A Swedish Christmas custom

 When my mother moved to Norway more than 70 years ago, she brought this paper decoration with her.

It shows its age, but yesterday I put it up in my mother's apartment as a reminder of her Swedish roots and of course of her long life using this decoration here in Norway.

December 18th 2021 Looking towards the Oslofjord from Jeloy, Moss

 

Walking out from the supermarket yesterday, this is what I saw. :-)

If you look carefully, you will see two of the ferries crossing between Moss and Horten in the background.

Did I tell you that taking that ferry is completely free if you walk onboard or come by bicycle? 

Who would believe  you can travel for free at all in Norway?

October 2021 Red autumn leaves

 

The color of the autumn leaves often reminds me of my childhood in Norway.

Red, orange, yellow.

 Then brown.

December 2021 at 8.30 in the morning

 

With this, I disclose that I am not a big fan of Norwegian winters, even the more moderate ones in Moss, but it does look beautiful on photos!

December 2021 and some snow in Moss

 

These  bird tracks in the snow, next to a grey wall, reminded me of bird tracks left in the concrete path leading to my house in my second country.

 Those tracks can still be seen. These tracks have probable already disappeared as the temperatures move around zero degree Celsius.

The Seagull family in June

 Around June 4th I thought I could see some small heads above roof line.

On June 6th it turned out that there were three baby chicks, and they were clearly seen standing up in the nest. The parent could now be observed either on the top of the chimney or on the roof.

On June 7th the three ventured out on the roof, with one of the parents watching over them. Somebody coming down our street suddenly found himself under attack by a worried seagull parent.

Today June 11th the three chicks were on the roof again, walking up and down on the sloping roof. Sometimes they curl up for a rest in the middle of the roof.

At night they seem to spend their time in the nest.

Will the three of them one day fly away from the roof?

Around June 20th I observed that there were no seagull chicks on my neighbours' roof. The parents were not there either. What had happened? Had they fallen down? Were they dead?

My house has an enclosed  backyard so imagine  my surprise when I discovered two (not three!) chicks walking around the yard with screaming seagull parents flying over our heads when we venture out. My belief is that it is the same  seagull family that has crossed the street.

The chicks look quite wellfed, and every day look soooo much bigger. Occassionally they rest under the bushes.

The parents' screams are quite annoying and seem to be provoked not only from the presence of humans, but also from birds, including other seagulls.

Update on my neighbors, the Seagull family May 28th

May has been a cold and rainy month, in my opinion,  but all through this, I can see one of the Seagull spouses on this side of the chimney.  Is it only Mrs. Seagull , or do the two of them alternate? I am not sure any more.

Today is a sunny day. 

What I see today is that the seagull is opening her/his  beak again and again, but I cannot hear any sound.

Is this some kind of announcement? Is she/he hungry? Have the chicks hatched? Probably not.

How long does a seagull lie on her eggs? According to one Norwegian website it can be from 22 to 24 days for small seagulls and 26 to 28 days for big seagulls. 

https://www.fuglevennen.no/sporsmal/?q_id=28513

That could mean that these chicks will be hatched roughly  between May 30th and June 5th - this if my observation that they started their project on May 8th.

  

This year's drama has just started .....

Last year I was fascinated by Mr. and Mrs. Seagull . They took up  residence on the other side of the street, next to my neighbour's chimney.

After the eggs had been laid,  the male and the female alternated keeping  the eggs warm.

Later, when the baby seagulls had been hatched, the parents were busy feeding them, flying back and forth.

The last rather nervewracking  part was following how the baby chicks navigated on the roof. Would they fall down? Would they live to make that flight to a life outside that roof?

What will happen this year?

Yesterday, despite the cold weather, Mr. and Mrs.Seagull  were back.

Today I can see the head of one of them just above the gable. It must be the female waiting to lay her eggs, I believe. 

After some time, the spouse arrived, keeping a little distance. Can you see him?

It is raining a little bit today, but the two of them seem not to be bothered by the rain - she in the nest, he standing on the roof.

Walking from the library up the hill to Myra

You walk past the library and turn in the direction of the new  walking bridge over the river.

You pass Mikrobryggeriet and turn to the right, before getting to the walking bridge.

Then it is climbing up this cobbled street behind the museum.

Many of the old mills and factories now have new functions.

The Danish prince Christian Fredrick (1786 - 1848) who for a few months in 1814 was the king of Norway, had been fitted with a face mask.

The crow has only recently been replaced on Moss city's coat of arms, but just like the king from 1814, he has also become a sculpture. 

Morsa or the Moss river is, I have been told, the shortest river in Norway, bringing water down from the lake Vansjø to the Oslofjord. 

The waterfalls from the lake to the fjord became the beginning of industry in Moss.

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The dam built at the top keeps the water in the lake under control.  

Nowadays the waterfalls only show their full glory for part of the year, and today was not that time.

This is the part of Vansjø closest to the dam.

In celebration of Moss 300th anniversary in 2020 (yes, what a year for celebrations!), a walking trail was built up here, with this cute  bench for a little break.

You can bring your picnic because there are  tables and benches, and even two outdoor grills.

In the distance, at this point, you can see cars driving into Moss.

This is where I turned to the right and walked back to the center of Moss.

 I could have continued walking towards Mossehallen.

Perhaps another day....

 

The Heddal Stave Church in Telemark in 2014

In 2014 we visited the Heddal Stave Church in Telemark.

Imagine a wooden building standing for 700 years!

My talented daughter-in-law  Cheryl took these photos of the magnificent building with its wonderful wood carvings.

You can read more about this stave church

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heddal_Stave_Church

In addition a new special website is coming up for the Heddal Stave Church.

https://www.heddalstavkirke.no/

Something to look forward to!

As children, I remember my late father telling us that we should imagine a viking ship upside down and then it became a stave church. Perhaps so?

Here are some of my own photos from that visit.

Now in 2021 I did a very interesting course about the stave churches and their preservation on FutureLearn - a course I warmly recommend.

https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/norwegian-stave-churches

Walking from Roed (Røed Gård) on Jeloy (Jeløy) down to the Oslofjord.

 On our island Jeloy, one place to visit is Roed Gaard (Røed Gård).

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The Mamen family who owns the farm lives in this yellow building.  Here seen from the front.

The big building to the left has a cafe and many speciality shops, now closed because of Covid. You could order from the cafe and sit outside, so many took the advantage of that on this sunny April 2nd.

In 2010 the big building went up in fire, and in addition to the building itself and the art work, four horses, two pigs and several rabbits died in the fire.

I was visiting  with two friends for a walk through the forest behind the farm where we found a little memorial to the animals who perished, next to the path.

First we walked past some fields with old stone fences.

Imagine building such stone fences.

The next part was through  the forest, a natural forest where your fantasy can work freely imaging trolls and mystic creatures.

In the end we arrived at the western part of Jeloy, where you can see Horten on the other side of the Oslofjord.

The first signs of spring were there to greet us in that forest - Blåveis.

Just saying that word in Norwegian brings me back 65 years to the wonder of seeing Blaaveis around Moss as a very young child.

Does the English word Liverwort  give that same feeling to children growing up with English as their mother tongue?

PS. The word Blaaveis can also be used for a black eye you get when punched or falling. Luckily that use of the word was never needed in my childhood.