I went out for a stroll. Coco seems to like the baby carrier I bought. She enjoyed her legs being free and kicks and kicks. It’s a little colder now, but today was mild, so I walked right to the end of the path – the one that Tom will turn into a road – and tried to imagine what it will be like when we’re out here for the summer, picking up supplies every week from the village and smaller supplies from the ‘shop’ in Herr Andersen’s shed. I guess I wanted to see if I could walk to it. He does keep a wonderful supply of honey from his bees and Gaia loves the lavender sort.

The walk was tranquil and although I was still a little unsteady on my feet, I took it gently, stopping after an hour to feed Coco. It hurt, as always, but the cool wind felt beautiful on my skin and on the bad bruise on my back.

I reached Herr Andersen’s place around lunchtime. He was surprisingly glad to see me. He’s such a grumpy old sod and I hadn’t called in advance, so I expected him to shoo me away as usual. But surprisingly enough he brought me inside and made me tea and turned pretty gooey around Coco. She does that to people, I find. She has such a cute smile that she melts the hardest of hearts. I bet she’ll be a tremendous flirt when she’s older. The only person she doesn’t seem to work her magic on is Tom, unfortunately. But then he didn’t want her, so what can I expect?

Herr Andersen is lonely, I think. His wife died a long time ago and I don’t think his kids or grandkids visit very much – though given how obnoxious he is I can’t say I blame them. His house reeks of sour milk and old cheese, and I noticed mice droppings. He offered to show me his beehives but I declined. I didn’t want to risk Coco getting stung.

He told me all about the history of the site we’re building on, and a little about the people who used to live in Granhus. He didn’t know their names, but he said a family lived here for a long time. Apparently one of them vanished. The mother. He wasn’t sure what happened to her but the husband became an alcoholic after that, the son left for Bergen, and the daughter for America. And then the house sat in ruins for years until another relative sold it off. To us. What a sad tale!