Oh! This is very sad to hear. I have not made it to France (yet) but have often dreamed of the (supposedly) wonderful food there. I guess the awful truth of prepared, sub standard food created simply for profit like we have in the US has crossed the ocean. It's just another way we are destroying our planet. I will continue to make almost everything from scratch. Now...I will try mayonnaise this weekend. I know it's very easy!

I read the book "French Children Eat Everything." It's very good advice and since my children have all flown the coop, I plan to share the book with some young mothers I know. Of course, MY OWN children ate everything, they were perfect children, ha, ha. I do remember my oldest asking for escargot and they all ate broccoli happily, also nasturtium flowers. I never made them a different dinner from what we ate, either. That's ridiculous. It seems that parents EXPECT their children to be picky and timidly offer only what they think the children will accept. Thus...the children are TAUGHT to be picky. Why, oh why were the kids allowed to take the power away from the adults? I know a large part of the reason is that the parents themselves are picky, too, and not educated about food. I have to remember that today's parents are from a different generation than my own. What happened in the last 30 years, yikes? I see 90 percent of school lunches go into the garbage while the kids eat fruit roll ups and chips and drink juice boxes instead of milk or water. It's because the parents generally don't eat well themselves and don't know how to make the effort to get their children eat well. This is one major reason for all the heart disease and diabetes in the US. But.....the "food" producers continue to make big profits. I would love to see school lunches at my school like they serve in France with a whole hour to eat and enjoy them but I know that's not going to happen in the US.

Well! I know that IT IS YOUR BIRTHDAY TODAY! So....Happy Birthday to you!

What a handsome man your father is! I wish mine was still alive. Yesterday I listened to some polkas and they made me cry. My dad used to play the accordion for us and he loved polkas. Treasure yours while you still have him!

This sounds wonderful, the "piggy party," I mean! Every March or April we buy two piglets from a farmer and raise them on our smallholding. One pig is for us and one is for my husband's friend who we call his "piggy partner." Dan acquires the pigs for us and also supplies the food because he lives closer to the farmer. We do all the other work, feeding, watering, retrieving when they escape from the pen, etc. Both the men get the pigs "ready to go to the butcher" in October. About two weeks later we are delivered two huge bags of meat for the freezer. We get two hams, one for Christmas and one for Easter dinner. Those hams and bacon are superb! It is a good arrangement but not as much fun as your neighbors have. Hubby would some day like to prepare them for the freezer himself. He knows how to do it, it's just a matter of finding the time because in October, he is usually hunting elk and cutting that up himself, too. It's awfully "meaty" around here in the Autumn! We and our neighbors are planning to do way more of this kind of food production for ourselves. It's as it should be and always was in our ancestors day. Fortunately we live in the country and can do it. I remember my Norwegian grandfather trying to feed me "blotklub," a sausage made from beef blood. I didn't like it one bit. But, it's fascinating realizing the motivation behind all the strange things they ate back then. In a word, "survival." "To Much Information" for an "almost vegetarian?" So...you can see, I never buy meat at the supermarket. I like the recipe for shrimp burgers. I will try it although any shrimp I can get is from Thailand! That's too far away. Imagine the fuel costs! I have to stick to trout caught at the lake up the road.

Wow! You have had a wonderful 7 years! It was great to see the photo of Jeanne looking so happy and feeling so much better! It made me smile. My hubby is also 60 years old now and I dream constantly of just "chucking it in" and living somewhere else for a long time. Spain, probably or Mexico, since I speak Spanish. We'll see! ¡Feliz año nuevo a todos!

I find this a meaningful coincidence, Roz. On Saturday, when I returned from shopping in town, there was a large dragonfly buzzing around my car. I got out and gazed at him and he continued looking at me and flying around my car and myself. I could actually see his large eyes. He seemed to be trying to communicate with me. This lasted for about 5 minutes and then he flew away. Later, while I read an article in a magazine, there was mention of how for ages people have believed the the dragonfly is communicating a message from a loved one to us. How strange! Was it my mother? Or someone else who has departed? I will look upon dragonflies with new curiosity now!

Maybe you have not looked at my photo page. I have posted several photos of the hummingbirds at my little farm. I know you said once that you "do not look at Flickr." There is also a short video. They are very prolific here in the Rocky Mountains.

Hi, I just found your blog. A chicken stick could also be useful for defending oneself from a cocky rooster. I just discovered that the other day. I was observing our big rooster and saying to myself, "my what a big handsome boy he is," when he rushed up to me and pecked my calf. (I have a nasty bruise to prove it, too) I was shocked and bleeding a little bit. I quickly grabbed a long, skinny log pole that was lying in a pile and helped that naughty rooster to go away! This has happened to me before in past years with other roosters. I don't know why they sometimes do that. Is it because I am female and they just think they can? Hubby says that he has established in their tiny brains that he is a source of "scratch," and they expect it every time they see him. I wasn't aware of his method. I think I might ask him to make me a "chicken stick!"

Hi! I just found your blog by a link from Fuori Borgo, I think. I like to read blogs from Norway since that is where my grandparents were born. Have you ever seen a blog called "Transplanted Baker?" Or, "My Little Norway?" That blog originates from Alta, Norway. Where are you from? Somewhere I saw southern Europe? I live in Colorado next to a giant wilderness area. We are living in limbo right now, worrying about wildfires. But...yesterday it rained for about an hour, hooray! Your boys are adorable! I have two sons and was prepared for a third when I got a big surprise, my only daughter. That was 26 years ago and they have all flown the nest.

Hmmm....now that I think about it, your explanation makes perfect sense. May, June, and July are YOUR main summer months. We are still carting things to town to put in storage until this summer is over. Usually by mid July the "monsoons" start. That is, a quick rainstorm almost every afternoon after lunch. Let's hope this year they will come to help with the VERY HIGH FIRE DANGER. The problem is, a quick rainstorm comes with lightening, too. We are going to be "on patrol" this week here in the country to make sure campers at the campgrounds up the road do not have open flames. We are on stage 2 fire alert. Only gas grills are allowed. no campfires AND NO FIREWORKS whatsoever. But..you know there will be some careless fools who will defy that rule. Just another danger, FYI, there has already been a bear who broke into the restaurant kitchen at the lake! YIKES!

Why do we call it "midsummer" when it's the first official day of Summer? That has always mystified me. I am in Colorado. We have had numerous wildfires this year and it's not over yet. We have our car loaded with survival things in case we cannot get out of our rural location by the one road. We are also moving valuable/sentimental things to a storage closet in town in case we have to evacuate. It's nerve wracking. So....we could use some of that rain you are getting. Send it this way, please!

Oh! I have been meaning to tell you that there is no "search" box on this page to click for Amazon.

What a gorgeous photo! I love that particular time of day, too, and also the dawn. I live way out in the country near the biggest wilderness area in Colorado. People would say that there is "nothing" to do here either, other than listen to the doves, hummingbirds, wrens (they sing the sweetest song of all) magpies, ravens, robins, horses,and coyotes. There is also fishing for trout in the river that runs by our house and at the lake up the road. Just yesterday there were two "cattle drives" right past my house on the way up the mountain. Early this morning I heard an elk bugle and deer sleep under the apple trees every night. We also see wild turkey, swallows, turkey buzzards and osprey! Sometimes I can't even make myself "go to town" for a week or more. Raccoons, bobcats and bears visit from time to time and last summer a deer was killed by a mountain lion in our yard during the night. We have chickens and pigs, too. It's not a ranch, just a little farm. I suppose that some day I will need to live closer to "services." Until then, I'll happily stay in the country!

I have tried twice to comment here using my new laptop. Something is going wrong. Now I am on the desktop. I just wanted to say that that is a beautiful photo of you two and it made me tear up.

Wow! He really does look like you!

It has been so warm and sunny here that I have to admit it has got me worrying about forest/grass fires this Spring and Summer. And who says global warming is a farce? What happened in North America is all the snow went to Alaska this Winter and we have had very little. Are you getting excessive rain or is this more or less normal for Northern Norway?

Britt, did you mean to say that cycling hurts your elbows? Or did you mean your knees? Cycling hurts my knees AND my "sitter." Those are fabulous photos of all those colorful bicycles!

Wow, seven years of blogging! Are you going to continue? You have made lots of friends all over the World, haven't you?

Wow! That is way too much snow. We have not had a lot here in Colorado but at least the ski resort has gotten a lot in the last week. They really needed it. Yesterday I spent a long time looking at my photo page and loving the photos of Summer here at my cabin. It's coming, albeit slowly and it's coming there, too.

There is a yummy sounding "Norwegian Fish Soup" recipe on the "Transplanted Baker" blog. It's written by a young American who married a Norwegian and lives on the West coast of Norway. She and her husband have a darling one year old son named Lasse. I haven't tried her recipe yet but it must be delicious and authentic! I don't get the opportunity in landlocked US to find good fresh fish other than salmon so I will make it with that.

Your Winter photos of Trondheim are really and truly beautiful!

At first I forgot that the big storm was called Dagmar. I remembered a lady from my very distant past who was a friend of my mother's and named Dagmar. She always wore some kind of spicy, strong perfume and had coal black hair in a chignon. I think she dyed it. I don't think I liked her. Funny one's impressions of people from long ago.

I love this post, Siri! Is that white shirt yours or Lasse's? Looks pretty small....and a BLACK tie? I hope you had plenty of firewood to keep you warm without electricity. I remember bathing in a galvinized tub in front of my Grandma's cookstove. And....with my Norwegian-American aunts and uncles and grandparents lots and lots of coffee and cookies. In fact, eating our way through the days. I found your recipe for Pepperkakor muffins and made them for Christmas Day breakfast. Could I please have your permission to post the recipe on my tiny blog? I just ate the last one right now while typing. It's even more delicious cold with lots of butter! That recipe is definitely a keeper! Happy New to the little family in Norway!

My goodness! That's impossible that it was nearly a year ago that you visited Tenerife. It seems like I just read your posts from there. Thanks for the New Year post with all the good photos. Happy New Year to all in The Red House in the Woods!