Do you know where that phrase comes from? It’s a little obscure, but it’s from an absolutely hilarious Monty Python skit about a dead parrot. A customer is trying to return a parrot that he says was sold to him dead. The shop owner is trying to convince him that the parrot is just pining for the fjords. Watch the full video here, with the caveat that it is Monty Python and not always suitable for all audiences.

But dead birds aren’t the point of the newsletter, rather Pining for the Fjords. After London and our Notting Hill adventure, we headed on a cruise ship to Norway. I’d never been on a cruise before and being an introvert and not being particularly fond of crowds, I was a little mixed. I like adventure in wide open places. But I have to say that besides the cruise ship being an awesome, relaxing time, being on a boat was the best way to see the Norwegian fjords. On one stop, we went some 200 miles into a long fjord to the city of Olden. From the boat, you can just watch as the gorgeous fjords go by. Some areas were rocky and steep with waterfalls pouring in a variety of directions. Other areas were lush and green and a little less steep. Everything was amazing. Our pictures won’t do them justice. You need the physical, three-dimensional scale to really grasp how magnificent they are.

Of course, every rock outcropping we passed made me think “I want to climb that,” and while we didn’t get to do any major climbing, we did enjoy some of the outdoors in Norway. I will say that Norwegians love their outdoors. Since ancient times, an understood right to roam existed in Norway, and in 1957, they codified it as the Outdoor Recreation Act. I won’t bore you with legal details, but it gives all citizens the right to (responsibly) camp and hike on much of the land in Norway.

We saw signs of this love for the outdoors on the hikes we did while the ship was in port. In one city, we hiked up to an overlook to take in a higher view of the fjords. In another, we blazed our own little trail along a stream that led to a beautiful, cold waterfall. And in Bergen, the largest city we visited, we took a funicular up to the top of a fjord where there was a sprawling park with campsites to rent, cabins and yurts, a little herd of goats, and more hiking trails than we could possibly do in two hours.

Opening a garden center in Norway seemed like a difficult proposition, so Kim said we couldn’t stay, but I was definitely awed by the nature that we saw, and their respect and value for their outdoor spaces really resonated with me. After all, this newsletter is entitled Life Lived Outside.

I know you love your outdoors as well (like we were, you would have been wildly jealous at how beautiful the flowers were in Norway; the temperature and humidity were just perfect!). And as we roll into September, it’s time to stop hiding inside in the air conditioning and get back out to our gardens. Veggie plants and fall seeds have arrived at the nursery, and the season is ripe to start fall gardens. We begin our autumn events with Fall Veggie Gardening on the 16th, Butterfly Gardening on the 23rd, and then our first Fall Kickoff Event on the 30th, where we’ll open the Pumpkin Patch and have several fun seminars during the day, including our first Pumpkin Succulent Make and Take (purchase tickets here). You may have some place you are thinking of or remembering, like I’m pining for the fjords, but our gardens are here and now. Let’s get out and enjoy them.