In the Lake District in October

Mossø in October. It is a large lake in the lake district in the middle of Jutland and a part of the system of the river Gudenå. It is about 10 km long and about 2 km broad. The lake is surrounded by forests, meadows and farm land. In some places are large weed woods and bog areas along the banks of the lake. Mossø is listed in order to maintain its present condition and to secure access for the public. There's a rich flora and fauna. (+ English text)


The farmers are busy.


I cannot resist the Highlanders. They were too far away, no matter!


A grave hill. I wonder who has been resting here for more than thousand years.


Klostermølle. Here is a tree with a passage for a creeping through. Wanda, have you found one where you live? I hope you're not stuck! The channel behind the tree was digged by monks in the Middle Ages. There was a kloster nearby, (Voer Kloster), established by Benedictiner monks, (year 1050-1100) and they probably decided to establish the 1.300 m long dam at the foot of a high hill named Sukkertoppen (The Sugar Top!), forcing the waters of the river Gudenå into a channel and a fall, where the monks could use the water power in a mill.


Klostermølle. The field was last year overgrown with bushes and small trees. They have now been removed as part of a project and a listing of a large area. This winter it gives more space for the geese, when they arrive and go grazing in the winter period.


Klostermølle. A small jungle by the channel, but no real jungle. There are no dangerous animals. I always look for the kingfisher and often see it by the channel, but it flies so fast that I haven't been able to "catch" it - yet! But it is such a joy to watch that little metallic blue bird, when it is racing above the surface of the water, giving its characteristic short call.


One of our destinations was Kongsø Hede (heath). The Nøddekrige had been seen her. The spotted nutcracker, Latin Nucifraga caryocatactes. It is a rare Danish breeding bird, but a frequent migrating and winter guest. In some years are actual invasions. Near Kongsø Hede is a fine area with hazel and nuts for this bird.


Kongsø Hede is situated by a hiking route along Hærvejen. Two lakes, Kalgård Sø and Kongsø lie close to the heath, where nature is taken care of in order to prevent overgrowth and to keep the heather young. Upon the heath is a small dammed lake with a castle bank, named "Hansborg".

There are marked paths and information boards in the whole hiking area.


Kongsø Hede. Old age does not look bad on a tree.


Cosy Cattle.


I like our old churches.


A gorgeous tree at the church yard. It must be one of the chestnuts.


There is a resting place here at Torup lake at the top of a slope , good for a coffee break. The lake was silent and the water was a mirror, usually with many swans, but no swans were visible now. They have probably gone to another and better place before winter. Birds have a special talent, they know when and where to go. Some withered ferns blocked the view, so I went to the edge of the slope to take a photo of the mirrored lake. I disturbed a flock of ducks. They made an awful noise flying up and fleeing from this awful disturber. Sorry, dear ducks. They flew across water and circled in front of the forest, before they landed in the far corner of the lake, where they found peace and quiet.


across the water.......

in front of the forest.....


cattle is so reassuring to my restless mind. They just lie there, those cud-chewing animals, worried about nothing, just being in the Now!


The last stop that day was my favourite little lake, Brudesø. (The Bride's Lake). It was of the most amazing blue that day, and the background was deep purple. It was so pretty we could hardly go on, but it was very cold - and as usual I should have put on warmer clothes. I'm always in the same little problem each year in the transition from autumn to winter. I'll never learn! Last week the air was mild , but now I can really feel king Winter is lurking around the corner, waiting to freeze our nose off. So we had to leave my dear lake and go home to have some hot cocoa! See you next time.


photo Mid Jutland 16. October 2010: grethe bachmann

Folklore, The Hole in the Tree

Hollow Lime-tree, Fussingø, photo:gb

People's trust in the medical profession was not good in the old days, even close up to our time. Many preferred to seek assistance by wise men and women, who made medicaments and used magic in a large scale. Others -maybe most people - chose to seek help from nature itself - it was cheaper anyway. All over the country were springs with healing qualitites and miraculous power. And if there wasn't a spring nearby, a hollow tree might be just as useful.

A special hollow tree was needed, a tree, which forms an opening to creep through. Such trees were not common, but just like people knew where the healing spring was, they also knew where the hollow tree stood. In order to be healed the sick person had to creep, small children and very weak persons had to be carefully eased through the hole. Each tree had its own rules, one creep-through might not be enough, three, six or maybe nine passages might be necessary to achieve the best effect. Sometimes the tree claimed that the sick person had to be naked. The time for the healing was important too - it might be evening after sunset or morning before sunrise. The best weekday was Thursday. Other trees claimed the ceremony had to be carried out in silence - or else everything would fail.

Those healing trees might cure rickets, gout, gland-disease, boils, epilepsia, hernia. Some side-actions might promote the healing, like to cut off a piece of the bark, bring it home and put it under the sick person's pillow for nine nights - or if it was an infected wound, to smear some pus into the rifts of the bark. The disease would then be transferred to the tree.

When the creeping-through had been carried out, people often hang a piece of cloth up upon a branch. This was meant as a sacrifice , a thank you to the tree for the expected healing. Most healing trees have disappeared now, a few are still alive - but not used. The last rest of people's belief in their power was lost in the late 1800s.

Source: Skalk, archaeological magazine, Nr. 5, October 2004: August F. Schmidt i Danske Studier 1932. - V.J. Brøndegaard: Folk og Flora, bd.1. - Mads Lidegaard: Danske træer fra sagn og tro.

In various places in the country are still a few trees with cloth on the branches. One is the famous Kludeeg (cloth oak) in Leestrup forest at Østsjælland. Today people still hang pieces of cloth up in the old tree. Another present and strange custom is to hang children's pacifiers up in a tree. I have heard there is a tree filled with those pacifiers in a forest west of Århus, my town. I haven't seen it yet - and I have no idea, why a young mum hangs her baby's pacifier up in a tree!
And I have no idea if the tree has to be hollow!

Last News!
Wauw! I have just found it on the net. There are lots of those trees with children's pacifiers all over the country. I'll have to open my eyes! And do you know why they do it? The child's last pacifier is placed in the tree. That's really some kind of ceremony, isn't it? I've just now read an example of such a ceremony: It's the child's birthday, the grandparents come too , they all go out and place the last pacifier in a wellknown tree, they praise the child up to the clouds, then they go out to buy a teddy-bear, and the child chooses clothes and shoes for this bear, in the afternoon they have buns and chocolate and so on........... I have never heard about this, but I have no grandchildren, maybe that's why!

NB:
I'm not sure about the name pacifier in the dictionary. Don't you have another word for it?


The cloth oak at Østsjælland and pacifiers in a tree
photo: panoramio.com and juniorbusiness.dk

Sweet Cicely/Sødskærm

Myrrhis odorata



The Sweet Cicely has got many names, British Myrrh, Sweet chervil, The Roman plant, Cow chervil, Shepherd's needle, Smooth Cicely, Sweet bracken, Sweet fern, Sweet humlock. Sødskærm is its Danish name, but it is also called Spansk kørvel or Aniskål. The plant has a flavour rather like anise with a scent like lovage and it is very attractive to bees. All parts of the plant are edible and were used for food in the old days. The old herbalist describes the plant as 'so harmless you cannot use it amiss.'

The name Myrrhis odorata derives from the Greek word for perfume because of its myrrh-like smell. Odorata means sweet-scented. Sweet Cicely derives from the mountains in Central Europe where it is a wild plant. Today it is feral in northern Europe.

Sweet Cicely is an old cloister-plant. The monks brought it to the North from Central Europe in the Middle Ages, and they used it as well for food as for medicine. Leaves and stalks are good in fruit soups and as a green sprinkle on food and as a spice in marmalade. The old Danish name aniskål (anis-cabbage) was given to it because it was used as an addition in spring to dishes made of the rest of the winter's curly kale.
The stalks were candied, and they were also used in stewed rhubarbs since it lessened the strong taste. A drink can be made which resembles the Greek alcohol Ouzo. The oil from the seeds = anetholoil is used in Danish sweets named 'Kongen af Danmarks bolsjer'. Essence can be made by the flowers, the seed, the root and the green leaves. Pour alcohol over and make it draw for some days. This gives a fine light green drink with a piquant taste of anise.

In medicine the monks used the plant for digestive problems and for anemia in elderly people. The leaves were used as an incense for asthma.

photo 250508: grethe bachmann, Gammel Ry, Mid Jutland

Another Mini Tiger named Zeus....

I couldn't help telling you this one. Just saw a fine little grey-black striped cat like on this photo on TV. He jumped up in front of TV and looked sharply at his master - or should I say slave - who was watching a foot-ball match. The slave had to rise at once to find some food for ZEUS. Yes, that was his name. ´)


photo gb : a very affectionate little cat, who followed us for a long walk on the island of Mors.

Klitmøller , "The Cold Hawaii" at the North Sea.

Welcome to a tour around Klitmøller and Thy!



Klitmøller is a town and an earlier landing place in Thy about 10 km southwest of Hanstholm and 17 km northwest of Thisted, with ab. 825 inhabitants, the number increases in the summer season with many guests in the holiday houses and on the camping sites. There is a varied range of shops and boutiques.

The town lies in the northwestern part of Jutland with the waters of Limfjorden to the east, the North Sea to the west, Hanstholm to the north and the National Park Thy to the south. Here is an experience of the great force of the North Sea, when the strong Atlantic swell from Iceland and the Faroes drifts against the coast. Here is fresh air, clean bathing water and large areas of virgin nature.


The large reserve - the distance from where he walks and further into the area is much, much longer than you imagine, and the moist terrain makes a heavy walk.......


a lake with no name in the dunes, here might be cranes, but they were out visiting somewhere that morning.....

If you drive north from Klitmøller, you arrive at the Hansted-Reserve, the largest nature reserve in Denmark. From 1. April till 15. July is here no access for the public because of the birds' breeding season. Inside a distance of 2 km are the prettiest dune plantations in the country and good possibilites for mushrooms experts and bikers. There are maps with informations about biking routes etc.

In 2007 was 244 km2 of the Thy-district appointed "Nationalpark Thy" - Denmark's first nationalpark. It stretches from a 12 km long belt along the North Sea coast from Hanstholm to the north and Agger Tange to the south. Here are the large dune-heaths and clean nutrient-poor lakes. The old fishing villages Klitmøller and Vorupør lie like small oases at the North Sea in the middle of the national park.

more info nationalparkthy


The Cold Hawaii
Klitmøller is famous for being a surfing paradise.

Klitmøller has a fine bathing beach and high white dunes. The western wind has formed small hollows in the sand creating lovely shelters on a sunny day. After special wind- and stream conditions you can find amber on the beach.

There are fine opportunities for bathing and surfing. The town is often mentioned as The Cold Hawaii, and it is especially in the discipline Waveperformance inside windsurfing and surfing that has exceptional conditions here. Klitmøller hosted the Danish masterships in waveperformance up through the 90s, EM in 1996 and WM in 1998. The relatively new sport kitesurfing has also attracted many practitioners from Denmark and abroad to Klitmøller with the strong wind and the large waves.

There are good overnight-possibilities, i.e. holiday houses, rooms and authorized camping sites, several restaurants, cafés and grillbars, mostly open in the summer season. Each year in the first week-end of June is the summer feast celebrated.




Earlier was Klitmøller a landing place for the coast fishing boats. The boats were pulled up and out with a winch. The landing place is still preserved and the fishing continues from small dinghys. Each day, when the weather allows it, the small boats come in with various fish, lobsters and crab's claws, the local delicatesse. For sports fishers are good opportunites for catching fish from the fishing cutters in Vorupør and Hanstholm or from the shelter-mole in Nørre Vorupør.



Nors Sø, a fine area with osprey and lots of geese and other birds and a varied flora.

The name Klitmøller origins from the 1600s, where 3 mills were placed close to the North Sea, surrounded by dunes. The mills were used for corn grinding, and the corn exported to Norway in special flat-bottomed boats, which could be drawn up on the sand. The boats came back with timber from Norway. At that time Klitmøller was the most important trading town in the area. Several boat captains grew immensely rich. Some of the success was caused by that Agger Tange was closed - it was impossible to sail into Limfjorden. This boat trade went on at several plaes along the north western coast of Jutland, but Klitmøller was the most important trading place. The town had its great period between 1600 and 1819, but it lost its central importance, when the North Sea broke through Agger Tange, making the passage free for sailing. The lifeboat station in Klitmøller was established in 1847 and abandoned in 1979. From 1852 till 1954 were 57 rescues and 543 people were saved.

In the sand dunes by town are i.e. lyme grass, heather, crowberry, sea holly and marsh-gentian, which is also found in the dune-heaths. Upon the heath breed i.e. the sandpiper and the crane. To the east are great coniferous plantations with two large lakes Vester Vandet Sø and Nors Sø.

new biking route

A photo collection from the area:

heather and honeysuckle (click to enlarge the small photos)

Lotus and bell heather with a red Admiral

Family at the beach and sweet gale

Kestrel and knotweed in a small lake with no name

Scabiosa and Peacock butterfly

Tømmerby church and a fishing village

chessboard Hillerslev church and forest after fire in dry summer

Common Blue and lovely horses

sea holly and small lake in the dunes

The nature in the nationalpark in Thy is so rich, and it is a joy just to take a walk there from one of the many parking places in the area. In many places are maps to inform people what is special exactly here as to flora and fauna, but also maps of biking and hiking routes etc.

Never give up without a fight!

It was exciting to see how the surfers fought the waves. I have never tried surfing, but it must be difficult just to get on the surfboard. This guy went on and on like the other surfers, and at last he succeeded in flying across the water. It looks so amazing - and it must be a wonderful feeling.

Hanstholm light tower

photos Thy August 2007: grethe bachmann

Mini Tiger

A cat's got her own opinion of human beings.
She don't say much, but you can tell enough
to make you curious not to hear the whole of it.

Jerome K. Jerome

photo:gb

Marsh-Daisy/Engelskgræs

Armeria maritima



Marsh-daisy grows wild in coastal areas across the Northern Hemisphere, especially in Europe. It grows in sandy salty conditions like beaches, dunes, tidal meadows and overdrev (commons). It is a popular garden flower known by several common names 'thrift', 'sea thrift' , 'sea pink' etc. The plant has been distributed worldwide as a garden and cut flower.
During the last 50 years it has spread to the edge of traffic roads where the salt from the winter period gives it good conditions of life.

Folklore and habits in Denmark:
In the old days the plant was used as a border in garden beets. Children used it in their games, they fought with the long flower stems, until the one part's 'head' fell off. The stems were used in order to plait fine figures, like 'church windows', and the stem with the flowers for beautiful garlands or bridal wreaths. Little garlands were hung in the loft beam in the living room for the flies in order to avoid flyspots in other places.
Children sucked nectar from the flowers, and in some places the plant was called rugblomst (rye flower), because a bouquet of the flowers gave a scent like newly baked rye bread. The plant had many local names like Kongens Knap (the King's Button), Vorherre's brød (Our Lord's Bread). Some names had something to do with the spring lambs that liked to nip the flower heads. The shepherds' children thought that if they plucked the flowers then the lambs would die.

photo 310508: grethe bachmann, Gammel Ry, Mid Jutland