Climb every mountain

It's official...Pam has climbed her first mountain! OK so it wasn't 'that' huge but it was a mountain by Norwegian standards at least. That's what comes of getting enveigled (spelling?) with a bunch of expats who think nothing of scaling rock faces for fun....every week. This one was called Dalsnuten, down in Sandnes, and was probably a good one for me to start with, given my severe lack of fitness/stamina. It was worth it though, the views over Stavanger were amazing. Next up is Preikestolen (Pulpit Rock) hopefully before the end of September.

You can tell I'm getting more and more settled, from the lack of blog posts...haven't got time! Norsk lessons are in full swing and testing my powers of memory/concentration to the limit. I do them in a 'virtual online classroom' i.e. in front of the computer with a set of headphones and a tutor on the other end of the line. The screen becomes a whiteboard and no English is spoken....eek. I can now say my name and where I come from - Orkenøyene - as well as a whole bunch of other stuff, the most useful of which is probably...jeg forstår ikke (I don't understand). That one will be trotted out a few times over the coming weeks/months!

We had a drive up the coast last Sunday, to Tungenes Lighthouse, which was decommissioned in 1984 but is now preserved as a museum. The living quarters have been made up to look like it would have in the early 70s. You realise how old you are when you're looking around and constantly saying..."Oh I remember that"!

We have our first lot of visitors coming this weekend so the resident tabby has had a stern lecture as to what is acceptable in terms of behaviour. Needless to say it hasn't worked, given that I've just been downstairs to the spare room (or the Swedish Sauna as we like to call it...I'll explain later) to de-fuzz the spare bed! Mike and Fran, if you're reading this, it's not as bad as it sounds...honest! This is Mulder's way of making you feel welcome...I think. Brings to mind when we lived in Banchory-Devenick and his partner-in-crime Scully (RIP) would leave a dead mouse under the spare bed for unsuspecting visitors. We think it was her version of the horse's head in the bed...watching too much Godfather.

And on that note, I'll leave you with a couple of fab photos that Mike took last week. This is sunset over a place called Florø, which is north of here and is where he flies from to get to the Gjøa Field.

Takk for lesing.
Hade!

North of the Galt

That's us back in Stavanger after a memorable trip to Orkney and in particular Eday. A word of explanation is required as to the title of this post and indeed the overall blog itself...for non-Orcadian readers. There's a point/headland/skerry on the north-west of the island of Shapinsay known as "the Galt" and the area to the north of there is said to be pretty special as (of course) are the people who come from there. This is a myth that has been handed down the generations in folk(pub)lore to the extent that the phrase "he's/she's fae north o' the Galt" is widely/proudly used to identify someone's heritage.

It must also be said that the chap whose wedding we were at - Gary Byers - also recently declared in a featured farmer interview with Living Orkney magazine that "North o' the Galt is best"! Who can argue with that?? Mind you, I elected to use 'east' for the blog name as I wasn't sure Stavanger was strictly speaking technically 'north'...although no Admiralty Charts were consulted in the decision-making process, just a squint at a map. You begin to get the idea that this is serious stuff!! If nothing else, it's good wind-up material.

The wedding itself was absolutely brilliant from start to finish, despite the bride being 30 minutes late...something to do with hairdressers and bridesmaids apparently! The kirk was packed, the champagne flowed at the reception and the dance in the byre was a fitting way to end the day...the following day. Gary and Anne must be one of the most ideally suited couples I've ever known...I foresee many happy years at Greentoft.

Back to reality and today saw me up in front of the "Police" in Stavanger (aka immigration/tax), bidding for an identification number required for living and working here. I squelched my way there through thunderstorms, clutching every relevant piece of paper to my name. It's fair to say they're people of few words but 'deportation' wasn't one of them, so I guess I'm in! Maybe they'd heard I was from North o' the Galt...

This was the view across the lake in town this morning, you can see thunderous skies in the background. Oh and possibly the last cruise ships of the year were in today too...apparently we don't see any more after the first week in September. I liked the traditional wooden boat in the foreground, certainly provided a bit of contrast to the veritable skyscraper of a thing (ship?) behind it!

No post would be complete without a mention of Mr F Chops (as Auntie Michelle has nicknamed him) or indeed HRH (as Auntie Ruth more aptly calls him)! The Mulder cat survived 6 days in a rather dubious cattery...or perhaps endured is a better word. I'd like to say he was none the worse for it but sadly that wasn't the case. If I told you I've been on litter box duty all week since we got back, that about covers it. Anything more than that would be too much information. But, you can't keep a good mog down and he's more or less back to his usual today. Even managed a half hour outside...VERY brave!

Time to sign off with some photos from the wedding - the new Mr & Mrs Byers and the clootie cake complete with sheep!

Det er fredag ​​og fem i Norge så skål!

p.s. Norwegian lessons start next week...you have been warned.