Norwegian Would

I haven't stopped singing Norwegian Wood all week, one of the few Beatles songs I actually like. I get earworms like this wherever we visit in the world, in Key West it was the awful Phil Collins version of Acapulco (because of Key Largo in it), Berlin was Lou Reed, New York was obviously Frank Sinatra, and South Africa was that song by Toto, you get the picture (you will laugh when you hear where we are moving too. I haven't stopped singing that for ages!)! Anyway, as earworms go, Norwegian Wood's not that bad I suppose, and Norway as a country was definitely not that bad, it's an exceptionally beautiful place. Yes, it's expensive (extortionately so at times), but the people are friendly and are all armed with ready smiles, plus their English is perfect and they don't expect you to speak Norwegian (both things I am not perhaps that used to in this part of Scandinavia!)! The outdoor life is unbelievable, and at the risk of repeating myself, some of the countryside is absolutely breathtaking.

We stayed near the little fishing town of Risør, famous for its white wooden buildings, where we had a fantastic week exploring beautiful little towns such as the gorgeous Tvedestrand and the strangely named Grimstad. The time was spent swimming in the fjords, exploring the forests, sailing, fishing, crabbing and generally lazing about. All of us loved it there, and for someone who spent most of the week outside, and who for the first time in years had time to indulge in a spot of fly-fishing, my other half was seduced enough to even say we should consider living there one day... All I can say is I definitely (Norwegian) would! I will leave you with a few pics of our week. My only complaint was that the Elk (elg!) were hiding!

Silent Sunday

Success!

We have found out why we've never caught any crabs in Denmark..., because quite obviously they are all in Norway! Armed with the mighty crabbing rods (complete with their highly intricate snaring system - a peg), a pot of sild (not actually seal after all - it works like a dream by the way), we got a bite almost immediately, and our buckets were soon overflowing!


No crabs were harmed in the making of this post (apart from lunch, but we didn't catch him!). They were all gently placed back in the water after close inspection, and a free herring dinner (except for this one, a rather plucky individual who made a run for it by itself, just in case!)!...

Not actually one we caught earlier!

Ticked Off

If you hadn't guessed from my previous post, we are in Norway.

There are hundreds of wild blueberry bushes in the forest behind the house we are staying in, all covered in tiny purple berries that taste much sharper than the cultivated variety, but with a much more intense flavour. They were a source of amazement to R&S, who would have quite happily eaten nothing but blueberries from the moment they were weaned.

It turns out that the forest floor is not just covered in blueberries! Our afternoon in mother nature's larder was quickly forgotten at bedtime, when S discovered that he had bought home an unwelcome guest (one that had thwarted the longsleeves and tucked in trousers too), a tic, happily embedded just below his belly button! I was somewhat grateful for being in the middle of nowhere at the noise he then created at the indignation of being a meal for something, and the horror at the thought that this thing needed removing! Unfortunately my trusty pair of Bodyshop tweezers had been left at home (please don't grow eyebrows!), but desperate times call for desperate measures, and a pair of hastily found fishing pliers proved suitable for the "operation" once the host had been pinned down (and had his eyes sheilded!)! Accompanied by the soundtrack of both children wailing (have I mentioned how dramatic his sister can be!?!), we removed the beast by gripping it as close to the skin as possible, and pulling it upwards until it eventually released its firm hold. S went to bed absolutely furious that we hadn't called him an ambulance, and his sister went to bed after repeated assurances that her brother wasn't going to die! I will keep an eye out for the tell tale rash associated with Lymes Disease over the next few weeks. You have to wonder at the point of some creatures, but then the same could be said about us I suppose!