Making blueberry jam

After the terrible terror attack on Oslo and the simply evil massacre on Utøya that happened Friday before last, and after days of intense television viewing and web surfing for news that could make sense of it all, we felt a strong need to get out and get some fresh air. The only thing that has torn us away from the news this last week was Monday's march for peace. It was good to be a part of it, and experience the amazing commitment and solidarity that people showed - to see the presence of caring and concern and the absence of hatred and vengeance. The way our small country has handled this crises, makes me proud to be Norwegian.

And that's all I will say about that here.

Today we turned off the TV. Instead we decided to get out in the garden and pick the plump and tempting blueberries that are growing in our back yard. When one has such a fantastic natural resource in the garden, it would be a shame not to take advantage of it, don’t you think? Especially this year, when the garden is positively bursting with berries.

Picking berries is therapeutic work. You get peace of mind sitting there on your little stool, listening to the birds singing and the sheep bleating in the woods. Also, it is so gratifying to see the bucket filling up slowly but steadily. Well, truth to be told, it wasn’t all peace and quiet the whole time. Husfruen became just a tad agitated, not to mention ever so slightly foul-mouthed, when our dog made one of his kangaroo jumps into the bucket and sent the berries flying in all directions.

The poor startled dog didn’t mean any harm, so he was forgiven. He loves blueberries and was allowed to eat everything he could find on the ground. His tongue became as blue as my fingers.

We had more than enough berries in the end anyway. We ended up with three kilos and it was quite a job to clean them all. 

Hubby had to dig out the largest pan we had to fit them all in.

Before we could start making jam, we had to wash the jars and sterilise them in the oven.

Twenty minutes on 100 degrees C in a tray of boiling water did the trick.

Hubby thought that Husfruen did a Nigella here, showing a lot of cleavage. Well, at least I didn’t lick the spoon, the way she always does. ;-)

The berries must boil for a few minutes, and then the mixture must be skimmed.

Since we have no competition for our berries, we let them hang until they are really ripe and sweet. Then you do not need very much sugar. Here I used about 750 grams of sugar to three kilos of berries.

Once you've added the sugar, the jam becomes shiny and lovely, and then it’s done.

To ensure maximum shelf life, the jam must be filled into piping hot jars straight away. They should be filled to the top, so that there is as little air as possible. It is certainly an advantage if you do not make such a terrible mess as I do, but if you too are clumsy with the ladle, it pays to let the jars stand in the tray with hot water. That way you do not risk spilling on the kitchen counter. Blueberries are terrible for staining dishcloths and countertops, so it's better to be safe than sorry.

The jars should be turned upside down until completely cooled. Four jars will be put on the shelf in the pantry, to be enjoyed throughout the winter when the demand for summery vitamins and antioxidants is high. But one jar will be consumed within a few days.

By the way, the jam jar is Opus from Rosendahl, a series I have taken quite a fancy to. The lid fits real close, yet is easy and convenient. It looks good too.

Of course, we didn’t have the patience to wait until the jam was cool before we tasted it. Ooh, yummy!

For supper we had pancakes with jam. What else?

The jam jars still standing on the bench cooling, bring fond memories of make jams and preserves in my grandmother’s kitchen. Somehow, they make me feel like an old-fashioned housewife. It’s nice. I'm pretty happy with myself and the day's work, so now I have some inspiration to pick all the delicious wild raspberries growing along the roadside here. And then it's high time to harvest red currants. They will become delicious juice. The gooseberry bush I’m not so sure about though. I really don’t quite know what to do with it. What are those berries used for? Does anyone have suggestions?

Come back tomorrow for some very berry recipes.

Birdhouse bother

Last spring, we discovered that a pair of starlings considered the sheltered space under the roof tiles at Hilltop House a suitable place to raise a family. You can see more pictures of them here.

YUMMY. Mrs. Starling brings food for her hungry chicks.

Although we appreciated observing the chirpy little chicks and the hectic feeding, we were not entirely overjoyed with all the mess in the attic. This year therefore, we decided to provide more suitable accommodation for the family.

Building materials were purchased, books were consulted and the construction plans approved, before we started the process of sawing and hammering. Everything had to have the correct dimensions, so that Mr. and Mrs. Starling would be tempted by our Bed & Breakfast. There was no lack of fine features such as strategically placed vents and an interior climbing wall for small baby birds with unsteady feet. Husfruen even sacrificed her favourite turned oak pen, just so that the house would have a nice perch for the parents to sit on while feeding the little ones.

BUILT TO STANDARD so that both the nesting box and the hole (5 centimeters) will fit starlings.

To make our little establishment more attractive still, it was weatherproofed, painted shiny white and equipped with a sign announcing that there was room at the inn. The penthouse suite was audaciously named the "Love nest", as an unabashed call for amorous excesses. We even wrote it in English, in case we were dealing with migratory birds that were not quite fluent in Norwegian.

NOT FOR THE BASHFUL. We brazenly encourage bedauchery, but obviously expect that the happy couple that will move in is properly wed - at least for the summer.

The finished birdhouse was hung high on the wall above the garage roof, safely out of the reach of our neighbour’s cat, on a warm but shady place, close to last year's residence.

SAFELY FIXED to the wall in a suitably sheltered and shady place.

When the “Vacancy” sign was up, there was no shortage of young winged lovers that came to inspect the premises. Several tits stopped by to have a closer look, but Mr. and Mrs. Starling remained unimpressed. We knew we had lost, when we repeatedly saw them land on the roof tiles with beaksfull of building materials, and it wasn’t long before there was chirping and twittering from their little babies.

UNGRATEFUL BIRDS prefer illegal squatting under the roof tiles to lodging in their own house.

Such ungrateful birds! We felt totally rejected, and although huffy that our efforts were so little appreciated, we let the birdhouse hang anyway. It was just possible that other winged visitors would be a little more appreciative of our offer of free lodging.

It turns out that they were, but perhaps not quite as we had imagined.

We had admittedly seen the occasional bumblebee buzzing around the house, but you know how bumblebees fly haphazardly around where they want to go, before they crash-land as close as they can and walk the rest of the way. We thought it was merely a coincidence that some of them crawled into the birdhouse. It wasn’t until the other day, when Husfruen was out working on the garage roof, which we are currently repairing, that we found out what really went on in there. I knew something was wrong when Hubby coughed a little uneasily behind me and gently asked me to look up. From the bird box sounded an angry rumble, and suddenly a whole swarm of bees hummed out of the hole. Just then, we were happy that bumblebees are not exactly precision fliers, though they got too close for comfort anyway. It was quite obvious that they aimed for our faces, so we just had to drop our tools and run for safety indoors.

IMMINENT DANGER. Best to get away when a gang of angry bumblebees are on the warpath. 

Here we were in a bit of a predicament. We did not really want to approach the bumblebees’ hive again, but the garage roof is currently unprotected, and we cannot possibly wait until autumn to get that job done. Unfortunately, we had a tough decision to make. Now, it is probably possible to move such a hive, but the birdhouse is screwed to the wall from inside, so it couldn’t have been done without damaging the hive anyway.

When the decision was taken, Hubby had the daunting task of getting it done. Wearing a padded thermal suit, leather gloves and a crash helmet, he climbed up the ladder, equipped with bug spray and gaffer tape. The birdhouse was sprayed thoroughly through the hole before it was taped shut. Not nice! You feel like Dr. Mengele for being involved in such a mass killing, but we had no choice.

OFF SEASON. This B&B will not be reopened until next spring.

Now the birdhouse will be aired out for the better part of a year before it will hopefully be ready for new lodgers next year. The garage roof should be ship shape by then, and we promise not to evict anyone, no matter who moves in - as long as they have feathers.

Midsummer

In Norway it is traditional to celebrate Midsummer by burning bonfires, usually by the sea. This year we had a lovely evening with people from the neighbourhood down by our little fjord. We barbecued sausages and someone had brought a yummy cheesecake.

In our part of the world this night never gets dark. We had no midnight sun unfortunately, but as you can see it was nearly as bright as day.

There are many old traditions on this lightest of all evenings, which is said to be magical. One of them is for young girls to pick a bouquet of seven different wildflowers and put under their pillows. Then they will dream of the man they will marry.
Young men must be wary of seductive women, though. If they should meet a beautiful young lady who tries to flirt, they must look at her from behind. If she has a cow's tail, it is Huldra, a lady of the forest out to lure innocent young men into the underworld.

Hope you all have a lovely Midsummer!

Hip Hip Hooray for the seventeenth of May!

The newest member of our households greets everyone on Norway's independence day.

Eddie stands at attention, saluting the Norwegian flag.

Eddie fresh from his bath, relaxes for a little while in his bed.

Posing in front of one of Norway's longest waterfalls. 

Done!

Believe it or not, but I - the queen of unfinished knitting projects - have actually managed to finish knitting a small rug!

Hah! I have to say I'm a little impressed with myself. Typically, I knit like crazy for two or three days, before I run out of steam and the whole thing ends up in a bag, which I eventually hide at the back of a closet. I've probably got almost twenty unfinished sweaters lying around. Some of them were started at the time when mohair was in vogue, and that says a lot.

Strange really, because when I was in high school I used to knit up a storm. In every class, I sat there clicking away with my knitting needles. I must have produced at least two sweaters a month in those days but the knitting spark seems to have gone out of me since then.

However, this time I was actually able to make it to the finishing line. It was the combination of an ultra-simple pattern and thick needles, I think. It was quick and easy, and my inspiration grew with the rug. It was nice to have on my lap while I was knitting too, and now it has become my favourite among the rugs in the living room.

I am so envious of people who can knit big, complicated things, like this tablecloth for example. A friend of mine made that one. She knits like lightning, and is intimidated neither by thin knitting needles nor fine yarn. The tablecloth is strictly for decoration, and is quickly hidden away if we have people in for coffee, because I am terrified of washing it. What if it goes all wonky and I can’t get it back in its shape again. There is probably a trick for that sort of thing, but I don’t know of any. Basically, me and knitting yarn are not the best of friends.

Wood, however, is more my cup of tea. The mahogany candlestick holder you can see in the foreground is my work, and I'm quite happy with it. In the basement, I have lots of equipment for woodturning, but my lathe has not been set up yet. When I finally get that done, I'm sure I’ll spend many pleasant hours there. Working with wood is great fun, perhaps because it takes so little time before you see a result.

I wonder if I should try to knit a cushion to go with the rug. Here, I have tried to match it with a fur cushion, but that doesn’t look quite right. However the furry cushion is just so nice to rest one’s head on. When we have visitors, it happens quite often that people just sit with it on their lap and cuddle it, like a cat.

It seems the rug matches the usual sofa cushion better, but I have plans to replace that soon, as I have got hold of a few pieces of beautiful summery fabric, from which I intend to make new cushion covers. If I manage to get the sewing machine to work, that is….

Let the sunshine in!

After a ”little” setback” due to soot and smoke, our TV-room is finished at last. The result is a lighter and brighter room, which is exactly what we wanted. 

Here you can see what the room looked like previously. Old darkened pine panel absorbed most of the sunlight, so even on a bright day, it was not possible to sit here and read without the lights on.

The ceiling and walls have been painted, the carpet has been replaced and the dark plaid couch has been thrown out, otherwise the room is basically the same. Still, what a difference this makes, don’t you agree?

The corner sofa and the chairs were left behind by the previous owner of the house. They were probably super cool back in the eighties when pink was in vogue, but, strangely enough, they fit in pretty well here now. The grey, pink and white colours match the new floor and walls quite well. With a brown sheepskin and a nice rug, we can live with it for a while.

Hopefully, it won’t be too long until we can afford a new sofa, but at the moment we decided to use the money on upgrading the electrical system. Now we have earthed sockets in the room, and what’s more - plenty of them. Behind the TV there is no longer a jumble of extension cords, now each gadget has it’s own socket.

On this wall there used to be a seventies-style orange lamp that controlled everything electric in the room. Not quite in accordance with regulations, one can safely assume. This new lamp has a dimmer and can be used both as a reading light and to create a cosy atmosphere.

The mirror was bought on sale last weekend. It also helps to reflect more light into the room.

At the other end of the room, we still have the old wall unit. It is not exactly fashionable either, but it provides a lot of storage space, and we have to have somewhere to keep all our CDs and DVDs. Previously, all of Hubby’s trophies were exhibited on the top, but now all but the most coveted is placed inside the cupboard. Actually, I would like to see them in a box in the attic, but we compromised. Now they're available if he should want to show them off, and I don’t have to dust them.

This stack of small trunks also provides a little storage space, which is something you can never get enough of.

With great technical skill, Hubby has fitted the room with a hi-tech sound system with full surround sound, subwoofer and all that goes with it. It sounds really great when we listen to music or watch a movie here. My only contribution to the house's musical content is this cool CD rack in wrought iron.

A couple of small souvenirs have found their place in the room: The elephants are from Namibia, while the shell is a polished pearl oyster that I brought home from Rarotonga. A black pearl was beyond my budget, the only thing I could afford was this shell, but it’s very pretty.

The large glass bowl is from the Hadeland glass factory. I bought it years ago and have never quite found a good spot for it until now.

Husfruen’s old TV-cabinet now houses Hubby’s whisky collection. Ideally, I would have liked to hide the TV away in a cabinet, but as big as TV-sets are these days, they do not fit in these cabinets anymore.

On top sits the old lamp that we painted. Looking good!

Now the room is so bright that the plants have started to thrive here. This flowerpot is something I found at the back of a cupboard, while the linen table runner was bought at a Christmas market many years ago, if I remember correctly. Hubby’s old coffee table was sprayed with black Hammerite paint. The original finish was not in good condition, but since the table is so large and handy, we wanted to keep it. Now it has a new lease on life and will probably be in use a few more years.

It feels good to be able to use old stuff that has been hidden away in cupboards and drawers or was on its way to the scrap heap, instead of just constantly buying new stuff. We have, in fact, not spent very much on our new room. All in all, it cost just under 600 GBP, and that includes carpet, paint, lamps, mirrors and curtains. The electrician cost more, obviously, but the electrical work was as much a repair as an upgrade, and was therefore unavoidable.

I am notorious for starting big knitting projects that I never finish. Just this once, I hope to be able to finish a nice fluffy blanket in brown and white.

I am very pleased with the curtains. They are light and airy and let in plenty of light. The plants seem to thrive on the windowsill where the spring sunlight floods in, and we too are very happy with our new TV room. It has become so nice here now, that we actually use it as a sitting room, not only as a place to watch television.

Home Clean Home

At long last we are now finished with the mother of all spring cleanings. Every room has been painstakingly cleaned of soot, and what a job it has been! Every single book had to be taken from its shelf, vacuumed and wiped. Every single little ornament has been scrubbed and polished. All carpets and furniture have been steam cleaned. All rugs and curtains have been shaken and hung outside to air. Whew, I get exhausted just writing about it.

When we were about to begin cleaning a few weeks ago, it seemed almost insurmountable, but we persevered and now the house is cleaner than it has been for years.

I am especially impressed with Hubby’s effort. Without complaining (almost), he has put in a lot of elbow grease, and that is no small feat for a man who considers housework as the pits, and something he absolutely does not undertake unless he is specifically told to. Whenever that happens he goes to work with the same attitude as that of man walking to the gallows, reconciled with the fact that there is no chance of escape. He even has a special voice that is exclusively reserved for talking about housework – dripping with resignation, self-pity and a deep loathing for the whole business.

He has a tendency to take his time as well, and I quickly realized that it was a mistake to give him the task of vacuuming the books. Every book was studied with great interest and the dust covers read in their entirety, before they were sorted into categories of readworthiness. However, when it comes to carpet cleaning and lifting heavy furniture, he laboured like a hero.

Finally, this weekend we managed to get it all done. The hall, which had been used to store everything, was cleared and washed. It is actually a long time since I've been on my knees in the staircase, scrubbing it with a brush, and I was shocked at how clean it became afterwards. Hmm, I have a sneaking suspicion that the grime was possibly not totally due to the soot.

This is our hallway. We haven’t shown you any pictures of it before, with good reason – the colour of the walls is simply vile. It looks like an eighties reject. Was baby-pink ever considered fashionable? Anyway, we have big plans to paint here, just as soon as the weather gets a little warmer and we are able to air out.

After redecorating the TV-room, we had no place for this recliner. Until we find someplace better, it can remain here. A yellow silk cushion from China marks the fact that it will be Easter soon.

The window sill here is not suitable for flowers, so I've put together a small flower table from a 20 centimetre wide plank of mahogany and four pieces of 1”x1”. It isn’t finished yet. It must be sanded and polished before oiling, so that the beautiful glow of the wood comes out. However, that will have to wait until I can do it outdoors, I don’t want dark-wood saw dust around the house now.

Such a hard and oily wood can be used before the surface is treated, so it is now a place for Hubby’s cacti. Honestly, I don’t really care much for those prickly plants but Hubby insists on keeping them. They are memorabilia from his bachelor days, when they faithfully survived years of neglect.   

This huge monster is Hubby’s pride and joy, and is consistently referred to as "he", not "it ". - I've had him since he was no bigger than my fist." Hubby says proudly. For my part, I am convinced that it is a "she" - and a jealous one at that. I am, in fact, sure that she has it in for me. I swear she tries to attack me as I walk past in what I consider to be a safe distance. And let me tell you, being stabbed in the leg by those spines is excruciatingly painful. "She" and I have in time developed a mutual antipathy, where she bristles her spines when I am around, and I threaten to cut her off on my watering rounds. Not that it seems to faze her very much. While the other cacti bear characteristics of a dry hard life, she seems to thrive in all conditions.

The hall table is one of Husfruen’s creations. It was my very first project as a cabinetmaker, and I'm still proud of how nice it turned out. It's made from Australian Jarrah wood, which has a beautiful quality and glow. Just look at the tabletop.

We have a lot more of my furniture creations around the house, and in time I’m sure you’ll get to see them all.

Have a nice week!