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Slow Down, Just Slow Down Now

Category: Artic Living | Posted: Mon May 26, 2008 5:05 pm

The phrase running around like a chicken with your head cut off, is an understatement. They at least stop!

I like to think I'm fortunate that I don't have to leave home to go to work. My work is right here, on the farm. Ofcourse we have all the farming that goes on once the weather lets us think about farming, but I also run a camp ground. I deal with tourists from all over the world. Some speak english or norwegian. Most don't. That being said, since Joshua has left back to Iraq, life has not stopped long enough for me to notice it snowed in the mountains...

Balder pointed that out to me.

Spring is definately here! Yah! Hip-hip-hoo-rah!

Can I sleep now.

Everything has gotten underway. The ground has been tilled. The unediable weeds gone. Manure worked in. Seaweed added. Compost added. Rows made. Some of the plants have already reached their new homes, and I also made a new bed on the southside of the house as a salad garden. Now this isn't just here at Stranden, but also at Selnes and Huaun. The other 2 farms. Not to mention I been picking dandelion greens like crazy for winter use in cooking and also for teas. The flowers are just starting to blossom, so the wine containers are out and ready to go. The birch trees are finally in bloom all the way, so that lead to a couple days picking leaves, and making saft and drying leaves for teas. I only like the young tender leaves for all this. The older ones tend to be bitter. Even when dried.

The rhubarb is ready for the first shoots to be picked. You know the new thin stalks. I make an apple/rhubarb compote that can be used as a jam or topping. I've got about 10 jars so far made. 5 large bottles of saft made. The siersløk is up and growing so fast, I've got 10 jars of pesto made from that. The nettles are soon up, and the angelica is almost ready to cut to make candy soon.

Remember the tourists? We had 3 men from Italy here, who thought they could go swimming in the sea,,,(snickering here) so I let them. They shed their cloths, down to the undies, and all 3 just made a mad dash out and dove in. Now they all had tans. When they came up, they screamed, squealed, and used some words I think were not very nice, but I don't know I don't speak Italian. It was just a feeling I had. Their tans turned a lovely shade of pink, then blue and finally they looked kind of a dusky shade of purple after about 30 seconds in the water. What can I say I waved, and smiled. I seriously think they might have tried to smile back,, but not sure. Then we had older couple from Germany and all they wanted to do was sit and drink. Well. No problem here but its spring and mother nature doesn't wait on me. So everytime I passed them by, they made me drink a shot of schnapps with them. If I said no thank you, they chased me with the bottle and a shot glass. Seriously. By the time I got done with my picking and planting, all I could do was look at a birch and wonder why it has 3 leaves all together like that. This was homemade schnapps. Potent. The next day I actually checked to make sure this didn't put hair on my chest. My husband loved it. Wanted the recipe, but we couldn't figure out how to pantomine that until the next day, but they was gone by then when the wits started to kick in again.

So its going to be a busy spring, with the natures harvest, planting of crops, tourists, not to mention my herbs and flowers. To top it all off, all the work that I have already done so far as canning and bottling is not for me! Its for the family who are all comming up in a few days for Uncle Tobias' 90th bithday celebration, and staying for a week. They have all made their requests.

So now that the tourists have gone for a few days, and I have caught up on my harvesting and planting. Maybe I can sit down.

***phone ringing***

Hi Henna, Its me Inger. Are you busy? Remember I said I wasn't going to have crops this year? Well Kjerste has talked me into it and we want you to go into business with us. The man is here now tilling the soil, can you come over and help? I made a chicken salad, with regular salad, and Kjerste brought over some wine, so we thought we would have tomorrow a garden tilling party with lunch and,,,,,

I go tomorrow for the garden party.


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Comments

 

Droopy wrote on Mon May 26, 2008 5:42 pm:


*laughing very hard here* Oh, I love your tourists! I'd have liked to spy on those tough Italian chaps, and a schnapps "iss ferry good for your healf!" Well done with all your harvesting, so much stored away already, I'm in awe... And even more to come, both crops and tourists. I hope Uncle Tobias is grateful and will lend a hand in the fields as the season progresses. Enjoy your party, and don't forget to breathe every now and again, now.




 

cajunbelle wrote on Mon May 26, 2008 7:00 pm:


And I thought I was busy.




trudy wrote on Mon May 26, 2008 7:42 pm:


Thanks for the laugh, I can only imagine. Don't cha just love tourist! You've been a busy bee an already ahead on the canning. I hope your appreciated. Happy Gardening!




 

kuntrygal wrote on Mon May 26, 2008 8:38 pm:


That's so funny about the 3 men. I'll bet they have never moved so fast in their lives. How in the world do you get everything done? Bless people like you that do so much for the enjoyment of others.




 

toni wrote on Mon May 26, 2008 8:41 pm:


Oh, Biita I can just imagine you staggering along towards home after a few visits with the tourists.

If you have more wine at the tilling party tomorrow than salad you should sleep pretty good tomorrow night. :)




 

kaseylib wrote on Mon May 26, 2008 8:59 pm:


Sounds like our parties here. We have Polar Bear clubs that dip into the icy river on New Year's Day each year. Brrr... Living on a lake we now have the "weekenders" coming back up for the summer months. I love the activity of summer, and then cherish the quiet of winter when they all go home!




 

eileen wrote on Mon May 26, 2008 10:29 pm:


Biita I soooo enjoyed reading your blog. Stupid Italians - but what a good laugh they gave us all here!!! I can just imagine you being chased by those Germans and their Schnapps bottle. LOL

You are definately one busy lady and I really don't know where you get all your energy from. Gosh You can achieve so much more than I can in a week and all in only one day!!! Enjoy your garden party and tell Uncle Tobias, when you see him, Happy 90th Birthday from us all.




 

Sjoerd wrote on Mon May 26, 2008 11:08 pm:


Whew!




 

Biita wrote on Tue May 27, 2008 6:30 am:


Thanks everyone! I've been working on all 3 farms for a week now getting them ready. With the sun out 24 hours a day now, we go when we can. Its taken me 3 days to make the salad garden on the south end of the house. Then all the picking and cooking inbetween. I sleep very soundly when I do sleep,,lol. Plus we have big equipment that does most of the work for us. So its not that time comssuming. Just the weeding part.

The trick to energy is nettle tea, and artic root. I drink tea a few times a day, and take artic root everyday for a bout 10 days then stop. Then i'm allowed to breath and sleep,,lol. I'll be working at Ingers for a few days, then all the relatives will be here by June 1st. Uncles b'day is the 2nd. So I'll have a few days to enjoy the visit with the family, but mostly my sister-in-law.




 

CritterPainter wrote on Thu May 29, 2008 3:41 pm:


I really needed a good laugh after being sick a week, glad I picked your blog to click on!!!
Blue Italians.... little old Germans chasing you down with homemade Schnapps... that'll keep me going awhile!




 

glendann wrote on Sat May 31, 2008 4:29 pm:


I needed this laugh this morning.It had to be the funniest site seeing the Italians dive into such freezing water (not as tough as they thought.To even imagine you staggering along with a little ole German guy after you had me rolling and then the amount of work you do is even more staggering.I would be dead by now.





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