life, week 22

A summer favorite: various melons, mango, fresh coriander and chili - spring onion or thin slices of red onion is good too. Great on its own, or as a side dish for grilled meat, chicken or salmon. 

båttå + Gossip Girl (yes, hooked - again)



substitute teaching | art class

Statsraad Lehmkuhl, Bergen International Festival flags, blue skies, tourists drinking super expensive beer at Bryggen. Oh Bergen!

I don't care much for the fish market, but I like that all the tourists give me a feeling of being on holiday. 

Confession: I forgot to eat them so they went bad. I know it has happened before. Apparently I don't to radishes. 

7:10 am

Molly's roasted rhubarb is always a winner - so is 10 pm sunshine

window shopping at one of my favorite shops in the city; Røst at Bryggen | on my wish list: Skaugum cutlery and Fine Little Day cups 

I love these plywood shelves (Dada frisør i Nygårdsgaten)



substitute teaching | note to self: improve your smart board writing skills



with friends



Her favorite big kids slept over.



So did their parents. And everyone were excited about pancakes for breakfast.

She scooted and scooted and scooted even more.

Family portrait with ice cream

Slow Friday morning. Not pictured: Little miss S eating Cheerios whilst watching Peppa Pig - kindergarden is closed today 

She is obsessed with her new socks and cap.

Only three ingredients to make a fantastic vanilla ice cream. I'm in heaven!

The expression on her face when she got the first taste of the homemade ice cream was absolutely priceless. She loves ice cream as much as her mamma. 

"Do you actually take a photo of that?"
"Yes. I'm keeping it real. And there is a blue potato in there."

Keeping it very real: Grandiosa frozen pizza with extra cheese. Chips. Dip. Cosmopolitan. TV surfing. 

She loves all the open space. And she has gotten really good with that scooter.

I'm not a napper, but I really, really needed that nap.

I love that he is the one tending the roses.



Roses from the garden for our 16 years anniversary as a couple.



Anniversary dinner

Sunday 10 pm



time out

Thankful for *Sølve putting Sara to bed *soon bedtime for mamma too *ice cream before dinner (which I hope Sølve will make - I'm beat!) *3191 Miles Apart for their inspiring digital issue no. 14 

- - - 

Week 22: May 26 - June 1 

life, week 21

A little sunset bokeh is always a winner, right?

Every year I'm surprised by how very bright late spring/early summer evenings actually are. This was taken at 8:30 pm. 

Fog can be pretty fantastic. This was taken from the top of mount Ulriken towards Rundemanen during the four mountains hike. 

I used to collect Höganäs tableware. I absolutely loved this dark blue color. Now I prefer simple white tableware, but I'm glad I still have a few of these blue bowls left. 

Bread fail turned into bread roll fail.

Rainbow...

...on one side of the house...

...and sunset...

...on the other side of the house. I love when nature shows off like this!

Warms days with shorts and t-shirts and chilly evenings with hoods and blankets - the joys of early summer.

Yellow beats really are yellow. And quite yummy too, but I think I prefer red beats.

It was a minimal clothing kind of day.



That light that makes me pause.

I read somewhere that a cup of warm water with lemon is a good way to start your day. It didn't work; I need my coffee. 

I had a really hard time focusing on writing my exam. That blue sky makes people talk. (Norwegians tend to talk a lot about the weather. Who can blame us - we do get a lot of it!) 

Done! (The face of yours truly when she has just handed in her exam.)

I think the makeshift black out curtains are working. She slept more than 12 hours straight!

A celebratory GT to start the weekend. Also, Hendrick's is my favorite.

garden status, May 24

We had pasta bolognes in the garden and we regret not getting out the parasol. It was HOT.

Morning drama at mount Ulriken

Rhubarb, grapes, tomatoes and bread dough. A basket from South Africa, a super heavy mortar and pestle, a vintage cake stand from my aunts and uncles (wedding present), an old Egersund Fayance soup bowl and a big glass bowl from IKEA. 

Another one from the four mountains hike; on our way down in the fog from mount Ulriken. Spectacular!

We are pretty much done with daytime naps, but she requests time outs.

Best (chalk) tag ever: People have to be nice to each other. (Og for øvrig kan de gjøre som de vil.)

Second best (chalk) tag ever: fisher fart (??)

Just what we needed after the big hike.

- - -

Week 21: May 19-25

things I like lately

the sunset last Friday was phenomenal - there even was a rainbow! (more photos later)

- watching Gossip Girl on the mac whilst Sølve watches Archer on the iPad

- this post about lipstick hoarding by samovaren

- the lipstick challenge

- this post about kids' wardrobes (via practicing simplicity) - my thoughts on the topic are very similar when it comes to Sara's wardrobe

- Local Milk

- this looks good

- my nonstick pan for making breakfast pancakes (so much better than the cast-iron pan)

- being back to substitute teaching now that I'm finished with my exam

- doing errands in the city centre and seeing all the happy tourists

- Wednesday night dinner in the garden with our friends (Thursday was Ascension Day, so everyone had the day off)

- finally getting a chance to catch up again with said friends, who by the way are very mad at us for moving to Stavanger - we will miss each other so, so much! 

- seeing how much Sara enjoys playing with our friends' two kids

- a very relaxing day off as a family on Thursday; Sara scooted almost all the way to the city centre (we are so impressed!) and we had junk food (McDonalds for me, Dolly Dimple pizza for Sølve, hot dog from Narvesen for Sara...) and ice cream in the sun 

- hanging out with Sara all Friday (kindergarten was closed) 

- seeing how much Sara enjoys the big, big slide in the neighbourhood school yard

- making this very simple and VERY yummy vanilla ice cream - highly recommended! 

- Molly's roasted rhubarb with said ice cream 

- tasting blue potatoes and okra for the first time 

- finding a pair of our favorite Glerups slippers for Sara at half price 

- a lot of really beautiful summer weather - evenings are still cold though - but I like that 

- seeing how much Sara loves her new pink cap - which is very convenient, because she needs some kind of sun shade for her head and eyes 

- a nap when I really, really needed it 

- the Bø og Bæ children's books

- celebrating our 16 years anniversary as a couple on Saturday 

- Sølve foraged roses from our garden for our anniversary 

- - -

things I don't like lately

- our car is back from the repair shop and it cost a fortune 

- getting into an argument with Sølve over a silly thing because we are both too tired 

- being hungover and hence super tired all day 

- no running this week (I was pretty beat after last Sunday's four mountains hike - but that is just a silly excuse for not running)

- - -

Answers to questions asked in comments:

An anonymous commenter asked on this post: "Does your daughter eat the same as you?" 

- Sara is a rather picky eater, so she does not eat all the things we have for dinner. I usually try to make sure she likes at least one of the things we serve for dinner plus I want to give her the option to try something new. I think she learns a lot and dares more by watching what others - kids and grown ups - eat. I don't stress it if she eats little for dinner; she'll normally have a bigger portion for supper then. 

ALittaM asked on this post: Are you starting potty training too?

We have started just a little, but in no systematic training way. I don't want to force it; I want Sara to be ready for it. Also, potty training in winter with all those layers of clothing - no thank you! Bring on summer and hardly any clothing. Maybe we will do the training a little more systematic during the summer. Some days Sara asks to wear panties instead of nappies - I let her, as long as we are home. I can deal with the accidents at home; anywhere else, not so much. She seems inspired by a few of her little friends in kindergarten who do not wear nappies anymore.