FUN TIMES IN FØRDE

I'TS FALL!

(not a family picture, but a good one for autumn)

I didn't keep a diary on this trip so I won't give you a day by day account of our time in Norway, but just cover some highlights.  Just to be with Todd and Kristy, Nora and Elly Clara in their home was the highlight for me!  We hadn't seen Todd, Kristy and Nora since Christmas, 2014 when they made a surprise trip to Canada.  Alan had just spent a couple hours with them at the Ledene home in Brooks, AB before we were married, so this visit was now a chance for him to get better acquainted with his stepson and family. We were both excited to meet baby Elly Clara for the first time, such a little sweety.

Their home didn't have a guest room but we were able to stay at the Folk School where Todd and Kristy both worked.  Our room had twin beds, a desk and double closet.  It also had it's own small bathroom with shower.  There was a kitchen down the hall but we preferred Kristy's kitchen!  There was a short cut path from their house to the school which we were told was a five or ten minute walk.  We tried it going the downhill way from their house to the school and it took us 20 minutes.  Forget the uphill walk!  So we ended up riding back to the house with Todd when he brought Nora to Barnehage.  That building was just a couple minutes from the dorm where we stayed.

Nora at the Barnehage door

On the teeter totter with Papa

Having a good swing on the playground.

Todd and Kristy's home is part of a condo like area with two storey units joined together in rows.  Each unit has a little playground, perfect for families with young children.   Their house really has no yard, so not much upkeep outside either.  Here's the back of the house - a deck with a rock garden behind it.

The back door that leads to the back deck.

As is tradition in Norway, babies are put outside
in their buggies for their naps.

A view of the side of the deck

A rock garden just off the deck

There were many cloudy, cool days in Førde so I was glad to get a picture of some blue sky with a partial rainbow.  This was taken looking out the living-room windows with the front deck in the foreground and other housing on a lower level with just the roofs showing.  In between there is a paved narrow street which is not open to traffic but used as a walk way as well as for loading or unloading groceries and passengers from vehicles.  It's also an ideal place for the neighbourhood children to play.  The garage area is on a higher level with covering for vehicles, but with no doors.

We enjoyed going to friends just a few doors down for delicious homemade fish soup one evening.  The soup maker was the man of the house, as well as a doctor.  On a Sunday afternoon we joined these families at "the beach", actually an indoor beach volleyball facility that the folk school rents for a three year term.  It was built for a machine company and when it became too small for their purposes it was transformed into a "beach" area.  Sand, originally from Denmark, was brought in and spread over heated pipes to make it warm.  The facility also has a climbing wall so is a multipurpose area.  Families rent it for birthday parties or just to spend a fun time at the "beach" no matter what the weather outside.  The huge background scene came from Sweden

Having fun together in the warm sand

A climber at the top with support person below

Enjoying this indoor "beach"

This picture was taken after a Sunday morning worship service.  There were five seatbelts in Todd's car so he had to make two trips to get us all there and back.

Another afternoon we visited Bjorg, who lives just uphill from the folk school.  Nora visits her when Todd and Kristy need a "grandma" to help out.  It is so special to be invited into homes, something tourists don't get to experience, so it's one of the benefits of having family living in Norway. We get to experience life in Norway first hand.

View from Bjorg's living-room window overlooking Førde.

A very interesting wall

Enjoying "svelle" and dessert with fresh raspberries. Yumm!

Cities in Norway keep natural areas for walking, hiking and relaxing in the outdoors.  Here's Nora feeding the ducks in a pond just a short walk from their home.  Elly Clara came along in her buggy as the path is wide enough for family walks.  There were raspberries to pick along the way. The second picture shows Nora picking mushrooms on a hike with her Barnehage class.

The weather was often rainy and cool when we were there so it was good to have indoor activities too.  Todd had subscribed to MLB baseball so Alan was able to watch the Blue Jays, sometimes the next day when the games were in the evening as Norway is eight hour ahead of SK.  Here's Elly Clara watching her first game with him.  

 Each evening Nora picked out four books, one for each of us to read to her.  Alan usually got "Socks for Supper".

Well, that's a bit about our time in Førde.  I should have had a picture of my shopping trips downtown.  My favourite store is the second hand one where the proceeds of their sale goes to support charities.  Items are displayed as if they are new items and prices are very reasonable, unlike new items in the regular stores!  I especially like finding handmade items like their "klokkestrengs" or wall hangings.  I know the hours and hours that someone has put into stitching and the price they are marked wouldn't even pay for the ends, let alone the labour.  This small picture doesn't do them justice as they are at least three feet long.

Now a brief update on farming: we had an inch of rain in the last few days so farmers are getting a break from harvest.  Greg and Laurel's harvest was finished the day before the rain, great timing!  Clare had finished the land he rents out west so that was great.  He had good quality durum there so that would have deteriorated with a heavy rainfall.  Rain won't hurt the standing flax over east.

We had plans to attend a threshing bee in Frontier this weekend but rain changed those plans.  Maybe next weekend?

Clare and Jodi had birthdays this week and for once harvest didn't interfere.  Today is Jodi's and they are in Regina with Abbey at a curling camp.  Clare spent his on Thursday in Weyburn instead of at the farm.

Time for lunch and Alan is going to make a yummy omelette!  Next time you'll hear about our trip to Sogndal to visit the birthplace of my greatgrandfather, Peder Stenson.