Sunday, February 28, 2010

Roy Blohm - colors that faded?



Growing up with this work by Roy Blohm, it was an
important part of my visual environment.

Now, when I look at it, I feel the colors have faded.
In particular , I remember the little girl's dress as being
a vibrant red.
Does my memory serve me right?

Roy Blohm 1922 - 2008




Roy Blohm 1922-2008



This painting was done during World War Two.
My aunt once explained that at that time,
the slopes from Gruenerloekka towards Akerselven
were used for growing potatoes.
When summer comes, I should probably go for a walk
along that river and see if I can find this place.


For me, this painting is my grandmother, in her hat,
walking at Olav Ryes Plass at Gruenerloekka in Oslo,
close to her home.
For Roy Blohm it included three themes you find in
many of his painting: old people, children and dogs.



Children and dogs.

Snow on the veranda


The architect who designed the house where my mother
lives, must have forgotten to plan for this amount of snow.


Standing in her living room, most of the view is
blocked by a wall of snow.
It is the result of the flat roof of the building she lives in,
the amount of snow and the winds.


My nephew made a rough calculation that one
cubic meter of snow should at least weigh 350 kg.
Which means a few tons of snow on that veranda.



Let spring come soon.....

Saturday, February 27, 2010

I am a Stranger Here Myself



I have NOT read this book.
Though I probably would like it.
I might buy it.

Bill Bryson's experiences coming back to the USA
in 1995 after living twenty years in Britain, must have
given him many moments of reflecting how what he
had grown up with, had evolved during his absence.

Finding his website, it was interesting to discover
that in 2003 he moved back to the UK with his family.

I also found he has written a lot of other interesting
and humorous books.

You walk into a room, and there are other doors
that can be opened to lead you into new rooms.

Here you can read a little about the book

Then click on Excerpt to read "Mail Call" to get a taste
of his style.
I liked it!


Roy Blohm



How many years has this dog followed me?
I think it was originally printed for an exhibition
of Roy Blohm's paintings.

Roy Blohm, or Uncle Roy, as we called him, was
a friend of my father. Both grew up in Steenstrupsgate
at Gruenerloekka in Oslo. For me, his paintings
became a visual memory of Gruenerloekka, of visits
to my grandmother, of stories my father told from his
childhood, but with the special connection that it was
Uncle Roy who had painted them.

I own one original oil painting by Roy Blohm.
Not one of his more typical themes of old people, dogs
and children, but an oil painting from around 1945,
showing the backyard, the inner court, of the houses
in Steenstrupsgate. Like I remember seeing it from my
grandmother's apartment.

My memories of Uncle Roy are from my childhood.
What I remember was that he looked more like a clerk
working in an office than an artist in a studio.
No beard or long hair. Neatly dressed.
Short hair. Quiet. Pleasant.

I know my father liked him very much.

An exhibition I want to see

Yesterday, just by chance I found this:

Exhibition by the artist Roy Blohm (1922 -2008)
at Christiania City Auksjonsforretning,
Thomas Heftyesgate 48-50, Oslo
from Monday March 8th to Monday March 15th
between 12.00 and 17.00.
Most of the exhibition comes from the artist's estate.

Living with snow



This is my fourth winter since moving back to Norway.
I am not too big a fan of this season, so I am lucky
to live in Moss. Moss is usually a lite version of
Winter-Norway.

But this winter is different. Much more snow.
Snowing for days on end. The city authorities
making great efforts (and using much money)
for clearing the streets.

All this snow reminds me of my childhood up in the
mountains. Snow would often come in the end of
September and the last patches melt in the beginning
of June.

As a child growing up with that kind of weather, it was
normal.
It was normal that everything was covered with snow.
It was normal to play outside in the snow.
It was normal to use skis every day.
To skate in the skate rink.

The cold temperatures were normal.
All those winter clothes were normal.

Days with snow and sun.
Days with a lot of new snow falling.
Like today, here in Moss.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Another Swedish greatgreatgrandmother



Isn't it incredible that I have photos of ancestors born
in the 1830's?

This greatgreatgrandmother was born in 1834 as Hedda
Sofia Lindberg.
She died in 1913.

My grandmother Ruth and my son



Carl August and Anna Charlotta Ohlen had many children.
One of them was Ruth, my grandmother, born in 1900.

She was living in an old age home when we drove by car
from Norway to show her her first greatgrandchild, my son.

She sat on her bed, holding the little boy, two months old.
Judging from her smile, she seems to have enjoyed the
moment.

But I also remembered she was very tired, and the visit
soon ended.

She died a few years later.

My Swedish greatgrandparents



The old lady on the photo on my last blogentry
was Sofia Christina Larsdotter.
On this photo you see her son Carl August and his wife
Anna Charlotta and their son Elis born 1893.
We think the photo was taken when Elis was baptised.

Handsome couple.
Carl August was the one who took Ohlen as his
family name.

My greatgreatgrandmother Sofia Christina Larsdotter


This is my Swedish greatgreatgrandmother Sofia.

Sofia was born in 1832 in the county (socken) of Runtuna,
north of Nykoeping. She married my greatgreatgrandfather
and moved to his farm Haegnan.

After she became a widow, she decided to attend Sunday
services in her childhood church in Runtuna.
This meant that she walked at least 20 km in each direction.
She could only have done that during the summer.

How old was she when she started to do this?
For how many years did she walk?
Was the main reason for walking that far that she wanted
to meet her relatives and friends?



Sofia died in 1922 at the age of 90 and was buried next to her
husband in Bjoernlunda.

Bjoernlunda church

My mother says the black gravestone of her and her husband
is close to the church building.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Tall is not always so good


It was only after I saw Kate next to this statue,
I decided to check who that tall man had been.

His name was Robert Wadlow, and he reached
the height of two meters and seventy two centimeters.
2.72!

He died when he was only 22. Sad.
You can read a little more about him here

Selfesteem and selfconfidence

Selfesteem and selfconfidence,
what exactly is the difference?

Perhaps you can show selfconfidence without having
selfsteem?

Perhaps the best combination is selfesteem AND
selfconfidence?

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Selfesteem and books that influence us



Realizing lately that I have - over the years - acquired
quite a number of self-improvement books, I had to
look into myself and accept the fact that my selfesteem is
and hasn't been the best. Probably never.
Though I am pretty good at hiding it.....

Today Jerry sent me a qoute I felt also fitted my situation:

"I suggest that the only books that influence us are those
for which we are ready, and which have gone a little further
down our particular path than we have gone ourselves."
---e.m. forster

Thursday, February 11, 2010

My doll Lena


I am probably around two and a half.
It is spring and I am clasping my beloved
doll Lena.



Two friends, with their dolls, are there too.

"Huggærn" is dizzy

Somebody sent me a quizz to check your
knowledge of slang from Oestfold, this part of Norway,
east of the Oslofjord.
I then realized that one of the words I have used
for dizzy in Norwegian was a slang word from my early
childhood in Moss.

"Jeg er helt huggærn!"
I am soooo dizzy!
I can hear myself saying that many times as a child.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Bergensbanen, minute by minute - once more


I have just discovered you can download
the TV documentary "Bergensbanen minutt for minutt"
for free from
This version does NOT include music, video,
side camera, interviews that we saw and heard in the
original TV program.

You can also get a seven minutes taste

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Some Kate medicine


So who is that pink little figure on the sledge?


Kate, of course!



Having a great time, obiously.


PS. I have been home with backpain for a week or so.
Stand? Walk? Sit? Lie down?
A little bit of each.
These photos of Kate are very good medicine for her
grandma.