Britt-Arnhild's House in the Woods

In my next life I want to run a B&B, and God as my playmate.

Yesterday it was time for the annual advent party for the deacons in the diocese. The night before Marta helped me to set up all our nativity scenes around the house. Christmas cribs was the theme of the party and after eating, after me talking, the guests were sent out to all rooms in The House in the Woods, three floors, to count creches.

Luckily Marta came home from school to help us with the counting. Even though I had set them up myself, they were hard to count.

Afterwards I read one of my new stories. About God as a whole God. Not only the grown up one, but also a God with a childish love of playing. 2000 years ago God came to earth as a baby, he grew up as a child. God knows about life. About seriousness and playfulness, laughter and cries, beauty and ugliness. I can come to God to play and I can come to throw my sorrows on Him.

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When the guests left I cleaned up, waiting for Terje and Ingrid to come home. Marta was already down in her rooms, doing homework. Ingrid wanted to come home to watch handball (female world championship). I started a pizza, and knew deep in my heart that sometime I would love to run a B&B. A place where I can live together with my guests........

The table would be the most important place in my B&B. A place for food, talks, song. Yes, there would never be a meal without singing.

Photo from yesterday's lunch:

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The knitted ornament giveaway will continue every day during advent. Don't forget to leave a comment on this post.

 

Sorry, no winner today. I'll make it up tomorrow with two winners. Hope that's okay.

Welcome to Norway Mr. President

President Obama has landed on Norwegian land. Welcome Mr. President.

You can agree or disagree with the Nobel Peace Prize Committee. President Obama will get the Peace Prize anyway. I am proud for him and I pray that the Prize will change the world.

I am ashamed of being part of a world where humans fight.

I am proud of being part of a world where humans shake hands, open hearts, make the first steps to live in peace.

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You can watch it all live here

Christmas shopping stirring up Childhood memories

Time to meet in town after school/work for some christmas shopping.

During dinner, at Lille (a restaurant at the Market Square), I told Marta about Christmas shopping when I was a child, when mamma took us downtown to look at the window decorations. Lights, some of them blinking, santas set up in creative formations, I especially remember one window where we came back year after year where the santas moved, the oldest one had a long white beard, a happy smile and he waved to the children passing by. I was stunned, how could a toy santa move?

Terje could tell an even better story. He spent his childhood in a tiny little village south west in Norway. His father was a carpenter and for a long time he worked for a company where they made rocking chairs. Often farfar was in charge of the window decorations around Christmas. One year he was especailly creative. He set up a santa in one of the rocking chairs, and with the help of an LP-player and an invisible string, the santa sat there rocking.

As a little girl I would have spent hours outside that window.

By the way, can you see Marta listening to our stories.......

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The knitted ornament giveaway will continue every day during advent. Don't forget to leave a comment on this post, tomorrow another name will be drawn.

 

Tracy is today's winner

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A new blog to enjoy this 9th day of december; Life at Willow Manor

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I'll be on the road today, a meeting at Steinkjer, 2 hours north in the diocese. Had planned to take the train, but the timetable doesn't fit well with the hours of the meeting, so I'll be driving. Luckily there is no snow on the roads.

Coffee and a first taste......and Copenhagen...

Why is it that the cookies always taste the best before Christmas?

Terje continues to fill the old tins, I knit ornaments, I help Marta with her homework, if you want to know anything about glaziers just ask me, I know it all.........and I have picked out all my Copenhagen books from my travel book collection, reading, looking forward to come back to this wonderful city.

The other night there was a heavy storm passing by. I was awake during the night, listening to the wind, regretting going to Copenhagen this coming week-end.....by boat from Oslo, one night on the boat down south, one night back north again.......what if the storm continues.........

....then excitement and travellust get the best of me.....

Copenhagen, here I come.

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 I did a blog search and found this lovely Copenhagen blog: Cycle Chic from Copenhagen. The photo here is from Trondheim, but I'll try to shoot chic photos for you on Sunday. Enjoy the blog.

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The knitted ornament giveaway will continue every day during advent. Don't forget to leave a comment on this post, tomorrow another name will be drawn.

 

Margaret Lambert, send me your address and an ornament will be on its way.

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Fully recovered, and food redesigned .-)

The three long naps on the coach on Saturday, and an eleven hours sleep during the night from Saturday till Sunday, did wonders. I am fully recovered. I had a great Sunday. I am looking forward to a full week at work, ending with the week-end in Copenhagen for the climate meeting.

I started the Sunday with a garden walk, after breakfast, as soon as it was light enough. Not much to see now when everything is frosen, but the walk was a good one for planning what to do in the garden next spring, next summer.

Terje and Marta kept on with their Christmas cookies. Marta's singing, father and daughter's chatting could be heard from where I sat at the diningroom table, writing the Christmas letter of 2009.

Saturday I had invited the kids home for a fish dinner. Yesterday it was time to do something with the leftovers. Redesign the food. We have used leftovers always, nothing is ever thrown away in The House in the Woods. I'd never heard of redesigned food though, untill a friend wrote about it on facebook not long ago.

Redesigned food. Sounds quite chic :-)

I decided to make a fish soup. Having observed my father in law so many times, having some ideas of my own. The soup turned out to be a winner. Bjørn Amundsen, my friend who has written the book " Jorda rundt på 80 fiskesupper" (around the world on 80 fish soups), had his birthday yesterday. I could send him a facebook greeting telling him that I ate some extra soup just for him. And I had to promise him the recipe.

 
I plan to have the recipe up in the new The Blue Café as soon as it opens. The old one, over at blogspot, has been closed for some time now, a new one here at typepad will open some time, hopefully soon. Why don't you visit my other blogs while waiting; Trondheim Through all Seasons, My Year in the World, The Blue Garden, The Blue Bookshelf, they are all active these days. Caffe Avec has a little break but will be updated soon, I have an exciting coffeeshop-visit in Mexico City in mind.

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I got a surprise in my mailbox the other day, an email from Linda Olsson, the author of Astrid & Veronica (Let me Sing you Gentle Songs) and Sonata for Miriam. I wrote about her books some time ago, when I was in Krakow, and now she wrote a thank you note :-) Through her email I discovered that Linda has a blog:

Linda Olsson

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The knitted ornament giveaway will continue every day during advent. Don't forget to leave a comment on this post, tomorrow another name will be drawn.

 

Today's winner: Marilyn

and then he started the Christmas cookies.......

With a wife too tired to be of much use (at least the first part of the day, he found it was best to leave her on the coach sleeping, charging her batteries), he decided it was time to take some control over the Christmas preparations. First he vacuumed the house, then he made a long shopping list and picked up his oldest daughter who wanted to do shopping with him (she is a great shopping companion!). Back home the youngest daughter was finally out of the bed, while the wife still slept on the coach. It was time to start filling the old cookie tins.

 
The youngest daughter is the best apprentice there is, or is she actually the chef? At least she is perfect when it comes to having fun, like painting herself with flour.

When he found the dough too dry, the youngest daughter knew what to do; "When farfar was here two years ago, making these cookies with me, he added some cream into the dough to make it smooth"

He ran over to the nearest grocery store to get some cream. The wife woke from her sweet dream by his closing of the entrance door when he came running back home. She woke just in time for photos.

  Cola kaker, Coke Cookies, I have no idea about the origin of the name, there is no Coke in the dough, but the taste of the finished cake might be a clue, or the colour.........

This is not a cookie from my childhood Christmas, but I soon learned to love it from my father in laws wide range of cookies for the Christmas table.

"Hey there, keep your fingers away, it is not Christmas yet!

"Please, just one more......."

"Okay then, and anyway, the cookies always taste the best before Christmas!"

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Today's link has to be the best food blog there is out there, Lucullian Delights of course. She is in the process of alot of changes right now, and I like when I see.

  

The knitted ornament giveaway will continue every day during advent. Don't forget to leave a comment on this post, tomorrow another name will be drawn.

 

Today's winner is Marit.

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Post script: My batteries are fully charged again, partly because of the rest, most of all because of Terje :-)

Songs of Praise. Songs of Sorrows

Advent is a time for singing. Christmas songs, advent hymns, carols. Songs of Praise.

When the kids where small I sang for them alot. Every day, many times a day. We knew all the children songs. We sang together, I made up new lines.

I don't sing that often any more. I hum alot, but mostly without words.

 At work we have a prayer every day at lunch time, a hymn is sung. I am lucky, I got to sing in a "choir" every day. Still I miss singing more.

It is advent and time to sing. I practice the old and new Christmas carols, the Christmas songs from my childhood. It is advent and time to sing.

 
Most songs during advent are happy songs. Songs of praise. We are waiting for a Saviour to be born.

These days I also sing songs of Sorrow. A young girl lost her fight againts cancer the other day. 18 years old Regine was diagnosed last summer, a year ago she started her blog, Face your Fear. I have read Regine's blog for almost a year. I have learned to know a young girl, ready to live her life fully, artistic, filled with hope and happiness, then stopped on her way. Afraid of death, is there still hope, why is this happening, pains, people, feelings, rawness........ Ragine wrote her last blogpost on Monday. Thursday right after noon, she died, surrounded by her younger sister, her mother, her father, the little kitten. A few hours later Elise, her sister, wrote in Regines blog one last post: "Dear beautiful sister".

A whole country cries with the family.

Regine has Faced her Fear, she has shared openly, freely. 

My prayers and my deepfelt thanks go to Elise, to Regines parents, to her remaining family and friends.

Here is a link to Regine's blog.

 

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Dawn, you are the winner of today's knitted ornament. Address please.

The knitted ornament giveaway will continue every day during advent. Don't forget to leave a comment on this post, tomorrow another name will be drawn.

 

Photos: from my collection of Mother and Child figures, collected worlwide.

With the nativity scenes in our church

"Marta, do you want to come with us to the church tonight? I am going to give a speech about my julekrybber, and I could need some help with wrapping and unwrapping them, and also some help to show them while I talk"

"I'm not sure, will there be other youths there? what will happen during the night?"

"Well, first we'll have dinner, neighbour Inger (the old lady with the beautiful garden) will decorate and you know she is an artist at it. Then another lady will make dinner, I don't know the menu, but I'm sure it will be something great. Afterwards we'll all go into the church room where our nativity scenes will be. I have a few stories to tell, some of then are from the advent calendar you and I wrote last year, remember? Then I'll tell the story of the julekrybber and I also have some poems to read and more stories to tell. It will be of great help to have you there with me. I don't think there will be any other youths though......."

".........ok, I'll come with you to help you :-)"

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Today's link: Storybook Woods

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MOUSE, you are the winner of today's knitted ornament. Address please.

The knitted ornament giveaway will continue every day during advent. Don't forget to leave a comment on this post, tomorrow another name will be drawn.