Lagopus Member

I've also got one of those. Maybe even two! :lol: I can't check the best-before date because they're out at the country place. But I'm pretty sure I bought them before we moved to Norway, and that was 13 years ago. :noway: Never mind. I'm a big girl now, and if I decide I need a pumpkin pie, I can make my own pumpkin…

I got in late today. The plane was absolutely full because we've just had a blues festival, and when we were a few hundred feet from the airstrip the pilot (who was female!) took the nose up again and revved the engines. There'd been heavy snowfall and it was too slippery for us to land, overloaded as we were. So while…

You BET I'm tired of it. I'd hoped for two whole weeks of not flying but ended up taking more flights this week than my husband – which is saying a LOT :grumble: I've got a new phone with cameras front and back. The selfie camera was a horrific shock to me. I was holding it in my lap when I turned it on, and it showed me…

Barbie - You just said it again: "Staying in the moment". I started meditating a week or so ago, largely inspired by your example. :heart: Over the last decade or so I've developed an ability to feel deeply grateful for whatever I've got in front of me (though I admit that's easier on a mountainside than during a tight…

I use cottage cheese in my morning smoothie (along with kefir, a quarter each of a banana, an apple and an avocado, and a big hunk of fresh ginger). It sure ups the protein! I'm not particularly fond of Scandinavian cottage cheese, which is rather dry. But I LOVE the creamy stuff you can buy in the US. Whenever I'm there…

Oh, yeah Kelly, we DO have daylight saving time here. We went off it last night with the rest of Europe. IMHO, daylight saving time is totally misguided at the best of times, but up here where we often have daylight all the time or no daylight at all, it's nothing but a pain in the keester. Y'know they have it at South…

Well, it's official: I've crept below the 70 kilo mark. Now I only have to get rid of 8 more. Several of you have asked about how we handle the darkness. I really don't see many who have to struggle with it. Those who do don't last long here. I think of one guy who had a short-term contract to work at one of the hotels. He…

As a good citizen of my adopted country Norway, I have a spoonful of cod liver oil every morning. :lol: Some Norwegians my age will wrinkle their noses and reminisce about how gosh-awful it smelled back when they lived next to a cod liver oil refinery, but modern oil doesn't smell or taste bad at all. We buy a brand that…

Aaaargh! Cravings! I'm going to brush my teeth and go to bed. /Penny, within calorie allowance and hungry at the North Pole

That is SO sweet! What a lovely thing to happen. :heart: Machka - that's a Phalaenopsis. They're incredibly low maintenance as orchids go, and thrive on neglect. The worst thing you can do is to overwater them. A good strategy is just to dip the whole pot briefly in room temperature water once a week. The orchid will love…

Joyce, honey, don't leave. As Heather says, you matter! I've always been impressed with the strength of your convictions. I remember being shocked when you mentioned that Charlie punched in the wall of his bathroom when he was angry. That really scared me, never having encountered that kind of aggression, and I would have…

I couldn't believe that either, so I checked the USDA nutrient list (my go-to source when I want data I trust). According to the USDA, 100 grams of fresh raw spinach has 79 mg of sodium. (For comparison, 100 grams of raw apple gives 1 mg, 100 grams of raw carrot gives 69 mg, and just one little tablespoon of grated…

Gorgeous dress on a gorgeous granddaughter, Marcelyn. Her happy face signals (well-deserved) pride in her own accomplishment. Ha ha :laugh: Let's say something in between. Strictly speaking, everywhere on earth is between the Poles. But to be more specific, I'm at the end of one of my hectic teaching weeks in Stockholm.…

One of the things that surprised me most about far northern Norway was that I could walk around barefoot in the woods. No problem! The ground cover was incredibly soft and springy. No twigs or pine needles or sharp rocks. And no mean critters. I still don't quite understand it, but make sure to enjoy it at every…

Come to me Becca! Way up in the High North we have no snakes or lizards, no rats or mice, no stinging insects. If there are spiders, they must be pretty small because I've never seen one there. The only critter we really have to watch out for is the polar bear. /Penny, embarking on the last day of two courses, far from the…

Hej Heather! Förstår du det här? :laugh: There are many reasons why I ended up in Sweden for 30-odd years; the most trivial one of all was that I liked the look of the language's "bejewelled" letters. Around the third day of these week-long courses I teach, I always start to feel that all my muscle glycogen has been used…

Quick update from me. Courses going fine, all three of them. I'm holding on to my sanity and letting go of some weight. :smiley: /Penny, in Stockholm, far, far away from the North Pole :cry:

(((((((Hugs Becca!))))))) :heart:

Aw SHUCKS, Felicia. :blush: You sure know how to butter up an editor! :laugh: /Penny

Dang! I'm in stress mode, juggling about 70 students from three PhD courses running more or less simultaneously. I'm reading the thread - skimming is more like it - but won't be posting until all this is over. To make my frustration complete, my new phone arrived yesterday, and when I tried to install the MFP app, it said…

Yikes, Pip! Christmas decorations already? Or is that a photo from the archive? I'm going out for Sushi tonight with the editor of the local paper. The Japanese women who run the sushi place (and the Thai women who run the competing restaurant next door) didn't get their leases renewed, which totally p****s me off. Two of…

Sorry, Katla. Editor that I am, I should know better than to use undefined abbreviations. LCHF = Low Carb High Fat. /Penny

I lost a bunch with WW some years back. It was a 16-week special course arranged for free at my then workplace for the 24 applicants with the highest BMI, and I was one of the "winners". That summer, when my husband and I celebrated our 25th anniversary, I was so slim I fit into my school uniform from when I was 16. Years…

I spent my first 15 or so years in Minnesota. Whenever it got cold, we blamed the Canadians. :lol: It got REALLY cold in Minnesota. Up here in northern Norway, I've never experienced anything colder than -18 C (0 F). Up in Svalbard, where we have lived for seven years, it's been down to -26 C (-15 F), but only a couple…

Lenora - That view is near our holiday place in mainland Norway. Until we retire, we won't be spending the entire year here. We currently live 650 miles farther north, about as far north as the north shore of Alaska. This area is one of the windiest places on earth so yes, it does get windy! But living here, we're prepared…

Good to hear, Meg. You're overdue for some good news :flowerforyou: Same goes for Katla, with your DH's status continuing to be quo. I was just out picking raspberries (surprise dessert for the Hubs tonight) and heard a weird hollow thunking sound. To my horror, Mike the reindeer had found a molded plastic deck chair and…

I like your thinking, Karen! Buying vodka isn't in the cards because I can't get to the bottle shop. But we happen to have a bottle of Polish vodka here that's been hanging around for at least a decade. It was a gift to my husband from a Polish colleague and has a cute little green parka with a zipper. (I'll have to get a…

Nice suggestion Karen in VA, but it won't work for me. a) They don't dry very well. b) Even if they did, I couldn't get them dry before I have to leave the day after tomorrow. c) There's REALLY no room in my freezer. Rye There's currants and currants. The currants your mother put in oatmeal cookies are almost certainly…

Rye and Machka - I grew up singing in the choir so I'm spoiled, too. Spoiled rotten, even! When I'm at concerts and I'm NOT on the stage I feel I'm missing out on all the fun. :( My jog was good and I'm back home now, cooling off. Mike and a couple of his sheep friends are now in the forest, just the other side of the…

Mike should do just fine. Come winter, he'll have to dig though the snow to find food, but that's the life he's made for. He'll be lonely, but should be perfectly safe. The only predators here on the island that take animals his size are humans. And no, WE are not allowed to kill them. Reindeer in Scandinavia are…