Dråby and Glatved Strand, Church and Nature.........

Dråby

It was actually because I needed some photos of a church that we went to Djursland that day. I went for Dråby church, called Djursland's cathedral. I hadn't been there since 2002, but I counted on that the building would still stand - after all it has been on that spot since the 1200s. The oldest interior is a Romanesue granite font from the 1200s, which almost all the old churches has kept. The fonts were probably too difficult and to heavy to move, I suppose. It's fascinating to imagine all those babies, who were baptized there! Or else the interior is marked by the Baroque. But I'll not talk about churches on this blog!! Only that it is a pretty church, and I love the history of our old churches.











So after having visited the church and the village we drove off to Glatved strand, three black storks were seen last Tuesday, but I'll say at once that those three blackies were gone. Never mind you'll never be bored out in nature. Glatved strand is a super place for coast fishing and a fine resort for nature lovers and for divers. The beach is with round pebblestones and the water  is deep  from the edge. The deep water makes it good for sports fishing, and there are sea trout, cod, garfish and flaffish to be caught. The area is marked by the limestone quarry, but it stopped working in 1981. It is now an interesting place for botanists and bird-watchers.

Hjelm

Some folks went on top of the stone mountain by the limestone quarry, and that's not wise. But what can you do? Just keep an eye with them I guess. Good to have a cell phone after all. The area along the beach is lovely, for here is the salten breeze from the sea and here's peace and quiet. It is not a bathing beach -  and there is not yet season for sports fishing. I like the anglers - they are nice people, but a bathing beach with oily people frying in the sun! I have grown from that!  So there's time enough to walk along the beach and see what's what. Out there in the mist I see the small island Hjelm, maybe the most famous island in Denmarks' history. A flock of noblemen, who were accussed of killing the king, became outlaws and used Hjelm as a base of a fleet and of counterfeiting. The leader Marsk Stig's castle upon Hjelm and the looting expeditions and the myth around the king and Marsk Stig did create a lasting track in the form of many medieval folk ballads. The island is now inhabited, it is not allowed to land there. I was there once, but it was because I had to write a report about the island and the telephone connection to my company-magazine in the 1980s. Of course I wrote more about the medieval history than I should, but it was accepted!!

Pimpinella

But let's leave Hjelm and look down on the ground. Here is a lovely elegant Pimpinelle, dressed in a white lace robe. In English the name is Burnet saxifrage, Lesser burnet or Salad burnet, but it is also named Pimpinella, and this is the sweetest name I think. Sounds like a ballet dancer. Pimpinella looks much like wild carrot, but the wild carrot has an involucre under the umbel. The pimpinella has not.
The older herbalists held this plant in greater repute than it enjoys at the present day. Pliny recommended a decoction of the plant beaten up with honey for divers complaints.It was recommended as a healer of wounds, it is a cordial and promotes perspiration. Infused in wine and beer it was used as a cure of gout and rheumatism. The bruised leaves smell like cucumber and taste somewhat like it, and it was added to salads and cups. You can still buy pimpinelle-drops at the pharmacy, it's used for cough, cold and bronchitis. It is still so amazing to me that almost every litte herb has got a useful function, which has been known for centuries.

Rock Grayling

Common Blue

Well here's a little fellow I need not talk so much about! A pretty little thing ,one of the blue butterflies - and it looks like a Common Blue. When it is sitting with the upperside of the wings in the sunlight, then the blue colour is fantastic. It looks like a little jewel. And here's another one, with modest colours, but a fine pattern, the Rock Grayling /Sandrandøje,  the Danish name has something to do with sand, so it is in its right place here by the beach.Upon a white robe of lace sits a beetle, the Danish name is Guldbasse ( =a golden "thick guy") . It really has some fine metallic colours. It is known in English as the rose chafer or the green rose chafer, because it feeds in particular on roses. Rose chafers can fly very fast, they do it with their wing cases down thus resembling a bumble bee.


















No wonder why it stands there looking so proud and dominant among the flowers in the field. It is immensely healthy and contains lots of vitamins and minerals - the Sea buckthorn (Havtorn)  - and it grows wild in many places in Denmark, even in the outmost western parts of Jutland in the dunes, with storm, sea fog and sandy soils. It is among the first plants which came to the land of the Danes more than 10.000 thousand years ago, together with the reindeer. The Latin name Hippophae (hippo = horse in Greek) is classical Latin for "shining horse",  and the name supposedly came after feeding racehorses with the leaves, which made them healthy and with shining skin. The leaves contain much protein and can be used as a fodder for domestic animals and pets. A legend tells a fascinating story: the leaves were the preferred meal for the winged, flying horse Pegasus, the horse of the God Zeus, and the leaves were the resaon, why Pegasus could fly.
The berries are described as being very healthy and one of the most nutritious berries. They contain several vitamins and antioxidants-connections. An English research-report has concluded that it is the most healthy fruit cultivated in England. A Canadian investigation considers it as one of the best natural sources of vitamin A, C, E, carotines and large contents of several B-vitamins. But the story about this plant is much longer, so I'll stop talking about this one.

Wild carrot

We'll go on after a coffee-break near some aromatic roses. I love the scent of these wild roses. It's such a delicate scent. When we're having coffee I nearly always bring Wiener-Pecan cakes. They taste so  gooood, but they are not healthy.
My eye caught some wild carrots. I like these white lacy flowers, they are all over the field together with Pimpinella. A white ballet by the beach. Next to some Pimpinellas is some grass, I think it's hjertegræs (heart's grass)). In English it is burdened with so many names that it is impossible to tell about it - eighteen names. I'll choose Pearl Grass - or Earthquakes! It's pretty and frail and moves in the slightest breeze. It's not easy to see on the photo. You'll have to enlarge.

Pimpinella and Pearl Grass(I think)

Yarrow

Viper's Buglos

I always talk much about the pink yarrow, when I see it - and there have been so many pink yarrows this year. No one else seem to notice! I think they are sweet. It must be the character of the soil, which give them the pink shade, like the changing shades of Lupin and Hydrangea. Yarrow gives a fine snaps- maybe the pink is stronger? Theres a fine blue flower next to the pink yarrow. This is Slangehoved (Snakes' head). In English it has got 10 names, I'll choose Viper's buglos. It has something to to with a snake. It is a fine nectare plant, attracting lots of bees. On warm summerdays it might be covered in honey bees and bumble bees. Aha! In the old days it was used against snake bite!



















A Merlin  showed its characteristic silhouette high up behind a tree.  Unfortunately it disappeared at once.

Carline thistle

There was a plant I hadn't seen before, but a plant, which is typical for this habitat. It's the Carline thistle, a thistle with modest brownish colours, it almost stands quite unnoticed on the ground. There were suddenly lots of them in the field. Cinderella in her ashy clothes. But now we are going to another place at Djursland.













It's harvest time and the farmers are busy before the rain comes. On top of a corn field is a grave hill overgrown with bushes. There are lots of  dolmens at Djursland, worth a study in itself, round dolmens, long domens, passage graves - reminders of  men and women who lived thousands of years ago. And two other photos, guess what. Cows of course. It's necessary to have the cows. Those sweet animals with the pretty eyes. And then off to another place at Djursland............   



photo Djursland August 2011: grethe bachmann