It's that time of year again.  The poppy plant in the garden is flowering again.  Nothing unusual about that, except this year the first flower began opening on 30th May.  I can't remember a flower before June before (at least in the Summer).

This photo was taken just as Oskar was leaving for school this morning .  The background story as to why I take photos of Oskar and the poppy is here.

Looking for the "Perfect" Christmas Tree.

We had a little trip into the forest on Saturday looking for a Christmas Tree.  We are usually looking for something with a max. height of 3.25m / 10ft.

We headed off just after lunch with a flask of cocoa, clementines and biscuits, as well the essential tools -ax and saw.  Due to the fact that the weather forecast had been wrong the previous night ( we had rain instead of snow ) :-O, the track was slippery so we couldn't take a trailer with us.  Also, we only have one 4WD car, so contigency plans were made and it was arranged that Nils' father would drive up and pick me, Oskar and his friend up, whilst Nils would drive back with the Christmas tree, once it had been found and chopped down.

When we stopped and got out of the car, it seemed that we'd come to the wrong place...nothing looked "worthy".  So we decided to let Oskar and his friend do a bit of sledging before heading for another location.  Athough it was only early afternoon, the sun was barely above the horizon and the air was decidedly chilly.

The rain that had fallen the previously night had frozen in the trees, so any slight breeze sent hail like drops from the trees.

We'd just about decided to give-up our search and have the cocoa etc, when Nils spotted "our" tree and then we saw another!  Decisions, decisions!  Actually, it didn't take too long to decide because by now my Father-in-Law had turned up and the boys were devastated to find out I'd forgotten to bring cups for the cocoa :-0  We were all ready to head back as quickly as possible.

Boys with toys: Nils with an ax, Oskar with the saw.

Now the job was done, we headed back home to the warm house...the warm cocoa was perfect :-)

This is how our Christmas 2013 tree looks :-)

Nesbrua

1.6km / 1 mile from where I live is Nesbrua. The bridge stretches over a narrow part of Gjerstadvannet (lake). We have to drive/walk over the bridge to get to where we live.

This photo I took this afternoon around 2pm whilst waiting for the school bus to drop off Oskar.



At the moment, tree pollen is everywhere...our cars are covered. Here you can see some pollen that has fallen into Gjerstadvannet.




A view of the bridge from the side we live on...it was taken last week. Oskar has his rain cover on his rucksack! He's on his way to catch the school bus along Gjerstadveien.



How it looked at the end of Winter.

1st three days of Summer @ Mo!

It has been a wonderful start to the Summer, here in Southern Norway. Nice warm temperatures and lots of sun! To Oskar, this means that we are only one month to his 7th Birthday! For me, it is refreshing to be able to natures' greenery, after a long Winter.



Yes, it was 22 degrees Celsius at 11am on 1st June! Okay, to most people, the fact we reached a high of 25 degrees Celsius that day isn't by any standards special! But to us living in the temperate climes of Northern Europe, it is welcome and long overdue;)



Forget-Me-Nots growing wildly in the garden!!



Although we love rhubarb, it isn't good for people who have joint problems....so we don't eat any :( Therefore, we just let it flowers in its own unique way!



Since the snow melted, I walk Oskar down to the bus stop each day (unless it is raining). It is 2km from our house to where he picks up the bus on the nearest main road. In a morning we walk half the distance, as that is all that time allows. This morning, we saw more signs of Summer:



I love the scent of Lily of the Valley and the delicate white flowers.




Beautiful Violas.



The flowers of the Wild Strawberry.....Oskar loves eating the fruit when ready!


Lastly a picture of one of our apple trees. It is now hiding the huge Magpie penthouse style nest. So now, as the tree looks so pretty, we re-named it the Magpie Love-shack!!

A view from the dining room window!

A roedeer wandered into the garden looking for food....it found some apple to eat!

Snail Watch 31st July 2009

In the Garden......

Cherries



Jasmine

Finse 3-8 May 2009

Nils went to Finse on 3rd May to attend a Winter School for his PHd studies. After a 7 1/2 hour train journey, he arrived at the highest point on the Oslo-Bergen railway....1222m above sea level!

The Hotel at the station! Yes that is a railway carriage connecting the two buildings!


Nils and his Professor Vladimir out skiing! This was nice weather! On a couple of other days there was blizzard conditions!



As the conditions are so harsh, the few trees that are around are like Bonzai! Here is an example of a Pussy Willow! (We have a couple of mature ones in our garden)

Alcohol is purely medicinal, of course! ;-)

Not quite a full moon over Finse on 8th May! (full moon 9th May)

Nils thoroughly enjoyed his time there and having the opportunity to ski as well as learn!

THE most weird apple tree in Gjerstad!

The apple tree nearest our house had a bad winter, causing it to partially collapse. If that wasn't bad enough, I lost my washing line which was also attached to the tree. So, to make the tree safer for Oskar, Nils did some pruning and jacked the tree up, to add some support.



This is the end result. A rather odd shaped tree, which isn't guarenteed to survive, but will be fun for Oskar to hone is climbing technique this Summer!

Dyreparken, Kristiansand 2009!

So far this year, Oskar and I have been to the zoo 3 times. Here are some photos from the last two visits on 17th & 24th April.