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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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Pumpkin patch all ready

Category: Garden | Posted: Fri May 01, 2009 6:55 pm

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We've been busy today, converting the youngest girl's sandbox into a pumpkin patch. We managed to get the sand out, removed the bottom cover and started with dead stuff from the garden:




The bottom layer ready ( photo / image / picture from Droopy's Garden )


Then we hauled the bags of horse dung up and sat them ready for use:





Horse dung, one bag ( photo / image / picture from Droopy's Garden )






Most of the dung added ( photo / image / picture from Droopy's Garden )



Then we added a soil that holds water well but if dry is very hard. It won't dry since it's above the manure but below the top soil:




The water-retaining soil added ( photo / image / picture from Droopy's Garden )


The top soil is a mix of sand and rich stable compost, and the worms love it. That's my finger:





Big worm! That's my finger ( photo / image / picture from Droopy's Garden )


We are ready to sow, but where's the gardener-to-be? I found her in front of the TV, with a pile of Barbie dolls and games. *sigh* But out she came, we sowed and put the mini-greenhouse up.





All done. Now grow! ( photo / image / picture from Droopy's Garden )


I hope her pumpkins will grow for her. We've never sown this early before. I've got extra pumpkin seeds sitting in the bathroom just in case these won't sprout.

While we were at it, we fixed the middle girl's patch too. Ready for carrots:





Ready for the carrot seeds ( photo / image / picture from Droopy's Garden )



Well watered and looking good. The green sprouts are calendula and my mishap-marthagon-bulb-scales-babies:




Carrots sown and watered ( photo / image / picture from Droopy's Garden )



We had 22C at the warmest today, so we were hot!

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