jolly old England

Just returned from a jaunt to the United Kingdom where we indulged in english breakfast in the morning, hearty sandwiches for lunch, cream teas in the afternoon, and cottage pies in the evening downed with a few ales. And we did a lot more than just dine. We puttered around the stunning Cotswolds region, walked the streets of the great minds of the world at Cambridge, and then walked the streets of the upper crust of London in Kensington. We succeeded in driving on the other side of the road, both Nils and I. We visited Winston Churchills birthplace at Blenheim Palace and the 9th century pagan church in Stanton. Charlotte cuddled her Paddington Bear all the while and ran around all the towns admiring lions in the architecture, flags above the buildings, dogs on the streets, and teddy bears in the shop windows.

Happy Birthday, Dr. Greene!

I don't think Brian reads this, but in case he does...

proverb

While waiting in line at the foreign office for two hours for a renewal of my residence permit, we were entertained by casual conversation with an elderly air force pilot from India. He shared with us some jokes, but felt strongly about these two proverbs which we discussed a bit... 1) "a son is a son until he acquires a wife; a daughter is a daughter all her life" and 2) "eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a queen, and dinner like a pauper" and for him, breakfast is a banana, a bowl of oatmeal, a slice of bread with pickled herring, and a slice of bread with Norwegian goat cheese, washed down with a cup of coffee.

MIB

I know what you were thinking, but MIB here stands for Menn i Barnehagen (men in daycare). And this does not mean daycare for men, if you have seen that web video where women send their husbands to daycare. It means that in Norway (and other countries), there is a movement to encourage men to work at daycare centers. Research shows that children benefit from having more male educators and men in general in their lives. The daycare and early school years and often highly dominated by a female presence.

prayer for brumm

We say our prayers with Charlotte at bedtime, and she goes through her list of people to pray for. Tuesday night it was: Zachary, Bryce, Jason (Uncle Jason), Sinsen (Aunt Lindsay), Grandpa, Sinsen (again), Grandma, Mikkel, Gudrun, Mimi, Farfar, and Hannah (from daycare). Last night it was: Zachary, Bryce, Grandma, Brumm (winnie the pooh), horsies.

Gourmet burgers

We turned our backyard into a test kitchen for 4th of July and we upgraded our ketchup, mustard, lettuce, tomato to bbq sauce, sauteed yellow onions, and grilled red peppers. The result was YUM. Recipe: work some bbq sauce, worcestershire sauce, grill spices into ground beef. Shape into patties and grill. Cut red peppers into wide slices (almost like tomato slice size) brush with olive oil and grill. Saute thin rings of yellow onion in a pan with a generous bit of olive oil over medium heat until golden and soft. Paint a toasted bun with more bbq sauce, stack onions and a red pepper slice onto the burger and dig in.

july

Happy 4th of July and happy birthday Gudrun!
July is vacation month in Norway. Certainly not everyone takes vacation at the exact same time, but July is more or less when people take a long 3-4 week vacation. Sommerferie! Some venture to their Summer homes in Southern Norway or the coast of Sweden, or visit family around Norway, or travel abroad. From the 1st of July the traffic on the main expressway E18 thins, and the workday is much more flexible.