serenity...

We have a monastery on an island just outside the village- ruins, that is. It is next to Nidarosdomen in Tronheim in size and importance, they say. The cave in this first photo is where SaintSunniva of Selja died. She was the daughter of an Irish king, or so the legend tells. She was a Christian, but after her father died, she was supposed to be married to a heathen vikingking. Instead she took three boats, and her people with her, and set sail. Actually they did not use sails, the legend says she asked the Lord to bring them wherever He wanted them. Two of the boats came ashore on the island of Kinn, outside Florø (a little to the south of us), the third, with Sunniva, landed at Selja. She and her people lived on the island for some time, but then rumours would have it that they were taking the animals of the farmers in the area, so they called for the earl Håkon, he came, they were trapped and died in the cave. Years after, King Olav Tryggvason sailed by, went up to the cave and found Sunniva lying there as if she was asleep. The article linked above has more in Norwegian. Later, a benedictine monastery was built close to the the church of St. Alban. The monastery is now being restored. A lot of work was done around 1930, but now it turns out some of it was not good enough, and they are doing it again. Finally both funds and workers! So this summer there will be a strangelooking tower...
This is "Liljesteinen", a tombstone with a crossmotif of a lily. It needs to be taken care of. A lot of the motif has already dissappeared.
There are no animals left at Selja, there are a few farms on the other side of the island, but they haven't had animals for years. So there is too much vegetation that is nearly impossible to get rid of manually. There are plans to get sheep back on Selja, and we might be able to help with that. That's why we went today, to see what has to be done with fencing and so on.
I'll leave you with an article about the area, so if you are interested, you can read more about Selja here. Enjoy!

Jonsok -or midsummernight...

School's out. Hubby's back, he says he'll be home for 4 weeks... We have to start making hay... And we got new bikes for the kids... 4 bikes. That's a lot! They've had bikes before, but haven't taken good enough care of them, also some were too small, so we bought them new ones. We got them yesterday, and they have hardly been in at all today! I even pulled out my good old classic with 5 gears and went for a ride! Tonight's midsummernight. The weather wasn't looking too good,rather cold too, so we decided to have a barbecue at home and then go off to see our friends and lit the fire. DS2 and hubby are the masters of barbecueing...
The fire. Photo taken around 8:30pm...
DS1 warming up by the fire. He went for a swim, as did DS2 and DD1....The fire was good afterwards!
Then the sun came! This is our land you see in the background- (the picture can be enlargened by clicking on it-at least I hope so!)
I have been knitting too- although not as much as when I am alone-I wonder why...?-LOL

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Thanks a lot for all your comments, it is great to hear from you!

Have a nice Sunday and upcoming week!

I had a title- but it disappeared...

Look at the fog this morning- it came rolling down over the mountain, some days it will fill the fjord, some days it will just tease us. Like today. It quickly went away, and we got another sunny day.
DD2 celebrated her 10th birthday yesterday- her birthday is onJuly 24th, but that is in the middle of summervacation, so she said that THIS year she was going to have it before school ended! 10 girls, all the girls in her class, came, and they had some nice hours together. She wanted to serve tacos and hotdogs, and creamcake, icecream and chocolatecake for dessert. One of her friends stayed the night, and they made a "tent" in the garden and slept outside. The boys did too, and were furious because the girls still kept talking at 2:00am.... They slept in late, and got breakfast in bed:-) And the boys? They went to school. DS1 fell asleep in the tent after school and slept for an hour... Only tomorrow to go, then there is summerholiday!
Mr.Black is taking a long, hard look at Tussi the kitten....and he is flat on his back-not knowing whether to start playing or to act very, very humble!
And then there is some knitting... DD2 requeste some anklets, these are made using the RiverValley pattern from the Sockamania club. I've knitted them toe-up, with a shortrow heel- but not any wraps, I just don't get them, I don't know why. I used the figure8 caston, and a shortrow heel where I knitted together the last two stitches on every row until I had 9 left, then I picked up one stitch from the edge at the end of each row until I was back on my initial number of stitches. It looks good,and was easy to do.
I have also completed both arms on my jacket, there are 12 rows of pattern on the bottom, then it's just plain,boring garterstitch....but thankfully only 3/4 lenght arms! Now I should cast on for the body...300+ stitches to begin with, pattern most of the way, and colours changing every fourth row!
There might not be much blogging done the next days/ weeks- hubby is returning to base for four weeks(maybe...you never know with that guy...) and we HAVE to do the sileagebaling and haymaking:-(
Have a lovely summer!

Oh, and I forgot to tell you what I was reading in the paper today!I just learned today that on this very day, June 20th, in the year 1867, Alaska was sold from Russia to the US for 7.2 million dollars. Would they have done it today? And also- what is the name of the mountain: Denali or Mt.McKinley?( TheYarnHarlot has been to Alaska, it has been so much fun reading about her adventures)

Summernights

The girls came in around 4:30 am....they were sound asleep when I went to wake them for school. The 10yearold complained about her 12yearold sister not allowing her to sleep outside alone...

It is 0:30 am, and still daylight- almost. I need some light indoors, but it is just lovely on the outside. The picture is taken without flash, from our porch, towards the monastery island Selja, there is a pale slice of the moon hanging over the island. In just a couple of days the sun will turn, and the days are getting shorter again. MidsummernightsEve on Saturday. Usually a night for bonfires and barbeques, midnight swims in the ocean, gathering with good friends.

I've been knitting- a little bit- and I finished a book by James Rollins, called "Dragehoffet" in Norwegian (Map of bones). Then I opened his second book"Black order". Hmmm. There might not be much knitting done the next couple of days...

Have a relaxing day!

Keeping busy...

Today we've been busy. Extremely busy. Busy with being lazy....The weather was exellent, so we've been sitting in the sun for most of the day, knitting, talking and just being.

It's been great. A couple of days ago I made these stitchmarkers, and they work. At least one of them... I've seen so many pretty markers on different blogs, and just wanted to try to make my own. It was fiddly work. There is probably a way of doing things easier- I just haven't figured out how yet. DD2 made a bracelet at the same time. She has always liked beading, while I never did much of it. But I might be on the lookout for more beads and stuff, it was actually quite fun making these.



I'm also knitting. There are some fishing going on...(and the link did not work...) There is also a sweater/jacket in cotton that I'd like to knit while it is still summer! You can see it here. I'm not knitting it in red, though, I'm using different shades of brown/golden.
Finally- we have a couple of "uteliggere" in our garden tonight...DD1 and DD2 decided they would sleep in the garden. Yes, I do realize it is a schoolday tomorrow. And yes, I do realize it is way past midnight.Right now they seem to be fast asleep, all snuggled up in their sleeping bags. I AM a bad mom...

Have a nice week!

ps. Iceland celebrated their Independence Day this Sunday, June 17th! Hope you all had a great time!

Still here!

Some of my projects...The booties in blue/white (babywool) and green/white(cotton) are SaartjesBootees , the red socks are mini Maydays, the red hat is from Gros blog, and the striped babyhat is the mysteryknit of Garnaflækja, an Icelandic knittinggroup. It was a free pattern from Knittys- winter -06, I think, but I'm not quite sure, sorry. It was made for a man! Ididn't like the way it turned out, with the yarn I had chosen, so I did it again in babywool. Much better! It might even be too small-lol. Thought I'd show you another picture of our sheep, prior to the shearing...

This weekend has been rather busy. We have guests staying at the beachhouse, there is a big football(soccer...)tournament going on in the village, 1200 players between the age of 6 and 16. Lots of fun, lots of work, and lots of people. There are fotballteams sleeping at the schools, the kindergarten, private homes, the hotel-everywhere. Our community isn't that big- we are less than 3000 souls in all, so getting another 1500-2000 (with parents/leaders/siblings)...well, there are a LOT of people around! Thankfully the weather is behaving, at least so far, it has been sunny, but windy.

DD1 left for a sleepover,and brought the camera. Yesterday I made a few stitchmarkers, but there are no pictures- oh well, they will have to wait.

Have a lovely Sunday! Fathers Day in the US, right? Happy Fathers Day!

Peaceful...

So, this is were we went yesterday. How on earth did they manage to make a living out of that place of rocks, stones, more rocks and a little bit of fields (that could easily be used on both sides- it is rather steep here) I really admire those people that settled here and worked as hard as they could to give their families food on the table and clothes on their bodies. Have a nice day!

shearing sheep....

Let me introduce you to the new writer of the house, Tussi the kitten! A great helper for DD2 when playing computergames-LOL!He is 3 weeks old, an "only child"(he had 4 siblings, but they are not anymore).He lives in the basement with his mum, Lady Grey. And the kids bring him upstairs for some cuddling. Mr.Black, however, is not very fond of him...I don't let them stay alone at all! We've been busy this week, shearing our sheep. The race is Old Norwegian Sheep, They are small, with horns, their wool is multicoloured, and they taste good. We slaughter some at home every autumn, and we have meat the whole winter. I also use the blood, liver and heart. I've got a really good recipe for liverpaté, and I usually make some to give away at Christmas. I also make a bloodpudding- old recipes that I have inherited from my grandmothers through my mother. The meat is cut into steaks, some is grinded, quite a lot is salted and dried. A few years ago every farm would do this themselves, these days most of the sheep are bought by the slaughterhouses, which gives us (sometimes) a decent price for the sheep...

Back to the shearing...We also have Spælsau, a different brand, they are bigger, with better wool,almost always white, and they stay in the barn all winter. We walked them to summerpastures a couple of weeks ago. Those sheep are usually sheared by a professional person, because I have big trouble figuring out how to use the electrical scissors...Also my back doesn't agree with that kind of work:-(, mostly due to lack of experience and lack of skill....

The Old Norwegian Sheep usually looses all of it's wool in one big fleece, like the one in this picture. One of the kids are holding it, while I just rip the whole thing off. However, this was the only animal we could do this with...it is probably too early. Later the wool just loosens. It's weird.

The problems with the non-working el.scissors, wool that would't let go, and the fact that it has been too long since we did this the last time, forced us to pick up those normal scissors...I have no picture, but believe me, that is a lot of work! Thankfully I had the kids helping me, holding the sheep, and also cutting. I would like to do it all over again this fall, maybe being able to avoid those large felted fleeces that are no good at all. For craftpurposes it would be wise. I haven't learned how to spin, but it would have been fun trying it with my own wool.

Quite another topic: DD2 and her class- 20 10-yearolds..., went on a fieldtrip today, and I decided to join them.There are many places nearby that the school uses for outdooractivities,which is great. Today we went to a settlement which is used only as a summerhouse. The owners are trying to keep it in good shape, and it looks quite good. There is no water or electricity.We kept company with a few sheep on our way.The kids were playing, building "cabins" out of driftwood and whatever they could find. We grilled hotdogs, they ate fruit and bisquits, and had a grand time!

I am still amazed at the stamina of the oldtime farmers! See this path? It is made of flat stones that are laid out to make an easy road to follow. It leads from one settlement to another. The people out here moved about 40 years ago. They and their ancestors had made a living out of a steep hill, building stonehouses(because there were very little trees avaliable), keeping a cow and a few sheep, cutting gras for hay wherever they could fin a straw, they were fishermen, both for their own household and for sale. The kids had to walk to school, it takes an hour each way-at least! On rocks like this. In all the weather they got. And they always showed up at school in time.

But what a struggle. What big changes there has been. We have no idea.
This settlement is on a beach filled with round, smooth pebbles/stones. Every single one of them is a piece of art, unique. They may look grey. They are actually not "just" grey. There are beautiful shades of greys, whites, greens, sometimes even a hint of blue, or a stripe of red.

As for knitting, I'm on my second RiverValley, and they look good. The first one also fits perfectly! Hopefully there will be some knitting done tomorrow, these last few days have been filled with the raw wool instead of beautiful yarns and needles...

Blogthings - What Finger Are You?

Blogthings - What Finger Are You?: " There might be some truth in this....LOL! Exept for the natural leader stuff!

You Are the Thumb

You're unique and flexible. And you defy any category. Mentally strong and agile, you do things your own way. And you do them well. You are a natural leader... but also truly a loner. You inspire many but connect with few. You get along well with: The Middle Finger Stay away from: The Pinky

What Finger Are You?

"

Summerwinds...

Can you see it's windy? We've had lovely weather for several days now, warm and sunny, and the kids have been swimming in the sea for the last couple of weeks. Friday we woke up to another sunny day, but it was so windy! Nearly as bad as in one of those winterstorms that we get! So DS2 had to bring a warm jacket to school, as he was going out in the school's rowboat with his class, and I figured he would be needing it. Around noon I went shopping. Came out of the car outside the store, wearing trousers, socks and a jacket.....and nearly fainted! The heat! And no wind at all! Turned out we were the only ones to have that particular wind...it has happened before, but it is annoying. So Saturday too has been a rather cold day around here-but not in the community center... Mcmpuer'sacn srng ta, te is weeeee------------ey- I was going to say that my computer is acting strange tonight, I've changed batteries on the keyboard, hopefully that will help!

The rhododendrons are in full bloom now, we have planted many along the road down to the seahouse, and they look lovely.
two cuties:DD2 and Tussi the kitten(3.5 weeks old) And -hey- he's sitting in MY shoe!!!

There HAS been knitting too....more fish, a mysteryproject which is really cute, June socks from the Sockamania sockalong, a jacket, a sweater....more later. I'd better get to bed- it is 3 am, and daylight! Summer in the north...

Have a great week!

...long and winding road...

Thought I'd share a couple more photos, these are from Hoddeviksanden, which is supposed to be as close to a surfers paradise as you can get! There are "long" waves-perfect for surfing-or so they say. There are also strong undercurrents. A reporter from NRK, the Norwegian Broadcasting Company, came here to make a story for a youth programme (called "Newton"). He didn't notice the currents...he was out in a wetsuit, and just drifted off! A young surfer got him back.
There are several beautiful beaches around here, but the sea is pretty cold- there is nothing between us and Iceland but the ocean. Somehow the landscape too reminds me of Iceland...

new projects...

At Whitsun, we took a drive on this peninsula we live on. It is in the western part of Norway, and it is always mentioned in our weatherforecast! There is a lot of weather around here...The sea at the tip of the peninsula is a dreaded place, boats often have to wait for better weather either on the south or on the north before being able to sail past this piece of sea. It is called Stad.
There are so many small houses- outhouses or barns- that are made of stones in this area. Timber has always been hard to get, but there were plenty of stones, so they would use that. Some farmers are still using their small houses, and many are rebuilding them in order to take proper care of them.
What was not used for houses,was used for fencing. There are literally miles of stonefences here. Some of them are built like terraces to get better fields(and to get rid of the stones...) and some are used as fences. The animals we have now tend to climb the fences though.

I cast on for another project... although I have to kals coming up soon (both the June Sockamania, and the Icelandic Samprjón, which is a mysteryknit!) The Tesselating Fish from Knitters. I saw these first on Bea's blog, and she has more info about the fish than I have. They're cute! I will make them in wool, and two fish- like the ones shown- will be about 20x20 cm. Sooo-I'm gonna need some-LOL! But this is a "nice to have" project, to go to when everything else is either done or dull. There are something more on the needles too- the second sock, a sweater, and I just cast on for a jacket...my exuse for knitting? "It is too hot to be in the sun and actually do something"...or maybe this:"it is important to really enjoy these beautiful days-soon it will be raining!"

Have a great day!

Somehow the link to the "prisoner of Azkaban" socks seem to be wrong. They are made by Audrey of "A stitch in time",and they are really nice! Mabe the link will work now?http://stitchintime71.blogspot.com/

a local...

Look what we found in our barn! Isn't he the cutest? There are quite a few hedgehogs around, but sadly enough, some people seem to make a sport of killing them- it is like "hit and run" in traffic. So at this time of year, there are someone lying dead on the road almost every day.

Hopefully this one will stay in our garden!

a quiet place..

The lake Cooling off after a long hike...
Having a bit of fun...

Definitely summer!

Done! It turned out pretty nice, I think, and is now on our sofa table. I'm not too happy about the corners, though...



I've added 8 stitches to the border, the yo-rows that runs along the edge.

Then my nephew is 17 on Thursday, he will get a pair of " prizoner of Azkaban" socks, pattern made by Audrey . Nice pattern to follow. The yarn is Silja, it calls for needlesize 3-3.5mm, but I have always knitted it on 2.5mm. Since this was going to be for some rather big feet, I decided to use 3mm needles, and it worked out fine, I think they will fit. I added ribbing on the foot. We've had a lovely, lazy day, the kids went swimming, DS2 went for a hike together with a friend and his parents, weather was beautiful, we're all sunburnt...DS2 took the camera, he took lots of pictures, and I was going to show you one of the lake which is only a 30 min. walk away from us....instead I uploaded this:
It is a name. It is the way they've marked the paths. He took several pictures of this particular sign. And I am unable to figure out how to delete it from my blog!

Have a great week:-)

Summer!

I didn't get a photo of them, but the kids went swimming in the sea today...!!! The weather has been lovely, sunny and warm, and we're in june, and the mockingbird(?)-the one that says "koko-koko"-has been singing, (it has to say it's koko's before anyone can even dip their toes in the ocean!LOL!)
Happy Sunday!

BTW- the tablerunner is now blocking and looking great! Just need to upload DD1s pictures, empty the card, and take some new pics. Can't do everything in one day-hehe!

update...

So there are no pictures today...DD1 ran off with both the camera and my cellphone this morning- they were going to show their play at a place nearly two hours from here, they left at 8:30 am, and came back at 11:30pm....45 kids,(12 and 13 years old),3 teachers, several parents, a whole bus filled with theatre equipment such as lights, music instruments, a fake car of considerable size (1m wide, 2m long...) ,a goat, clothing,,,everything they needed to pull off a twohour play. It went well, and they were happy with it.

Hubby is off to Oslo. DD2 is crocheting a pillow, she makes one row of single crochet and one row of double crochet, and it looks pretty neat.

DS1 went fishing from the seahouse quay, but didn't get any.

I've finished the tablerunner, it is now blocking! It's a long time since I've blocked anything, I've chosen the easy way out and simply steamironed whatever item I had.

Bought some yarn today, cotton, found a cute pattern for a sweater in the magazine "Familien" and wanted to try it.

I am also knitting little things, like babyhats and cute booties-links and pictures later- and I cast on for the "prisoner of Azkaban" socks by Audrey , in solid grey, since the recipient is not a reader. I read Harry Potter, but I dread that last book. And I dread the fact that I will have heard what happens to him before I even get a chance to read the book myself! I will have to NOT look at any " Harry Potter"related pages or blogs or news before the book is translated into Norwegian and on my table-LOL. There will be no reading it in English- it is difficult enough in Norwegian,hehe.

What else have I done? Not much- I didn't even cook dinner tonight, we just grabbed some pizza from the freezer, and the kids couldn't have been happier!

Have a lovely weekend!