Southerly: Høstens Vemod
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Moz, in reply to
Polly, so you can take over the government and be Queen.
I'm reminded of Russel Howard, who has a similarly surreal take on queening.
(about a minute in, video starts at the start for me)
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yes I was going to point out that yes - we had just celebrated solstice
but it was going to keep getting colder for months ... the Syrian refugees (technically no longer 'refugees' hooray!) that Lisa is working with were unwilling to go out yesterday because it was too cold .... I guess they'll get used to it
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Oops that was last year’s … here’s this year’s celebration of the shortest day
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A Swedish acquaintance says the whole population there receives state-funded Vitamin D3 throughout winter to alleviate gloomy mood caused by lack of sunlight.
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To get an idea of the Norwegian sense of humour I recommend watching the "Made in Mosjøen" web series.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgGeUb5pZcs1JJaxE-sg-w -
Let's not forget "Norway Home of Giants"
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Ben Wilson wrote:
Great post, David. Whatever you say about seasonal gloom, it feels like summertime, when I hear you “rise up singing”, like this.
Thanks so much, Ben! I must say it's been great to have a break from building and finally have a chance to put pen to paper (or finger to keyboard rather).
Hilary Stace
A Swedish acquaintance says the whole population there receives state-funded Vitamin D3 throughout winter to alleviate gloomy mood caused by lack of sunlight.
I met an American woman in Trondheim who complained about summer and its lack of medication. Apparently her doctor was very free-handed with anti-depressants during winter -- but in summer medical opinion held that she had no need of chemical cheering up.
In related information, one of my friends did a couple of midwinter months at a Norwegian university above the arctic circle. His circadian schedule completely went out the window: going to bed, waking up, and feeling hungry at completely random times.
In other news:
Thanks everyone else for your kind and very interesting messages. Bob & Polly & I are enjoying watching our way through all the video links... -
Yep, great post, David. Polly sounds like a right little whirlwind of energy (and imagination). Possibly with Gifted Child tendencies ?
Precisely a year since our 2 week self-drive road trip through western Norway. Spent the final day/night in the very relaxed, laid-back pretty little city of ... yep, you guessed it ... Trondheim. Blue skies and sunshine almost the whole way. Walked across the iconic Old Town Bridge ( Gamle Bybro ) - to the beautiful Bakklandet district. Just a nice little two hour stroll before heading to the airport later that afternoon and back to Blighty.
Norway is superlative upon superlative - I'm always a sucker for Mountains, Fjords, Lakes and - above all - mountain road passes (the more serpentine the better).
Lurrrved the Trollstigen on the way from Geiranger fjord to Alesund.
http://i.imgur.com/nZZ2s1J.jpg Not to mention the Snow Road north-east of Flam. (though possibly could have done without some of the longer, narrower and more claustrophobic road tunnels)But moving on to some of my core obsessions, Trondheim is:
- home to Norways top football club (Rosenborg Trondheim)
- for my fellow Leftie types here - it's the most Left-leaning of Norway's major cities. In fact, trade union community and student groups in Trondheim played a central role in moving the Norwegian Labour party away from its recent neo-Liberal excesses.But I digress outrageously ...
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Sheesh. Every H&S Officer would be pulling their hair out what with those kids not having safety glasses!!!
.......I didn't see any hammer being used...... -
Mr Mark wrote:
Norway is superlative upon superlative – I’m always a sucker for Mountains, Fjords, Lakes and – above all – mountain road passes (the more serpentine the better).
So am I! In my experience Norway seems like the only place that packs as much scenery in as New Zealand. Other places, while spectacular, seem to take an awfully long time between scenery changes…
Ross Mason
…….I didn’t see any hammer being used……
Don’t worry! The Ross Mason memorial hammer is used on an almost daily basis – it’s much better than my old hammer (I’d never realized before that there was such a difference between brands). The children have their own hammers.
Your walnut tree had a tough start – as have all the trees – but it's just properly fired up over the last summer. I’m planning a photo shoot next spring when it’s at its most glorious.
You are #6 on the list of trees that I’ve planted in our front garden (though it was planted first -- the list order is spatially-based). More than one tree of any listed type has been planted (the coppice has 500 chestnuts!). The heights & widths are final sizes, of course. Each tree had to have 250kg of stones removed from hole with a crowbar and then compost added. Not mentioned are the pine and holly oak and escallonia hedges…
1. Common Walnut (Juglan regia) from Avonside: height 15m; width 12m
2. Olive “Koroneiki” (Olea europaea): height 6m; width 4m
3. Flowering cherry “Kanzan” (Prunus): height 8m; width 5m
4. Strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo) from Leanne O’Brien: height 6m; width 6m
5. Peach “Golden type” (Prunus persica) from Leanne O’Brien: height 5m; width 4m [MARCH-APRIL]
6. Common Walnut “Rex” (Juglan regia) gifted by Ross Mason: height 15m; width 12m
7. Ungrafted “Weeping” (or “Camperdown”) Elm (Ulmus glabra “Camperdownii”) from Avonside: height 3m; width 5m.
8. English Oak (Quercus robur) grown from acorns collected by Bob and Polly, 22nd March 2012, 4pm: height 35m; width 15m. NOTE: The acorns were from Tree #8 at Riccarton Bush (this tree was donated by Governor Grey and planted in 1849).
9. Horse Chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum): height 15; width 10m
10. Apple “Acane” (Malus domestica): height 5m; width 4m [JANUARY]
11. Apple “Prima” (Malus domestica): height 5m; width 4m [FEBRUARY]
12. Apple “Rubee Red” (Malus domestica): height 5m; width 4m [MARCH]
13. Apple “Peasgood Nonesuch” (Malus domestica): height 6m; width 4m [MARCH]
14. Apple “Freyberg” (Malus domestica): height 5m; width 4m [APRIL]
15. Apple “Baujade” (Malus domestica): height 5m; width 4m [MAY]
16. Apricot “Newcastle Early” (Prunus armeniaca): height 5m; width 4m [JANUARY]
17. Apricot “Moorpark” (Prunus armeniaca): height 5m; width 4m [FEBRUARY]
18. Cherry “Stella” (prunus avium): height 2m; width 2m [DECEMBER-JANUARY]
19. Nectarine “Goldmine” (Prunus persica var. nectarina): height 5m; width 4m [FEBRUARY]
20. Pear “Williams’ Bonne Chretian” (Pyrus communis): height 6m; width 4m [FEBRUARY]
21. Pear “Doyenne du Comice” (Pyrus communis): height 6m; width 4m [FEBRUARY-MARCH]
22. Pear “Conference” (Pyrus communis): height 6m; width 4m [MARCH-APRIL]
23. Plum “Hawera” (Prunus domesticus): height 5m; width 4m [JANUARY-FEBRUARY]
24. Plum “Santa Rosa” (Prunus domesticus): height 5m; width 4m [JANUARY-FEBRUARY]
25. Plum “Omega” (Prunus domesticus): height 5m; width 4m [FEBRUARY-MARCH]
26. Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum): height 15m; width 7m
27. Rowan “Scarlet King"(Sorbus aucuparia): height 5m; width 2m
28. Peachcot (Prunus persica x Prunus armeniaca): height 4m; width 3m [MARCH]
29. Flowering Cherry “Asahi Boton” (Prunus Shimidsu-Sakura): height 4m; width 5m
30. Winter Sweet (Chimonanthus praecox) from Leanne O’Brien: height 3m; width 3m
31. Plumcot “Scarlet Sunrise” (Prunus armeniaca x Prunus domestica: height 5m; width 4m [DECEMBER]
32. Peach “April White” (Prunus persica): height 4m; width 3m [MARCH]
33. Feijoa “Gemini” (Acca sellowiana): height 2m; width 2m [APRIL]
34. Stone Pine (Pinus pinea): height 12m; width 8m
35. Feijoa “Wiki Tu” (Acca sellowiana): height 3m; width 2m [MAY]
36. Feijoa “Marion” (Acca sellowiana): height 4m; width 4m [MAY]
37. Almond “Monovale” (Prunus dulcis): height 6m; width 4m [APRIL] (planted spring 2016)
38. Pittosporum “Kohuhu/Black Matipo” (Pittosporum tenuifolium): height 6m; width 3m
39. Hazelnut “Melville de Bollwiller” (Corylus avellana): height 4m; width 3m (planted spring 2016)
40. Hazelnut “Whiteheart” (Corylus avellana): height 3m; width 3m (planted spring 2016)
41. Prune Plum “Italian” (Prunus domesticus): height 4m; width 3m [MARCH] (planted spring 2016)
42. Plum “Black Doris” (Prunus domesticus): height 5m; width 4m [JANUARY-FEBRUARY] (planted spring 2016)
43. Quince “Taihape” (Cydonia oblonga): height 4m; width 3m [FEBRUARY-MARCH] (planted spring 2016)
44. North American Paw-Paw (Asimina triloba): height 6m; width 6m (planted autumn 2016) -
Hilary Stace, in reply to
Truffles under the oak?
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Trees a crowd...
I can attest to the vast forest that is forming on this wee pocket of the vast alluvial plain - the 1,000 plus saplings are an arbour of love - in fact, to take the taiga by the tail, it is truly the 'Hay--Haywood Wood'You'll love your dotage in the gypsy caravan deep in the mega-copse - once Polly takes over the 'big house' - Sylvan surfers swimming the susurrating seas....
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Maz, in reply to
Hi Ian.
That’s Swedish; maybe that’s why you couldn’t quite get your head around it :-)
Oh, and it was supposed to be a response to the poem you posted much earlier...
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Carol Stewart, in reply to
In related information, one of my friends did a couple of midwinter months at a Norwegian university above the arctic circle.
If you ever find yourself in Fairbanks, Alaska, be sure to visit the wondrous Museum of the North. They have lots of interesting stuff about wintering over near the Arctic circle. It hadn't quite dawned on me - so to speak - that while the sun does disappear for several months, it mostly isn't completely dark - there are these very, very long twilights in which you can do quite a lot outdoors such as cross country skiing. Under the northern lights (the physics of which are also brilliantly explained at the museum).
Conversely, I've only visited Norway in midsummer. You can sit outside and read at 11:30 pm. -
David Haywood, in reply to
Truffles under the oak?
Truffles will theoretically grow under the English oaks, holly oaks, and chestnuts. I’m just not sure that in practice they will actually grow in the dry & stony Dunsandel soil. The only place where there is reliable moisture is the wastewater disposal field, but – I’m guessing – there might potentially be some health issues with eating truffles grown there…
All opinions appreciated! I could for $50-ish (oh, the pain!) buy a truffle-infected holly oak, which would eventually (if it didn’t die) infect the whole coppice of holly oaks & chestnuts. But I fear that it might simply be money down the drain…
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David Haywood, in reply to
it is truly the ‘Hay–Haywood Wood
You outdo yourself, sir!
(With apologies for the long lecture on the physics of shelter belts during your visit...)
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For truffles, my (sometimes vague and unreliable!) memory is you need a soil that leans alkaline. Our soil tested too acidic. We had the option of liming it, but decided not to invest in inoculated oaks. (At the time, they were not cheap.)
OTOH a local forager insists (from dried remnants) we have porcini (which grow in a similar manner.) I'm not convinced yet. But if we can find fresh ones (and he can test them!) it would be a remarkable bonus. -
Lilith __, in reply to
Each tree had to have 250kg of stones removed from hole with a crowbar
Good golly! Are you building a rockery, eyrie or fell-field?
My family home on Moncks Spur was on a very rocky site. The beautiful rounded rocks were turned into retaining walls, steps, sitting-places, and path-markers. The original owners were undaunted by the size of the task, and set aside every Tuesday night for rock-moving. It was a family event, with all the kids helping. Then they'd put away the crowbars until the following week.
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Lilith __, in reply to
it is truly the ‘Hay–Haywood Wood
You outdo yourself, sir!
Now you only need Jolisa to Gracewood the Hay-Haywood Wood!
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Rob Stowell wrote:
For truffles, my (sometimes vague and unreliable!) memory is you need a soil that leans alkaline. Our soil tested too acidic.
Ah, thanks for that Rob. I should probably investigate further out of scientific thoroughness. Truffles sound as though they'd be nice to eat; I've never actually eaten them. My plan: (1) eat truffles (2) if delicious/edible then investigate planting...
Lilith wrote:
Good golly! Are you building a rockery, eyrie or fell-field?
Oh, I had a lot of holes elsewhere to fill in, believe me. Twenty-eight tonnes of stones doesn't go as far as you'd think.
Now you only need Jolisa to Gracewood the Hay-Haywood Wood!
Now at last I understand why Jolisa spurned me in the life-raft that time -- aversion to humorous hyphenation outcomes in the event of marriage...
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Lilith __, in reply to
aversion to humorous hyphenation outcomes
Isn't that the title of a book by Alexander McCall Smith? The less-famous companion to The Careful Use of Compliments.
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Unconfirmed sighting of David Haywood in the field.
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Ian Dalziel, in reply to
petrock?
Are you building a rockery, eyrie or fell-field?
well his pump-priming post was ‘I Fell Down’
so he doubly identifies with rolling moorland…
;- ) -
Hilary Stace, in reply to
Truffles have a flavour which is not like anything else I've ever tasted. I've only tasted them once and it was memorable. It was very multi-dimensional sensation. But truffles take about 10 years to grow and I think you need a pig to dig them up. But if they did grow they would pay back the $50 in the first little nugget.
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Lilith __, in reply to
truffles take about 10 years to grow and I think you need a pig to dig them up
I've never had this problem with chocolate truffles, ever.
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