Gledelig Jul & Vintersolverv * Happy Yuletide & Winter Solstice

A Small Tortoiseshell (aglais urticae) 

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Missing the Norwegian Summer by many months 

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~

The little Ferrytale

Beach pottery

Interior or exterior: Columns and a curtain dressed window

"Nature alone is antique, and the oldest art a mushroom."

Thomas Carlyle

 

                                                                                                                                            

 Evening snack from the Autumn forrest: 

Cantarelles (cantharellus cibarius), Birch boletes (leccinum versipelle), Penny buns (boletus edulis) and Sweet tooths (hydnum repandum)
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Fried in butter/olive oil and a little salt & pepper

Rowanberries - sorbus aucuparia

These berries are rich on vitamin A and C and the health bringing minerals potassium (kalium), calcium (kalsium), magnesium, iron (jern) and phosphorus (fosfor). They make a colorful and fresh tasting gely to serve with any wild game dinner.

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Fun fact: Just like the hazel tree, the rowan tree too was considered magical and sacred in the old times. It was believed that this tree protected people and houses from witches and other malevolent beings and from storms and lightening. In the Norse mythology the rowan three is the tree of the thundergod Tor´s wife; Siv (Sif). 

 The rowan berries has aslo been widely used to cure and heal various medical illnesses and to predict the snow cover for the forthcoming winter. We have an old saying that goes: The rowan tree will not bear a heavy load of fruit and a heavy load of snow in the same year.

Into the twilight hour

Hazelnuts

Of course; these delicious tasting nuts are deeply loved by squirrels too, so if you want to beat them to the ones on the lower, reachable branches you better be there early and pick them when they look like this! Then let them ripen somewhere dry until they become brown and fall out of their cups by themselves :)

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Fun fact: In the old days the hazelnut bushes were considered sacred by people in many European countries. In Norse Mythology hazel is the tree of Tor (Thor) - the thunder god. And it was believed that when eating hazelnuts it would give you wisdom and poetry. 

Field Finds III

Field and Beach Flint

Flint is a mineral found in Europe and North America. Because of its hardness it has been used in the making of weapons and tools ever since the Stone Age. On the Mohs Scale of Mineral Hardness, where 10 is the highest level (diamonds reaches level 10), flint reaches as high as level 7. The color varies between different shades of black, brown, grey and white and when correctly knapped it can get real rasor sharp edges. Unlike its neigbour countries in the south Norway has no natural sources of this mineral. This means that the flint that is found here was either brought here by man, or in some cases, like on the south east coast of Norway, it might have drifted over here across the sea stuck to the withdrawing ice from the past ice age. Some flint also crossed the sea as ballast on trading ships. Ships that had unloaded their cargo abroad and were about to sail 'empty' back home needed what we call ballast on their return journeys to make the ships sail deeper and steadier in the water. The ballast consisted of whatever was available from the harbor they were leaving - usually stone - and it was dumped again in the next harbor they arrived to pick up new cargo. This way many different kinds of minerals traveled long distances and could end up even in other continents. These days ships use water instead of stone as ballast. 

Whether in fields or on beaches I have always loved finding flint! Apart from a few flint stones that were once used on flintlocks from the 17th to the 19th centuries (see middle row far right), I have yet to find some really old artifacts of flint though. One day, however. One day... :)

                                          / 
       "So Rambo, where is this great baaa(r) then?"

                                   /

"Hey baby, you rock my world!"   

Beach Pottery

Various types of beach tiles

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Wild Red Raspberries


And Apple Gardens

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Tip: Next time you´re baking your favorite apple cake or pie, try mixing some raspberries into it. Mmm..mmm..mmmm...that´s one perfect combination!:) 

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“The rose has told 

In one simplicity 

That never life 

Relinquishes a bloom 

But to bestow 

An ancient confidence.”

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Nathalia Crane

Beach Pottery

 The Mystery Man

Summer...

               

  Fade Away

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By: Nils Noa feat. Vinni - Norway

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Blown Away - Sivert Høyem (Norway)

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Live small, think big!

 
 - Old Train Wagon -

Imagine what a fabolous little castle this could be!:)

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Check out this channel for great tips on how to create and/or convert small spaces into a great and practical homes, offices, shelters or hideaways: 

http://www.youtube.com/user/kirstendirksen

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And all the beautiful shells

Sea shell mobile

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N = R* fp  ne  fe  fi  fc  L

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Field Finds II

Clay Pipes

Bits and pieces of clay pipes are common finds on the fields. Clay pipes dates back from the 1600´s to the early 1900´s (the thicker the stem the older the pipe). It is believed that the tradition of smoking clay pipes originates from the Native American tribes in North America and that it was later brought back to Europe with the first colonists and settlers. The pipes came ready filled with tobacco and were usually a one time smoke before thrown away, which explains the huge amounts found. Some of them were decorated with beautiful patterns, figurines and stamps.

 

   

 Inukshuks on the track between the two Italian villages Monterosso al Mare and Vernazza - Cinque Terre; a small ship and a man pointing the directions.

 

A sea glass mobile that I made on a beautiful beach in Italy 

~ From the Eye of the Beholder... ~

Leonard Cohen ~ Because of

Sea Pottery

                                                           

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Photo and copyright by Helen Edvardsdotter Fatland

Sea Pottery

Playing the Piano ? 

 Either that or eating dinner using the tablecloth as a napkin :)

Summer of 2012: 

My very first Bungee Jump - wohooo!!!

Message in a Bottle

Every now and then bottles with letters and notes float ashore and they're always a great joy to find! This one didn't contain any handwritten letter but a receipt in a foreign language that I don't speak. After a little help from google translation and some detective work on the internet the receipt turned out to be from a restaurant in the Czech Republic. How it traveled all the way from a zoo North East in this landlocked country

in the middle of Europe and ended up on a beach by a Norwegian fjord is a mystery. I suspect that at least the paper has traveled up North in someone's pocket first :) Like the neck cover of the bottle says: 

In vino veritas - In the wine there is the truth. 

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Or in this case: Only the Lemurs know... :)

GASTRO-ZOO

Restaurace U Lemura

ZJEDNODUSENY DANOVY DOKLAD

02.07.2012     13.28.28

*** UCTENKA CISLO 379224 ***

Polévka gulasova

Smazeny kureci rizek

2 x 68.00

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Some Goulash soup and fried chichen cutlets, and wine - yummy!:)

Sea Pottery

The Fiddler

This piece originates from a large cup that dates back from 1870 to 1880 with an image of a wedding ceremony from Sunnmøre in Norway on it. Although the fiddler appears to have only a few strings left on his fiddle (squeek!) at least he's got six fingers on his right hand to make up for it! :) Most likely he is playing the Hardanger Fiddle (hardingfele) which is actually an 8 stringed fiddle and also Norway's national instrument - Sounding like this:

 

Hans Brimi - Smørligråen 

Norway

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If you want to see how a whole cup looks like, similar to the one that ended up in the sea ages ago, here is a link with pictures and more information from Digitalt Museum Norge: 

http://digitaltmuseum.no/things/krus/SM/SM.000786?query=+sunnmøre+krus&search_context=1&count=32&pos=1

Atlas Eggs

Made of the atlas pages from my old note books, some empty eggs and glue. Suddenly Italy had an Atlantic coastline, Texas rested in a rain forrest, Denmark had tall mountains, London had glaciers and Iceland was a part of Australia - And I was The Master of The World, Moahaha!!:D

Field Finds I

Field Glass

Just like the sea shores, many 
fields too contain beautiful 
old pieces of glass. Because 
they haven't been exposed 
to any salty waves and sand
the glass that you find there 
will have much sharper 

edges than

the sea glass. Still 

they are very beautiful! 

And of course; 

they too give some interesting 

glimpses into past history.

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For some reason I feel strangely related to that male bowerbird underneath here. 

- apart from the love nest building, ha!;):)

Bowerbirds

To attract females into courtship the male bowerbirds build the most amazing 'love nests', or bowers, which they decorate with all kinds of beautiful things that they collect from their habitat. Everything from colorful flowers, leaf, nuts, shells, feathers, stones, berries and even pieces of glass, plastic, coins and other human made things are neatly arranged in and around the bower. Each male have their own special taste of decor and the 'ladies' visits several different males and their bowers before they decide which one has the exterior and interior that she likes the most and therefore has the honor of becoming her chosen one.

Beach Pottery

A sweet little piece from my Norwegian collection of sea pottery. I'm not sure whether the peacock is about to be eaten by the unknown person to the right holding a spoon(?) in his/her hand or if the two of them are having a romantic dinner date together... The true story behind this image remains a secret :) Fact is however, in many cultures the peacock symbolizes pride and vanity as well as renewal and immortality.