Annual Spring Report 2021

This spring has been quite cold, as was also the winter this year.

On May 1st there were not many green leaves to be seen in the woods, and there is still snow in the mountains. Crocuses and snowdrops are all finished, and most of the daffodils along the fence have large buds.

The earliest daffodils and those by the south wall are in bloom, and so is the flowering currant. The rhododendrons have lots of buds this year, so we expect a riot of colour later in May.

Last year DH cleaned out our raised beds by the steps, – they were so weed infested that they were impossible to keep. So instead we bought some large pots to place in the beds, planted roses and perennials in them, and filled some gravel around the pots. We will be getting a couple more pots this year. Everything has survived in the pots despite the cold winter.

The begonias have come out from the basement where they have been kept in a chilly and dark place all winter. Usually they have a lot longer sprouts than this, so maybe our basement was colder this winter. Keeping an eye out for the weather forecast to see when we can put them into the earth. May can not be trusted not to bring on some night frost and snow occasionally.

Our white rosebush is sprouting despite the chill, and the spiraea bush is turning green, but no flowers yet. The old rowan tree has large buds, at least on the branches that are not dead yet. It is very old, – my husband who is 68, can remember there were two trunks when he was a little boy, and his grandfather cut down one of them. So it was already a big, grown tree 60-65 years ago. We will have to cut it down eventually as it is getting unsafe.

The lilac bush to the right is not quite as old, – only 45 or 46. My father brought a sapling from their garden, where I grew up, and planted it here the year we moved into our new home. Some of the oldest stems are starting to give, and we had to remove a big one a few weeks ago. But there are lots of younger stems, so we hope for lilac blooms many years to come still.

Our so called lawn has got quite a few wood anemones now, as we do not bother to remove the moss. I think they are prettier than grass.

Some years ago we planted 8-10 tulips by the south wall, and they have returned every year, although in varying numbers. This year they are at an all time high as I counted 32 buds. Fingers crossed that the deer do not get to them.

And lastly there was a nice surprise in one of my pots as last year’s violets seem to have seeded themselves. I will only remove the dry stalks carefully, and then leave them alone to do their thing.

🙂

Eldrid

Annual Spring Report 2020

Every year on May 1st I try to document how far spring has come at our place, – mostly for myself to look back on over the years.

This year we had a mild winter, and people were worried about plants and buds developing way too early in January. However, March and April have been chilly, so things have slowed down, and we are “back to normal”, so to speak.

On the evening of April 29th I suddenly remembered that we were going away on May 1st, so I hurried outside to take these photos. The lawn is green, and the narcissi are in bloom, or with large buds.

The cherry tree has large buds, but no flowers yet.

The ash tree in the corner is still bare.

The woods have just turned green during the week.

Our flowering currant bush has been covered in red blooms for some time.

The earliest rhododendrons are just starting to show their red colour.

This rhododendron is getting a special treatment. It was uprooted during a storm a few weeks back, and rolled down onto the road below. DH just managed to drag it back uphill and position it between some small trees, and then add some soil and extra support. Here it is getting a thorough watering before we left. We do hope it will survive.

Tulips by the south wall are in bloom, mostly.

The poor old spirea bush looks drab. It has started to bloom, but they are very few. I think some pruning is due.

 

 

 

We left for an eye doctor appointment and also visited family further inland. There is a record amount of snow in the mountains this year as shown in the sunset photos above taken on May 2nd, and it is not melting yet. There may be some serious flooding if we get a sudden warm spell.

 

Foto: Ingrid Bjørnerheim Hynne/Vestland fylkeskomune.

(Link to news article.)

Some of our mountain passes are closed all winter, and usually they are opened up during the first week of May. This year the snow banks along the edges of the roads are huge,- up to 9 metres tall, –  and may be dangerous if they suddenly collapse. Luckily, because of closed borders due to Covid19, no buses filled with touring cruise passengers will have to pass through here yet. And there will probably be some snow left even in July.

Chilly weather is forecast for the next week.

🙂

Eldrid

Annual Spring Report 2019

Not much has been posted on my blog the last twelve months, but this post goes up every year. It is fun to sometimes look back over the years to see just how “normal” the spring time has been.

As for this year, it will be placed in the “not normal” group.

I cannot remember everything being so early before. We have had a very warm and dry April, and during the last week, everything was suddely in full bloom, including the fruit trees, which normally bloom at least 3 weeks later than this.

All kinds of bushes normally blooming in May, has either started to bloom, or are already in full bloom, like the red rhododendron bushes.

All the narcissuses are in full bloom, or are finished, depending on variety and placement in the garden. Even the tulips are nearly finished.

The ones above normally bloom in June, but have now started at the end of April.

Our lawn is in full bloom too, so the bumblebees should be happy, – or maybe they are already overworked with everything else that is blooming.

Even the wild blueberries and the strawberries are in bloom, and it was not yet May when these photos were taken.

Today, on May 1st, we are further inland at our “cabin”. It has obviously been a bit cooler here, as we can see the tulips have just started to bloom, and the leaves on the trees are  bit smaller. But still very early here too.

A happy wagtail on top of our roof. I hope it does not eat too many bees as they are needed for their job just now.

 

🙂

Eldrid

Annual Spring Report 2018

I am a bit late in writing this up, but the photos were taken on time, – on May 1st, and then again when we arrived home on May 3rd.

On May 1st we were further inland visiting family, and this is how it was like there. The ski slopes were still sporting a good amount of snow, although they had been closed for a couple of weeks already.

No leaves on the trees yet, but the fields were quite green, although it looked like the snow had only just disappeared from the fields and was still lingering in the woods nearby.

The garden outside the flat, facing south, had one blooming mini daffodil, and a few budding tulips, and quite a lot of dandelions sprouting everywhere.

On arriving back home on the coast two days later, the picture was a little bit different. Fields were not as green, but the woods had started to change their colour. No need to mow the lawn just yet. The bulk of narcissuses were still not in bloom, but with growing buds.

The ones by the south wall were in full bloom. The crocuses were finished, along with the snowdrops.

The flowering currant was in full bloom, and had been for a few days.

Rose bush was sprouting new leaves, and so was the spiraea bush, but no white flowers just yet.

Tulips by the south wall had large buds. At the time of writing they are in full bloom, since we have had a few warm days lately.

All in all: a quite normal spring.

🙂

Eldrid

Bags

I have been on a roll lately, making bags.

I was inspired by a super easy tutorial on Pink Penguin’s blog, and suddenly I had made seven small bags. Six of them can be seen below, – I lengthened the handles a bit, and changed the shape of the bottom compared to the original.

Four of them have been sold or given away already.

 

Then I wanted to try computer printing on linen, and made a couple of designs  that fitted on a large sheet. The result can be seen below. I like longer handles so I can carry the bag on my shoulder, even if the bag itself is not very large. The black fabric is furniture suede, the others are linen and cotton.

The Norwegian text says: “If only the best bird were allowed to sing, the woods will become very quiet”, and: “Sing with the beak you have got”

🙂

Eldrid

Lagre

Annual Spring Report 2017

It is interesting to look back on my previous spring reports to see how they vary from year to year. This year seems fairly normal.

Even though the crocuses were record early due to a mild winter, both March and April have been quite cold, so the pictures taken on May 1st is almost exactly like last year.

The woods have just the smallest hint of green to them, and this is mostly due to the last couple of days when the sun came out, and it is warming up. There is still snow in the mountains from the latest snowfall not many days ago.

The winter tyres have just been removed from the car, washed and are drying in the sun, and the summer tyres are on, – more than a week later than the general rules allow. However, they were needed just a few days ago.

The cherry tree has large buds, but no blooms yet. Just as well since there are few insects around.

The bulk of our daffodils are not out yet. The exception besides the early ones is the ones in sheltered spots and next to the south wall. The tulips by the south wall are also budding.

The flowering currant has been in bloom for some time, but the spiraea bush has just a hint of green around it, but no blooms yet. However, with the nice weather we are having now, it will not be long, I expect.

The sheep are enjoying the good weather too, although the lot in this photo were a bit worried. Someone with a dog, – on a leash, mind, as it should be this time of year, – was crossing the field below, so they ran for higher grounds. Lambs were separated from their mothers, so there was a lot of bleating and running around before the little ones got back to their respective guardians for a comforting suckle. Then all was well, and they could settle down and enjoy the glorious day.

 

And so do we. The weather forecast for the next week is glorious.

🙂

Eldrid

Lagre

Spring, or Winter, or Both

Or maybe we should call it “sprinter”?

Anyway, most of the winter has been quite mild, with a few cold spells in between. Lately we have had some nice weather with clear skies, frost, and some gorgeous evening skies.

Last week I took a look in our garden, and was very surprised when I saw these popping up everywhere:

      I cannot remember the crocuses being so early before, – the sun had not even returned to our house and garden after the winter months when this photo was taken.

When driving to visit family this week, we also came across lots of these beside the road:

Coltsfoot (Tussilago) is a sure sign of spring.

On returning home in late afternoon, we had time to stop and take some photos as the sun was setting.

There were thin crusts of ice floating about on the surface of this fjord.

A bit later we came across this frozen lake:

I went out of the car for a better view. It was our last evening of this spell of cold, nice weather. No wind, and all was quiet….

… except for a faint sound of a single pair of steel blades on ice, the occasional booming sound of the ice settling into the colder evening temperatures, and also peals of laughter ringing across the lake from the far shore where a group of people had fun on the ice.

I was just able to glimpse some figures moving over there, – one is sitting on a kicksled, and the others skating along.

Now it is raining again, and the ice is probably gone.

🙂

Eldrid

Lagre

Lagre

Lagre

Annual Spring Report 2016

The photos below were all taken on May 1st, the date I have used to compare the progress of spring for some time now.

The woods have just a hint of green, – most trees have only small buds, while a few early ones are sporting tiny leaves.

The pussy willow has been out for some time. There is still lots of snow in the mountains and temperatures have been quite low so far.

Crocuses are mostly finished, most of the daffodils are budding, and so is the cherry tree.

 

Only the very early daffodils and the ones growing in the most sunny places are in bloom.

The tulips along the south wall have large buds.

The spiraea bush, – the very first bush that was planted in our garden nearly 40 years ago, is starting to sprout leaves, but no flowers yet. The rose bush to the right was planted about the same time, and will hopefully display its white roses in a couple of months.

The field looks yellow and bleak, but there must be something green growing underneath since the deer turn up grazing there almost every day.

 

🙂

Eldrid

 

Silversea

It is time for the Bloggers’ Quilt Festival again. Since I am working on commissions which can not be published yet, I will enter an older quilt into the festival this time.

This wall hanging was made in 2004, and is one of a series of quilts I made using old photos taken on and around the island where I live.

The photo I used here, was taken sometime in the 1920ies during the cod fishing season, which is usually in February till April. It is probably early in the season since there is still snow.

The photo is taken on the fjord, which we have a good view of from our house. As you can see, there are lots of small boats on the fjord, each one hoping to get their share of the valuables still swimming deep down underneath, – hence the title I assigned to this piece: “Our Share of the Silver”.

Some women owned their own boats and gear, and traditionally they occupied the innermost part of the fjord, which was then called “Kjerringhavet”, – meaning “The Women’s Sea”

I manipulated the photo so that there are a lot more boats with women in them.

Then I designed some blocks, which would look like a swirling school of fish when put together, and placed the photo in the middle. I also turned the photo blue to better blend in with the fabrics I planned to use.

I thought it was a bit tame with only the blue colours, so I added some sunshine, – which I am also sure these women had in their lives from time to time.

The photo was printed onto cotton fabric, and the rest of the quilt has both cotton and silk fabrics in it. The quilting lines follow the movement in the blocks surrounding the photo.

The quilt was eventually bought by an organization who then donated it to the old people’s home in our neighbouring village Kalvåg, where it now hangs.

This is entered in the Art quilt category of the Bloggers’ Quilt Festival. Be sure to go over there and have a look at all the beautiful works that have been posted, and also make sure you visit the other categories while you are at it. You can also vote for your favourite of each category from May 21st to May 29th.

This is my 13th time participating in the Bloggers’ Quilt Festival. My previous entries can be found here:

Spring 2009

Autumn 2009

Spring 2010

Autumn 2010

Spring 2011

Autumn 2011

Spring 2012

Autumn 2012

Spring 2013

Autumn 2013

Spring 2014

Autumn 2014

 

🙂

Eldrid

 

Annual Spring Report 2015

May 1st has come and gone, so my annual spring report is overdue, but here it is.

I guess there is no such thing as a “normal” spring, but if there were, this would be close, I think. At least this is very close to my memories of what spring used to be.

Since we were going away on May 1st, I took these photos in the evening the day before, and nothing had changed much overnight, so I think they count as May 1st photos.

We have had a relatively mild winter with little snow here on the coast (inland dwellers will tell a different story), but the spring has been quite cool, especially April. The leaves on the birch trees have just started to come out, but very slowly.

 

The daffodils are budding, and a few are in bloom.

The exceptions are the ones by the walls facing south, they have been blooming for some time. The crocuses are all finished, unlike the very cold spring 2 years ago, when they were still in full bloom on May 1st.

The flowering currant bush is also in full bloom, ….

…. but none of the rhododendrons have shown their colour yet, – not even the early ones.

The tulips by the wall are ready to bloom, and were opening up when we arrived back home two days later.

The rose bush has got some green leaves, but the spirea bush only has a hint of green on it.

No leaves on our old rowan tree yet, but it is budding. We still have snow falling now and again.

As we travelled into the fjords on May 1st, we could see that there was still a lot of snow in the mountains, and the greenery varied from quite green to none at all, depending on whether the slopes were facing south or north, and on the altitude. Some high lying farms inland still had their fields covered with snow.

 

 

🙂

Eldrid