Monthly Archives: August 2012
A Magical Place
Every little girl dreams of being a princess at one time or another and I was no exception, thats why I love visiting castles. The UK is full of them and on my recent trip to Scotland I was lucky enough to visit one. Dundonald Castle was built in 1371 and used as a royal residence by the early Stewart Kings. It sits on a hill overlooking the village on Dundonald, not far from Troon, where I was staying.
This is my country
The land that begat me
These windy spaces
Are surely my own.
And those who toil here
In the sweat of their faces
Are flesh of my flesh
And bone of my bone.
Sir Alexander Gray
I’m off to Ireland tomorrow, but I do hope to get back to Scotland one day.
A Love Story
I just finished reading Jane Austen’s Persuasion for the second time and find myself even more wowed over than before. Persuasion is a gripping tale of two people who are meant to be together but are not. The story begins eight years after Anne Elliot was persuaded by her family not to marry Captain Wentworth, a decision she very much regrets. When Captain Wentworth unexpectedly resurfaces and no longer seems interested, Anne’s heartbreak is renewed.
Persuasion was written by Austen in a race against failing health in 1815-16. Almost two hundred years later and we’re still swooning over the plight of Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth. Modern day romances will have a hard time matching that.
No stranger to the unique experience of reuniting with a lost love, I was totally swept up in the fate of this pair. I could feel my heart pounding over the quick glances, caught breathes and silent flustering between them. Anne’s journey from resignation to joy is beautifully and sympathetically written over the course of this book.
Anne Elliot may not have the vitality of Elizabeth Bennet or the wittiness of Emma Woodhouse, but she is sweet, modest, steadfast and patient. I’m also inclined to believe that after building up his own wealth, Captain Wentworth is equally as dashing as Mr Darcy. If you need more proof, here are some of the words he wrote in a letter to Anne:
Dare not say that a man forgets sooner than a woman, that his love has an earlier death. I have loved none but you.
*sigh*
If you’ve never read Persuasion, you are truly missing out.
It won my heart.
The perfect Sunday
Today was such a great day here in Norway that I thought it might be nice to share…
First the grandkids came for a visit.
Emily danced for me.
Adam colored a picture.
Emily shows off her little sister Annabell. (I didn’t forget to turn the picture, I took it like this)
I spent the rest of the day enjoying the nice weather and doing absolutely NOTHING!
Don’t you just love days like this?
Going Home
I know my last post was about life getting back to ‘normal’ after a long and exciting summer, but summer’s not quite over yet. I still have two trips to take…
First, I’m going on a mystery trip to Scotland. The reason I call it a mystery trip, is because I’m going to meet a group of writers, I don’t really know. We will be discussing a joint venture, I know nothing about. I’m not even quite sure why I’m going, all I know is something in Scotland is beckoning. More to come on that…
I am also going on a trip to Dublin, with my husband, four of his old football (soccer) buddies and their wives. This trip is strictly for pleasure. More to come on this trip too…
What I can tell you about now, is my trip ‘home’ to New Jersey. I still call Jersey home because it’s where I come from, it’s where my family lives and where all my childhood friends are. No matter how long I’m gone it always feels familiar and I still sound like I belong there. Now you’re probably thinking… What?
I’m talking, or should I say, ‘tawking’ about my language and Jersey attitude. Living in a foreign country, talking ‘their’ language, with an accent and not having a clue how to joke around, mostly leaves me feeling like an outsider. Not the case in Jersey…
A few more reasons I like visiting Jersey in the summer are, warm weather, something you canNOT count on in Norway. Shopping, there is 0% tax on clothes in NJ and 22% on clothes in Norway. I could sit here all day telling you reasons I love the Garden State, but guess what?
Norway is my home now, it’s where my father, husband and two of my sons were born. I have three children and three grandchildren living there (two of my children and two grandchildren live in the US). I have friends that feel like family and my two pets, Khloe and Mia are there. The house my husband built and the home we built together are there. I feel safe in Norway and have soon lived there half of my life (six more years). I guess I have two homes…
What do you think, is home where you come from, or where you’ve gone?
Summer so far…
I
Have you ever had trouble making up your mind? It looks like this flower did. I took this picture in my garden.
Do you ever feel like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders? Well, this guy does. I took this picture in Monterosso Italy.
Have you ever had a submarine sandwich? Jersey Mike’s are the best! I took this picture in Brick, New Jersey.
Is there anything better than a cup of tea with an old friend? This is my friend Annie, we met in kindergarden. This picture was taken on her front porch in Jersey.
Is there anything more precious than a baby? I would have to say, no. I took this picture of my granddaughter last week in Norway.
Have you ever seen pink and purple water? It always amazes me. I took this picture a few weeks ago from my kitchen window in Norway.
How about orange water? This picture was taken at midnight. Don’t you just love Norwegian sunsets!
A demanding house guest
I feel as if I’ve been living in a cocoon this past week. My nine-week-old baby granddaughter stayed with me while her family was on vacation. They went to Lego Land in Denmark, which is not exactly the best place to take a small baby. I volunteered and was looking forward to all the great bonding time I’d be getting with her. What I hadn’t thought about is how time consuming one little baby girl could be!
I was just back from America and hadn’t even unpacked my suitcases when my little house guest arrived. A car load of baby gear was soon moved in, and a long list of instructions, hung on the refrigerator.
She slept all night, from around eleven in the evening until seven in morning and boy do I know how lucky I was! Especially since I was wrestling with a touch of jet lag myself. However, from that first morning bottle until the last, the day belonged to her.
She took short little catnaps throughout the day, which never lasted more than twenty minutes or so. And when she did sleep there was plenty for me to do…
Her clothes had to be washed separately.
Bottles sterilized.
Formula mixed.
One bottle got vitamin drops, while another got malt extract added to it.
I also made up a bottle of fennel tea which she drank a little of in the evenings to help fight colic. (you can tell she’s my granddaughter, already drinking tea)
When she was awake, besides giving bottles, burping and changing diapers, I took her for a walk in the carriage everyday.
She also needed to lay on her belly a few times a day, to get used to holding her head up. (she didn’t like that)
She had a stuffy nose, so I had to put drops in five times a day.
She had a bath every other day, but needed to be cleaned up every morning.
She had to be dressed for the day and pajamas put on in the evening.
Her skin was dry and needed lotion rubbed on her twice a day.
For her entertainment (thats right even at nine-weeks, we humans need to be entertained)
The #1 thing was the vibrating, bouncy chair. Especially if she could see what I was doing while sitting in it, or see the television (no comments on that please)
#2 the baby gym. It’s a square mat with toys hanging over. A blinking, musical star hung right in the middle and she could stare at that star for a good half hour. The only problem was the music only played for five minutes, I would therefore, run back and forth, turning it on again and again!
#3 if all else failed, rock, carry ,walk and soothe her. I’d say we walked quite a few miles last week.
I was amazed by how much work went into a baby, and wondered how I ever manage to do it myself – FIVE times!!??!!
Now that she’s gone home to her family, all I can think about is her smile, how good she felt in my arms, that sweet baby smell and how much I love her… Oh, now I remember how I did it.