Spring is definitely here. The birch trees in the garden are covered in fresh, green, spring leaves,  and the sun shines most of the day in the blue skies.

The bare patches in the pine forests have now been replaced by bright green patches showing clearly where the birch trees are.

In the winter the council grits the pavements and roads in town. They don’t use grit salt as the temperatures are too low. Once the snow disappears, the stone grit is left on pavements and roads. It makes cycling round town a bit more exciting.

Today, this changed as a large tractor equipped with brushes swept the roads, cleaning up all the grit and leaving a layer of water that freshened the afternoon air.

Before we know it, the short summer season will be upon us once more and we can look forward to celebrating the first anniversary of our move to Norway. So far, life is good.