Deer Salad

Since I have been in "The Pass", I have seen deer up close a few times: munching on lilacs.  That was fine.  That was earlier in the summer, too.  Now that it is August, they are looking for other stuff.  Wednesday they found it. A doe and fawn came by and nibbled around the few flowers I have. Though the delphinium flowers were spit out, the parsley was snipped and missing. Yesterday a doe, looking more haggard, with ribs showing, came by and stayed in the garden. After she left I noticed that she had sampled the Shirley poppies, spit them out, but also my lone artichoke.  While it has barbs on the ends of the leaves, it was gone, too, as were some of the leaves. 

Spectacular Spring

Now that summer has arrived, according to the calendar, late spring is underway here in the high pass country of Crowsnest Pass, Alberta.  No more snow clouds- those gray stratus blankets.  We have had the more interesting and varied cumulus with their white marshmallow, grey to thunderhead black varieties. Indeed though there has been lots of water passing by overhead, we have not had so much here.  It has rolled down onto the prairie floor and spilled all over southern Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Now that seems to have passed by we can enjoy spring in summer.  I say spring because the lilacs are just out! Back in Sicamous in the Shuswap Lake area of British Columbia, my lilacs were finished before June.  Even much father north, in Prince George, but at a much lower elevation, they began and finished a fews days later in the first week of June.  But here, where it has been cold, even frosty some mornings, they are just coming out! They join the apples, which have been blooming since the first week of June!

Across Telemark to Hardanger

     My cousin Joyce and I first visited Norway, from which ½ of our ancestors came in 2002 and were now in Norway again. We had flown into Stockholm, rented a car, and had driven north and south in Sweden- another tale for another day.
    Then we drove west to Norway to be there for May 17 where we have a joint family connection in Ulnes in Valdres, northeast of Oslo. That had been a great time. The community assembles on a family farm on the Ivar’s Haug around the bust of a local boy who made good: Ole Hendrikson Fladager. While he did most of his work in Rome, Italy, some of his sculptures are in the National Gallery in Oslo. It is a source of family pride that he was the baby brother of my great great grandmother Rangdi Hendriksdatter Fladager.
   After a few more days in Ulnes we drove back to Oslo to drop off relatives who had to fly back home and then took off for Telemark. We had planned on driving to Odda on the Hardanger from Valdres via the E 16 west through Vang , over the Flyafell to Lærdal to visit the Borgund stave Church and down to the Eidford part of the Hardanger , turning south down the east side of its Sorfjord. Now we were well south of that road. Now we were where we thought we would end up! But there was another way, by the southern route through Telemark.
     We decided to visit Tinn, Telemark, where Joyce had family from the famous Luraas family of rosemalers as well as the family of Showshoe Thompson, who delivered mail to California over the Sierra Nevadas in winter some 150 years ago. We were shown the ruins of the cottage where Snowshoe had been born as well as other notable family remains like the ancient stabbur from the 17th century.



After the delightful time in Tinn, we headed for the west coast and Hardanger. We had to go alongside the south part of the Hardangervidda where we passed countless small huts that probably had been well used for cross country skiing during the winter. That terrain seemed endless; but after going over one pass we hit the Røldal valley and the ancient stave church there. It is a relative oasis- beautifully green- in the middle of the still wintered Hardangervidda. I later learned that I did have ancestors in this part of the country that was so isolated from the rest of Norway. At some point we got to the Haukeliflya, which I have probably misspelled, the pass of the Hawk. That was a grind, though not as bad as it might have been in earlier years as we went up and around and around through a tunnel. When we got out of the tunnel, we found a rocky and still quite snowy landscape; but it began to green up as we descended. And such lush green was displayed. By the time we got to a more or less flat road, down out of the mountains, we were in high spring time, including rushing waterfalls. We passed Låtefoss, a spectacular waterfall which comes down right against the road. As we continued the drive to Odda and the sea, we would pass other smaller waterfalls dripping off the steep high walls of the valley.



We had reservations at the Hardanger Hotel in Odda right down town against the docks. The hotel has expanded onto the house site where my gr.grandfather, Knute Torgerson, was born in 1850. I had really wanted to stay there. We got the stateroom right above the actual site of the house. There were two large beds and then a boardroom which had a spectacular view out at the harbour and north up the fjord. That night I spent some hours just soaking up the view.



We did not have many days in or around Odda so after a brief stop at the hotel, we took off for a family farm called Aga, which is now a tourist site. While it was too early in the season for many tourists, it was a beautiful drive. Apple trees were blooming and the small trees were covered with white blossoms. As we got closer to Aga, we encountered a very narrow part of the road that we had not expected. It was one lane only and curvy along the edge, the very edge of the coast. I do not know the protocol that we would have faced had we encountered another vehicle. Fortunately we did not see another vehicle here either going or coming back. One thing was for certain, we were against the steep side of a very large mountain. One could see that in the old days it was far safer to go by boat from farm to town and back as roads were etched into the rock and avalanche threat guarded the roads from use during the winter. Indeed I have read that the meaning of Aga actually was horror. Imagine: a farm named horror. But the farm was actually protected from approach by land by the threat of avalanche.



Finally we got to Aga. It is now called Agatunet with a series of houses, old and older.

The oldest one was the house of Herr (Baron) Sigurd Brynjulfson, dating from the 13 th century. As I understand, this is the oldest large house, storstova, still on its original site in Norway. The building was made of rock on one side and big timbers through out. Large planks of the doors were held together with intricate iron work. In all it was impressive. Outside the house was a plaque which was a copy of the gravestone of the Baron in his chain mail armour. That was a surprise. I wondered if I were a descendant of the baron, but I suspect not. But-- there are others from this large farm of whom I am a descendant. Being there was quite a wonderful experience walking on the ground of ancestors.



The old buildings themselves, houses, sheds and such, were set sort of close together but not in a pattern I could discern. While most were weathered or unpainted, as far as I could determine, some were unexpectedly painted in a riotous red. What with the green of the early spring grass and emerging leaves, the white of the apple blossoms and the pink of rhododendrons, the colours were notable. The whole site was rather mind boggling in that it was so far from Odda, which itself is rather isolated. I was so pleased that we had taken the time to go. We planned to drive on the other side of the fjord the next day but my cousins had other plans for us.

A Quick Way to Telemark

A Quick Way to Telemark


As the saying goes, “a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.” My cousin Joyce and I had now taken several trips to Norway. We would fly into Stockholm, rent a car and visit family and other points that interested us on our way to Norway. We had a little knowledge of driving in Norway and Sweden. This leg of one journey found us in Valdres where we heard about a fast way down to Telemark, where we wanted to go but were not so sure we wanted to drive the E 16 back to Oslo and from there make our way to Rjukan, Telemark. In a straight line this other way would be about 120 km. from what we could figure from the map we had. That would be going over 2 plateaus and a low set of “hill” mountains to get to Telemark.

We did forgot about the weather. I would point out that we were visiting in mid May and it was a cold May, unlike the previous May when apple blossoms were in evidence even in Valdres. This spring it was cold and wet. There had even been snow in Valdres earlier that week. Our friend who told us about this other way had driven it in the summer. It was not summer! On the top of the hills between the Numendal Valley and Austbygda, Telemark, it was not really spring either. It was “breakup.” We would discover that later. We forgot the snow we had experienced earlier in the week and felt this way sounded good because it would be fast!

I had some experience driving in Norway! I had driven not only across Sweden and Norway several times but up to the airport on the plateau above Fagernes in Valdres and several times over and back from Vestre Slidre to Øystre Slidre, which seemed terribly steep over a very narrow road. Then I had driven over to the Hardanger via Telemark. I wouldn’t say that I felt invincible but Norwegian roads didn’t seem to me to be that difficult. Looking back I believe that there were a few other sayings that we should have heeded! But off we went.

We drove from Valdres on the # 51 highway over the plateau down to the Hallingdal Valley. The road was good and clear. On the plateau there were no big settlements but huts all over. It looked like skiing was a big thing here but the season was over. We easily got down to the valley and before too long we drove into the town of Nesbyen. This is the home town of a friend, Rolf Lee, back in Sicamous. He is noted for his frequent very long walks in the summer and long skiing jaunts up the mountains in the winter. While this friend is over 80 now, he climbed the highest point in Norway, GaldhØpiggen, when he was 70. He is a good example of one challenge that the Valdres folk have. Rolf is a Halling, from Hallingdal, which are the traditional rivals of the folks from Valdres. As the Valdres’ saying goes, “Don’t worry about being first in a competition----- as long as you beat the Hallings!” It is not so easy to do. But we were not in a competition and Rolf was not here! We did not imagine the challenge that we would find before we got to Telemark.

At the village of Nesbyen we got a quick bite of food and inquired about the road up to the next plateau and down to the Numendal valley. We heard that the road was paved, along a lake for a good bit and generally fine. But when we would reach the valley, it would be steep going down. Yes, we found it very, very steep! The hand brake was used, too! But, we got down safely. Most of the drive had been lovely, winding along a lake with lots of pine trees around. I remember hearing that where there were pine trees, the land wasn’t much good for farming. There were no farms around but as we got closer to the end of the lake, and the steep drive down, we did find nice houses. They were not big but not ski huts!

Again we got down to the valley where it was quite lovely. So far we were pleased that we had taken this route. Just across this next bunch of “hill” mountains was Telemark. I use a term “hill” mountain because they were not big mountains but they were not like the plateaus we had passed. On a previous trip to this area of Telemark we had heard that folks drove from Kongsberg over the hills to this eastern part of Telemark.

We had not taken the road because we had heard it had some problems. Too bad we didn’t compare the markings for that road size and the one we would be taking from Veggli! That first one had been marked like a secondary road and this one we would be going on rather a trail or path! While we did glance at the map, it seemed only a few kilometres! We were so close and thought we would easily and soon be in Austbygda, Telemark.

We did stop at a couple places before we could get any directions to get the road over to Telemark. When we did , we were reassured hearing that people did drive over. They did not say that “this was not the best time to go over” or “don’t think of going over! It’s breakup.” We would soon find that out. We heard that there was a toll road and that we’d have to pay. Somehow that seemed also reassuring; and we headed out, found the access road and headed up the hill. After a few kilometres driving west, we hit the toll gate, paid the toll and noticed a car leaving. “At least there were people up here,” we thought. We never saw any more people until we were down in Austbygda, Telemark! Yes, we did get there; but we did have a struggle before we got there.

After paying the toll, the road deteriorated into mud, lots of mud though there seemed to be a solid base a few inches down. We were not stopped by the mud or anything else. We hit fog, rather dense fog, which fortunately hid the steep ravines we drove around, or should I say, slipped around. We stopped for nothing- more out of sheer anxiety. We took no National Geographic type photos. I think that Joyce had her hands over her eyes a few times! I was afraid that if we stopped, we might never have gotten out! Fortunately we did not meet any oncoming traffic because I don’t know where they would have gone! There were only 2 ruts in the mud trail and we were firmly in them.

After slipping around for what seemed endless kilometres, we finally got to what turned out to be a pass and fortunately for us, it was the only pass. We did find snow on it; but it was not deep and did not make the trail bed worse. Best of all, the situation did not last long. You might think that knowing about “breakup” here in Canada would have put some sense into our heads; and we would never have gone on the trail. But we had taken the “easy and fast road.”

After leaving the snow of the pass behind, we were greatly relieved to notice that we were going down in elevation; and as we did, a road, instead of a mud trail appeared. We had survived. We left winter on the hill mountains for spring in Austbygda, not far from Rjukan, Telemark. We would not be going back by the same route; but we had a personal story of a foolish drive over the “hill” mountains of Norway where it was “breakup” and much closer to winter than to spring. We also had to have the car washed!

Norwegian naming traditions

In the small villages in Norway you were known as "so and so's" son or daughter. My name is Janni so I would be called Janni "So and So'sdatter. But they were also known by the name of the farm where they lived.

My spent some time at the Belgum farm in Ulnes in North Aurdal in Valdres. Actually only one of our ancestors was born on that farm but his father was from the neighbouring farm and his mother was the widow of the owner of that Belgum farm who had come from down the valley near the village of Aurdal.

Thore later bought a farm near Aurdal and moved down. The family then were strangers and were called Belgum, though my gr. grandfather was baptized with the current name of the farm where the family lived. When he and his 2 younger brothers left the area for the U.S.A. in about 1868, after their parents had died, they registered on leaving using Belgum as their last name rather than being called by their father's first name though they continued to use his initia as thier middle initial. When the oldest brother came over he, too used Belgum, though he came from this other farm- though he might even have been born on Belgum in Ulnes.

Another relative, Peder Torjuson left Krageo: Telemark with his family in the 1840's and came to Wisconsin. He enrolled the children in school. His daughter, my gr. grandmother was Anna Tomina Pedersdatter (Pederson). Later it seems he found that his name was Peder Pederson as the children and he must have the same last name! He was buried as Peder Pederson. I would think that he did not find it amusing that he was the son of "himself"; but then perhaps he did. I never heard any talk of it. But being born and raised farm from the Midwest and the extended family I never heard anything much about my father's family, though I did know that we were from Valdres, Norway. I knew nothing about my father's mother's family until recently and found that they had roots in many different parts of Norway.

Spring-- a month behind usual

I hear that spring here is a month behind usual. That's why the temperature will only get to 20 degrees C instead of 25! But it is lovely. Puffy cumulous clouds in the sky and lovely spring flowers. The tulips are just about done, the rhododendrons are almost all out and the azaleas are just about to open. It is lovely.

I even might have some fruit later in the summer. My apricot bloomed for the first time about a month ago- though I have not noticed that bud got pollinated. Hopefully I will be surprised! My grapes also have little bud which might indicate grapes later. The raspberries are growing and I am expecting something from them.

I also planted a garden on the lawn. I put black weed cloth down to kill the grass and put in broccoli plants and then peas. The broccoli have little heads which I hope they will get bigger.
the peas have come up through the holes and yesterday I planted squash. Now let us see.

Spring Progresses

Here in British Columbia we think that we have a corner on early spring. Usually seems to me that we're miles ahead of spring in the east, but not this year. In Sicamous we've had a very cold spring and few warm days. This has been fine for the daphne but not much else. They've had a long season. The magnolia has most of its flowers out and looks great. The forsythia are still out and yellow but the early daffodils are about gone though most of the tulips have barely begun. And now for some heat this weekend-- so those flowers that we usually enjoy for so long will probably soon be done.

I'm wondering if the roots of those "iffy" plants that I bought last summer- the "snow eucalyptus" and "evergreen clematis" have survived. The tops haven't so I'm hoping to see some new growth. Time will tell.