Merry Xmas & A Happy New Year

With this beautiful picture of our kids; Sofia (3 1/2), Edvard (9) and Oskar (10), we wish you all a Merry Xmas & a happy New Year! The picture is taken at Santa Ponsa, Mallorca, July 2005.

Best wishes from

Erik and Irene Jochimsen

The Other Lady

The first day with my V70...
V70 and a Willy`s from the 2nd World War - 60 years of car history!

My Black Beauty, V70 `04. It is not for sale!

A friend of mine asked for pictures of my car. Because he knows I am addicted to cars. Yes, I am a real "autofil", and I am proud of it. I simply don`t feel well in a cheap car. And I am watching Top Gear at BBC every week - with my kids, of course. I mean - after all I am responsible for "bringing them up".

My friend (Erik) could not understand why I had a picture of my wife, and not my car. So here she is, my second lady, the black, swedish beauty: My Volvo V70 Black Saphire, 180 Hp, low-pressure turbo, 17" Thor alu wheels.

Isn`t she pretty?

Ptarmigan hunting

Bad weather, and not much ptarmigan. That is the conclusion
so far, after spending 8 days at 4 different places around Tromsø, hunting for ptarmigan. But after all; There are 9 frozen ptamigans stored in our freezer, waiting for X-mas evening to arrive....

The picture below is taken with my mobile telephone, so please excuse the low quality of the image. It is taken 7. Oct 2005 at Vannøya outside Tromsø, where we had a beautiful day ("T-shirt weather!!") with my friends from Round Table. We shot five ptarmigans this day (and one back window of a Volvo 240...! Stig; Shame on you!)

The upper picture is taken in Skibotn, close to the border of Finland, together with ex-tabler Stig, his Freelander and my dog. In fact, this was another beuatiful day - so why complain? Because it has been raing all the other days this autumn!

Shila, my dog (see another blog), has been working very well all season, she is just better and better. Pity she is becoming so old, soon ten years, but she has still 3 - 4 years left before she has to trap down the activity.

Vive la France!

Moustieres - Breathtaking!

Nice! Nice panorama (three images merged into one)

Panorama from Les Arcs

Vive la France!

Last week I went to Les Arcs in Provence (France). The trip was part of a 6 months management programme which I am participating in. All togheter 10 participants from the North of Norway spent 6 days in fantastic surroundings in the beautiful village of Les Arcs, about one hour drive west of Nice. During the days we visited Gorges du Verdon, Moustiers, Cannes, Chateau St. Rosaline and Nice.

I am not a great fan of France, but I must admit that Provence was great!

Les Arcs

I am 40!

Irene - my wife

So now I am 40. I feel good!! It`s no problem passing 40 when you are married a wife which is forever young. The best woman I could ever meet! She had made the most beautiful, selfmade song I have ever heard in a birthday. She even gave me a membership in Tromsø Golf Club. Most wifes try to stop their husband from playing golf....

I really appreciated all the gifts!

The birthday party was just like I expected and wanted. Many families, small children, older children, friends - good spanish & norwegian tapas and spanish wine, some people meeting each other for the first time.

I do not like celebrating my own birthday, but this time was special. When you pass 40 and have your own family, and your friends will be your friends for the rest of your life, you nearly feel "obliged" to celebrate. And I do not regret that I did it - everybody enjoyed the party. It was a success to invite the children too - I have picked this from the Spanish culture. They know how to take care of children - Norwegians has a lot to learn there (too...)

My last day before 40...

Sondre, Sofia, Lorenzo, Helena, Bente and Irene...

This is my last day as a 39 year old man. What can I expect of changes in my life as a +40 ? NOTHING!

I can promise you one thing for sure: I will keep on being a childish kid, a boy who likes to play with my kids on their premises. A man who likes cars, technology, hunting - everything which has something of action in it.

I have family which I love - I am proud of it. At this age this is not so obvious, too many families have been split.

We have a nice house, good and safe jobs, our daughter in a great kindergarden, and the boys love their school and friends.

So - I celebrate my birthday tomorrow not to celebrate myself, but my family, friends and life. I really look forward to having a party with 60 friends - adults and children - at Polaria tomorrow. With fishing competition, nice food, Playstation, wine, cognac...

Life is good!

Shila!

SHILA

Shila, born January 1996, is a breton. A breton is a small spaniel, but really more like a setter. It is a very clever and keen hunting dog, but also a kind and practical family dog. Read more about breton here: http://www.thebreedsofdogs.com/BRITTANY_DOGS.htm For norwegian readers: www.breton.no

Shila has been my friend and hunting-mate for nearly ten years, and we have shared many unforgettable experiences together. "The meaning of life" for here is to find ptarmigans, or "rype" as we say in norwegian. Every autumn we go hunting in the mountains around Tromsø, and every time she makes a "stand" I can feel my heart beating faster and my right finger gets eager to pull the trigger. But; We do not go hunting to kill, our motivation is to have a nice dinner for X-mas and maybe a couple of dinners with the family during th winter. Plus beautiful nature advetures. Our kids love rype, especially the heart.

Shila is getting older.... Expected liftetime is appr. 13 years, and I have to start planning what to do the day Shila can`t go hunting anymore. One thing is for sure; My next dog will be a breton!

Ciao!

Erik

Irene

Sofia, Edvard og Oskar

My name is Erik Joachimsen, soon 40....
Maybe time to start blogging?

I am married to Irene, and together we have our beautiful daughter Sofia (3 1/2). Irene has a son, Oskar (soon 10), from a previous relationship, while I have brought my son Edvard (soon 9) into our family. We are living in the city of Tromsø in the far north of Norway. Visit Tromsø on the web; www.destinasjontromso.no

My profession is managing director at Polaria, one of the biggest tourit attractions in the north of Norway. Visit www.polaria.no for more details about a fantastic attraction!

Among many activities I could mention, I would like to promote my membership in Round Table (RT), a worldwide organisation for young men (I have one year left...). My spare time is mainly spent with my family, if I am not hunting ptarmigan with good friends and my dog Shila (breton, soon 10 years and still going strong!).

More information will follow later on....