It hardly ever snows in the Mush...

Here we are, same Bat time, same Bat channel
as last year.


Chris on the walk home from the neighbor's
house. Notice the head lamp, courtesy of
LL Bean's shop.


The morning after the snowfall. Good thing
we moved the car down the hill this year. Live
and learn they say. No power outage this year,
but we made sure the solar batteries were on
"Full charge" this year. Chris also put some
spare water in jugs and we had our weather
alert channel on. We have learned to control
the heat in the house better as well, with the
radiant floor heat, the furnace and the wood
stove. Here's to staying warm and a mild
winter!!

We are in the Country, Hon...

We stopped at the local supermarket the other
day and happened to notice this parked next
to us. Doesn't this just scream, "COUNTRY"?


Oh by the way, did you notice who was patiently
waiting in the passenger seat? Man's best friend
waiting on "Bubba" to finish buying his packet
of Red Man and Six Pack. Nothing against this
man or his truck, I like the fact that people can
live the way they want to live in the US.

It is a beautiful day out today, supposed to
reach 70F. So Chris and I headed out for a
morning walk. We headed up our mountain
side until we reached the property line. What a
beautiful view from up there, too bad the folks
who built this house didn't put the house higher
up on the hill. Anyhow, while I was bird watching
down near the house, Chris found this piece of
quartz on her way down towards the house. A
quick bath in the dog's water bowl and it is
shining like a million bucks. Now to find a good
place for it to hang out.

Yes Dear, We need a mattress...Tonight...Yes Dear

Step One....

Or should I say "Challenge number One"....Try to get up off the half deflated air mattress. The ole' bones just can't take the air mattress anymore, camping used to be fun....yeah, like 20+ years ago. Our goal today was to go out and buy a new mattress. We have two mattresses coming in our household goods shipment, but...1) they are not here yet and 2) we were going to toss one anyway.

So, before we started our adventure it was only proper to nourish our bodies before venturing out in to the cruel, cruel world of sales. Here's our free-range eggs, last night's left over "so called Japanese" rice and some delicious melon slices. Sorry, when you have spent as much time in Japan as I have, then you have a right to criticize what some people try to pass off as authentic Japanese food.

Chris will tell you that I am not a big fan of dealing with pushy sales people. OK, they are trying to feed their families, but when I say "no" or I seem disinterested in your product, then get a clue and stop hassling me. It is not OK to come back at me and try to sell me the same product with a different slant on the same crappy product I don't want to buy.

So, off we go to the first mattress store, actually we had gone to this store awhile back and had some quotes on a mattress, frame and delivery...it was just more than we were willing to pay and the salesman wasn't offering us a good deal. And I thought with this struggling economy folks would be falling all over you when you stepped in the door. Anyway, we had come to the point that we absolutely had to get a mattress today, otherwise both of us may have ended up not being able to get up off the floor tomorrow morning. You know, another version of the "I have fallen and can't get up" saga, only with a slightly different twist to the story. Something like, "Honey, I can't reach the pump to inflate the mattress, let's call for help". Well, as dumb luck would have it, this first mattress store didn't have the one mattress that we wanted in stock so we ended up leaving.

Tired from our first adventure and on the run since hitting the ground in the US, we decided that we just couldn't handle any more "errands, must-do's"....Let's do something fun and decided to head downtown. OK, so what is fun? Well, good question and we often struggle with this, but generally for us, it is window shopping, trying new restaurants or just meandering around different parts of the area we are in. So after doing some browsing for "house stuff" at the Habitat for Humanity store, we ended up at this neat Coffee/Pastry shop with a cool rendition of an Edward Hopper painting on the wall.

And of course the people watching is always fun for us...

Ah, and our reward for the day. A nice cup of Latte, an oatmeal raisin cookie and a pistachio biscotti.



After that we went for a walk around Asheville and here is a shot of St. Lawrence's Basilica.

Here is one of our interesting finds along our route. This sculpture is representing the "Flat Iron" Architecture of the surrounding area.

And as always we are looking at different styles of houses. Here is one of the many "Craftsman" style houses around town.

And now what we all have been waiting for....drum roll, please.

After we had all but given up on finding a mattress today we stumbled into this futon shop. I was reluctant, but Chris insisted. OK, just a quick look. Well, after meeting a really laid back, not pushy salesman (read: not in your face), who knew his product and let the product sell itself, we walked out with this in our possession. We felt like we got a deal, saved on delivery and got this mattress for 300 bucks less than what we were going to spend at the first store.

Chris' apartment complex has these handy dandy fire engine red carts for use by the tenants..cool, huh!

OK, now we are back to the steps....

Step 1: Bend over gracefully and rip the heck out of the cardboard.

Step 2: OK, now how do I get the darn thing out of the box???

Step 3: Can you say vacuumed packed????



Step 4: Attempt to cut the plastic off without damage to mattress or self...

Step 5: Remove those white "thingamajigiis"....



Step 6: Ahhhh, let the mattress breathe and try not to trip over the plastic....



Waaalaa....finished product. And comfy! We are now the proud owners of what Chris has called a "Hippy mattress".

And just for kicks....I'll let the video speak for itself...

A walk in the woods

We decided early on during the recent three day weekend (Courtesy of Mr. Christopher Columbus himself: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbus_Day) that we would have to get out of the apartment at least once. Of course, the forecast for mild temperatures and sunshine also encouraged us in that direction as well. So, off we went on a little adventure towards the outskirts of town. We decided not to drive, but to catch public transportation. So, the logical choice for our destination was the T-bane (train). Across the T-bane tracks was this piece of graffiti (art to some). Colorful and bright, and undoubtedly a challenge to the person (artist) that left their mark high above the city.

And you know me, always looking on the ground for interesting bits of trash.

We decided to spend our day at the lake at Sognsvann. Here's a blurb courtesy of the web on where we spent our day: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sognsvann

This is the #3 T-bane that we caught back and forth to the lake. This happens to be one of the new trains on the Oslo transport system.

We found this interesting group of critters at the entrance to the lake. The dogs were out in force at the lake (most were muddy, wet and happy!)


And here you can see why this spot is so popular with the locals.

And of course we had to pop off the trail and have our picnic lunch while the sun was out.


Not only is the area beautiful by the lake, but there are some wonderful spots along the walking trail that venture through some deep and dark forests.


It was a gorgeous day and the colors of the fall were out in force.


As we came towards the end of 3.3 kilometer trail we came upon an old farm and some of its inhabitants.


And to top off a delightful walk, we we got back into town we went to one of Chris' favorite places to get sushi (Aptly named "Sushi"). And it just so happens they make one of the best fried rices in town as well. It is a small Mom-n-Pop store, quick and reasonably priced and good customer service. A combination that is hard to beat in this town.

We went our separate ways after dinner, Chris was off back to the apartment as I made my way to a local pub to watch the England vs Kazakhstan match. And with an England victory it was a good ending to a eventful Saturday in Norway.

A Sunday walk

Well it is 3:57 am over here and raining quite heavily...can't sleep, so why not take this opportunity to add something to the blog. Hold on, maybe it was that Kebab I had late this evening that is keeping me awake. As Anthony Bourdain always says, "tonight's pleasure, tomorrow's diarrhea".

What I have found rather interesting about our time over here is that we really are not that dependent on our vehicle. It is a nice feeling, one I am sure we are going to miss once we move on from Oslo. I can't remember us walking as much when we lived in the States, kind of sad when I think about it. You really can miss out on so much when you don't travel on foot. Take for instance this "Chick Fillet" looking character....Boy, what I would do for a waffle fry right about now!!!



Or this ...


Anybody watching the Olympics? This lady looks like she is ready to dive in and take on Michael Phelps.


I guess I was enjoying the walk too much, because I didn't take any other photos along our route this day. We put some good distance on our walking shoes, so much in fact that we ended up taking the tram back home.

A summer's day walk

The day started off with a walk down to Aker Brygge. It was a gorgeous, summer day...so I just had to break out the Hawaiian shirt to celebrate being in the sunshine. As we approached the water I noticed that some unfortunate child had lost their prize possession of the day. It is not everyday you seeing a flying zebra, so out came the camera.

The vendors were out selling their goods. BBQ shrimp (not on a stick) with bread for about 8 bucks.

Hva skjer? (What's going on?) Luckily for us we unknowingly ran into this "Grill Master" cooking event. This event had chefs from all around Norway competing for these coveted prizes.....

This peculiar (but cool looking) trophy happens to be for "Best Burger in the meat category". Other categories included such things as lamb curry, spareribs with a grill sauce marinade, chicken, vegetables and a few others. As we walked along the grilling stations, every once in awhile the chefs would pass out samples of their tasty culinary treats (And it was "free", yes I said "free", something that does not happen very often over here). Anyway, while we were sitting, people watching and contemplating our next move along came these two characters ready for a smoke break. Each team had a name and these guys happened to be named "Gutta Fra Nord - The Boys from the North", as their aprons indicate.

Well, as we continued our people watching, we struck up a conversation with these guys and commented on how our daughter was also working as a chef. We told them that we were really intrigued and impressed by their outfit. And much to our surprise, after one of the guys disappeared for a few minutes; he came bearing a gift for our daughter. This t-shirt is now roaming around somewhere stateside and I am sure being worn proudly.

A walk through the park

I haven't posted anything in a few days...sorry, I've been busy or just too knackered when I got home from work. Anyway, this picture will have to peak your interest for now. It was from our walk this past weekend? Any guesses?

A weekend walk

It's snowing! After a slow morning, some breakfast and a little blogging we decided to go out for a winter's walk down to the local jetty, Aker Brygge.










Should we take the "trikk"? Nah, let's throw caution to the wind and get a little exercise. The public transportation in this country is absolutely wonderful. Trikk's (cable cars), T-bane/Tog (trains) and buses are running everyday and late into the night. Sure beats a taxi ride where you can expect to pay through the nose every time you step into one.

Anyway, back to our afternoon adventure...


Courtesy of the wonderful, world-wide web (aka - www):
For more than a century Aker Brygge was the site of a shipyard, Akers Mekaniske Verksted. Since 1986, when the workshops were opened as the first stage in the Aker Brygge development, this site has become a small township with shopping malls, apartment buildings, offices, restaurants, a cinema, a theatre and a health-and-fitness centre. This unique sea-front boardwalk is one of Oslo's primary attractions. More than 5,000 people live and work in the area. The buildings are distinctive, with their combination of old, venerable shipyard buildings and modern architecture. In the summer months Aker Brygge is Oslo's primary and most popular meeting place, teeming with people both day and night, enjoying Aker Brygge's numerous attractions.Shops, restaurants, apartments and offices, cinemas, bars & pubs, marina, parking house etc. Exciting architecture and a panorama view of the Oslo fjord. All this makes Aker Brygge Oslo's unique pearl window to the sea.












Here we are entering the boardwalk area (Chris is in the background). It has been awhile since we have been down this way and a few things have changed since the summer. Quite a few sculptures have been added and the new office/apartment complexes are well underway.

Hey, we need to stop here to buy some of that dairy free sour cream that you like. And of course, you just can't buy one thing. Fortunately, we only ended up with one bag (sour cream, bread and mozzarella cheese for a pizza later on tonight). In all of our travels, we have always been fascinated by foreign grocery stores and market places. I'll have to write a separate blog on Norwegian grocery stores and Dagligvar's (daily markets that sell fruits, veg and daily necessities).





While heading home we entered an alley way and caught a fantastic whiff of pizza dough wafting through the cold, crisp air. Stomach to brain....feed me! Funny enough we had talked about making pizza at home tonight, oh well you can't stop Pavlov's dog! Woof!! It was a delicious pizza with tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, mushrooms, artichokes and olives. And it only cost $30 for a 10" pizza. A bargain for sure.



On the way home after lunch, we ran into this contraption. Talk about a street sweeper. I guess the snow is probably at the 2" mark and it doesn't look like there is going to be much more. Chris was hoping for more.





I don't know, just thought this was funny...Anybody else seeing double?

It is an add for a glasses shop, their January sale for 30, 50 & 70% off.








Well the troops are tired. Good thing we are back home as it looks like someone needs a nap (in fact I can hear her snoring in the background as I type. Have a great weekend everyone!