Mother’s Got A Dot Com

Although I am slightly twisted, this wasn’t easy!

Below, sis in a twist on New Year’s Eve…

- and twist my arm no further, I’ll have the rest of that…

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Mo! This one was hard!!! M, Mille, 1000, 10×10x10, Millennium…

Yes – got it! A Thousand Years Ago…

The VIKINGS lived around these parts around 1000 AD. Their reputation is quite frayed, as their communication skills were limited, and they had a very straight forward approach towards their fellow men… and women. Their antics in the British Isles, for example, included raping and pillaging – activities that greatly affected the locals. It may be argued though, that the British learned some techniques from the Vikings, that they later used with great success when they were done fighting amongst themselves and set out to build the British Empire. But I digress.

They also left marks in France (Normandy is named after them – the percentage of blonde people is far greater there than in other regions of France…)

Anyway. Around 1000 AD, an intrepid Viking named Leiv Eriksson set off from the shores of Norway to see if there was more to find beyond the horizon.

Maybe he was bored with British waifs and was looking for more exotic venues, I don’t know, but it seems to be a recognized fact that he eventually (very eventually, have a look at the type of ships the guy used…) reached the shores of Newfoundland. Vinland, he called it – it’s been said that he found vines there…

The Vikings built a settlement at L’Anse Aux Meadows in Newfoundland. (This photo is from the reconstruction of the settlement) The remains of this was discovered in 1968, proving once and for all that the Vikings discovered America 500 years before Columbus…

Meanwhile, at home…: Around 1000 years ago, the Christening of Norway was well under way, with typical Viking methods. Efficient, but some might say questionable… “You swear allegiance to Christ, or I drive this sword through you” was a powerful incentive in those days, and Norway was officially Christened around 1030 AD.

(The Viking methods are used in all parts of the world to this day, albeit slightly modernized, to persuade reluctant locals to embrace such modern notions as Democracy and Human Rights, as well as countless less noble causes, but that’s another story…)

A terribly late post this week, but I couldn’t resist posting a photo of the main “rosace” of the Cathedral in Strasbourg, France, the city where I spent most of my childhood.

All the windows are spectacular, but this one is in a league of its own…

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I’ll be pulling wool over your eyes today, Mo…

All crafty and traditional now. This is a lusekofte:

It’s almost the exact pattern my grandmother used when she knitted one for me when I was about 9 or 10 – 35 years ago. I’ve still got it, or rather, I’ve given it to #4 Brat, and she uses it in the winter. I tried to find it today, to take a photo of the “real thing”, but it was nowhere to be found, so you’ll just have to make do with this.

This type of pattern is actually very old, and originates from the valleys of Telemark in Norway.

Why this for pull? Well, it’s not a pullover, it’s a cardigan, but these patterns were used for both. Lusekofte litterally means “louse jacket”, from the little “lice” in contrasting color that are knitted into the pattern. The contrasting yarn is carried through the whole thing, thus making an extra insulating layer of wool within the pattern. Kids who’ve been made to wear these may actually give you another explanation for “lice”… These are made from pure wool, and they itch! At least they used to with the coarse wool of days gone by. Wool yarn is smoother these days, and the itch isn’t as bad…

Here are two examples of pullover lusekofte – all photos here have been found at Dale of Norway, and are part of their 2008 Heritage collections for men and women. They’ve been Norway’s leading manufacturer of knitwear for generations, and you can get your yarn and your knitting patterns from there as well.

Hand painted porcelain by Lei Xue

This is high, high up in the Norwegian mountains…

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Warning! Adult content!

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Is Mo breaking eggs today?

This is our collection of painted eggs – painted by the kids and myself. We paint some new ones every year, so the collection keeps growing. In leaps and bounds though – some get broken every year too!
As you can see, some of them are hanging from birch branches. It’s a tradition to pick some branches for Easter and take them in to decorate them and have them sprout their leaves indoors. If you look closely, you can see the tiny green buds…
The large ones you see in front of the picture are a couple of the kids’ eggs that some rabbit or other comes to stuff with chocolate every year.

These are some of our eggs too, sprinkled into a bouquet of tulips!
There’s no tradition here for hiding eggs, by the way. I don’t know why – it’s probably a lot of fun!

I have my own little tradition with eggs, that I’ve adopted from my grandmother: On Easter morning, I serve everyone a boiled egg in one cup and a lifesize marzipan egg in another. The kids don’t mind at all…