A typical barn. A ramp leads to the upper storey so you can drive the horse and cart up and unload the hay( in the days before elevators and balers). The lower storey housed the animals during the winter.

One of many small farms. Turf rooves were a common sight and lots of cabins and outbuildings built with whole timbers.

The Forests we visited were a mix of pine and birch with a ground flora of lichems, reindeer moss and blueberries amongst the rocks.
the frosts had done wonders for the leaf colour, but the blueberries were consequently passed their best!

Dwarf shrubs and lichens make a colourful autumn carpet. It is amazing how many different varieties you could find in a small area.

Norwegian Tundra..habitat of the Musk Ox. Reminded me of the bit of NFLD near Loaders pond!

It is the rutting season for the Musk Ox so the males where spending a lot of time fighting...battering each other with their horny foreheads

Norway Day 2 . High up on a tundra plateau photographing Musk Ox.

Jethro , Steve and Jos Leaving their flat in Bournemouth on the first leg of their marathon cycle ride to Africa. Next stop Poole ferry terminal where they boarded the Condor Ferry to St Malo. Finally I waved them off as the ferry sailed out of the Harbour through the narrow channel by the Sandbanks chain ferry. Fantastic weather for their cruise to France ...Bon Voyage Guys ! and good luck.
PS They are raising money for an Educational Charity in Africa...check it out and see their progress at
www.cycletoafrica.co.uk

Elderflower Cordial time of year again!
Recipe:- Elderflower cordial.
Making this drink is a special seasonal ritual that celebrates the changing seasons, the coming of summer and natures’ bounty. The tartaric acid can be hard to find so I try to get several years supply when I locate a source.

24 large elderflower heads or equivalent in smaller ones. Nice and fresh, shake off as many insects as possible!
1 sliced lemon
1 sliced orange
3 lb sugar
2 oz tartaric acid
3 pints water, boiled and cooled.

Mix together in a large bowl, cover and leave for 48 hours, stirring occasionally
Strain through a sieve lined with muslin to remove the drowned insects and bottle.
Keep in the fridge and don’t keep for too long or it will start to ferment.
Dilute to taste.

You can remove the elderflower heads from the strained residue, and make marmalade with the left over orange and lemon slices…delicious as it has the added flavour of elderflowers.

Broad beans started off in the greenhouse but now planted out with a cloche to protect them from the strongs winds we are having at the moment. They will be our first green crop of the new season, and we will plant more later hopefully to freeze for the winter 

Pulsatilla vulgaris ( Pasque flower) a native wild anemone that has lived very happily in our alpine sink for many years. Pasque means Easter so this one is a little early ( or Easter is late as it is a movable feast) 

Kingcups aka marsh marigolds, Catha palustris . The first flowers to bloom in our pond, they are jusy giant buttercups really, but a real joy. There are usually huge patches of them growing wild in the watemeadows at Harbridge...so i will have to go and look for them on my day off.

 

New arrivals at the garden centre

 

A perfect spring day here today...luckily my day off! 

 

Spring has arrived! A day out at Wisley putting my new camera through its paces . The images are untweaked....Just What Picassa decided to do with the raw files