Vintage "Travel Norway" posters

Halo folken! I was browsing the 'net, and I came upon these old Norwegian tourism posters that were used back circa 1930s-1960s. Since I love all things vintage, I thought I'd share....

1937

1953

1954

1957

This one is actually for a movie, circa 1957.

1961

1965

1966

Halloween in Norway?

Halloween (one of my favorite holidays) is unfortunately not celebrated here, so I have had to come to terms with the fact that I won't be dressing up, carving pumpkins, or giving out candy this year. (It wasn't pretty.)

I was wandering aimlessly at the grocery store yesterday, lamenting the lack of Halloween decorations, when there, in a crate, sandwiched between the purple grapes and the onions, were 4 pumpkins!!! It was one of those clouds parting, choir singing moments, when everything in the world just falls into place...sigh.

Anyways, I bought 3 immediately, and tonight was our carving night! It was a first for Anne and Ole Martin, and I think they had a good time! Well, Anne did. After scooping about 3 handfuls of pumpkin innards, Ole Martin called it quits. I took over the carving duties after he went to bed, so tomorrow he'll get to meet his new friend, Vegard. :)

My Norwegian (grown in Germany) Pumpkin Pals!

gotta love these norwegians!

This would never fly here...but power to 'em!

eplekaka

As hard as this may be to believe, last night (with help from Grete), I baked my first apple cake...from scratch!! For those of you who don't know, I may or may not be slightly domestically challenged. And by slightly I mean severely. My sister, Tara, managed to snag the chef skills from our mother, so me and Chrissy are on our own. Needless to say, I was VERY nervous...to top it all off, Grete invited about 10 of her friends over to taste it, so the pressure was ON.

Grete made the apron mandatory.

the awesome Grete

Ready for the oven - 40 minutes at 175 degrees Celcius...conversion please?

Action shot...

The finished product! I got thumbs up all around - I can't wait to bring my newfound baking skills back to the US!

sunrise, 8:33am

I bet Norway is next...

Probably Sweden and Denmark as well...

Autumn has arrived (and with it, something else entirely...)

Hello all! Fall is officially here, and I'm LOVING it! SD, I do miss your sunshine and warm October days, but nothing can beat a true blue autumn. (Although - I hear of a major "storm" in CA? I use the quotations, because honestly CA, you don't know the first thing about storms.) Below are some snapshots of what I encountered today on the lovely streets of Norway.

Maybe it's because I'm a SoCal girl, and I don't see it too often, but I can't get over the changing of the leaves! So gorgeous!

Why yes, that is a cat in the middle of the road, oblivious of the field mouse directly in it's line of sight. Sorry cat lovers, but the only good reason I'll accept for having a cat is that it's an excellent rodent snatcher. This little guy does nothing for your cause.

Oh, and yes, that IS the head and upper body of a rather large stuffed deer chillin in the passenger seat of a Mercedes SUV. (Click the pic to enlarge.) I thought I had seen it all (well, maybe not ALL - but a lot)...apparently the universe had to put me in check.

Mr. Charming & my partner in crime :)