Late July to early August 2014

Toward the end of July and as the warmest summer ever continued, we ventured to Mausund where Tove has the summer house.  Ingvild, Arild and the kids joined us.

Liv took the opportunity to catch up on some reading.

While Mari baked some delicious muffins

I had a deep conversation with Liv on the history of the ice cream cone and whether it really was first introduced at the 1907 St Louis World's Fair.  Liv wasn't buying it.

Yes they are that much taller than me.

I have been to Mausund countless times, now, in spring, summer and autumn.  This is the first trip to the island where the weather was really nice the whole time we were there, albeit cool the first few days.  But then it heated up and was very pleasant.

In August the sun sets noticeably earlier and by mid-August there is a real, dark, night, albeit short (2 hours?)  that reminds us that summer will soon be over.  We had to go back to Trondheim after spending two weeks on the island so that I could have my shoulder operated on, so we weren't out there for the totally dark nights that begin in mid-month.  Still, in early August the sunsets are fabulous, and the moonrise is nice, too.

This grainy shot is of the moon.  My camera's auto ASA setting accounts for the grain.  I could have done a long exposure to avoid the grain, but I didn't have a tripod

Ingvild, Arild and the girls only spent a few days with us on the island.  After "the kids" left, we finished our latest project of wall-papering "the long room", as we call the 4th bedroom of the house.  The room had been delegated as a storage room for years until last spring when we emptied it out, tore out the ancient wallpaper, repaired the walls and painted them with primer to prepare for the wallpaper job.  It took a couple of days to wallpaper, but the result was fine.  I can't believe I don't have a picture of it.  I will have to take one next spring.  We have tried to maintain the appearance of a vintage house of the 40s/50s with our choice of colors and patterns and I think we have been successful.

Gunnar and Inger really surprised us by painting the exterior of the house before we arrived.  What a pleasant surprise!  That saved us several days of work.

We had plenty of time for leisure . . .

Enjoying coffee in the evening with Gunnar and Ingvild.  I took the photo from the balcony.

Our moveable deck is comprised of two pallets.  We set it in a little gully which kept us out of the wind.

Gunnar took us fishing in his new boat.  The boat is great.

We caught plenty of fish, which we froze immediately and continue to use.  

Late one evening we took a walk.  It was perfectly still and beautiful.

One summer evening we went to Gunnar and Inger's cabin across the sound from us.  We had waffles and coffee in their enclosed gazebo.  I snapped a couple of photos of the gazebo, cabin and pool, yes pool, on the walk home.

The gazebo

The cabin

The pool!

The yellow cube in the distance is Tove's house.  I took the pic from Gunnar's cabin at 10:45 PM.  

After I took the photo above we walked home.  I took the following photo from our house toward Gunnar's cabin.

Gunnar's cabin is in the centre with lights on.

It happened last summer . . .

Happy New Year, everyone!  I'm still catching up with 2014 posts, so bear with me.  Ingvild and family drove up from Eiksund to spend some time with us in Trondheim in late July.  The weather stayed quite warm during their visit, so we enjoyed watching the kids play in the little wading pool we bought just before they came.

Summer strawberries on a warm summer evening.  Clockwise are Arild, Mari, Ingvild, tante Gerd, Kitty, Tove and Liv.

This restaurant overlooks all of Trondheim.  Food is so-so, but the view is unbeatable.

Mackerel Sky

Liv liked it.

Trondheim fjord, Sentrum, Nidelva (The Nid River), taken from the restaurant.

Tante Gerd and Kitty "catchin' some rays" at Trondhjem Hospital, which is an elder-care home in Trondheim.

In the Summertime, Part II

In the three previous summers I have been here I had never taken the short boat ride to Munkholmen. That changed in the summer of 2014.  One warm Sunday in July we took the small ferry boat to the island.

That's NOT one of the Hurtigrute ships that travels from Bergen to Kirkenes year-round. It's one of the many cruise-ships that travel up the Norwegian coast each summer.

The little spit of sand is where most of the sunbathers go.

We found our little spot among the crowd.

Safe swimming.  The water was basically the same temperature as the water temperature in Newport Beach in June.

The island's monastery buildings still stand.

Trondheim in the distance.

 

It was a lovely day on Munkholmen.  I would love to take my American friends and relatives here when (if?) they visit.

In the Summertime When the Weather is Fine

The summer of 2014 was the warmest in many years for Norway.  It was delightful.  Here are some highlights:

Just a few days after we got back from the States, we attended the baptism of Kitty's great-great grandchild!  The ceremony took place at a beautiful little church in Malvik, which is just north of Trondheim.  The weather was PERFECT!

Five generations.

Inside the church.  Unlike Roman Catholic priest in masses since Vatican II, Norwegian Lutheran priests still face the altar.  The liturgy was very similar to Catholic liturgy.

Tove loves babies.

A week later we visited another baby, Unn and Ola Morten's new baby boy, Einar.

Einar was ready for his nap!

I helped Ola Morten christen his new Weber grill.  Will grilled steak, marinated chicken, and Greek grilling cheese.

Einar was unimpressed:

This is the driveway to Ole Morten and Unn's new house.

Above is the side-yard where we placed the fire truck wind vane we got in San Francisco

Tove tackled the hillside overgrown garden with a rake.  There were lots of berries growing on the hillside.  Ola enjoyed eating them.

On our way back to Trondheim, the weather was so warm that we stopped at an outdoor cafe in Oslo

The food was good.

We were in Trondheim for Midsummer night.  Trondheim puts on a summer fair called Olavsfestdagene right after the summer solstice:

The Buddhist Association served vegetarian food.

A Swedish vendor was selling "Fresh American Donuts"

It was cool weather, but that would soon change.

The warmest in Trondheim since I've lived here.

It was so warm we went to one of the local lakes at about 9:30 PM to take a swim.  The water was lovely.

Perfect evening.

This is the same lake that I took Devon, Patrick and Piper to when they were here in 2011.

There is a nice outdoor restaurant near the yacht harbor.  We went there several times this summer to enjoy the warm weather. 

More to come!