The weekend

This weekend was hot! We spent it at the cabin,swimming mainly, reading,relaxing. I feel as though I've had a weeks holiday in just 2 days.
We bought a new sofa (the very reasonably priced Ektorp from Ikea) last week for the cabin. It's white. So it's now covered as we are not white sofa people, we are clumsy people and I don't trust either of us to keep it free from chocolate, coffee,wine so it's on with a cover til we grow up!

This week

Had a lovely week with my friend Emma (who left last night) Always nice to have British friends to stay and what a lovely stay it was. A busy stay with bbq's in the rain, much shopping,coffee drinking,too much food, Oslo wandering, pancakes at Bærums Verk,an overnight stay at the cabin and some fjord swimming.

Oslo

My friend Emma is visiting us this week and we have been spending lots of time in Oslo. I thought the city would be empty but I've never seen Oslo so busy. We can't let crazy people ruin our world. Oslo is covered in flowers and flickering candles but filled with sadness.....

Last night the streets of Oslo were full of love (and flowers)

Sad

My heart goes out to everyone affected by yesterdays tragic events in Oslo and Utøya.
Thanks for all your e mails. We are safe and well but very shocked.

Friday

Hmmm, yes, so showing off about the lovely weather here yesterday was not a good idea as it's now pissing down! I actually need a break from it to be honest, I'm a bit sun burnt,windswept and my hair is dry and crispy from the sea salt (plus our flat is a pig sty from being out and about in the nice weather all week) So, today is tidy up day before we head to the cabin for the weekend.
I love Norway in the summer. Life feels easy. We have many beaches within biking distance (but we usually drive as we are normally loaded down with bbq's etc!) are surrounded with beautiful countryside and deserted islands, plus we don't have to battle traffic to get anywhere- and when we need a taste of city life we can take a 7 minute train journey to Oslo. Best of both worlds.
Happy weekend folks!

Bliss

Summer in Oslo is in full swing and it's lovely. I'm on my 3rd book in as many days and making the most of our garden. When Henrik gets home from work (about 4.30pm, thanks to short working days in Norway) we pack up the bbq and head to the beach. This is the life!

Saturday

The weather has been amazing recently so there have been many bike rides, picnics and lots of swimming. I'm enjoying the summer so much (but in the back of my mind is the dread of the winter which will be upon us very soon! argh!)
Pics are from Bogstad with our friends T&V (and the kayak) where we had a BBQ which included bananas with chocolate (amazing dessert which you need to try!) We swam in the lake which tasted of a nasty mixture of poo,rust and bad eggs! Uck! I prefer fjord swimming!

The weather is perfect (for me) in Oslo right now. Sunny but not too hot (between 18c-21c)
I'm in the process of registering my British car to make it legitimate here in Norway (which will cost me more than I paid for the car in the first place!) and yesterday I passed the first hurdle by passing the EU control test (British MOT) with flying colours. I'm expecting the process to take a while, as everything in Norway takes aaaaaages (I blame it on very short working days and the fact that I'm going through this process in the sleepy holiday month of July)

The maiden voyage

Henrik and Tommy took the kayak out for its maiden voyage last week on the Oslofjord whilst Vindhya and I howled hysterically at the sight of these 2 tall men squashed into this inflatable contraption! They had a great time whilst Vindhya and I stayed on shore to keep the BBQ burning (and worry slightly when they disappeared from view for over 30 minutes)