Well, Easter is over and the first week of working again is over too.

On the Tuesday before Easter, E and I went to Nordens Ark. I spent the day before baking as I always do for a trip to Nordens, and I was pleased with the result yet again. I don’t know what the English name is, but we call it horns, named that because they look like a bulls horns.
We drove down in under an hour and started with Lantgården, where they have domestic animals like cows, sheep, ducks, bunnies, goats, pigs, geese and hens. Easter was a bit early this year, so not many of the animals had started having “children” yet, and there was four geese that tried to make us stay there by blocking our exit and hissing at us. But we outsmarted them and got away anyway! 😉
Then we started on the trail that runs all throught the zoo, beginning with the Pudu and the Red Panda. I hadn’t seen the Pudu this close before, so that was fun. Both Red Pandas were way up in two trees, but we got to see their faces quite good, and that was nice. They’re so qute!!!
Went past a few animals and birds and then came to the wolves. Last time I was there, they had three, now there was only two left. But they were very active and we got to see them several times as they were walking around their territory. It seemed like the bitch was in heat, because the male kept following her wherever she went. Hopefully there will be puppies there the next time we take the trip. E had never seen wolves before, so that was a great experience for him. I keep remembering the first time I went to Nordens, when they had 15 wolves, and what an impact that made on me the first time I saw wolves.
We stopped at Varghuset (the Wolf House), which is a house where you can eat and relax, and that has windows as the only thing separating you from the wolves. Sat there for a while, ate and had hot chocolate and watched the wolves.
After a few birds, we came to the glutton, which seemed very depressed that day unfortunately.
Then we stopped for a while to try and catch a glimpse of the otter and her children, but yet again I was unsuccessful. This was the 9th time I was at Nordens, and I have never seen them!
Then it was time for the snow leopard. One of the people working there was with them as we came, so they were watching out for food. The guy was not actually in with the leopards as this isn’t allowed, but he patted one of them through the fence. Impressive!
Didn’t get to see much of the siberian leopard, so we went further on to the siberian tiger. The last time I was there, I hardly got to see him, so I had my hopes up for a better view this time, and my hopes was fulfilled! They actually have two tigers now, but we only saw one. He (I guess it was the male) walked around a bit and then laid down on the roof of a shelter, and I got to take a couple of really close up pictures of him. A wonderful and majestic animal that weigh about 300 kg’s!
Went back home and fell asleep on the sofa. Arkas woke us up when my mother and A came by on their way home from Denmark.

E had his son on Good Friday, so I drove him to his flat in the morning, in a terrible snow storm’ish type of weather. Picked him up in the evening again, and just relaxed for a couple of days. Did a few things around the house, but didn’t get to do anything outside because of the weather that was snowy and cold all Easter.

On Easter day we went to my cottage where my mother and A had spent the Easter, and they had invited us for dinner. Had a wonderful afternoon there with excellent food and good company. E tried to fix the telly antenna for them, and I helped A getting started with organizing his photos on his computer.

Tuesday this week I drove early to town to borrow my mothers car. Drove to the train station and met T and M as they got of the train at 9:45am. Went up to Rødsfjellet to get a good view of our fortress, and then to the chemistry at Tistasenteret (a shopping centre) since T had a cold. He didn’t get what he wanted, but we sat down at the cafè and chatted for a while. Then went up to the fortress. The weather was not on our side this day, it was snowing and lots of wind, but I got to show them most of the fortress and an excellent view over the city.
On our way back to the car, I discovered that the restaurant was open, so we had lunch there, getting some heat back in our bodies.
Then drove out to the Swedish border so they could have a look at both the old and the new bridge that I had told them about earlier. Had a short stop at my cottage, and tried to catch the 3:00pm train, but we were a bit too late, so we had a quick walk around the garden at Rød Herregård (Manor), and then spent about half an hour talking at the train station before they left for Oslo.
I have to say that I was a bit nervous before the meeting, since I haven’t talked to them before, just chattet for about 9 years. But it went extremely well, I had a wonderful time and I really hope that I get to meet them again sometime in the future. They are a wonderful couple and I hope they have enjoyed their trip around Scandinavia.

It was back to work on Wednesday, which wasn’t fun at all. So if someone knows of a different way of getting money, please let me know.

Norske Talenter (Norway’s version of Got Talent) started a few weeks back, and yesterday was the last day of auditions. And this amazing little girl (11 years old when the audition was recorded last year) got through to the semi finals. Her name is Nora Foss al Jabri, and she sings like an angel! Just have to share a few videos of her with you, starting with the actual audition where she sang Over the Rainbow. Then there is this version of Leonard Cohens Hallelujah. Just amazing! Further on, we’ve got the song Stop, where I believe she’s got better control over her voice than most grown ups. The last two is Summertime and O Holy Night (terrible recording that last one). Hope you enjoyed them all!