1 September - music lists. You learn something new every day, they say, and while looking for a song on the internet I found something surprising.

4 September - class trip to Ørsdalen! - Katie has just left for a two-day walk and camping expedition in the mountains, together with her class. In Ørsdalen! So for once we didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn to be in time for the school bus - we could all have the lie-in and wait for everyone else to arrive out here. The departure of the group happened to coincide with the arrival of a helicopter that was transporting building materials in connection with building a new cabin in the mountains, so the kids getting off the bus were being blown around in the down-draught of a helicopter hovering immediately overhead. Very dramatic. I asked the pilot if he would take the kids' rucksacks, but no joy. Katie wouldn't allow photos of her expedition, so there's a few photos of the helicopter instead (click photo, left, for enlargement). The class is taking the same route that we took in 2011 (set of photos here), spending the night in lavvos, swimming in the river, before returning tomorrow. The weather is fabulous, so they should have a good trip.

Because the weather is so wonderful and we didn't want Katie to have all the fun, we went up to the river this afternoon and lay in the sunshine on the beach for an hour or two - it was even warm enough for Tim to swim in the river! (Photos - click right).

Food yards - Ørsdalen lamb, local new potatos and carrots newly picked (literally) on the doorstep (cultivated in pots outside the front door), with newly-juiced apples from the garden to drink. No food miles today!

5 September - Katie safely back from her expedition.

6 September - Beth spent the day here, describing her experiences in Bergen and enjoying the chaos of an Ørsdalen day (of which there was plenty, due to an accident-prone youth group camping out in the old school; we had four visits for assistance!).

During the spring, we usually have a few bottle lambs around the place. This does not happen in the autumn, because no-one has lambs at that time of year. At least, not deliberately. When the sheep were collected off the mountains this weekend, a motherless lamb was found, which has ended up in our barn. Katie has named it ラムチョップ or something (she's into Japanese), but despite this, the lamb seems to be doing well. (Photo, left - click for enlargement).

9 September - birds of prey - The past few weeks we've frequently seen a "new" couple of pairs of birds of prey out hunting, but not quite close enough to see just what kind they were. This morning they were flying around the house and barn so I took a few photos (right - click for enlargement). Pat? Joanna?

Comments Joanna - September 9th, 2014 Tim the last photo is definitely a Kestrel. If the others are definitely the same bird it solves your problem, but some how I think they could be a different bird the jizz looks odd! What do you think Pat? A short eared owl springs to mind!! [Pat's in France so might not respond straight away! - Ed.] Tim - September 9th, 2014 Thanks, Joanna! All the photos were taken within seconds of each other and I'm pretty sure they're all the same bird (unless two different ones were playing silly bu--zzards to fool me) Jon - September 9th, 2014 The third picture looks like a turkey vulture - bit far north though! Close up they're real ugly Tim - September 9th, 2014 Not the sort of turkey that will make you reach for the cranberry sauce, then? Pat - September 10th, 2014 Hello. Just have wifi here in France I agree last picture definitely common kestrel. joanna - September 11th, 2014 Pat I've been looking at photos again and from what Tim says all taken one after another. But he talks of 2 birds and I can reconcile 2 and 4 as Kestrel but am struggling with 1 and partic. with 3. What do you think?

10 September - "Hop on, Hop off", it says on the front of this bus that made quite a stir just outside Vikeså last night. Fortunately, no-one was hurt when it hopped off.

Jon has posted some pictures of their family visit to us in July on his blog.

Goodnight. Here is what we see out of the back door as we're going to bed (at least, now that it's starting to be dark in the evenings); Ørsdalen's one point of light (from a neighbouring farm), the moon and the mountains ...

11 September - ... and good morning. Yesterday we showed a "goodnight" picture taken from the back door. Here is a corresponding "good morning".

Dog and lamb enjoying the sunshine together in the garden (temperature up in 20s again) (click photo, left, for enlargements). Tim spent the afternoon removing green algae from the balcony and then up a ladder repainting one wall of the house (there is a photo of this too, but it was excluded by the censor).

Comments joanna - September 12th, 2014 Tim Tune is looking an old dog now, she is really enjoying the sun on her back! I can agree with her on that! As for the poor lamb her name looks like an expletive!! It sunny here today. Praise the Lord Tim - September 12th, 2014 She certainly has her "senior moments" - and more often - but can still rush around when the occasion demands. This picture perhaps reflects some resigned embarrassment at having a lamb treat her like an aged relative. The lamb's name isn't actually ラムチョップ (look it up on Google images), but something equally improbable and Japanese, pronounced "Chee-hie-ya". Enjoy the sunshine!

12 September - Thanks for the help with the kestral! Anyone identify this bird that has been shouting in the forest all this evening?

Improved file - background noise less loud - now only sounds like a sound effect from the "Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy"

Comments joanna - September 13th, 2014 Tim surely its a 'Wol" difficult to be sure as I am only familiar with Barn and Tawny calls. The back ground sound also masks much of the call! I would probably plump for Tawny Owl but it could well be a more interesting owl, will try and keep digging! You are really going to have to try some serious birding!! Bob - September 13th, 2014 Tawny owl being applauded by lots of people . Tim - September 13th, 2014 Great, thanks! Good to have a regular tawny concert - we'll join in the applause next time! Sorry about the rotten recording - it was done with a camera and there was lots of waterfall noise and other distractions. I've done my best to filter it, so it's a little better now. joanna - September 13th, 2014 Isn't it the female that goes Kvik? That looks very Norwegian!

13 September - We painted the front and back doors last night. This being Ørsdalen there's no problem leaving both doors wide open all night (we're hardly likely to get intruders!) Not two-footed intruders, that is - we are surrounded by a Forbidden Forest full of creatures, so we suddenly realised as we were going to bed that by morning the house would probably look like Dr Doolittle's waiting room. Hasty measures were put in place, such as a roll of extra-sticky canvas tape cut up to make a glue mat to cover the doorstep on the outside and a barrage of moustraps on the inside.

Woke up to no intruders and a normal Saturday. For Tim it was Egersund for swimming training, back home to feed lamb, then out to wedding in Ivesdal, followed by another wedding in Bjerkreim, then back home again to get on with a few hours of house painting. For Tracy it was an emergency telephone call from a parishioner whose cat had trapped its tail in a door (so it was like Dr Doolittle's waiting room after all), then off to Sandnes to hand out leaflets that hadn't been printed about the parenting course, then back home for a few hours of painting doors. Tomorrow it's only services morning and evening, so it's a doddle, really. But the weather is still glorious, so we're loving it.

14 September - We're having glorious mid-summer again - mid-20s (upper 70s F) and unbroken sunshine. But driving to and through Vikeså early this morning, on the way to church, there was a heavy autumnal mist over the lake, which quickly cleared to reveal Vikeså at its best (click photo, left, for four pictures).

Thomas Andrew has been having a rare holiday this weekend and is due home during the night.

Driving home from evening service tonight we were startled to see a large tawny owl sitting on the roadside barrier, watching us go past. It seemed less bothered about the encounter than we were, and just remained sitting there.

Following earlier comments I decided to improve our recording technique a little by setting up a couple of thousand pounds worth of borrowed equipment and leaving it running all night. As soon as it was turned on, around 10.30 in the evening, we had the following performance:

15 September - Eagerly took the recording disk down to the computer to see what exotic wildlife it had captured during the night. There's the occasional rustle of leaves in the breeze and an unexplained brief humming noise at about 3 in the morning (probably a flying saucer or something), but the only signs of life captured on the recording was this:

Ah well, welcome home, Thomas Andrew!

Comments joanna - September 14th, 2014 Tim a much clearer recording, I would say female Tawny Owl if I heard it here. Try googling Tawny Owl and see if it looks like the one you saw on roadside!Hasn't Pat left you with a bird book!! Tim - September 15th, 2014 Yes, Pat and Bob have left an excellent bird book, and sure enough it was a Tawny we saw by the road. Maybe the one we've been listening to. Pat - September 16th, 2014 Tim, just an idea but could your good weather have increased the little furry animals to bring in kestrel and tawny owl? Tim - September 16th, 2014 Funny you should ask; I was just putting a small-furry-creature trap behind the settee and another behind a kitchen cupboard ... But we've always had owls here, and various birds of prey, though we've not identified the latter before, nor recognised the owl's call when it wasn't a twit-twoo! Jon - September 18th, 2014 Given that Norwegian pigs say nuff nuff, maybe you haven't recognised the owl because it to speaks Norwegian (or that strange local dialect of yours). To paraphrase that iconic Norwegian music ensemble: what does the owl say . . . .

Some more photos on Jon's blog, this time of the beach on the river close to the house, where we usually spend lazy sunny afternoons.

16 September - Digging in the garden We've been planning for a while to put up a dog run attached to the stables, so that we can leave the dogs there if we're going to be out all day. This, however, requires digging some foundations, which is not easy in such rocky ground. When we heard that someone was bringing a mini-digger to Ørsdalen with the intention of helicoptering it up to that cabin in the mountains (see 4 September above), we waylaid them and got them to dig the foundations out for us while they were passing. And straighten the edge of the lawn while they were at it!

Comments joanna - September 19th, 2014 Hi Tim, it looks as if Norway is safe from having `Scotland' added!!! Great to talk. Love to all Tim - September 19th, 2014 The Norwegian prime minister rather tactlessly made a statement this morning to the effect of "phew, that's a relief that now we won't have these Scots bothering us ...". Have a good weekend!

19 September - In this family, we ... Click picture, left, to see what it is we do.

Regarding what we do, it seems that there is one change, at least, on the horizon. Tim has had an offer of a new job from the end of this year, as full-time Director of Music at the main church in the centre of Sandnes. The job has interesting challenges and there's a lot to be said for it - and Tracy already commutes into Sandnes so we can share the driving - though it will be a wrench to leave Bjerkreim church. For those strange people who are interested in organs, there's a description of the instrument here.

20 September - Pulling stones out of the lawn - was Thomas Andrew's task today (with assistance from Katie), while Tim was painting the last of the house windows and then doing another couple of weddings, Click photo, right, to see Thomas Andrew at work, or, if you dig the pictures, you can watch a short film of it here.

22 September - Norwegian test at school today, in which Katie is intending to write a new "Uncle Bob" story. The real Uncle Bob, who is far more stable and less accident-prone than his fictional counterpart, is at a safe distance in France, so Katie reckons she's in the clear.

Comments Uncle Bob - September 24th, 2014 I am watching to see reports of my activities Katie. France is not so far away you know. Remember wheet has ears and potatoes have eyes. Katie - September 24th, 2014 Story coming soon - in the meantime I've stuffed the Weetabix and the crisps to the back of the cupboard, just to be on the safe side.

The story was duly written and is now translated. The given task was to write about something getting broken. Click here or on the poster, left, to read it.

Comments joanna - September 25th, 2014 Katie as usual a great story! I always love reading them. Reckon you should make them into a book!!! Love from me. Uncle Bob - September 25th, 2014 The best Chinese takeaway in the world. Tim - September 26th, 2014 I'll suggest to Katie that she tries something Indian next time. There's a thought - perhaps then it could be "hot" so that she could couple in the local constabulary instead of poor old Henrik, who'll probably get the sack now after breaking that Ying Yang thing ...

25 September - an unusual visitor - an Emerald moth spent last night on our back door. Although they're called the "Common Emerald", they're quite rare over here - on Norway's red list, actually - and are not supposed to be found quite so far west as Ørsdalen. (A couple of mothy pictures, right).

Comments joanna - September 25th, 2014 I get them, the Emeralds in my moth trap when I remember to run it. I should know what the other moth is as well, will trawl the book when I have time!!

27 September - Bjerkreim Agricultural Show. The show (photos, click left) was the usual mix of tractors, stalls - and rain. A couple of years ago the organisers of the event, noting that the weather was always fine throughout September before pouring down the first weekend of October (the regular date of the show), moved the event to the last weekend in September in order to guarantee good weather. Sure enough, this signalled floods of biblical proportions on the last weekend of September that year. The Bjerkreim local authority is now in negotion with various drought-ridden African and Middle-Eastern countries regarding rights to hold the event there. This year, Saturday dawned with due amounts of rain (ending a long dry period here), but cleared up a little by the time we were there.

28 September - Katie is off to a swimming competition in Bryne today. No photos (parents at work), but the day was a great success, with bronze medal for the little mermaid. She beat her personal best in 100m breast by a huge amount (even without wearing that little portable outboard motor). The next competition is 19 October - but that one is on "home" territory in Egersund.