Traditional wooden houses in the Old Copper minimg town of Roros.

Spot the large herbivore! We saw several lurking in the woods beside the road but of course they legged it before we could even get out of the truck. This was taken with a long lens from inside the vehicle.

A strenuous 2 hour hike up onto the Tundra , including climbing down and up 2 steep ravines with raging streams flowing down them, brought us to the reindeer we had spotted from the road as tiny specks of grey in the binoculars. Sadly this is a close as we got. They are hunted for meat and so are wary of people. The smoked reindeer heart we had that night in the resteraunt was delicious! (Reindeer = Caribou)

This 300 year old builing is perched up off the ground on rocks . It was used to store grain, flour etc and had butter churn, weaving loom , spinning wheel etc also stored in it , but I dont know if the butter would have been made in this building. I suspect the weaving loom would have been used in the main house ( no fireplace in the store).
Didnt see any root cellars..so I dont know where they kept the potatoes...they certainly grow lots.

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.