A vist to our mountain cabin

Hi !

Do you want to see our little mountain cabin ?
The old picture on top is from the place where we have our cabin.
It was the old mountain farm, where my father grew up. On the picture is my grandmother sitting in the grass, and the picture must have been taken in the 1920-30s.

This is the place where we have built our little cottage. You could call it an "eco lodge".

Its a wonderful place, where time stands still, and we get in touch with ourselves. Its so pure and clean up there, that when we come up after a year, everything is still clean adn exacly like it was.

This is Stella.  Probably the cutest dog in the world !

Here in Norway we have a very strong tradition to love nature. We love beeing in nature, go for walks, pick berries, or even hunt if you have the land to do it etc. The men in my family always used to hunt for moose. But we dont now, since Franz is from Holland, and does not know this tratdition. Most of us feel very well by beeing in the nature. The quietness and the peace eases our mind.  It is really our culture.

But even if I live a very contrasting life; One weekend Im in Paris, next week Im in the mountains. The mountain part is very dear to me. On the other hand, I love the upbeat urban part too.

Last weekend I was supposed to be in Paris on the Pret a porte fair. I have been there the last 15 years, every year.  But this year I thought I did not have to go. I stayed home for a change.

So, what was possible then ? Right, to go to the mountain !!
And the weather ? Well, not ideal at all. It was in fact pissing with rain.

But does this stop Norwegians ? No no !




This is Stella. My daughters little dog.
She is the cutest little dog I know.
She loves people, she loves me.
I get kisses all over.

And she loves to come to the mountain of course, like all dogs.
to run around and play.

She is only 1,5 years old. Isnt she the cutest ?

This is how we get hot water. On a wooden stove with firewood.
The water we collect from a natural well. We have the cleanest purest and best ice cold mountain water coming straight up from the ground. Is so good to drink, its like champaign to me !

This is the view from the veranda. This day is really heavy with clouds.
Normally we can look straight at a majestic mountain called Gaustatoppen.

This is Franz on the veranda.

We use candles for light. Its really nice !

This is the interior of my cabin. You could call it an eco lodge. We have made everything so simple as possible, and to look like the old cabins from before. Its a wooden cabin, high up in the mountain. There is no electricity, no real road (at least not in winter) no running water.

On the walls I have some old painting that I got from my grandmother. This one with the fish is from 1948.  From the time when the main leisurtime activity of the family was to go to the mountain. They fished and picked berries to save for winter.

And this painter, who was a friend of the family, painted this big trout and a glass of beer. It was probably i big treat and the best they could get.

Im very fond of these painting. I like to keep the history of my familys culture. Its meaningfull to me. I m not just one of these superficial persons who only care about how things look. I like things to have meaning and story.

This great picture is in the toilet. Its an old needlepoint.   I think this is the perfect toilet picture.
I bought it at a jumble sale for €2,-

Stella is a real begger dog, she likes bacon too !

A good breakfast in the mountain is always eggs and bacon. And some good coffee.

We both love the quietness and the lack of stress. You get this incredible relaxed feeling. We can do with that, as our lives are pretty full of stress and a million things to do.

This is the cabin.  You should see it in winter.  Its an eldorado for cross country skiing.

Its nice to go for a walk.  We are there, almost all alone.  Only us and some wild animals.

So that was a quick visit to our little mountain lodge on a rainy day in Spetember.

Jeg skriver forresten på engelsk, da det faktisk er flere utenlandske lesere enn norske.  Og de må jo tro vi Normenn er litt smårare, som reiser til små hytter i fjellet uten strøm.  Tja, jeg synes jo det er herlig da !

Love from Birgit

Sunday

Hi there !

Today is Sunday, and Im at home. Wonderful to have a little rest in between. August is a busy time. After we get back from holidays its just thousands of things that has to happen at work.

Oh well, thats the way it is. Fashion weeks, fairs, photoshoots, the start of new design processes, etc etc. This is the way it is in this business. There is nothing to do about it.

Its a pitty, because this is also the time to harvest from nature. The forest is full of mushrooms now. The other day we went to a secret place, not far from where we live. Alle mushroom places are secret. If you find a place, dont tell it to anybody.

We found lots of Kantarells. These delicious bright yellow mushrooms. They are so beautiful to look at. They grow in old forests, in large groups.



We found so many, we couldnt believe our own eyes. I have never found so many Kantarells before. We got so excited, we were just running from place to the other. Picking and filling up the basket. Before we knew it, we had spent 4 hours in the forest. The basket was full. 6,5 kilos of edible mushrooms.

Today I will cook a leg of lamb. Im going to cover it with spices and garlic now, and let it sit, before I put it in the oven. And then this evening our children and family will come and enjoy it.
Leg of lamb, wild mushrooms and some nice red wine. I love sunday dinners with the family.

I wish you a good sunday to !!

Love from Birgit

My trip to Åland

Hi again dear friends

This time I will show you some pictures from my last trip. This was last weekend, and the trip went to Finland.

I was to hold a lecture, or speech or whatever you may call it, on a conference. This was a womens conference, on business entrepreneurship for women. It was sponsored by the EU, and the theme was called: To Choose your way. Or "AT VALJE SIN VEG" as they say.
It was quite interesting. It was a mix of women who have started their own business, officials, professors and other scientists, and politicians.

I was one of the women who told their story. and the listeners were around 200 women.

There were many interesting stories. One interesting story was by the woman behind the Finish brand Noolan www.noolan.com

I think the listeners also found my story interesting. The long way we have gone, Franz and I. From streetsellers in Japan, until today. Thats a long and winding road, I can assure you !

I also met the Swedish celebrity auditor Amelia Adamo. The woman behind several very
succesfull womens magasines.

And finally, the President of Finland, Mrs Tarja Halonen came ! Quite an honour to the conference. But then again, it was an important topic. How to make women start businesses. After all, we are 50% of the population. And if we do start businesses, they are different from mens businesses. So its not a question of either, or. Its an addition to a countries output.

What is very important for politicians and officials to understand, is that its a good thing for their country, and their economy. So they must make it possible for women to do it.

When the conference ended, I went out into the sunshine. I went together with a new friend that I met. Kerstin, an amazing firework of a woman from Sweden, that has invented a special wildberry picking tool which is collapsible. (sammenleggbar bærplukker) Her company is called Hooked on nature www.hookedonnature.se

She and I had a cold beer in the sun ! Lovely ! Mariehamn and Åland is a really small place. so by the end of the conference we were almost celebrities too. There was a lady who wanted Kerstin to autograph her berrypicker ! Ha ha.
There was a streetparty going on. Mariehamn celebrated their 150 years, and the local rockband was playing. Kjerstin really got into it after two beers.

Its great to be invited to such events. Its really inspiring to meet all these amazing other women. but also to visit Åland. Åland is a swedish speaking part of Finland, located on an island in the middle of the Baltic sea. I had to go by ferry back to Stockholm, before flying back to Oslo.

A trip to Copenhagen

Dear Friends,

I think it is better that I write in English. I can see that there are a lot of people from other countries that read my blog. I checked out the translate application, but it does become really strange. And most Norwegians can read english anyway. So I will write in English, if you dont mind.







Well, life here in Norway is slowly going back to normal. At least for most of us.
People are slowly coming back from summer holiday, and have to start to work again.
A new year is ahead, a new fall, a new winter. Marvelous to think of ? Not ! The summers are short here in Norway. And the fall has now started quite yet.

For me it means going straight into the fashion week.
It started with a trip to Copenhagen. Thats always inspiring. It would have been more inspirational to stay for a couple of days. But this was not possible for me this year.

So the day started with getting ut at 4 am to go the the airport. It leaves you pretty tired.


I had to see the fashion show to observe the new trends, according to the Danes.

And what did they show for spring 2012 ?

A very varied style.
Lots of vintage,
lots of colours,
Lots if strange modern ethnic stuff.

Well, lets see what we will do about it...

What our customers want to wear, thats what matters to us.

A&C will always have a certain relaxed look.
Jewellery to enhance your personality, to make you look you best. Without beeing too much of anything.

Simply nice, wearable and beautiful is what we want our jewellery to be!













After I finished one
fairground, I proceeded to the next.
At Cph Vision
I took a break. I found a lovely beanbag to rest in.
That was just so nice.
I was pretty happy to lay back.

It pretty interesting to walk around on the fashion fairs. To watch all the fashion workers, see what that are wearing. Get some inspiration.
The danes are really fashion concious. At least the ones we see on the fairs.

Lars Tore is kind enough to buy me a coffe. (he is always kind)

This is Lars Tore. He is our director.
He was actually busy exhibiting at an other fair. but he did find time to join me at the fair.

Here we are enjoying a coffee.

I got home the same night just before midnight. Kind of tired, I must admit.

This week the fashion week in Oslo continues.

Lots of love
Birgit

LOVEOSLO

LOVEOSLO 25-07-2011

På ettermiddagen den 25. setter jeg meg i bilen og kjører inn til Oslo for delta i rosetoget som skulle gå fra Rådhusplassen. Hele dagen hadde jeg gått rundt meg selv, og ikke i stand til å gjøre noen ting. Bare sluke informasjon om det forferdelige som har skjedd. Det å delta i en felles handling føltes viktig.




Folk strømmet til sentrum. Det var nesten kø på veiene inn til Oslo. Folk bar med seg bloster.









Etterhvert fikk vi vite at toget ble avlyst på grunn av folkemengden. Det var rett og slett ikke gjennomførbart. Dette var en aktivitet som ble startet på Facebook. Oslo Ordføreren var skikkelig fornøyd med at det ikke var i kommunal regi.



På Rådhusplassen var det et folkehav. Jeg har aldri sett så mange mennesker i Oslo før. Alle gater var fulle. Og alle løftet sine blomster til en hav av blomster.



Vi klarte å lirke oss fram til en flott plass rett foran scenen. Folk sto som sild i tønn, men stemningen var rolig og vennlig.



Jeg hadde god utsikt til backstage området. Der kunne jeg se de kongelige og politikere som gjorde seg klare. Det var bare 10 m unna. Kronprinsessen og Kronprinsen så veldig elegante ut.



Talene til både Kronprinsen og Statsministeren var veldig sterke og gode. Vi er heldige som har så oppegående kongelige og ledere i vårt land. De gav oss klar beskjed; Det handler om at holdningene til hver enkelt av oss betyr mye. Og at det er nå opp til oss hva som skal skje etter 22.7.2011. Hvordan vi skal takle vårt samfunn, og om hva som skal til for å beholde det åpne og frie samfunnet vi har. Enigheten om ikke å svare med hat er stor.

Vi avsluttet med å synge "En himmel full av stjerner" mens tårene fikk strømme fritt.



Etterpå vandret vi oppover i byen for å se på blomsterhavet ved Domkirken, og på ødeleggelsene etter bomben. Her var vi utenfor Nasjonal Teateret.



Vi går forbi A&C butikken på Karl Johans gate, og ser vinduet som knuste. Gudskjelov ble ingen hardt skadet.



Over alt, men spesielt utenfor Oslo Domkirke legger folk ned blomster. Og de tenner lys. Mange har lagt med kort og brev. Det er godt å få gi uttrykk for sine følelser på denne måten. Vi mennesker trenger det i vanskelige tider.



Etter hvert var det blomster over alt

Utenlandske pressefotografer var i aksjon over hele byen. Det gjaldt å finne kreative vinkler for å fange stemningen i byen.



Utenfor Domkirken var det et hav av blomster og lys.







Her står jeg ved fontenen på Youngstorget. Herfra kunne vi se mange knuste vinduer. Det kan ikke ha vært morsomt å være der på fredag.


Etterhvert var det som om sorgen lettet litt. Jeg fikk en slags 17. mai følelse. En behersket en. Det fikk meg til å tenke at 17. mai er en veldig god trening i fellesskap. Jeg er glad for at det er en inkluderende dag, hvor alle kan delta. Demokrati er ikke noe som bare utøves på Stortinget. Det handler om dialogen og de små handlingene i samfunnet.

"Frihet Respekt og Mangfold" Det er våre verdier i A&C, og mange av våre smykker er inngravert med dette budskapet. Det er jeg stolt av å bære rundt halsen akkurat nå.

Klem fra Birgit

Et land i sorg !

Jeg er akkurat kommet hjem til Norge etter ferie i Frankrike.
Jeg er kommet hjem til et land i sorg. Jeg bare går rundt meg selv, klarer ikke spise eller gjøre noen ting som helst. Jeg leser aviser, sjekker nyheter og sosiale medier.

Jeg har mottatt mange hilsener fra venner av A&C i utlandet. Alle uttrykker sin medfølelse.
Det varmer veldig. Jeg kjenner på det nåværende tidspunkt ingen av de som er blitt rammet.
Men Norge er et lite land. Vi er veldig sammensveiset i en situasjon som denne.

Jeg må si jeg føler skam og avsky fra denne mannen som gjorde dette. Jeg er flau over at vi har slike mennesker i Norge. Men jeg vil ikke hate. Nå må vi sørge for at denne saken ikke får det utfallet gjerningsmannen ønsket. Her er ikke innledet noen krig mot noen.

Unasett forskjellige syn og religioner, så må vi sloss for våre verdier; Frihet, Respekt og Mangfold.

www.ap.no
www.vg.no

Etter bomber og massakre

Kjære alle sammen,

Dette er så utrolig trist ! Jeg sitter trygt på ferie i Frankrike, men har fulgt med på de forferdelige nyhetene. Hva som skjedde vet dere, det er verdensnyheter, så det er ikke nødvendig å si mer om det.

Jeg mottar hilsner og meldinger fra venner og kolleger verden over. Takk for at dere tenker på oss. Norge er et lite land, og nå står vi sammen i sorgen.

Jeg må si at det er enda godt at dette var norsk idiot. Og ikke noe som kom utenfra. Dette kommer til å prege samfunnet vårt i lang tid framover. Noe så ondskapsfullt og forferdelig.
For en forferdelig type !

Hvordan gikk det med oss i A&C ? Butikken på Karl Johan gikk det greit med.
Vinduene i etasjene over oss eksploderte, og en av våre ansatte fikk en liten glass splint i øyet.
Men det gikk bra, da hun ble reddet av linsene. Ut over det slapp de andre med skrekken.
Butikken ble selvsagt stengt.

Nå er det bare å vente på listene over omkomne. Mine tanker går til alle de som er berørt av dette. Ungdommene, foreldre, venner. Og til de stakkars 92 som har mistet livet. R.I.P.
Vi er føler med dere, og vi skal stå sammen.

Birgit