Facts of Eli

When your fingers are cold, your smartphone won't acknowledge you.

November Ramble

Regardless of all the tee lights and candles, scented, or not, I feel the darkness. Guess it's that time of the year again. We have had no snow yet. It's only naked bare trees surrounded by the murky darkness of November.

Every once in a while the sun comes out. On those days, I go outside feeling happy and smiling. And immediately have tears running down my cheeks, because the sun is so low, the glare of the beams hits you directly in the eyes. The reflections off of poodles and wet asphalt aren't helping. It's painful. I'm sure the sun is sending me a message about how hard it it is to come out way up here in the cold north. I almost shout back at her: "Alright I get it. Fine! You go back into hiding you vicious moody bitch!" But I don't, because even though my eyes are hurting, I feel her warmth, barely, on my face, and it is still healing.

***

Marianne is no longer a puppy *sad panda face* Now, when grumpy old dogs yell(read bark) at her, she'll reply likewise. She no longer throws herself down crying for mercy at tiny adult dogs we meet. She meets their gaze with a gaze of her own; C'mon, you mofos, bring it on, cause I'm not backing off anymore!

She doesn't get over the top excited by leaves blowing in the wind, anymore, either.  It makes me a bit wistful, but at the same time, she's not aggressive towards other dogs, which is good. Nor does she think the neighbour's garden ornaments are dangerous aliens out to get her. She's slowed down, calmed down, heck, she's lazier than I am. " Are we going for a walk, today? No? Goodie! I'll just nap on the sofa a bit more. Lets snore in tandem"


***

I did a proper effort regarding quitting smoking this fall. I got Champix from my doctor and started on them in August. It worked. I had cut down to a minimum and got started on the second stage of pills and freaked out. I was aware of the dreaming weird dreams thing, but this was a whole other game. The dreams turned into nightmares that left me exhausted in the morning. Childhood traumas kept popping up like spiders in a cellar. After a few days of total panic attacks with the sweating, shaking, hyper ventilating, I called the doctor and asked for help. The doctor was kind, sent off a request for therapy - which was denied, btw.

I sat down to think, because I don't normally get panic attacks. I'm usually able to notice them sneaking up and avoid them by change of mind set, etc. This was unfamiliar and scary.

It finally dawned on me - the damn champix pills. I quit and after a few days, the nightmares and the panic attacks disappeared.

So, I'm back to smoking, but I'm not losing my mind. I still have issues that sorely needs to be dealt with. I'll have to find a way to get help with that. Someway. Somehow. Sometime.

I'll just have to quit smoking the hard way, I guess. Ugh! Will have to get my big girl panties on and do it

***

Simen shot his first deer last weekend.  A nice young buck. Clean shot. I'm happy, he and his dadman are ecstatic. Christmas dinner is now fully provided. Which is a good thing, as we'll be the entire  clan Jakobsen this year. Runar and I are cooks, as usual. Dinner is at the inlaws. It'll be fun.

I taught the neigbour farmer up at Vintland how to knit. We're making a patchwork blanket together. Fun. I'm also chrocheting shawls. I've got to use some of the yarn I inherited.

I've broaden my horizon regarding erotic romances. I've read a few kindle books by someone from my AFP Facebook group and they were a lot of fun. Very sci fi, which I liked a lot.
I stumbled onto some BDSM type of audiobooks by going with some of Amazon's recommendations that had Runar die a million deaths. He'd moan, hide his face and claim" Eli, you're killing me!" when he walked in while it was playing on the stereo. Then he'd stop, look at me with an evil, devilish gleam in his eyes, asking "You're into this!?!" That had me freaked out. We agreed on there being something for everyone, out there. Now I'm using ear pieces. No more speakers. Sheesh!

***

My mom fell down and broke her hip this week. She had surgery yesterday. My dad and I are visiting her this afternoon. He wants to ride with me, cause he loves my new car. It's easy for him to get in and out of, and his wheel chair fits easily in the back. He's got issues with his dentures. He's got a denture set for his upper front teeth that keeps falling out while he eats. We've been visiting the dentist at least once a week for a month now, trying to get them fixed. It's tiring for him and painful for my arms/shoulders. He's shrunk a lot this last year, but he's still a big heavy guy and the chair is heavy. We also have to be very careful and mindful with his body, as his meds have thinned his skin to the point where the lightest of touches causes his skin to fall off in big layers. It's scary. He hates being old and fragile. He wants to die, but hangs in there for us girls. I love him. I know it's getting near the time to let him go. I can't talk about that, though. too painful.

Words

Be sad, 

be rad,

be ravingly mad

but, do stay around

go down,

with a frown,

go wear a crown

but, do stay around

do this,

do that,

do it with splat

but, do stay around

I see you,

I feel you,

I certainly love you

so, do stay around

Dear Cat (not a love letter)

Dear cat-who-shat-the-shit-in-my-garden-that-Marianne-found-and-rolled-in,

you are not welcome here, anymore.

With regards
Eli

PS! Marianne sends a teary Q from the hall; WHY?

...

it's starting to look like a lawn, right?

In other news, I've spent the weekend doing yard work and mowing lawns. I've also driven tractor a lot. A Lamborghini.(I just had to say it) If you look at the photo, you can see the infamous Lamborghini.  Driving it, or using the tools is quite a work out, I tell ya! We got all the equipment for the tractors, etc stored away in a semi-tidy manner, mowed the lawn and fields, and just got things sorted. Then the red tractor (the 1969 Massey Fergerson) died. In the middle of the driveway. At the most unsuitable place. Litterally between a rock and a rock with no room on either sides. I had to use the Lamborghini and push the hoe to the side enough for another vehicle to pass.




Nature-wise, there's a Houdini lamb that's settled in our fields/lawn. Today, After having watched it from the steps and hallway for 2 hours and after it stomped at her when she walked past to go pee. Marianne, couldn't resist and ran it off. I was watching and caught her. She stopped and came back to the door. Funny thing is, she doesn't bark.

The lamb has been escaping enclosures and jumping fences since mid summer, it's not even scared of the dogs. It doesn't really panic and run, it sort of jogs while baahh-ing a muffled mmmhhhumm still chewing. When Marianne stops, it stops. And continues eating.

 I'm fairly ok with it living there as it doesn't eat the flowers, but it shits everywhere...my life is full of shit?

   Oh,  Look, roses happened!









PS! I just became the new owner of an old(2001) Toyota RAV4 2.0 Haven't seen it yet as Runar is driving it home now. It being way late, I'll be asleep before he gets here. I don't know anything about these cars, but I don't care.  Life suddenly became much easier, freer and better. . and I'm off to bed.

PPS! What's going on in your lives, peeps, you've been quiet for too long...or was it me who was hiding? Anywho, what's happening in your neck of the woods?



UPDATE: 
 Toyota Rav4

Link (don't know for how long it will be up though.
sale ad for the car with lots of pics

Project; fixing up at the farm

We've gotten a good start fixing up at the farm. The cellar is DRY! Which means I can actually store things down there.

Runar is going to put in a water tap and I'll get a new hose. Now I have to use the indoor tap and have the hose running through the house, which is a bother, or I can carry buckets of water, which is heavy and a bother. We'll be storing garden stuff and furniture down there. Now we store those things in the barn and they get covered in goo and bird droppings...yuck!

The lawn is semi finished. Runar has put up a natural stone "wall" to enable a flat lawn in front of the house. We'll be planting red currant bushes, etc along it on the lower level and a hedge on top of the stones to shield against wind gusts. Also to enjoy sitting out there without staring the neighbours straight in the eye.

We're planning a masonry natural stone wall up against the barn as well. (to the left of photo, where Marianne is dosing in the shade) We'll have to wait until next year, to let the grass grow properly before driving on it with heavy machinery. Runar is contemplating putting in a natural stone bench - which he saw at some friends' house a few weeks ago. It was gorgeous looking! The reason we need a stone wall there, is to prevent the whole barn from gliding out.

Next weekend we're putting up stones and filling in dirt for a flowerbed from the steps along the house to the driveway. I'm going to see if I can get roses to grow up there. Because of the lower temps up there, not all flowers thrive.

We've finished with painting the upstairs hallway and stairway. The difference is huge and amazing. The 150+ old logs were old and blackened. The whole hallway was dark and scary. As you can see on the photos, they didn't use nails, they notched the logs and they insulated with EVERYTHING, like old newspapers, moss, sawdust, you-name-it. The 100+years old dry moss is hell to paint on. I vacuumed countless times, but we still had a hard time putting on paint on those old logs. The floor was easy in comparison.

 The other thing you'll notice, is that they used whatever planks and logs they had available. This cottage was built by folks who mainly got by without much real money. They bartered and swapped goods for favors, etc. There is a wonderful story about the former owner. I'll tell you another time.














Thomas and I had quite a job using wood impregnation with antiparacitics to get rid of the common furniture beetle that has been eating away on the house up there. It took a couple of weeks to finished the treatment, as we had to do a few parts twice before it helped. But, knock-on-wood I haven't spotted the fine sawdust anywhere afterwards. w00t!
(the photos are from before the second coat of paint)


Healthwise I kept it up until this week. The new meds arcoxia my doc has me trying out works wonders, but I can't take them for more than 4 days max. Neither can I use the ordinary anti-inflammatory meds Vimovo, while using the Arcoxia.  My arms and neck are killing me this week, so we're taking it easy. Right now I'm even having trouble lifting my cup of coffee without grimacing and it's so hard not getting low. Ugh!

Listening to audiobooks and crocheting when I can, watching netflix when I can't. Tomorrow I'll be able to take Vimovo again and hopefully I'll be able to avoid fullblown inflammation and fever happening.

No jobs for Runar, yet. The oil industry is starting to suffer and there is such an increase in unemployed people. With a decrease in available jobs, things are rough.

I'm on the last arm on the jacket I'm crocheting for Helene. It was supposed to be for myself, but I've sort of outgrown it... Here's a photo of the back, just to give you an idea of the pattern. I told you about it earlier. There were no pattern available anywhere for the kind of jacket I wanted, so I used the pattern for a wedding-dress bolero and just "invented" the rest of the pattern on the go


Oh, I proudly present....poppies!!! I dug up a poppie plant last year, from my garden here in Mandal and brought it up to the farm, just to see if it would grow. It did. 3 flowers happened this year. Who knows what'll happen next year

I should blog, but...

...I've got nothing to say. I'm whelmed. I lost my funny

Storm season

Update:
Storm's name is "Nina"

The authorities have issued storm warnings in my region among others. Not sure if it has a name, yet. You know, I think that's something we got from you Americans; the naming of storms. It's silly, like a storm with a cute name is going to wreak less havoc than an unnamed one?!? Late last night when I was outside with Marianne, I could hear the storm out on the sea.

There is something magical in hearing the sea roaring and the thunder of breaking waves. In my back yard it was eerily silence, no wind, no rain. Still, it was the kind of silence before the storm kind of silence.

 It's reached the shore and the wind gusts are threatening to tear down the windbreakers in the back yard. They're bolted down to the patio, but they are thin and not too solid. Crossing fingers they'll hold.

We're heading up to the farm. The storm is supposed to be much worse up there. We need to check on things up there and we need to get the water out of the basement. We've had issues with water in the basement for a few years now, but since measures to fix it involves a lot of hard manual work, it never gets done. I suspect it's because Runar has ignored my plee to fix all the ditches up there.

If  ditches aren't fit to carry off water, then water will find new ways to run. (old indian Eli-proverb)

***

Yesterday I took my mom to see the neurologist specialist. He was pleased and desided she won't have to increase her med dosages, which pleased us a lot. Parkinson meds have nasty side-effects and the less she has to take, the better off we all are.

While we were off to hospital, Runar stayed with my dad and made Venison roast. The first taste of Vintland's Big Norwegian Red Deer venison. Everyone loved it, except from Runar, who thought the meat was too tough and stringy. It wasn't, seriously, but there were parts that  had some tendons, or something and those parts were chewy, but duh...

When Runar cooks, it means, he'll do the roast, I'll do the rest, which meant he and my dad had a lot of time to sit and chat and drink beer. And nap. When Simen got there, they were both happily snoring. Dad then confided in them, proudly, that he was still in the "MAN-club" because he fooled us(meaning wife, daughters, doctors) by halfing his cortisone pills without telling. Not quite sure what I should do about this, but for now, I'm going to pretend I don't know about it...

The MAN-club is somthing the trio created back in the days when Simen was old enough to help them cut trees for firewood up at the farm. They'd go up for the weekend, work and have a good time without any womenfolk and usually the neighbour farmer would come up in the evening, they'd have a drink, tell wild stories and be generally obnoxious. They'd all come home happy.

Dad misses these trips and he is unable to make them anymore. Yesterday was a way to try re-create that and by the looks of it, it worked. While we were sitting down eating, even mom joined in telling wild stories from dad's youth while giggling and laughing.

***

Runar and Simen are finally getting over their head colds. I have managed to avoid getting it, so far, I think. I've used my cortisone asthma inhalator whenever I have felt the itch in the back of my throat. I have had a partially stuffed nose and fever has come and gone and come, my body aches like hell, but I'm not sure if it's just the arthritis or if I actually have had the dreaded cold, just not realized it. Because, head colds. Fuck! I decided I didn't have time to get sick when my dad got hospitalized during the holidays and so I haven't. Mind over matter and all that jazz.

***

I'm playing with the idea of writing a story. I might be posting a short story or two.

***

I keep wishing for a laundry fairy, so bad. I'm half way done with my mountain of dirty laundry, but more dirty laundry keeps on coming... I'm actually contemplating going to the cleaners with the whole lot, just to be able to see an empty laundry room. Just once.


Marianne wishes everyone a lazy weekend.

Welcome Year 2015

 PLEASE, BE A GOOD YEAR

PRETTY PLEASE?



I at least hope you are better than the previous, which  sucked balls and toefarts









I'm not doing the new year meme this year, as I hardly have any online time anymore and by the time I get less busy, it'll be too late for that

Things have been busy for a long time. I thought that when Christmas came around, things would calm down. Hunting season would be over and I would be able to get on top laundry, etc instead of living in bags moving back and forth from the farm.
Christmas was spent at my oldest sister's house Their youngest son with family were there and my parents. We had a wonderful time. Little Sigrid got scared when Santa came stomping up from the cellar and had to sit in Runar's lap, while her older brother; Magnus was not scared at all and even gave Santa a hug.

It was snowy and icy Christmas Eve and my father had a little mishap and fell while going down the steps to the car. He is on blood thinners and the cortisone makes his skin thin as well. Most of the skin on the back of his hand just fell off and he bled like a pig, of course. We got him bandaged and thought things were okay.

Turned out things were not so okay after all. Next morning we had to rush him off to hospital and he stayed there until New Years Eve. They drained 1.5 liters from his lungs. His heart isn't strong enough to rid him of excess liquid. He has yet more meds to take and hopefully he'll be around for a little while longer.

While he was in hospital, my youngest sister stayed with my mother. I stayed one night and day as well, but mostly Hildegunn was there. Bless her heart. She's a real trooper! Runar and my oldest sister had both gotten a bad cold from the kids. My brother in law and I visited my dad at the hospital every other day or so.

We need to get the old timers more help. My mother is incapable of caring for herself. She has no clue as to what day it is, what time of the day it is, nor when to eat, take meds, etc. She dresses and undresses 6-7 times a day - for no apparent reason, she has just always been into fashion and seem to think it's okay to change clothes all day. I took her with me when I was shopping groceries for her, all she nagged about the entire time, was to get her new stockings, which I did, because I didn't notice the ridiculously huge pile of boxes with stockings in her drawer until we got back - there  are stockings for a couple of decades...

My father is way too sick to care for anyone other than himself. They are both stubborn enough to not want any more help...fun times

The 30th we drove to Stavanger and helped Helene and her Runar move into their new bought flat. It was only a couple of streets away from where they rented, but it is a much bigger flat and to Helene's delight it has a dishwasher. Wheee! It was wonderful seeing her again, they both looked happy and healthy, which makes the 2 old parents happy pandas. DoubleWhee!

We aren't broke anymore, since Runar now receives unemployment pay, but we're still poor as heck and we can't afford to smoke anymore. This is a good thing, I know it is, even if I can't seem to see any good in this, yet. When I'm over the worst of the withdrawals I'm sure I will be able to see the good in this as well...


I hope my own health will improve a bit in 2015. I'll have to get an appointment to see my doctor (I almost get an allergic reaction just thinking about it, my doctor-angst is getting ridiculously bad) I have to ask her for some stronger anti inflammatory meds and hope my stomach can handle it long enough to get rid of my inflamation in  my right elbow. It's been there since summer and that is way too long. I want to be able to knit again. Hells, I want to be able to use my arms again without ending up a wreck.

I gave myself a newYear's gift this morning. I had forgotten to deactivate my alarm and when I rolled out of bed to turn it off, I headbutted one of the big old trunks(the type of traveling suitcases of olden days) They currently litter our bedroom up at the farm, because I was supposed to paint the upstairs hallway this fall. Due to my inflammation, that didn't happen, but all the shite is still stacked in the bedrooms...
I meet the new year with a black and blue cheek. Yowsa!




HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Fridges hate me

I need an exorcist. Or a magic wand. Or some kind of woodo to rid me of my curse. Fridges and or freezers hate my guts. AAARRRGGGHHH!

 Back in May I struggled to de-ice my freezer. I wrote about it in This blog. From then, our Fridge-freezer hasn't worked.

The fridge isn't that old. It wasn't the most expensive, but neither was it among the cheapest. It is supposed to be an automatic anti ice thingie. The salesperson bragged about this fridge, how effective, quiet, maintenance-free, etc it was. Hah! Liar!

 There is no way of turning off the freezer part. There is no defrost button/option. I checked. I plowed through the manual with magnifying glass. I searched the net. No help.

As often is the case with brilliant theories, reality is different. The freezer was so full of ice, there was hardly room for anything else. According to the manual, icing would and could not happen. That was all that was mentioned regarding this.

Since it is impossible to turn off the freezer, only, and because I needed the fridge part of the damned thing, I had to leave the freezer-door open and use bowls of boiling hot water to melt the ice. I mean, I had to do something. The ice was threatening to take over the entire thing. To the point where I worried I couldn't close the door. It took two days to melt the ice, but it got done and I was so happy and proud. Until the next day, when the alarm went off.

I did not use any knives. Let's get that straight. No. Knives. Yes, I do admit that I did do that to ONE of our previous Fridge/freezer and yes, it killed it. I did it only once. I learned my lesson. I swear.   Does hubby believe me? No. He is convinced it's my fault and that I used a knife. He can't hear the incessant beeping of the alarm and doesn't really care.

Obviously the god of fridges has neither forgiven, nor forgotten, because the freezer part refuses to go lower/colder than minus 10 C and the freezer alarm goes off at minus 11C.

Since May I have had to go hit off the alarm at all hours of day and night. I have to keep the magic "frost-matic" (I kid you not, there is such a button) active too. It gets the temps down to minus 13C for about 5 minutes, then suddenly rises to minus 10 or minus 9  and *BEEEEEEEP*
It. Drives. Me. Nuts.

We can't afford a new fridge right now. I do have a huge old fashion freezer in Simen's bedroom, so fortunately no food got ruined. It's taking so much space, that he is pleading with me to get rid of it. I can't do that until I can afford a new fridge/freezer.

Our car will be fixed next Thursday. We'll have to wait and see what the cost will be. If we're lucky, we'll afford a new fridge/freezer too.

I'm still not recovered from the inflammation. Marianne is still in heat. Runar is overworked and we haven't had a proper weekend since...I can't remember.

Right now I just suck at everything.

Aw Lawdy, I crashed. Books and other sillies

I've been down with a freak bout of inflammations for more than a week. It's my own fault, which made it suck all that more. That exercise class was too much and when I, in one of those I-will-get-this-place-in-order-even-if-it-kills-me type of mood, mowed the lawn, yeah... I crashed. My arms felt as if they'd been through a thresher.[ramble] I had to put away my crochet work, which is a bummer as I only have the sleeves left to do on my jacket project.  After I'm done with this one, I am either going to knit or crochet another one - with thicker yarn - a cardigan type, me thinks[/ramble] Marianne, the physical therapist - texted me today telling me I was welcome to try out another easier class. I'm going to try that - hopefully next week.




I'm better now. Not great, I'm still stiff and achy as hell, but no fever anymore. Huzzah! The last three days I've been able to do some knitting, so I started the jacket to go with the dress I knitted for Frida pre-summer. It's going to be a Christmas present.




Runar's work has been down in a dump for a few weeks, with several loose strands that he hasn't quite been able to tie together. Until this week. He's in Denmark today. He'll probably leave again on Sunday for another project. Things are picking up. Thankfully, as I have a mountain of bills to pay.

Oh, you know the car trouble that didn't got fixed, due to the Volvo shop wanting us to pay our souls for something they couldn't guarantee helped? Runar found a shop that could do the job for less than half the price. They knew exactly what Runar was talking about when the called them and had no problems guaranteeing they'd get it fixed. Hah! Take that Volvo! It does mean that he'll have to drive 4 hours to get there, but they'll provide him with a car while the job is getting done. It is SO worth the drive!

Marianne is officially a young adult. She is in heath and Mother Night, she is one very confused dog. Plus she wants some. Real bad. I swear. She's a friggin' nympho whore. Walks with her is now out of the picture for me alone. Walks without a leash is out of the picture for the boys. It's mindblowing. Another thing that is mindblowing is how much her vagina swells up. I don't know how much you guys know about dogs in heath, but their genitalia swell up a bit. Marianne's swells up A LOT! I swear, she is a vagina with a little face at the other end. Terrifying!

IN OTHER NEWS:

Books

I've plowed through a few books this summer. Here are some I'd like to point out:

Red Rising  by Pierce Brown, a supreme sci fi space opera kind of read. L.O.V.E.D. it!

Theft of swords by Michael J. Sullivan. 1st book in the Riyria Revelations trilogy. It's a classical adventure type of Fantasy read. I totally and completely fell in love with the main characters, but I have to admit that the fact that I bought the audio books, part of why I loved it so much, might be due to the awesome narrator. I am such a sucker for a sexy voice...
PS! There are some free audiobook shortstories on Amazon. The Jester is one.

Skin Game by Jim Butcher, the latest of his Dresden Files series about Harry Dresden, the licensed Gandalf-on-crack wizard of Chicago, Il. . Seriously, if you haven't read any of the Dresden Files, you are missing out on greatness. The audiobook narrator is soooo sexy [Mm Mm Mmm]. My sister, who had previously read about 10 pages of this series and had decided that she definitely did not like this cocky asshat wizard wonder, changed her mind completely this summer after she borrowed one of the books(I have some actual books in addition to the audiobooks, because signed stuff is so fun), to read on the 6 hours' bus ride home.  She is now a Dresden Files Fangirl [evil grin]

 I've also been through some anthologies Dangerous Women and Unfettered, which had some entertaining stories in them.

I'm now listening to The Broken Eye by Brent Weeks. It's boy-coming-to-age type of Fantasy with some interesting twists. I have an ambivalent relationship with this series. I hated the main character so much in book 1, that I could hardly manage to read() on, but even though I still disliked him in book 2, there were some interesting aspects regarding Brent's universe and type of magic and I kind of like the baddies. Now, in book 3, I'm catching myself in actually liking the little SOB. Weird.

I upgraded the kindle version of Shawn's The Dark Thorn to the audio version. I now have it in all possible versions, but I don't care, it's a good story that I won't mind listening to again, whenever I'm out of anything new to read/listen to. Which sort of leads me to my big problem



I need ideas for new reads. I'm desperate for some dystopian, steampunk dark awesomness to dive into when the long rainy autumn nights sets in. Help me out, plz?






PS! Just got a call from Runar. 1.  He's landed a new deal. YAY! 2. He got his ass kicked out of the business class area on the ferry, because he didn't see the QUIET sign and was talking on the phone... GROANY SIGH!

Sounds harsh? Guys, you haven't heard the type of phone-talking this hubby of mine does. Quiet is not a word that abides with Runar. Not even on a good day...

Wham! Fall is here

I have to blog, or Helene will kill me. Thing is, I don't have that much interesting to say, nor much happy stuff. I'm in a meh-phase and a bit whelmed. 

Rainstorms and everyday routine is a fact. I'm rather relieved to be honest. I'm stressed out, even though the big cousin gathering was postponed to next year. It's nice to get back into the normal grind of work weeks.

I've started working out with a physical therapist once a week. The workout is specialized for people with neck/shoulder/back issues. P.A.I.N. I tell yah, I am so out of shape it's depressing

It's been a weird summer. I've sort of been living in transit and I haven't been able to finish any of the projects I wanted to do. That's not new, exactly, but this summer it sort of got to me and stressed me out. I told Runar early on, like in May, that I really needed to stay up at the farm and get the hall upstairs painted and the rest of the farm house deep cleaned. I told him that I was worn out and needed to stay up there long enough to be able to recharge my batteries. That was a mistake. Subconsciously he immediately started working on making that impossible. I honestly don't think he does this on purpose, I just know that the result is that nothing on my to-do-list gets done, while his to-do-list grows daily and they all take precedence.  Eitherwho,  last weekend he helped me get the hallway upstairs cleared and ready to be painted. The main reason I need to paint, is because of the woodworm. According to my BIL I can get paint with anti-parasite stuff that takes care of the problem.

The car has broken down a few times during summer, but it hasn't really gotten fixed, because it will probably cost too much. We are now back to the good ole' times where I can't really use the car for long trips, because of the risk of ending up stranded along the road somewhere and it will inconvenience everybody. 


Runar bought one of these. It really did the work on the fields. We got rid of the fences around the house and we now have a lawn all the way to the creek, which is nice. It was the money I'd have liked to use on furniture and curtains, but hey, the fields have been tended to more this summer than they have since we took over the farm. Nice!





I hope we get a mild winter. Runar forgot he had promised fire wood to one of the cottage neighbours up there. He gave them 3 pallets of firewood that were meant for our own use.

He started his swimming pool project. It's a huge project. I told him I was against it, because it wouldn't be finished and we'd end up with a messy mudhole for the dogs to get dirty in. "Oh, no!" he said, "It will be finished by next year, the latest." He said.  Results: He has dug up a huge hole in the creek that Marianne loves to take mudbaths in. Yay?

The neighbour farmer has gotten Scottish Highland cattle. They're ridiculously cute.

We've been visited regularly by a sheep and her twin lambs all summer. One week they were in our fields 3 days in a row. 3 days in a row, Marianne sat and watched them, but managed to not chase them or try play with them. Then late afternoon the 3rd day, she couldn't help herself. She approached the trio. Mama sheep do not abide with dogs. Of course. She did her best to gore her (read: chase her away from her kids) Marianne thought it a wonderful new game and danced happily around her barely avoiding getting hit. She didn't show aggression and she didn't bark. The two twin lambs couldn't care less. They've seen Marianne from they were born and probably thinks she is just another weird sheep.

Mama sheep tolerates Marianne at a distance and it seems Marianne has accepted this is how it will be. She hasn't tried to contact them afterwards. The trio still visits our fields regularly. 

Simen has started his apprenticeship with the local electrician firm. He is loving it; the work, the people, the routine. Workhours are 7:30 - 15:30. W00t!

My dad told my sister they were ready to move into a nursing home. My mother's Parkinson is getting worse and my dad's health is deteriorating at an alarming rate. He's too worn out to take care of her. It's hard to deal with and I can't really talk about it.

 Mom's brother died last week and it has sent her on a downward spiral. Uncle was a character, alright. Extremely smart. Spoke several languages. Active in humanitarian work. Active in women's rights. (His wife was so masculine she had actual beard, that's all I really remember of her, that and her deep manly voice, they got divorced when I was a kid) Active in the resistance work during WW2. He was also an alcoholic who beat his wife to a wreck, who at the age of 70 something, raided houses with teenagers and bullied my mother until she was a nervous wreck whenever my father was away. He had 3 kids, one outside his marriage that I didn't know about until 10 years ago. It's complicated. Funeral will be Friday.

PS! I have a new wallpaper for the laptop (Thank you Amber) I love it.

What my brain spewed out...

...when I realized how long it had been since I last blogged and knew I only had tonight to do it. 



First, Marianne is back to her good, old self. The swelling went away the fourth day. She had her last pills today, thankfully. Dogs get as low-energy as humans when on antibiotics. Poor baby. She hasn't wanted to go near that field where she got bit, afterwards. Lets all cross fingers she's learnt.


This is when we got back from the vet and the morphine kicked in. She was afraid to lay down, since the mouth hurt so bad. I had to help her, in the end. She was out for several hours and when she woke, she felt a lot better and her appetite was back....or perhaps it was the drug-munchies?







We missed Simen

Tuesday we're off to her 1 year old check up at the vet. Should be fun. She really impressed me at the emergency Vet. She hadn't been to a vet before, but took to all the instruments, benches, noisy machines and other sick animals, like a pro. The Vet could do whatever she wanted to, but when she touched the lips(?) she cried out miserably.





The shark slippers are finished.













I had to turn down a visit from a friend. That really and truly sucked. With Runar having so much to do with his new business and his stress level being as it is, I just couldn't make it happen in a way that would be an enjoyable experience. He is a gracious and understanding friend, which makes it doubly bad. But, I have promised myself to get better at saying no, rather than forcing myself to manage more than I can handle. The visit will happen and when it does, I'll likely be happy it got postponed. I hope. Part of me fears there is a train that has left and will never return. I hate that little miserable voice in the back of my mind. Someone ought to find a way to permanently stomp that dude and tell the rest of us.


I got tax refund. I didn't think I would. Very pleasant surprise, that.

 Drought has stolen all the colours. This little fellow is usually pinkish purple



Tuesday we took the boat out and ate supper sammies on an island. The drought is making everything look rather sad, to be honest. It's crazy dry. My lawn is a yellowish-brown dried out joke. Simen, bless his soul, managed to keep my flowers alive. Mostly. I love that boy.

Tuesday night, I wanted to strangle him slowly to death a time, or ten.

He had forgotten a fish in a plastic bag on the floor inside the boat. You cannot imagine the stink. I had to remove the rotten mesh and dry it up. G.R.O.S.S. We had to leave the hatch open the entire trip and we left the boat open, making Simen go down to close up late at night before going to bed. He had to clean the boat a later day. Grrrowl!

This one hasn't sprung out and doesn't know about the colours having been stolen, yet. Crude awakenings to come. Å, Jah!









 Next week, Helene and her Runar is coming home. Juhuu!









I'm crocheting a new summer hat for myself. Like this, but white.












The big cousin get-together up at the farm, is happening August 1st. None of us sisters has had the guts to start any serious planning. Runar has already started dying. It can't be helped, he'll just have to die gracefully around me, or suffer the consequences. I'm working on my mean streak this summer.

I got my hair fixed, yesterday. And my brows. I thought they got too dark and tried scrubbing the colour off with eye makeup remover.

I now have very sore and very red eyebrows. They're still just as too dark. Nobody can see that they're coloured and that I regretted it, tried to fix it and failed. Miserably. Nobody.    
Snort!


My attempt at a selfie, showing off my new caps. My photographic skillz still suck balls.  

Ramble-ramble-ramble-nonsense-and-shit

Tick season has started over here. I need to get some anti-tick drops for Marianne (They don't make tick collars for St Bernards - at least my vet don't have any) I also need to get an appointment for X-rays and the 1-year-old check up for her. She'll be 1 year May 21st. w00t!





Marianne has been inventive() this week(read: Runar forgot to watch her) She managed to persuade Runar(read: she looked up at Runar and waggled her tail happily as normal dogs do) to take her to work with him. He had a meeting at his partners' shop and guess what she found? A whole mound of finely ground graphite - you know, the stuff pensils are made of  - and she gave herself a graphite bath.

Runar called home and warned me and told me to rig up the hose to give her a bath on the patio, because the black dust monster wasn't safe near anyone, or anything. Only thing is that the extra piece needed to hook the hose to our shower, had disappeared during winter(read: I'm afraid I threw it in the garbage during one of my frantic cleaning-out-the-damned-shed modes). It was either ice-cold water from the outdoor tap, or we'd have to get her into the shower. We chose the shower, because it's still cold enough that an outdoor shower in cold water would probably give her a serious cold. She's fine swimming in the lake, or sea, because her fur is such that it insulates from water getting all the way down to her skin, but as soon as you add soap/shampoo, that protection vanishes and they get wet and cold as us furless two-legged beings.

We barely got her into the shower. Runar pulled and I pushed and then forced the shower door closed. I had to hold the door closed during the entire shower ordeal, because Marianne tried to gnaw her way out.

I iz sowy










The shower got more than half of the graphite dust off her, but not all, so Runar volunteered(read: I was thiis |~| close to strangle the man to death) to take her down to the lake and get her to take a long swim. It didn't really help, but it gave me time enough to clean the dust off everything she touched on her way to the shower and to cool down a bit, so as not to stand ready with a cleaver when man got back. I don't think it did much good with the swim. She still has grey-ish spots here and there and it's been 2 days, 1 shower and 3 baths since she dove into the mound. At least it doesn't smear off onto everything else, anymore.

Helene ended up in the ER, yesterday. They suspected appendicitis and kept her over night, but her CRP levels was much better today and the pain was almost gone as well, so they let her home today. She got a note giving her immediate access to a hospital bed if she gets worse during the first 24 hours.

Runar has a minor repair job to do in Stavanger tomorrow, so I'm hitching a ride with him and will spend the day with her. I just have to see with my own eyes, that she looks okay.

 (yes, I admit I'm as hysterical as any other mom when it comes down to these things). I embarrassed the heck out of her. She gave me a text saying she was on her way to the hospital and that it was possible it was appendicitis, but that I couldn't call as she was out of power on her cell. Of course I called the hospital and got them to track her down and give her a hospital phone so I could talk to her. Duh! It's what moms do under such circumstances. Actually I was ready to steal a car and start driving, but Runar managed to persuade me otherwise.

It's funny, I've never viewed myself as a hysterical mom, but when things like this happens, the infamous mother-monster in me wakes up and roars. Loudly.




Messages like "I'm quite fine, you don't need to come". translates into "Oh, my god, I'm dying, you have to come. Right now!"  It's the same with messages like "I didn't do anything wrong, but..." They translates into "I've committed a terrible crime and will be locked up in prison for life" (When Simen calls and begins his sentences like this while out doing his russe shenanigans and has run out of money and needs help to get home.) I automatically interrupt him mid sentence and  half yell, "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE, NOW?!?"




Also, I have sadly reached the point where I have to start dieting. *pout* Damn 40+ Things really starts going downhill fast after 40. My mind tells me I'm still quick and flexible. My body shouts otherwise. And fuck! Kilos shows up in thin air and clings to my body for life. I expect to gain weight during the worst of the winter months, because I  take shorter and fewer walks and no hikes in the wood. I've done that every winter the last few years, but earlier, those extra kilos have vanished quickly enough when spring comes and I start hiking again. Not this year. *pout*

Okay, I still don't do dieting for realz, because my dieting consists of eating whole grain breads of various kinds and no chocolate or candy snacking. I still have a ton of butter on those whole grain thingies and I still eat normal dinners as always. Meh.

I have plans on starting doing yoga, but I still haven't found a youtube yoga session that I like. It's probably more a case of me  just not knowing what to look for. Halp, plz?


Oh, OOOOOHHHH! Guess what? Those pesky cottage neighbors actually PAID!!!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAH!

Uhm...it doesn't really give us any extra money to use on fun stuff, to be honest. We're in the minus after a winter of little, to no paycheck, so what it means is that we get to keep both our house and Vintland and escape bankruptcy. We are fit to keep on hanging in there.   HIPfuckingHURRAY!

I'm desperately trying to de-frost my freezer. I've got one of those combi fridge/freezer thingies. It is supposed to! be of the type that does these things automatically. After enough years and after enough incidents of forgetting to shut the door properly, the automatic-get-rid-of-excess-ice function, doesn't function. Ice was threatening to take over the whole thing.

I have a regular old fashion freezer too, so I moved all of the frozen wares into that and let the door open yesterday morning. The idiotic thing with these fancy automatic thawing wonder machines, is that when you actually have to do it manually, there is no way of turning off the power  for the freezer only. Options are spoiled food in the fridge, or thawing out the ice by leaving the freezer door open.

After 24 hours of open door thawing, the ice has been reduced by NOTHING!


Like this times 9.












Naturally, I've now done what is said you should not do. Ever. I've put a heating fan right outside the freezer door and it is working excellently. So there!
At least it hasn't started any fires...yet.  Patience issues much?!?

Since it's almost Friday I wish you a fantabulous weekend, guys!

Well, hello there, 2014.

Christmas is over and January is here. Back to the grind and all that.

I got all of the Christmas deco put away and the house cleaned, yesterday. It was my first whole day here at home, since last year (that sounded rather dramatic). I also bought two new lamps for the living room. When we bought the book cases at IKEA, we also bought book case lamps. Don't buy lamps at IKEA, guys, they're crap! I've used a fortune in those little halogen weird bulbs and to no use. The lamps just don't want to function more than 5 minutes, before they start going out. I've talked to others who have had the same type of lamps and they say it's the same for them.

I was with my sister looking for lamps to her new cottage and fell in love with these. I bought two. They give a soft light and are perfect for when you watch TV, or movies, or you know, when you don't feel like having the bright glare of the ceiling lamps. The picture doesn't do them justice, but that's just because I'm a lousy photographer.




Dad got hospitalized today. I was there, yesterday to take my mother to her annual Parkinson checkup and he told me that he was feeling a bit under the weather and his legs were swollen. He was sitting with one leg up on the table and while we looked at it, it leaked fluid. I kid you not. By minutes his trouser legs were soaked. It's the freakiest thing I've ever seen.  I made him call his doctor and they decided to bring him to hospital and try fix it with medication. He is on a truckload of medicine and some of the side effects is that his body gets filled with fluid. He takes meds for this, but apparently they aren't helping, or not helping in the way they're supposed to. Hopefully they'll figure it out and get it fixed soon.

My mom's entire world falls apart immediately. She refused to go to her workout today. This is just physical therapy for old people at the local nursing home, with tea/coffee and cookies afterwards, so it's as much a social event as physical therapy that does her much good. And it means my dad gets a little break from her twice a week. Today she'll be sitting in a chair staring into empty space, waiting for my sister, Aslaug to visit her and let her know how things are with dad. Whether or not she manages to take her meds, depends on how sorry she feels for herself. She has always loved to be a drama queen, but with the parkinson it's gotten worse. Well, I'm not sure it's the parkinson, or something else, or just a way to get attention, but whenever something happens to my dad, she needs to feel worse and she acts out in various ways to make sure we give her the same attention... I wonder if she'll blame me for the freak-leakage?

The cold in the States is something, huh!?! I think you got all of this year's winter. And Wizz, minus 50?!? Yikes! That is ridiculously cold. I hope you manage to stay warm.

My nephew and his family got stuck in Pittsburg a week longer than expected, due to the cold. They were all on the plane, but the cold ruined something on it and they had to get off again. Their luggage, on the other hand, did get sent...yeah, I don't know how that is possible, either. His wife had to go shopping clothes and necessaries at Target.

 We're having the warmest winter in years. We're also having the wettest winter ever. This weather weirdness is really getting overboard. Enough, already! Whoever it is that is  P'ing off the weathergods, stop it!

UPDATE:
My father will remain in hospital over the weekend. There is fluid in his lungs and he is still on IV meds to reduce the excess fluid in his body. He'll be having various heart checks, etc too. Please keep him in your thoughts.

This is why smoking is such a bad habit and why I am quitting!

Ho Ho Ho

Christmas. What a heavy string of letters. For so many years it was a  nightmare for me. You tried to keep up the spirit of Christmas and show a happy face. Play with the kids, even though your head was killing you and you were so tired you could barely concentrate.

These days we've gotten into a routine that works well for us. We provide the meat and take on roles as cooks, the inlaws provide the house, vegetables and beverages. They are also cooks in charge of the greens, taters, etc. The rest of hubby's siblings have spouses and alternate spending the Eve with us, or his/her family. Time always varies, because it is for the families with the youngest children, to decide what suits them best.  It's relaxed and fairly informal, although everyone wears suits and dresses.The small children are happy and loud, running around everywhere.


 I have to admit, this year I really enjoyed Christmas Eve. Even though Runar decided that Christmas Eve 2013, was the Eve we celebrated that our children having become grownups.

 The dinner was a success. So was dessert. Runar pulled a Spanish one and told MIL I had already made the  rice pudding. , the day before. I hadn't, but they like mine better than MILs.  I made too little, well, I didn't, but I thought 1 big bowl of it would be more than enough and left one bowl at home, because Simen loves it so much. Boy, was I wrong! They friggin' licked the bowl. And it was a big bowl, too.  Simen didn't get any at all. He had snuck off to wrap some presents and we didn't notice he was gone. Poor, overlooked kid. He knew about the full bowl waiting for him at home and took it in stride, though. That kid is so happy in love these days, I believe he'd let us off for murder. They look awfully cute together, the young turtledoves. It's almost icky.

It was wonderful to have Helene home, which is such a cliché, but it was. and it was really nice to get to know her Runar better too(It is very confusing, having two Runars in the house). I like him. If we measure him by how well and happy Helene looks, he scores well high.

We got home fairly early and everyone being in good mood, we brought out the aquavit, the JD and the beer. We then proceeded getting our kids so drunk they puked and Simen even needed to be helped to bed.

(My) Runar was pleased. "Now the kids know us, they've seen us with our guards down and we have showed them we view them as grownups. We've let Runar know he is welcome -AND! (here he held his index finger up) We all went to bed happy. Well, some were perhaps a bit on the sick side, but still."

He is right in many ways, but I'm not so sure it is a good thing to get drunk with your kids. Maybe it is my upbringing. Maybe it is all the lecturing on this, everywhere. Maybe I just need a bit more time before I completely can accept that my children are no longer children. Besides. Alcohol is a scary monster and always plays a tricky game. It doesn't always work out that well. Sometimes it works out downright bad.  There is also an inner voice screaming at me that this can lead to bad things, that they'll end up as alcoholists, or worse.

I beat him down, that voice, yesterday. Because, I know that sometimes it works.

Runar parents got us puking drunk when we were young. We discussed difficult subjects and embarrassing subjects. We laughed and we cried.  We were drunk-honest and we over-shared. But we were still on good terms when we went to bed.

I loved his parents for it, then. I really got to know them well, that night and we've had a good relationship up through the years. They made me feel welcome and I still do.  It's easy to ask them for help and it's easy to go to them for advice.

I don't know if this will be the case with our kids and their chosen partners, but I do know that was hubby's goal.  And mine.

Regardless, it was a really nice evening until the puking started and by then it was waaay late and time to go to bed.

This morning I woke up to Marianne having pooped on the living room floor carpet and after I had taken her out, she came in and immediately started throwing up on the bedroom rug. I threw out the rug and immediately went back to bed. When I got up an hour later, Helene and Runar were already up. Helene greeted me with a grin, asking me how I was holding up and after seeing my hangover face, they both burst out laughing. I choose to take that as  a sign they had enjoyed themselves. I later overheard Simen and Helene discussing their elegant exits the previous night. Helene triumphantly declared herself winner, as he puked first. It's good to know some things never change.

It was the first year, celebrating Christmas Eve with grown up kids. It has been one of the best Eves in my life, if not the best.

I hope yours were  good ones, too. Merry Christmas.

Whee!

HELENE IS COMING HOME!!!

Yeah, I am silly-happy. Tomorrow is the naming-day ceremony and party for my newest niece, Frida. The afternoon and evening will be spent just lazying about and doing girlie-things with Helene. I have an evil secret plan for us girls to conquer the living room and turn it into an all-night movie-night, or marathon series-watching Maybe I'll be able to persuade her to watch FIREFLY (crossing fingers like crazy)

In other news, we're still dealing with the sneaky cottage neighbours up at the farm. I can't decide whether they're just plain stupid, or if they're Bona fide douchebags  trying to bullying their way to total rule of the mountain. We're at war, now, and it just sux. I really, really, rea-a-lly dislike rude, sneaky people disregarding all laws and common decency.

We have tried to come to an agreement. They want everything. period. And they want it for free. It isn't only that they have removed the old boarder markers and built on our land. They also want to do exactly what they want no matter what, like digging down an open septic tank and polluting.

They even felt entitled to do so without permission from the local authorities. They show us papers dating back from 1960s regarding a farm that no longer exist and think they are entitled to all fishing and hunting rights. They claim they are allowed to cut firewood on our land as much as they want. The list goes on and on and it just never ends.


Why do such people even exist? Couldn't we just gather them all up and throw them on a distant planet in another solar-system?


On a different note I've discovered() the Icelandic group that are absolutely fascinating. Love their music and some of their videos.

First I heard of them was this one

Imagine a dark stormy night, wind howling outside and the fire crackling in the fireplace.

Wishing you all a pleasant weekend.

Peace - out!

I crashed...

Big time. Not like it wasn't expected. We got the last of it painted Wednesday evening and Thursday I had to clean the house, because hubby had arranged a business meeting to take place at us. I was so worn out by the time I was done I barely knew my own name anymore. I was ready for bed at 4: 30 in the afternoon. Instead hubby persuaded me to take the dogs with me up to the farm. He would be coming in the semi-broken car, later, but late. I realized that perhaps it would be best if I removed myself and the dogs from the house, so that nothing would interrupt the meeting and agreed.

I cried most of the way up and continued to cry all evening. (When I say cry, I mean tears were running and I couldn't do shit to stop them) Marianne was absolutely crazy. After a week of having to behave and being a lot alone, while we painted, she was in a frenzy. She vented on Georg and when I took her away, she snapped, growled and tried eating me... It was not funny. It was your classical melt-down scene.

Sometime after midnight the hubby arrived and paled when he saw me.

I have known I would crash. The hectic pace since spring and especially after I got my cortisone shot and let the gang know I could now move my arm again, has been ridiculous. People getting serious ill, but only two of us know it and we aren't allowed to tell ANYBODY. The new puppy. Hubby has been rather manic, because so much has been going on in his life - changing jobs. New job heading toward bankruptcy. Starting up a new business with a colleague. All the jazz that goes with all of this.

I knew I had to have a serious chat with him, but there never seemed to be a good time. He's a bright guy, he would instinctively know when he'd step on my toes to the point of explosion and would take measures to  prevent that by either accusing me of something, throwing me off with a new crisis of some kind, hand me a new job I absolutely had to do RIGHT NOW!  You name it.

I am the worst arguer in two shoes. I can stand up for anybody else with a fierceness that scares the daylight out of most people, but I swallow camels on a daily basis to avoid confrontations with things regarding myself. Stupid! Old bible verse from my childhood jumps into my brain when I try to speak up for myself. "Let him who is without sin, throw the first stone", "Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own?", etc  I know! I open my mouth to speak up and these things threatens to come out instead. WTF?!?

I sat down and wrote a letter the other week, when I realized I wouldn't be able to keep it up much longer. I got all my frustrations and all the wrongs that had been done to me the last 6 months or so, down on paper. It felt great, but I couldn't actually send it before I had done some editing. Or so I told myself.

It didn't get sent, because I didn't ever have time to sit down and read it through, edit and send it.

I gave him the un-edited version this weekend.

I do a lot better in writing, than I do speaking out loud. Those written words hit home. Yesterday he put in a new water pump in the old volvo. He also asks permission to call his work colleague, but I'll let that sarcastic stab in the gut, pass unnoticed. The main thing is that he got a wake-up-call and he admitted that most of what I wrote was true and he knew it, just...I don't know.

Hopefully he'll be a grownup for a while and help pull the load with me and not add to the load and run away. Hopefully I'll be able to write him a letter more frequently than every 5th year.

Enough whining.

Pictures are better.







Morning bliss - yeah, I'm wearing my PJs and yes, my PJs is an old pair of karate pants. See what I use my iron board for these days in the background? We desperately need to get a stair gate...

Marianne weights about 14 kg here. That means she's gained 6 kg since we got her 4 weeks earlier...







Helene fell in love with this hat. Her boyfriend immediately bought it for her. Her boyfriend spoils her rotten! She still loves bunnies, although she is no longer into hellbunnies...

Marianne thinks Georg is nuts for bathing like this.



















It feels sooo good to cuddle on Helene's shoulder



















My poor garden suffered from lack of care, then got terrorized by a pup and finally my flowerbeds got raped by hubby's preparations for the paintjob...

I managed to save bits of it, at least.









The patio(?) painted, windows and doors painted. I can at least enjoy some sunny warm days down there this fall.
















My peace rose bush did survive. The buds are yellow, then they pale as the flower blooms and they get a pale pinkish tint to them.














I haven't done any knitting, or crocheting since Marianne arrived. The few moments I'm not busy with her, I'm too pooped to do any craft. I have knitted a pair of red felted slippers. They were supposed to have been made for a lady who approached me on my blog, then mail, but when there were talk about actual money, she went silent as the grave. I'm giving them to my kid sister as a bday present, instead. They are being felted as we speak. I'll put up a picture when they're done