographs and a film clip).

A lot of rain has fallen in the last few days and everyone is now getting used to it (photo, left - © Andrew).

20 July. Road signs can be just so obvious (photo, right - just by the tunnel into �rsdalen).

25 July. A week or so of sporadic rain has at least partly re-filled the river and reassured us about the well, but now we're back to the glorious summer weather that we've had since May. Here, at least. Where Beth is (and where we lived through the 1990s) there's not been a single sunny day this summer, until yesterday. Saturday's news shows a picture of a hairdresser's shop there, with a sign outside: "closed due to good weather". The owner said: "got to enjoy it while it's here!". In Troms (where Tim's university is) it has snowed on the hills over the last few days. Røros (where we spent three months in 1990) had temperatures of -2° yesterday.

The apple trees that a few weeks ago were in full blossom (photo here) are now full of small fruit (photo, left), so we're looking forward to a good harvest like last year's.

Katie returned home last night after spending a week with a friend from her class, at their family's cabin in the hills in Telemark (170 miles away). They did all sorts of things, including a visit to the huge water park nearby. Back home she managed to say "goodnight" and then slept 14 hours.

Still chopping ... long way to go before winter (photo, left - click for enlargement)..