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The Five-Countries Holiday - Part Four

Category: Ramblings | Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 8:19 am

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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.

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The Five-Countries Holiday - Part Three

Category: Ramblings | Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2009 7:35 am

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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.

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The Five-Countries Holiday - Part Two

Category: Ramblings | Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2009 6:54 am

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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.


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The Five-Countries Holiday - Part One

Category: Ramblings | Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2009 6:27 am

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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.


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Me and my @£$% mishaps!

Category: Garden | Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 4:45 pm

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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.

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A bit worn and worried today

Category: Garden | Posted: Sat May 30, 2009 8:33 pm

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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.

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Old homes and bits and pieces

Category: Ramblings | Posted: Wed May 27, 2009 3:38 pm

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A dentist called Sandvig from Lillehammer decided it would be a great idea to collect old houses from the valley. So he did. Now it's a big park full of history. Whole farms have been moved here. The buildings are made from timber, but it's the decorations that really got to me.

When you enter Maihaugen, this is what greets you:





Some small farms further up the valley still look like this. They're often holiday homes now:



A Stave Church:



Not exactly tiny trees there:



I didn't much like the stairs:



I did like the gates:



Some houses used stone for roofs:



Some had turf, and some had wood:



Some details from the outside:







I thought this looked like a row of pussycats:



This is a storage building for food, called a stabbur:



Whetstone had to be easily accessible:



Traditional fence:



Detail:



A very typical example of a house from between 1400 and 1800. I think this house comes from a well-to-do family:



Even though the doors are small, the locks are impressive:




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The Maihaugen Collections

Category: Ramblings | Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 9:22 pm

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There are so many things to see in Maihaugen, Lillehammer. The most known and photographed are the houses, but I'll deal with those later. Today I want to show the cultural treasures from a not-too-distant past. That was when everyting was hand-made, and one strove to please the eye as well as the hand in ordinary, everyday things. Like the spoons. People brought their own wooden spoons for the meals, and there were some lovely ones:



Care for a drink? The welcome toast was made in one of these bowls or "birds", and the vessel was passed around:



If a young man went courting and decided to pop the question, he often brought a household implement, lovingly carved and painted. These "mangletre" were used to smooth clothes and came with a rolling pin. I've never used one:



Lovely handles on them:



And they are pretty old:



If the lucky man got his "yes", off you went to church. Psalm books were few and far between, and you had to take extra special care of it if you were lucky to have one. Nice boxes:



The bride's outfit was topped by a silver crown, like one of these:







All homes had to have storage facilities. These are some examples:







The price of a cow in 1650:



If the people were wealthy, they'd have some cupboards for their treasures:



The treasures:









When out in the fields you could bring some food in something like this:



And your home might look like this, but that's for another day:



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May 17th Parade and Stuff

Category: Ramblings | Posted: Sun May 17, 2009 5:00 pm

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Well, that's over and done with for this year then. We're sitting here, too full to move, and too tired to attempt to move if we weren't so full. Our feet are hurting too. *whimper*

The day started out with glorious weather, and it stayed glorious all day. The sun's still shining, it's 18.45 now.

Here are a few photos from today.

The parade is beginning to form in the school yard. Looks pretty chaotic to me:





Some will stop at nothing to film the parade:



There were lots of spectators along the route, cheering with us:



Can you see the parade stretching off into the distance?



And no end in sight either:



Now some details. The men with bunad are allowed to carry knives. The handiwork that goes into them is wonderful:



This little girl even decorated her braids:



Lots of the bunads have little pockets, and of course with a silver decoration and embroidery:



Many also have silver belts, like this one:



And the brooches are special. Each type of bunad use different ones:



I wonder how long this took to make:



This is standard accessory on men, women and children on our special day:



All in all a delightful day full of brass band music, happy children, songs and shouting.

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In a Country Churchyard

Category: Ramblings | Posted: Fri May 15, 2009 3:28 pm

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Whenever I visit my grandparents' graves this song by Chris de Burgh churns in my head. We've got the ravens, the overgrown graves, no church but a small chapel, and a lovely beach with the wonderful sound of surf on sand. Come with me to the island of my childhood.

The ferry isn't very big, but then the trip isn't very long either. About 20 minutes if we get the direct route, or 35 minutes with a stop on another island.



My old, battered car here:



And there's the mountain of "my" island:



The chapel:



The memorial dedicated to all those lost at sea:



The newest half of the graveyard looks nice and shiny:



The next-door neighbours:



Just look at this fabulous sand:



And the lovely colour of the sea:



One could think this was on a tropical beach, but turn around and your illusion is dispersed:







On days like today I could be tempted to live there, and especially when I look at all the exciting tracks on the beach:



But when the storms are bad in autumn and winter I know that I really would prefer to stay in my own home. So home we went. Maybe next time we go we will have time to explore the old caves on the other side of the island.

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