All about robins (the European ones)

I follow several Facebook pages having to do with European robins. These robins are the smaller versions of their North-American counterparts, and in my opinion, much cuter. They are also quite friendly to humans. I think they understand that kind humans are a good food source, especially during the winter. But they are more than smart. They are curious creatures, as I've experienced when I'm working in my garden. The one that visited my garden last year (up to late December) hung around, watching what I did. He hopped up to me, standing in front of me as if to say 'I'm here', wandered around the greenhouse, and let me feed him and take photos of him. He never landed on my finger, but we were very close to that point. I fell in love with him. There is another robin that visits now; I can tell because the new one has several black markings on his chest, unlike the previous one. 

I don't know what happened to my little friend from last year. I'd like to think he's doing well and visiting other gardens, but my gut instinct tells me that he has passed. Whether it was a natural death (the mortality statistics for the first year of an European robin's life are poor) or death by cat, crow or magpie, I will never know. Perhaps the new one who visits now is his son or daughter. I'd like to think so. They tend to remain in one place, and our allotment garden is filled with many interesting gardens to visit. There is an abundance of worms and insects--a smorgasbord for birds of all kinds. 

I'm reposting the post I wrote in December 2025 about my little robin friend. I will always treasure the time I had with him. He appeared in my life right before I had a major operation, and as they say online 'robins appear when loved ones are near'. I'd like to think that he was channeling all those whom I loved who have passed and were rooting for a successful operation. In any case, he appeared at a time in my life when I needed him. 

A New Yorker in Oslo: My little garden friend

More garden photos

 

Arctic barren strawberry plant

Hosta stems forming 

Narcissus

Hyacinths

Scilla 

Grape hyacinth

Crocuses and alumroot (Coral bells) in front of birdbath and statues

Spring in my garden

I got an early start in my garden this year, after a rather amputated season last year due to my surgery. The weather has been cooperative for the most part, so I was able to start garden cleanup in late March. That involves clipping dead stalks and raking leaves; the former filled six large garbage bags, the latter ended up in the compost bin. You would think there wouldn't be that many stalks to be clipped, but there are. My garden is about 1000 square feet, so there are a large number of plants waiting for their spring trim. The garden refuse is taken to a nearby recycling station where it is processed into mulch and compost. Nothing goes to waste. The leaves that I've added to the compost bin will be soil when late autumn comes. 

April sees the blooming of snowdrops. I have spread bunches of them around the garden and they grow and spread like wildfire. They are so pretty when they bloom. After that come the scilla, crocuses and hyacinths, including the grape hyacinths (muscari) that are so lovely. And then come the tulips, forsythia and cowslip. I've also planted one perennial (arctic) barren strawberry plant (does not produce berries), which has lovely yellow flowers. I often forget where I planted tulips in previous autumns, so it's always a surprise to see where they turn up! They too multiply underground, like allium plants. 

I'm posting some garden photos from the beginning of April until now. Enjoy!

Snowdrops

Cowslip

Forsythia

Tulips

More tulips and magnolia tree behind them

Cherry tree 

Wisteria blooms forming 

Bergenia (aka elephant-eared saxifrage or elephant's ears)

Snapdragons, rose mallows, pumpkin and zucchini in the greenhouse

Photos from our travels in north Norway this past July

As promised, and long overdue, here are some photos from our memorable trip to north Norway this past July. I wrote a post about our travels there and posted it on October 26th A New Yorker in Oslo: Travels in northern Norway this past July  The photos will follow (more or less) the chronology of our trip. 

Nidarosdomen in Trondheim

view of the west coast of Norway from our boat

Our boat--the Midnight Sun (Midnattsol)

Storøya--one of the ports along the route to Tromsø

greenish water in Trollfjorden

the red peaks of the Trollfjord mountains, at midnight

leaving Trollfjord and moving into a blanket of fog

Finnsnes--another stop on the Hurtigruta

Arctic-Alpine Botanic Garden in Tromsø

Arctic-Alpine Botanic Garden 

view of Tromsø harbor and the restaurant Skarven (at the end of the road)

The Arctic Cathedral in Tromsø

another view of the Arctic Cathedral

The Cathedral of the Northern Lights in Alta 

view of ocean from Alta waterfront

view of ocean from the Alta Museum 

rock carvings at the Alta Museum--a World Heritage center

the interior of the Cathedral of the Northern Lights in Alta

sunset from hotel window in Luleå

My little garden friend

I've been feeding the birds in the garden for the past two weeks. It's gotten harder for them to find food. There hasn't been any snow, but it's been cold and frost has formed on the grass, plants, and bench, and the ground has become quite hard. 

Last year around this time, I became aware of the presence of a sweet little robin, a European robin. They are much smaller than their American counterparts. He would fly to the bird feeder while I was filling the holders with seeds, and just sit there, watching me. Sometimes he was an arms-length away from me. He was curious about me and unafraid. If I moved to another part of the garden, he would fly to where I was and watch me intently. It seemed as though he and I were to be good friends. But then my life took another turn. 

My last visit to the cold winter garden was in mid-February, after which I battled influenza and then had surgery for a faulty cardiac mitral valve. I didn’t return to the garden until late May, by which time the birds were finding their own food, so feeding them was no longer necessary. Still, I kept feeding them. My little robin friend did not show during the summer or autumn months. But I kept hoping he would. 

One day last week, he suddenly reappeared, and it was as if he had never left. He perched at the feeder, patiently waiting for me to finish filling it. When I sat on the bench in front of the greenhouse, he flew over to be close to me, strolling across the frost-tipped grass near my feet. Then he hopped onto the bench and let me take a few photos of him. Here's a photo of him posing. He's a cutie. 

Halloween event at Frøyas Have in Oslo

Halloween has become a big deal here in Norway. According to recent sources, the Norwegians who celebrate Halloween use about 1.2 billion Norwegian kroner, which translates to about 118 million US dollars. That's a lot of money. This link describes how the popularity of Halloween has increased over the years (Halloween spending soars in Norway - Norway's News in English — www.newsinenglish.no), especially among young people and families with young children. 

When I first moved here, Halloween was not celebrated, and the idea of it was not popular. But that changed in the early 2000s, in part due to the availability of American films, including horror films, that depicted the fun and creepy Halloween goings-on. In 1997, I threw a Halloween party for my stepdaughter who was fourteen at the time. She wanted one and I thought it would be fun to do it. And it was. I remember that the costumes of the teenage girls and boys were pretty inventive--witches, vampires, zombies. One of the guys dressed up as a woman, and trust me, he did a great job. 

My husband and I attended a Halloween event at Frøyas Have in Oslo this past weekend. It was impressive. This was the first time such a Halloween-related event had taken place in Oslo, and it seemed to be well-attended. The Halloween park was set up as a collaboration between the companies Pilote Beauty and Gemino Art. It was billed as Europe's largest Halloween 'park'. I'd like to see more of these kinds of events--they're fun and creative and a little creepy (Halloween, Bydel Frogner | Halloween-park på Frogner utsatt for hærverk dagen før åpning: – Måtte være litt kreative)

Here are some photos of Halloween at Frøyas Have. Enjoy!