....some snow in a corner of our garden during the winter of 2010.
Christmas continued into January with another festive dinner and this Norwegian cake, kanse kake, made by DiL and the two granddaughters - the main ingredient being almonds.
An exciting find under the garden hedge. One whale vertebrae, the white egg indicates scale. It rather resembles a Henry Moore sculpture - wonder how it got there?
Night time roosting rooks reminded me of youngest sons linocuts.
Stavanger old town
One of the oldest properties in Stavanger built in 1700, and yes, it does lean backwards!
A troll found wandering the streets!!!
A meal of Lutefisk - a traditional dish from Nordic countries. Made from aged air-dried whitefish with a strong distinctive flavour.
This may be our last trip to Norway to visit family as they are moving in the summer.
Welcome back, Rosemary! Beautiful and very charming!! I've never been to Norway. Would love to visit in the summertime. How did they cut into the kanse kake? So pretty. And yummy, too, I bet :)
ReplyDeleteI am sure that you would enjoy a visit to Norway - the mountains and fjords are spectacular.
DeleteYou eat the cake by lifting the rings off. The texture is not unlike that of chewy meringue or macaroons.
Hello Rosemary.
ReplyDeleteWishing you a Happy New Year.
gosh.. no snow in Norway. climates are changing.
The cake looks divine.
The village where your son lives Stavanger is so sweet.. lovely little streets.
I am sure you are happy that he is moving back to Scotland.. much closer for you.
Lovely photos of the Region.
nice to have you back..
have a good evening.
val x
Dear Val - we were so lucky that our travelling was easy - it could have been very difficult if the weather had been harsh.
DeleteWe shall miss our visits to Norway, but equally love visiting Scotland.
Hope all is well with you.
Just beautiful, lovely streets, snow and what a cake.
ReplyDeleteGreetings,
Filip
The cake did look pretty spectacular, I think that the girls made a good job of it.
DeleteHello Rosemary, Everything looks so attractive and well-maintained there. I love the whale vertebra, and also the iron door-knocker with the fleur-de-lis on the back plate. I have heard of lutefisk, and obviously Norway is the place to try it. Sounds overall like a great vacation.
ReplyDelete--Road to Parnassus
Dear Jim - I would love to have the whales vertebrae in my garden - it was a great find. I also like the rusty iron door knocker and the rather distressed blue door. Lutefisk is a very specialised treatment of fish, better not to read about it before eating though!!!
DeleteHappy New Year full of love, health , happiness and joy !It seems that you had wonderful holidays with your family !Great photos as always and lovely the town !Welcome back to blog land !
ReplyDeleteOlympia
Thank you Olympia for your welcome back. It is so nice to reconnect with friends again after rather a hectic period with Christmas, New Year and then flying off to Norway. Hope you are well.
DeleteIt all looks so beautiful - Norway is high on my list of places I'd like to visit! Your garden under snow also looks so very tempting. Enjoy the rest of your stay.
ReplyDeletex
Dear Alix - it is lovely to have snow to complete the picture but can make for hazardous travelling at this time of year. Norway was about the same temperature as the UK but I could see snow on the mountain tops in the distance. You can get some very good flights to Norway via Norwegain Air, if you book in good time, the seats are cheap. The journey is only one and half hours.
DeleteI've long wanted to visit Norway, but somehow we never get past the family in Denmark. I loved the kransekage (Danish spelling!) as that's what we have to celebrate birthdays - I have a set of ring pans to make it. Lovely photos that give such a sense of being there.
ReplyDeleteIt is always difficult to travel to other places when you have made a journey especially to see family. However, if you can manage a trip sometime I am sure that you would enjoy it. As you know the mountains and fjords are so beautiful.
DeleteHow lovely that you make this cake too. It really looks more complicated than it is, especially with the special ring pans.
I am pleased that the photos conveyed the Nordic atmosphere to you.
Wonderful pictures of Norway and I love the whale vertebra - a very desirable object in the world of antiques too!
ReplyDeleteYou are right Nilly. I told my daughter-in-law that I had seen one on Bargain Hunt which cost several hundred pounds. A lucky find from under the hedge.
DeleteThe troll and whale vertrebra are wonderful.
ReplyDeleteWhen you see the size of the vertebrae it makes you realise what enormous sea creatures they are.
DeleteWelcome back, Rosemary. I am astonished there is no snow in Norway in January! The village is very attractive, with beautiful architectural detailing. Thank you for zooming in on those special pieces; so lovely. The whale bone is an amazing find, as you say, just like Henry Moore! Well done to the cake makers - it is brilliant. x
ReplyDeleteIt is surprising Patricia that there was no snow. My son always tells me to take really thick coats and boots, but we were wandering around in autumn coats and ordinary shoes. I am sure you know that Henry Moore was very influenced by bones, and this one would have been right up his street. I would love it myself.
DeleteFor English people, I think that they made a good job of the nordic cake.
I wanna go to Norway after looking at your pictures. Of the Scandinavian countries, I've only been to Sweden and Denmark. I love the wandering troll; so wickedly cute. Lutefisk seems like a pungent dish but would be great to try it out, to compare with other such strong dishes around the world. Enjoyed your post.
ReplyDeleteI expect that the Lutefisk came about as a way of preserving the fish through the seasons. It goes through a very complicated preparation process. It is not as strong as I expected it to be, but you could not eat too much of it. We had ours with some Norwegian spicy sausage, which although it sounds a funny mix, actually balanced the meal.
DeleteYou would enjoy a trip to Norway.
Lovely walk around Stavanger, thanks Rosemary. Great that you could enjoy it in mild weather. Many years ago I caught a ferry from there to Kristiansand. Brought back happy memories.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great cake! Must have taken some time to put together. Well done to your family!
Dear Betty - the cake is not as complicated as it looks. It is made in special ring tins and then assembled. However, I think that the girls made a good job of it.
DeleteGlad that you enjoyed a reminder of your visit to Stavanger.
Welcome back Rosemary. It is always fun to visit family. The cake baked by DIL looks delicious. Your photos are wonderful. Too bad there was no snow in Norway. I hope the no snow made your visit more fun.
ReplyDeleteIt would have been nice to have some snow pictures. They had a very heavy fall in November, but it had completely gone apart from some on the high mountain tops.
DeleteHappy New Year! I am going to visit Norway one day....Scandinavia has a great attraction for me, but I have only made it to Denmark and Sweden so far. I met someone recently from Spain who lived in Norway for a little while. She loved the work of an artist who drew trolls in the stumps and streams. She could almost imagine seeing them herself in the rugged rocks and woods. love, Beth
ReplyDeleteDear Beth - a Happy New Year to you too.
DeleteI do hope that you manage a trip to Norway. Although you are living in the land of mountains yourself, the ones in Norway are completely different, mainly I suspect, due to the vegetation and the fjords.
Welcome back dear Rosemary!I'm sure you enjoyed your hollidays with your sons family!Norway is a beautiful country,and your photos are amazing!Did you met Debby?She also lives in Norway,i'm happy your son is comming back in Scotland!And i must tell you Rosemary,my daughters boyfriend (from Australia)has roots from Scotland,and they will come there for summer hollidays,i always want'ed to come and visit too your wonderful place!Thank you for sharing these beautiful images!!Wishing you a Happy New Year to you and your family!!
ReplyDeleteDimi..
Dear Dimi - Thank you for your welcome back - I did not meet Demie, I was only there for a few days and she lives a long way from Stavanger. As the crow flies probably not so far, but with many mountains and fjords in between which require many ferry trips.
DeleteI do hope that you manage a trip to Scotland, it is a very beautiful country. The mountains are covered in heather giving them a unique colour which changes throughout the day depending on the clouds and sun.
What an amazing place and somewhere I would love to visit. The cake looks fantastic and as for the whale vertbra ... what a find!
ReplyDeleteThe whale vertebrae I would love myself, a great ornament for the garden. What it was doing under the hedge and how it got there is a mystery.
DeleteHope you have the opportunity to visit Norway in the future.
Dear Rosemary, You are so clever. I would never have imagined the scale of the whale vertebrae had you not placed that egg on top. You always know just the right angle with which you take your marvelous potographs. Did you lay the camera on the street or did you lay yourself down (as I sometimes do) when you took the photos of the cobblestone streets? And speaking of cameras, will you share with us what kind of camera you use? Your panoramic shots are always the very best. ox, Gina
ReplyDeleteDear Gina - I would really enjoy having that whale vertebrae in my garden. I saw one recently on an antique programme and it cost several hundred pounds - it was a lucky find from under the hedge.
DeleteI didn't lay the camera on the street but certainly crouched down as far as I could. If I had laid down I probably would still be there now!!!
Gina I am very happy to tell you what camera I have, but it is nothing special. Just a point and shoot - no fancy lenses or anything. About 15 months ago we were on the plane going to Italy and I got my previous Nikon camera out only to discover that the screen had stopped functioning. H found a camera on the British Airways inflight shop magazine and bought it there and then. He said I would have an awful holiday if I couldn't take photos. So the choice was limited.
It is a small Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W580, but gives good results. It is no good for things like birds, but captures most of what I want.
Thanks Gina for your very kind comment.
Dear Rosemary,
ReplyDeleteThank you for this post. How wonderful Norway must have been for you all! That cake looks delicious-- well done, DiL & Co.! Looking at the Norwegian scenes, I'm reminded of my beloved Roald Dahl's adventures with his family in Norway. Do you remember the story about Ancient Sister, her companion, Manly Lover, and the "goat tobacco"? I think it's in the book entitled "Boy"-- one of my sons' treasured books. I so enjoyed seeing your beautiful photos!
Warm regards,
Erika
Dear Erika - My sons grew up on Roald Dahl books, they loved them all. If I remember rightly Boy is his first autobiographical book. Although he was born in Britain, he often spent the summers with his Grandparents in Norway. I do remember the goat tobacco, a very naughty trick he played on his elder sister's fiance, who then suffered a coughing fit while smoking it.
DeleteGlad you enjoyed the photos - the trip was brief so no mountains for fjords.
Dear Rosemary - Your photographs of Norway suggest very crisp air! I enjoyed seeing the distinctive architecture, especially that doorway with such senuous columns, and the almond cake is a delightful sight. I hope your family brings the custom of that cake back with them!
ReplyDeleteDear Mark - the almond cake will definitely be reappearing once they return home - it may show the Scottish flag though. My daughter-on-law has bought all of the special tins to make it.
DeleteOne of the aspects I really enjoy about being in another country is seeing the different architecture, including the doors and windows, how they paint them and what accessories they use.
Thank you for visiting my blog. I will continue to visit here and read your beautifully constructed posts. I used to work with three people, one each from Sweden, Norway and Denmark, who all pined for Lutefisk.
ReplyDeleteDear Susan - pleased to have you visiting and welcome.
DeleteImagine pinning for Lutefisk, I expect it is an acquired taste, a bit like marmite!!! I did find it quite pleasant but could only cope with a small portion.
Hello Rosemary! I do hope this comment appears on your blog!
ReplyDeleteThis is a lovely post... wo white and blue, like a beautiful piece of Wedgwood! I have enjoyed looking at all the photos: gorgeous! I love the architecture, truly Northern European. In makes you realize how wonderful our Europe is: what an incredible mix of people, buildings, cultures and art forms!
Thank you for sharing your experience and images. Very generous! THANK YOU VERY MUCH and HAPPY NEW YEAR!
HUGS
ANNA
xxx
Dear Anna - how lovely to hear from you again, and do hope that all is well with you and your family.
DeleteI agree with you that we are so fortunate to have such wonderful and diverse architecture in Europe to visit, and it is all just a short plane ride away.
I am pleased that you enjoyed seeing a brief glimpse of our visit to Norway to visit our son and his family.
So lovely to see your smiling icon once again.
CIAO♥
Beautiful photos Rosemary. I'm wondering why that house is leaning backwards, do you know?
ReplyDeleteDear Paula - I suspect that it is age, and the fact that it is made of wood rather like our own old timber framed tudor houses tend to lean and tilt.
DeleteGlad that you liked the photos.
Thank you for this report of your trip to Norway. No snow (unusually?) but I feel cold, crisp, and bracing air in your photos. The old Stavanger is so beautiful. I like the stone-paved paths and simple, white appearance of the architectures, and just wonder how it would be when dusted with snow – white on white with a few colors of roofs and the likes. Kanse kake is so mouth-watering. I also enjoyed the newest post. Spring will not be far away with the arrival of lovely snowdrops. Stay warm.
ReplyDeleteYoko
Dear Yoko - we visited Norway last Christmas too, but didn't see any snow then either. Like you I can only imagine what it looks like when it snows on Stavanger old town, which is already white.
DeleteThe cake was a beautiful showpiece when they brought it into the dining table, and tasted good too.
Yes, I was surprised to see the snowdrops this week, a beautiful little harbinger of the spring.
Sorry I'm a little late in posting....Great photos! Love the Stavanger ones and the cake!
ReplyDeleteThanks Marie - glad you enjoyed seeing the photos from Norway.
DeleteA nice post from Stavanger, looks like you had a nice time. It is unusually mild for this time of year! And as for lutefisk, it took me some time to appriciate it.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your visit and comment - hope you will come again.
DeleteOur lutefisk was served with some spicy Norwegian sausage which made it more palatable for me. It was fine, but not necessarily something I would choose again.
thanks for the tour, I have been once to Norway in summer, we viisted Bergen and was as colourful! indeed strange that no snow was there...but I suppose its still kindof mild winter all around;
ReplyDeleteDear Jana - I have visited Bergen in the summer too. It is the next major town up the coast from Stravanger.
DeleteA pity about the lack of snow on what may be your last visit, Rosemary, but your wonderful photos of Stavanger make up for it. I love the cobbles and the character of the houses and streets and your glimpses of Norwegian tastes and customs are fascinating. A super post - thank you.
ReplyDeleteSome snow would have been nice, but travelling would have been more difficult. We have been lucky to be able to visit the family there for the past 5 years, and prior to that Paris, so two really lovely locations to visit. Equally we are happy to make the journey up to Scotland when they finally return.
DeleteOh, you have been in Stavanger! A nice town, isn't it? And you have eaten Kransekake as well, how nice. Another word is tårnkake; towercake. My husband is making a lot of them,he will always bring one with him to family parties. And everyone will say that his cake is the best, because he can make it with the right texture. Never a celebration without!
ReplyDeleteDear Lise - yes, we have enjoyed visiting Stavanger over the past 5 years. The Kransekake was made by my
Deletedaughter-in-law and my two granddaughers. A new skill that they will be able to bring back to Britain when they return.
Lucky you! It is very good with fruit salad, for example..
DeleteHow long will they stay in Norway?
They have been in Norway for 5 years and will be returning to Scotland in the summer.
Delete