The Gubrandsdal & Myklebust - Photos from our Regular Route to the Farm

The sun came over the horizon at about 9 a.m. It just started peeking over the mountain and into this valley where we work. It is a long skinny valley between two very long skinny deep lakes...one called a fjord. One lake is a few hundred meters deep and 60 or so miles long. The valleys twist and wind into wider valleys where there are potato and wheat fields. Yesterday the sun disappeared at 2 p.m. The last direct sunlight in this valley disappeared at almost 2 p.m. exactly.

I have been buying candles by the hundreds. We bought a new lamp for our kitchen. Our sunlamp in the house goes on from 7-8 a.m. and then it goes on as soon as NK gets home from school until about 6 p.m. Even Forrest lays by the sunlamp. Last night my friend Eva came over and confirmed that cats in Norway go a little batty at this time of year. People do too, thus the reason for the sunlamp and lots of lighting. I have noticed the darker it gets outside the louder the volume on my TV, I wonder if there truly is a correlation.

The roads are so slippery - sheets of ice. The metal studded tires are on and still we slide backwards down streets. We have a can a sticky spray to spray on the tires when we can't get up the streets. Sideways slides are scary too...of course NK loves it..."Mom, we are drifting". Sliding backwards down a mountain is not my idea of fun. We have our shoe spikes out - especially for NK on his nearly1/2 - 3/4 mile hike to school.

Sitting in my office looking out right now is it looks like a wonderland...huge pine forests, snow, and a bronze moose statue...little yellow breasted birds hanging out in the tree outside my window...kjøtt maiz...I think that is what they are called...meat corn. It doesn't sound right...maybe I have the name wrong. With my Norwegian anything is possible.
Just an update...

Norway is so beautiful. These photos are all from the car trip back and forth to the island and several photos from the farm at Myklebust.

NK & JH and Friends on a Hike to a Summit Near Beitostolen

The guys went on a hike with friends to a summit near Beitostolen. My girlfriend and I went for a walk in the mountains along a ridge in a high valley. Nothing as spectacular as the terrain where the guys went.

Norway is so beautiful. Even when I curse this place it still amazes me with the beauty.

Here are some of the peaks that stay snowy all year. Some of these might be glaciers...I can't remember. This is not too far from the continental divide and about an hour from a fjord that cuts way into the center of Norway from the west coast.

Our friends have a cabin in this area. It is such a wonderful spot...just about 2 hours from our house in the higher terrain.

This is a small hotel that has been located on this mountain lake for over a hundred years. There is a boat the ferries people across the lake. I would like to take it next summer and then hike a few days around the high terrain. It looks like moonscape in some of this area. Just rocks, goats, some sami's and of course other hikers.

On of the many mountain lakes in the area. This is a high area, above the tree line.

My little bear hiking along.

Lunch with a view.

NK and his school chum.

This is NK jumping from rock to rock.

This is NK after he missed a rock and fell in a mud pit.

NK at the bottom of the bobsled run. Hit the brake!

JH after the hike. Enjoying the evening sun.

No Place Like Home...

We have been in Norway 16 months (JH has been here 18 months) and a lot has happened since we left the states. We are close to a collapse of world financial markets. The housing market in the US has tanked with 9,000 homes a month going into foreclosure. That is all at the macro level.

At the micro level, we have been away from our friends and family through some tough times. We have lost some friends and relatives. We have been away from during the diagosis of short and longterm illnesses of family and friends. It hurts. It is absolutely lousy to be so far from home when our family and friends are going through tough times in the US.

Norway has been no picnic. It is expensive, cold, dark, and the people aren't very chummy. But the worst part has been being away from home. It just plain stinks.

Just Some Photos

NK chilling in the mountains.

NK and his team "Vind" at the awards ceremony for a tournament.

Between games at a tournament.

Karenza entertains JH with her giggles.

Oh captain my captain. NK skippers a colleague's (in photo) sail boat on the Mjosa.

Summer Visitors from Mitchellville

If you haven't already read the still incomplete post from JH regarding our summer vacation, you must go down a few posts and read it. Hopefully, he will get back to the keyboard and blog the rest of the story. For a while we were a bit tech challenged. Our laptop with most of our photos died. The motherboard is fried. We have sent the computer to an expert who is pulling off our photos...we hope. So we have been limping along with "only" one laptop and two desktops. In a household with three computer junkies this is a problem! We have a new laptop on order. It should be here in just a few days. It will have the three special Norwegian character vowels and also the Swedish vowels too!

Well...here are some of the photo highlights from my dad and Holly's trip to Norway. Read JH's story for the real scoop. I will provide captions for the photos below.
My dad and Holly in Norway. I thought my dad would never get on a plane for Europe.

A view of Akershus castle from the Olso fjord front near city hall. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akershus

The royal yacht anchored in the fjord off of the royal farm.

The waterfront near some of the many great museums in Oslo.

A traditional wooden boat tied and anchored along the coast.

The amazing fountain at Frogner Park's park within a park Vigeland Park. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vigeland_Sculpture_Park

Monolith in the park.

Resting on history.

Climbing up to the monolith above the rose gardens.

Me and NK. Oh, sorry no, another Vigeland sculpture. This is my favorite. Anyone visiting my office for the last 10 years saw a photo of this sculpture.

During the visit from the Mitchell-Villagers there was an eclipse. This is JH rigging-up a projector to see the eclipse on the ceiling. Sometimes being married to a rocket scientist has advantages.

The eclipse!

My favorite fisherman along the fjord above the Arctic Circle. This is along the fjord in front of my in-laws house.

What is the catch of the day NK?

Still fishing.

The bridge over the maelstrom. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malstrom

The thinker.

Yum - blueberries!

The fishermen. They had a good catch. There weren't any pesky seals.

NK and his grandfathers.

The daily catch.

The skerries in the fjord.

Looking down at Bodø from a nearby mountain top. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bod%C3%B8

Stripes and plaids. Oh NK!

The coastal steamer steaming North towards the North Cape.

Fire!

The catch of the day.

Hanging out on the veranda.

The ten hour train ride down the coast and over the mountains.

The church in Trondheim where St. Olaf is buried.

Bob Marley's old mate.

The ocean-front in Trondheim centrum.

Enjoying the day in Trondheim. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trondheim

Picking blueberries and raspberries. Lucky us...a berry patch outside of our cabin. Well, to be honest, Norway is a berry patch. Berries are EVERYWHERE in Norway.

We took nearly 10 ferry rides along the coast as we leaped along the fjords and the coastal highway.

A stave church along a fjord on the west coast.

Dad eating reindeer moss.

All...most...Norwegian churches have a ship hanging from the ceiling.

The beautiful handcarved icons in the small stave church.

Yes, 1105. The year...1105. Amazing huh?

The coastal highway.

Here comes our ferry!

Not a rainbow, this is a rainball tucked along a small inlet in a neighbor island.

We picked and ate a zillion gooseberries. There were two types, green and gold. We made...and are still eating marmalade.

NK and his cousin, Ruben zooming around our farm.

The jelly fish were hanging around the water below our boathouse. They are so beautiful and this particular one is posionous.

A crab attacked my dad. I saved the day and saved the crab by flinging him out into the surf.

Looking for star fish.

Looking for treasure! Captain Jack is a salty dog.

JH enjoying our afternoon at the beach.

Baby crabs attack!

The boys are runnign back to the farmhouse for dinner!

Holy mackrel. Dinner is the daily catch.

Me and Big Rasmus.

There was a music fest at the island.

NK and Ruben fight it out.

This cute little dog had barrettes in his hair and between his eyes.

Our beach.

I could spend eternity roaming this beach.