Happy days of May

Last Sunday I and the dog were babysitting these two guys, Oliver (left) and Tobias, two of my cousin's sons. The boys spent pretty much the whole day with us, and the weather was fabulous, so we decided to go for a long forest walk. Both the boys, the dog and I had a great time. We took a few stops here and there to let the boys rest and play a little, and they did a lot of exploring. And, of course, lots of photos...

When arriving at the water tower we sat down in the little birch forest there is and had a picnic break. I had baked a chocolate cake the day before (for another purpose) and we had taken the leftovers with us. Very popular, though the dog was a bit miffed that he didn't get any of it...

17 May is Norway's Constitution Day. It's a national/public holiday and everyone get the day off. There are children's parades all over the country, and in my little town they paraded in front of our house, pretty much. It was, and is always, a great sight, though this year I did not join the parade as is custom. Instead I took the dog out for a loooong forest walk. He seemed content with that.

I've taken up a new hobby: recreational orienteering. It means having a map (and, if need be, a compass) and walking different routes and paths in the forest to find posts that I then mark off on a score card. There are some 40 posts in the forests around where I live, and I've taken six of them so far. Each post gives a number of points on the score cards, and the score accumulated through the season (until September some time) and provide the foundation for the allocation of rewards of some sort. It is a great incitement to finding new paths and chosing unknown routes when out walking, and of course the dog loves accompanying me.

There are times when I wonder why I ever lived anywhere else!

Spring by the sea is great

Lately we've had fabulous spring weather, warm and quite lovely all through the day. It does not get dark at night anymore, so it's possible to be out and about 24/7 if one wants to. When I walk the dog in the morning before going to work (around 5.30 a.m.) it's sunny even when I wake up. I love it, and I love how I can walk outside at that hour wearing just trainers, a t-shirt and tights. Very, very easy! I have stopped counting the hours I've spent in the outdoors the past two weeks...

Both these images show my dog earlier today. I took him walking down to the seaside, where there's an area where he can run freely about. His best friend Mia (dog!) is in heat, so they're off playdates for a little while. He enjoyed chasing birds instead!

My mother visited yesterday, and she brought with her something that pleased me immensely. My aunt (her sister) is moving, and in the process she is ridding herself of some things from her flat. So I get to 'inherit' a set of porcelain plates, serving trays etc in various sizes from a set of porcelain that my grandparents got for their wedding day in 1948! When they died my mum and her sister split the china among them; now I have my aunt's part and will soon get my mother's part too. So I will end up having a full set of oooold china. I am so excited.

Have a great weekend - I plan to, too :-)

BBQ season's started!

Tonight I officially started this year's bbq season. Together with some great people I had a bonfire bbq at lake Soløyvannet, just outside Bodø town. 6-7 people and three dogs had a wonderful time at the southern shore of the lake, the sun was shining and all was well in my corner of the world.

Btw, it does not get dark at night anymore. It grows grey'ish for about 3-4 hours every night, then the light returns again. Not long to go before the midnight sun is back. Yay! The place where we had the bbq tonight was new to me, and it proves to be an excellent place to use as starting point for roaming the mountains and forests around Bodø. Something tells me I'll be back there quite soon... I think the dog will be happy to return too. He enjoyed every minute of tonight, which is not a surprise. Huskies are made for outdoor life, and Emre is no exception.

Now we have months and months of easy living to look forward to. :-D