Category Archives: Books

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Dublin in winter

Library of Trinity College

After we visited Galway we brought my mother to Dublin and got to be “first time tourists” with her. This included a visit to Trinity College to have a look at the book of Kells and the library where they filmed some scenes from the Harry Potter movies.

Library of Trinity College

Trinity College campus

Trinity College

It was quite cold and I didn’t take a lot of photos, but we walked around to see a lot and had a very enjoyable time.

St.Stephen’s Green shopping centre ready for Christmas

Mandatory beer in Temple Bar

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Friday feeling 

Weekends are always something I’m looking forward to, but this weekend the feeling of elevation was extra strong this week. I’ve been a little tired over the week and the thought of not having to be up early for two days in a row!

Last week I went out to enjoy a lovely meals that I did not have to make myself. I went to an italian resturant I like to go to from time to time.

White pizza with reindeer meat, pommegranade, buffalo mozzarella and mushroom

I went for a white pizza with reindeer meat, pommegranade, buffalo mozzarella and mushroom, called Snøhetta. It was really good and left med very full!

I started my friday by dropping by the library and picking up some books to read instead of watching the inaguration of the US new president… 

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3 Things to do in Autumn

Light a fire.

Light a fire

1 Light a fire

If you have a fireplace and it’s windy and stormy out it is a very good source of heating the house. I love the smell of the burning wood and I can sit in from of the fireplace quite mesmerized by the way the flames dance around inside the fireplace. Just make sure that you are careful and watch out so that you don’t start a fire somewhere else than inside the fireplace.

Walk in the woods

Walk in the woods

2. Go for a walk in the woods

I find it very enjoyable to take a walk in the woods in all seasons. The charm of a walk in the woods in autumn is to see the lovely colours that nature has to offer. See if you can find some nice berries and mushroom (be sure you only pick the non toxic ones) that you can use to make nice food when you come home. If the rain is not pouring, the temperature is usually very nice for going walking as it’s not too hot or too cold!

Blackberries

Blackberries

3 Light candles, curl up on the couch with a nice cup of tea

When the weather outside is mostly stormy and very wet. What is better than to curl up on the couch with a blanket, a good book and a nice cup of tea? In Norway we have an extreme fondness of candles and I find it very cosy to light a few when the storm is raging outside.

Light a few candles

Light a few candles

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Randoms and recommendations

Kevin at Newauthoronline has a new collection of poetry out, I have my hands on it and can’t wait to get started! The Girl Who Wasn’t There and other poems can be found here, the below is the description from the amazon page:

The great Oscar Wilde remarked, “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars”.
Many of the poems in this collection portray people struggling in life’s gutter.
“Lonely men of a certain age” hear the voices of young women and yearn for something beyond “sterile sitting rooms”, while to the prostitute, its all about “handbags and shoes”, even if her “choice” leads to the woman “drowning in booze”.
Anyone who likes dark poetry will, it is hoped, gain something from this collection.

The street known as "the colored street" is 10 years old!

The street known as “the colored street” is 10 years old!

I have to get to reading this immediately, because in a very short while another book I want to read will be out. C.S. Boyack over at Entertaining Stories has a book coming out very soon. The Experimental Notebook of C.S Boyack might not be out just yet, but it can be pre-ordered here. The description on amazon says:

A speculative fiction selection of micro-fiction and short stories. These were designed to be short reads for your commute, coffee break, and other times when readers are pressed for time. This book contains a bit of science fiction, some fantasy, and paranormal stories.

I’m excited to see short fiction returning in popularity. I hope you will enjoy these stories as much as I did.

Tour to look at the new street art. Photo from my window.

Tour to look at the new street art. Photo from my window.

Last but not least The Opinionated Man, Jason, needs help to find his sister! Jason is usually better at helping others than asking for help, so if sharing his link can in any way help him out in any way, I’m happy to do it. If it doesn’t help at least it can’t hurt.

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Weekend randoms

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Gamlingen – Stavangers old outdoor swimmingpool

As you probably read in my previous post I’m having a lazy weekend to round off a lazy week. This is very much needed because next week will be quite busy, There is no better way to handle a busy week than to start of with your batteries charged. Yesterday was quite sunny here in Stavanger and I spent quite a bit off the day outdoors. As I passed I could see that there was a lot of people enjoying the day by the outdoor pool (the photo was taken late in the day when most people had gone home, just in case you were questioning my definition of “a lot of people”). The outdoor pool is called Gamlingen, roughly translated to “the oldie” and this was one of the last opportunities the people of Stavanger had to enjoy the pool. They are taking it down to build a tunnel to improve the traffic in the town outside of it. Luckily they are giving us a new one close to where the old one was, but this is still to be built. Having an outdoor pool is very nice, as the water is heated this gets used by quite a few people all year, even in winter. And as the Norwegian summers isn’t the warmest and the sea requires quite a lot before it reaches comfortable temperatures many families enjoy the occasional day of sun by the pool.

I also spent some time by the sea with my book enjoying the sunshine and I went into a bookshop to look at books and I found something that got me very excited. You might argue that it’s a bit strange to get really excited by something  that for the people with more popular names take for granted, but finding stuff with your name on it is something that makes my inner child squeal with joy.

Weekplanner - notice the name to the far left!

Weekplanner – notice the name to the far left!

Granted I didn’t need the weekplanner with my name on it and I didn’t get it, but it’s nice all the same. And I know for a fact I’m not the only one who likes stuff on their name on it as my post about the Maja coke is one that gives me many of my google referrers. Growing up, my name was not one of the most popular ones in Norway, but in the last years it has gained a lot of popularity. This is the reason why there was never anything available with my name on it when I grew up, but now (when I have no use for most of it) there is more and more.

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Lazy weekend and the library

Cafe in the library

Cafe in the library

One of the things I tell myself at the beginning of every year that I’m going to make more time to do the things  I like. Those things include spending time with friends, eating good food, going for nice walks and reading books. This weekend I got to do just those things. Went out for a few drinks after a nice long walk and a lazy morning on saturday. Sunday we went for breakfast at the cafe that is in the same building as the library. I really like their breakfast and the atmosphere and I really like the library next to it.

Drinks and bread

Drinks and bread

Food!

Food!

As I have mentioned a few times before here and here the redecorated library is really nice and a very enjoyable place to spend some time. There was an article in the paper today saying that the amount of visitors after the redecoration and with the extended opening hours have increased significantly. The decline in borrowing from the library that has been happening over a few years has been turned into a small growth. To a book and culture lover like me this is really good news. Hopefully this will continue to rise.

After the food we went for a good walk by the sea. It was quite windy and rainy, but the fres air and the moving around was really good.

walk in the rain

walk in the rain

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Lazy Weekend Again

After a hectic start to the year I decided that it was about time to have a lazy weekend. To fully recover from my illness. Friday I met some friends for a glass of wine. Saturday I got up to watch some of the winter olympics and wash some clothes to reduce the pile in my laundry basket. The winter olympics was not very fun to watch for a norwegian, but the laundry was wonderful to get out-of-the-way. Now there is room in my laundry basket and I have clean clothes.

after a while I went for a walk and decided that I would go to the library to borrow some books. When I got there where a lot of people, but plenty of space and not as much noise as one would think with that many people. I wanted to try the new Renaa cafe at the library because I’d heard so many nice things about it. And it did not disappoint! I had a wonderful smoothie and a great sandwich that tasted great and was not as expensive as I expected.

Very tasty sandwich and smoothe!

Very tasty sandwich and smoothie!

Being able to sit in the library eating a good meal, reading a god book is really something I could get used to. After finding my books I discovered that there was a mini concert and a few people who came to talk about Black Rider, a theatre show that is currently playing at the theatre here in Stavanger. This show has music by Tom Waits and this Saturday there was a tribute concert to him and the band giving this concert was at the library to give us a taste of what they where doing that night. This was a nice surprise for me and made me even more exited to go see the show on Tuesday 🙂

One of many good things happening at the library in Stavanger.

One of many good things happening at the library in Stavanger.

The rest of the day was spent reading and watching TV. Sunday morning came with much of the same as the previous day. Some ups and downs in the winter olympics, but when I went for todays walk the sun was shining and my mood was good. Now I’m going to cheer for the Norwegian biathlon boys and continue to enjoy this weekend.