Norway

Today is Norway's National Day, so let's give them a thought. I was last there thirty-two years ago, but it's not a place ever to be forgotten. It's also a place where Mistmantle goes down a storm, which gives me yet another reason to love Norwegians.

So it's a day to think about delicious cheese with the consistency of fudge, feather-light bobbles of fish (Inge Beate told me how to make them, but it didn't work for me), smorrebrod, (a kind of open sandwich) and light fluffy cakes layered with fresh cream and fruit. Let's celebrate steep fjords with clear still blue water and lights coming on in huts up and down the mountains at night so it looks like fairyland. Let's rave about those tall wooden stave churches with their neat little graveyards, and the wooden houses in the Setesdal with their carved and painted furnishings. Let's be amazed at the delicate silver jewellery and the warm hand-knitted sweaters with their neat black and white patterns and embroidered collars. Let's pretend to gulp down the clean mountain air of one of the most beautiful places I know. Above all, let's celebrate the practical, warm, fun-loving Norwegian people.

Back at home, the valley is finally greening. There is apple and cherry blossom everywhere, with a haze of bluebells in the woods. Time for a Spring Festival. Bring on the hedgehogs!