Birth of a nation

Well my attempt to do an entry a week has fallen by the wayside what with one thing and another. Still no takers for my flat but on the other hand no real spark for any of the prospective places weve seen so far. Add to this two trips so far this year and the end to a tumultous footy season not no metion what can only be descibed as getting my fat lazy arse in gear means less typing time. Our long weekend was a success - caught up with the American portion of the family. Ed and Anna got in the day before we did and were off for a couple of days in Sweden on the day when we left. We got in in the middle of the day and after dumping our chattels at Rebecca's abode nestling in the shadow of the Petersen paper mill - all very Twin Peaks and along with Ed and Anna we crossed the Oslofjord to Horton. It was quickly noticed that there were a number of rather nice blue and white plaques affixed to prominent buildings in town. The closest to Rebeccas place happened to be the most significant. Marking the site of the Convention of Moss. The treaty gave birth to the modern Norwegian state marking the dissolution of the Dano-Norwegian nation in 1814 once Denmark put its hat into the ring in the Napoleonic wars (only after it should be said Britain attacked Copenhagen not once but twice). As a provision of the peace of Kiel Norway was ceded to Sweden which had sided with Britain as part of the sixth Coalition. Norway had other ideas and declared independence and fought a short and less than successful war with Sweden a war that ended with the signing of the Convention of Moss by King Christian Frederik for the Norwegians. It was incidentally the last war fought by Sweden. The peace was an interesting one granting Norway its own constitution and its own institutions barring the foreign service and policy.