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

 

Gølak is gone

Our faithful, persistent, and sometimes troublesome neighbour is now gone. He lasted only till the second day of the hunting season.

His demise even made it to the local newspaper:

The hunters, who are the local farmers around here, have been eyeing him all summer, and especially the last few weeks. They had given him the name “Gølak”, after the man who used to own the land where he has been roaming all summer.  Our house is also built on a small lot on this land, and the man Gølak was my husband’s granduncle.

Having grazed mainly on the farm fields and in the gardens in the neighbourhood, – almost too close for comfort sometimes, – it is no wonder that “Gølak” was high on the list of animals the farmers wanted to get rid of.  Being a large and fat individual was no drawback either, – rather an added bonus from the hunters’ point of view. At 152 kilogrammes he was close to the previous record weight of 160 kilos.

Below are links to previous blog posts where “Gølak” appears:

Update on the neighbours

Visit from Holland

Midsummer’s Eve

Our neighbours have grown

Our neighbours this year

Eldrid

Update on the neighbours

Evenings have gradually been getting darker, so we have not been seeing much of our neighbours lately.  However, from what we have observed in the garden, it is obvious that they are still visiting now and then.

Yesterday at dusk I caught our repeat visitor in the act, with his nose up among the branches of a plum tree outside our kitchen window. When I had found my camera and come outside, he was on his guard:

It was already so dark that the camera had problems focussing, so the pictures are not as sharp as I should wish.

Still, it is not hard to see that he has gotten very fat over the summer.

He had no problems jumping the garden fence, though, – leaving behind some messy fruit trees…..

….. and then went on to eat some apples in the garden next door.

The hunting season starts in two weeks. I wonder if he will survive.

Eldrid

———

Added:

Two days later, our plum trees looked like this:

I am beginning to regret that I am not fit enough to join the hunt myself.

On the other hand: we have been talking of having to thin the branches at the top, – maybe we will not have to do that now.

Eldrid

Visit from Holland

Yesterday Greetje Hein and her husband Frens came to visit. They are on holiday in Norway and made a detour to our island so that we could meet. Greetje has translated many of my patterns to Dutch, and she is importing and distributing them throughout The Netherlands. She also gives classes all over the country.

Greetje has made her own version of the Ormen Lange bargello quilt, and she brought it with her so that I could get to see it “in person”. Here she and her husband is holding it up so I could take some photos.

She has a lovely shiny turqoise fabric as her focus fabric, and she has also added lots of beads:

Below Greetje and I are posing on the verandah, which is where we spent most of the time during their visit:

She also brought lovely gifts: Dutch fabrics, a fabric marker which makes very thin lines, plus refills in different colours, and a Dutch magazine with lots of yummy quilts in it:

This morning while we were sitting at the breakfast table, one of our neighbours also decided to pay a visit. Below is Frens trying to capture the morning guest with his camera:

It was so nice to meet up with Greetje and Frens, – chatting along for hours as if we were old friends.  I hope that we can make a return visit in Holland at some time.

Eldrid

Midsummer’s Eve

Celebrated with bonfires, of course.  After days of cold wind and rain, the weather turned beautiful a few hours before the bonfires were lit.

———-

A large cruise ship passing on the horizon:

———-

Our neighbours are going about their own business, as usual:

There were three of them today:

Eldrid

(whose name day is on Midsummer’s Eve)

Our neighbours have grown…

…. in size and cheekiness.

A couple of days ago we spotted this guy again, this time through the kitchen window:

Lots of nice grass here

Hhmm…. , why are they looking at me?  Good thing they are behind glass.

Oh well, – I’d better carry on with my meal.

I wonder if there are some better things to eat around here…

Hhmmm, – maybe over there….

Mmmm.. this looks delicious.. (My white roses)

Now, what are those two doing on the terrace?

Never mind!  I’m not going to let them spoil a good meal.

Ok, ok, – stop the waving and shouting. I’m off.

(I can always come back after dark)

————

Eldrid

Our neighbours this year…

…. have turned up. Or maybe they have been here all the time, only we see them more easily now that the evenings are not dark anymore.  Sometimes I just hear someone walking in the woods on the hill above our house, sometimes I can see something or other moving in there, and sometimes I can see them quite clearly at the far end of the field.

A couple of days ago I was sitting by my sewing machine quilting a baby quilt, and when I happened to glance out of the window, I saw this fellow just outside the garden fence:

He was busy eating, only glancing up now and again to see if something was up somewhere. He has still got some of the winter coat left across his shoulders.

After a while a second animal came out from behind the trees, – this time a doe.

They were both happily munching grass as they lazily moved across the field.

I went back to my quilting, equally happy with my own activity.

Some time later, I saw the doe lying in the middle of some blueberry bushes, ruminating peacefully.

By now it was almost dark, but I managed to catch her in the photo above. I checked several times, and she lay there till it was totally dark, – at least.

I already knew, from obvious signs in the garden, that something, or somebody, had been around for a while.

Now we know who they are.

Eldrid