RSS

Home / Blogs / Droopy's Blog /

Me, The Movie Star

Category: Pets and other animals | Posted: Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:08 pm

---

My efforts in the Marathon class at the driving do I attended have been YouTubed. *lol* Those stable girls are really something. If you'd like to watch us, just click on this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtA47YqzC2E

The first equipage is in the same club as me. Her horse is a Norwegian breed called Dølahorse. Then there's us. We didn't go fast but we're cute. :D The third equipage is also from our club. She drives a Norwegian fjord horse. I hope you like the film.

This blog entry has been viewed 95 times

---

The Five-Countries Holiday - Part Seven - Final

Category: Ramblings | Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2009 8:26 am

---

Well, after we reluctantly left Holland we decided it was time to play. The girls had been very good during our visit, so as a reward we went to BonBon-land. There was a large crowd by the entrance:



When we finally got inside there were lots of fun things to do. We just started on the first and went from there.





I'd look like that turtle too if I had to swirl round and round all day:



The rail bikes up high:



The cobra tower. I went up there, and suddenly we were back down again. That was actually fun:





We went for a little "Round the world"-boat trip:





Bad croc!





There was also a huge house with little doll displays. Everything was so neat:



Danish Guards:



After this we went up to Helsingør, didn't get a parking ticket but it was close, slept one night in Sweden, crossed the border to Norway, spotted a moose cow with twins grazing by the main road, visited an aunt and uncle by Norway's biggest lake and then finally got home to an overgrown garden and some very colourful veggie patches:





Oh, it was so good to be home! Thanks for tagging along as I've tried to find out where we have been and what we've been doing.

Last edited: Sun Aug 02, 2009 8:27 am

This blog entry has been viewed 101 times

---

The Five-Countries Holiday - Part Six

Category: Ramblings | Posted: Sat Aug 01, 2009 8:01 pm

---

We're in Holland, finally. It's been a very long drive to get here. Our estimate is about 1,600 km or 994 miles from here to there. Of course we didn't go straight there, so we don't know how far we've driven. But anyways, we're in Holland.



So we drove along the big dike road, asked directions to a good camping site and ended up here:



The view behind the camping car:





And the view in front of the camping car:



The neighbours:



There were rabbits on the grass and moles underneath it, all very exotic to us northeners. Also exotic was the fact that the toilets had no paper and no soap, so we had to carry our own with us. Hm. Strange customs in this country.

The day after we went to see the nearest town, Hoorn. It was beautiful! Especially the old part of it:







I have a tendency to snap photos askew, but this house is really askew:



The town square:





More houses and ornaments:









Look at this house. It looks like a curious old lady looking left and right so she won't miss anything:



The entry to the Old Ladies' House:



The Museum back garden:



They were big on cheese, obviously:



Our knowledgeable guide and gracious host might know a lot more about the houses and ornaments than I do. I walked about with my nose up, my jaw hanging and probably looked like your typical idiotic tourist.

The following day we went to Hosta Paradise. I posted that in it's own thread in "Member's Gallery".

Then we went and had a look at a garden some of you might recognize:







We also got to do a bit of sight-seeing in the more rural parts around Hoorn:





I have to say we took a lot more photos. This is just a small taste of the sights.

Next stop is BonBon-land in Denmark, on our way home.

Last edited: Sun Aug 02, 2009 8:27 am

This blog entry has been viewed 77 times

---

The Five-Countries Holiday - Part Five

Category: Ramblings | Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2009 9:15 am

---

Since the Norwegian coast is rather rugged we haven't got very many big, flat expanses of sand, and none that are as big as the one we saw near Ribe on the Danish west coast. We took a trip to a small island called Mandø, and actually got to drive on the sea floor. Very exotic for us.

By the shore on the mainland:



And into the sea we went:



There were low dikes all around the island:



The means of transport:



By Mandø beach. There are small dots way out on the horizon, and they are people. Very difficult to go for a swim here. A couple of kilometers to walk there, a swim and then the long way back? Nah:



We went back to Ribe to check out the cathedral and the medieval part of town. Ribe is Denmark's oldest town, or so they claim:



And up into the tower:





We found some proper transport for our sightseeing:



Some of the streets and houses. People live here, so it's not a museum:







One of the more original medieval-looking houses. It was under repair:



I saw people walking about who actually stopped and looked through the windows of the homes. Ouch. How inconsiderate can one be?

We stopped at an Italian restaurant and had pasta, since our smallest celebrated her birthday this day.

And the day after we went through Germany and to Holland.

We actually managed to get stuck waiting for a ferry. In inland Germany, can you imagine? As if we haven't got enough ferries to wait for closer to home.

The view while we were waiting for the ferry:



We spent one night at this very crowded, noisy camping site:



And then we crossed into Holland and took the dike road. That was so cool. Here we are, stopping for coffee and a snack:



More about Holland in my next entry.

This blog entry has been viewed 65 times

---

The Five-Countries Holiday - Part Four

Category: Ramblings | Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 9:19 am

---

The Lion Park, or Givskud Zoo is a safari park where one can drive around or walk about. There are lots of different animals and small activities for children, but it's not quite a play park. We like to visit it and look at the inhabitants there.

South-American ostriches, I can't remember what they are called now:



North-American buffaloes:



The Africans had a field day:







People are so silly sometimes. A couple with a trolley had put a banana in a bag and left it open. Too good to miss said Mother Monkey and promptly stole the banana:



Mommys and babies look pretty much the same, wheter monkeys or humans:



The lemurs didn't want to do much. It was too hot:



The red panda bear is the cutest critter:



Flamingos:



This sign really says it all:



And here they are, some of them:



We also had a look at the camels. I think they wanted to be petted, but we didn't:



Then we went to find somewhere to sleep, and found a very nice, small site near a river. The Danish are very proud of their rivers. Most have their names on signs by the road, and half the time it's more like a creek than a river. This one, "The King's River", was less than 10 meters wide, and that includes the wetlands on both banks. Not very impressive for a Norwegian:



The following day we went to Ribe to go on a tidal safari and to check the old medieval town out.

This blog entry has been viewed 65 times

---

The Five-Countries Holiday - Part Three

Category: Ramblings | Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2009 8:35 am

---

Oh, Legoland, wonderful play park with the most fantastic creations in Lego bricks, a very nicely planted-up ground and the mini-trees and other plants in the mini-town. It's so nice to visit, and this year we were lucky enough to pick a day without the big crowds.



Some of the wonderful scenes:









I thought I had photographed Mount Rushmore, but I obviously haven't. Sitting Bull is very big and the pirates are life-size.

This donkey was in Legoredo town, a western-inspired collection of shops and restaurants.



There are lots of roundabouts, roller coasters and stuff. I had to go with the girls in three of them and came home with three "Scream"-by-Munch-lookalike photos. *lol* This was't so bad, though:



Some of the planting arrangements:







There's lots of water everywhere, all nicely laid out and planted up:









From the tower, an overview:







The miniature Lego towns and landscapes. The details are amazing. I put some of these photos in "My Garden". They're a bit bigger than these:



The fountain is working:



Amalienborg, the Danish Queen's castle:





Swedish mid-summer celebrations:



Scottish scenery:





There's also a very pretty aquarium, a rather new feature. I found these upside-down jelly fish very interesting.



And this sea anemone too:



I obviously had too much fun to photograph much. Oh, me, what am I like. Anyway, our next stop was at a safari park called Billund Zoo, where we could drive among giraffes, zebras and even lions.

This blog entry has been viewed 70 times

---

The Five-Countries Holiday - Part Two

Category: Ramblings | Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2009 7:54 am

---

Denmark is our favourite holiday country for camping. The grounds are big, the country is small and there's never far to go for anything.

We started by going to Grenen, the northenmost point of Denmark:



Transport. It was a bit far to walk:



Lighthouse. We went up there:



The view from the lighthouse:



Skagen town in the distance:



A house from Skagen. It's a lovely, little town:



Some Danish landscape. Denmark is flat:







Here's the beach by our favourite camping site, Hov Camping in Jylland:



We went swimming a couple of times:



When in Denmark there are a few things we like to do every time we visit. The rainforest in Randers is one:



It's made up by three domes like this, one for Africa, one for Asia and one for South America:



It's so nice inside:



Lots of animals roam free in there. The girls are studying some big toads:



Some of the inhabitants in the rain forest:







The little monkeys were everywhere, and the girls loved them:









Snakes and butterflies had their own department. Most snakes were locked in, fortunately:











We had to eat too:



Next stop was Legoland.


This blog entry has been viewed 91 times

---

The Five-Countries Holiday - Part One

Category: Ramblings | Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2009 7:27 am

---

That's what we'll be calling this year's holiday. It's been a long one, but we've had such fun. :) Here are some photos. We started, of course, here in Norway.

A mountain crossing called Valdresflya. I kept thinking about Toni and the Texans when we drove passed all the snow. Notice the tall stakes by the side of the road. They need them in winter to navigate by when they plow the road:



Our first stop was by this lovely beach. We went swimming, and the water wasn't too cold even though it's a river/lake:



Then the zoo and play park in Kristiansand:







Captain Sabeltann's pirate ship:



We got to see the celebrations in Cardamom Town:



Tobias in the tower:



Aunt Sofie, the strictest aunt in the world:



The Zoo's got lots of different animals but each species' grounds are so big we won't always get to see them. We did see the lions:



Cardamom Town is very pretty, and there are plant arrangements all over the place:



Then we went to an outdoor museum while waiting for the boat to Denmark. There's a mini-town showing what the old town in Kristiansand looked like:





There's also a collection of houses rescued from the old town:



A farm from Telemark somewhere:



This is how the hay was dried before silage bales and hay driers were invented:



And here's the ferry we took to Denmark. Three and a half hours to cross, and we ate most of the time:



So the next entry will be about Denmark and Denmark only.


This blog entry has been viewed 94 times

---

Me and my @£$% mishaps!

Category: Garden | Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 5:45 pm

---

I learned those bad words from Capt. Kirk.

Since we got a lovely, new Cypripedium, and since my mother's determined to see us with a huge orchid collection I thought I'd make an orchid patch with all that lovely pine needle and rotted wood-mulch mother insisted I took home yesterday. And when it was done, I thought that I'd move at least the C. parviflorum to the new home.

So off I went with my little garden shovel and tried to lift the C. p. very gently from where it was growing. And then I had to try harder, and a bit harder, and as I carefully used the little spade (what on earth do you call them?) and my fingers to tease the roots up, my patience evaporated slowly. So I finally took a determined grip underneath that Cypripedium and HEAVED! It came up, and brought the Cypripedium "Ulla Silkens" with it. And not only that, but poor Ulla promptly fell apart too.

So here I am, not a very happy bunny at the moment. The C. parviflorum is split in three, as planned, but our poor Ulla is suddenly down from a nice clump with four spikes to two small clumps with two spikes each. *sigh*

Worst thing is, she's still blooming and should be left in place to bloom out and die down a bit.

I keep my fingers crossed for her, and am going to ask my husband for a stiff gin'n'it as soon as I've had my dinner of chocolate pudding with vanilla sauce and strawberries and cream for dessert. I got to see if I can find some better mood in there somewhere.

This blog entry has been viewed 110 times

---

A bit worn and worried today

Category: Garden | Posted: Sat May 30, 2009 9:33 pm

---

I've been outside, trying to find out what's what in our garden. The one thing I have found out is that a few of our plants are just demanding too much room, and I'm not willing to grant it.

This is some kind of very invasive, pretty leaf plant that my husband insisted on bringing home. It self-seeds way too freely, and I shall have to dig it up, every bit of it, and plant it in a container somewhere to keep it out of trouble.



And just look at this. The Ranunculus aconitifolius is supposed to be an early bloomer, but it's also supposed to be done when those lilies in the background get as tall as they are now:



The variegated form of Astrantia is way too big for the date, and the columbines will be bloomed out before the lull around mid-summer:



The snowball bush is chock-a-block with blooms, which is nice, but not a month ahead of time:



Our honeysuckle usually spreads it's delightful perfume from mid-summer and onwards into July, but I'll wager it will be done blooming by mid-summer this year:



Ligularia buds in May? Impossible! But not in 2009:



Our delightful little Trollius with the green edge is blooming it's little heart out, and the greenery growing around it is nearly smothering it. *sigh*



As for the Meconopsis, they usually start in early June. This is late May, and they're nearly done. This is M. betonicifolia:



Usually we complain about the lack of summer warmth up here on 62 degrees north, but this year I fear that the summer blooms will be done before summer's here, and the autumn blooms will bloom in summer. Which will leave me with a rather drab autumn.

I might feel this way because I've worked long and hard and nothing seems to show of it today. Or I might take the sorrows in advance. I'm very good at that. But I do feel a bit down in the dumps. Sorry about that, but it's good to let off some steam.

This blog entry has been viewed 139 times

---

Goto page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, next

Home / Blogs / Droopy's Blog /