Stranger

I was driving home last Monday morning. The road I live on is not a wide road, parts of it are wide enough for one car, some can accommodate two at a push. As I was driving on the 'at a push' part, a car with a trailer came towards me. Nothing uncommon with that. The load he had on his little trailer was pipes. Plastic bendy pipes. 

I saw it happen. Some of those pipes started to bend and then swing out of the trailer. Right in my path! I hit the brakes, but the pipes hit the car anyway. I stopped and so did the stranger. We checked my car from all angles and according to the stranger, the only damage the pipes had done was to the mirror. A scratch. All the other damage wasn't damage but dirt. 

Well, writing a whole insurance form over a little scratch was a bit much, so in the end we settled for an exchange of some money. Which will probably cover the change of tires needed tomorrow or next week (summer to winter). 

The thing is though, the damage was according to the stranger. I think it had been there a bit longer! He was adament though and who am I to argue with somebody who is about to give me money...

PS: my shopping was all over the car when I got home. The only thing left in the bag were the eggs. In their carton. Only two were cracked, but I needed to have breakfast/lunch anyway.

Sorry

The scene of some severe water damage right now

I have been getting some grief over my non blogging habit of late. Not even a Photo on Sunday! Not good. Not good at all. 

It's not just blogging that is down at the moment. It's facebook, emails, anything to do with my laptop. No, it's not broken. No, my internet is not down. It's me. 

I am a bit down. All to do with that pain in my lower abdomen. With not hearing from the MRI. From waiting and taking pills and not having had a good night's sleep in a long time. Add to that some new duties at work, a very dry course and of course my ordinary work. Not conducive to a happy Mara!

I will be visiting my gp again next Monday (she doesn't know yet), and will be wanting a referral to a gynaecologist. Hoping that he/she can figure out what is wrong. Because I am now strongly inclined to think it has something to do with my female parts. 

Taken last summer, it is now a lot higher and wilder. And more destructive...

Now, if you are worried about me because of the all the flooding happening in Western Norway: don't. It's not too close to me and so far we have had no problems. If you are wondering when The Man is going to go, the geologists are unsure now, but I hope it will be during the day so they can film it. Oh, and The Man is the name in English for a mountain that is breaking up. Not volcanic, just rock, but breaking up anyway. 

So, hoping that I will soon get answers, get some good night's sleep and some more Christmas films (did I tell you I loooooooooove my birthday present to myself: best thing ever this satellite!). And of course to blogging a bit more often.

Animal magnetism

Boxes are magnetic to cats!
Photo taken by my sister

I was at work today and for some reason I asked about my time off for the coming Thursday. Since I would be having my MRI then. Problem was however: the traffic controller couldn't find any mention of that time off. But I knew they had done it! Why oh why couldn't I find the note I had?

Fast forward about twenty minutes and the traffic controller asks me to come to his office. The note was for today, not for Thursday. But the appointment is for Thursday though. Or is it? I got confused and in the end I phoned the MRI place and got the confirmation: the scan was today! 

So, I went in today. Took off everything with metal in. Was told to lie down on some board or other. Got some earphones. And was then rolled into the big machine. Twenty minutes of a big hammer trying to kill a little bird, of grinding, beating, rattling and a lot more noises and I was done. By then my hips hurt and it took a bit of effort to get off the board. 

I will find out in about four working days (from my regular doctor's office) whether it is prolapse or not. I suspect not. If it isn't, as I suspect, I want another referral. This time to see a gynaecologist. Which I feel is more to the point than the interesting MRI. 

To be continued...

Easy peasy

Well, my sister and I had decided our first day would be a quite easy one. We would take a walk, yes, but it would be an easy one around a lake. Gravel paths all the way. She had her new walking boots and we both had a bit of provision and a bottle of water. We were all set. 

The weather was glorious: sunshine, cloudless skies and no wind. Temperatures around the 10 degrees Centigrade. A fine day for an easy walk. 

We got to the parking lot and found a place to park and then set out to take the photo at the top. After which we made our way to the gravel path. We saw lots of people, walking here, there and everywhere. The gravel path was nice and wide as well. Until it narrowed and we came to a bridge. We crossed it, but after that the path seemed to disappear and we decided it was probably very unwise to continue, so we turned around. 

We found the proper path again and kept following it again. It had widened considerably again as well, so we were quite happy. Of course we stopped every so often so I could exclaim over the view and more often take a photo of this, that or the other. Like the white toadstools I saw a lot.

Ten minutes later (about) we came to a lovely place with benches and even a little jetty. We felt we had deserved a little rest and had a little snack and a drink of water, enjoying the sunshine. No people around, only the sound of a few birds and a couple of dragonflies flying around. 

The rest being over we continued on our gravel path. Which lasted all of ten meters! But there had been one person passing us going the same way so we could continue. Over rocks and stones and a small narrow path full of mud and water! Typical!!! The photo above shows what we had to contend with. 

Unfortunately the path didn't become any better. Clambering over (admittedly smaller) rocks is not something that comes naturally to either of us, although for once in my life I had the upper hand. Fortunately the weather was still good and the views were fantastic as well. So, it wasn't all bad! And the people that were in such a hurry to get past us: "add a weight pack and see how well you do then" was all we could say! 

But we were slowly getting fed up as well. We were starting to feel the climbing and clambering and by now our lack of enough fluids. We had only brought one bottle each, thinking it would be an easy walk after all. We had seen and heard cars for about twenty minutes by then, but it didn't seem as if they were getting any closer! During one little rest however, my sister noticed some houses behind us, so I knew we were getting closer.

By the time we got back to the car we were both very tired and both very dirty as well. Especially my sister who had thought it wise to step ankle deep in some mud puddle! Oopsie! But we had made it and even though we were both tired and dirty, we were also very proud of ourselves. That 'easy' gravel path walk had not defeated us! Mind you, it was an early night for both of us...

What to do?

The strange lady in the middle is not here.
But this is the most recent photo of me and my sister together.

My sister is here. She arrived yesterday and will only be leaving again on Sunday. So, we have nearly a week together in my little wooden cottage in the Norwegian countryside. The question then of course becomes: what to do with our time together. 

Will we be jetting off every day to see this and that and lots more? Will we be going on hikes and walks in the area and perhaps a bit further afield? Will we be shopping and spending money? Or will we be spending our time at home in front of the telly or with a book? 

Well, it will be a mixture of it all. Although the first option will probably be used the least. Yes, we will be walking and hiking (she bought new shoes, they have to be used of course), we will be doing some shopping and we will very likely be spending a lot of time at home in front of the telly and/or reading a book. Especially when the weather will be a bit worse towards the end of the week. 

Photo on Sunday 2014-30

 

This photo was taken about two weeks ago. A colleague came over with her camera and took this shot. It took some tries to get one where she would actually be looking into the camera, but she managed eventually. The little blue thing in the bottom is her play mouse. She has an orange one as well and if that had been a real mouse: well, let me just say I am glad it isn't!

This second photo was taken last Sunday before my toadstool hunt. I just love how she is lit from behind. Mind you, I just love this kitty!! Her latest thing is her apprehension of the wood burner. She likes the heat it produces because she will stay in the living room and sleep in her box. But she is quite apprehensive of the crackling that is occasionally going on. She will get used to it though!

Photo on Sunday 2014-29

Or should this post be named 'toadstools on Sunday'? All these toadstools were found on my walk in the little nature area close to where I live. I especially love the red ones. What's your favourite?

Now this last photo doesn't show a toadstool, but actually moss. But since it had some colour and I found it on the same walk, it had to be included!