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!
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| Cycling locally |
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| Shed moving, for BBQ hut space |
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| A rest in the midge repellent smoke! |
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| Quickstep ashore |
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| Wet and sinky ground! |
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| Moving Quickstep by winch |
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| Digging for BBQ Hut |
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| Dragonfly |
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| The First bbq |
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| Preparing for winter |
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| Steinora |
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| BBQ Hut complete |
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| Foggy days |
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| Northern Lights by camera phone |
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| Northern lights by camera phone |
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| Snow appearing on the higher mountains and hills |
