Our New Home

The mailboxes at the end of the driveway, with the barn and the silo's behind. The sign says "Holden" which is the name of the farm.

The birch lined driveway. At the top you can see the barn on the right, the woodshed/toolshed/shop straight ahead, and on the left our house (behind the reddish bush) and the farm house behind that again.

Our little house is 300 years old, and used to be the bake and brew house on the farm.

Looking right from where Topsy sat on the front step you see the barn: a loafing barn for 45 milk cows + calves, bulls and heifers. The milking is done by a Delaval milking robot.

Looking left from the front step you see first the Stabbur, or storehouse.

After the storehouse comes the machine shed and then the Forge, which we are using as a place to store garden tools, bicycles etc.

Our house seen from the Forge.

Also seen from the forge, the main farmhouse which is actually directly across from our house, maybe 30 yards from front door to front door.

Christmas in Folldal

The Julenissen coming in the back door!

Wednesday we had woken to snow. On Friday, however, the weather shifted to above freezing and all the snow rained and melted off, leaving the farm dark and wet. We left early on Christmas eve and drove the 4 ½ hours to Folldal, gradually moving from mild and and wet to old snow, not yet melted and then in the mountains and in Foldal, beautifull winter with 10" of new snow and frosty mountains towering white over it all. We spent a hectic day visiting all the Folldal in-laws. It was pleasant, and especially gratifying to know that just being there was the best gift we could have given Father-in-law.

Husband with Peach

Lucy opening her present

Early Christmas day, right after breakfast we left for home. The roads were empty, and we made good time with husband speeding along the empty roads at 120 km/hr. He did get caught by at least two photo-boxes set up to catch speeders, so I fear the 30 minutes we saved came dear. In Østfold it is still well above freezing. The cats had gotten out of the hallway, but not for long I believe, as the Christmas tree was still intact. We put on some Christmas music, lit the Christmas incense and the candles on the tree and enjoyed Christmas with cookies and gløgg in our own home.

Our tree at home: the smallest one on the lot!

Getting Settled

I spent monday morning laying down good routines for the dogs: the walk behind the tool sheds to potty. Seperatly and on leash. Lying in their bed / crate in the house so as not to get underfoot. Playing recall games. My goal is to get an outstanding recall from Lucy, before letting her loose in the woods and yard. Kaisa, the farm dog has has a bad experience with visiting dogs a few years ago so I want to prepare their aquaintance as carefully as possible, but also to avvoid deer and cow chasing.

The moving truck came about noon on monday, right on the heels of Husbands arrival. Pretty soon the house was full of boxes. By some miracle we have found a place for all the furniture. Spent the rest of the afternoon unpacking: I concentrated mainly on the kitchen. By the time I found the frying pan and spatula we were starved and I fried up eggs and bacon for dinner.

We slept on the sofa bed in the living room, as the bedroom was full of boxes. We tried to sleep that is. The cats after snoozing in the furniture all day, suddenly became active as night fell. They kept jumping onto the bed to lie on our pillows or feet, hissing at each other when they got to close, or wandered around meowing and jumping on all the furniture. We really didn't get much sleep at all.

Tuesday we started to find out things like how to get milk from the tank, where to get firewood, and how the recycling system works. Also I drove to the nearby village of Spydeberg, to do some shopping. I was dissapointed in the lack of organic produce and dairy at the Mega, which is the supermarket I got so many good organic stuff from at our old home. But I discovered a large sports store, a pharmacy, a book store and a bakery right around the Mega. There were two other large supermarkets as well and I intend to have a look around next time I go shopping to see whether there is organic produce there. I did get a tree and a Christmas sheaf while I was there, and husband got to work hanging up the bird feeder. We have finished unpacking the kitchen, and made the bedroom presentable so that we can sleep away from the feline tyranny of last night. There are still a lot of books and clothes to unpack, not to speak of all the boxes we stowed in the attic. Might not get to those until after Christmas.

Somehow, during the day I have gotten rid of the last of the boxes (by stowing them in the attic). Well the books are unpacked and organized – only a whole box of books is missing. Also 2 matresses. I can't figure it out. You'd think if something was still on the truck the moving people would have called, or if it was still at Fjellhaug, the cleaning guy would have mentioned it. The books must be in the attic. I just couldn't find them when I looked, but matresses can't just dissapear, can they? I also found places to stow all the clothes, so we didn't need to buy a new dresser after all.

Finally ready to decorate our new home for Christmas on the 23^rd Below is our home with the tree trimmed and the advent candles burning in the kitchen. I had wrapped a Hutzelbrot for our new neighbors, thinking to hang it on their door handle when we left on Christmas eve, but in the evening Geir knocked on the door to deliver a Christmas gift of their own: a lovely bunch of tulips, so I was able to hand over their gift in person.

Moving with Cats

Yesterday we packed the animals in one car and all their stuff + the house plants in another. Lucy and the bird in his carrier crate in the back, Fenris was protected from draft, both by his carrier and on 3 sides by the back seat and side of the car and the crate with car stuff. The cats in their crates were lined up on the back seat, with a couple of boxes with kitchen stuff on top. Tucked next to the cocao and the instant coffee was Blubbulf the fish, in a jam jar, his half full bowl on the floor. Topsy curled up on the passenger side floor with my back pack and stuff on the seat.

At the new house we plugged in the cat feremone diffuser and waited an hour before opening the crates. Funky, who hates being crated and had been protesting loudly the whole time, and made frequent attempts to claw his way out, immediatly left his crate, and found a corner under a table where he could sit and regard his new surroundings. Piril came out, took a short walk of exploration and then went into Funky's crate to have a nap. Puseline just stayed inside her crate sleeping or looking out while we walked the dogs and husband assembled my new desk and hung up curtain rods. Piril and Puseline eventually started exploring after husband left, but Funky stayed put in his corner. Not until evening did he come out, loudly complaining and obviously looking for something. I lifted him onto the sink where I had put their food dishes and sure enouph, he was hungry.

At bedtime I made up my bed on two matresses with a dog bed at each end. I was immediatly joined by two happy cats: Piril and Funky, who settled down on my pillow and feet respectively. This lasted until midnight when I was woken by something landing in my bed: it was Topsy. Something had frightened her (possibly Puseline). That was it! I put the cats out of the bedroom, calmed the dogs back in their beds and tried to go back to sleep. For awhile I lay in bed listening to Piril scratching at the bedroom door, while Funky kept up a steam of loud complaints, until I'd had enough (didn't take very long). When I put all the cats out in the hall and closed the door, I finally had some peace.

Before the movers come I will put them back in their crates, and stack them, facing the wall in the bathroom.

Done Packing - Ready to Move

Puseline having some water laced with Rescue Remedy

I've been puttering about all day, packing up the kitchen, the food, every last minute thing. Actually I'm a bit of a veteran. Between 1989 and 1995 I moved 6 times! To tell the truth, I find it fun! Especially since we decided to pay someone to clean the house afterwards.

Husband just finds it stressfull. Not to speak of the critters. This morning when we took out a bunch of furniture that we are getting rid of, for Husband to burn (the new house is much smaller than our present home), the dogs just about went crazy. They see we are getting ready for a trip and they are afraid we are leaving them behind. The cats are reacting too, though that seems to be mainly because we closed off the cat door and aren't letting them out anymore. While the dogs had to be ordered into their bed / crate to keep them from running around attacking the cats and each other, the cats are spending a lot of time meowing in front of the door. I had to dig into the box at the bottom of which I had packed my Bach Flower Remedies to make up a bottle of rescue remedy with which to dose the animals and Husband.

Anyway, we are done now. After breakfast tomorrow we are packing the animals into one car and all their stuff pluss whatever we have room for in the other and are heading down to Østfold. I will stay at the new house. Husband will return. The movers are expected at 8 am on monday.

We don't know when we'll have our internet hooked up in the new house. Hopefully on monday, though I fear it might not be until the new year. I sincerely hope not. We gave the company about 2 months notice, but it would be typical. Anyway, I'll be back with a new post as soon as we have internet. Below: a picture of the kitty crates ready for the trip. I was hoping the cats would be curious and explore them, but so far, no luck.

Lucy posing in her crate, kitty crates stacked alongside.

Packing

Dancer beside the wedding tree

We've had 2 sparkling frosty clear days, with moon bright nights. I wish the moon would always shine in winter. Together with the snow, it really lightens things up!

Spent a quiet day packing (and dog training). We are pretty much caught up. There are a number of open boxes around, waiting for some final stuff before we close them up. We really are living out of boxes now.

Movie night

So today, obviously I was really tired after getting home at 1 am and waking up at 6:45. I rarely sleep past 7 am. Really only if I am utterly alone at home and there is absolutely nothing clamoring to be done.

Spent the day packing up the bathroom, training and walking the dogs, shopping etc. Talked to Irene on skype. Husband went running for 4 hours and then to work, so by evening we were both tired.



Last week I had listened to the audio recording of THE HELP by Kathryn Stocket, and then downloaded the movie, so we watched it tonight. It was very good, though, as usual, the book was better.

Team admissions

They called me from work, just before I was leaving to catch the train for my 12 O'clock shift. Asked me to come for the evening shift at 3pm instead. Gave me 3 extra hours to do stuff here at home. Even if it meant I wouldn't be home until 1 pm. Right now, on the train home I can hardly keep my eyes open.

It turned out to be a busy shift. 3 team admissions. That's a lot in one shift. A surgical team is called for an MVC or other accident requiring trauma assessment, but also for unstable patients such as leaking aorta aneurisms etc. A medical team is called for unstable medical patients. We also have stroke teams for patients that are candidates for thrombolytic treatment, pediatric teams for critically sick children, and birth teams for patients entering the ER on the point of delivery. A team admission means that the relevant assisting physicians are present as well as interns and residents, anesthesia staff, and 2 experienced ER nurses. Depending on the team a surgical nurse (trauma), pediatric nurse (ped and birth) and midwife will be part of the team as well.

Tonight the teams were:
1. a motor vehicle accident: an 18 year old had slid off the road and the car overturned in the bad weather.

2. A 13 year old who had been kicked by a horse.

3. An elderly lady with difficulty breathing

Christmas shopping

We hadn't been to Løiten Lys in several years, so husband and I decided to do our christmas shopping there this year. They make the most beautiful candles! I mean, they are nice to look at anyway, but the real beauty is when they are lit. Løten Lys is in the old aquavit distillery. There is also a whole little indoor village of shops with home-made soaps, candys, antiques, used books, handwork, and a cafe. These akevit distilleries are to be found all over this area. It was a good area for growing potatoes, which is what the aquavit is made of: potato liquor, basically. Another piece of trivia about aquavit is that it hasn't been properly aged until it has crossed the equator. I quote from Wikipedia: "Peculiar to the Norwegian tradition are Linje Aquavits (such as "Løiten Linje"). Linje Aquavit is named after the tradition of sending oak barrels of aquavit with ships from Norway to Australia and back again, by that passing the equator twice before being bottled. The constant movement, high humidity and fluctuating temperature cause the spirit to extract more flavour and contributes to accelerated maturation."



Later I went to the post office to send packages and cards for Christmas. There's only one more which I am delivering by hand, and then our christmas present shopping will be officially concluded.

No more sleeping over

Last night I slept at the hospital for the last time. I won't miss it. Sleeping over has been expensive and the rooms are sterile and impersonal, but lacking the comforts of a hotel; ie no bedding, no internet, no towels. They claim that they don't provide bedding for reasons of hygiene. But there is no dishwasher in the kitchen either, and I picked up a stomach bug a few weeks ago, which I am prettysure came from insufficiently washed dishes. So much for hygiene! Anyway I look forward to sleeping at home from now on, in my own warm and comfy bed, with my husband to scratch my back, and my dog to lick my hand (her bed is on the floor by my side).

Madhouse

On mondays the ER tends to resemble a madhouse. It is the busyest evening in the week. Today was no exception. Hour after hour we had about 50 patients in the ER. That is a lot, considering that we have 15 regular admission rooms, pluss 2 trauma rooms (3 beds) and 3 observation rooms (10 beds between them).If we fill every possible corner with patients we can admitt about 30. The 10 in observation rooms do not have much privacy to present their problems, though it's better than the hallway and the triage area, which also has 3 observation bays. Still leaves about 20 patients on stretchers along the corridors, in the triage area, or sitting in the waiting room. Surprisingly, things moved along preetty well: nurses and doctors working efficiently. What made this monday different was the number of patients requiring isolation precautions. We had up to 9 rooms on isolation precautions at once. It got hard to find a bathroom for the patients that weren't isolated. Houskeeping were working their buts off! So that was a glimse of a typical monday at the ER.

Second Advent Sunday

While I was at work a friend / neighbor / former colleague / midwife student whom I've been mentoring for her final disertation, brought by some christmas cookies that she had baked for us by way of thanks. They were delicious! (some of the cookies in the picture I made the weekend after thanksgiving - they're quite good too). I hope she gets a good grade on her dissertation.

winter storms

We have had such a mild fall and early winter. Hardly any frost. No snow. In the past week storms along the coast of northern and western Norway have dominated news. High winds and giant waves crashing over houses, closing down ferry transport along the coast, airports and roads. Where we live, in the innland of Southern Norway, we have only had wind and rain. The wind rattles the windows, a few trees are blown down, providing new logs for Lucy to practice balancing on and jumping over. Today though, the temperature sank below freezing, the rain turned to wet snow, the roads became icy - especially the dirt roads. Husband nearly froze to death running home after returning the rental van in Hamar.

Visiting our new house

I've decided to try writing every day this month, only I'll have to do better about taking pictures. I forgot to take pictures both at the farm and at the dog park :(

Today we rented a large van, filled it with all our bicycles, a couple of matresses, my buckets of roots for next years flowers, curtains and Christmas decorations, and drove down to the new house. It was smaller than I remembered, lower cielings: really had a 300-year-old bake & brew house atmosphere. I think it will be quite cozy once we get moved in. Right now it is cold and empty, but once we have furnished it, heated the wood stove and moved in with all our critters we will be "snug as a bug in a rug".

The main purpose of the trip was to shop for a new bed, coffee table, and measure the rooms to see how we would furnish the house. Turns out my desk won't fit, and I had to buy a new one. The furniture store seemed only to sell big bulky pieces designed for spacious rooms, not a little old farm house. We finally found a bed we liked, for a decent price but it wasn't in stock. We'll have to either look in Stange or order it and sleep on matresses on the floor in the meantime.

We decided that instead of leaving them alone at home all day, we'd leave the dogs at a dog park that an agility friend of mine runs. I was a bit worried how it would go, but apparently they had a blast: Lucy ran with 4-5 other dogs in a large field. Topsy didn't like any of the other dogs; so she spent most of the day hanging out with Kari Mette in the house.

Advent

It is december first in the first week of advent. We are living surrounded by boxes. Only the advent candle on the table and the advent calendars to show that we are in the midst of the Christmas season.

Therefore the pictures are from work. Above the gingerbread village at the entrance to the pediatric department. I wish I could have captured the smell as well.

During the night shifts this week my colleagues set up an amazing advent tree. It is fastened with plastic garbage strips to an IV stand, and hung with brightly wrapped gifts and gold balls. We all put 50 kr in an envelope for the tree, and at each shift change one or more of the gifts will be drawn.