Lagopus Member

I'm not engaging much here now. Our grandson has had three seizures over a span of two weeks. He's being investigated for epilepsy. It's hard being so far away. /Penny at the

Take whatever time you need, Allie!

Michele - I'm in the central European timezone, one hour ahead of Kate and Heather and usually six hours ahead of you. Sometimes I'll be five or seven hours ahead of you because the US and Europe switch between standard time and daylight saving time on different days. Europe is probably going to stop switching back and…

Yeah, this is a wonderful place and I'm extremely happy here. When we moved up about ten years ago, the grocery store (the only one, both then and now) was like Ralph's Pretty Good Grocery - "If you can't find it at Ralph's, you can probably get by without it". But we got a new manager a few years back and now…

:heart: Allie!

Terri - I did your Aerobic Dance video a couple days ago and :scream: I'm still sore! Actually it's an exaggeration to say I "did" it. That friendly fit woman with the shirt tied casually around her waist kept saying "Stay with me" and "Almost there" and I did my best. But DANG! I couldn't follow the moves because I've got…

Machka - Quarantine differs from place to place. Here's the Norwegian version. Note that we are allowed to go outdoors as long as we stay one meter away from others. Norwegians generally abide by instructions from authorities but if anyone tried to prohibit going outdoors, there'd probably be a revolution. /Penny at the

Thanks Barbie! I'm still here but frightfully busy with the popular science magazine I edit every year at this time for a consortium of research institutes. A lot of the scientists — and even several of the sub-editors — have come to rely on me to mine their drafts for something that can be twisted into a coherent line of…

Carol, why :cry: ? Is something wrong?

Ooo, wow! Put those two trips back to back and you can teach those kids a lot about the planet -- why it's dark here and hot there in December!

Kelly, you're brilliant, brain fuzz notwithstanding! What a great idea for a geography lesson! /Penny, heading out into the dark to secure 10,000 steps for an ongoing challenge at the PS: When you send your gingerbread men to Svalbard, make sure they've got headlamps if it's winter, and sunglasses if it's summer!

That's right, Heather. So far not a single case up here. All of Norway has had 59,000 cases (about 1% of the population) and "only" 525 deaths (1 per 10,000 citizens). The beautiful scenery isn't our only blessing. /Penny

Wow, Heather! What a great rogue's gallery! :laugh: Two couples and 23 singles. I see you and J up there in the top row, second from the left. My choir continued to rehearse in person through Christmas, dousing ourselves with alcohol (on the outside, mind you) and maintaining physical distance. We had a physically…

Kelly - Lofoten IS spectacular. They say God got distracted when distributing beauty on the world and gave the coast of Norway a double dose. If you ever get there (or to Svalbard, for that matter) let me know and maybe we can meet up. :wink: Despite cold and wind, lethargy and resistance, I got myself out the door for a…

Michele - We've lived here for nearly ten years. When we came we intended to stay only three years and I figured I could stand it for that long. But like so many others we fell in love with the place so we're still here. :heart: Technically, we could redecorate as long as we paid for everything ourselves and didn't change…

I've fallen behind again. :( I've only read through page 34. Debbie So sorry to hear about the loss of your father and the other infections in your family. :cry: Machka I hated public speaking too, until I was forced to present a project as part of a course in human physiology. Once I'd bit the bullet and given the…

Oh dear, Allie! You're really having a tough time now. Wishing you all the best. :heart: If I'm allowed to use my Powerpoint files, I could do dozens of 40-minute presentations on scientific writing, on wrangling a research article through peer review, on the publication process, and various other arcane topics - all at…

These Joseph's Machines videos posted on YouTube make me laugh hysterically: First he asks for the salt then he wants some pepper We're home now. It was a really rough landing in total darkness, strong winds and a blizzard. I'm glad we made it safely. /Penny, relieved to be on terra firma at the

Heartbroken today :heartbreak: My poor native country :cry: /Penny, at the airport on the way to my current home at the North Pole. ... and on my phone so no icon...

Oh Katla! I'd hoped you had been lucky in your fall but apparently not. Sending healing vibes to you, dear. Several days ago, my husband slipped on the icy drive at our island home and was fortunate enough to land squarely on the part of his anatomy where he has the most padding. :lol: I inspected him for bruising and…

Glad my vase inspired someone! :p My mother has always been a puzzle enthusiast. Every birthday and every Christmas, chances were at least one of her presents was a puzzle. She would always shake any wrapped box to see if it rattled. Our house rules dictated that you never looked at the picture on the box after picking out…

Thanks to all who have so warmly welcomed this lost sheep back into the fold. :) Over the past year I've occasionally dipped into the thread to see how covid was affecting the lives of people in other parts of the world. My own anxiety/low-grade depression notwithstanding, I consider my community blessed in terms of…

Dearest worrywart Lisa, my version of your "just checking to make sure you're still alive" was to flick my fingers at my kids as if sprinkling them with water and saying "Mother stuff, Mother stuff, Mother stuff". That was enough to make me feel better, and my kids (a) understood what I meant and (b) were mildly amused. So…

Weather, ugh! We had a snowstorm yesterday that dumped another 6 inches on us. I thought I'd switched to ordinary jogging shoes for the season but I'll have to go back to my studded tires for a while. Still, all that new white stuff makes the landscape look much cleaner. Norway's national holiday (Constitution Day) is…

I can't keep up with you! Had a wonderful Mother's Day Zoom meeting with my family yesterday. It included 14 people, 6 cities, 4 generations and 3 time zones. Spring has arrived in Svalbard. What we call spring anyway. The birds are returning and the roads are essentially free of snow. The pre-teen girl next door has…

Lanette - I only let the dough rise in the baskets; I don't bake the bread in them. Once the loaves have risen, I tip them out onto a baking sheet and pop them into the oven straight away. The baskets have to be pretty well floured so the dough doesn't stick. The loose flour is what creates the patterns. I'm way behind, on…

Kim — Sorry, but I don't understand exactly what you're getting at. Can you clarify your question?

Irish Terri - You say my sourdough bread puts yours to shame. Well geez! My sourdough, as presented a few pages back, used the extremely simple raise-in-a-basket trick! I promise, sourdough or not, just let the dough rise for the last time in a basket (or any concave object with a bit of structure to it, such as a…

Lisa, darling! :heart: Your unpredictable colloquialisms often make my day. :joy: Kim — This image also tickled me no end... as I sit here, not-quite-hearing the highly contentious Zoom board meeting my husband is currently on. I'm on p 114 but must stop reading for now. /Penny, back soon at the

Yay! I thought Kim might be able to crack that one. B) /Penny