It's a cow's life

The vet Loe's cows live an idyllic life, waiting for the spring to arrive..

Shutters Shut

Suffering from slight writer's block I was struggling to come up with a title (and text) for this photo. For long, I couldn't even remember what these red and yellow thingamyjiggy's in front of the windows are called in norwegian, but when I remembered I could easily find the english word for it: shutters. With that, my mind wandered far away from colourful shutters in Hokksund, to two choreographers in the Netherlands, Paul Lightfoot and Sol Lèon. In 2009, my mother and I saw a ballet performance by Lightfoot and Lèon in the Opera House in Oslo. The performance was called "4x Paul Lightfoot & Sol Lèon, and "Shutters Shut" was one of the four dance pieces, performed to a recording of Gertrude Stein's poem "If I told him: A completed portrait of Picasso." The only thing I remeber from Lightfoot and Lèon's performance is this dance, as I was, and still are mesmerized by the dance movements and the rythm in Stein's reading of the poem. Click here for "Shutters Shut"

Youth House

When the library moved to a new building, the basement in Mjøndalen's community centre was turned into a youth house. Nedre Eiker Youth House opened in 2004, and the local kids gave it the name "Down Under." Every Tuesday to Thursday, kids from the age of 13 can drop by to play pool or Nintendo Wii, take music lessons (drums, guitar, keyboard etc.), surf the Internet and buy home cooked food. It is also possible to rent the premises to throw (children's) birthday parties or to hold seminars and lectures. Go Down Under for more information!

25

I walk past these bee hives every day and I have wondered where the bees are. I mean, I assume they are inside the beehives, but what do they do? Are they in hibernation? Do they survive the cold winter or do they freeze the death? What do they eat?? I have found out that the beekeeper give the bees sugar water in the autumn, which will be their food through the winter. Okay, that makes sense. What surprised me was the fact that the temperatures inside the beehives are around 25 degrees at all times throughout the winter, no matter how cold it is outside. Why this is? The bees sit together, around their queen to protect her from the cold, and it is their body heat that makes the temperatures so high. Makes me wonder, exactly how many bees are there inside there??

Sixpence

This is the statue of Herman Wildenvey, a famous poet from Nedre Eiker. I have already shared information about him in these posts, Portåsen,Wildenvey and Bulbs, so today I will just say this; I like his choice of headwear!

Fresh

To me, this photo brings with it a breath of fresh air. Its sharp colours gives me back the icy cold feeling I got when I was standing on the bridge, taking this photo, yet the sight of the swans and ducks makes me feel that spring is not far away. Farther out, this little river, that is connected to the water Fiskumvannet in Øvre Eiker, is covered in ice, and it brings me back to reality; it is still very much winter!

Stabburet

Two weeks ago I posted a picture of the chestnut tree. Here is a photo of the same storehouse, stabburet, that you could spot in that picture.

Minus

This is Minus. He is a ten years old, red, big, fluffy and enormously cuddly cat. He is not mine, although I wish he was.. His owners live not far from my grandparents and whenever I visit them, I usually meet Minus too. He is so trusting and fond of people, a huge contrast to our late family cat who was very wary of strangers. I think he is so beautiful and cuddly, I just want to pick him up, put him in my handbag and take hime home with me. But I can't do that, can I?

In progress

Remember my post Sjokoladebutikk? Well, here is the chocolate-shop-to-be, four months later. New windows and a new door, but still in progress. I think my hunger for chocolate will have to wait a little longer..

Red barn

There are some red barns in this region, here is one of them, situated on the hill in Krokstadelva.

Been skiing yet?

It's embarrassing to admit, but I haven't been skiing this winter. I took this photo last winter, it's from the cross country skiing fields around "MIF-hytta," a cabin belonging to MIF (Mjøndalen's Sports Association). Hopefully, I'll be up there very soon, getting some fresh air, and before I go I can check out the weather and quality of the fields here

Nature's Art

Check out this stunning piece of art! It looks like paint on a canvas, doesn't it? However, it's not. What you see here is nature's art, the patterns in a big piece of rock

Weeping willow?

I like how branches become all frosty when it gets cold after a mild period. This tree is a birch, but could resemble a weeping willow, don't you think?

The chestnut tree

I have realised I haven't posted a photo of a tree for a while. I haven't posted that many photos of trees at all, really, despite being a sucker for them. This tree here is a huge chestnut tree, it's growing in the courtyard of my friend's parent's farm. I think its beautiful, but this tree here is still my favourite!! The building on the photo is called "stabbur," a house on farms used in the old days for storage of food. For more information on storehouses, check out stabbursnatt.no, where ten farms in Rollag, Numedal (about 1 hour drive northwest of Eiker) have come together to offer accomodation options in these storehouses.

Bandy

When I posted the photo of the ice at Vassenga, on Boxing Day (see the post here), one reader commented "hope you will post photos." I was working that evening and never got to see the derby, so I planned to take a photo of the match when the bandy team I am playing for (an Oslo team, Stabæk) would meet Eiker's women's team, Solberg, on the ice in Solbergelva. The match was played yesterday and here is a photo of one of my team mates (in blue) with total control of the ball. Let me add in the end, we won 7-1!

Årstidsforvrengelse

I'm not sure if "årstidsforvrengelse" is even a word, it was my granddad who came up with it some years back when we spotted an apple tree covered in snow, with bright red, ripe apples on it. The word can be translated into "season distortion." I remember we saw the tree in November, and now I have spotted the same thing again! Talk about stubborn apples, refusing to let go!

Blue

My apologies for disappearing for a while, 2011 started pretty hectic. I took today's photo some days ago after walking home from the shops. It was the beautiful blue light and colour of the field that made me stop. Light, either at dusk or dawn, especially in winter, is a favourite of mine. I have already blogged pictures where light have been my motivaton for taking them. Remember Winter light and Twilight from my old blog?

Gulden Kunstverk

Today's picture is from inside the art gallery Gulden Kunstverk in Steinberg. It's a small gallery in a new, modern building. Next door is the art sales outlet, housed in an old barn, and Kafé Elvebakken! Check out their web page for more information, other exhibitions and its art online at guldenkunstverk.no

Reflections

I caught the reflection of the rare winter sunshine in these windows some weeks ago. Thought it made a nice picture. The buildings are the collection of four apartment blocks, called "Åkerbråtan," in Mjøndalen.

Photo of the year!

2011's first theme day!! I have chosen to interpret it by reposting what will have to be my favourite photo of the 220 photos I have posted in 2011 (including Oslo Daily Photo). I made that sound really easy, but let me tell you, it was not. Can I choose all of them?? My favourite photo (one of many) belongs to the post Wrapped and stacked up!. Why I like this photo I have explained in the post, but quickly summed up, it's to do with the light and angle. I choose this, but I have to add that my favourite could easily have been this photo, this or this one too..