Although this was my second Christmas on Dønna, this was the first one I was really able to take part in after missing a number of events in 2022 due to being up in Tromsø on the second part of my organ course at the start of the month and then being a tad unwell later on in the business end of the month.
One of the things I was disappointed to miss last year was the annual Christmas tree hunt in Herøy. To try and save the hassle of this, the church had planted a tree nearby which would hopefully then be usable as a Christmas tree each year. An examination of the picture below will reveal that this has not been a spectacular success :-) We met at the church bright and early before heading off to some land that the church owns where a tree would be chosen, chopped down then transported back to the church. While we there, we also took the opportunity to have coffee and cookies over an open fire. Those of you who know me well will appreciate that my contribution to this manly business was fairly negligible. Frankly I struggled to break twigs off branches to keep the fire going and I was allowed absolutely nowhere near the chainsaws. Even doing something as simple as carting the tree back to the tractor and trailer was beyond me. I kept tripping over my own feet and standing on it which didn't help the real men at the front. Nonetheless, the mission was accomplished and soon afterwards the tree was standing tall and proud and completely dwarfing the previously planted tree.
At the beginning of December, Solveig and Einar invited me around for an Advent meal of pinnekjøtt, sausages, potatoes and many other fine goodies. Much was consumed, and let's be honest, much weight has still to be lost!
To help with the aforementioned weight loss, I have taken up a new sport: innebandy (floor ball). I had met my neighbour Steffen for a coffee (and he makes a mean cinnamon bun!) and the subject on innebandy came up. Steffen kindly invited me along to a training session. Who'd have thunk that at the grand age of 54, I'd actually take part in my first "proper" team sport training session. It is great fun but as one might imagine I'm fairly inept at it but they are all spectacularly friendly and encouraging. I even scored a goal in a penalty shout out - though my suspicion is that the keeper was being v kind to me. I have also had the occasional little round of applause for a move or tackle or such like so will bask in that glory. The only down side is that I tend to come back with a sore pinkie on my left hand - I think it's when some clashes sticks with me and the reverberation works its way up to my hand. Can't give up though - how pathetic would that sound - "sorry, I can't come along as it hurts my pinkie"?
As may be recalled from last year's blog, I was part of the Nativity play for the local 4 yr olds playing the crucial role of "silent angel who looks a tad uncomfortable" in a couple of performances of the Nativity in Herøy and Dønna. This year there was only one performance (in Nordvik) and much to my horror I was promoted to the Angel Gabriel which was a speaking (and even more terrifying) singing roll. Ironically enough there's a Radio 4 comedy called "Old Harry's Game" where it is revealed that the Angel Gabriel was in fact called Graham but there was a typo. Anyway... I had to bang on the church door to be admitted and then in my finest Norwegian with a hint of a Scots accent that I brought tidings of good news. And then scared the poor kids with my singing voice but hey ho... who knows where my acting skills may lead to next year? Shepherd? Wise man?
Christmas parties have abounded - the advantage of working for 2 councils means 2 parties. The first one was in the Solfjellsjøen office and was a very pleasant affair. There was a singer, a sing-along and a game which was a cross between pass the parcel and a quiz. The parcel was passed around and instead of stopping with the music, it stopped when someone got the question right. And kudos to me, I had to ask a question and was actually able to answer it :-) At both parties there was a lot of food to be consumed. Alas, the Herøy party took place in the middle of power cuts so wasn't quite as sociable as it was pretty much held in darkness.
Both parties were buffets (julebord) and therefore one could be choosy about what one consumed. Before coming to Norway, Alison had told me that I would need to get used to eating Lutefisk, a traditional Nordic dish. First the fish is soaked for 5 - 6 days in water (changed every day), then another 2 days in lye and cold water. Then it is soaked for another 4 - 6 days in water (that is again changed every day). And only then it is ready to cook. Having just read the Wikipedia article on this there are apparently plenty jokes about lutefisk: eg stickers with "legalise lutefisk" and "I have tried lutefisk twice, once going down and once coming back up". There was lutefisk at the Herøy party and I thought I should make the leap and try it... fortunately I've only tried it once.
Christmas was a busy time for services - I had 3 services on Christmas Eve and then one everyday from Sunday to the Friday (excepting Thursday) and a funeral as well. A couple of the services were on the islands of Løkta and Husvær and they were followed by Juletresfest and it seemed to me very clear which part was regarded as most important :-)
I had a lovely time with the Smørvik family on Christmas Eve after they had invited me round for a meal. As a token of appreciation I said I'd bring around a Clootie Dumpling as a contribution towards dessert. Never having made a Clootie Dumpling before, Jen's kids Noah and Cora kindly guided me through the process and modesty aside I don't think it turned out too badly. To slightly misquote the famous words of a BBC News reporter in the Falklands War, "I counted them all Christmas Eve and I counted them all on Christmas Day"... Gudny had very kindly baked Dundee Cake for the meal as well - it's a sad irony that the Scottish cake baked by the Norwegian lady looked heck of a lot better than the Scottish cake baked by a Scot.
The same can't be said when I tried again later in the week - suffice to say that I mixed up the Cinnamon jar with the Curry powder jar. Is there a sadder sight than that off a grown man trying to pick out the spice granule by granule from a recipe? I eventually concluded that frankly it would be easier to just chuck it all and start again. Sadly this involved having to run down to the shop to buy a certain amount of the ingredients all over again. And after that it appears that I didn't tie it up as well as I had with my first attempt so it was a lot damper than was probably appropriate. None the less when one ate it, one could still tell it was a clootie dumpling so not a complete disaster.
Thank you for reading this blog throughout the year and getting in touch, it has been much appreciated, Best wishes for 2024.
