Our first firewood collection this year

As the weather has gotten colder and more blustery, we thought it would be good to get a head-start on collecting fire wood and kindling from the park. There was lots of fallen branches and such, and we easily filled the wagon.

Dad gave me this handsaw for Christmas last year, and it’s really come in handy. We get some funny looks, sawing up fallen branches at the park. But it makes great firewood/kindling. We will get some regular birch logs delivered, but they don’t deliver the smaller stuff.

We actually had a very busy week this week. Chris stayed home Monday, and we went to IKEA. We bought more furniture for the front room. I went again on Tuesday, just me and Ruby. I bought the last of the new items for the front room redecoration effort. I think it’ll make the whole room more usable, and maybe even a little more child-friendly. Wednesday was spent on a wild goose chase for brewing supplies. We bought a big big bottle brush, but I didn’t get the tubes for the wort cooler until Friday. Thursday I went on a skogtur (forest hike) with C’s school. We visited Nordmarka, the forest north of the city. It was really beautiful; it reminded me of Alaska so much — and we even picked blueberries. Some of my fondest childhood memories… I was able to practice my Norewgian with some of the other parents, and met a nice Mom and boy from Ecuador. I was so so tired from all the walking this week. But by the end of the week, I actually started to feel a bit stronger.

Saturday was the big day: our first brew, on our own! Chris M. did come over to help/consult a bit, but we have all our own equipment now, and Chris chose a new recipe for a nice stout beer. There aren’t many stouts available here, so we have to make our own! Sunday was spent much more quietly, with a simple walk in the park. What a week!