|
Hello From Norway.
Oslo is completely beautiful at
the moment. Driving through, the late morning
sun sitting low in the sky, the frost covered,
ghost-like tree forms collar the soft, blue
coloured snow packed down on the rolling farm
fields. It is like being in a scenic picture book.
We have just finished a four day
run of workshops for the south of Norway. Today
is the first day we are out and about before
catching a plane for a two hour flight north to an
army base at the top of the country. Today will be
the first day they will have seen the sun from the
blackout winter up there. The day after we arrived
in Norway it snowed, as expected, adding a couple
more inches to the load underfoot. The sun rose
about 8 am with a shocking, hot magenta sunrise
peeking over the two burnt-red wooden farm
buildings across the courtyard from our kitchen
window. It had been minus 20 degrees the week
before, but now only minus 2 degrees in Oslo.
The
place prepared for us to do workshops was an 18th
century, huge log barn, now a convention facility
run by the youngish farmer and wife. First class
food served with a quiet, polite, and reserved
Norwegian hospitality all within the log walls and
under the high ceilings, with open fires.
For our accommodation the whole
ground floor of an 18th century farmhouse had been
prepared for us. The man that usually rented it
was ousted for the time. They moved out all his
belongings and brought in new everything, painted
the walls, good CD's, candles everywhere - even a
12 stick, wrought iron candelabra for us to light
over the kitchen table, fresh red gerbers and
grapes by the bed, and local textiles placed
around. Only thing we had to deal with - duvets
instead of tucked in blankets! The walls and
ceilings were wide tongue and groove wood
paneling, with polished wooden floors. A large,
deep entrance room off the frontdoor porch (large
enough to swing a donkey) had doors leading into
the living room, the kitchen, and then off to the
bedroom and big bathroom. Outside, our two
bedroom windows looked down over three gushing
waterfalls into a frozen pool running out into a
fast stream - Spectacular! I loved this apartment
in every way - minimal and spacious with warm
colours.
We would finish a day's workshop, bathe,
then sit by the wood burner needlepointing,
reading, and listening to music pouring from the
other room. We'd either go to a restaurant or
have the food provided for us by the chefs at
lunchtime for our dinner. There was even a pair
of oversized, felted house boots for us to shuffle
around in - a sight to behold when naked or with
my red flannel, plaid nightshirt on.
We couldn't
get over how well they have treated us, although, Kaffe is huge here - breakfast TV's main star in
addition to other interviews (all by them finding
out by word of mouth.) My workshop had 32 in the
class - and the patchwork also nearly full. There
is something very appealing about the quietness of
the Norwegians - but under this, a strength and
great humor - nice for me, as they responded with
great roars at my gesturing. I've just been told
to tell you how much they enjoy me being here - by
one of the hosts called Britt Tove.
For lunch today we went to a farm
where an elderly lady has opened her farmhouse as
a historical museum. The huge, wooden house
has six large windows, top floor and bottom, front
and back, with two at the side as well. (Glad I
haven't got to clean the bloody things!) Inside,
the wooden tongue and groove walls were painted
warm shades of lavender, soft green, mustard
yellow - gorgeous with painted wooden floors. The
old lady has an aire of a clairvoyant with wide,
milky green eyes, hair disheveled, dressed in a
frilly tartan apron - appearing out of her kitchen
to show us around. The aroma of herb bread
baking.
She spoke very good English and shared
with us her passion for handmade lace, embroidery,
and beadwork. Beading and historic dresses that
she had acquired here were all laid out in the
rooms upstairs - one room a 110 meters long with
views of sun-lit snowy farm fields laid out as far
as the eye could see. The wooden rooms painted
different colours of deep smoky lavender, warm
mustard yellow, soft sage green, and deep-dyed
sage green in the kitchen. Leaning wooden
cupboards jammed with blue and white china and
plates. Following serving us tea made with herbs
from the garden, she excused herself and produced
a lunch of fish soup made from scratch, fresh
bread, salad with flowers and herbs, and divine
vegetable quiche plus a huge, freshly-baked
stuffed salmon. All this laid out on her four
meter long kitchen table next to the black
old-fashioned, five ring aga stove which she still
used. Yvonne (my mother) would have been in
heaven on earth here. If I could send her
anywhere it would be to this place.
Now I'm sitting in a place that
is minus 27 degrees outside. Tanks rolling by, it
being the area where the army does its training,
and all is a bit heightened at the moment with
trees laden with snow like sticky buns. Even the
condensation in the taxi freezes. The snow is way
knee deep, but this is usual for the people of
Serrisa. We are going to a school for Lap
children tomorrow and are going sledging pulled by
huskies!! Cannot wait.
|
