Sometime in the summer (August, I think), Lauren and Griffin and I checked out the Annapolis Royal Historic Gardens. It was fun walking around with a little dude who just ran everywhere with a toy car in each hand, finding sneaky parking spots for the cars, and getting really close-up to the nice smelling flowers.

Pollen-face!

One of the best things we made with our CSA veggies: stuffed, battered and fried zucchini blossoms. The best things ever. We stuffed them with ricotta and basil, dipped them in tempura batter and squeezed lime juice on them once out of the fryer. We ate these for as long as Stewart & Nicole were able to supply us with blossoms.

It has been difficult to return to purchasing veg, especially green onions, at the supermarket. Can’t wait for the CSA to start up again this summer!

My favourite time of year here is August, from Natal Days at the start to our annual BBQ at the end, with Paint the Town in the middle. This set of photos is from the Saturday of Paint the Town. Sadly, no photos this year of the Natal Day parade or fireworks (I had a cold. A COLD!?!), and no annual BBQ (I got shingles. SHINGLES!?!).

And now for a few garden shots.

My favourite high school teacher Mr. (Brent) Reid and his wife Cheryl had themselves a Maritimes holiday in the fall, and kindly stopped by to spend an afternoon with me in Annapolis Royal. It was great, really nice to catch up and learn that Mr. Reid (Brent) is still as fun to talk with as he was in journalism class. Yay, teachers!

For this year’s autumn vacation, we took the ferry to Saint John. It’s a lovely old boat, big and sturdy and comfortable. But no newsstand. Which I did not know before leaving the single car deck (and unlike BC Ferries, you are seriously not allowed on the car deck of this boat). So there I was, stuck for 3 hours, getting queasy (remedied by Gravol) and flipping through the single free magazine from Tourism New Brunswick. There was a limit to how many minutes I could waste looking for Edgett’s Landing on the NB maps, so eventually I lay down. (B had conked out right away). Lesson learned: next time I bring books, knitting, magazines, and a pillow.

If you know me, you know I hate taxidermy. But this guy/gal in the stairwell display of the 24-hr LL Bean store in Freeport, Maine reminded me of one of our dudes back home, so I had to snap a photo of him (or her).

One thing is for sure: we love Maine. Next time we’ll spend more than 3 days there. This is B’s favourite place in the world, a beer cave in Portland called Novare Res. It was the perfect place for a drink (or three), and some snacks. Look at B, he’s in heaven!

This was our cabin in Kennebunkport. So sweet, inside and out. It rained cats and dogs the whole day, as the remnants of Hurricane Ophelia continued to batter the coast, but we thought it was beautiful all the same. Our bed had a cashmere throw on the end of it, which I wore like a shawl every minute we were in the cabin. Then I looked it up on eBay, and saw similar throws from the same label selling for a mere $600. And they put this on the end of the bed! Where people rest their shod feet! Criminal. (But I still looooooved that throw.)

This was a gorge we stopped at somewhere between White River Junction, VT, and Woodstock VT. We parked the car to go have a look because that’s what everyone else was doing. So then I felt obligated to take a photo from both sides of the bridge. Here they are.

I’ve never seen a covered bridge before, and was ridiculously excited when I saw that we were about to pass one. But it was closed for repair, so this is all I could manage. Guess I’ll just have to go see one in New Brunswick.

Woodstock, Vermont, a pretty little country town.

This is a brewery we stopped at in Burlington, VT. B made me take the picture. I can’t remember what the place is called. Before this we went to Ben & Jerry’s HQ and had amazing ice cream and bought a t-shirt.

I’ll always remember this as the charcuterie vacation. Whenever B saw it on a menu, he ordered it, and I photographed it for him.

Another ferry boat! This one takes you across Lake Champlain to New York state.

Ten minutes from the border of New York and Quebec is our favourite cider maker. We loaded up the car with a few cases, which was a challenge, as the car was already quite full. That look of giddy relief on my face is because we had just been waved through customs, even though we were way over our alloted amount of duty-free alcohol. And B had even told the guard-in-training just how much we had in the trunk! We were genuinely naive, and thought duty on booze would be similar to duty on, say, clothes. Wrong. Really wrong! But the border-guard trainer was very kind, and merely told us to be more careful next time and respect the law, but, you know, welcome home. I <3 Quebec.

We stayed in a different hotel this time, still in the lower part of Old Quebec, but across the street from the market we love going to. Hotel des Coutellier. We highly recommend it.

A few de rigueur shots of Old Quebec, including the funicular (I do like a funicular).

This is the only moose I have ever seen in the Maritimes, in Saint John.

This is the second-only moose I have seen in the Maritimes, also in Saint John.

The final charcuterie meal of the trip, at the Saint John Ale House (great food there, btw). The food was so good, it almost made up for our car being broken into. For real! And all the buggers took were the few loonies and quarters from our console. They left the iPad, the iPods, the MacBook, the cases of cider and beer hidden under blankets and coats. It could have been so much worse for us. But I wonder what this says about Saint John criminals?

One of the fuzz-faces who was happy we were home.

Christmas Tree #1: dining room.

Tree #2: living room.

Tree #3: B’s office/media room (yes, it is slanted. It just grew that way).

To the best of my memory, this is the second white Christmas we’ve had here, and the only one where I had to shovel the driveway on Christmas morning. B snapped this and the next one of me gathering firewood.

Monkey’s favourite box of the morning, courtesy of Doreen.

Some winter wonderland shots of the house & yard on Christmas morning:

Yakking at my pals before dinner.

My favourite present, possible EVER: a mandolin from B. I’ll sign off now because I need to go practice.

When we (in this instance meaning Lauren, Griffin & I) visit the Smiths at Mavillette during Spring Break, the attire is quite unlike what is worn at other Spring Break destinations I can think of. Toques, boots, mittens, down jackets, maybe even some ski pants are what is required here.

B’s not-from-a-kit homemade cider, aka apfelwein. It’s a still cider, truly more of an apple wine, just as its German name suggests. We added sparkly stuff (7Up, or sparkling water would do) to fizz it up a touch. Delicious. He needs to start a carboy of this stuff every month if we’re ever going to match the speed of production with the speed of consumption. I reckon it’s a losing battle, with consumption always winning.

April Fool’s Day, 2011. No joke! Though it’s a pretty good joke. Those snowflakes were huge.

The Winter/Early Spring view of Annapolis Royal, as seen from our bedroom windows. Which were still nekkid at this point. I had to finally come to terms with the fact that roman blinds needed to be made. By me. So out came the Janome:

At this point, I had essentially created two big pillowcases, with grey jute on the showy side, and UV-blocking lining on the other side. As there’s a ruler and a pencil in this shot, I must have been measuring for the rings.

Rings! Attached. Blind stapled to the thin strip of plywood. Eye screws screwed in. String strung through. Ready for hanging.

Violà!

Blinds open (apologies for blinding you) and pleating perfectly. There’s a cleat screwed into the window casing, but the over-exposure renders it invisible in this picture.

This is how I keep the hot sun out during the day, while still letting any breeze come in. New cotton matelassé quilt at the foot of the bed, mostly to finish off the look, a concept kind of lost on B at first, but he digs it now.

Part of szhuszhing the room called for moving my collection of Judy Maher creations up to the bedroom, like an adult version of my childhood stuffies. That tall rabbit in a coat is named Harold Hubert Hayes, after my great-grandpa. It was the most suitably dignified name I could think of, so it stuck.

Another of Judy’s creations, a sheep wearing a shrunken Frenchy’s sweater, on B’s dresser.

I found this craft ball and wound some yarn scraps through it, to help out the nesting birds.

Here it is hanging on our arbour. Some birds used it! Other birds looked at it like it offended their nest-building sensibilities. And that’s okay.

The first Goldfinch I’ve seen in our yard. I have no idea whether s/he was a yarn-ball fan or not.

Stray-cat Clover, still a huge puff-ball of fur in April. Still living in and around our yard. Still my favourite cat who isn’t actually my cat.

One day we came home to a purple pom-pom and a handkerchief full of marbles waiting for us on our back step. We knew immediately that it was a gift from Sophie and Sunna, and that they were for the cats. Monkey was all over the pom-pom.

Rooster, well, he’s a bit more timid. The handkerchief confounded him for about an hour. He just sat there alternatively hitting and sniffing it. I don’t think he ever did get to the marbles inside.

My light-yellow Broom blooms at the same time as the lilacs, and I really like that.

Window box, one of five, just planted. This was in late May.

B created a website for our neighbour Janet, who makes awesome cakes, including the one for my 40th birthday bash. He didn’t take any payment, so…she pays us in cakes! Like this crazy delicious creation.

Yeah, so, erm…Monkey’s diet is still not working. Clearly.

Last Wednesday was our first trip out to Whippletree Farm in Round Hill to pick up our premier box of CSA goodies. Soooooooo good! Loving that we bought a share! I mean, look:

And that was just for one week! We go back tomorrow for a whole new box. Also: chard is my new favourite veggie.

Taken today, July 19th. This is my third year with the window boxes, and this is my best planting yet. So lush.

This one is the most special to me. It’s the kitchen-sink window out on our back deck. Until this year, we could never get anything to live beyond a few weeks in this box because we didn’t have gutters on the roof, and the box would get water-logged as there’s no real roof overhang on this side like there is on the driveway side of the house. But we got gutters this Spring! And they match the trim, so they’re barely noticeable. They work like a charm, and you no longer take a shower when you enter the backdoor when it’s raining. And this box can finally thrive, and boy, does it ever.

I’ll be back shortly with another post, all about my June trip back to Vancouver Island and Vancouver. Hold tight. I doubt it will take me four months to post another update (here’s hoping!).

The storage room at the end of the upstairs landing, midway through clearing it in preparation for the reno.

The bedroom, also mid-chaos. I would hate for you to think this was its normal state, but the reno prep mayhem provides a better contrast with the end result.

Bedroom cleared, paint samples up, colour chosen. Paper laid to protect floors. Reno is a go!

First they got down to the plaster, then the lath.

Then they popped the window out to connect a sonotube chute to the big skip parked in the driveway.

It always amazes me just how old our house looks when stripped to her bones.

Check out the lean on that chimney. (It’s capped and unused, for the record.)

The wall between what was the storage room and our bedroom is out, to make way for the walk-in closet.

All plaster gone, it’s now time to straighten the walls and ceiling,

and build a new wall to create a long storage closet on the other side of the room.

Electrics are roughed in, so in goes the Ecobatt insulation to replace all the insulation that wasn’t even there to begin with.

Vapour barrier up. At this point, the room was already improved 100%. Warm, or at least now able to hold heat once the baseboard heater got put back, and quieter than before, if that’s even possible.

A level ceiling!

The storage closet drywall goes up,

as does the drywall in the room.

A new built-in bookcase replaces the door to the old storage room.

The mud-guys did their magical thing.

And Jerry dropped off the headboard B had sketched onto the back of a ripped envelope. B’s original design was good, but Jerry made it amazing.

First look into the walk-in with its newly sanded old floorboards.

The windows get their trim.

And the bookcase is almost compete. Next up were crown mouldings and baseboards, then the clean-up, and then the guys were out. Our electricians put up all the fancy new fixtures, B mounted a new TV to the wall and even ran the wires through the wall, and I primed and painted like a madwoman. The final step before we moved back in was to scrub and finish the floors, which took some effort. So here are the results (I won’t caption anything else, but I will say that the windows and door and bookcase still need their final coats of paint, but we were too anxious to move back in there to wait for all that to be complete):

Ah, Christmas! I was touched by how my friend Sophie described Christmas at the Edgett-Johnson’s as being “like Christmas in a box, tied up with a bow.”

All the decorating was done pretty early, to allow for proper focus on making gifts of pomanders and granola, and baking cookies, and engaging in seasonal merriment.

One Saturday at the Winter Farmers’ Market, I found this older Bonhomme ornament in a basket of random Christmas stuff on sale by donation (proceeds to the pool). I was probably disproportionately excited by the find, but what can I say, I love Bonhomme disproportionately. He goes well with my other flea-market-found Bonhomme ornament:

Before the roasting.

And after. I’ve eaten many a better-than-decent turkey in my time, but B, hands down, roasts the best bird.

This year we had the most guests yet, and it was loud and busy and crazy and exactly how I remember Christmas dinner being when mom and dad hosted it at our house on Edgett Road. Oh boy, was Christmas 2010 fun! Little people running around chasing the cat and pausing to bargain for more ribbon candy, adults cheerfully imbibing and grazing and yarn-spinning (but not literally) into the wee smalls, and almost everyone indulging me by wearing the paper hats inside the Christmas crackers.

My first ever pavlova was a short-lived success, but I managed to capture it before the carnage started.

And there’s David almost burning down the house with some flaming-sugar & Absinthe experimentation.

I took only these photos and not a single picture more. They are missing more than half of our guests (sorry guys!), and they are much too dark…but how can I be expected to document something I’m too busy enjoying? And I had a really good time.

Angela made me this great retro-inspired Christmas monkey ornament, and Nadia’s boys sent me this charmer:

I can’t wait for Christmas ’11! Even though B and I will be in NYC, we’ll still get in as much home cheer as we can both before and after the trip.

Photographing cats is hard, especially Rooster. He likes to get too involved.

Monkey is much easier:

I became an official Feeder Watcher over Christmas but so far my only pictorial documenting of this is limited to this sunset. There are birds in there somewhere, I think.

No pics to offer illustration, but New Year’s Eve was another treat of a night with friends. B & I and Jon & Nora headed to Heath Towers (lovely home of The Heaths, David & Sophie) for an Indian Feast. Special rosemary & prosecco cocktails (kudos to Nora), more damn absinthe, some sweet pomegranate drinks, the best samosas I’ve eaten since leaving Vancouver (kudos to Jon), another great curry by David (kudos to David), and delicious chutneys and lemon pickle made by B (kudos to B)…great company in a fantastic dancehall atmosphere = a perfect ringing-in of 2011!

B spotted stray-kitty Clover sitting atop the garden arbour one afternoon. I think she must have been escaping stray-kitty Fiddles, who I’m sorry to report is now a widow (RIP, beloved stray-kitty Faux Rupert!). Fiddles needs a new buddy, but Clover is a loner and she isn’t having it. They fight a lot, and Clover runs up things to escape the non-climbing Fiddles.

She looks like a snow monkey.

I swear, she is the tiniest cat, really small and skinny, but her winter coat is quite impressive.

Up until this past Saturday, this was the state of our bedroom. I’m embarrassed to admit it looks like we’re heading for a starring spot on ‘Hoarders’. This isn’t normal, I promise. I blogged more about bedroom renovations on my other blog (Garden Street Designs), if you’re interested. They start in one week. This is the living room today, full of stuff that will be housed in the new walk-in closet (wooo!):

A very heartfelt thank-you to all our friends who came by to help unload some of our unwanted excess; that helped immensely. Our problem was that we never had that yard-sale we meant to have last summer, so all of the give-aways we had amassed from preparing the house for the ground-floor reno of Fall 2009 (!) had migrated to the guest bedroom. And then in August ’10, with the impending arrival of mom to the guest room, the stuff got shoved into the four corners of our bedroom, where we just ignored it. Until now.

This is where we stand today: a room cleared of everything but the bed, a stepladder, a trunk, a battered Paul Weller poster that B has grudgingly conceded has lived its life to completion, a cat litter box (ugh!) and a couple of dismantled Ikea wardrobes which will be off to their new home later this week (thanks Yaverbaums!!!).

Post-renovation photos will be posted on this blog. You know, eventually.

This is what it looked like at our place in the universe, days before I crested the age hill. For the record, as I told my friend Erin’s mom Ruby, I plan on enjoying my ride over the hill just as much as I enjoyed the climb. I like getting older, I like being my age, I feel happy to have gotten here.

Unbelievably, I planted these around Mother’s Day, and they survived until my birthday. Those are some hardy pansies.

That’s a big 2 pound box of Purdy’s assorted milk chocolates, courtesy of my brother Jim. They got the birthday party started early in the week.

Now, remember a few months ago, my posts about Norway? Remember how I flew to Trondheim to surprise my best friend of almost 35 years on her fortieth birthday in June? Remember how cool that was, how excited I was, what a great thing it was for both of us?

Yes indeed, that’s Lara, right here in Annapolis Royal. For real!!!!!! She thought it would be fun to come surprise me, her best friend of just over 35 years (this September), on my fortieth. I would love to insert the video she took of me answering the door…and I will post it when I get a copy (hey, Lara!)…but just imagine a lot of shaky camera, a lot of ceiling shots as we hugged, Lara laughing and me trying to catch my breath while hyperventilating, and you’ll get the picture. What an amazing thing, the best birthday gift ever, version 2.0!!!!!!

It’s still hard to believe she was here, staying in the guest room, driving around with me in the torrential, biblical rain, having a girls’ (early) night out at a pub in Halifax, dodging a big wet rat on the rain-darkened streets of the big city, getting up at an ungodly hour to fight through more deluge to get her to the airport on time. It was a crazy, whirling blur of fun! I can’t believe she came, and I really can’t believe that everyone else who knew about it beforehand managed to keep the secret. Great job, everyone!

B asked our neighbour Janet to make my cake, and it was a delicious and gorgeous cake indeed. Those freesias on the top? Handmade with sugar paste by Janet. I know! That she made it while battling potential and actual power outages is all the more impressive.

That blur on the right is B, mad host with the most, here serving chicken vol au vents, and generally ensuring all guests had food and drink in hand.

Look! That’s Lara sitting there in my house at my birthday party! And there’s B with a tray, about to serve his homemade hors d’oeuvres of smoked salmon with dill cream cheese and capers on rye (seriously, the man knows how to throw a party), Lauren talking with Carolyn in the doorway, and Katie braving my atomic brie (you don’t want to see a too-long baked brie…it’s sad, though still delicious). Aside from Lara, of course, Katie and Carolyn & River share the honours of Most Dedicated Partiers, as they hydroplaned for 200 and 100 kilometers respectively, just to help me celebrate. It was colossal, truly torrential, we’re talking 57-year-old record breaking amounts of rain that night.

Side note: not only is Brandon an expert caterer and host, he also spent the evening monitoring water levels in our basement, without anyone (me included) knowing we were at risk of a flood. Thankfully, the rain just rushed right through to the drains like it’s meant to…but it was a close call, and wouldn’t have gone as smoothly without B taking breaks to clear leaves and debris from the outside ditch. I love that guy!

Look! It’s Lara! In my house! Sitting with my friends Erin & Sarah. Yay! (Notice B’s hand, holding a tray, offering them food.)

The other thing B excels at: mingling, making introductions. Here he is with Philip and our neighbours Janet (she of the brilliant cake-making) and her husband Dave.

This is the only photo of me at my party, blowing out my three candles (we didn’t want to wreck the beautiful cake by using the actual amount of candles necessary for this birthday). Notice my dark shoulder, the candlelight reflected in my hair? No? B and I were so overwhelmed, him with work and me with the fact that so many of my friends were here, along with my oldest (you know how I mean that) and dearest friend of all, that we couldn’t be counted on to remember to use the camera. Heck, we couldn’t even remember to use the flash for these few that we did take. It was such a great night, a great birthday. I had the best time, and I really felt the love.

So, ta-da, here I am at 40! This is really for my mom, to show her my new, 5-inches shorter haircut, which I know she wants to see.

Thanks again to everyone reading this who went out of their way to help get this new decade of my life started off just right; I’m lucky to have you people, and I know it!!!

A view of the bridge that connects Québec City with the Île d’Orléans, a beautiful little island full of orchards and farms and cideries and gorgeous homes made of stone. This view is from the first u-pick apple orchard we stopped at and though you can’t really see it, that bridge is bumper to bumper cars. Now we know what people from Québec do on their early autumn Sundays.

I’m eating a piece of apple pie. With my eyes closed. That’s how good it was.

Look closely, and you can see that B is actually teary-eyed. For real! He’s pointing at the best stout he has ever tasted, Monseigneur d’Esgly, from the Microbrasserie de l’Île d’Orléans.

They make a delicious burger and the best shoestring fries too and they serve it properly, with mayonnaise. It makes me teary-eyed to remember it.

I’m very fond of the painted and/or shiny aluminum roofs on houses and churches in Québec.

Ah, Catholic country. This is in a farmer’s field, to ensure good crops I suppose.

This is one of the dozen or so stone houses I was fantasizing about buying for our eventual retirement. It only costs half a million.

A view of the city from one end of the island. We were blessed with perfect autumn weather that day.

When I saw this couple strolling, I fell deeper into a dream of at least a part-time Québec retirement. This is in the lower part of Old Québec.

A lovely city street, complete with horse and carriage.

This is the corner house B was admiring and fantasizing about living in. I believe he was heavily influenced by the presence of the Vespa scooter out front.

Gah! So charming. And just a 12 hour drive from our house here in NS.

Mr. Sam Champlain.

A planter I would love to copy and stick in my front yard.

I know he’s just a statue, but I probably wouldn’t look any more excited if I was with the real Bonhomme. We’ll have to go back one February and see.

The funicular is in the background, a cheap way to get from the lower to the upper town, though we always walk. Our favourite restaurant, Sous le Fort, is just there on the right.

A view toward the square in the Quartier Petit Champlain.

Our charming hotel, Le Priori, located on what they say is the oldest commercial street in Canada. I think it’s time for Annapolis Royal to contest that claim and take the rightful honour back for Lower St. George Street.

Le Priori at night.

Un capitaine.

Et un garçon.

The Chateau Frontenac at night.

And in the daytime.

B recognized Sieur de Monts from quite a distance away. This bust was installed in 2007, and is an exact replica of the one here at Fort Anne. See Québec, we had all these things first: de Monts, Champlain, the first commercial street in what was to become Canada, this bust. So there!

The perfect lunch: onion soup and garlic bread at the Sous le Fort bistro.

This year we journeyed on to Montréal. And though we dreaded the drive into the city, it was relatively painless to get in and to get out. Our only problem was the same one we had been having and would continue to have throughout our trip: all of the province is having roadwork done. Every road. I exaggerate only slightly. Anyway, this is the facade of our Old Montréal hotel, Le Saint-Sulpice, right behind the Notre Dame Basilica.

Your average but beyond averagely pretty street in Old Montréal.

B has a thing for faded old painted billboard-style advertising on brick buildings. We possess many of this kind of photo.

Inside the Basilica, where they allow you to keep your camera’s flash on, not that it helped me.

A statue of my favourite little dude, the Infant of Prague. I slipped my loonies in the box below him and lit a candle for all my dear peeps on the other side. Perhaps an odd thing for an irreligious heathen to do, but heck, when in Rome (or Roman Catholic cathedrals)….

A nighttime scene on the waterfront.

Brandon, on the waterfront.

A llama we met at a farm/apple orchard while driving the cider route (or the Circuit du Paysan) just south of Montréal. This was a very sweet llama.

The Saint Antoine Abbé Brasserie, where B bought three kinds of their beer (spruce! and grapefruit! and honey!) and I bought a box-full of homemade preserves: sauce au caramel, gelée de basilic, gelée de cassis, marmelade d’oignons. The lovely couple who runs it will let you taste everything, and charm you with their gracious hospitality.

This is the La Face Cachée de la Pomme ciderie where they make the most delicious ice cider in the entire world. No lie! It’s called “Neige” and if you see it, buy some. I think we bought one or two of everything they make, mostly because of our excellent host and also because everything they make tastes amazing.

Yeah, so we came home with a bit of cider. And beer. And liqueurs. We didn’t realize just how much we had until we unpacked the trunk when we got home. It’s going to be a tasty Christmas at our house!

In Montréal we went up to the Jean Talon Marchée farmer’s market where there is a spice vendor. They have everything…almost. They didn’t have the one Turkish spice we went there looking for (sorry, Jon), but they had lots of other tempting goodies, like this box of pre-mixed masalas and curries.

Some of our preserves and spice loot includes an orange and cardamom chocolate spread, Québec steak spice (to see how it differs from the ubiquitous Montréal steak spice), and whole green cardamom pods that didn’t cost me an arm and a leg. Woo! Can’t wait till next year’s trip.

A view of Granville Ferry, from Fort Anne.

Mom in the Historical Garden.

The Acadian house in the gardens.

Our friend Katie, making art for Paint the Town.

The kooky bus that pulled into town…

…being admired by Jim.

Sandy Cove rock hunting.

I found lots of beach glass.

Jim & mom in Margaretsville.

The dock at Margaretsville.

View from the lookout near Canning.

BBQ (really more of a picnic, with carnitas puercas).

I placate all children with treats from my candy stash.

Lunenburg.

Jim & mom at Fort Anne.

Jim and mom at Delap’s Cove, on the wilderness trail.

We found a hobbity hovel made from windswept bushes.

Inukshuk on the Fundy.

A waterfall at Delap’s Cove.

Ducks on the marsh.

Mr. Toad!

A smiley family portrait. We were a little disappointed that B wasn’t in the picture (as he was taking it), but luckily his shadow made an appearance

The Kiss Concert Series (with Morten’s sister, Sissel, Lara, and me):

The BFF Series (in Husaby, a revolving restaurant, and Tautra):

The Kids Series (starring Aleks & Thea):

<3

It’s been almost two weeks that I’ve been back home, and I’m fully recovered from my jet-lag and time confusion. It wasn’t the 24 hour clock that rattled me, it was the ‘no darkness’ nights. Staying up until 4am, crashing, and waking to the same amount of daylight was confusing to say the least (though also really cool). I think the kids will remember my visit most for my constant refrain of, “What time is it?” and “What time is it now?” Check it out for yourself on this little home movie of Lara, her friend Siv and me arriving home from Lara’s birthday bash:

Click here to view the embedded video.

The sweetest girl in the world, Thea, and her bottle of ketchup.

The impossibly adorable Aleks with his soggy cornflakes (just how his mom has always liked ‘em).

View of Trondheim, with the fjord and mountains beyond, on one of our daily dog walks.

A zoomed-in close-up of the city and Nidaros cathedral.

A big tower which, I later found out, houses a rotating restaurant (with $40 burger platters. Welcome to Norway!).

Aleks awaits his pizza in the rotating restaurant.

Thea plays “laptop” while Lara and I focus on looking ahead (we have competing motion sickness issues).

Try eating your meal with this staring at you. Go on, try.

View from the park at Kristiansten Fort.

Kids and cannons at the Fort.

Aleks and Thea explore the Kristiansten Fort.

Upstairs display; the image is shaky because I was falling through the ancient floorboards.

The river Nidelva, flowing through the city.

Classiest birthday present ever!

Vår Frue Kirke, where Lara & Morten got married.

First time inside since the big day! Lara kindly reenacted the wedding for me.

Me, in Trondheim! For real!

Lara!

Classic postcard shot of the old warehouses along the river.

The Old Town Bridge gates with the neighbourhood of Bakklandet in the background.

Go 45! Soccer ace Thea in action.

Olav Tryggvason statue, in the centre of the town square. He was the Viking king who founded Trondheim in 997.

More important: this sign commemorates the magic that is Freia chocolate. What time is it? Time for (another) Freia Melkesjokolade bar.

I love this view of the statue, the Freia clock, the seagull on the lamppost.

Lara & Morten’s church again, with tulips and sunshine.

Two examples of my favourite kind of street art, the big stencil.

Thea’s end-of-school celebration. They sang “Tomorrow” from “Annie” in Norwegian. Check it out:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Morten drove us out to Husaby, because I loved the ‘Kristin Lavransdatter’ trilogy by Sigrid Undset. Volume two is titled, “The Mistress of Husaby”, and this is where Sigrid set it. So cool.

Wild strawberries were everywhere.

More Husaby. Now some action shots of Thea & Aleks doing some hill rolling:

Love this freckle-faced, dimpled grin!!!

Proof I was there.

Now for some classic sod-roofed and quaint-town photos of Røros, a UNESCO world heritage site, and ultimate destination for our Vancouver-Island-Girls Only road trip.

Røros cat. I was missing my feline friends.

See that white blip on the mountain? It’s a farmstead. I love Norway!

Luci.

Good Dog, Luci!

Lara takes a photo of all her visitors with this statue outside the tourist info office. It’s called “Go’dagen” (‘good day’) and is modeled after a real-life resident who worked as a housemaid and was often seen at the market square. (I’m lifting this info straight from the tourist bureau pamphlet on Trondheim.)

Nidaros cathedral.

If this statue doesn’t make you want to go to church, what would?

I love a good cathedral, but this new church at the Tautra Mariakloster (a Cistercian monastery on an island that also serves as a bird sanctuary) is my favourite church ever. It’s exterior is clad in big slate tiles. Check out the interior (that view!):

The ruins of the original medieval monastery on Tautra.

Me, Morten’s mom Elfrid, and Lara.

On my last full day in Norway I finally got to try the cardamom infused heart-shaped waffles (with strawberry preserves and sour cream) that the area is justly famous for. Yum.

Country idyll near the monastery ruins. So completely gorgeous. A brochure I picked up at the soap shop run by the nuns (yeah, they make soap!) states that women have until the age of 42 to join the order. Don’t think I’m not considering it. Okay, maybe I’ll just go over for one of their week-long silent retreats instead of a lifetime of habits and, oh yeah, believing. (Ay, there’s the rub with nunhood.)

I miss these kids!

There are some important photos missing, ones that I didn’t take. I’ll ask Lara & Morten to send them along, and then I’ll insert them here later. You all want to see me and Lara and Morten’s sister Sissel at the KISS concert we went to, right? Of course you do.