O is for Olsvold in ABC Wednesday

I suspect everyone who reads this will ask: Were or what is Olsvold? Olsvold is a small hamlet on the island of Radøy north of Bergen, Norway. It also happens to be my mothers maiden name - and thus also the surname of my grandmother.

Everyone has four grand parents. In my case, only one was alive: the mother of my mother, or "Bestemor" (grandmother) as we used to call her. She was a grandmother of the kind fairytales are made of. Living as a widow on a small farm with all the chores that goes with it, she had non the less always time for a small boy when he came to visit. when the 8-year old boy wanted to try out his new camera - she was there. When later on the terribly out-of-focus picture was presented by the proud little boy - the grandmother was even more proud. I don't think they make grandmothers like that any more.

She had only one son who ran the farm with her, but it was too small to feed them both, so he had to have outside work. He never married and passed away before her, and the farm passed over to a cousin of mine who has kept up the agricultural tradition as best as possible given the current
political and economical climate in Norway. But he also had to have outside work - as a teacher.

I took the pictures below two years ago. The main building is the white house in the lower left corner.




Here is the farm from another angle.


One result of all this - the name Olsvold is no longer in my family. A pity, really.

Today's post is part of the the third round of ABC Wednesday. The founder, Denise Nesbitt, has changed the rules to make the system more practical. There is now a no-comment blog where you can post a copy or short version of your post with a link-back to your original post for the full version and comments. Scanning through this no-comment blog will give you lots of Ohhhs (I hope)! She has also set up a site where you can log on via Mr. Linky if you want to do that.