HUMP DAY

Yes, it's the middle of the week already and I really don't have much to write about tonight.  ( You should have done my blog too, Christa!)  I've kept busy this week trying to get a few things done before I head out to Alberta next week to meet Todd, Kristy and little Nora.  If you are on Facebook you'll have seen their latest picture but I'll add it here for those who haven't seen it.  They are really enjoying their warm weather holiday at a resort near Cancun.  Nora enjoys it too, sleeps well and doesn't mind the spicy food that her mom had been eating.  I might have to spice mine up when they get here!

I got a few things done this week - baked flatbread, lefse, a batch of granola, cooked chokecherry syrup for our pancakes and froze a batch of punch cubes.  Today I've been cleaning in the Norwegian room.  I was admiring my mother's handwork as I hung up the freshly washed  white crocheted curtains that she made for their house in Saskatoon.  She made for two windows so Sandra and I each have a set.

A few years ago Howard and I visited a retreat centre in North Dakota.  Each room had a theme and I thought "Why can't I do that at home?"  So I gathered up all the Norwegian things that were scattered here and there in the house and put them in this bedroom in the basement.  After five trips to Norway, I really don't have room for any more Norsk things in this room!  These shelves are about full of keepsakes from my parents, grandparents or gifts and items that I have picked up at garage sales and even a "lupe" market (flea market) in Norway!

The Norwegian doll in the middle of this shelf was a gift from my Haaland grandparents when they made their one and only trip back to Norway in 1951.  She has lost her bonnet and I made a new apron for her but she's doing pretty well for a sixty-one year old.  It took me longer than it should have to clean this room today as I got looking at some of the books as I took them down to wipe them off.  When we visited mom's folks, the adults sat and visited in Norwegian and we were left to entertain ourselves.  Our favourite book was a picture book of Norway entitled "Look at Norway".  I'll share our favourite picture with you.  It's one of the sculptures in the Vigeland Park in Oslo.  Kari Eika took us to this famous park when Sandra and I visted her family last July.  We were both surprised how small the statue is.  Even when this book was printed in the fifties, the comment says "This little chap is Public Favourite No. 1"

Now I'll show you a picture of "this little chap"as we saw him last summer.

Well, that's where this blog has taken us tonight.  Now it's bedtime for me.  I better get rested up for my dental appointment with Dr. Crook tomorrow morning!  Have a great rest of the week.