Only 351 days left

Until Christmas that is. Now, I thought I would be taking my Christmas decorations down yesterday, but in the end it happened today. Packed everything away in a few boxes that I will take upstairs as soon as the biathlon is finished.

Last year I had been a fool and left the lights (two seperate strings) in the tree. Which meant I couldn't take the tree apart and had to take it upstairs in one piece. Since the tree comes in three pieces, it was a struggle to get it upstairs. It was a bigger struggle to get it downstairs again and set up! So, this year, I took all the lights out and put the tree back (with some difficulty) in its box. That way I shouldn't have any major difficulty next Christmas!

Only 351 days left...

Words are not enough

A word for the entire year she asks. One word to hopefully describe the year ahead. The first word that sprung to mind was madness. Because how can you describe a year that is not even a week old? That is still in its infancy? I mean, you don't look at a week-old baby and go: brain surgeon! Well, there might be people who do, but they are usually mightily disappointed when said baby grows up and decides he rather wants to be a turkey farmer!

But of course, me being me, I got to thinking some more. Painfree flashed through my mind, but that would only be highlighting one part of my life. Fitness would be the same and knowing me, quite a grasp! So, what word would be good? What word could fit a whole year? 

I really had to get my thinking cap on. And then: happiness! Why not? It could fit. It could be good. Yet, there was a niggle in the back of my head saying it wasn't enough. It wasn't... IT. And then I remembered my love for the Doctor. No, not a real doctor, although I do love the two doctors that reside in my life, but the Doctor. And his advice to one of his companions a while ago (I think it was David Tennant's Doctor to Billie Piper's Rose) which was: live life!

Looking at the bucket list I made yesterday, that fit perfectly. Live life! But of course there was this little hitch: live life is two words and only one was needed. So, my word for 2015? 

LIVE  

This post is prompted by Spin Cycle. Thank you Ginny Marie at Lemon Drop Pie.

The buckets for 2015

I made a list last year of all the things I would like to get/do/learn in 2014. And I managed several on that list. Half in fact! Which I was very pleased about. Here is that list. I have highlighted the ones I actually got/did/learnt.

1. Have a professional photo shoot

2. Learning how to ride a horse

3. A visit to Northern Ireland (my sister lives there)

4. A tattoo

5. A German Christmas market

6. A musical in London or just London with my sister

7. Aurlandsdalen (ie hiking)

8. Visit my parents

9. See more of Norway

10. Get a satellite dish

11. Get a dishwasher

12. Meet a fellow blogger

For this year I am going to do the same again. Write a bucket list and hope I can get at least half crossed off! Here it goes:

1. Go to the Edinburgh Tattoo

I love tattoos and the best known one is probably the one in Edinburgh. My parents and my sister also would love to see that one, so guess what...

2. Learn how to play a musical instrument

It doesn't matter how badly. Honestly. Just would love to learn.

3. See more of Norway

I have been living here for just over two years and have still not seen a great deal! I would love to change that. So, it's back on the list. 

4. Get rid of the pain

This should be entirely feasible. The surgery is on the cards already and even though I have some trepidation about the whole thing, being rid of the pain will be so great! 

5. A musical in London

I will give this one another outing and hopefully it will come real this year!

6. Meet a fellow blogger

Yes, again, but it has worked so well in the past, why not do it again?

7. A German Christmas market

I even missed our own local one this year, and the German ones are such fun. So, back on the list it is!

8. See friends and family

Either here in Norway or back where they live. 

9. Start walking again

I have been slacking of lately and that is not good. I should really start again and perhaps get so good I could do another of those Norwegian 'walks'! 

10. Holiday

Now, I would really love to see Morocco or Poland. I know people from both countries who might be willing to give me a hand in planning a trip to either of those two. However, I do have a holiday to Scotland in the cards already (see bucket 1), so I am set (sort of).

11. Do a sky-dive

I will probably need to wear a nappy, but I would love to be able to say I have done it at least. Not sure how I would feel if it were really happening...

12. Find Ed

And no, that doesn't mean getting another cat!
13. Blog
I was only going to put down 12 buckets, but then I thought: blogging should so be on the list as well! Especially since 2014 was a bad year for blogging. I had my second worst full year of blogposts and that so needs to change! So, my goal is to have at least 250 blog posts by the end of the year. Which would still not be top (the most ever was 2009 with 321 posts), but it would/should be managable!

Here's to 2015!

Photo on Sunday 2015-01

I am not normally somebody who takes photographs of snowploughs willy nilly. But, when said snowplough has been standing still in the same spot for about ten minutes, I get curious and have to find my camera. And then of course take a photo (or more) of said snowplough. 

I am not entirely sure of what happened last week, but I think the snowplough must have skidded a little and in the process hit a pole. The one to his immediate right. And since wires are hanging from the poles... It knocked down several of those wires, including the one that you can see coming from the far right of the picture at the top (the one hanging down to the road). That one is attached to my house, although my power supply doesn't come from it.

I could see the driver walking around his vehicle, talking on the phone and generally trying to salvage something. In the end however he went on his merry way, hindered somewhat by lowhanging wires! He was resourceful though and drove with one hand, while hanging out of his vehicle guiding the wire, until he had to stop and take the wire and get it over his lorry, see second photo, before getting back to his job of ploughing the road.

About an hour or so later, a service vehicle arrived to take a good look at the site of the loose wires. They put up some barriers to stop traffic, but they only remained a day or so, before they were pushed to the side, letting traffic through again. If you look closely, you can see the pole on the right is broken and the stump is just to its left. And that situation has remained to this day!

Looking back on 2014

I think this year will stand out most in my mind as the year of pain. Not constant, but getting progressively worse over the year. Of course it was also the year of Oswin, my new friend. Of holidays, of getting used to living in the country and of a lot more. Here a short look back. If you click on the months, you will get to the post of that month. 

January: It was cold and windy. Both outside and in. Mind you, leaving the front door open is not a clever idea in the middle of the night when it's blowing a gale! But, I did manage to get the first thing that was on my bucket list for 2014 done. 

February: I watched the Olympics and was rooting for both the Netherlands and Norway. The first symptoms of the pain showed up, although not a clue what it was. And I needed to get a new car!

March: The mystery light, Murphy's law and the bathroom flood. But especially the bathroom flood!

April: The conclusion of the watersaga. I went cross country skiing. A visit to my sister in Northern Ireland didn't go quite according to plan. Although it did get dirty at some point!

May: Another tattoo (the musical one, not the body one), this time in Oslo.We rowed to victory in the annual rowing race. I met some new Dutch friends, who live on the same road. My Frysian inspired outfit had its first outing. I told you how my life has changed in the last 25 years and I got a new housemate.

June: I spent a week in Scotland with my new friend Yamini and Oswin got used to living in the country. And I had a massive brain freeze which caused me to not blog for a week!

July: It was summer in Norway. Proper summer with temperatures over 20 degrees for several weeks. There were visitors from the Netherlands, there was work, Oswin and of course the best birthday present ever. EVER!

August: I started walking. The storm that killed my apple and plum harvests. A holiday to the Netherlands. And the pain.

September: Free entertainment in the form of sheep wrangling. Another win at the Tide Games, this time for best horse. Plus I was nominated for a gold bus. The visit to the doctor that finally got the ball rolling. And cowshit.

October: I saw toadstools. And had an MR scan. And my sister came to visit. And we went on a walk.

November: This was the month where I slipped and slided with a bus. With a great deal of laughter as well, since it was on a specially prepared course. I had a visit to my gp again. Who finally referred me to a gynaecologist.

December: I did culture Icelandic style (ie shopping). I baked two cakes that tasted of Christmas according to my colleagues. Love for a feather duster was the order of the day for Oswin. We had a white Christmas. And the source of the pain was finally discovered!

Spinning a blog

Instead of the usual prompt for the Spin Cycle, this time there were a lot of questions (well 10) to answer. And where I don't always find the inspiration to follow the prompt, answering questions is something I do do! So here goes:

1. What do you love the most about blogging? 

Oh wow, where to start. I think the best thing about blogging is the people you meet. They might only be in cyberspace, but on occasion they cross over! And I haven't been disappointed yet. This year I met Yamini and I had a wonderful week being her guest in Scotland. 

2. How do you find the time to keep up with all the aspects related to blogging (posting, reading, commenting, responding, etc)? 

I don't always unfortunately. But I am very happy to put off housework if that will get me to the posting, reading etc. No qualms about that at all!!

3. Does your family know about your blog and does this affect what you blog about? 

They do and it does affect what I blog about. Mind you, not very much, since I will blog about anything anyway. If it is important I will make sure of telling my parents or whoever is involved first though and some things I will tell the people I feel are important to me, but will not blog about. I think what affects my blog more is my job. Having learned from experience that it is sometimes wise not to blog about everything!

4. If you didn’t blog, what would you be doing with that time? 

Not blog? Wow, even though I have been a lazy blogger of late, I can't imagine not blogging at all. Nope, not at all!

5. Have you been in a blogging rut and how did you pull yourself out of it? 

Oh yes, the last few months have been a bit of a blogging rut. I just decided to start posting again. People are interested in what I write, so I might as well. Doing prompts also helps a lot, that way you are forced even if you are not quite out of the rut yet. So thank you Spin Cycle! And of course there is also Oswin! 

6. Have you ever considered leaving the blogging world and why? What stopped you? 

No, never considered. I love to blog. I want to write and since I am good at writing my blog...

7. Show some blog love: Name another blog that you adore. 

Are you really asking me to name favourites? Really? Well, if you must know: this blog is a great one. It's not really a blog anymore, but the person behind it always shows great photos of his trips to Norway and other places. I wouldn't mind getting some photography lessons of him!

8. What’s your favorite social media outlet for sharing your blog posts? 

Ehm, did I ever mention anywhere that I am quite a digilliterate? So, I don't quite get this question. Sorry. 

9. What’s one thing you’ve learned about yourself since you started blogging? 

That I blog like I talk. And that blogging takes tension away from me. Not having a sounding board at home to complain to when things go awry at work or elsewhere in my life, my blog takes on that role. 

10. Any new blogging plans or ideas for the new year?

No, no real new plans or ideas. Just to continue blogging, either with help from prompts or by what happens in my life. And you are welcome to come and join my life!!

This post is prompted by Spin Cycle. Thank you Ginny Marie at Lemon Drop Pie.

Photo on Sunday 2014-35

Well, it is the last Sunday of the year and I thought (and promised) to show you the photos of Oswin in the snow. As I said before, she wasn't too unhappy about being in the snow, as long as she could follow my footsteps. The snow was quite deep and she is quite low to the ground and didn't like the snow going up to her belly.

I will try and get back to regular Photos on Sunday in 2015. Hope you will be here to see them with me!

White

Well, some snow had fallen for Christmas, but this morning when I woke up: there was even more! About five centimeters (two inches) I guess, but enough to make everything look magical. Like snow does. 

After getting dressed I went out with my camera to take some photos. Oswin went out with me, but even though she didn't like the snow very much, she also didn't try and get back in too soon! The photos of her will be shown in the last Photo on Sunday of this year.

Right now however I will show you the other photos I took. Even of the snowman I built. Right now it is snowing again. I am just glad I don't have to work until Monday!

Christmas 2014

Well, I got the tree up on Christmas Eve Eve (ie the day before the day before Christmas) and even though Oswin was quite interested in it, she only tried to climb it once: when it was still empty. Since she has more or less left it alone. But I did hang some of the unbreakable ornaments on the bottom. Mind you, if she were to climb it and it would fall over, having the unbreakables low on the tree wouldn't do it much good. Ah well, just have to hope it will be okay.

On Christmas Eve I had to work. I had an early (ish) start, since it was Saturday shifts. The day started off great, but it soon deteriorated. As I was driving along in my large green vehicle (the bus), somebody didn't see me and crashed into me! The damage was considerable and I got a hefty dose of adrenalin cursing through my veins as well. Fortunately it wore off quite soon, but it was a shock. Nobody was hurt though. I didn't have any passengers and the driver of the car was okay as well. 

The day got better after that. Hardly any passengers, so not much of a problem to stay on time. I found a krone (smallest denomination coin) on the street, there were gingerbread cookies and mandarins at work and all routes finished at 3pm. 

On getting home, I found a letter, a card and a package in the mailbox. And then another package hanging on the front door. The package in the mailbox was from a colleague and contained chocolates (not tasted yet, but I think they are going to be good), the package on the front door contained Christmas bread (or Stollen. Home made. And Yummmmmmmmy!!). The letter however...

The letter was from the hospital. Now, somebody from the hospital had been trying to get in touch with me last week, but I didn't hear the telephone in time. When I phoned back, it was the main switchboard and they didn't have a clue as to who had rung me. They would probably ring me back. So, I waited and then forgot. Until the letter came. I had my bloodwork done nearly two weeks ago and something was not right. It was too high (not quite sure what). The results are now in Bergen and it is now a question of where I will be operated? And my next question is: will it be the same day? Ah well, wait and see, no need for panic just yet!

The day ended on a plus though. I had been invited by a colleague to a Christmas dinner Icelandic style, so I made my way back to Haugesund and enjoyed shrimp salad, smoked and salted pork, apple salad, fried sweet potato and chocolate ice cream with berries and cream. And when I drove home later that night, the snow was coming down and when I woke up this morning: a White Christmas.

So, to everybody out there reading my blog: I hope you have a very merry (white) Christmas however you want to spend it!

Finally

I went up to the magazine stand and saw that the new Donald wasn't there. I turned to the newsstand lady and asked why it hadn't come. It would come on Friday she answered. I realised it was only Wednesday! 

I knew it was Wednesday and yet realising it wasn't Friday upset my whole week. It ruined my Wednesday, it didn't do much for my Thursday and even today (being really Friday) it didn't quite sit well with me. Despite the Christmas porridge and the cake we got at work. 

On the plus side: I got some good feedback this week. Yesterday I was asked to stand for the Tide branch of the union. I declined (work, course, team leader, operation coming up: I think I have enough on my plate). And today I was told by one of my team that despite original reservations, I was doing a fine job and he liked working with me! 

Of course it is now Friday and I have the weekend off. Then only three days of work and four more days off (ie: no working on Christmas Day, Boxing Day or next weekend). Plus I am finally getting to grips with it being Friday.

By the way: even though the new Donald Duck magazine came out today (it being Friday), in the end I didn't even get it! Will have to get it tomorrow. Which is Saturday. I think...