Random Days Leading up to my Birthday Weekend

So far, Kristine got a job, my VISA application
 process is going well, and the Packers
have a been playing well.  Life is good :) 

(my battery is loosing power and I don't have my charger available so I'm going to type this blog as fast as I can!  Also, I apologize in advance for any typos)

This was an adventure Bjorn took Blake and I on.

We decided to try fishing on a fresh water lake near

his cabin in the mountains.  I absolutely love walking

in the mountains and finding new areas to fish.

Blake was having a good ole time splashing around 

and finding new stick toys. 

It was raining at the time and has been raining a lot

for the past few days.  On the 15-20 minute walk

through the woods, Bjorn and I got soaked.  To the

point where the water actually went half way up 

my shin.  It was alright though, definitely worth

the trip.  

Blake and I have a daily route that we take usually

with me biking and him running along side me.

We obviously have many other places we visit

but this route is great for us both to get exercise.

Anyways, I pass this boat everyday on our bike 

ride and I dream about having it someday

for fishing here!  That would be great.  

This is part of our route we take down 

to the ocean.  

I also pass an open lot RIGHT ON THE OCEAN.

This would also be great to have one day.

One problem, no year space, but having a

boat dock as my front yard would work.  

It's getting to that point in the year when

people are heating their house.  So far

we have only used the wood stove for heat.

In the mornings, it's quite cool in the living

room.  I usually make a fire in the morning 

and that's good enough for the rest of the day.

The temperature drops to about 40 degrees F

at night.  Not to mention constant wind and 

the usual rain.  Having a wood stove is really

convenient. 

Blake and I went on our daily adventure

trying to find a fresh water lake someone

mentioned to me.  We ended up on this road 

so we followed it.  It's a lot steeper than this

picture represents. I sometimes bring my bike

so that's extremely difficult for me to bike up.

"Sir Blakey-Poo Dalmation Pants"

^official name^

On the search for this lake, I actually found another

one.  That'll be another adventure.  

Freshwater lakes, at least on Karmoy (the island

we live on), are used for water that get dispersed 

to peoples homes for use.  This is the "water tower".

Near the lake we were on the way too.  It's on a large

hill so they function the same way as water towers

in America....pressure. 

I wanted to use my sense of direction 

to find the lake so we headed off the trail

and walked to the lake "as a crow fly's".  

We found this heavily used dear trail. 

...and this cool orange mushroom.  It's

probably not that cool for Norwegians but

I have never seen it in America. 

Fishing rules and regulations for the lake, just like

in America.  

A little picnic area nearside the lake. 

This wall is used as a retaining wall for one side 

of the lake.  The lower of the two walls has been

built that high for a reason.  If the water gets too high, 

it flows over the lower wall and forms a stream that

runs to who knows where.  This is a way of managing

water volume in the lake. 

A view of the lake from a far out angle.  

Last week we headed to Stavanger to

celebrate her cousins birthday.  Considering

the landscape in western Norway, traveling 

is much different than in America.  Stavanger

is a city 2-2 1/12 hours south of us.  Just to get

there we take a ferry which is is a picture of us

getting onto and go threw 3 underwater tunnels. 

Little Norwegian neighborhood. 

This was my best attempt at getting

a good picture of a Hedgehog in her

uncles yard.  

It was my birthday so it was time for

beef tenderloin.  

So wise, like a miniature Buddha covered in hair. 

^movie quote^ 

Cake week

OKAY! So this week was interesting because I baked my first cake from scratch, and even made cake out of fish.  I'll explain later on...

Considering I made a cake for the first time, the kitchen became

a complete mess.  This is only half of the unorganized cake making

activity that can only be described in one word...catastrophic.

For those of you who are unaware, I prefer things to be neat,

tidy, and organized.  The process of cake making was anything

but that.   

It was a caramel apple coffee cake from a "Southern

Living" website.  I love fall, coffee, and the south, 

therefore this was a wise decision.  Kristine mentioned

AFTER the cake had been made that I picked one that 

was very difficult for a first time cake maker.   

I had NO IDEA how many steps were involved.  

Between making the homemade streusel topping, 

caramel sauce, and sauteing the apples.  It was an 

up hill battle from the start.

As it turns out, it was a success!  Somehow, by the

grace of God, the cake was actually good.  For those

of you who may be interested in making this cake, 

copy and paste this link into your search bar: 

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/caramel-apple-coffee-cake-50400000123170/

We all know Norwegians enjoy their seafood.

Considering we live on an island surrounded

by the North Sea, shrimp (reker in Norwegian) is

readily available everyday.  Perhaps not Sundays.  

The shrimp come in their shell or peel so we peel 

them just before eating.  

Unlike Red Lobster, here, most Norwegians

eat their shrimp either in soup or plainly on bread,

often times adding a little mayo on top.  

This fish is called a "lyr" in Norwegian, and Pollack in English.

Notice the orange along the side.  Not all Pollack fish have the

orange on the side so it can be confusing.  For awhile, I thought

I was catching two different fish before realizing they're the same

species.  

This fish is called "sei" in Norwegian and in 

English it's known as Saithe.  They travel in 

large schools just like Mackerel.  I actually 

caught 30-40 saithe the other day but no good

size.  10-15 inches was the average size that I caught.  

Another common Norwegian food is fish soup.

"Fiskesuppe" in Norwegian.  The main ingredients

are Cod, Salmon, and Shrimp.  Earlier in the day

I went out fishing in hopes of catching a cod but

had no luck.  Instead I caught two Pollack fish.  We

used that instead.  

  

This is the end result.  It's a thick creamy broth

that also includes carrots.  It's one of my favorite 

foods here in Norway.  Shrimp, Cod (usually), 

and Salmon make a great soup combination.

I think you may even like this, dad.  

Blake and I enjoy our little adventures together.

Sometimes there is no set goal, we just walk.  This

particular area is a sheep field near our apartment.  

Notice the stone fence.  Hundreds of years ago

people used this to mark their land as well as keep

livestock contained.  It was also beneficial because

the farmers used rock from the field to build the stone

fence.  

Since my car was in the shop getting the rear brakes

repaired, Kristine and I borrowed her dads Volvo for 

a few days.  It was nice out so we decided to take a trip

to visit her grandparents at Amdahl farm.  Blake was

excited to go and was in the vehicle an hour before we

left for the farm.  

I've taken many pictures similar to this one but I 

can't help myself if I have the camera near by.  I love

waterfront properties!  

Eivind is doing his best to get the ball back from Blake.  

At Amdahl farm, there happens to be a small soccer

ball.  I suppose it's for the younger children but Blake

loves it even more than sticks.  

Kristine doing a fine job setting the table for supper.  

I was out fishing on the pier and Eivind decided

to drive the four-wheeler down.  

Around the pier and under the docks there are many

small fish, much smaller than this one even.  I took

a pan fishing bait that I happened to bring to Norway

just to see if I could catch a little fish.  I'm not 100% 

sure what this fish is called but I was told in Norway 

they called it blue fish (blå fisk).   

We're guessing this day was one of the last nice days so 

Eivind decided to go swimming one last time.   

Blake on the look out for potential fishing spots.

As the sun was setting, Kristine, her grandparents,

Eivind, and I had an evening snack of ice cream and 

berries.  I was informed that this meal is called "bisk"

at Amdahl farm and only at Amdahl farm.  

Such a nice evening!  We try to take advantage of 

the nice weather.  

This is one side of a pier I often fish at.  

I took a picture of the nearby village of Sandve.  It's

a really nice area.  I wish I would have taken a better

picture to show you more.  

Picture of the pier looking back.  

This is the largest fish I've caught so far.  A Pollack

of course.  Obviously there are much bigger fish around

but they're hard to come by when only fishing from

piers and shoreline.  This Pollack was 60 cm long.  

I caught it just before dark.  I don't have a fish net so

luckily my friend David was there to help bring the 

fish out of the water.  The fish fought harder but 

basically felt like a large Walleye.      

So here we go, fish cake time!  In Norway, it 

is common to eat food they called "fisk kake".

I think of them as burgers made from fish and

most commonly from Pollack. They're about the

size of burger sliders.  The large Pollack I caught made

about 30 fish cakes.  They can be eaten by themselves

or on bread.   

Here's a closer look at the fish cakes.  They're

made by putting the fish in the blender and adding

onion, milk, and few other ingredients.   Then placed 

in a frying pan with lots of butter.   

Blake's new backpack looks nice.  Now he can

carry his own belongings on our walks/trips.  

Kristine and Blake playing fetch.

He loves the water so if it's nice out we encourage

him to swim.  

After her swims in salt water needs a bath.  That's 

the only bad part about him liking the water so much.  

Before moving to Norway, I wasn't sure how 

good Blake would be a climbing or moving around

the rocky terrain.  It turns out he's absolutely fantastic.

I suppose I would be better too if I had a lower

center of gravity, four legs, and sharp claws.  He 

goes up and down steep cliffs all the time and I 

still don't know how the laws of gravity allow him to 

do so without injury.   

This was an attempt to photograph little shrimp

recently hatched in shallow water, a new experience

for me to see.