THE PSALMS, HYMNS AND SONG POLL

In our family we like polls. My brother and I have spent hour and days, trying to decide which are the hundred best pop melodies. When Gunnar first created our home site, we interviewed family members to find the best books, songs e.t.c.
http://home.online.no/~jackobse/elise/alltime/retrodem.htm
The other night, as we spoke on the phone, my brother challenged me to invite my blog readers, family blog readers included, to decide which are the psalms, hymns or spiritual songs, meaning the most to you.
We'll come back with a top 20 list before Easter.
If you don't have a blog account, you can post under anonymous and sign the name in the post.
I do hope you answer the call.
Songs and music play such a great role in all aspects of our lives. Wouldn't it be a nice thing to share?

RUBY EASTER YARD

Our kitchen table is laid for Easter.
Serina will be home early next week, and I like to keep the house ready for homecoming queen.
I have gathered hens, cocks and chickens for decades. Many are antique, other are home made.
Darling daughter has carved out the tiny wood cock, and signed her name on its tale.
There are different explanations as to why poultry seems to have such great influence in Scandinavian Easter celebration. Again the link between spring and new life. The hen and the eggs are ancient fertility symbols. Where as the rooster points at Peter's fall in Gethsemane. Mathew 26: " ³⁴Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice."

Once more pagan and Christian culture live side by side. Yet we celebrate Easter or paske as we say, at the same time of the year when the Jews are celebrating their Pésach.
First Sunday after first full moon after the veronal equinox. And we like to eat our Easter lamb.

Originated by MaryT, check hers for today

RUBY SISTERHOOD

Chef Elisabeth made a delicious as the two of us were celebrating 30 years of rare sisterhood.
Elisabeth became my college working in a home for mentally disabled in 1980. She was and is that kind of brave, honest,caring and outspoken person I can't help, but admire. We connected immediately and are still close.
15 years ago there was a great change in the way mentally challenged persons were treated.Disciples of the American psychologist Skinner, preached and forced nurses to practice a strong regime of extreme punishment and reward.
I was away on sick leave at the time, but Turd and Elisabeth stood tall and denied to exercise a Guantanamo like treatment against innocent people.
That created a huge storm all over Norway. TV and our two largest news papers reacted on behalf of the mentally retarded and my two friends. Locally the persons in administrative power, the union and even the politicians went to court to get my friends sacked. My friends won after 3 rounds and 5 years in court. It even resulted in a change both in laws protecting mentally challenged and a whistle blower act.
Elisabeth was even rewarded with a special price, only offered to 10 people in Norway, amongst others our former king and our crown prince.


The fight and the victory had its dark side. Both my friends are suffering great health damages as a consequence the long battle.
Like heroic soldiers, Elisabeth has to cope with post traumatic stress syndrome. Life is not that fair. Never has she given up. She's a wonderful mother, friend, daughter and wife.
She smiles like heaven when she talks about good food, and is indeed a master cook. The other day she invited me to a wonderful evening.The menu for two was fresh lobster, crab fish, shrimps, salad and pink champagne. I smiled too, when Gunnar picked me up at 3 in the morning.

Originated by MaryT, check hers for today

THE CHALLENGE

Kitchen Maus challenged me to make a fish soup at 11 p.m. Who am I to say no. Besides her food photos had made me really hungry.

First foccacia to go with the soup. 1litre allsorts flour, 50 gram yeast, 1/2 liter luke warm water, 1/2 ts salt, 2 ts brown sugar, 2 tablespoon olive oil, black seedless olives, cheese and sea salt sprinkled at the top.



Vegetables for the soup, carrots, potatoes, celery root, red onion,
leek, green pepper, frozen herbs after your liking, herb salt,
whole, sweet fennel. One rich liter of water, cod for 4 persons,
crabsticks and 1/3 liter of cream.
The fish should not boil, but draw for 25 minutes.
Same time as the foccacia should stay in the oven.
Bon appetite.

THE RED SIDE OF THE LAW

Norway is a small country situated at the outskirts of Europe, under the Polar Circle, with 6,4 million inhabitants.
In contrary to the rest of Europe we have twice chosen NOT to be a meme of the EU.
That doesn't mean that the great nations leave us alone. Recently they have forced us to replace the old traffic warning signs with new ones. This sweet one showing a boy and a girl on their way to school. I always identified with this sign when I was a small school girl with red ribbons in my braids.
No horse riding on this path, children and cyclists only.
My father crossing the road in a 1950 outfit.
Crossing place for deers. Let's hope they understand the sign. Too many deers and moose have been killed this winter.
Here the basketballs are buried for the winter under the EU approved sign. A sexless figure with its balloon head unattached too the body.
I wonder how will they get the balls out of the bottle?

Originated by MaryT, check hers for today

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SERINA

Serina is celebrating her twenty second birthday with cousin Kristine Maria in Oslo. They have been friends from the day Serina was born.
Kristine Maria was four then, and came to visit us at the hospital.
Aunt Sigrid, Serina, Kristine Maria and me dressed for "herring jazz" street parade.
Serina is chauffeured by dad Gunnar to a birthday party in the neighborhood.
They both enjoyed the ride.

Imogen Heap is the reason Serina and her cousin are celebrating together. They are attending a Heap concert tomorrow.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BROTHER KEL

My only sibling and baby brother, Kel,turns 59 today.
I sat up till midnight last night to call him on the phone, "happy birthday".
We usually start celebrating our days around midnight, that way the feast lasts longer.
Only 15 months younger than me, but I've always felt like big sister to him.
On the picture we are standing just outside our home. We are dressed in clothes our mother sewed of worn out clothes from her and my dad.
I never felt bad about wearing them, on the contrary.
After I was 20 I still would ask my mom to make me new dresses, even coats.(New fabric then, of course).
Here we are just home from Sunday school, waiting for our mother's homemade dinner, genuine 50th.
A bit of snow, just like now. Maybe it was around the time of little brother's birthday.
Take care, my very best brother, (and worst too, he'll add).
Thank you for the good times, for the games we played, for the late nights we shared, for the music, for travels, for the stories we wrote together, for always being so gentle to Serina.

RUBY SHROVETIDE

Once again I'll post a picture of the fastelavensris,
the lent faggots.
I quote from Wikipedia;

"Fastelavn evolved from the Roman Catholic tradition of celebrating in the days before Lent, but after Denmark and Norway became Protestant nations in 1537, the holiday became less specifically religious. This holiday occurs seven weeks before Easter Sunday and is sometimes described as a Nordic Halloween, with children dressing up in costumes and gathering treats for the Fastelavn feast. The holiday is generally considered to be a time for children's fun and family games.

In Denmark and Norway a popular baked good associated with the day is Fastelavnsbolle (lit. "Fastelavns bun", also known in English as "shrovetide bun" or "lenten bun"), a round sweet roll usually covered with icing and sometimes filled with whipped cream. The day after Bun Sunday is Blue Monday, probably the feeling of having eaten and drunk to much. Then comes Fat Tuesday, the last day to fatten up before Lent. Ash Wednesday the Lent starts. In older days this was the day to go to mass and get a ash cross painted on your forehead.

Another popular custom is the "fastelavnsris", with which children ritually flog their parents to wake them up on the morning of Fastelavns Sunday (Quinquagesima).

Fastelavnsris have many shapes and forms and differ from area to area. In some areas they are bunches of twigs, usually from fruit trees and preferably with buds. Those are often decorated with feathers, egg-shells, storks and little figures of babies.

Earlier, it was mainly the young women and the infertile who were flogged. It was also common that a young man would carry his "fastelavnsris" and (of course gently) strike at young women he met on the street. Later it became the children's special right to flog their parents on this day. In any case, the reward given for the flogging would be a fastelavns bun.

Fastelavensris truely is a reminiscence from pre-Christian times.
Now it's mainly made by a women's welfare association. Colorful feathers attached to birch. We buy new every year.

Originated by MaryT, check hers for today

VALENTINESEPIA

Since it's both Valentine's Day and Mother's Day Sunday 14th, I've chosen my favorite picture of my parents to share.
My dad made the shot with an old accordion camera, in fact the only camera he ever possessed. Later on he would borrow mine or my brother's to make slides from 30 years of mountain hikes.
He took this pic with self-timer, the camera placed on a stone.
The last four years of his life my father was bound to a wheelchair after a brain hemorrhage.
I made a copy of this picture, to remind the nurses who came 4 times a day, what a wonderful man who lived inside to body now so helpless.
My dad used to point at the picture and ask my mother (in English), "Do you still love me?"
My mother's answer would always be the same, "Oh, yes, I'll always love you".


Happy Valentine's Day to all teach Mary's Sepia Scene

Ruby laws, my books, my treasure

"With law the country shall be built, not with outlaw be ruined", reads the Frosta-thing law from 1250. King Magnus Law-Mender, (Double click to read more), was the first king to gather all of Norway under one common law. Earlier, Norway was divided into several "Things" where laws for the regions were made and judgments passed. Even king Christian V of Denmark and Norway let Norway have her own laws, hence this law collection.


Our Constitution was written on the 17th of May 1814, as a result of Denmark "losing" Norway to Sweden after the Napoleonic wars. 91 years later, after long and persistent negotiations and a grass root awakening and love for everything genuinely Norwegian in history, music, clothing, writing and visual arts; we finally became one free nation again. One and un-dividable as the law says. Even the new king, King Haakon VII, from Denmark, would not accept the crown without being assured that this was what the people wanted. He was elected by vast majority, and we are happy to remain a monarchy till this day. Reading the old laws is to me like reading a giant history book.
I so embrace my heritage.
The Norwegian Coat of Arms (double click to read more)is engraved in the leather of the Laws of Norway.

Originated by MaryT, check hers for today

FEBRUARY ANGEL

Making angels in the snow is perfect exercise for people of 60+. We had a wonderful hike in winter wonderland today. Hikerpal Turid shot this pic of me.

RUBIES OF FEBRUARY

February first came with more light powder snow but also more light; 2 hours 6 minutes since winter solstice.
Every season has it's flowers, also at the florist's. Primroses are flooding in January. Last week they were two for 2,5 dollars. I bought eight,- food for my soul.
For the sake of Ruby Tuesday I placed them on terrace while the powder snowflakes were dancing from the white sky.

The author Ludvig Holberg (double click to read more) was born in Bergen in 1684, a child of the era of Enlightenment and the baroque. His plays, mostly comedies and satires, are well known, performed and loved even in the new millennium.
His most famous role figure, Jeppe, has a drinking problem. Holberg described Jeppe's dilemma in two sentences ; "Everybody's talking about Jeppe's drinking, but nobody's talking about why he's drinking."
This quote has helped people asking the important "why," searching for an underlying cause instead of condemning.
I think those few words alone have made us a more tolerant people.

Originated by MaryT, check hers for today.

RUBY EIGHT PETAL ROSES

My ruby subject this Tuesday is the Norwegian eight petal rose. A pattern used in home craft from ancient time.Serina with her ruby lips is dressed in a hand knitted Fana sweater with white roses.

Here's a woven wall carpet, about 150 years of age, aakle, also with eight petal roses. Homespun and home colored yarn. I bought in on an auction 20 years ago.
This table runner is also woven, but only about my age, pre or post war-ish. We have it on our sofa table.
In Haugesund all girls from 0-14 wear bunads (double click to read more) like this as their primary outfit for feasts, public or private.My mother has made Serina's from scratch. ..
A closeup of the breast cloth,with the famous eight petal rose.
Serina's great grandmother, also by the name of Serina, embroidered her own adult Hardanger bunad in 1903. This is a macro of the pearl belt.

The breast cloth made by great grandmother Serina. It now belongs to my daughter. Eight petal rose once more.
In Norway you'll find eight petal mittens, eight petal logo for the Norwegian home crafts company, and now also for the big Norwegian oil company, Statoil. The funny thing is, I've seen ancient eight petal patterns from India and in Eastern Europe by the Black Sea. It's folk art, flown with the great migrations. However it has stopped and is living on in Norway, while it never has crossed the North Sea.

Originated by MaryT, check hers for today.

ST: MARY IN GOLD; BLUE AND RUBY

For today's Ruby Tuesday I have chosen the main piece of a carved
altar cupboard or triptych (double click to read more) in the Church of St. Mary in Bergen.
Altar cupboards are meant to be opened and closed at different times. When this cupboard is closed can see the Nativity scene, the birth of Christ in Bethlehem.
Although St. Mary traditionally is dressed in blue, the unknown artist has found it suitable with a hint of red.
The red really enhances this elaborate tree carved altar from early 14th century.
It was made by members of the tree carver's guild (double click to read more)from Lubeck. In Norway the Gesellen of the tree carver's guild and the stone mason's guild have traveled to the remotest places to build altars and minimal and greater stone churches.
You can read about the guild system in Ken Follett's Pillars of the Earth.
Great novel about an age and craftsmen almost forgotten.

Here we go! It's Ruby Tuesday again!