Adventurous August

Oslo Gardens

Three countries.  Five major cities and three towns.  Highs (mostly) and (one) low.  All in 31 days of August.  It seems impossible.  But as Winnie the Pooh says, "People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day."

ONE: Over the pond

We began August in Norway, covered extensively in a previous post.  I offer you a few 'leftover' pictures from that trip - I love leftovers, don't you?

Upper left: Lillehammer Commemorative Piggy Bank

Upper right: Horse and Cart at Folkemuseum

Lower left: Oslo bench

Lower right: Crochet projects at Folkemuseum

Oslo zinnia

Do you ever wonder how airlines price their tickets? We have traveled extensively, and yet we still had a bit of an education when planning our Montana/UK/Norway/Montana trip.  Booking on the web (as you do) was turning up truly exorbitant flight prices.  To cut to the chase, after spending several hours on the web, we made a phone call (imagine that!) and found out that the airlines were considering each leg of our trip as one-ways.  By adding a stop in Newcastle on the way back from Norway, it would qualify as a round-trip, much less than a one-night hotel stay near the Newcastle airport.  Done!  What does this mean for you?  Pictures of our 'last supper' in Newcastle before returning to the US.

Port and a cheese board - hard to resist

TWO: Back home again  

Red Columbine  in our garden

As much as we enjoyed our three weeks of vacation out of the country, it was sublime to return home.  Having left our new landscaping and our two cats in the care of our neighbors, I was anxious to return and relieve them of these tasks.  Maggie and Josie had adapted well to the female teenage caregiver, and the landscaping was thriving.  It was a pleasure to watch our friends open their gifts from our travels abroad.

During our vacation, I finished the last of my tea towels, and I was able to join "Sunday" with the others for a picture of the full set.

Summer isn't summer without a picnic; a neighborhood couple invited us to their ranch for supper and kayaking.  Although the picnic had to be moved indoors due to the vicious yellowjackets, the winged ones didn't keep us from paddling around Lone Lake.  Much to his delight, Spousal Unit hooked a large Northern Pike.

Smoke, not clouds!

Summer in the Northwest increasingly means forest fires, and this season has been no exception - hence the low point in this post.  We joined friends for a hike to the Grinnell Glacier Overlook (subject of a future post), and as we drove along the Going to the Sun Road at 7 am on August 12, we could see a small plume of smoke on a northern ridge above Lake McDonald.  A lightning strike the night before had ignited the forest.   Twelve hours later, as we re-traced our way west, the plume had expanded into a raging fire that scorched everything in its path, right down to the water's edge.  For us, it was almost inconceivable how rapidly the fire had grown in such a short period of time.  Standing on a south-side Lake McDonald beach, we watched tree after tree suddenly flare like bright torches.  We could hear the 'boom' of propane tanks exploding as seven private residences on the north side of the lake were destroyed (many were historic buildings more than 80 years old.  One of them had recently been renovated by our general contractor …)  We could feel the heat of the fire, from 600 yards away.  Below is a video of our view of the fire.

The small crowd gathered on the beach was mostly silent.  What could you say when your heart is breaking with grief over the destruction?  (As of last evening, the fire has consumed 12,432 acres and is 12% contained.  Cooler temperatures and some precipitation have considerably slowed its growth.)

THREE: Colorado

Evening sun dapples the hills of Glenwood Springs; view from the 

home of my brother and his wife

After 7 days at home, we jetted off to Aspen to visit #1 Daughter (see previous post).  My youngest brother and his wife live in Glenwood Springs, an hour from Aspen, and they generously opened their house to us during our stay.  After a day of rafting on the Colorado River, expertly guided by my brother, we soaked in the pools of Iron Mountain Hot Springs.

Later in the week, we savored the tasty offerings at the Riviera Supper Club in downtown Glenwood, and walked a bit of the town at night.

All of our wildlife sightings occurred on our last day in Aspen/on our way to Denver.  On our hike to Maroon Bells (see previous post), we saw a pika by the trail but I was not quick enough to get a picture.  I had more success with a video of a family of pine martens - check out this short clip.

View eastward from Independence Pass

And then, on the east side of Independence Pass, we came across a bull moose grazing less than 25 yards from the 2-lane highway.  Amazing!

FOUR: Back home again (reprise)

This time, I could put away the suitcases - our next trip in December is a long way off!  We caught our breath, and started planning for family who arrive on September 7.  Two big projects loomed:  the screening room and the outdoor fire circle.  Our new couches arrived on August 9, and in the last couple of weeks, Spousal Unit has installed the screen, projector and speakers.  For many of you, it won't be a surprise that a Bruce Springsteen concert will be the first show to be viewed on the 135" screen!

The fire circle is coming along well, especially now that Spousal Unit found a company willing to deliver 7 cubic yards of yellow gravel without charging us an arm and a leg!  And today, Stage 2 fire restrictions have been lifted - we won't have to use our imaginations while sitting around the fire pit, or make s'mores in the microwave and bring them outside!

FIVE: In the rhythm

Top: Josie and the box

Bottom: Maggie and the sun

Despite the projects, life has begun to fall back into its normal rhythms.  Morning coffee.  Lovin' on the cats. 















Running the back hills - fall is on its way.

Gardening.  Cleaning.  Checking the trail cam - the badger is STILL AROUND!

Volunteering.  Blogging.  Evening walks with Spousal Unit.

P.S.  If you haven't seen the Christopher Robin movie, I highly recommend it.  The bear with little brain has some remarkably profound things to say.

"Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in your heart."  

August 27 - a stroll by our lake with Spousal Unit - priceless!

Linking to:

All Seasons

I Like Thursdays

Mosaic Monday


Nature Notes

Our World Tuesday


Saturday's Critters

Sharon's Photo Souvenirs

Skywatch Friday

Wednesday Around the World

Willy Nilly Friday

Notes from Norway

What springs to mind when you think "Norway"?  Excellence in winter sports, especially Nordic events?  Fjords?  Native people living among reindeer?  If so, you would be right.  But as we learned on a recent visit with my niece, her husband and their son, it is much more than that.  And we only had five days to sightsee - barely enough to scratch the surface of all the country has to offer!

My niece is the consummate tour guide, and she wisely scheduled the Norsk Folkemuseum as our first outing.  Presenting life in Norway from 1500 to present day, it provided context for sights we would see later in our visit.  The museum holds artefacts ranging from humble everyday tools to precious cultural treasures.  The Open-Air portion features 160 historic buildings relocated to museum grounds over the years.  It was not difficult to while away most of a day exploring this vast institution.

Left: Sami clothing; Sami are generally considered as the aboriginal 

people of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia

Upper right: Map showing seasonal movement of the East Sami,

following food resources such as salmon and reindeer

Rosemaling, the decorative folk painting of Norway, began in the low-land

areas of eastern Norway about 1750.  Lower right: Tapestries.  

Upper left: Lefse; Upper right: logging cabin

Lower left: Hayloft; Lower right: fencing

I thoroughly enjoyed observing the museum 'staff' making lefse, a traditional soft Norwegian flatbread.  As you can seen in the video below, it is cooked on a large, flat griddle.  Special tools are used to prepare lefse, including long wooden turning sticks and special rolling pins with deep grooves.  Yummy!

Queen Maud - spouse of King

Haakon VII.  She was the youngest

daughter of the British King Edward VII

and Alexandra of Denmark.

Our tour of Oslo the following day showed that the ancient and the modern easily co-exist in this bustling metropolis.  Norway (officially the kingdom of Norway) is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of government; the King of Norway is the head of state and the prime minister is the head of government.  Power is separated among the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government, as defined by the Constitution.  I don't think it's a coincidence that the Royal Palace and the Parliament building anchor opposite ends of a major thoroughfare, each with a clear view of the other.

National Theatre and surrounding gardens

When my niece explained that Norwegians have an afternoon tradition of 'coffee and cake', we certainly did not need any encouragement to join in.  (You MIGHT just see a few more 'coffee and cake' shots in the rest of this post.)  

Fortified, we strolled the ramparts of Akershus Festning (fortress), one of the 15 national defense structures.  Within the fortress grounds is a medieval castle that was built to protect Oslo, the capital of Norway, and provide a royal residence.  The castle has also been used as a military base, a prison and government offices.

We were quickly yanked back to present day as we turned a corner and the ultra-modern Opera House came into view.  The angled exterior surfaces of the building are covered with marble from Carrara, Italy, along with white granite, and make it appear to rise from the water.  Interestingly, visitors are encouraged to walk on these surfaces, which rise as the roof of the structure.  Norwegian nature is free for everyone to walk in, and the Oslo Opera House, which opened in 2008, was built as an extension of this idea.  

(Note cranes in the background - construction is a healthy industry in Oslo!)

Speaking of Norwegian nature: Norwegians don't have a direct translation for 'hiking' - they call it 'walking'.  In the end, I'll call it whatever they want if it all leads to the spectacular views we enjoyed on two of our 'walks'.

Our third walk, Gaustatoppen, took place on a rainy day, and although the poor visibility hindered our view of the mountain and the surrounding vistas, it was actually a pleasant change from the heat we had been experiencing throughout our holiday in the UK and Norway.  By the time we reached the peak, the waffle and coffee at the Turisthytte (Tourist Cabin) was a very welcome warmer-upper for chilled hands.

Gaustatoppen is made of quartzite, one of the toughest rocks on earth.  It has been eroding very slowly for the last

1000 million years (that's not a typo).

(On the way to Gaustatoppen, we passed Heddal Stavkirke.  Of course, we had to stop.)  As you can see below, the church is in a large valley, primarily surrounded by farms.  A truly stunning location - and a miracle that it has survived since its construction in the 13th century.  Heddal Stavkirke is the largest of Norway's 30 remaining stave churches, and the only one with three towers.

It should come as no surprise that Norway operates numerous ferries as part of the public transportation system … they have a lot of waterways!  How appropriate to climb aboard a ferry for a day trip to Oscarsborg Fortress.  

Situated on a set of narrows along the coast of the Oslofjord, the fortress was charged with the naval defense of Oslo and its Palace.  Completed in 1853, the fortress is best known for sinking the German heavy cruiser Blucher on April 9, 1940.  At that time, the fortress' armaments were over 40 years old, and of German origin.  Both the guns and the torpedo battery operated flawlessly when Oscarsborg was approached by one of the German invasion flotillas; they sank the Blucher, and threw back the German naval force heading for Oslo, thus managing to save the Norwegian King and government from imprisonment.

Of course, we had to wrap the day with cake and coffee, in a café overlooking the marina where we caught the ferry in the morning.

No vacation is complete without sampling local foodstuffs (beyond cake!)  Before we arrived, our niece warned us that Norway does not have much of a national cuisine, rather having adopted food styles from all over the world.  Perhaps the most unique item we ate was 'brown cheese', which she served with waffles.  The tan-colored 'whey cheese' has a distinctive caramel flavor and is made by boiling down the whey of milk (cow, goat or otherwise), which caramelizes the sugars.  After cooling into a block, you have sliceable 'brown cheese'.

So, did you learn something new about Norway?  I did.  It is a country that seamlessly blends ancient and modern, most visible in its architecture.  For a small nation, it excelled with its national defense system, ably demonstrated during WWI.  They honor the individual while preserving a strong democracy.  And they take the time to savor "kaffe med kake"!














Linking to:

All Seasons


Mosaic Monday


Our World Tuesday


Sharon's Photo Souvenirs

Skywatch Friday