Dawn of Spring

At the Dawn of this new week I also want to present the Dawn of Spring.
My agricultural period when leaving my apartment in the city and moving closer to the geographical centre of Oslo to live at my cottage (or summer residence - Tullarbo) is coming nearer. Although we have not yet ended the winter month February, the temperature yesterday was +10 C with mild wind from southwest. At Tullarbo the icy ground is still dominating but the perennial plants have started the budding. The red Rubarb and the bud of the Lilac leaves are wonderful discoveries.
At home we still have flowers from the shop. My preferred flower is the Tulip, and I send this flower bouquet to Turid (birthday yesterday) and Gerd and Arne (birthday tomorrow).
Age? No comments. Congratulation to you all.

Stockholm, Second edition

Saturday, February 9. I wrote about the Capital of Norway as the Jungle City. Being in the Capital of Sweden with my camera I also shot some photos of the animals of Stockholm.
First the lonely Swan close to the Skeppsholm bridge:Close to Strøm bridge we found the remaining family with lots of friends:The closest we came to a jungle animal was this Crocodile eating the old buildings at the central station.In a Norwegian blogpost January 28th, I showed a sign for private parking of Norwegian sheep and goats. In Stockholm they have Parking rights for inhabitant cows. The gilding Owl we found (ref comments from GAWO some time ago) will be used in next ABCW - F.

1060 km and a Vernissage

530 km x 2 during 6 hours x 2 car-driving, 2 nights in a hotel bed, italian food, strolling up and down streets, over bridges, up and down shopping escalators, subway traveling = a short visit to Stockholm, Sweden.
The purpose?
The spectacular vernissage of Henri de Toulouse Lautrec (1864 - 1901) at Nationalmuseum.In addition we had for the first time the chance to visit an exhibition of Andy Warhol (1928 - 1987) at Moderna Museet.
Moderna museet is located at Skeppsholmen and you have to cross a bridge to arrive. From the bridge you have a great look at the the old city with the Royal Castle at Skeppsbron. A journey through the subway system on the way to the museums, gives you possibilities to see underground art.
This is from Kungstregården station
Outside Moderna Museet a lot of fantastic sculptures by Niki de Saint Phalle, born Catherine-Marie-Agnès Fal de Saint Phalle (October 29, 1930–May 22, 2002) can be seen.Traveling back to Oslo, we have the following facts to share.
Petrol is 17% cheaper in Sweden, and good wine 50% cheaper at Systembolaget.
However, we have the bridge of Leonardo da Vinci at Ås outside Oslo made by the Norwegian artist Vebjørn Sand At the end and you still is interested in my Stockholm posting, I have a question to you, and perhaps mostly directed to my swedish visitors. What is or symbolizes this figure at the entrance of Skepsholmen. It is written "Skeppsholm Førsamling" under the roof, and I may have read somewhere that many poor and sick children lived at Skeppsholmen years ago. Please enlighten me.

Sky Watch Friday

Been away a couple of days. Had to visit Stockholm, the capital of Sweden to check the spring collections at the fashion street, Biblioteksgatan, eating at Gamla Stan, visiting Art museums, etc.
Will return with normal blogging tomorrow morning, but just to tell those of you still looking for my name at mr. Linky, that I am not out of SWF. I show you below a photo from Skjærhalden, Norway with the ferry to Sweden taken last summer.

ABC Wednesday - E

What else can be more significant for the opening of this ABC Wednesday than
E is for my Easels in my painting studio.
Take look at my paintings and listen to the Beethoven when thinking of
E for Elise performed in a different way, but absolutely intriguing on this:
YouTube video.
It is still winter holidays in southern Norway and we take a short shopping visits to Stockholm, Sweden. Still 4 weeks to
E is for Easter
but I found already this years Easter fashion-bunnies in a shop at Aker Brygge.We cannot use the European currency in Sweden yet, but here in ABCW it is
E for 100 Euros.With E is for EXIT
and Equipment for Emergency Evacuation in Hospital, this photo is Ending my ABC Blogpost this Wednesday.

Weather condition at Skuløya - It´s Springtime

Documenting Nature is more than Sky Watching.
Last Friday I had a photo taken at my friends A&AK´s Summer House. Today I will show how the weather changes over night at the same place.

These photos are, as usual, sent from my co-photographer Asbjørn and are from Flemsøya / Skuløya. Flemsøya is one of the islands we call Nordøyane or The Northern Islands at the north-western part of Norway.
The first photo (originally two) is taken at sunset last Friday and the second the following morning, from beautiful springtime at the coastline to fog, rain and stormy weather.That’s nature as it is, climate changes or not, like the weather here at Homansbyen, Oslo, (photo taken at the same time as above) In addition,
once again I give my congratulations to Anna Katharina on her birthday yesterday. Looking forward to your border passing next year.

Dawn of the age of Reason

Yesterday I watched a fiction movie on TV about consequences of environmental disorder. Flooding, extreme global weatherchange, storms, frost, death etc.
Burning books was the only way to keep up a certain "heat" inside the libraryroom where lead actors stayed and waited for the hero.

One sentence in a dialogue is still repeating in my mind:
"the Dawn of the age of Reason"
referring to protecting Johannes Gutenbergs work and his first Bible.

In 1455 Gutenberg published his 42-line Bible. About 180 were printed, most on paper and some on vellum.

His books (whatever content) was the first public medium making it possible to communicate by printing and sharing content of ideas and not only through oral stories for common people. The Dawn of the power of the mind to think, understand, and form judgments by a process of logic.

Today we all communicate through electronic media with a speed not believed only years ago. Not only by texting but also through pictures. This kind of communication creates ideas like the photo following my posting today. High heal shoes.

It was when visiting Maries blog I got the idea. Her craziness of shoes, the yesterday movie, Guthenbergs Bible and a calender poster from december 1999.

Let us have a rich communicating week full of thinking, understanding and judgements, on winter holiday, home, at work, on duty or wherever you all are in this climate threatened world made by men or not.

Can you save the world?

It´s Sunday. Many of us use the day to relax in front of sport on TV, but many more use the hours in the nature, skiing and touring. Some even go to church.

I had my time with a female priest and her Communion wine yesterday at Cafe Sorgenfri without being to much impressed of the food delivered accordance to in the new menu. Next Saturday we will return to C.C. with a lesson learned: Do not change a winning team.

Perhaps the bird at the table came with the latest news about How to save the world, and at home Wired delivered an article about almost the same.
But, before you start saving, perhaps a list of the most important TO-Do activities could help. Some of the world's brightest minds have used more than a year pondering how best to improve life on Earth and came up with 14 Grand Engineering Challenges: What are they?

Make solar energy affordable.
Provide energy from fusion.
Develop carbon sequestration methods.
Manage the nitrogen cycle.
Provide access to clean water.
Restore and improve urban infrastructure.
Advance health informatics.
Engineer better medicines.
Reverse-engineer the brain.
Prevent nuclear terror.
Secure cyberspace.
Enhance virtual reality.
Advance personalized learning.
Engineer the tools for scientific discovery.

On the way back to my iMac and blogfriends we also stopped and had our own glass of Chardonnay at fru Burums (our local) and could not avoid taking this shot. May be that also can keep unwanted persons away from delivering virus comments, like "click here". (Frivolity behavior will lead to Expulsion)

Blogging fellowship and presenting Sky Photos more often than Fridays

During last day (and night dependent of CET or American Time) I have been mailing with DOT about the BIG job she is doing on Sky Watch Fridays. The content of the mails are not copied, but as many of my other blogfriends have noticed, my communication may be "provocative" and direct, but with no intention of making people "mad".
You all know that whatever you think of a scorpion he never leaves you untouched.

After that I feel that RuneE has right about being reluctant to take mr.Linky in use for the "Broer som Binder" fellowship. May be he should keep clear of time zones and globalization. However let me thank DOT for her job with SWF, even if I mean it must be up to us to make our Blogs so interested that we get visitors and comments, not only as names on a mr Linky list.

I therefore today also choose to present two photos (taken yesterday) that could have been saved for next SWF. The morning light from my bedroom window, and the Half Moon taken at noon from the Royal Castle. The sky was exceptionally blue at the start of the winter holiday this year.
Thanks for visiting my blog, and
Have a nice weekend wherever you are around the world.

Sky Watch Friday

Today I cover the whole Friday by presenting four photos covering early morning, mid day, late afternoon and night. Hope you will enjoy seeing them larger by clicking on them.

Dawn and peak hours at Ring Road 2 close to the entrance of the hospital from yesterday medical control.
A continuation of yesterday visit to Denmark and Grenen at Skagen. If possible, go to Skagen yourself, and experience the Nordic Light as P.S. Krøyer and all the other artists has made immortal through their paintings.
Asbjørn and Anne Katharina´s (congratulation with the 18th) wonderful holiday home on the seashore and with the Nordic Sea and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Looking forward to join you at Eidet when the winter storms has calmed.
Dinner and sunset over Boat Quay, Singapore.

If you want to join the Sky Watch Friday Fellowship click on DOT´s Blog and sign in on Mr. Linky

Terminal sick, healthy, dependent of drugs, in and out of Hospitals

The title and the photo illustrate the problem nature has when culture (in my case transplantation) wants to rule over nature.
A human is first and most biology. The fight between both parties will go on as long as I am alive. Hopefully for many years still.The same is fight is going on between the northern and southern waterpower at the top of Denmark - Grenen. As long as there is water and streams, one of these nature phenomena will try to win.
Have a nice Thursday.

ABC Wednesday - D

Due to acute absence I have to post my ABCWednesday a day ahead.

D is for Dawn at Manilva Beach, Manzana Sabanillas, Spain.D for D…??….. and the possibility you all have to name this painting
D is for Dublin, Irland and the famous Temple Bar District.

D is for Drotningegatan, Stockholm, Sweden (the shopping eldorado)

D is for Debussy
Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli's legendary performance of: "...La Fille aux cheveux de lin" The Girl with the Flaxen Hair">from Claude Debussy "Preludes Book 1
YouTube video

Almost 100 visitors a day

After changing text language from Norwegian to English I have noticed an increase in visits to my blog. Last week almost 100 visits were registered every day. Not all are leaving comments, but if blogging is a global approach of distributing information and sharing experience and thus bridging gaps between me and the world, the change must be characterized as a success.
However, if some of the visitors, especially those coming by at other days than ABC Wednesdays and Sky Watch Fridays, feel that it is difficult to make comments because the host is using English, or the topics is not interested enough, please tell me in your own language.
It is more difficult to climb the mountains below.For those of you not familiar with commenting up till now, here is a short description of how to do it:
At the end of my post you see something like this:

Lagt inn av ArneA på 8:21 AM 36 kommentarer

1. ckick on “kommentarer”
2. a new window pops up where comments (if any) from other visitors can be read, and a frame occurs at the end with the heading Skriv en kommentar
3. Write whatever you like within the frame

4. Before you send the comments you have to identify yourself by:
a) mark your Blogger/Google account with username and password, or
b) mark your nickname and url or
c) signing your name in the comment text and mark the category anonym

5. Send your comments by clicking on “Publiser kommentaren din”

That is all.
The first time is "always" difficult, but not so difficult as swimming the fjords from Sykkylven to Ålesund seen in the far background.
Looking forward to seeing you making comments.

ps: Asbjørn is still the photographer from his terrace at Sykkylven

Domestic cattle and Poached Skrei

A short update connected to my Saturday postings.
I did find some domestic cattle in Oslo, but it was only at advertising signs from earlier time when marketing in newspapers, websites and e-mails still was science fiction.
An Insurance company tells the public that Life insurance of Horses at favourable terms with or without payout when the horse is still alive, is a new insurance possibility.

We can even see an ad. covering biscuits with the rooster logo of Sætre. Oslo is indeed not only a jungle city, and I will still look for an owl out there.


I also got some comments about the fishing photos; about frying a fish of that size. I therefore give you some more explanation of how to prepare Skrei for dinner. The photo shows the result after cooking or poaching Skrei at my home, served with potatoes, carrots and melted butter. There is no cod roe and liver in that picture, because I don´t like liver and my wife thinks that roe is too much, if BMI should be under control.

We normally drink red wine to cod.
Some Norwegians generally prefer white wine to fish, and we can in that respect recommend Murgo, Etna Bianco 2006 from Sicily as an alternative.

Post Transplant Challenges

I am sitting here this Sunday morning with my hand full of the medicine I have to take. Not only for today but every day. (in addition four more tablets in evening dose). In close to ten years these volumes of medicine have been taken every morning and evening after my combined Heart-Kidney-Transplantation spring 1998.

Well, I am still alive. Not only exposed death, but able to Live.
In Norway (according to information from Transplant doctors in 2006) the survival rates for Heart Transplants were as follows:
_. 1 year: 86.1% (males), 83.9% (females)
_. 3 years: 78.3% (males), 74.9% (females)
_. 5 years: 71.2% (males), 66.9% (females)
Mean survival in these patients is 12 years. With an expected survival of less than one year without transplantation, these are strong results that compare well with international figures. Patients younger than 50 years at transplantation have the best prognosis regardless of donor age, while the combination of patients older than 50 years and donor above 35 years have the poorest chance of survival.As I started this post, medication is mandatory, and I likely have to take these or other drugs for the rest of my life.
Even with the best possible match between me and the donor, my immune system will try to reject the new kidney and/or heart. My drug regimen will include medications to suppress my immune system.
Some of these medications may cause noticeable side effects. Steroid-like medications can make my face become round and full. I will gain weight, develop acne or facial hair, or experience stomach problems.
Because medications to suppress my immune system make my body more vulnerable to infection, my doctors also have prescribed antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal medications. Some of the immune system medications have also an increase for the risk of developing or aggravating certain conditions, such as cancer.

My post-transplant treatment are a delicate balancing act between preventing rejection and managing unwanted side effects. My doctors monitor the treatment adjust it as needed.

That is why I can blog about this and share some of the challenges with you. That is why my blog heading can tell "Det er godt å leve" (It´s great to Live)

"og om litt er kaffen klar"

Oslo - The Jungle City

This Saturday post is a follow up of at least two blog-comments lately.
From GAWO She gave me an award for teaching her about Oslo, and thanks for that.
From Marie. I was given the title “Byherre” (City Dandy?) without competence in farming, and she is close to the truth. Previously I have covered Urban People and their surroundings, but why not give some more snapshots from Oslo

The Post is also a consequence of walking in Bogstadveien (one of Oslos shopping streets).
In a fashion shop this Leopard can be seen.Most people in Norway know that the Capital – Oslo – also is called "Tigerstaden".
This name came from the writer Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, who in his poem “Last Song” wrote about the dangerous and merciless big city.
Today Oslo is one of the most secure cities in the world, but for rural people watching news from the capital at TV, Oslo may be seen as big, violent, dangerous and only for urban lifestyle. Perhaps that is why the council has places this Tiger close to the Central Railroad Terminal.But Oslo has also some other animals around in streets and places.
At the Parliament (Løvebakken), the entrance are guarded by Lions giving the small arrival hill its name.We can even find an Elephant near Majorstuen.I have difficulties finding cows and horses, but pocket dogs are seen in many Louis Vuitton bags at Cafes. Sometimes we also can observe cats and dogs like the one we met in Brussels Have a nice Saturday strolling and/or website scrolling wherever you are.

Sky Watch Friday

Yesterday I showed a photo of me fishing a huge Cod. Today, for you Sky Watchers I will present the surroundings where the fishing took place.
As you see the mountains are the same as on my Blog Heading. If you go onboard a boat and move out nearby the fishing wharf / house to the right, look for some seagulls and a boat, and it is possible for you to catch a similar photo as mine.

Sky watching for me does not need to be pictures of light, colours, moon and clouds. For the Babyfaced Assassin – Ole Gunnar Solskjær – ManUs 20legend, even the Sky was not the limit. Ole is the most known and famous Star world wide from Norway.
If interested in football (soccer) and like to see great goals, take 5 minute and watch this YouTube video. The photo is from Oles farewell at Old Trafford

Sky Watch Friday must aim towards more humor.

For people not interested in landscapes and football, may be this guy has met a shark in the water. Sky Watching can be the only possibility for him if there is no mirror at hand.

This Friday Quiz is the BMI for the FKK fellow.

However, if somebody feel loathed by this kind of humor, I will remind you that it is still winter in Norway and a photo taken from my summer residence above the City, is used to wish you all a peaceful weekend.