Going Up the Country

We took a daytrip up to visit Ove’s farm, about an hour north of Kristiansand.  On the way up we stopped at the duvet outlet to pick up some dual duvets.  We have become enamored with the two duvet for one bed system, and wanted to bring some home as a final souvenir.

Ove’s farm is actually two farms – a summer farm and a winter farm.  The winter farm has the trademarks of what we would expect, with barn, farmhouse, and fields.  Ove harvests and sells firewood, and has a large collection of heavy equipment to support him in this effort.  The summer farm is where, traditionally, they would bring the cows in the summer to feed in the mountains.  Butter and cheese would be made from the milk and brought to the village to sell.

Family farms in Norway are price-controlled.  The farm automatically defaults to the eldest son, if he wants it.  The policies are designed to preserve family ownership of the farms, and seems to be working.

The land surrounding the farms is highly reminiscent of northern Minnesota.  Forests and lakes abound.  There are more and more cabins being built, but Ove’s winter place still has about a kilometer hike in.  When we got there, we had another picnic, grilling hot dogs.

All-in-all, a fantastic day.

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