Home Sweet Home

Thursday evening at Todd and Kristy's
(Nora is wearing an outfit that Todd wore as a baby.)

My last post was on Easter Sunday.  It's now a week later with no mid week post!  I was on a holiday and took a holiday from posting too, not really intentional, but the week went by so quickly that before I knew it we were heading back to Canada after being away for eleven days.

I'll start with our last day in Kristiansund on April 4.  We did some last minute shopping at the mall, the Coop downtown and at a little second hand store that we always check out on our visits.  Food items that we bring back always include brown cheese and chocolate bars.  Norwegians do a lot of hiking over the Easter holidays and the traditional chocolate bar to take along is KVIKK LUNSJ.  They sell in packs of six and are similar to our Kit Kat bars, but are even better, according to Todd!                

Nowegian brown cheese in 1 kg packages
(a milder cheese than the Gjetost that we can buy in Canada)

My souvenir this time was a glass mushroom from Hadeland glass works.  Howard and I , along with Todd and Kristy, visited Hadeland and saw the glass blowers at work.  I had admired the mushrooms then so when I saw a lone red one at Glas Magasin at the Oslo airport, I was quick to buy it!  Howard's Grandma Gina Johnson had worked at that glass factory before coming to America.

Nora's godmother, Ruth, dropped by on Thursday when we were out shopping. ( So sorry to have missed you.)  She left special gifts for Laurel and me - bracelets with the brand name "Nora".  Here's a picture of the box with my lovely blue bracelet.  (Tusen takk, Ruth!)

Ruth also sent a beautiful dress for Ashley that both her girls, Lana and Uma, had worn and loved.  Ashley loves to wear dresses, even for everyday so it took some convincing that she should save this one for special occasions.  

Ashley holding a pink shell from Norway.
The flower in her hair is from "Dancing with Gracie".

The picture at the start of this post was taken as we were ready to leave for a dinner out on our last evening with Todd and Kristy.  We ate at a restaurant by the harbour.

Todd enjoying his klippfisk.

Kristy had steak, Laurel and I chose cod

The $25.00 creme brulee that two of us shared.
 It was delicious! (a dollar a bite?)

The view from the restaurant window

Eating out is a rare treat in Norway.  Each meal was 298 kroner, or $53.00 Cdn. There was no salad, juice or bread served with the meal.  We shared two desserts, creme brulee at 145 kroner each, which came to $25.00 Cdn for one dessert!!  The total bill was 1,849.00 kroner or $322.26 in Cdn funds for a meal for four people.  One good thing, tips are not expected!  

Well, this is just the first part of my "catch up" posts.  I suggested to Laurel that she do a guest post so watch for that in the future. She was trying out a zoom lens on her camera so she has many great pictures to share.  This was her first trip to Norway and my sixth.  Laurel and Todd shared some special sister/brother times including a drive to Molde to watch a football (soccer to us) game and an overnight trip on the Hurtigruten from Kristiansund to Trondheim.  They toured the one thousand years old Nideros Cathedral, did some shopping and returned that evening via speed boat.  Todd also took her to his workplace at Swire and to several sites of interest around Kristiansund, a city of four islands with a population of around 24,000 on the west coast of Norway.  It has Norway's best and finest natural harbour right in the city centre.   For more information check out www.visitkristiansund.com or google Kristiansund Norway.

Norway moved their clocks ahead last weekend so they are now eight hours ahead.  I adjusted easily going over but have more problems coming home.  I woke up at 3 a.m. the first night at Laurel's and couldn't go back to sleep.  Last night I was in bed by 9 and woke up at 5 so got almost 8 hours of sleep last night.  Maybe I can stay up a bit later tonight and sleep until 7!  Now it's time to get ready for morning worship at 10:30.  I am so thankful for safe travels, good health for both of us and a very special mother/daughter trip.  Watch for more about Nora on my next post!

We had a little snow overnight but the roads should be okay this morning.  Have a good week.  It is back to school tomorrow for SK students and teachers after the Easter break.