Optimism and cabin life

Because of the long long winter

I found myself moaning and complaining

more than usual about the weather and the cold temperature!

I have decided to stop it.

In two days it is first of March

I have decided that for me, thats when Spring starts!

(even if the snow stays put)

This weekend we went to the Cabin.

Sunday Morning it looked like this:

Lonely hammock
The cabin

The shed

.....

But first:

This was the inside of the kitchen window when we came to the cabin

on friday night after work.

The temperature outside had risen to 0 C (32 F)

And we were so pleased with it!

Inside the cabin it was -4 C (24.8 F)!

We took it as men (and women)

Made a fire

Kept our coats and mittens on

Made some cocoa and kept the spirit

While the temperature slowly rose

A while later

Dinkie threw her coat and curled up in front of the fire

I made a colorful salad
and baked the lasagne I made at home thursday evening.

(The magic is in the planning)


It was a lovely friday night!
Teenagers and parents,
Lovely food and a
a crappy horrorfilm


The snow on the roof outside the door
was threatning to slide down in our heads,
but nothing happened except an occational ice cold
drop of water down our neck
A sign of spring!

Snowy blue morning at the cabin

It's a while since I've been to the cabin

This weekend we went there,

with our two teenagers.

It's not to bad that they still enjoy a weekend at the cabin

with their mum and dad.

Gandma and granddad came on Saturday

and stayed until Sunday

It was crowdy but peaceful

and everyone was in a good mood

The snow was falling quietly

and covered our tracks
On Sunday we returned home
rested, happy, scruffy and with a pile of laundry
Just as we are supposed to do, after a
Weekend at our cabin: Goro

Life at the Cabin

Even if there is electricity at the cabin

it's always nice to light candles.

this is our new addition

And old kerosene lamp!

It lights the room up very cosily

and gives warmth too

At night: lovely cold white wine

And some prawns, delicious!

This is how I make toast at the cabin, in the oven

under the grill.

Highly more effective than the toaster we used to have!

And in this little kettle

I boil our eggs for breakfast!

Picnic at the cabin and an ice tea

My summer holiday is not to start while the end of July, but I am ready for it now.

I try to do stuff that feel holiday-ish after work and during the weekends. 

This way I make myself believe that I am already off, and the summer seems long and promising!

One afternoon last week, we had a picnic at the cabin. 

my mum and dad came with us, they used to own our cabin, and they love to come with us, and to see how much we treasure the old little house and the garden. 

We enjoyed our food in the sun, aspic, garlic bread and remoulade, and a few ice cold non alcoholic beers (we were driving)

On our way home the GPS suddenly felt the urge to tell us that "you are home in 23 minutes". Even though nobody had asked it. 

Back in the kitchen Pink Princesse treated me with an ice tea and a few strawberries from the coffemachine she gave us for Christmas!

Cabin fever

Today I was struck by cabin fever

I was off work because it's May 1th

It's also our 16th wedding anniversary today

We never make a big deal out of it,

in fact we usually forget.

Since we 're lucky having the day off,

we were looking forward to a lovely day outside

But the rain was pouring down!

and a grey mist was hanging around between the houses

We were getting on each others nerves big time!

My daughter never came out of her jammies

she was chatting with her friends on the net

and did't bother about the weather

she wasn't planning to go out anyway.

But the rest of us (both human and pets)

had to go out despite the falling rain

to avoid total madness

even the camera had a little trip outside before it was

sendt back inside to dry up

And through the lens

I spotted the beauty of a rainy day

After a walk with full rain gear on

The cabin fever was just a memory

and we made cinnamom muffins.

Sunday split

Somtimes when you're a family

its nice to split in to pairs and do different things.

Today, the boys went to the cabin.

(according to husbands facebook the reason was

" to get away from the premenstrual members of the houshold")
Pffff!

Anyway, when they went off, the girls did a little dance of happiness!

Pink Princess made me a nice omelette.

we made sweet buns
Lovely with brown cheese
Shandie Pipkin enjoyed the absence of noisy dog Dinkie !

Little Chef phoned on Skype from the cabin to see what we were doing
He was missing us!

Tangy and sweet and a good prospect for the weekend

I love rhubarb! But I do have to cook it with enough sugar to make it just right. 

I usually make a rhubarb pie, but this time I just cooked it with some water, sugar. To thicken it I used potato flour, its like maizena, you just stir it with a little water.

I served it with some whipped cream, the combination is perfect, and used the last remains of the shortbreads (note to self, make more) as a little touch.

can you spot the difference?

There is two types of cream, one ordinary at the back and soy whipping cream at the front. I've found a good alternative: Alpro Airy&creamy, not to strong on the soy taste, and very similar to ordinary cream when you whip it! It's slightly whiter than the ordinary one. 

This weekend me and my two sisters are taking the kids to our cabin. 

It's usually a great success, even though they are teenagers and usually have other plans than hanging out with their ancient mothers and aunts.

The weather has been lousy lately, but the weather man seems to agree with himself that this weekend it will be sun, and much warmer! 

We are crossing our fingers!

Good weather means outside joy, swimming in the little lake, playing games, making and eating food outside etc. 

Rain means, well,  we still will enjoy it of course, but suddenly we realize how big and tall (and loud)  these teenagers have become, and the cabin seems very tiny. 

I'm keeping a close eye on the weather forecast! 

No pressure in paradise

Our cabin is like a nest

so safe and fitting our needs perfectly

We are a family with different levels of restlessness

Some wants to go frog hunting

Some just want to quietly study the beauty of a flower

Some like the excitement of a poisonous snake

There is no clock at the cabin

There is a lot to do if you want to

and there is a lot of time to no nothing if you prefer that.

There is no pressure in paradise!

Growing up

Little Chef, not so little anymore!

15 years old

We went to the cabin for his birthday

The menue he chose was ham, gratinated cheesy potatoes, veggies and gravy

We have to keep it simple at the cabin,

not the most fancy presentation, but the young man was pleased!

For dessert

Birthday cake!Ok, Dinkie is little

but these lads are getting so tall!

These are the legs of Little Chefs friends

They are taller than 190 cm both of them!

Day out vs cabin fever

My dad broke his leg a few weeks ago

and at my parents house the cabin fever is increasing

So we took them out for som fresh air.

Filled our picnic baskets.
I found this cool thing at a flea market once:

Sausage anyone?

Loose your shoes, and help yourself with ketchup and mustard

My sister brought a stack of waffles and strawberry jam

I enjoy my waffle

and watch the view:

The little chapel in the center of the photo is where

I married my yorkshire lad

1 th of May 19 years ago

Water and eggs at the cabin

Pink Princesse has been creative at the cabin

She's preparing for Easter

She has painted empty eggshells

in watercolors Outside, spring has made the ground pretty with the earliest flowers we get in Norway The ice is melting in the little lake and water is overflowing the dam Little Chef is helping!

Pollen is also a part of spring

I've made my precautions:

Eyedrops, nosespray and allergy medicine

therefore I can sit outside in the sun

enjoying a

Good book (notice the reading glasses, I'm getting old....)

A cold beer, lovely!

(Notice the T-shirt, I'm not that old after all..)

Cheers!