Happy Christmas - God Jul!

It has again been a while since our last update, we really don't know where the year has gone.
We pair here in Norway send our biggest Christmas wishes to you all, and all the very best as we go in to the New Year, we hope 2018 is a great year for you all.

2017 has been a whirlwind of a year for us.
We brought in the year in a bar in Harstad,
sold our house,
planned to move to Ireland,
almost did move to Ireland,
found a house in Norway,
bought a house in Norway,
spent most of the spring/summer moving to Norway,
found work,
lost loved ones,
gained friends,
learnt all about midges and mosquito's,
watched as the once snow covered garden burst in to colour,
camped out in the midnight sun,
explored by bike/boat/foot/car,
explored Sweden,
discovered how many toll roads there are in Norway,
slept in the car in -16C,
experienced freezing fog for the first time,
drank mulled wine under the northern lights,
bought a car engine heater,
put an extra jumper on as ice appeared on the inside of the walls as temps dropped to -25C,
spent evening after evening in our bbq hut,
followed walks to huts and shelters to warm up,
shovelled snow time and time again, from roofs to pathways,
met incredibly kind and generous people in our amazing new homeland.

Christmas for us was possibly not how we had hopped to spend our first Christmas here as Daniel was working throughout the Christmas period and is also working New Year (no late night then!) but we were kindly invited out twice over the Christmas time and got first hand experience of what a Norwegian Christmas is like, which was very touching. We also went along to the kirk on Christmas eve where the bells are rung to bring in Christmas, Daniel even braving doing a few rings himself!

New Year will be a quiet affair which alarms set for 5.30am, considering a Papay New year rarely sees you in bed before 9am...! We are looking forward to all that 2018 holds, from work to pleasure.

Here are some photos of our winter so far.

Christmas trees in the centre of Brøstadbotn

One of the many heavy snow showers

Festive BBQ hut

Reindeer in Sweden

A little open hut for warming up!

Northern lights and our Christmas tree, taken from inside to avoid the cold!

Summer update

Prompted by a Facebook comment we realise it has been ages since we last wrote...so here we will try to summarise the summer!

Since arriving back in Norway after the road trips to and from the UK with furniture etc we have been based entirely in our new home. We have picked up work over summer which has been great, we had worried there might be little work for us locally and that the commute to work might involve to and fro passing out of our Kommune. We have in actual fact been very lucky to have both had work within the Kommune and within cycling distance.

Aside from work we have had lots of projects at our new house, whilst it was totally ready to move in to we have set about a few changes to suit us. Perhaps the biggest addition being a bbq hut, having loved our time in Bjarkoys BBQ Hut we had agreed to one day get one. So where better than Norway, with the winters snowy nights providing the best bbq atmosphere, and the added bonus of keeping the midges at bay in summer!

Speaking of midges... some of the first words we learnt of Norwegian were Mygg (mosquito), Knott (Midge) and Clegg (evil lion toothed, eagle sized monsters or Horsefly) and with good reason too. We were plagued with the things at work, at home, in the garden, on cycle rides, camping, walking...you name it they found a way to be there. Our only escape was through bonfires, the smoke seeming to keep them away, we also were taught the other magic cure...cow udder cream! Not sure how that one was discovered!

Our first British visitors came at the end of summer and unfortunately brought with them some typically Orkney weather, rain and wind. Nonetheless it was good to show them around and find a few trails and even venture in to Finland too. Our second visitors in mid September brought a different climate entirely in fact for the month they were here it rained twice! Unbelievable! And there we were telling them to take their wet weather clothing!

Summer seems to have come and gone so quickly we haven't had a real chance to stop and appreciate it, but we hope to have many more years for that. Now though the nights are filled with stunning merry dancers and the days are getting shorter. There is also a new winter noise, the sound of studded tyres on the cars in anticipation of the ice and snow, something we must get used to too. We are toying with the idea of getting studded tyres for the bicycles too, something just feels wrong about cycling on ice! Might need a few more layers too! I guess if the driving/ cycling on ice is too scary we have the Sparkstotting!

Any way our words aren't up for describing our time so far, so here are a few photos instead!

Cycling locally

Shed moving, for BBQ hut space

A rest in the midge repellent smoke!

Quickstep ashore

Wet and sinky ground!

Moving Quickstep by winch

Digging for BBQ Hut

Dragonfly

The First bbq

Preparing for winter

Steinora

BBQ Hut complete

Foggy days

Northern Lights by camera phone

Northern lights by camera phone

Snow appearing on the higher mountains and hills