look down | september

my father-in-law's plum wine to be

leaves have just started to turn yellow

At this point I was blissfully unaware of what the lawn would turn in to. (A huge mud pile.)

Loving all these round rocks in our new garden. No plans for them yet though.

dig, dug, dug

I no longer regret that we didn't get around to mowing the lawn before the renovation started.

>insert funny joke about the product name jackofoam<

Still sandal weather in late September. Oh joy!

renovation dirt

living on the edge | outside our front door during the drainage work

the start of the end of sandal weather

a mamma and mini look down

living on the edge | drainage work progress (plus banana eating toddler)

- - -

look down set on Flickr | look down Blurb book 

life, week 39

before lunch | that kind of Monday

to get caught in rain whilst driving a convertible

"It's your letter, mamma!" | she drew it herself and I'm super proud



desicions, desicions | our house renovation, week 4 

afternoon serenading - with milk, a plastic drum stick and a carrot

early bird student, ready for a day of field observations

so good I couldn't wait | Kanelsnurren

almost Bergen

loving all the street art around Stavanger - all part of NuArt, I think

Sunday brunch at my parents' | those croissants are to die for

ready for brunch | love her little hair bun

"It's a birthday party, mamma."

possibly my favorite autumn tree

- - -

Week 39: September 22-28

our house renovation, week 4

A little progress in the basement: first round of leveling is done

A little less mud piles, a little more terrance progress

The drainage around the house is done (yay!!) and we can finally get into the house without climbing through mountains of mud.

Contemplating a painted concrete basement floor, or maybe an epoxy floor.

Basement windows are in! Most of them, at least.

Livingroom window view; terrance, garden and neighborhood houses

The living room will still be for storage for a while.

Basement windows are in. Next up; first floor (bedroom) windows.

things I like lately

from my 2005 archives 

- an afternoon playdate, with coffee and cake

- a pretty sunrise seen on my way to work

- crisp morning air

- getting more of my autumn clothing out of storage

- finding a little time to use a hair mask (I use this one) and facial mask (I use this one)

- a heavenly cinnamon bun from Kanelsnurren

- doing a few errands in the city center of Stavanger with Sølve and getting a feeling of our new hometown

- waking up next to a happy Sara - who makes her teddy walk all over my face... (she's normally pretty grumpy in the morning)

- a stack of fresh interior design magazine - I need a lot of visual inspiration for our house renovation these days

- hearing Sara's dialect go from a typical Bergen one to more Stavanger style

- lamb shanks for Sunday dinner, and then leftover stew on Monday - real hearty autumn food!

- a sudden memory of The Hummingbird Bakery red velvet cupcakes

- this post by Anaruh/Listebloggen

- a random autumn colored leaf dancing passed the classroom window

- snacking on dried mango

- a bubble gum pink tank truck

- a woman walking her six little white dogs in a big field (seen through a bus window)

- seeing Romeo + Juliet again (with my 10th grade English class)

- the vivid autumn colors in Skien (my mamma's hometown) - much more vivid than in Sandnes/Stavanger/Randaberg and Bergen

- having my fringe cut - at the same hair salon that both my grandparents used to go to 

- homemade pizza and dry cider on a Friday night 

- a Saturday night dinner date with our friends 

- the start of my one week autumn break (in which I will be working on getting a jour with things) 

- - -

Things I don't like lately

- feeling emotionally drained after a very demanding day 

- I lost my iPhone in the floor and the screen broke

- missing Bergen a lot this weekend; wish I could have attended Bergen Design Story and hear Nathan Williams, Kinfolk founder, talk 

- - - 

PS: Joar og Nina! SAVNER dere så! Senest i kveld lekte Sara at hun var både Nora og Konrad - og hun var storesøster (forvirrende, ja). Og hun er veldig opptatt av at dere alle fire må komme i bursdagen hennes. 

a photo an hour

As seen through my phone and the VSCO Cam app on a very regular Wednesday - October 1, 2014 - in my new life as a middle school teacher, living with my in-laws in Sandnes whilst waiting for our Stavanger house renovation to finish. 

7 am: I have had breakfast, made my matpakke (packed lunch) and showered. Now I'm ready to hit the morning traffic, armed with news on the radio (P2 er mitt standard valg) and a big cup of coffee (I always leave the lid off whilst showering so the coffee is not too hot when I'm ready to drink it in the car). Everyone else is still asleep. 

The weather looks nice, but behind me the clouds are dark. Very dark. I'm not taking the chance of getting caught in rain (again), so I keep the roof (of my mother-in-law's convertible) on. 

8 am: First morning meeting with the other teachers and then two lessons straight - Norwegian and religion.

10 am: Enjoying a relaxing 15 minutes break in-between lessons. Glad the students mostly seemed to get the whole MindMup thing. Next up: English.

11 am: Lunch. Oats bread with mayonnaise, salami and cherry tomatoes on the side. Bonus: Leftover sweet buns from 9th grade students' cooking lessons. 

Noon: A lesson of geology is done. My mother-in-law's (who is a retired primary school teacher) collection of lava stones and volcanic ash came in handy.

1 pm: The second lesson of geology is done (geology is part of geography which is part of the subject called social science). Five lessons straight with my class today; now they are off to their optional subjects. 

2 pm: In addition to teaching my own class in Norwegian, English, religion and social science, I teach English in a 10th grade class plus a class of optional subject called media and information. 6th and 7th lesson on Wednesdays are my media and information lessons. Wednesdays are long, busy days.

4:30 pm: I got caught up in conversation with the friendliest, most helpful colleagues plus there were some much needed preparations for lessons on Friday to do, so I forgot to take photos. But I made up for it with three in a row right before heading home. Also: SO much needed chocolates! (Still keeping the roof on; it just started raining when I got to the car.)

5 pm: Came home to yummy fish soup a la my mother-in-law. Sara sat still by the table for one minute, max. I was too tired to take up the fight, so I (we; my mother-in-law and I) let her do her thing.

6 pm: Taking a little break from the teddy drawing to skype with her cousins in Bergen.  She was so eager to show them her current favorite teddy.

7 pm: Drawing and cartoons ("Sara og Kvakk" og "Charlie og Lola" er to favoritter for tiden) did the trick to make her eat dinner (which turned into supper). Apparently she was hungry, and she loved the fish soup.

8 pm: Luckily Sara fell asleep rather quickly (unlike recent nights...). Trying to find a decent outfit for tomorrow's funeral. My plane leaves in the early am, so there is no time to do it in the morning.

9 pm: Blogging (this post)

10 pm: SO ready for bedtime.