19 May 2013

NORWAY: MARCH 2013

So, soon after our last post, we went to Norway for a bit over a week. It was pretty great! Visiting our friends, and the hospitality of their family made it an extra special holiday. Here are most of our photos.

We landed in Oslo and stayed overnight with our friends. The next morning we went for a walk up the hill into the park, posed like 'The Scream' and almost had to call the emergency services to get us off a very icy hillside! But eventually we made it down and had some tasty coffee (J) and tea (D).

Black and white in Gronlandspark

Everyone is fond of them

SKIRK

Where we were staying

View from Ekerbergparken

Good coffee in Oslo

Then we hopped on a bus to Høydalsmo (Telemark region), where we stayed for a few days in our friend's parents' cabin. We went to a number of museums, drove around and saw the sights (mountains! fjords! old towns! ski slopes! elk! norwegian waffles!) and attempted to ski for an afternoon. We also went for some nice walks over the frozen lake and around the cross country ski track.

Peak

West Telemark Museum (from outside)

Mackerel sky, stave church

Joining in

Norwegian waffles

Posing (not really skiing!)

D demonstrates one technique for stopping

Hiking on the lake

Snow boats

Sunken caravan

Red cabin in Hoydalsmo

After a lovely relaxing stay, we jumped on a bus back to Oslo. We went to an interesting gig, saw a totally bizarre panel discussion with Camille Paglia and visited some fab museums on Bygdøy. I was particularly taken by the Viking Ships Museum and took a lot of photos of the building.

Viking ship

Patterns

Curves

Storehouse at the Norsk Folkemuseum

Fancy bricks

All in all - yay! A nice holiday. We hope to go back sometime in summer, when all the waterways won't be frozen over. It must be a very different experience. Thank you so much to our friends J and H, and J's family for their hospitality.

Here we are!

2 March 2013

THE SECOND HALF OF 2012

OK, given that we are now about 7 months behind, I think it's safe to say we're not going to be making individual blog posts about all our adventures. Instead, I'm going to share a selection of photos with you which will hopefully give you a bit of an idea of how we spent our time between July and December 2012.

J interviewed for and got a job near Battle in East Sussex, and we moved down here

Dartford Bridge
Crossing Dartford bridge on the way to the interview

Flower garden
Staying with a friend in Robertsbridge while we looked for a house

Riding into the misty sunrise
Just around the corner from the little house we rented

Through the daisies
An early autumn walk through the fields

Wide path
Battle Great Wood - J can ride to work through here

From the window
The view from the upstairs window

Low sun in Battle, Autumn 2012
Our street at sunset

Autumn tinted
Going for a walk in the local area, autumn has arrived

One way or the other
We're not the only ones who enjoy it!

Lemon honey leaves
Autumn glory

Darwell Reservoir from Brightling
Darwell Reservoir

Battle Abbey gate
Battle Abbey - a couple of minutes down the road

J in the doorway
Visiting the Abbey with a friend

*

We went to Norfolk twice - in August and December

Out for a walk
Walking with the family

Dog, backlit
Cute dog

On Ringstead Downs
This was clearly the August visit!

Wheat before the storm
We got drenched shortly after

Picture story
By this point we were soaked

Well, it is Norfolk
This is clearly January!

Settling in
Land art at Courtyard Farm

*

J did a sponsored walk/ride from Suffolk to London

Heading off
Teammates

Avenue, Essex
Somewhere in Essex...

The foolish four attempt a crossing...
We didn't make it across this 'ford'!

Five on a boat
We managed to catch our boat

Bradwell nuclear power station
From the water

The peacefulness of left-behind
Trusty steed!

Against the sky
The others checking the map

London from the periphery
Back to the edge of London

*

We visited some interesting places

Collection
At Knole House

Dynamic!
With a friend!

These are Mad Jack Fuller's follies - look them up!

D in the tower!

Mad Jack Fuller's temple

Mad Jack Fuller's sugar loaf

Mad Jack Fuller's grotto

Mad Jack Fuller's pyramid tomb

*

We've hung out in Hastings...

Footpath
The Old Town

Looking down to Hastings from West Hill
The view over the town

Vastness
The English Channel

Sunset in Hastings
Near Hastings Library

Sunny Cooden Beach
OK, this is technically Bexhill!

*

And that's just up until December 2012. We will share more photos from 2013 with you in the coming weeks. But before that... we are going to Norway!!! See you when we return!

Ummm...