A Tradition of Gooseberry Jam Continues

Ed has always loved gooseberry jam. If he ever sees it for sale at a farmers market, he jumps at the chance to buy a jar. His love for this jam comes from his love for his Aunt Gladys, who was like a second mom to Ed and a third grandmom to our children.  She always opened a jar of her homemade gooseberry jam for biscuits when we had breakfast at her house in Owensboro. 

At age 95, Gladys planted a new gooseberry bush to replace one in her back yard. Now, here's the thing about gooseberry bushes: it take two to three years for them to produce a significant amount of berries. So she would be 97 or 98 before she could pick enough berries to make her jam. She always was an optimist. 

Aunt Gladys died in February 2011 at age 96. The next month, we moved into our new home at Farm Dover and that spring, we bought a gooseberry bush in honor of Aunt Gladys. For 11 years, we have gotten excited to see our plant produce berries; but every year, the birds beat us to them -- clearing out every single berry on the very day they become ripe enough for picking. 

This year, Ed was all over it. Back in May when the little green berries were just forming, he drove t-post into the ground around our single bush and attached chicken wire to the post, using ground staples to secure it to the ground. He then added netting to the top, making sure that not a single hole could be found for a bird to gain entrance. Then he watched and waited, and watched and waited some more. 

Just this week, we determined that the berries were ready to be picked. All told, Ed picked just over two pounds of the little green orbs. I spent the next two evenings extracting the tops and tails from each berry. 

Yesterday, I turned the two pounds into six pints of gooseberry jam. 

Last night, I popped open a jar and added a dollop to a cracker topped with Cambozola Black Label cheese. So good. Sweet and tart at the same time.  

Aunt Gladys would be proud of Ed for protecting his crop and of me for turning it into jam. 

Capturing memories

Amy Pinney (Nate's sister) married Nathan Hirtzel last weekend in Columbus, IN. Hazel was a flower girl and Norbert was a ring bearer. The wedding was lovely, but it is not really my story to tell. I'll leave that to Amy and Nathan. 

I snapped a few photos of the kids and posted them last Sunday to an Instagram story. I post all kinds of photos to stories; mostly flowers and food. I find the photos fun to take and hope they are mildly entertaining. I think of them as unfiltered glimpses into daily life. But here's the thing about "stories": they are ephemeral, disappearing after 24 hours. I'm never sad when the time is up and they evaporate…that is until Monday afternoon. Poof, just like that, the photos of Hazel and Norbert were gone. Yes, they are still on my computer, along with 16,000+ other photos that may never again be looked at. 

My blog and regular Instagram posts are how I document my life. The photos are evidence of moments that might otherwise fade from my memory over time. At least a couple of times a week, I'll refer back to a post to verify the details of a day now long past.

So, in an effort to restore the memory of this special weekend, I'm reposting some of the photos here. So five, or ten, or twenty years from now -- or maybe just next week -- I can conjure up the time when Hazel and Norbert were asked to be such a special part of Amy's and Nathan's wedding.

If you have already seen this photos in my Instagram stories, just ignore these photos. They are here just for my sake. 

Our only responsibilities were to see that Norbert took a good nap...

had something to eat...

and wore the designated pants, shirt and shoes.

My boys, looking dapper,

Ed offering some last minute advice to the ring bearer.

Ready.

Making sure that Norbert was ready.

The beautiful bride and her beautiful family.

Norway: A Happy Place, Ja

Year after year, the five Nordic nations never fail to make up half of the “Top Ten Happiest Countries.” And, if our recent sojourn to Norway is any indication, it is easy to see why. The landscapes are spectacular; the food is delicious; the people are kind and accommodating. The only thing that could possible make it better would be the opportunity to travel with one of our grown children. Ed and I hit the jackpot! Jack joined us for the week. 

We started our trip in Oslo, Norway’s capital city known for its Viking heritage, Edvard Munch’s “The Scream”, and traditional hand-knitted sweaters. We arrived just as the lilacs, tulips and horse chestnuts were in full bloom on every street corner. 

Our hotel graciously provided an early check-in (much needed after a transatlantic all-night flight) along with a series of amazing breakfasts and late-night aquavits. We spent our days exploring world-class museums and our nights strolling the Aker Brygge harbour and dining in seafood-centric restaurants. For the three days we were there, the sun shone, nearly 20 hours a day. 

From Oslo, we traveled by two trains over the Dovre mountains to the charming port city of Ålesund.

A cold rain didn’t keep us from finding a warm wine bar. The next morning, we boarded a ferry for a three-hour cruise (each way) to Geiranger Village. The sun poked in and out all day, accompanied by a nippy wind. 

We simply bundled up and wore our sunscreen and sunglasses. As we made our way through the fjords, views of snow-capped mountains and sparkling waterfall were breathtaking. Upon landing in Geiranger, we bussed to the visitors' center and then hiked our way down the mountain, following a waterfall. 

Back in port, our challenge that night was finding a way to stay up to catch a late-night ship to Bergen, Norway’s second largest city. 

Thanks to a beautiful sushi supper, we managed to stay up until we boarded the ship a little after midnight (still light in the sky). We slept soundly in our port-side cabins, sailing all night to “the capital of the fjords”.

Cold rain kept us from exploring much of Bergen’s colorful harbor and 900-year-old wharf. Fortunately, we were welcomed into a lovely restaurant in the fish market where we had a late lunch of mussels and fish soup, one of my favorite meals of the entire trip.

An early-morning train the next morning took us to Gudvangen, were we boarded a small electrical powered ship to Flåm. We cruised through Nærøyfjord, the narrowest fjord in all of Europe. Flåm, a small village of 400 inhabitants, was not short on hospitality. Once a big cruise ship departed, we had the town to ourselves and had a memorable meal at the Ægir Bryggeri, the local craft brewery serving up amazing food. 

From there, it was two more spectacular train rides to bring us back over the mountains to Oslo, for one final night, punctuated by an Eritrean dinner and one last Norwegian breakfast. Then it was time to head home to Farm Dover and for Jack to return to Berlin. 

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A couple of observations/facts:

All told, we rode four planes, seven trains, three buses, five boats, one tram, and three cabs. We walked more than 112,500 steps.

Norway’s public transportation was clean, fast, reliable and comfortable. It was easy to navigate and most seats included an electrical outlet for charging your phone. Oh, how I wish there was a train from Shelby County to Hazel and Norbert in New Albany!

We booked our independent travel trip through Nordic Visitors, who reserved all our hotels and transportation, making the logistics easy. 

Perfect English is spoken everywhere, but it was nice to hear Norwegians speak their native language; it sounds so relaxed, clear and melodic. 

Ed withdrew $500 in kroner from an ATM in Oslo before finding out that most places only take digital forms of payment. I got really good at tapping for payments! 

The other breath-taking Norwegian experience is the cost of things. Plan on paying at least $12 a beer. I’m not complaining, just come with a high limit on your credit card (see item above). 

Oslo Highlights

Hotel Bristol

Historical Museum

National Museum

Norsk Folkemuseum

Maritime Museum

Arts Restaurant

Lorry Restaurant

Lofoten Restaurant

Mesob restaurant

Ålesund highlights

Quality Hotel Waterfront

Apotekergata No. 5 Restaurant

Cinque Minuti Pizza

Zuuma Sushi and Grill

Bergen highlights

Clarion Hotel 

Fjellskål Seafood Restaurant

Bryggeloftet & Stuene Restaurant

Flåm highlights

Fretheim Hotel 

Ægir Microbrewery