We have been traveling around the island of Hinnøya, Norway and honestly I would like to be able to tell you exactly where we are! But, I can’t. I know we are near Troms. But, now we are crossing over the only bridge to another little island. It is an island on the island! So here we go!

We are looking for a farm that offers a museum…………

Ah, here we are, the Gardsmuseum, home of the Hunstad and Meyer families!

and what a view they have!

a look at the bridge and road crossing from their backyard………..

The farmers used their own money to build the bridge (and it is new) to their island. Until recently, it would have looked like this to cross to the other side! Just going to town!

Another view from their backyard……….

and here are our hosts to welcome us to their farm……………

This is not an outhouse, it is the well.

I like that they kept some of the old photos to show what it was like back in the day………….It looks like in Grandma’s day the well was not nicely covered……….

There are several outbuildings on this farm. They have been converted to house two museums of farm life, here on the island. All of these items were not owned by these two families, but as farms were sold or people died, these folks collected up their items to make a display of what it is and was like, to live here. First, to this building, I called it the tool shed.

I don’t pretend to know what all this is, but what I can surmise is, “don’t throw anything away.” It’s not like you are going to the store anytime soon. The last store I saw was in Harstad. Does Amazon deliver here? Just asking…………..

They had cows to milk at one time………….

and fishing would have been a must……………..

You need to make your own paddle and boat too…………boats are further down in post………they need a bigger room……….

I kept eyeing the woven rug………..

I have no idea what these tools are used for, but I do know they were important enough to require your initials on them………. They were valuable! One had to make your own tools!

and if you notice the sides of the building, that was hand-made too, after you had tools, you could make a building to put them in.

These are fishing requirements. I likes the buckets they were kept in too……..

And in Norway one must have skis…..just a few pair for everybody in the family!

I call this the rope room, somebody spent hours knotting cords……..That little boy in the photo is our host!

So what did I learn here? EVERYTHING that was used had to be made first. You lived with what you had.  You took care of your stuff. You fished, farmed, milked cows and skied……

Now, how did the ladies do? Off to the next building on the farm……..

PS I asked the gentlemen how he met his wife. Easy, she lived on the next door neighbor’s farm! This is a small, small, small community. Their children now live on another neighboring farm……….