Ringing in the New Year

So I arrived back in the states a couple weeks ago and getting back into the swing of things was pretty crazy amidst feelings of excitement from what is to come mixed with a sadness of having to leave. Because I left for Oslo on the 2nd I didn't really get a chance to blog about New Years Eve so I'll start there after a brief detour...

This is what we see every morning from Nylendene!

I'm a self-professed convert to Pinterest. I had been reluctant to join and waited a good while...then I got engaged... It's a great tool for finding ideas, crafts, wedding decorations etc. I love it. But sometimes you see an idea and try it...and, well, things like this happen.

Fill a balloon with water and food coloring and put it out in the snow to turn to ice, remove balloon and you have a pretty colored marble! Admittedly the first picture doesn't look horrible but I learned I needed to use more food coloring. I had wanted to make more after the test run but the weather warmed a little bit and we didn't get a chance to do it again.

Pretty marble!

However, after a couple days you end up with something that looks like a rotting jellyfish! Something happened where the food coloring dropped out (?) of the water (?) I'm not sure. But it is...interesting!

What do *you* think it looks like?

 And I just wanted to share this pretty picture of Nylendene in the snow! That's me starting to shovel the driveway. It was nice that the clouds parted for us for an hour or so!

Love the snow!

Okay, now back to New Years Eve:

We went to GOBU for an amazing dinner of pinnekjøtt which is lamb or mutton which has been salt cured and then reconstituted and steamed to make it juicy and fall off the bone. It's a lot of work to get the meat out of the bones but it is soooo worth it! It's a delicious meal and I'll look forward to many Christmases having it!

Pinnekjøtt og pølser!

Pinnekjøtt...mmmmmutton!

After dinner Svein Arild and I played a game of Cribbage. It is my family's tradition to play card games on New Years Eve and since we couldn't do "Rob Bingo" (an old classic family game) I pulled out my Cribbage board and cards. Yes, I actually took them with me to GOBU. Svein Arild was happy to indulge me in one of my own family's traditions. Of course, this was only the SECOND TIME HE HAD EVER PLAYED IT and he BEAT ME BY ONE POINT! ONE POINT! I think I've created a monster! But it was a friendly game and I appreciated being able to play it! Thanks, Honey!

One measly point! Sheesh! And I had a good hand!

After recovering from my *devastating* loss ;) We drove further up the driveway to where our landlord actually lives. It was so nice to meet him and his family. He was very excited that I want to paint the kitchen when I move in! We went upstairs to his balcony and watched fireworks from all around the fjord! It was amazing! And very hard to photograph! 

Fireworks on Nordfjord!

 It was a gorgeous scene! People go all-out for their fireworks. They take it seriously! We saw so many beautiful shows from afar and even saw some from pretty close to the top of the mountains! Svein Arild and I counted down to midnight and started off our year with a kiss! We hugged and shook hands of everyone around, enjoying ringing in the new year together.  (I might even get them to bang on pots and pans next time! ;) )

Thanks for the hat, Lauren!

 So, following again with my family's traditions we have spare ribs and sauerkraut every New Years Day to bring us good luck for the rest of the year. Svein Arild, bless his heart, was bent on getting me my spare ribs and sauerkraut so we headed into town to find some but the meat sections of the grocery were pretty picked over and we ended up leaving with sauerkraut and pork chops which I deemed a fairly decent replacement. While at GOBU for New Years Eve, however, Svein Arild mentioned what we had found and Ottar graciously donated a tynneribbe to our cause! It's not quite the same cut of meat but it's from the same part of the pig. I only say that because it didn't have any bones in it.

Having never made tynneribbe before I didn't really know what to do with it so I threw it in the skillet to brown it. The following picture was taken before I flipped it over and found that the other side wasn't the fat but was skin and there were some very toasty nipples! I hadn't seen them when I removed the meat from the bag!

A family-friendly view of the tynneribbe.

So, not really wanting to eat pig skin I cut it off and went back to braising it. Then put it in our handy new red baking dish with some water, covered it with foil and let it bake for a few hours. An hour before it was done I added the sauerkraut and some brown sugar and put it back in.

While it was cooking I made some homemade mashed potatoes and husmannsgryte (a root vegetable medley from my Norwegian cookbook!).

Delicious New Years Day dinner!

Later that day I cooked up the rest of the pork chops for Svein Arild to have when he got back from taking me to Oslo. There was enough food to last him about two weeks! It felt nice being able to put the pork chops in individual baggies with some sauerkraut and put them in the freezer for him. It felt homey. What can I say? I'm a sap!

We then bundled up to head out and place our cache in the spot we had found while cutting down our Christmas tree. It really is a great spot and a couple days after I returned to the States it was found!

Making the cache!

"I use multi-million dollar satellites to find tupperware in the woods. What's your hobby?"

Just a favorite little quote I saw on a tshirt a while ago.

Me placing the cache! This is only a hint...won't show you where it is exactly! And thanks, Lauren, for the hat!

An interesting trumpet-like fungus near the cache site.

Just a little green peeking out from the white snow!

Gunnhild and Ottar also paid us a visit New Years Day to say goodbye before I had to leave. We enjoyed chatting over coffee and, of course, wedding cake! 

But it was time for me to pack up. I had taken two suitcases full of stuff (not just clothes) with me to start the move. I came home with one that was only about half full of things I still need to wear. It was so sad to say goodbye to Nylendene! 

The drive seemed to take forever and I, of course, slept most of the way. I really hate how easily I fall asleep as a passenger in a car. We can be having a nice conversation and I'll wake up a half an hour later. I feel bad for Svein Arild to have to drive the whole way!

We saw some beautiful places though and, one of those might sound familiar to my grandmother! Yep! Dick's family was from very near Stryn! Svein Arild has researched it and traced his family back to this place which is named after them! It's so close to Stryn that I smile just thinking about what a small world it is! I promise to throw giggle kisses every time we drive through!

"Tee-hee-heee! Catch it?!" 

The Nesje Farm!

I mentioned I fall asleep easily, right? And Svein Arild knows just how much I LOVE coffee so we stopped at a gas station and he bought me the most amazing Christmas present! It's a mug that you can take to any Statoil gas station and fill up with tea, hot cocoa or coffee for free! For one year! Granted, I left it there for him to use until I move but I sure did fill it up a lot on the way to Oslo!

That "13" sticker means "Free coffee!"

Okay, it's time to wrap it up. I'm glad I finally sat down and did this blog. I had kind of a bad day today and revisiting those memories really brought my spirits up. I feel so lucky to have found such a wonderful man to share my life with and a family so warm and welcoming. We have some adventures ahead of us!

And with that, I will leave you with a "moment of nature" from the top of a Norwegian mountain:

A snowcapped mountain up-close.