Calendar

Well, it's time again: the year is running on its last legs and soon it will be 2014. And a new year means a new calendar! Which as always I will be making!!

This year it will be a joined English/Norwegian affair, so you will see exactly when Mother's Day is in Norway, albeit not in any other country. And as a first, I've decided to put in one very special day. Well, it's special to me anyway. 

So, do you want to get hold of this lovely desk-top calendar? Simple: the only thing you have to do is leave a comment and telling me all about your favourite colour. I will then randomly pick out two comments (I will toss all names in a hat and pick two) and those two lucky people will receive a calendar each. 

Now, the deadline for this give-away is November 30th, midnight (Norwegian time). Good luck everyone!!

Can I?

As you know I have this wood burning stove. It keeps my living room warm and the top of it has been used several times to dry towels and clothes. But could I use it to cook something? After all, it has this grill type thing I can lift and underneath is like a hotplate. Only one way to find out: try it! 

So, today I decided I wanted rice pudding. I had plenty of milk, plenty of rice and plenty of time. And by golly, did it need time! First I boiled the water on the proper stove, then I added the rice and took the pan off the stove and put it on my burner. Ten minutes later the water had been absorbed and I added the milk. A couple of hours later (!) I had my rice pudding. 

It tasted good, especially with the sugar and cinnamon and raisins I added. But if I want something in a hurry, I had better stick to the proper stove!

Photo on Sunday 2013-28

When I wanted to warm my home back when I lived in the Netherlands, it was easy: flick a switch and the central heating came on. And after a while the whole house was warm and toasty. The bathroom, the living room, the kitchen. 

I now live in Norway in a small cottage in the countryside. I don't have any central heating. Instead I have three different types of heating. First there is the warm air thingy in the hallway. Not the most logical of places, since it basically only heats upstairs. Where I don't need the warmth as I like to sleep in a cold room. Then there is the heating element in the bathroom. Switch it on and the electricity meter goes haywire, since it just gobbles up my kroners! I don't really use it that often. 

The third way of heating my home is the woodburner in my living room. Which, after I finally figured it out, works a treat. It warms up the living room, the kitchen and even the bathroom. The only thing is: it needs wood to burn! 

Yesterday the first of two loads arrived. At ten in the morning. Two pallets with 1000 liters of firewood each. Dumped on the grass. I store my firewood in the basement. It's dry there and I don't have to go outside in the rain/wind/snow to get to it. Grass does not equal basement. 

So, from 10.30am to 2.30pm I moved all the wood from the grass to a huge pile in the basement, since it looked like rain. Then I clambered my way over to the back of the basement and started stacking. I was absolutely pooped when I was finally finished and the shower was heavenly! But I do now have two piles of firewood, and it will probably last me until sometime in January. In a few weeks two more pallets will be arriving. Another day of stacking!

Work

Remember when I lived back in the Netherlands? Where work was diverse. School trips and drunken people, day trips and weeks to Italy and Ireland (not the same trips), public transport and army transport. I usually found out about what I had to do about four days prior. Which was fine. It kept life interesting. 

I moved to Norway. Got a job as a public transport busdriver. And got a work sheet. Six weeks on a loop. So, I knew what I had to do months in advance. Could make plans. Brilliant. Only 35,5 hours a week because I worked evenings and weekends as well. But things were about to change.

Today I got my new work sheet. Only temporary, but it looks like I might like it. I only work during the day, the latest I finish is once at 7.30pm! I only work two Saturdays and one Sunday. Granted, I have to work 37,5 hours, but who cares? 

There is one other worksheet that looks great: five weeks of work and one week off. But for that to happen, you have to work more Saturdays and Sundays and nights! Until like 4am and stuff! Honestly? No!

So, starting December 2nd (which I now have to take off, in the new system, I work earlies and not lates), a new worksheet!

Smile

As I finished work today, a colleague stopped me. He had something for me. He had just returned from a short trip home and had found it. A Polish flag! It put a smile on my face!

As I was in the supermarket today, I found the Norwegian equivalent of the Dutch kruidnoten (gingernuts). They looked and felt to be a bit bigger than the Dutch ones, but beggars and choosers and stuff. And besides: it put a smile on my face!

As I got home today and checked my mailbox, I found a package from the UK. A former colleague had found and sent me a British flag! It put a smile on my face!

PS: I asked a Bulgarian colleague about the Bulgarian flag and if he doesn't forget, he would be happy to get one for me! Smile!

PS2: the gingernuts taste a lot more gingery than the Dutch ones (which aren't really gingernuts), but they are nice. Smile!!

Worries from far away

Staring at his treats (the orange container)

About two weeks ago I got an email from Pepperfly. Wuppie was not behaving normally. Now of course the question as to what is 'normal' in Wuppie's case, is a difficult one, but that's another matter. He was not behaving in his usual 'normal' way. He was running here and there and everywhere, finding paperwork, recycling paper, boxes and occasionally his litterbox. And everywhere he went, he would try to pee.

The meds

Pepperfly phoned the vet. Then took him to the vet. And the diagnosis for this 15 1/2 year old cat was: bladder infection! Which in boy cats and especially former boy cats is not good news. Fortunately however, Pepperfly was quick and observant and they caught it in time. He is now on medication and the treat after the medication makes Wuppie okay with it. 

He's got a good few years left I hope, but not if he starts doing weird things like that! Silly cat...

Heaven!

Unshredded curly kale. Who'd a thunk it?

Before even attempting to make the 'boerenkool met worst', I had to do the dishes. Which I did. Gladly this time!! Then I got the potatoes out, peeled them (with some difficulty, not nice taters at all) and put them in the pan. I got the curly kale out and quickly realised it wasn't like the Netherlands. There were stalks and all! But, I got to work, removed the stalks and shredded the kale. Put it in a different pan. Then the sausages. Not like in the Netherlands, but I had found some German ones that looked quite nice. 

Nam nam

Well, it almost went wrong in the end! Almost, because when the alarm sounded, the potatoes were already dry. Who ever thought 25 minutes to boil potatoes was good. Weird Norwegians!! Anyway, I mashed the potatoes with some butter and milk (forgot the pepper, I was in a hurry you know), took the sausages off the kale and then strained the kale. And then the best part: mixing the mash and the kale. 

I took a plate out, heaped it with kale 'n' mash, made a hole in the middle for the gravy, added a little mustard and of course some sausages (they were small after all). 

It didn't last long. Perhaps all of two minutes?

I wanted to savour it, enjoy it, make it last a long time. I didn't. Make it last that is, because I did so enjoy it! I gobbled it up like somebody without manners and before I knew it my plate was empty. I resisted the urge to lick the plate though. My parents did teach me some manners after all!

Tomorrow however, I will savour and enjoy and eat slowly. Because, the portions might have been small, but there were two! I can't wait!!

I kissed it!

When I moved to Norway last year, I thought that one of the things I would surely be able to get over here was 'curly kale' (or boerenkool in Dutch). It's a hardy cabbage vegetable that loves and even needs frost! Norway has that and Norwegians have plenty of cabbages in the supermarkets. 

Just not curly kale. Incomprehensible. I knew I couldn't go two winters without, so I bought some seeds. At least then I could grow my own! Well, that's not going to happen, because I forgot about them and they needed to be planted outside sometime in September! 

After I finished work yesterday, I went to a supermarket on my way home. I needed some food for tomorrow. And for some reason I checked the vegetable area. Found the tiny cauliflowers, the broccoli, the savoy cabbage. And then... curly kale! CURLY KALE!!! I danced, I jumped up and down. I kissed it!

Today: boerenkool met worst. Curly kale 'n' mashed potatoes with sausage. Nam nam (as they say in Norwegian).

And I was doing so well...

The police vehicle I hit a few years back in London

I am quite good at filling out the European Insurance Reports. I should be, I have had days where I had to fill out three! In two different countries as well!! But I had thought I had left all those forms behind me. No more 'who is to blame', 'how wide is the road', 'what was the weather'? No more drawings that look nothing like the real thing. 

Until last Friday that is. When the driver of a car parked her car smack bang in a mountain. At right angles to the road. I asked her whether it was a new way of parking, she just answered 'a crash'. As if I didn't see that. I didn't see the accident happen. I only saw the car at right angles to the road. And the turn I had just come out of with my bus. I thought I had cleared everything. Turns out: not so much. A large 8 meter (out of the 12) long stripe all along the side of the bus. 

When I came back to the office and filled out an insurance form, another driver was doing the same. Same spot, nearly identical damage. He thought my drawing was fantastic. He thought I was fast filling out the form. And me?

I just thought: darn it (see how clean my mind is, ahem). Again no damage-free year! 

Right!

                                                 

I think the only thing I can say is "I am a terrible blogger!" Several things have happened during the last week and I have not typed a single word to throw into the www. Awful. Terrible. 

Mind you, nothing much special has happened to me during the last week, but in general. Life wise. And such. You know... 

To start off. The local football team managed to secure third place in the national league, which in turn apparently means they are up for European football next year. Something great to strive for or so I have heard. Since I am not really into football at all (as you know), I am not too bothered by it, but if they do go Europe and there happens to be a Dutch opponent at some time: I have a big garden with plenty of room for tents and a spare single bedroom. Just so you know! Bring a bottle of Beerenburg and you are very welcome!

Then. The Norwegians have this weird relationship with television. They love their repeats and if they don't repeat, it's most likely a rerun. And if they do come up with something original, it annoys the &%$#& out of the whole world (What does the fox say? Anyone??). Anyway. On occasion they do have an original idea. Like the first time I was in Norway: following a canal in the Telemark region from beginning to end. Like the summer just past: 24 hour coverage from a ferry to the North of Norway. Sea, sea, sea, some land, some people and more sea. It took them over a week to get to the North, so you get the idea. 

But, that wasn't enough. And all the repeats and reruns and boat and ferry programs weren't enough. Somebody had to come up with another thing to air. The wintersport season is still a few weeks off and there was airtime to fill. And then somebody came up with a brilliant idea. What if we make a program about knitting. My girlfriend loves knitting. We could do a half hour show? Not enough? What about an hour? Two hours? Four hours? No, an all night knitting show! Showing from sheep to sweater! That's what I pay my tv-license money for...

On the subject of knitting: I am still at it as well. As a matter of fact, my hands feel empty when not knitting, which might explain the lack of posts lately. I am knitting like mad and have finished the first order already. I got several hugs for it as well! Plus the yarn money. But the hugs were best...

I will try to better my life and blog a bit more often. After all, there is plenty happening. Sort of.