Verket - the old houses are being renovated

Verket - the old houses are being renovated

Lately I walked through this area a few times, and

decided I do not know enough about this part of Moss.

So this will definitely be a subject I will study closer

when autumn comes.

In the meantime some of the photos I have taken.

Another oil painting by Oddbjørn Ottesen

Birthday cake for my mom

Baked by my brother.

From this summer's tour of Torderoed Torderød

If you have the opportunity to visit the Torderoed

Mansion here in Moss on a Sunday in the summer

at three o'clock in the afternoon, you can join a free

guided tour of the gardens and the building itself.

In Norwegian, though.

I enjoy seeing how this project gets better and better

each year. These photos were taken on my latest visit.

The Scottish Room off the Ballroom, once a room

only gentlemen would spend their time in.

The White Room on the opposite side of the Ballroom,

once a room where only the ladies would spend their

time.

A corner in the Ballroom. The planks covering

the floor, now mostly protected by the carpet,

are all 11 meters long!

The Chrystie family who built the house and owned it

till about one hundred years ago, exported wood, so

these long planks must have been a pretty good way

of showing off.

Another corner in the Ballroom.

It is definitely summer!

The mistake

What you see in this photo - whipped cream and

sourcream - reminded me of a childhood experience.

In our house we did not eat sourcream as far as

I remember. But we loved whipped cream!

One day I found a bowl with what I was convinced

was whipped cream, brought a big spoon, and took

a big mouthfull. What a disappointment!

I spitted it out. I hated it.

In fact it took me around twenty years and living in

my second country till I decided to one day to

use sourcream in a nobake cake recipee. "Concealed"

this way, I thought it tasted good.

Now, fifty years later and back in Norway, I find

myself buying different kinds of sourcream at

the supermarket. I love it. I do not need to conceal

it with berries or sugar.

On some festive occassion I also eat a little whipped

cream.....

Butter and margarine

When I grew up in the fifties and sixties, we only used

margarine at home. My mother would buy 5 kilo boxes

with margarine.

We children even insisted we did not like the taste

of butter!

According to what I have been told, my paternal

grandmother in Oslo only ate butter while the rest

of the family ate margarine.

Economic reasons?

Problems with making decisions

The other day I was told this family story:

A relative did not want to buy clothes and shoes

alone.

She always had to bring another relative along.

Then, sitting in the taxi with a relative,

going to the store to buy f.ex. shoes,

she would already worry about who would come

with her when she had to change those shoes

she hadn't bought yet.

The PC as my personal secretary

This morning I woke up at 6.30, and went straight

to my PC to check email.

Imagine my surprise when the PC clock in that

right lower corner showed 7.30!

With snow still outside, my head had not registered

that from now we use summertime.

The blessing of the washing machine

In some periods of my life I have lived without

a washing machine.

Having a young child and washing the clothes

by hand was probably the greatest challenge.

So on at least three occassions, as a grownup,

I have experienced the miracle of starting

a washing machine and sitting in the front,

watching the clothes as if it was a TV programm.

What a blessing to have a washing machine!

Looking through the TED talks I saw that Hans Rosling

had given a lecture about the importance of the

washing machine. Here it is

http://www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_and_the_magic_washing_machine.html

Leonardo de Vinci's face

This little TED lecture was just what I enjoy

- learning something new and not necessarily

useful.

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/siegfried_woldhek_shows_how_he_found_the_true_face_of_leonardo.html

But who decides what is useful?

If you have a little extra time, I suggest trying out one

the TED talks and find a subject that intrigues you.

http://www.ted.com/talks

March 24th: A report from the beach

By now there were few iceblocks in the water.

Most were on the beach and in the process

of melting.

Had this little giraffe come from the sea or had it been

left on the beach last year?

Batteries that last

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaF6FxmixJk&NR=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiFQsxGUQOI&NR=1

Duracell or Energizer?

I don't know.

But I do know that I would like to feel like a strong battery.

So I hope that by July 1st I will feel that way.

I have decided to make that a project.

A little more than three months to recharge - in small doses.

My inherited troll

You can find this souvenir in some of Norway's

touristshops.

My impression is that the average Norwegian find

this troll quite tacky.

As you can see, my troll is old and not in the best shape.

I keep my troll because I once inherited it from a

very special man I knew. He died back in 1999.

Why he had bought it, I don't know.

When I think about him and his life, this figure seems

so out of character.

But then again, perhaps it reminded him of

something else?

The beach - just now

The iceblocks seem to enjoy "swimming" in the water.

In the background you see the ferry that goes from

Moss to Horten on the other side of the Oslofjord.

This one is the newest, called Bastö IV.

Lina and Julius: Their first meeting in 1908

My son's greatgrandparents were Lina and Julius.

In 1908 they were both 27 years old and still single.

According to stories told in the family, on this very

day, 103 years ago, two trains set out from

opposite directions to arrive at the same railway station,

more or less at the same time.

Lina came with her father from their town,

and Julius with his father from their town.

They meet in this "neutral" town.

In my imagination all four go first to a restaurant

to eat together, and then - as the impression is that

Lina and Julius like each other - the two fathers

withdraw a little to let the couple find out how

much they like each other.

The result of this meeting:

Half a year later Lina and Julius married.

A little daily-life discovery

This morning, while preparing my breakfast,

I saw this:

I took some photos and just enjoyed the

visual part.

A moon landscape?

Snow formations outside?

Paint?

No , the lid of my Greek yogurt, turned upside down!

Candied Orange Peel - Remembering S.

S. was an elderly lady when I met her about forty

years ago. She lived in an agricultural village where

the inhabitants had chosen to live a simple life.

Despite her age (around 75 at the time?), she worked

long hours.

During the day she worked in the orchards.

In the evenings she repaired the picking equipment.

But she also had time for her children and grandchildren.

Occasionally she gave me candied orange peels that

she made herself.

A woman with a big heart, and creative.

In that little village there were oranges.

S. had sugar.

Out of these two simple ingredients she made

presents for her children, grandchildren and others.

Like me.

Today I remembered S. and decided to find how

I could make candied orange peel.

Using these instructions

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/candied-orange-recipe/index.html

the result can be seen above.

March 14th 1843

My mother told me that in Sweden March 14th

was the date you bought a farm, according to

an old tradition.

There was another date for sellings farms in autumn,

but most farm were taken over on March 14th.

My mother thinks this tradition is probably

still kept for sale of active farms. Perhaps?

So the farm I wrote about in my last blog entry

became the farm of my greatgreatgreatgrandfather

Eric on March 14th 1843.

168 years ago now on Monday.

A family farm that is no longer a family farm

Checking a box of photos today , these two popped up.

The one above was probably taken in the 1950's

before my grandparents moved away.

It was then "the family farm".

The second photo I took myself , probably in the 1980's.

It was then mentioned as "the family farm" but

it belonged to my grandfather's brother.

A lot of hurt feelings came up when you talked about

this subject.

Now in 2011, it belongs to people with money.

Not to anybody in my family.

Even so many years later, hurt feelings come up

when some family members talk about the farm.

I have wonderful childhood memories from here

that I keep in my heart, but personally I don't

feel the loss like the older generation does.

In my mind it is now "a farm that once belonged

to the family".

One day I hope to buy the wide black frame

Just for a little smile: A "prayer" sent to me by a friend

Dear God,

My prayer for 2011 is to have

a fat bank account

and a thin body.

Please do not mix the two,

like you did last year.

Amen

Ties

This is the centre.

Red for love, if I understood right.

The "roads" leading from this centre, are of two

kinds, just like life.

Easy, straight forward.

More difficult, a little off balance.

In memory of my father

When my father died , I felt that his old ties would

be one way of remembering him.

From my childhood I remember him in a white shirt

and a tie.

I never understood how he chose that day's tie from

his collection.

In addition, how did he made that knot???

As my father got older, he used more informal clothes,

and the ties would mostly stay in the closet.

But what do you do with a collection of old ties?

By themselves, they collected a lot of dust.

That I have tested. :-)

A patchwork seemed a good way to use the ties.

On the other hand, that seemed too an ambitious

project for me, both regarding design and execution.

After coming back to Norway, I once I bought

a patchwork that made me happy.

I contacted the artist Inger Kokkim to say thank you.

Suddenly it became clear to me who could help

me with my tie patchwork - Inger Kokkim!

Today she brought me the result.

I am very, very pleased.

Hope you can get some impression of her work

from these photos.

Moss Canal

The crow - the symbol of Moss

Kjelleroedgaarden = Kjellerødgården

According to the sign on the yellow building

shown below, this building was built in the 1770's

by Just Gude.

The couple Holth lived there from 1817 to 1862 and

the house was then called Holthegaarden.

Later alcohol (brennevin) was sold here.

Then it became a grocery shop.

From 1978 it became a restaurant.

Lately Dolly Dimples had their pizza business here.

Now the building is up for sale.

The building is very charming, inside and outside.

In addition it is now more than 230 years old,

but what will any potential buyers use it for?

Icy branches

This may look just like branches, but look closer

by clicking at the photo once or twice and see

how each branch is lined with ice.

This weather of colder-milder-colder-milder-colder

has created beautiful ice creations in nature.

But personally I am all for milder-milder-milder....

and then spring and summer.

The Opera in Oslo in February

Last week I had an appointment in Oslo.

I took the train and had some spare time.

The Central Train Station is very close to

the new Opera House so I walked over to

enjoy the winter version.

Right outside the Opera House

in the Oslofjord there was a sculpture

I probably should learn more about.

Ice covering the fjord this close to shore.

Winter in Oslo.

The Opera in Oslo in February

Last week I had an appointment in Oslo.

I took the train and had some spare time.

The Central Train Station is very close to

the new Opera House so I walked over to

enjoy the winter version.

Right outside the Opera House

in the Oslofjord itself was a sculpture

I probably should learn more about.

Ice covering the fjord this close to shore.

Winter in Oslo.

Moss Canal today

In the background the ferry to Horten.

Along the shore some smaller boats.

Pieces of ice floating through the canal.

With around zero degrees Celsius today,

I am developing a hope of warmer weather.