Sunrise/sunset: 04:11/21:29 Daylength: 17hr17min

Things are going well. This week I have painted the last wall of the garage and made concrete for the second time. I am gradually filling a hole in the wall under the veranda, left open when the old air conditioning unit was moved. The house brochure still isn’t done, though I did get the survey report back. The surveyor didn’t find anything nasty, which is a relief, and he’s valued the house at more than I bought it for, which is brilliant. I’m looking forward to seeing the photos. I’ve contacted some removal companies as well, and done my first video survey. Keep on going, one foot in front of the other.

One of the pleasures of working at the abattoir is spending time with Trude. She was born and raised here and properly embraces the lifestyle, making the most of the wildness, living on the edge of the world. She owns and breeds hunting dogs and though she obviously loves hunting, she also works hard to do it ethically. She was recently involved in taking a survey of how many grouse there are in the area where they hunt, so that they know how many birds (if any) they can take this year. On Thursday, she told me that she was going away for the weekend, but that she couldn’t go until Friday as she was involved in judging dogs in a course where they were trained to be frightened of sheep. Picking berries and living close to the land are second nature.

I love listening to it all and it sounds wonderful. Part of the fascination for me, is catching a glimpse into a close knitted community, where the way of life is so different from my own. When I was much younger, I felt a similar pull when living on the edges of the farming community in south west Scotland. Back then, I wanted to be part of it. Now I just listen, enthralled and admiring, as I know it’s not for me, but hearing about it is like a tiny window into a different world.

And of course, in addition to all of that, Trude knows all about maintaining Norwegian houses. One of the challenges for me, in living here, has been that people tend to be very self sufficient. Getting people in to decorate or do work on your house costs so much that most people learn how to fix things early. There’s a whole lot of maintenance that needs to be done though. Wooden houses in an Arctic climate need to be looked after. There are also some short-cuts that make doing that work faster. I mentioned last week that I had cleaned and stained the decking and the steps up to the front door. It took me quite a long time, spraying on the cleaning fluid that loosens the old stain, scrubbing the wood with a brush, then washing it all off. It was physically hard going and my arms have developed semi-permanent aches and pains. Trude has been keeping track of all the work I’ve been doing on the house (I think she approves) and when I said that, though I wanted to finish the garage, I probably wasn’t going to get the veranda done before my holiday, to my surprise (and happiness) she offered to come round and give me a hand.

I expected she would come round and we would do the job together, but once we had applied the cleaning fluid (with mops on sticks, instead of spraying it on) she brought out her secret weapon, which was a brush attached to a pressure washer. To my bemusement, I was actually left just watching her as she cleaned my entire veranda in double quick time. If I was staying, I would definitely be investing in one of these!

As I go about my life though, I am constantly aware of the changes that are coming. The bank of wild flowers outside my house is in full bloom at the moment. I know, when they die, I won’t be seeing them again, or at least not on a daily basis as I go in and out. The season in the abattoir is almost upon us. I am on holiday now for two weeks. When I get back, Vaidotas and Ernestas, will have arrived and there will be seven Mattilsynet meat inspectors working every day, instead of three of us, working between three and four days each week. I love the life the season brings and the changing of the seasons of the year that goes along with it. By the time I leave in November, it will be cold again and I will probably have seen the first snow. And while it will be wonderful to go home, it is also going to be tough, tearing myself away.

Anyway, I had better go. When I said I was on holiday, what I’m actually about to do is take a road trip, taking Andrew down to his new school year in Stavanger. It will be Andrew’s last time in this house, probably. How odd to be leaving home, to have no home to come back to. I will build a new one in Scotland, hopefully, but obviously it won’t be the same. Before I leave him, I will probably try to buy him some plane tickets so he can come to me over Christmas. Planning and planning and planning. I’d better go and start packing the car. Have a good week all!