Feeling thankful - #100happydays

Day 3 #100happydays

Today I am feeling thankful that our prehistoric dinosaur of a lawnmower still works.  It is over 30 years old and it is getting incredibly difficult to source parts for it when it has a breakdown.  We were lucky this year that my husband was able to find substitute parts to fix it. In the future we may not be so lucky.

To replace this beast will require a lot of money - somewhere in the region of NOK 50K .  So, as you can imagine, we'd rather not be burdened with that expense any time soon.

To cut the lawn (tamed meadow) takes over 2 hours, so this isn't a luxury garden toy, but an essential one. Here's hoping we have have a couple more, trouble free years of grass cutting.

My favourite summer salad.

Day 2 #100happydays

I posted about my love of Broccoli Salad as part of the 100 Happy Days Challenge here.

 I discovered the idea of the salad via a friend a few years ago and decided to give it a go.  The recipe I used was this one: Fresh Broccoli Salad.  To say it was a success for the guests I had visiting at the time was an underestimate.  Everyone enjoyed it.  For me, it was the perfect way to eat broccoli during the warmer months without having to steam or stir-fry the vegetable.

So fast forward a couple of years to now and this is a photo of the salad I took to a BBQ yesterday.

I've amended the recipe to reflect that we don't eat red meat, so the bacon has gone.  Instead, I added some sunflower seeds to add a bit more crunch.  I've also tweaked the dressing because our taste buds prefer something that isn't so sweet.  So here is my recipe:

BROCCOLI  SALAD

2 Heads of broccoli, cut into bite-sized florets 

1 onion (red or white), finely chopped

50g/2oz Raisins

50g/2oz Sliced almonds

50g/2oz Sunflower seeds

1 cup Mayonnaise (I used lower fat variety)

3 tbsp White wine vinegar

3-4tsp sugar.

Cut up broccoli into bite sized florets and finely chop the onion then mix in a bowl with the raisins, nuts and seeds.

In a separate bowl or jug, mix together the mayonnaise, vinegar and sugar until smooth.  Then add dressing to the dry ingredients and stir in. Chill in the fridge until needed - it will keep for 4-5 days.

*Before pouring the dressing over the ingredients, taste to see if the dressing is to your taste.  If it isn't sweet enough, just add and taste with each teaspoon of additional sugar until you find what works for you.  

Enjoy!

As a child, I hated all foods that were green in colour apart from cucumber. Now as a mature adult, I can eat this everyday during the summer.  I'm sure as a child I would never have believed I would eat such a thing as broccoli.  There is hope for my son... :-)

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.

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!!