Moved in!

We moved into our apartment last week and have had a wonderful time getting unpacked and organized. There is still a lot to do to organize, but the boxes are unpacked. As you can see by the first picture, there were quite a few boxes. The movers are coming by today to pick them up. They are currently being stored in our bicycle parking room.

The electricians are here right now installing low-voltage lighting in the kitchen, dining room, living room and family room. We have a few lamps and there were some other lights in place, so we haven't been sitting in the dark. The low voltage lights should be nice, though, as we will then be able to use our island counter top for dining. We are also waiting on the cabinet to be installed in the hallway and the glass to be installed in the master bath so the tub can be used as a shower. There are a few other "settling in issues we are dealing with, but nothing major.

Sidney has found all the playgrounds in the area, and we make visits as often as time and weather allow. We have had some rain in the past few days and it was very windy last night. The forecast calls for rain over the next few days until the weekend, so we may not be doing any outside playing until then. Weather here is a little strange, too, as it will be very sunny and warm, then suddenly switch to rainy and cold within minutes. We have also had some sleet this week, but mostly because the clouds were so low as opposed to it actually being very cold.

The view continues to be fantastic, regardless of the weather. We set up our telescope and can see quite a way up into the mountains with it. We also enjoy watching the boats, which brings me to the final picture. As I was folding laundry this morning, I looked up to see this large red ship pulling into the dock near our building. This picture shows what it looked like from the dining room window. The ship is taller than our eight story building. Quite impressive!

Speaking of the water, we have been enjoying seeing the marine life in the water in front of our building. We have seen small jellyfish, some smaller fish, flounder and even sea horses swimming right by the shoreline. We have also seen several types of birds fishing in the water, and even have a swan that lives nearby and swims between our marina and Vaulen Beach.

And finally, on the subject of swans, there is a nesting pair in the lake in Stavanger Sentrum we have been watching. When we first saw them, there was one egg in the nest. A week later, we saw five eggs. Mother and Father Swan are very diligent about protecting them and keeping them warm. We hope to see some "ugly ducklings" soon!