Wedding Flowers

A picture from our wedding that I was able to first turn black and white, then "uncolor" the flowers, using a new program for my computer.

Beef with Vegetables

For dinner I decided to use my new pan I received from a store after having a horrible experience there, then complaining. We were craving beef, so we decided on some stir-fry with lots of vegetables. I'll show you all the steps, with all the pictures, so you can make it at home, just as you like it!

Orange "eco-friendly" OBH-Nordica ceramic pan

 I had to find some really good, fresh vegetables, something which can be difficult to find in the small town I live in. So naturally I ended up at the most expensive store in town, but it was worth it! I decided on green and orange peppers, red onion, tomato, and a leek, along with a small cut of tender steak (mørbradbiff).

The supplies, alongside a 5" utility knife

First, chop, chop, chop, until everything looks like this:

Throw the green and orange peppers, and onion into the pan over medium-high heat.

Gimme meat!

Then, slice up your beef into small strips, so it looks like this:

When the onions begin to go limp (after about 2-3 minutes, if your pan is hot enough), make room in the center for your meat. Don't stir quite yet, let the meat lose most of it's pink.

The meat is not-quite pink anymore, so now I stirred it all up. Next step is to throw the leek and tomato into the pan.

Even if you don't like tomatoes, don't be afraid to try them in this dish! Just choose a small tomato and chop it finely; it will disappear and become part of the sauce, which adds excellent flavor.

When the tomatoes are hard to find, and the vegetables are cooked to your liking, take out some soy sauce. Pour as much or as little as you like. Start out with a little though...you can always add more, but never take away! Then throw a teaspoon of sugar into the pan and stir like you're mad.

If you like them, put some water chestnuts in for some great crunch. Wait until after you've added the soy sauce, though, because you're not going to cook them, just heat them up.

If you like, you can go to your local Asian foods store and find some Thai chicken-flavored powder. The package I have looks like this:

The chicken flavored powder is not necessary, but it does add some flavor. Use about 1.5-2 tablespoons.

Are you hungry yet? Enjoy!

Here Comes the Sun!

Finally the sun has arrived, if only for a short while! We went out on our bikes to see if there was anything interesting out, and sure enough it was a rewarding trip!

What beautiful light!

The sun through the trees

Some macro shots of dew on leaves, I love the way the blue sky is reflected in the droplets. It seems so peaceful, and reminds me of those beautiful summer days.

Severdighet -- A sight worth seeing

This symbol means that there is something of interest in the near vicinity. Usually traditional buildings, tourist sites, natural beauty, etc. This one I found near the Stavkirke, or Stave church. The Stavkirke was built around 1250, long before Christianity came to Norway. There are dragon heads all around steeples of the Stavkirke, and when Christianity came to Norway, they simply added crosses to the building to make it a Christian church.

Here you can see both the dragon's head and the crosses; taken last winter.

Close-up of a dragon head

The graveyard around the Stavkirke, with the hills in the background, is not an angle most tourists get pictures of when they visit the Stavkirke. I think most people want to get as close as possible, and forget to take a step back to take in the whole picture--I know I have done that!

Going for a Stroll

This is a road often taken, judging by all the potholes! But the beauty for me lies in the bare trees on the right, with the still-green trees on the left. The red leaves bordering the road just make it perfect, tempting you to go for a stroll (if it's not raining, of course). This was again a cloudy day, it had stopped raining just long enough for me to get this shot. This week there is supposed to be some sun, though! Let's hope for that!

UPDATE! There is some sun!

This is the most sun we've seen in almost 2 weeks! You can even see a hint of blue sky at the upper left corner, and just north of us are clear skies, so we may get even more sun today!

A Gray Day

The weather was horrible today, it rained almost all day, was foggy and cold. So, lacking the beautiful sun, I decided to create my own contrasting colors with a new color-select setting on my camera. I choose a color within my shot, and the rest of the colors within the shot are gray. In these two first pictures I chose the dark red leaves from our apple tree, which is now bare. The contrast against the green of the grass is pretty, but I think the images are more interesting with the red against the gray.

In this last shot I chose the yellow tree in our yard, I'm not sure what type of tree it is though. It was hard to capture the yellow very well, but you get an idea. The whole tree is colored the same as the bottom of the tree is in the picture. I was disappointed that the pine tree beside it did not turn out as gray as I had hoped, but at least I got out and took some pictures on this icky day!

A full-color shot for comparison.

Bygdetun Beauty

Some more beauty from the Bygdetun, this time in full fall colors. The house on the right is a typical house of the era, with a grass roof. More information on grass roofs can be found here.  Inside is small and dark, with very low ceilings. The building on the right was most likely used for livestock or for storage, you can see it is much shorter than the house.

I love the single sunflower hiding on the left, as well as the red windows contrasting with the green of the grass. The sky got washed out, but it was not very blue that day anyway. I am planning on going back here after we get some snow, to get a similar shot.

Stones in my shoes

Went for a bike ride down to the river today, walked around a bit and took some pictures. Today the weather was cloudy, and it began to drizzle on my way there, so it was not optimal for picture-taking. But, I managed to get one shot despite the weather. I love the look of the stones, smoothed by the river, all shapes and sizes.