Julegaver!

Hello world! We are in preparations for our epic journey to Canada. Tomorrow, I will take the kitties to Pusenfryd (a play on the amusement park Tusenfryd, meaning "a thousand smiles") which will be an undertaking itself - two cats, 15 minutes in a car, a ferry, another 30 minutes drive.... I'm sure they are both very excited. Then we're taking the 14:50 hurtigbåt to the airport and flying to London via Oslo. Two days in London, where the most generous Mike Wood has lent us his flat, and then on to Vancouver via Toronto on Monday, overnight in Vancouver, and finally on the 23rd we will fly to Bella Coola. PHEW!

In the picture you can see the christmas gift from the Ulstein group to all of their employees, a beautiful woolen blanket. Mysteriously, it is not plastered with Ulstein all over it, and not a boat in site. Just fishies! Works for me. The cats love it too.

Our favourite restaurant and bar here in Ulsteinvik, Snorrebuda, has gone bankrupt and closed which meant our weekly Norwegian speaking group was held at our house instead, where we had delicious shortbread cookies from my grandma's recipe, courtesy of the fabulous mixer I purchased using Rene and John's birthday present. Thanks guys!

Anyhoo, I must get back to loads of laundry and packing, with a little work interspersed. I'm a little too excited about the trip to settle down to work!

All the best,

Kes