I Was Industrious Today

I drove down to my friend Heather's house today--her farm is about 3 hours away from our house, across several large mountains. I was dubious about our plan to pick raspberries as I drove along, watching the ominous looking sky. The first photo is of the town of Bagn, shrouded in fog. By the time I made it to Heather's house, the sky had cleared and the sun was shining. We walked up a really steep hill with our little buckets--I was winded before I had picked a single berry, and I still had to contend with balancing on the rocky hillside, overly friendly flies, and a nasty, stinging plant called "Burning Bush." Ow. Being industrious is tough! I would make a lousy farmer--Heather filled her whole bucket in the time it took me to pick about 25 berries. She has plans to make jams and pies, and she has been making juice out of the blueberries and currants she has already picked...Kevin and I ate the 25 raspberries I proudly toted home tonight on ice cream, they are all gone now.

The second and third photos were taken at Heather's farm--the sun didn't last very long. Oh well, I do like the effect of the dark, rolling clouds in the pictures. The last picture is of a couple of the many sheep I ran into today (not literally, obviously!) during my drive. Norway is chock full of moose crossing signs, but I have never seen a moose near one of the signs (in fact, the only place I have ever seen moose has been in my own front yard). Norway is also chock full of sheep crossing signs, and I have noticed that without fail, wherever there is a sign cautioning drivers to look out for sheep, there will be sheep...lots and lots of sheep grazing, napping, wandering down the road. Amazingly, everyone manages to weave around them, even on the most difficult, twisting roads, and all the roadside sheep live to "baaa" another day.