Norwegian housekeeper

(1992 Memoirs)
Before she [Minnie] gave up [housekeeping], she hired a number of housekeepers, one of which was an aged Norwegian with blond hair long and gray and worn on a roll at the top of the head, very insecure.  We got along fairly well although she was too lonely for her family to stay long.  When I explained something to her, she would say when at last she understood, "Oh, daj but ee ay."  "Yes," I'd say, "That's what it is."