We are moving tomorrow, to a house of our own. But this time we are not moving countries, and not that far away luckily, but from Oslo to Ørje, a small town close to the Swedish border. It is slightly more than an hour’s drive from Oslo, and you keep following the signs for Stockholm. Funnily enough, the coach from Stockholm is also the quickest commute back to Oslo, from nearby Töcksfors in Sweden.  I do not need to travel to Oslo regularly, but my husband will commute once a week either by car or by the Stockholm bus or by train from Mysen. We both work from home, hence we could find a house we really liked as opposed to making do with a tiny apartment in Oslo. Above is our location: Our house is facing the Rødenessjøen (translates to Red Headland Lake), which is about 25 kilometer long lake and part of a long chain of lakes and waterways leading to the sea at Halden, and close to the nearby town of Ørje and Sweden.

My British husband, recently also a Norwegian citizen – as well a British citizen – made this wonderful poster. The terraced house at Bekkelaget where we have been living in for the last 4,5 years has been the British Embassy (Bekkelaget) according to Michael. The biggest change for me will be that I will have my own studio, and not occupy the dining room table anymore. The house is made in the early 1960’s by a local architect and has been refurbished several times since, to our satisfaction. We are not planning on any major works, except for installing larger windows in my studio in the summer.

Yesterday, we received the keys, and here is our new view taken from the terrace. It was a grey and wet day. Now we are hoping it will stay dry tomorrow. We are still trying to sort out the broadband connection to our new house, so a radio silence will follow for the next week.