Topsy - Husband's Best Friend

Topsy had been getting more and more stiff over the past 2 weeks. She seemed to have pain in her neck as well. We took her to the vet yesterday. We had talked about it in advance, that perhaps her time was up. She was already getting well over the max dose of pain killers, as well as special kibble and cosequin and after a stable period of about 2 years she was deteriorating. The vet agreed, sadly we said goodbye to Topsy. She was given a sedative and I stayed with her until she was fast asleep. Then I left her while she was put down. Below is a journey in pictures of her 12 years as our best friend and the worlds best dog!

A couple of months old: killing a sneaker.

Already Husband's Best Friend!

Loved playing soccer!

6 months old: first trip to the cabin at Vinster Vatn in Valdres. 

With her friend and playmate: Sebastian

2001: She came with us to Bjørneparken and Langeland

At Røros church before cheering Husband on a 150 km mountain bike race. 

And in the late fall climbing Muen with me.  

On a road trip to Oppdal, Nidaros and Røros.

Topsy came with us to the cabin at Vinstervatn for several summers...

... where she slept under the bed at night... 

...and went on many hikes with us. 

Hiking across Besseggen

Hiking up Bitihorn

Summertime at home was spent napping on the Veranda

playing soccer with the kids

and just looking cute. 

When Dancer came back from America she brought a tooth brush and chicken flavored toothpaste, and tooth brushing became an occasional routine.

Husband's best friend in winter too.  

Topsy loved "killing" sticks, and in the summer, rocks.

'

Topsy as Santa

Opening her christmas present

In 2009 a new puppy joined the family: Topsy clearly shows her displeasure.  

But she was always a bit fan of Cathrine who would come for a few days visit once or twice a year. 

An Evening in Oslo

To celebrate our 11th aniversary, we decided to take in a show in Oslo. We took the train and walked to Oslo's best italian ice cream parlor, run by a true Italian. Here we had ice cream and coffee, before continuing on our way down Karl Johan, Oslo's main drag. 

Approaching the Grand Hotel, we found the street guarded by 2 mounted police and the sidewalk cordoned off, with crowds of teenage girls hanging over the barrier. Obviously something was up. 

We still had plenty of time before the show so we sat on the balustrade of the Stortinget (houses of congress), to soak up some sun and watch the action. 

Below the lilacs were blooming and you can see the crowds in front of the Grand Hotel. Every time a tourist bus or a taxi would stop in front of the hotel they would start to skream. It turned out they were hoping to catch a glimpse of Justin Bieber who had arrived in Norway that afternoon. http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/distrikt/ostlandssendingen/1.8163040

Around a fountain in the park below the Stortinget a yoga group was sitting in quiet meditation oblivious to the bustle and excitement around them. 

Finally it was time to find our theatre. This years musical offering from Oslo Nye Theater is called "Postkort fra Lillebjørn". A dramatic rendering of a whole medley of Lillebjørn Nilsens songs. He is considered Oslo's own songwriter, and I remember Knut used to talk about knowing him, and he also used to sing his songs. The show was very good with a lot of optimistic songs and some fantastic guitar and accordion playing. 

Gaupesteinen (translation: the bobcat stone)

One of the most popular walks in the area is to Gaupesteinen. A huge boulder that can be found in the middle of the forrest. Paths converge from all sides. Both from Enebakk to the north, Ski to the west and Tomter to the southeast. 

There is a legend that the Dovre troll laid the stone down on this location when he moved south with farm and family after a fight with his neighbor the Rondane Troll. At that time the Follo people and the Tomter people were in the middle of a dispute about where the border should go between their lands. The appearance of the boulder however was taken as a sign by both parties that the boulder should mark the border. 

http://www.hobol.kommune.no/turtips-1-gaupestein.5017278-241359.html

In historic times the boulder was a place where people from the surrounding hamlets gathered to eat and drink, play music and dance. 

Suddenly Summer

I woke up on monday after 3 night shifts (working all night and sleeping all day) to find that suddenly summer had arrived. The temps soared into the 70's and then the 80's, which is quite intense in Norway. The sun is shining from a cloudless blue sky. There was a light breeze waving the branches of the trees, and best of all the forecast is for it to stay like this for at least a week!

So on the weekend I took Lucy to Oslo Dog Show, which is a two day obedience and agility trial. The weather, as forecast was gorgeous!. The trial was held in a old quarry, surrounded by woods and lakes on the outskirts of Oslo. As we rounded the top of the hill early saturday morning we got our first view of the event.

After parking I looked for a good place to set up our crate and stool backpack for the day. On a slope overlooking the action was a row of tents. In the space between the second and third tent from the left we set ourselves up. 

Here Lucy rested in her crate between walks in the area, and trips down to the ringside to watch the action, pluss her own runs, while I sat beside her making the fall schedule for work, and playing puzzles on my ipad. 

Those are her toys inside and her water bowl in front of the crate. 

I was very happy with our runs. We qualified on both runs on saturday. About half the dogs disqualify in each run in class 1, which is the beginners class, which we compete in. Lucy is very malleable, she goes where I show her, but I still need to do a lot to improve my handling, as well as starting to add some commands that I can use from a distance. 

On Sunday we disqualified on both runs. It was totally my fault.  The breeze had died down, and the heat was stifling. Lucy does NOT enjoy heat, and I have taken to wetting her down just before our runs to make it more comfortable. She is also easily distracted by the environment: tons of strange dogs and people...So I shouldn't have led out beyond the second jump in agility. She went around it and as I was trying to turn her around to take it she misunderstood and took a tunnel instead. Ooops! The jumpers run she started off course after the second jump, I called and she skidded to a halt turning towards me and knocking over the long jump in the process. That was what disqualified us. I didn't realize it though and we continued through the course. I was proud of Lucy who completed the course with me including the weavepoles on the third try, and the collapsed tunnel (her most difficult obstacles). 

Not our run, just a picture of a jumpers course.

I've started to figure out how best to prepare my dog for competition. I try to balance resting in her crate with walks to relieve herself and for exercise. I also make sure we spend time walking all around the rings, so that she can get used to all the activity and the dogs and people. Just before our run I wet her down if it's hot, and take her to the ringside where we do contact exercises like tugging, chasing me, shadow handling, and obedience. These are to get her arousal up and her focus on me. The remaining work has to be mine. To make a good plan during briefing. To stick with it. To learn the course by heart so that I don't lose focus during the run. I have found that the minute I lose my focus, I lose the dog. Below is a picture from one of our walks around the the arena. 

May 17th - Norway's Constitution Day

Had the greatest 17th of May ever this year. A few days before they were forecasting pouring rain for 3 straight days from May 16th through 18th, but day by day the forecast got better and by the time the 17th rolled around it was mainly sunny with the occasional shower.
Here in Østfold the cherries are blooming as are dandelions and violets. Lillies of the Valley are almost out.


Husband had to work, but the agility club was planning a training and grilling day - weather permitting. About 9 or 10 of us showed up to train. It was a such a nice way to celebrate. Not haveing to dress up. Lots of dogs and friendly people. They are such a nice crowd, my new agility friends. Lise brought her new puppy Oh Gosh! who is almost 8 weeks old and just the cutest thing. A couple brought a gass grill. Lucy and I had a good training session, a little too long but otherwise good. I'm following Lise's advice and giving cookies every 1-2 obstacles and her enthusiasm and focus have improved vastly.


Later in the afternoon husband and I were invited to our neighbors for hot dogs, cake and coffee, and we got to meet their Anne-Sofie's parents and brother as well. It was an enjoyable afternoon. Good to meet socially sometimes, though our lives have been too hectic for that to happen very often. Both Anne Sofie and I work rotating shifts, our husbands have the farm and training, and then there's their kids activities...

Slottstien (translation: castle path)

We talked about starting to explore some of the area when spring came. There is a large network of public footpaths and today we went on our first walk. Of course Husband has been exploring already during his running over large areas around our house. This walk was about a 15 minute drive away, to the highest point in Spydeberg township, which neighbors our township of Hobøl on the east. 

The path we took is called Slottsstien and starts from a chicken farm,  following the edge of the fields before it enters the forest and up the hill. You can read about "Slottsåsen" (Castle Hill) on Spydeberg's homepage: 


"Castle Hill's highest point is 232 meters above sea level. The fortress is about 50 meters south of the tower. The castle area is approx. 100 x 70 meters, and particularly to the south and west the remains of stone walls can be found well preserved. It is a common opinion that the hill castles derive from the Migration Period of ca. 1500 years ago, and served as "defenses" in  troubled times. However,  archaeological evidence is hard to find. There are several such primitive fortifications in the area. Castles were often placed in locations that had strategic importance and good views. The defense works usually consisted  of dry stone walls,  probably originally reinforced with palisades on the side with easiest access.

Approx. 250 meters south of Castle Hill is a "twin castle" on Høgås. It is located approx.20 meters lower, and you have to first climb down into the valley and up again on the other side to get there."

Dancer with Lucy and Topsy

The ruins of the castle walls

The lookout tower at the top of the hill. 

View toward Tomter

View toward Spydeberg

March

Love the view from our living room window, since they started pasturing the horse out there.

Husband has been putting together planting boxes for me. Therer is not enough earth over the bedrock to have a garden without them.

Meanwhile the kitties are still spending most of the day napping on the sofa.

Another spring job is sawing logs for next winters firewood.

While at the foot of the saw mill, the first coltsfoot are blooming.

Basking in the sun

We have had several lovely sunny days lately: mild, no wind. The ice is quickly melting away and being replaced with mud. Today I finally did what I have been longing to do: took out a garden chair and sat in the afternoon sun behind our cottage.

Above is Lucy posing in my sunning chair with the my tea cup (green chai with honey and milk) and the latest Vince Flynn, while below is the view from my chair.

I sat through 3 chapters and Lucy practiced lying quietly by my side, with occasional "cookies" to keep her motivated.

Could this be Spring?

Here is a picture from my dog walk around the farm a week ago. In the last few days the snow has all but disappeared. The ice beneath is following fast. It seems incredible that it should already be spring. It's only the end of February! The sun is shining, birds are singing their spring songs, but on examining the trees and bushes and searching the ground where it is green, I have been unable to detect swelling buds or flowers.

Valentines Day

So the other day I sat down to think: what would my life look like if I woke up one morning to find that I had the perfect life (this was an exercise in the introduction to a book my daughter recommended called "Change your Life in 7 Days" by Paul McKenna). I sometimes think that I would really prefer to be alone, to being in a relationship. However, when I really thought about it - in a perfect life I would not be alone. I would be married to a kind, generous, loving man.

Valentines day dinner at Sushi Asia. They had the most delicious lam and vegetable dinner!

Valentines present which I found on my desk when I got up. Husband had to work and had gotten up at 5 am leaving me to sleep in. I have always wanted a set of natural skin care products, and these are travel sized. Just the thing for when we travel to America later this spring.

I gave husband a gift card for 12 deserts, to be made by me within the next year. To be honest, I needed an excuse to try out some recipes for desserts without sugar that I found in the "broccoli forrest" cookbook. I immediatly got busy and made the first one: an apple, cheese, port pie with an almond crust. But I cheated and used home-made currant juice instead of port - so it had some sugar in it after all.

Norwegian Mothers Day

Today is the Norwegian mother's day, and I am feeling a little bereft: After having a full house for the most part of 2 weeks, with both Tormod and the girls visiting, the house feels empty now, and I am missing them terribly. However I do have an upcoming visit from Audun and Annina to look forward to in a couple of weeks. Hurray!

All bundled up for a walk with the dogs.

Irene was exhausted when she first arrived.

Ingvild taking care of a little personal hygiene.

Tormod checking his email at my desk.

Knut's Funeral

Today I went to the funeral of someone with whom I spent 12 years of my life: the father of my children. I drove 2,5 hours from our place in the woods of Østfold, south of Oslo northwards to a small church overlooking the Randsfjorden lake. It was a sunny day, crispy cold. Mist rising up off the lake. A small intimate little church, the surrounding gravestones peaking up from the snow. The priest, an round, bald, fatherly man, gave a kind of informal warmth to the service.

Sitting there in the pew I thought of the good things this person had brought into my life, of things we had shared, and lessons I had learned through living with him. The farm up near the arctic circle which we farmed for 6 years. Our travels to England and the US, visiting cultural sites in England, and exploring state and national parks in the US. Reading The Philosophy of Freedom, together. He taught me to ski. Commitment to the truth, and the importance of Keeping Agreements. And the greatest gifts: 4 lovely children, now young adults.

Rest in Peace!