apple trees, pros, cons

The last three weeks, my Laura has been visiting me. It has been an absolute bless to have her around, to explore and to talk with her again. It was therefore also quite sad to have to say goodbye two days ago.

Later the day she left, I decided to call this coop housing at Ås, 25 minutes by train from Oslo. I have applied for grad-school there. I have been looking for places there for a while, and secretly contemplating living with my boyfriend. However, he is not ready (...) to move over here yet due to his master's degree, so I've put that on the shelf for the moment.

So I called, and we agreed I would come visit yesterday. I went there - missed the train by a minute, so instead of waiting another hour, I took a train to Ski, and a bus from there to Ås. I arrived by a roundabout, and was told the house was right next to it. I must have looked a little confused, when a girl approached me and asked if I was Ellen. Ellen-Marie, I said, yes, that is me. She was one of the people who lived in the coop.

The house is not just one house but three houses scattered around in a garden. They are now seven people who will become six, who need to be seven again. The room is not so small, I have lived in worse! It faces the morning sun, but as it is in the first floor, it is kind of shadowy. There is a big livingroom and a huge kitchen table, and they have shared dinners every day. I can really appreciate the kitchen table, and the dinners! There is also a freezer, big fridges, a sauna and apple trees. Plus space for me to grow vegetables. I was already planning to make moose-sausages, when I was there.

There is some mould in the house, particularly in the basement. And it seemed pretty drafty. But not cold, either, right now, anyway. Should I go for it? Should I say yes? Pros: nice people, coffees, huge kitchen table, communal living ideals, gardens, apple and pear trees, sauna, porch. Cons: high electricity bills in the winter, mould some places.

The house belongs to a very beautiful Norwegian film director who lives most of the year in Italy.