Blomster i Toscana…

I juni var vi på ferie i Toscana. Nermere bestent Vicchio utenfor Firense. Jeg må si det er utrolig vakker nature i området der! Det var noe av det føste jeg la merke til. Spesielt alle de forskjellige trærne! I tillegg var det også store plantasjer der de dyrket trær! Jeg var helt oppslukt i disse og skulle gjerne tatt noen av dem med meg hjem!

Men det var ikke bare trærne som var spesielle der… Jeg fant et stort tre som hadde de største blomstene jeg noen gang hadde sett! Kronbladene var nesten større enn hånden min!! Ikke vet jeg hva de heter, men det er kanskje noen kloke hoder der ute som kan hjelpe meg med det??

Du kan se en del av hånden min på dette bilde som viser hvor store disse er!

En annen type blomst som er veldig vanlig å se over alt i Nord-Italia er valmue-blomsten. Den er så enkel og allikevel vakker synes jeg! Det ble desverre ikke et godt bilde av denne fargefulle blomsten, men ett kan jeg jo legge ved…

Kaktusen som vokste midt i “Vinland” sto i blomst og som du kan se så er kaktuser en plante som har sin skjønnet innenfor de skarpe piggene sine :-) 

I Venice fant jeg et annet tre som hadde en litt spesiell blomst. Jeg synes den var søt jeg ! Igjen, jeg vet ikke hva slags blomst dette er…

Det var ikke vare blomster vi fikk øye på langs veien. Vi var heldige å fikk tatt et bilde av denne store ugla som hadde fanget nattmaten sin… et ekkorn var på menyen denne kvelden !

Ellef….et katteliv…

Tja, hva skal man si… Ellef har gjort sitt inntog i heimen og har i grunnen tatt over sjefs rollen fra Tea-pusen! Det var så å si med en gang. Tea holder seg mest for seg selv inne på det andre rommet. Når hun skal spise så sniker hun seg rundt hjørnet og inn i matskåla si…stakkars.. Ellef ligger pal på sofa’n dagen lang! Merker godt at dette er en kastrert Hannkatt!!

Her har han virkelig tatt seg til rette. Tea er ikke imponert.. Jeg håper de kan bli venner med tiden! Er slitt slitsomt akkurat nå synes jeg.

Det er nok mest hunden Tinka som får erfare Ellef’s sjefing! Her er det bare å ikke komme for nær skal jeg si deg! Det blir hvesing og spytting til de grader! Kommer Tinka inn i stua, så legger Ellef seg under bordet for å følge med…og gjett om han gjør!

“Ja se der ja…kom nå ikke nærmere..”

    Her er resultatet av en hund som kommer litt for lant inn i komfår-sona til Ellef…

Dette kan bli spennende. Jeg håper nå at de ordner opp seg imellom og kan tålerere hverandre til slutt. Hadde vært synd om vi måtte sende Ellef tilbake til dyrebeskyttelsen. Meen vi er jo optimister så dettane går bra serru :-)

Kampen om livet…

Hei å hå hvor tiden går !! Jammen med lenge siden det ble publisert noe her gitt… Men nå har vi altså fått solgt huset og holder på å komme i orden i nytt.

Var på plantasjen i dag for å kjøpe kaktus… endte opp med kjøtt-etende planter i stedet! Her på gården er det litt mer fluer enn det vi er vandt til, så her tas imot all hjelp med takk. Tea-pusen er en reser på å fange fluer og Ellef prøver også så godt han kan… men for å gi dem en hjelpende hånd ble det et par av disse:

 De er utrolig stilige i grunnen! Gubben måtte selfølgelig teste dette ut… Ser kanskje litt makabert ut, men noen må jo gi livet sitt for at andre skal få leve… !

  Det ble en plante til som ikke ser så skrekkinngytende ut som denne, heller litt mer uskyldig…

Så ble det endelig et lite “Bonsai-tre” Har hatt lyst på dette så lenge nå .. Det var ikke all verdens utvalg i den butikken vi var på, men fant et som vi falt for :-)

Blir spennende å se hvor lenge jeg klarer å holde liv i disse blomstene. Har et håp om at jeg litt etter litt skal få taket på dette. Kanskje også et lite “greanhouse” også???  Se hva som skjer…..

From My Love…

Yesterday at work I got an email from my love… It was a poem he had found and wanted to share with me as it was a reflection of what and how he feels - which really brightened my day :-)

You Are

As we watch the sun go down,
I want to let you know;
my love for you is forever,
I'll never let you go.
You're the one I've been searching for,
the one I've finally found;
without you in my life,
my world wouldn't go round.
The love you bring into my heart,
which is so true and kind;
is something in no other,
I could truly find.
You're the only one for me,
God tells me so,
deep within my heart, mind body and soul.
Today isn't just an ordinary day
it's all about me and you;
about the love we share,
and how it will forever continue to grow.
It's not all about the chocolates, or the dozen roses;
it's about the love we found,
how much we've been blessed.
Everything happens for a reason,
I believe this statement is true,
that's why you were sent to me,
and I was sent to you.
I've never been more happy,
as I've been with you;
even through the rough times,
we always make it through;
To be with you for eternity,
is all I want for me and you.
All I want to say, to my very special women is
I may not be your first love,
but I promise, with all my heart,
that I will be that one from up above,
your one and only, true love!

W for Water…

We have reached W in Petunias ABC in words and pictures 

I love Water! I grew up just a 5 min walk from the ocean filled with wonderful Water! This is one of the things that makes our World such a beautiful place to live. Seeing our planet from space you can understand why  it is called the blue planet! Water covers aprox 71 % of our planet.

(Picture taken on Santa Monica beach California)

Amazing really when you think about it! Not only is Water beautiful, but also vital for all forms of life. Both fresh Water and salt Water.

(Picture taken in Kristiansand Zoo)

When I moved to the countryside I wondered if I would miss living by the sea… But I found out that there was a big lake just a 5 min walk from my house!! Lots and lots of water !! I was sooo happy :-)

(Pictures taken of Hillestadvannet)

This is why I do LOVE Water! It so calming, beautiful and you get lost in the dephts of it! No matter where in the world you are where there is Water, you will always find beauty in it.  And to end this weeks theme, a picture taken on my last trip to the US :-)

(Picture taken at Multnoma Falls Oregon)

 

 

 

And then there was snow….Yes even more!

Sometimes I wonder how much snow we can handle! It has been snowing and blowing constantly the last week! Driving in to Tønsberg yesterday was touch and go… Never knowing if we would make it there and back. And we almost didn’t as I managed to get stuck in the snow. My hubby was a lucky man tho – as his wife is a great driver..hehehe I did get us loose after a couple of minutes without having to get out of the car. My hubby agreed with me about being a great driver…. (uhm…)

Anyway – when getting up this morning it was a totally different story! The sun was shining from a clear sky – and forgotten was all the snowfall we had gotten the last week… well untill we had to go up and shovel the DEEP snow off the roof!!!  Now tell me again why I wasn’t born a cat or a dog????

They on the other hand were supervising the whole thing from the ground.

The cat on the other hand was all nice and cozy inside watching from the livingroom…

No big worries there right??

But there is one good thing with all the snow that has come this winter – as it has been so cold, the snow has come down very light so it will melt fairly quickly when we eventually get some temperatures above zero…

 

Looking for my Valentine…

Thats the quest Tinka was on while we where on our walk down to the lake today. This is how it went…

Oh oh oh look mom… I can see some tracks in the snow!! You think that is my Valentine..huh huh huh …???

Lets send dad to check it out! He should be a good tracker as he has a little part of Native Indian blood in him! See anything dad..!!??

You are too slow.. Let me help you out dad… Look, this is the way you dig them out!!!

Awww… mom we didn’t find my Valentine… I dug and dug but it was nowhere to be found…

But I will not give up!! I will prevail… I will keep a lookout … And once more I will have my Valentine !!!! 

Flowers on a sunny day…

Yes it has been a really wonderfully sunny day today!!! But with all the white snow – I need some colours…

This is one of my favorite pictures of flowers! It took a while before I noticed the snail and the ant on the flower..

U for Unique…

This weeks letter in the alphabet is U ! For me it was a tricky letter to figure out… But after a little searching and brainstorming, I think I found something I am satisfied with!

My word of the week is Unique.

I think we have an Unique nature here in Norway. It doesn’t matter where you go – you can always find something beautiful and unique from other countries… Like this picture I took last year. It can look as if it was taken from a great hight over lakes – But I am just standing on a rock 1 meter above ground…

…and for me this picture is Unique as it was my first picture ever taken of a bird out in nature - which I think turned out really well…

Beautiful winter…

When ever I get sick of all the snow and the cold weather we are having this winter – I just take a look at some of the pictures I have taken and remind myself of how beautiful it really is…

My hubby’s speciality…

My Canadian husband loves to cook! He has brought with him some of his own receipes – and some of them I had never tasted before. One of these he made yesterday. It is a dish made of liver, rice and green/yellow/red peppers. I love it :-) As it has no name – we will call it Rice’d Liver !

First off we start with dicing the liver – never a pretty sight…

Then the liver is rolled in cornstarch and garlic…

When all of the pieces are well covered – they are fried up it the pan…

And after cooking the rice and dicing the pepper – it is all mixed together with some soy sauce..

and voila !! It really does taste wonderful :-)