Et sikkert vårtegn!

A sure sign of spring, the Tussilago farfara, Hestehov or Coltsfoot! Spring is officially here! Last year's coltsfoot can be seen here

Cygnus

A northern constellation. A character in Greek Mythology. The genus of most swans.

Spark

The thing on todays photo is what we call a "spark" in Norway, a means of transportation used during the winter. The name is not pronounced like the english word and it obviously does not mean the same thing. In norwegian "ett spark" can be translated into "a kick" which is kind of what you have to do to get this weird sledge-looking thing to move forward. This is how you do it: You stand with one foot on one of the long iron things (in norwegian it's called "en meie"), supporting yourself on the handles and kick with your other foot down and backwards to make the spark move forward. (If this does not make any sense, check out this video). The spark is usually used in Norway, Sweden and Finland, but it is not a very common means of transportation. To be able to ride a spark the snow has to be hard-packed, and with perfect conditions one can reach speed up to 20 km/h, even more downhill. The first description of a spark dates back to 1872 in northern Sweden, and they became popular in Norway after 1900. It's said they were particulary popular amongst the youth. Since then they have been more or less used only by those who were the youth in the 1930's and 1940's, but this year, championships in downhill spark took place in Norway, a sign that the spark is increasing its popularity amongst the youth once again!

Gamlebrua

Gamlebrua (the old bridge), is connecting Krokstadelva and Mjøndalen. I'm sure I could have found out more about this bridge if I had asked my grandparents, (I should really do that before posting another photo of this bridge later on), but for now, all I know about gamlebrua is that it has been in use for 99 years. Indeed, it is an old bridge!

Dirt in disguise

With a winter so white and "clean" it's easy to feel a little fooled when spring comes along, allowing the dirt to come out of its disguise. Everything the snow has covered up, whether it's plastic bags, a lost shoe, dog poo, or as it is in this case, the remains of fire works from New Years Eve, it comes to the surface as the snow melts, leaving our surroundings polluted..

Heavy Machinery

The sun has been shining all day the last few days, turning the snowy streets into lanes of slush and thick ice. This lovely weather is keeping Nedre Eiker's roads service busy facing winter's massive meltdown with heavy machinery..

Patience

Rumour has it that cats have nine lives, but I know for sure they have patience. Loads of it! I observed this scene the other day. The two cats sat like this for at least three hours, until the one in the tree surrendered and climbed down. Patience equals stubbornness?

Nøstetangen Glass

Nøstetangen Glass, a small glassworks and shop in Hokksund, was established in 1990 with the purpose of preserving the heritage from Nøstetangen, the first glassworks in Norway which was established in 1741 in Hokksund (and shut down in 1777). The glass blown at Nøstetangen Glass, here by Merete and Erica, are blown using the models from the old Nøstetangen, keeping the old style, colours and personality of the first glassworks alive. For information about the glassworks, see their web site www.nostetangen.no

Baker Carlsen

For over a century there has been a bakery in this beautiful old building in Mjøndalen, and the Carlsen family have run the bakery for over 60 years. In the old fashion way and with a dash of love they bake seven types of bread, cakes and other treats every day.

The sun is finally out!

And it feels good! The snow has melted a bit more than what todays photo show (as I took it some days back), and I can feel the tarmac below my feet again. The birds have started to come back from the south and every morning I wake up to kvirrevitt's (birds twittering). Hopefully spring is just around the corner!

My favourite part of town!

Another theme day! As you might have understood from January's theme day, I (often) find it difficult to choose a favourite among so many nice things, photos and places! Well, my favourite part of town has to be: home! It could have been the weird yellow tree which I have a strange admiration for or somewhere in Eiker I have yet to take a photo of, and I assume I'm not supposed to post a photo of my sofa where I spend considerable time. This theme day photo is of my grandparents' livingroom, and second after lounging in my own sofa, I spend time here either playing the piano or just enjoying the company of my grandparents and the view of Eiker (which in daylight looks like this).
Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Evidence of an elk encounter

When I left home at 7 a.m. this morning, little did I know I would encounter an elk only 200 metres from my front door. Luckily, I was driving so the elk got more scared than I did and ran away. Sadly this also meant I never managed to get my camera out in time. As I have never seen an elk before (except for one time in a zoo), I took my time when I got home this afternoon to gather up some elk encounter evidence!!

Saturday night

The new, blue Mjøndalen square at nighttime. I didn't take this photo last night, but I'm sure the square don't look too different on a Saturday evening. A few teens on the colourful benches in the background may be what's missing.

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.