A French woman named Yvette has her own website.
As part of the website she has uploaded photos from different parts of the world.
The following ones, mostly from the western part of Norway, were made by Hélène Magana
http://www.yvettedefrance.com/Photos-du-monde/NORVEGE/norvege.htm
Another series of photos from Oslo were taken by Eva Lechner from Germany
http://www.yvettedefrance.com/Photos-du-monde/Scandinavie/Oslo/norway.htm
Just enjoy!
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Selvangivelsen - annual tax report
In my other country, you only give an annual tax report
if you are self-employed.
Here everybody gives their report.
The Norwegian word for this report is "Selvangivelsen"
which is something like "Turning-Youself-In".
This report comes filled in with the information the
authorities have about you - income, bank accounts,
property etc, but of course you must check to see if
there are any mistakes.
Some other information you will have to"turn-yourself-in" on.
That's according to the law.
Today, April 30th, is the last day for returning the report to
the tax authorities.
You can return the report through the internet.
You can send it by post.
You can deliver it at the tax office.
But most interestingly, this is the first year
those who have no changes in their prefilled report ,
can actually refrain from doing anything,
and it will be considered they had confirmed
the information in the report.
This decision was made, because so many,
in former years, returned their prefilled report
without any changes.
if you are self-employed.
Here everybody gives their report.
The Norwegian word for this report is "Selvangivelsen"
which is something like "Turning-Youself-In".
This report comes filled in with the information the
authorities have about you - income, bank accounts,
property etc, but of course you must check to see if
there are any mistakes.
Some other information you will have to"turn-yourself-in" on.
That's according to the law.
Today, April 30th, is the last day for returning the report to
the tax authorities.
You can return the report through the internet.
You can send it by post.
You can deliver it at the tax office.
But most interestingly, this is the first year
those who have no changes in their prefilled report ,
can actually refrain from doing anything,
and it will be considered they had confirmed
the information in the report.
This decision was made, because so many,
in former years, returned their prefilled report
without any changes.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Positive thinking, negative thinking
These days Moss is lightening up and warming up.
There is a definite feeling of spring and the pleasant
expectation that soon summer will be here.
The green color is chasing away the grey ( and the
occassionally white) color of the winter.
The hours of light are getting longer and longer.
Getting up in the morning is easier.
In the evening you still have the feeling the day is not over.
And you can put your winter coat away. Hopefully.
There is something optimistic about spring in Moss.
PS. In other words, I am not a fan of darkness, cold weather,
all those winter clothes, but I must accept that is part of the
whole package of living here.
But I do love the spring and the summer in Norway!
PS. Two quotes arrived in an email from MindTools the day
after I had written this blog entry:
"A man is but the product of his thoughts.
What he thinks, he becomes."
Mahatma Gandhi.
"Positive thinking will let you do everything better
than negative thinking will."
Zig Ziglar - Personal development guru.
There is a definite feeling of spring and the pleasant
expectation that soon summer will be here.
The green color is chasing away the grey ( and the
occassionally white) color of the winter.
The hours of light are getting longer and longer.
Getting up in the morning is easier.
In the evening you still have the feeling the day is not over.
And you can put your winter coat away. Hopefully.
There is something optimistic about spring in Moss.
PS. In other words, I am not a fan of darkness, cold weather,
all those winter clothes, but I must accept that is part of the
whole package of living here.
But I do love the spring and the summer in Norway!
PS. Two quotes arrived in an email from MindTools the day
after I had written this blog entry:
"A man is but the product of his thoughts.
What he thinks, he becomes."
Mahatma Gandhi.
"Positive thinking will let you do everything better
than negative thinking will."
Zig Ziglar - Personal development guru.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Green next to the computer
I am not really a plant person.
Once upon the time I had many house plants, and behold,
they all had a great time with me, growing and showing
off their leaves and flowers.
But that was a very long time ago.
Most of the time I have had very few house plants to care
for.
Here in Moss, I have had none - till now.
But this green "head" next to my PC, was actually bought
and placed there, after reading an article my sister had
written about how to improve your office and work conditions.
A green plant next to the PC will let your eyes rest now and then.
Sagasund
http://www.nrk.no/contentfile/file/1.434034!img433979.jpg
Here is how you can spend that money:
You go to the town of Fredrikstad by train or by car.
In the harbor of Fredrikstad, which is actually the last part
of Norway's biggest river Glomma, you find this ship, the Sagasund.
During summertime, except for Sundays, Sagasund leaves
Fredrikstad at 11.00 o'clock.
The ship is often quite full of Norwegians going to Sweden to shop.
I am told that those who smoke and use alcohol, get it cheaper
in Sweden, though they must not buy more than the allowed
amount to bring back to Norway.
Then there are others who like to buy their food in Sweden.
And some just enjoy the atmosphere in the little town of Stroemstad.
Me , f.ex.
Sagasund takes two hours from Fredrikstad to Stroemstad, passing
a lot of smaller and bigger islands.
Typical for this area are the rounded rocks, shaped by the ice once
moving over them.
In Stroemstad you have two hours for your shopping or sightseeing.
If you want to eat, you can use another 100 crowns for a fish dinner
at Rasta, situated in the building of Domus, a supermarket.
Suggestion: From Stroemstad you can take another boat out to the
Swedish islands of Koster, I will tell about the summer paradise Koster
some other time.
Back to Stroemstad.
At 15.00 Sagasund left Stroemstad and , at least on our trip, took
a slightly different route back to Fredrikstad.
Some passengers had ordered dinner for their backtrip.
A kiosk served the rest of us.
I find this a nice way of spending four hours on the sea,
going from Norway to Sweden and back,
and at the same time being able to spend two hours in Stroemstad.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Fear and the Gift of Fear.
The other day on Oprah I watched Gavin de Becker
talking about the gift of fear.
I think I have been looking at fear as a feeling of
scary helplessness, a feeling you should overcome.
Or even ignore.
Here comes a man and talks about the gift of fear.
What kind of gift is that?
Well, according to what I now understand, using your
very sensitive radar when you feel the sense of fear,
this may become a gift, helping you to survive.
Here are some of what I found on Amazon.com about this book:
Author Gavin de Becker says victims of violent behavior usually feel a sense of fear before any threat or violence takes place. They may distrust the fear, or it may impel them to some action that saves their lives. A leading expert on predicting violent behavior, de Becker believes we can all learn to recognize these signals of the "universal code of violence," and use them as tools to help us survive. The book teaches how to identify the warning signals of a potential attacker and recommends strategies for dealing with the problem before it becomes life threatening.
The idea that the sense of fear may indicate
warning signs for danger, that it is a positive thing,
and that particularly women should use this
more, is intriguing.
PS. I also know that unwarranted fear is a curse,
so knowledge of how to know the difference is important.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Registering Car Numbers
As a child up in the Norwegian mountains,
around the age of 10-14, I think,
we loved to sit by the roadside with a notebook
and write down the numbers on cars passing.
Norway has 19 administrative regions, called fylke,
and at that time each fylke had a letter in front of
the number of the car.
In other words, you knew where the car came from
by looking at the letter.
(In 1971 this system changed.)
The cars from our fylke Buskerud had the letter F
before the number, so cars with F were not so interesting.
But a car with A from Oslo, or a car with O from Bergen,
that felt good.
And what excitement when a car from abroad passed!
Foreign cars were mostly from Germany and Great Britain.
Friends would compare notebooks and brag about
the interesting cars they had registered.
Simple fun!
around the age of 10-14, I think,
we loved to sit by the roadside with a notebook
and write down the numbers on cars passing.
Norway has 19 administrative regions, called fylke,
and at that time each fylke had a letter in front of
the number of the car.
In other words, you knew where the car came from
by looking at the letter.
(In 1971 this system changed.)
The cars from our fylke Buskerud had the letter F
before the number, so cars with F were not so interesting.
But a car with A from Oslo, or a car with O from Bergen,
that felt good.
And what excitement when a car from abroad passed!
Foreign cars were mostly from Germany and Great Britain.
Friends would compare notebooks and brag about
the interesting cars they had registered.
Simple fun!
Concrete - the Material
On TV I happened to see a Swedish artist working in concrete.
His name is Johan Forsberg and his firm is called Forsberg Form.
His name is Johan Forsberg and his firm is called Forsberg Form.
He named the shapes you see above "impossible houses" as
the stairs sometimes lead to nowhere.
Check out his Quickgallery
http://forsbergform.se/snabbgalleri/gallery_eng.htm
to get an impression of his work.
Check out his Quickgallery
http://forsbergform.se/snabbgalleri/gallery_eng.htm
to get an impression of his work.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
A Corner in my Living Room
August 2007: An empty corner. I was just about to move in.
September 2007: I had gotten some secondhand furniture,
and put the little sofa and the small TV in that corner.
April 2008: These days I am seriously considering where to put more bookshelves.This could be a good library corner with tall bookshelves along the two walls . My small TV and the comfortable chair will make this a place for reading and for watching TV. In the meantime I have put a low bookcase there.
Do you see my "new" rugs? All on loan!
Saltholmen
A little south of Moss is a place where they till around 150 years ago
would extract salt from the sea, just by letting the water evaporate.
On another occassion I will photograph the tiny houses there.
Today I just enjoyed the rounded rocks, once polished by heavy
ice blocks moving towards the sea.
The strong smell of salt reminded me of childhood
vacations in Denmark and Sweden.
Jopa - a File I Love
Some women get excited by shoes and hand bags.
I get excited by office supplies.
My idea of heaven is having a huge shop with office supplies next to my computer - my heavenly computer, of course - with a huge library with very friendly librarians and a book shop with an open account next door. (And perhaps a nice vegetarian cafe for those necessary breaks)
During my life I have seen and used many different kinds of files for my many documents.
Now I have met Jopa files, and I have fallen in love with them!
It was already in 1889 that Mr. Tengwall from the Swedish town of Helsingborg got the patent rights for his Trio Files - the ancestors of my Jopa files. Trio referred to the distance between the "forks" : 21mm - 70 mm - 21 mm.
Here is my Jopa file.
From the outside it may look like any other file.
It is the "fork mecanism" that keeps the documents safe through four points.
But the fact that these "forks" come from both sides, make it easy to open the file in stages.
Sometimes you want to add a document.
Sometimes you just want to read.
The sides of the file can be completely flat on the table.
From the Swedish ad at http://www.corporate.esselte.com/svSE/Innovations/Jopa.html
I love my Jopa!
I get excited by office supplies.
My idea of heaven is having a huge shop with office supplies next to my computer - my heavenly computer, of course - with a huge library with very friendly librarians and a book shop with an open account next door. (And perhaps a nice vegetarian cafe for those necessary breaks)
During my life I have seen and used many different kinds of files for my many documents.
Now I have met Jopa files, and I have fallen in love with them!
It was already in 1889 that Mr. Tengwall from the Swedish town of Helsingborg got the patent rights for his Trio Files - the ancestors of my Jopa files. Trio referred to the distance between the "forks" : 21mm - 70 mm - 21 mm.
Here is my Jopa file.
From the outside it may look like any other file.
It is the "fork mecanism" that keeps the documents safe through four points.
But the fact that these "forks" come from both sides, make it easy to open the file in stages.
Sometimes you want to add a document.
Sometimes you just want to read.
The sides of the file can be completely flat on the table.
From the Swedish ad at http://www.corporate.esselte.com/svSE/Innovations/Jopa.html
I love my Jopa!
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Hestehov= Coltsfoot = Tussilago Farfara
Photo: "Hestehov" by Kåre Guldvik
When I grew up in a little village in the Norwegian mountains, this yellow flower was one of the first signs of spring.
The climate of that village and the climate here in Moss are very different.
Personally I much prefer the lite winter version of Moss.
The other day I saw some of these yellow flowers here in Moss.
This brought back memories from my childhood in the mountains.
There was still a lot of snow, but behind a factory building the sun heating the wall had the wall heating the snow and the ground. A narrow strip of earth could be seen along that wall in the spring.
As soon as we children saw that black strip, we would come and watch every day, because just there, between the wall and the snow, these flowers would find a way to grow under such extreme conditions.
It felt like a real miracle each time - the white of the snow, the black of the earth and the yellow of the hestehov flowers.
Looking for a photo of the flower and snow, I came upon a website for Dalsbygda Fotoklubb
http://fotoklubben.dalsbygda.no/maanedens.html
where this link will lead you to some fantastic photos their members have made.
There you will also see Kåre Guldvik's photo of the coltsfoot.
Just to remember my Grandfather
The following story about my Norwegian grandfather is just so that I will remember it myself.
It is impossible to translate it succesfully into English.
What I want to remember is that my grandfather knew how to change what was said or what happened very quickly into words of wisdom or at least into something funny.
This trait was passed on to my father and down the male line of the family. :-)
I myself am so much slower and think of these options at least a day later ...
My grandfather was called in to be a witness when Mr. NN registered to get married.
Mr. NN wrote down that by profession he was a "Blikkenslager og dreier".
My grandfather quickly retorted:
I guess you wanted to say "Plattenslager og lurendreier".
Blikkenslager - tinsmith or plumber
Plattenslager -Originally a person who worked with tin or sheet metal.
Later used for 'a conman'.
Dreier - turner (profession)
Lurendreier - a trickster, a sly fox.
It is impossible to translate it succesfully into English.
What I want to remember is that my grandfather knew how to change what was said or what happened very quickly into words of wisdom or at least into something funny.
This trait was passed on to my father and down the male line of the family. :-)
I myself am so much slower and think of these options at least a day later ...
My grandfather was called in to be a witness when Mr. NN registered to get married.
Mr. NN wrote down that by profession he was a "Blikkenslager og dreier".
My grandfather quickly retorted:
I guess you wanted to say "Plattenslager og lurendreier".
Blikkenslager - tinsmith or plumber
Plattenslager -Originally a person who worked with tin or sheet metal.
Later used for 'a conman'.
Dreier - turner (profession)
Lurendreier - a trickster, a sly fox.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
One-sided cooked salmon for two
Photo: http://www.fiskehuset.com/ (Danish website)
Inspiration: Andreas Viestad, Magasinet Dagbladet March 29th 2008
This specific text is written by me and for me.
ONESIDED SALMON WITH LEEK AND WASABI
For 2
Two pieces of salomon, each weighing around 200 gr,
with the skin on one side.
2 - 3 leek , in pieces, only the white and light green part
2-3 pieces of garlic
0.7 liters of non-meat bullion
1-3 teaspoons of wasabi
2 tablespoons of butter, or more
green onion
Put the salmon in ice water.
Heat the bullion.
Add and cook the leek and the garlic around 10 minutes.
Put around 1 cup of water in a pot that is
big enough to accomodate the two pieces of
salmon, side by side.
Put the salmon in the pot with the skin down.
Heat the water carefully, allowing small bubbles.
It should reach around 90 degrees Celsius.
The fish should cook like this for between
15 to 20 minutes, till it feels warm on the top.
Careful, there should be a little water all the time,
and the fish should not cook too long.
Just before serving, warm the leek and garlic.
Put the leek, garlic and bullion in the mixer
till it becomes a puree.
Add more water, if necessary.
Add a little bit of wasabi and taste.
Add butter, and perhaps a little green onion.
Serve salmon with the puree.
Marking room for my books
Last night my nephew asked if I wanted some shelves for my books.
He offered to put up those shelves.
Those books are still in my other country, so it was actually quite a loaded question, emotionally.
Admitting that I could use some shelves, would mean that I understood that my stay here would be so long, I must at least bring some more of my books to Norway.
Talking about shelves for this specific apartment, also meant that I would have to define how many shelves I could put in the apartment, without feeling I lived in a library.
After all, I am trying to find some balance in my life, and that means Taming the Paper Tiger, as one of the books in my library is called.
My nephew and I then walked through the apartment and saw how many shelves I could put up and where, and he said he can put those up, even before any books get here.
Getting the shelves up, mean I will know exactly how many meters of books I can send to Norway.
That again means I must chose those books and files that are most important to me.
The shelves themselves actually belongs to a relative who is also downsizing that person's book collection.
Decisions.
Priorities.
Piet Hein, already mentioned in this blog, once wrote that if a person owns more than eight things , the things own that person.
Having more than eight books and eight files of documents, at the moment in two countries, is a problem I must solve.
He offered to put up those shelves.
Those books are still in my other country, so it was actually quite a loaded question, emotionally.
Admitting that I could use some shelves, would mean that I understood that my stay here would be so long, I must at least bring some more of my books to Norway.
Talking about shelves for this specific apartment, also meant that I would have to define how many shelves I could put in the apartment, without feeling I lived in a library.
After all, I am trying to find some balance in my life, and that means Taming the Paper Tiger, as one of the books in my library is called.
My nephew and I then walked through the apartment and saw how many shelves I could put up and where, and he said he can put those up, even before any books get here.
Getting the shelves up, mean I will know exactly how many meters of books I can send to Norway.
That again means I must chose those books and files that are most important to me.
The shelves themselves actually belongs to a relative who is also downsizing that person's book collection.
Decisions.
Priorities.
Piet Hein, already mentioned in this blog, once wrote that if a person owns more than eight things , the things own that person.
Having more than eight books and eight files of documents, at the moment in two countries, is a problem I must solve.
Atlantic Cod = Torsk
http://www.aquanic.org
Being a fish eater, Norway is of course a great place to be.
Not being the perfect cook :-), some advice is always welcome.
Andreas Viestad in his column "Det beste jeg vet"
(The best/most tasty food/ I know) in Magasinet
Dagbladet on March 29th 2008 wrote an article
about cooking fish.
There are two recipes - one for Atlantic cod and one for salmon.
I know I will use his method, so I will start by writing
down the first recipe, but in my own words.
PERFECTLY COOKED COD
WITH MELTED LEMON BUTTER
For 2
2 slices of cod, around 300 gr. each slice
salt
butter
lemon peel
If I have 600 gr of fish,
I need 2.4 liters of water.
Ratio 1: 4 for medium cooked fish
First I put the fresh cod in icecold water.
This will keep the fish firmer.
After heating the lightly salted
water in a pan with a lid
till it boils, I take off the lid,
and put the fish in the pan.
I switch off the heat , and let
the pan with the fish stand on
the side, without the lid, till
the water is a little warmer than
luke warm (around 45 to 50 C).
This gentle treatment of the fish
should make it perfect.
In the meantime, I wash the lemon
in warm water and brush the peel
carefully. Then I prepare around half
to one teaspoon of lemon zest.
I heat the butter on low heat with
the lemon zest.
Just before serving, I heat the butter
a little more and whisk the lemon
butter briskly.
Then I serve the cod on heated plates
and pour the lemon butter over the cod.
Boiled potatos was suggested.
I might just make a salad.
Friday, April 4, 2008
Facts about Norway
From the weekend magazine VG Helg March 29th 2008,
a list of facts in an article about how people live in Norway:
* 98 % of the population have TV.
19 % have more than three TVs.
* 85 % have a PC at home and 79 % have internet at home.
* 94 % have mobile telephones
* Norwegians are, among the Europeans, those who are
most active in redecorating their homes.
In 2007 they used 45 billion Norwegian crowns
redecorating.
* There are 2,2 million homes in Norway.
Of these are 1.2 million private houses.
* Norwegians use more money on furniture
than Danes and Swedes.
a list of facts in an article about how people live in Norway:
* 98 % of the population have TV.
19 % have more than three TVs.
* 85 % have a PC at home and 79 % have internet at home.
* 94 % have mobile telephones
* Norwegians are, among the Europeans, those who are
most active in redecorating their homes.
In 2007 they used 45 billion Norwegian crowns
redecorating.
* There are 2,2 million homes in Norway.
Of these are 1.2 million private houses.
* Norwegians use more money on furniture
than Danes and Swedes.
Renee Zellweger
The Norwegian daily Dagbladet has a weekly magazine called Magasinet.
In a recent article about Renee Zellweger by Magnus S. Roenningen,
I enjoyed this description of how Renee's parents met:
"Renee's mother, the nurse Kjellfrid Irene from Ekeroy outside Vadsoe,
found something seldom found at the boat going between Norway and Denmark: Love.
The Swiss engineer Emil Zellweger took her to Texas and together they had two children."
You probably never took the boat from Norway to Denmark. :-)
I didn't know that this gifted actress was half Norwegian. :-)
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