Trundling along

Well, after the congratulations to my mother early in the morning, my sister and I left to get her a new id-card. Which of course couldn't be done in the town she grew up in, since she is now a resident in another country. Like me. We made it in good time, got her photo taken, waited some, got called up, waited some while they checked and then we went home again. She can go and pick up on Monday, but I will be in the air again then.

When we got back the house was filled with family and we had missed the cake. However, since they were on the next course (ie drinks and nibbles) already, we weren't too bothered. During the afternoon however, we got ants in our pants and decided to leave the party once more. This time to do some shopping. Found some lovely things that we don't need of course, but that has never stopped us before. Plus, I thought ahead and brought an extra suitcase.

During the evening we finally got our cake, I showed my outfit one final time (I had done that in the morning as well) and went to bed quite late. Today we do some more shopping for lovely things that we don't need and then after that our ways will part. I will go North, my sister will go South. So, even though it is a cool and calm holiday, it is quite stuffed with things to do. 

This Saturday and Sunday my brother and his family will join our little party of four to spend the weekend at a fairy tale hotel and visit a fairy tale land/amusement park. We will celebrate birthdays, we will go on rides and just have a good time. So, see you on Sunday!

Holiday time

The powerplant quite close to where my parents live

It was very early yesterday. Very early! The taxi arrived at 5.15am, the flight left an hour later. My connecting flight left at 8am, I arrived in the Netherlands shortly before 10am, just caught the train of 10.30am and was in my parents' car before midday. I will be staying here until next Monday when I will return home again. 

So far I have been for a walk, which was especially good since I hadn't been on a walk back home for several days which meant medication time again. I have been shopping a bit and I found a lot of music in my parents' collection that I liked. This afternoon my mother and I went to the lady who made most of my Frysian inspired outfit. I got changed right there in the living room. There are two little adjustments that need to be made, but other than that: lovely. Plenty of photos were taken. Until my batteries ran out! Grrrr. 

Chicken soup in the making

Tonight I will be dressing up once more and then tomorrow again. Probably for the whole day, since it's her birthday and a lot of family and friends are expected to make an appearance. As my mother said: can't wear that and work! All the more reason to wear it all day: no doing dishes, no serving cake, just sit and be pretty! I can do that quite well I think.  

My sister will be arriving tonight and tomorrow I will be driving her to some place as well. Something to do with id-cards I think. So, thus far it is quite an uneventful holiday. Which isn't bad at all you know. Bit of rest and recuperation and such. 

Photo on Sunday 2014-25

2010 at the BBC center in London

An oldie today. One you might have seen before, since I have posted this one before. However, last night was the beginning of the new season of Doctor Who and a new Doctor as well (played by Peter Capaldi). Now, I had a party as well (more on that tomorrow) and made a bit of a mistake. 

I knew I had a party and had resigned myself to the fact that I would record the episode. And then at work a colleague told me they were showing the first episode in the local cinema. Not quite sure why, since the BBC is not a channel that is included in any of the Norwegian packages, so unless you have a satellite dish... Anyway. When my colleague told me, I didn't at first believe him. Until I heard it announced on the radio myself. When I got back to the office, I immediately bought a ticket. All thoughts about the party had gone out of my head!

No Daleks this time, but they are set to return next week!

Well, the episode sure didn't dissapoint. In fact, it was fantastic. I can't wait for next week's episode. Oh, hold on... a family do... somewhere not at home... Hm...

New friends

Well, Oswin made a new friend yesterday. She was completely enamoured with her new friend as well. The new friend didn't feel quite the same. It might have something to do with the fact that every time the new friend took a step forwards, Oswin flung out a paw to make sure the new friend would stay close. Of course after it had just flown a couple of inches through the air. It was no Jerry!

I felt a bit sorry for the poor mouse and since Oswin is quite well-fed (which is an understatement if ever I wrote one), I decided to rescue the field mouse and grab Oswin. Who obviously wasn't happy about that, but there you go.

In other news: the plums and apples are a no-jam-go this year, thanks to the storm and the wasps who ate the remainder. But, there are a lot of fruit bushes quite close by, especially raspberries and to a lesser degree blackberries. The raspberries are done, but the blackberries are in season right now. So, I have been picking and making jam: a big pot and a small pot. I hope to be able to make that small pot into a big pot tomorrow or Saturday and then it should be done. Or I should be done!

The only thing is: my hands look like I have been petting a snap-happy baby crocodile! 

I just want to

The Scream by a little known Norwegian artist called Edvard Munch

When I first got medication from the doctor containing codein, the pharmacist told me the codein could cause a bit of constipation. In order to combat that from the start, it might be wise to use some type of liquid. But did I listen?

So, moving on a few months and even though with a lot of walking the pain in my leg has become less, the pain in my side/groin area was still very present. In the end I admitted defeat, went back to the pharmacy and got some laxatives. Which I took last Friday night. They worked a treat and by Saturday night, I was ready to party. Albeit without alcohol. Well, as long as I didn't eat, I was ready to party. As soon as I did eat, my intestines were having their own party. I went home early. 

By Monday my body was more or less back to normal, even the twitch of pain in my side/groin area was a bit better. By Tuesday I was feeling quite good. By Wednesday I had decided that tonight was the night: no pills whatsoever. Nothing was burning, twitching, aching. 

I woke up on Thursday morning. Around 3am. Menstral cramps! 

AAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

The girls

Quite a few of my European commenters mentioned Bertha in their comments on my Sunday post. The thing was of course: Bertha was at that time still an unknown here in Norway. We didn't have the tropical storm Bertha, we had a (ordinary) storm which they called Lena or Lene. Bertha didn't land until last night. By which time most of her power had been left behind and we merely got a lot of rain and yes, a lot of wind. Causing my apple tree and plum trees to shed the last of their fruit! Grrrr.

And when I looked it up, I found out that last year's storm (the one I wrote about here and here), was called Hilde. Another girl wreaking havoc! It's a good thing I still have a bit of a tan, otherwise you would never know it has been summer here in Norway and a proper one at that! But I guess that for now we will just have to get used to wind and more wind and rain and a lot more rain. Again. 

PS: it was last night that Bertha came to bother us and it meant a lot of rain and wind. So, I put on my new walking shoes, got my rain gear out and went out for a walk. Yes sirree, I walked my round! I didn't take my camera though, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to keep it dry, what with the occasional driving rain.

The harvest

The blue and the red plums. There were even more apples lost.
*Sigh*

Well, the harvest is mostly in. Or out as the case actually is. Since most of the fruit found its way down by the storm on Saturday night (not called Bertha by the way: Lena or Lene over here in Norway, it might have been a different lady pestering us). And the amount of fruit left on the trees is quite small. Which is a shame in itself, since I had been trying to eat as much jam as I could to empty some pots. Ah well, that's life!

On my walk on Sunday I took my camera along again. There were some signs of a storm, but only minor! Figures. Fortunately the blackberries and the remainder of the raspberries were still there, so I could have me a snack on my walk. The raspberries are nearly done now and even though they are quite small, they are really sweet. The blackberries are starting to ripen now and every day I am able to get some. Unfortunately the blackberry bushes are of the thorny variety, which means bare legs and blackberries are a bad idea. It didn't stop me much though. 

And the last photo is of my brand new shoes. I do have several pairs of walking/hiking boots now and there is a distinct difference between the pairs. This pair is meant for ordinary walking on asphalt or hard surfaces. It is a very comfy pair as well, so I am really chuffed. Plus, they are called the Hedgehog IV GTX, which I think is a most brilliant name. They are blue and pink and they are watertight, which is good, since we do get our fair share of rain over here!

Photo on Sunday 2014-24

When I look out my window today, the sun is shining and even though there are a few clouds and a bit of wind it is quite a nice day. Yesterday started off the same way. Beautiful weather in the morning. And then the clouds came in, dark and grey. The rain began to fall, at which point Oswin decided it was time to come indoors again. The temperature dropped a bit and I thought it would be prudent to close my upstairs windows. Didn't need to freeze in August you know. 

I had a party in the evening. Because of the herring jazz festival. Last year I got myself a lovely raw herring with onions, this year I didn't even make it to 8pm, before going home. I was not feeling my best (more on that probably a little later in the week) and thought that rather than being a grump in front of a lot of happy people, I would go home. About an hour later, as I was watching telly, Oswin didn't like it anymore. 

The wind was whipping up a storm and there were noises from all around. The howling of the wind, the creaking of the building, the slamming of the mail box. Her ears were going this way and that and she was not comfortable in the least. Although she did finally relax a bit and go to sleep. Only to be disturbed by yours truly when I went to bed. 

This morning as you may have guessed, the storm has passed and Oswin was her old self again. Dying to get out. And when she did: well, the photos tell their own tale don't they? Needless to say that there might just be a little less jam this year!

PS: all photos were taken before eight in the morning. When I was outside in nothing but my pj's! Now if that is not trying to be dedicated to blogging, I don't know what is...

Slow

I think I have been absent from my blog more than I have been present in the last few weeks/months. It's not that I don't have access to the internet: I do. It's not even that I have nothing to tell you: I usually find something, however trivial. It's just that... I come home after a day's work and just don't feel like turning the computer on. I get the book I am rereading at the moment (on my seventh book right now I think), turn on the television and when it's late enough I go to bed. And of course I walk.

I have to be honest, I didn't walk every day, on Wednesday I was just too tired and worn out. But on Tuesday I walked further than my usual stretch and yesterday, while it was absolutely pouring down, I also walked. Today I won't be walking, but that has more to do with the fact that I am mowing the lawn, which means I am walking up and down and making my fair share of steps anyway. 

I have the weekend off now, which I was really looking forward to. Tomorrow there is a work-do which I will be attending. I won't be drinking however, because even though my leg is slowly getting a bit better, I am still taking pills and I have never liked mixing pills and alcohol. Besides that: drinking and driving is very much out of the question for me!

More exciting than the weekend off however, is the fact that I only have to work for two more weeks before I will be off for two weeks! Holiday is just around the corner. I will be heading 'home' for a week and I will spend the other week at home home. Like here at home. Until then however, more walking, if the weather holds up a few more lawn mowing sessions and of course more work. 

But first: weekend!

Finally

The first time I noticed something wasn't quite as it should be, was probably sometime in February or March. It seemed as if somebody had drawn a line on my right leg and that line was then made to hurt. Or burn. Either way, it was very uncomfortable. But, it was only for an hour or so, every few days. At first. 

By the time I was on holiday in Northern Ireland, visiting my sister with Pepperfly, the pain had progressed. To the night. Which prevented me from sleeping. It meant that several times I would wake up in the middle of the night and unable to sleep again. And worse was to come. 

Because not being able to sleep is one thing, but when you wake up at 1am and unable to go back to sleep after only two hours of the very needed rest it isn't only annoying, it is dangerous, since I am after all a professional driver and being rested is a necessity. So, there was only one thing for it: see the doctor. 

The doctor told me it was a muscle and that the only thing would be to excercise more. Loose weight would be good as well, but mainly excercising. He did gave me some medication to help me sleep at night. Paracetamol with codeine. Which worked a treat. But it was more of a sedative than a pain killer I felt. And besides being quite addictive, it was a drug I wasn't allowed to take right before going to work! This was in May and here's what I wrote about it at the time.

It is now August and I have finally decided to do as the doctor told me. I am nothing if not slow! Mainly because the pain has moved on to the groin area and it can be agony, especially at night. Also, it doesn't go away at all. AT ALL! So, for the last few days, I have been out walking at night. Getting caught in the rain once, only taking my rain coat and still getting soaked on the bottom once. It is not a long tour. About 4 km (3 miles), but it takes me about an hour nonetheless. More if I take my camera along like I did the other day. 

So, does the excercise work? Yes, it does. It actually factually does. While I am walking I do not have the aches and pains and uncomfortableness I feel otherwise. Once I get back inside however, it all comes back. I just hope it will diminish with time. So, here's to me continuing with the walks...

Photo on Sunday 2014-23

One of my neighbours