Wow, I never thought my last blog entry would elicit so many (diverging) responses
But it was the same way at work yesterday when I brought up this subject, different colleagues (with kids) reacting entirely differently.
I would guess that it also has to do with how the parents were raised: my parents never 'trained' me to wash my hands or anything. I don't know if I was often sick as a child (I only remember repeated painful ear infections), but I'm rarely sick/ill as an adult, no allergies, so I guess it strengthened me or I was lucky
I've always considered fear of germs to be a very American thing, but the past few years it has become a big craze here too, Dettol and other disinfectants.

I'll leave you with a funny fact. Before being paranoid about toilet seats, remember this: the most germs can be found on computer keyboards (makes sense when you think about it) and on the bowls of peanuts in bars (often refilled, rarely washed).

Yesterday BF visited some friends who had a baby a month ago. The mother gave him the baby to hold twice. But only after she asked him to wash his hands.

I hope I'm not offending anyone here, but I've never heard anything like it and I'm glad I wasn't there to see it happen. I really don't like overprotective parents who disinfect their surroundings and worry constantly about every little draught and chill, etc.

Funny how clear my views can be on parenting for someone who doesn't want kids

Why NN? Because no matter what you're feeling, someone else here can relate.

And because old friends can come back. Welcome back, Alpina!

One of those "let me vegetate on the couch/in front of the computer after work" kind of weeks. Can't even be bothered to clean up the pile of empty cereal boxes next to my keyboard...

As I said in a previous blog, the first hike looked bleak and barren. But looking closer, it was teeming with life and springtime.

Firstly, there was moss. Everywhere. It's the glue holding the stones and the landscape together.



There were buds on the trees:





And there was a sweet little bird, a whinchat, obligingly not flying away as I crept closer with my camera:

It's funny: I had a truly horrible day at work today (boss made me cry) and several colleagues offered me chocolate. I like chocolate, but I've never believed in its mood enhancing properties. Fortunately, or I'd be the size of a blimp right now...

This job really is bad for my mental health. If I didn't have such great colleagues, I'd have quit a LONG time ago, or I'd be at home with a burn-out.

Enough self pity, next blog I'll post pics of Norway.

Even though the weather wasn't always very good while we were staying at the cabin, we did manage to do some hikes. On the first walk, well timed between two rain spells, we followed a river upstream.

Looking upstream:



After some walking, looking downstream:



And even though everything looked quite barren, there was still some green to be found, in the water and in the moss:





Not the prettiest pictures I took on our trip, it will get better

I'll start with some basic pictures, to give an idea of the setting. Of the 9 nights we spent in Norway, 5 were spent in this cabin.

From the outside, a typical Norwegian cabin:



From the inside, spacious and cosy:



But the best part of this cabin was definitely the view:



Just glorious... We even had breakfast outside once, when it was sunny! And a few hundred yards lower was a rowing boat we used a few times for fishing.

Needless to say, I didn't even get half of my list done last weekend.

I'm so tired, not getting enough (good) sleep. The bags under my eyes are so big I could use them when I go shopping.

My photos of Norway are almost done, I'll probably post the first batch later this week.

In the meantime, I hope your week is going well!

Let's see, this is what I have to do this weekend:
- choose our concerts for the next cultural year (before they're sold out)
- catch up with my online creative writing course (I've been behind since it started...)
- laundry, lots of laundry
- pick up a second-hand glass vase I found online
- visit a friend who recently had a baby
- have lunch and go to a concert with a friend from university
- clean up the pig sty (oops, I meant the house...)
- continue planning our September road trip

If I do all this, I think I deserve a medal Half would be great...