What on earth was I thinking??

Todays post in English

No matter which window Look out of

I see the sea

but not just the sea

I see life at sea

Boats

surfboards

Noisy water scooters

Beautiful sailboats

a heron flying by from time to time..

…with its awkward elegancy

seagulls screaming out loud

Terns plunging down looking like acrobatic planes

and oystercatchers strolling around on their little ledge..

 

 

I see Storøya = «Big Island»

where the goats, who now live at Fløyen ( our mountain in the city with a cable car going up), use to live…

Now some sheep has moved there instead…

Somebody has to eat the grass to keep it from overgrowing….

but the goats overdid it a bit….they also ate peoples lunches when they came visiting…

I miss the goats I have to admit…

Not because I enjoyed them being so annoyingly intrusive when we tried to relax in the sun…

but because I remember my mother in law said she loved to see them climbing around on the Island and hear them from her kitchen window..

 

Actually it is my mother in law I am missing… ❤

❤ ❤ ❤

I see mountains I have climbed many times

and that I now can get to, walking from my own house..

I see the sun dive into the sea….or at least down back the mountains in the horisont

 

Even in my display cabinet the sun and the sea reflects

Yes I know I am braging

and constantly talk about my new home and magnificent view…

but I cant help it…

I am acting like a love-struck teenager…

but that is exactly how I feel…

Now I cant believe that I wanted us to live in my house?

and sell his..

What on earth was I thinking?

To be fair, it didnt look this before the renovation…

But how could I not see the potential?

Whatever….I am just glad I came to my senses…

This is our home now

This is were we are going to live

and I am looking forward to the rest of my life..

with the worlds best view and boyfriend…

❤ ❤ ❤

HAVE A GLORIOUS WEEK EVERYBODY

❤ ❤ ❤

1-2-3- new bedroom!!

The latest post in English

After sleeping here for a couple of weeks

we were super ready to get us a new bedroom….

no door and a lot of stuff  in every available space

We had planned to paint the bedroom our self

BUT….

the painter had done such a good job on our living room .

and he was not expensive either

….and very quick….

Also there was a lot of «green hands» on the walls that probably would demand several coats of paint….

And we had planned to paint everything…

roof – walls and floor..

It didnt take much to persuade our self to ask the painter to do this as well

And in just a couple of days, the room was ready to move into 🙂

It is a bit smaller than the one we had in my house….

but the hole idea is to down size, so thats just fine 🙂

We chose to have one wall in black just to get some contrast to the white roof, walls and floor

Even though it isn`t a very big room, we get around the bed just fine and there is enough room to put clothes in and out of the wardrobes

Having clothes and shoes for two people we do need some wardrobe space – and that makes the room a bit more crowded, but I think it worked out just fine

From our bedroom we see the gravel road that leads up to the main road. We will put up a new fence there, the old one was totally rotten

Hope you liked it – but most importantly we do!  🙂

With my back hurting and not working these days, there isn`t much I can do….

But keeping track of the workers building the new terrace is something I can manage!

And that is needed – as I wanted it done the day before they started 🙂

Have a great Sunday everybody!

❤ ❤ ❤

 

Look what I found!!!

Todays post in English

I have googled and searched all over the net

I was willing to pay quite a lot

Also for shipping if that was necessary

from other cities….. or countries for that matter….

It is amacing how possessed I can get when working on a  project..

I was considering different types…

Like this one;

 

But I think that is to much laying down….

The danger is that we will never go to bed….we would feel that we are already there …

No, I wanted a chair to sit in,  with something to rest the legs on…

I actually liked the ones we had

They were big and comfy

the red totally crashed with the orange fireplace

but I thought I could sew new upholstery

well I would`nt do it myself of course

Me who got my teacher so upset that she said:

«oh Janecke I think maybe woodworking would be better for you»

that was after I had broken several needles in the sewing machine…..

and sewn trough my thumb…

and thats only when trying to make a  sample patch

 

…..I had also tried to nit a hem on a sweater……

but when you are more into talking with your friends than paying attention to wether the last stich were a nit or a purl  the hem does´nt turn out very well….

No! I know my limits so I had planned to get someone to do it for meg…

BUT…..

they turned out to be way to big for our tv living room

So I drove to every furniturestore in Bergen…..

two called; Bohus and Skeidar….

but they had the more traditional stressless chairs….

 

And even though they have modernized them some….

and the sitting comfort is very good..

It was a bit to much 1980 for me…..

You see…… the stressless from the 80`s dont hold many good memories for me

We had 3 chairs in front of our TV growing up

The newest chair was my moms

the one not so new was my dads

and the one getting ready to be thrown out was my brothers

and what was left?

yeah….. the footstool

and that was mine… 😦

try sitting on that for a hole evening of TV  not having anything to rest your back against….

I went to the Danish shop; Bolia

Well…

Would be nice if I was pissed at my boyfriend and didnt want to see him at all….

But no

a bit to antisocial for me this chair…

reminds me of those blinders that they use on horses…

I went to another store called; Berle

and there I found a chair that would fit perfectly in our livingroom

very good to sit in

like sinking into a pillow….

and great looking I thought

 

But the boyfriend freaked out when he heard the price…

21 000 Norwegian kroners (Nkr) for one chair

wich is approximately 2343,-  euro or 2593,-  US dollar

and that would be 42 000 Nkr……… because we needed two. of course…

But I was as I said, willing to pay quite a lot to get the right chairs…

and had already made up my mind…

But than we went to IKEA to buy wardrobe for the bedroom…

I had`nt even consider looking for chairs there..

but

TAAADAAAAAA!!!!!

we found this!!!

I really liked it alot!!

a totally different price 🙂

and it was really good to sit in

Maybe not the «sinking into a pillow» feeling

but close enough!

They even had a footstool

So we bought it

Nice??

 

I AM SUPER HAPPY

🙂 🙂 🙂

And now it is the bedroom next

Cant wait to go to sleep in a room with a door…

and find my clothes in a draw and not a suitcase!

Have a great Tuesday everybody

«Its going to be a sunny one in Bergen!!»

                                         ❤❤❤

 

 

NEW LIVING ROOM!!!!!

Yesterdays post in English

If I am being honest……..

And I should be…

I really didnt like the living room in my boyfriends house…

It was not easy to furnish…

Long and narrow….

And the fireplace was absolutely no favorite…..

It took to much space..

The bedroom right next to the living room, only had a little window, but we knew that the big wall hid a great view…

So we started to tear it down.

Or we….

I pointed

And the boyfriend did…. 🙂

Or as I like to say:

«You work

And I’ll just stand here looking pretty»

Its not such a bad Idea to find out if the wall has more than one function….

…like separate two rooms and keeping the roof from falling down…

If thats the case you have an excellent excuse to put a «dancing-pole» in the living room 🙂

🙂 🙂 🙂

 

BUT LOOK AT THIS VIEW!!!

This is just a part of the living room

The new part…

We also have the TV part of the living room  with a new fireplace!!

The coolest fireplace in the world if you ask me 😁

But this part lack the right chairs, so thats my next project….

We have 2 large red chairs that dont fit at all with the orange fireplace…

They are really good to sit in, but they are simply to big and to red…

So I am looking for 2 new chairs with a small table between them

I will show you when I find the right ones….

The  bedroom is soon done as well – so pay attention!!

Have a great week coming up!!

❤ ❤ ❤

It’s alive!!!

Yesterdays post in English

YES!!

We did it!

Or we isnt accurate…it was my boyfriend who figured it out to be honest

My boyfriend playing with his new toy 😀

And without reading the instruction manual….

typical men..🙄😋

Didnt even bother to learn french…

There is this «magnet thing» that we «tap on» to choose wich part of the stove to use….

…..and than spinn it to turn the heat up or down…

What happened to regular switches??

Think  I’ll manage to….

If not…… the boyfriend has to get up earlier to make me breakfast…..

Hmmmmmm……..

Maybe I wont manage after all…😜😁😁

But thats not all………

«Something» is coming up from our countertop as well…..

ITS ALIVE!!!

The kitchen fitter ……. obviously thought he had done an excellent job and wanted to show us how well it worked…..

So he held a piece of paper in front of it…..

It worked…..😒😒

…and the paper disapeared into the fan 🙄😮

Luckily a quite embarrassed …… managed to pick it back out…. 👍😀

So now both our kitchen and livingroom are almost done and the new project; our bedroom is being started.

But come friday and youll get to see our new livingroom with fantastic view in every window

Have a great last part of the week

❤❤❤

We are renovating our new home!

Moving into a new home…

My boyfriends childhood home, were he has buildt a new floor on top (years before we met)

So now its a horizontal semi-detached house.

His sister living downstairs….

Lukcily we get along just great..

Are good friends..

If not this would have been interesting…

But to make this our home….we will renovate the hole apartment…wich is absolutely needed!

We tore down the kitchen…

Did it ourselves 😊

And sold it trough Internet..

Yes!….people do buy old kitchens…

And than we got a new kitchen😁

but we did not put that up ourselves

Nice???

The problem is that the appliances are so fancy that we haven`t figured out how to work them yet…

The instruction manual is fortunately in French, so we dont have to read that….🤔

This morning I was going to make myself an omelet for breakfast….I did manage to get the stove on, but either maximum or minimum heat…

So I had to choose between a scorched omelet or a luke warm eggnog 🙄

The ventilator is in the countertop and will raise up when we push one button, but it isn`t connected to power yet so it stays exactly were it is…..the fumes from a scorched omelet therefor went out the porch door instead….and maybe some into my boyfriend sleeping, in our bedroom that is still missing a door…

But we are really happy with the result so far and are looking forward to everything is in place.

I am sure we will find a manual in Norwegian or English…..if not we will have to take a quick course in French 😁

On friday you`ll get to see how great an old bedroom turned out as part of our new living-room …….with a beautiful view!

Have a great start of a new week!

❤ ❤ ❤

 

FIRE!!!!

Todays post in English

No, I didn’t wake up to someone screaming those words at me

Thank God!

It was the middle of the day and I was awake

Had just gotten home from the store

The house was burning

Flames licking up trough the roof

It had already spread to one neighbours house

Sirens could be heard far away, but getting closer

«The help on its way»

But not quickly enough

Flames doesn’t wait…..

They work fast and ruthlessly

Luckily not in my house…

but in a row of 5 houses..

Just below our street

Thank God it was the middle of the day…

No one got trapped in the burning houses

But there were drama and panic

6 fire trucks at least

Police

Ambulances

A man crawls on to the roof of his house, only in a t-shirt and shorts….

a garden hose in his hand…

a man on the roof on the left side of the fire

ducks under the smoke and tries to stop the fire from getting to his house..

He is ordered back down by the firemen

It is to dangerous

Not worth it

Other houses near by are being asked to water their houses and lawn

It has been dry for so long

People arriving on bikes

Dogs that are never walked this way – has been dragged along by their nosy owner

People standing on rocks

climbing fences

HAS TO SEE!!

«what is it with people» ? I think to my self

Standing on my terrace with panorama view of the burning houses below me…

Staring like everybody else

Saying to my self that I have to be watching out for the fire not to spread to my house

Actually I don’t live close enough for that to happen…

If I am being honest…

Especially when the firemen has arrived with their big firehoses…

They are in control now

But I keep on watching

For a long time…

There is something about flames

attractive in a scary way

and of course rooting for the firefighters looking so awesome standing on the roof of the burning house

But 6 apartments are totally burned out!

Thinking of what that means for 6 families!

Everything they owned is gone!

«Stuff is just stuff and you get it back trough the insurance»

«The most important is that no one got hurt»

Of course!

BUT STILL….it must be permitted to be sad about what you’ve lost as well!

That favorite dress..

Maybe a christening robe that has been used for generations?

Jewelry from a dead grand mother?

drawing from the kids

the youngest favorite toy that she just cant sleep without

and not to mention a home

When do they get that back?

Not for year at least

Living temporary for a long time….

My thoughts goes out to the families who lost their homes last weekend

Stuff is just stuff

But that’s easy to say when you still got all of yours….

I wish you all a good weekend

❤ ❤ ❤

AND REMEBER TO CHECK YOUR SMOKE DETECTOR – IT SAVES LIVES

 if not houses!

GOODBYE MY VERY BEST FRIEND <3

Todays post in English

I am sorry for the times when I was wrongfully annoyed by you

You never were with me…

Sorry for the times when I went on a hiking trip alone, when I could have brought you along

( Glad it only happened a few times)

You never wanted to go without me…

Sorry for not always meeting your eyes

When I looked at you, you always met mine

Sorry for maybe overlooking you sometimes

for the times I left in a hurry without saying goodbye

and the times I came home and didnt say; «Hi!»

You ALWAYS greeted me with joy!

sat waiting for me to come home…..

You walked me to the door and even though you didnt speak that was your goodbye

You watched out for me and always followed me with your eyes

You were always in close proximity of me…

Never needed a leash on you…

It was closed to my feet you were most comfortable talking a walk

I know you loved me

I was YOUR person

I know I was the most important  to you

If I was home everything was ok

When I was sad and upset – you knew

than you would come and lay down closed to me….

Suddenly you were sick

You, who had been well and healthy your hole life

In 4 days you got sicker, had pain and was not your self…

So we went to the Veterinarian

An infected uterus

had to be operated….

You were a bit scared, as you always were at the Vet.

But you would see that I would come back for you I thought….

 

You never got to experience that…

Sorry for leaving you and not being there..

the very last time you drew your breath

Sorry for not knowing that, that was going to happen….

A routine operation revealed malign tumors in the liver and spleen….

The vet recommended not to wake you up again

I was devastated

With the phone in my hand, standing in the store, arms full of clothes I had just tried – I had to make a tough decision…

I had to think of you and not my self….

That was the least of what you deserved…….

When you died I stood crying at the counter bying all the clothes…

Both the ones I had planned to buy and those I had´nt ….

I was in shock – didnt think

We picked you up at the Vet and took you back to our new home soon to be done…

You were supposed to move there with us this summer….

Instead you got buried there…

It was a very hard day for me…

My very best friend was dead and gone, never to come back….

I loved you so much ❤

I wanted to hold you in my arms forever..

PI also got to say goodbye to her best friend, who she has spend her every minutes with since she arrived at our house almost 6 years ago…

I think that was a good thing to do…

She understood that you were dead…

She is mourning , but she doesn´t search for you…. or expect you to come back home

She knows your are gone

She has changed….

is more quiet….

more grown up

 

She misses you just like I do…

No more hikes to Veten with you

«Our mountain»

No more cuddling in the sofa with belly rubs and cosy snoring

You were a wonderful dog

A fabulous friend

and the best hiking partner ever

I will never forget you my dear and beautiful MY

Thank you so much for 10 fantastic years with you

14/12 2007 – 18/5 2018

 

 

YOU, WHO ARE THE CLOSEST TO ME <3

Yesterdays post in English 

You know me……

and like me

You love me……

and never misunderstand me

You are overbearing when I am unreasonable….

and you don’t ascribe me an agenda I don’t possess

You expect my very best…

but you also accept my worst

You forgive

You praise

and you scold

You set my goals…

and have high demands….

but not to high for me to reach

And if I don’t – you offer a second chance

You love me…

despite all my wrongdoings and flaws

You set me straight sometimes….

maybe you even get a bit irritated?

You find my stubbornness charming…

and not an invite to a fight.

You are impressed by my achievements…

but understand my failures..

With you I can be both small and big

accomplished and incapacitated

strong and weak

When others are upset with me

You are on my side

When others misunderstand me and characterizes me

You are the one that knows me the best and know who I really am

You were with me when I came in to this world

and you will be with me when I die

 

You are the one closest to me

YOU

ARE

THE

I

IN

ME

 

HAVE A GREAT DAY PEOPLE

And love yourself or it will be hard for others to love you!

❤ ❤ ❤

WHO – EU – POLITICIANS…. and me

todays post in English

NOR EMT

( Norwegian Emergency Medical Team)

We Wake up to a very cold, but beautiful morning

It is Friday the 2 of February  and it is 07.00 am

This is the day we have been looking forward to

WHO is going to certify NOR EMT ( we hope…)

We work hard with the last preparations to get the clinic finished

And so it begins….

It all starts with an acute birth with a bleeding mom and a newborn that don`t breath…

We get children with asthma attacks, open leg fractures, great injuries, burns and simpler diseases…

During 6 hours of exercise we treat about 75 «patients» in our clinic..

The people that arrange the exercise really deserve credit, they did an amazing job..

There were «actors/patients» from the age of 6 months all the way to senior citizens

They acted so well and it was easy to play along with the exercise…

The makeup artist did an incredible job as well, it was not hard to believe the «injuries»..

And in all this…… EU – WHO and politicians shows up

But we don`t have time for that..

we have to treat the patients!!!

It is all very realistic and the visitors like our engagement

Suddenly 6 hours has past..

Have we eaten???

…maybe some chocolate…

Had something to drink?

At least not enough – cause no one has been to the toilet for the past 6 hours…

We learn from this to, have to take care of our self – take care of each other…

We clean up

and eat dinner

 

                                      dinner in a bag is just fine 😉

and we meet up for debrief….

WE ARE CERTIFIED!!!!

 

the newspaper has written about the team

Something happens to you when you participate in something like this

You get so close to other people

meet people that has the same engagement as your self

The wish to go out in the world and help people in need, is strong  for everybody in the group

We are all excited and ready after a 4 days exercise

Only want to go home and take a shower and then we will be ready to go anywhere in the world

 

( «a quick wash» at Akershus fortresses public toilet isn’t exactly the same…)

we will have toilet and showers in the tents when we deploy

 Exhausted and inspired I land at Flesland airport late Saturday evening, with tons of experiences and many new friends

Have a wonderful weekend everybody

❤ ❤ ❤