Rose painted porch

Tags

Art, Cold, Nature, Rose paint, Winter

We awoke to a cold, clear, and sunny morning. I moved at a slow pace, not fully awake, but with a wee child running beside me who obviously does mornings better than I do. The cat wanted some space and nagged me to follow her to the door. I shuffled over the kitchen floor towards the door. Opened the door, child still in tow, entered the small hallway, unlocked the door and opened it for the cat. Skeptical as she is I had to wait a wee while before she ventured outside. And as I stood there, my eyes almost shut, the sun reflected off something on the floorboards in front of me.

Magical fairies had rose painted them during the night…

I ran to get the camera and told Son that breakfast would have to wait a few minutes.

The birds have been fed

Tags

Bird food, Birds, Winter

No, I haven’t picked up on British slang, so I’m not talking about the girls in London. Son was ill last week and had to stay home from kindergarten. Trying to be a good parent I also kept him home for a day after he was fever-free, which of course meant dealing with a two-year-old who’s bouncing off the walls. So we made bird-food.

Making bird food is very easy. It might not be cheaper than getting it at the supermarket, nor is it any easier. But it does give that fulfilling feeling of having done something good for someone. Son is also very happy seeing the bird feed off the food that he had made (almost) all by himself, cause it is indeed very easy to do.

We melted a block of coconut fat, added nuts, rolled oats, and dried fruits. We took two small sticks, bound them together to form an x, and tied a string to the x. The x was places in the bottom of a plastic cup (the cup is likely not to survive,

so don’t use something you care about) with the string hanging out. The goo was then poured into plastic cups and left somewhere cold over night.

I assume that heating the cup slightly will cause the the bird food to let go and come loose, but I didn’t bother with that and instead peeled the cup off. The string is then used to tie the food to branches in a tree or somewhere similar. Quite pretty and also very good for the wee birdies.

Snow day

Tags

Baking, Snow, Winter

We woke up yesterday to two centimetres of snow. We rarely have snow here so I appreciate every little centimetre we get. Last year was an exception though, The snow came just before yule and didn’t melt until late January (or was it even later?). It didn’t snow much, it snowed once or twice, but the temperature stayed low.

Vi våknet i går til hele to centimeter med snø. Det snør så sjelden her at jeg setter pris på hver minste  snøfnugg som legger seg. I fjor var jo et unntak, som de fleste av dere sikkert kjenner til, hvor snøen kom før jul og lå til langt uti januar (eller var det enda lengre?) Det snødde jo ikke mye allikevel, men kulden gjorde at når den først kom ble den liggende leeeenge.

But back to the present, or, it is already in the past, as we woke up to bare fields and streets again today. Luckily we had a good time outside yesterday. Today we’re baking and going to IKEA (I know, no need for the facepalm. It’s Sunday and it will be crowded, but we need lightbulbs.) I’ll come back with details on what we’re baking some other day.

Men tilbake til nåtida, eller, det er jo allerede fortid, vi våknet til bare marker og veier igjen i dag. Heldigvis fikk vi kost oss ute i snøen i går. I dag skal vi bake og en tur på IKEA (jeg vet, idioti  å gå der på en søndag, men vi trenger lyspærer) Jeg kommer tilbake med detaljer om bakingen en annen dag.

 

Enjoy a lazy Sunday. Sundays are for procrastinating and chillaxing. I’ve done both the past days and have a few things to catch up on today. Anyway, enjoy the last bit of the weekend.

Jeg håper du nyter en lat søndag i dag. Søndagen er dagen til å utsette og slappe av. Jeg har gjort begge deler selv i det siste, og har en del ting å gjøre i dag. Håper ikke du følger i mitt eksempel. Uansett, nyt dagen og siste biten av helg, og husk, alt kan utsettes til i morgen 😉

Don’t forget the wee birdies

Tags

Birds, Bullfinch, Feeding Birds, Great Tit, House Sparrow, Robin, Winter

The weather wizards predict cold days to come in this area. It’s already freezing outside and two layers of clothes is a minimum these days. Son and I were out walking with a friend of mine and her two kids earlier today, I had forgotten an extra layer under my trousers, and my thighs were still cold hours after we had come home . I’ll do my best to remember those wool tights next time I’m venturing outside.

Værets spåmenn har meldt kulderekorder flere plasser i landet i dagene som kommer, her hvor jeg bor har de bare meldt kaldt vær, men skikkelig kaldt i forhold til hva jeg er vant til. Det skal bli kaldere, og jeg synes allerede det er kaldt nok. To lag med klær er et minimum når en beveger seg ute. Sønn og jeg var ute med en venninne av meg og hennes barn, og jeg hadde selvfølgelig ignorert min egen regel. Og etter to timer innendørs var låra mine fremdeles røde og kalde. Ullundertøyet skal ikke glemmes i morgen!

Luckily for me, when I came home I could sit down and relax for an hour, with a huge cup of warm tea and a lambskin on the chair. That was just after I had put a cauliflower to tender in a pot of boiling water and to make sure I’d have soup on the table a little later. And though my thighs didn’t warm up immediately, I really can’t complain. While I was sitting there, about a dozen small birds flew back and forth outside the window, eating from some bird food we put up last week; robins, bullfinches, house sparrows and great tits visited. The cat went crazy next to me, chattering and showing her teeth, desperately wanting to munch on one of those wee cuties. She doesn’t want to go outside these days though, so they are in no danger.

Heldigivs kunne jeg sette meg ned på et lammeskinn og slappe av med en stor kopp te etter jeg kom jeg, ja, etter jeg hadde satt et blomkål til kok så jeg kunne ha ferdig suppe til Sønn våknet fra kvilen sin. Og selv om låra mine ikke ville tilpasse seg innendørstemperaturen med en gang, så kan jeg ikke klage. Mens jeg satt der i dag, kom rundt et dusin fugler for å spise av maten vi hang ut i forrige uke; rødstruper, dompapper, kjøttmeiser og gråspurver. Katten ble nesten gal, der hun satt og knitret ved siden av meg, mens hun sikkert drømte om å sette tennene i en liten meis eller spurv. Hun går nesten ikke ut for tiden, så de er trygge fra henne i hvertfall.

But my point with this post is; don’t forget the wee birds during the winter months. The last winter was so cold here that many of the birds froze to death. They need more fat than they can get on their own. The fat works as insulation for the birds and keeps them from freezing. So feed them. Nuts, fat and seeds being the main ingredients. Buy at the store or make yourself, as long as you remember to FEED THE BIRDS!

Men, poenget mitt med denne posten er: Ikke glem å mate småfuglene nå om vinteren! I fjor var det så kald at mange fugler frød i hjel. De trenger mere fett enn de klarer å finne selv. Fettet virker som isolasjon for disse små dyra, og de trenger masse av det. Så mat dem! Nøtter, fett og frø er hovedingredienser. Kjøp på butikken, eller lag selv, men uansett, MAT FUGLENE!

Helt enkel og grei fuglemater fra Europris

Images of the birds are from:

Bullfinch: http-//www.dwhansen.net/bilder/fugler/dompap

HouseSparrow: http-//www.sialis.org/images/81533330female_house_sparro

Robin: http-//oslocarmelita.blogspot.com/2009_02_01_archive

GreatTit: http-//www.photosight.org/up/2007/01/13/51272