A lonely cyclist in the rain.
Life is like a rainbow. You need both the sun and the rain to make its colours appear.
After a long period with snow and ice came a day with rain. Maybe it would have been better to see the sun but it will come back for good next week. King Winter has finally withdrawn. He's tired now. The mild rain is very welcome.
The mild temperature made steam rise from the thin ice on a small lake.
Colours grow soft in the rain.
Large flocks of mute swans and whooper swans were in the countryside. They have survived the tough winter season and now love to graze in the fields.
A farm in the mists
The island Alrø. is 7 km long and 5 km broad and has been inhabited since Stone Age. The legend says that the island got its name in the Viking Period, where the Viking chief Hjarne lived at Hjarnø. He married the girl Alrune and gave her Alrø ("Alrune's ø"). Their son Lave was given the island Endelave. These islands are situated in Horsens fjord. Acces to the island Alrø is via an embankment, to Hjarnø and Endelave via ferry.
At a farm Møllegården is now established a restaurant, and in the farthest part of the island, close to a ferry for cyclists, is the cosy Café Alrø. Near the church is an antique shop, named Marens Hus. The island has 161 inhabitants.
One of the smallest churches in the district is Alrø church with a beautiful view across Horsens fjord. It looks like a church from the Romanesque period, although it was built in the late Middle Ages, probably ab. 1400.
He was not happy to see us. He was the protector of three wives of course!
He did not like the camera. He hissed and puffed his feathers, he looked really dangerous!
He went back to his wives, and they had a long talk about the danger they had avoided because of his courage.
The goose is an old domestic animal. From Egyptian frescoes appears that the Egyptians ab. 4000 years ago knew about force-feeding geese to develop foie gras. In archaeological excavations in Egypt are found bones from very large domestic geese. Those geese - dated to the period from 600 years B.C. till 200 years A.C., were larger than the largest present race, the Toulouse-geese.
Åkær.
Åkær is a manor, which was known from the beginning of the 1300s. It was conveyed to the bishop in Århus ab. 1400. After the reformation it was transferred to the Crown. From 1548 it was the main estate in a vasalry of Hads herred, and in 1660 it was changed into Åkær amt. (district) The farm was in the 1600s marked by decay and was replaced by the present pretty half-timbered building, which until a few years ago was also in decay. In a compulsory sale it was sold to the present owner Johan Koed-Jørgensen. He carried through a thorough renovation of the buildings, and he cleared forests and meadows, which caused critics from nature protection people. The manor is closed to the public.
The hedgerows which are so beautiful all over the country - especially in spring when they are in bloom - are at Åkær being clean-cut in the top like villa-hedges. All the hedges along the fields look very odd and not pretty. That's a shame.
Photo Odder-Alrø area 20 March 2010:grethe bachmann
1 comment:
As always, I have learned much and thank you. Because your blog is a beautiful way to learn. I did not realize geese during old Egyptian times were so much larger. Can't help but wonder how/why they got smaller. When we lived in Kenya, we had two geese who kept having babies. Very cute but we began to run out of friends who wanted geese. I did not think they were very nice geese...all about themselves and a lot of food and water...we had them for warning protection...they worked...so guess it all paid off...loved the little church...the mists...and couldn't help but wonder why the new owner of the manner cleared the meadows and cut down trees...mysteries everywhere! Great post!
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