Fussingø Forest, a mild November Day and a Norwegian Forest Cat.....

The last Days of Autumn. ....

Fussingø, the day before the leaves were all blown away by the storm.

Will we get a record-hot November again in 2015? The temperature yesterday was 16 degrees Celsius and some sleeping butterflies woke up and fluttered around..

Some people still wear short jeans - and on the jogging trip in the evening even summer shorts!
The air is warm both day and night.

The average temperature for a November day is 7 degrees Celsius.

Yellow/Green Beauty

Autumn, especially in poetry, has often been associated with melancholia - the summer has gone and winter is near. Skies are grey and the evenings are dark, but these present warm lovely autumn days of 2015 are not a breeding ground for melancholia, but maybe I should be at the forefront. You'll never know how things look next week!  So here's a little poem about autum from a master.

When a sighing begins
In the violins
Of the autumn-song,
My heart is drowned
In the slow sound
Languorous and long
Pale as with pain,
Breath fails me when
The hours toll deep.
My thoughts recover
The days that are over,
And I weep.

And I go
Where the winds know,
Broken and brief,
To and fro,
As the winds blow
A dead leaf.

 “Chanson d’Automne” by Paul Verlaine, from Poèmes saturniens (1866). Translated by Arthur Symons in Poems (First Collected Edition, 1902)

Some of the forest at Fussingø were laid out as untouched forest since 1992. The section is no longer used for timber or fuel. The trees live as long as they can. The dead trees are important habitats for mammals, birds, insects and other little animals. The forest will gradually turn into a kind of jungle with fallen and dead trees and a variation of trees growing up.

Cyclists in the forest

Lady with dog

old oaks by the road.

The path down to the forest.

The Fussingø district was inhabited since Stone Age. The first safe proof of human settlements is from the bondestenalder which begins 4200 BC. From this period are found many flint axes.  

the buzzard high up in the blue.

A hen in the road, the hens at Fussingø live a dangerous life. The whole flock was up in the traffic road a short minute before I took the photo, but they are very.very fast to get away from the traffic. They disappeared down in the garden below in the flash of a light.  

Fussingø slot in the background.

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See Link:

http://www.fussingoeslot.dk/ 

Fussingø slot is today used for alternate exhibitions of art and arts and crafts. In other buildings are Nature School and Skov- og Naturstyrelsen. Fussingø is owned by the Danish State.

The German family  Skeel von Plessen owned the estate until the end of WWII, where the estate was confiscated by the Danish State as some kind of war compensation.

Fussingø slot is only open during the year in connection to various arrangements etc. The park is
open to the public all year.

Fussingø skov

Stævningsskoven . The coppice forest on the other side of the brook.

The coppice forest (Stævningsskoven)  is the earliest known form of forestry in Denmark It can be traced back to Stone Age in Denmark and further back in other parts of Europe.

The coppice forest began in connection to the peasants' need for fence, fuel, grazing for the livestock, poles, posts etc. The landlords had the right to use the upper section of the forest, while the peasants had to settle for what they could find in the low forest. The coppice forest was a smart solution for the peasants, since this type of forest developed an upper forest, if it was coppiced regularly - and in this way they could keep on their right to use the forest.

When new materials arrived in the 1800s like stone, bricks, stone dikes, earth banks and fences like wire and fossil fuel, the importance of the coppice forest disappeared and the coppice forests were mainly allowed to stay as they were.

an old fragile bridge

the old boat is still there

Well, here comes the ruler of the water mill!

Dear Cat, I see from the facts below that you are adapted to a very cold climate. Don't you feel it is too hot here? Maybe you should have a little hair cut? Oh no, that would be a shame. You are so beautiful, and you know it. Maybe you have adapted to the mild climate too. I hope you have, but you have really got a big beautiful and hot fur coat! Do you like ice cream? 

Last time I met this cat it was so aristocratic that it was not interested in talking to me. Let's see how the pretty cat behaves today.....

Facts: The Norwegian forest cat is a breed of domestic cat native to Northern Europe. This natural breed is adapted to a very cold climate with top coat of glossy long water-shedding hairs, and a wooly undercoat for insulation. It is a big, strong cat, similar to the American Maine Coon  breed, with long legs, a bushy tail and a sturdy body. The breed is very good at climbing, since they have strong claws. 

Hello, are you social or aristocratic today, dear cat?

What a cuddly cat!

Wauw, you've actually got autumn colours. So beautiful.

Bye, bye....I'll go find my good landlady. She's got some food for me. and maybe some ice cream !

Emeraldgreen ferns

See you next year at Fussingø............

The Mill Pond

Long-tailed tit - the afternoon light was fading!!

Nature's beautiful decay. 

Text and photo November 2015: grethe bachmann :

A Misty Day in November...

The old Danish name for November was slagtemåned (slaughter month). The livestock had to be stabled  It was now time for slaughter  and salting  down the meat, It was cold enough and without risc for ending up with some tainted meat. 

When the farmers had done the slaughter, they examined the spleen of the slaughtered animal. They were convinced this would tell them a lot about the weather to come. .

Nove means nine. November month origins from the old Roman calendar of king Numa Pompilius ab. 500 bc. At that time the Roman year started with the month of March, which made November the ninth month. When the Gregorian calendar was introduced, the year started with January, which brought disturbance in the old numerical order.! 

Aalsø kirke, Djursland

November is dark, but a landscape swept in a haze is like a landscape from a fairy tale, a mysterious place where everything can happen. This is a landscape which a movie director could use in Lord of the Ring or in a movie about the legendary King Arthur. 

Yes, the landscape is swept in grey shades but when the sun suddenly comes through, it reveals a beautiful golden tree upon a hilltop. Such is the weather in autumn. Filled with surprise and beauty. 





photo on a misty day at Djursland and Kolindsund November 2015: grethe bachmann

The Days are short when you reach November.......

yes, the lyrics of the "September Song" can be changed like the weather.........

the fog has almost gone

What shall I take care of this winter in order to stay healthy? There are always so many warnings everywhere and it is so difficult to remember it all, isn't it?
.
"Winter can have a pretty big impact on our physical health and emotional health,” said Dr. Conrad Iber, director of the Fairview sleep program at the University of Minnesota Medical Center.

a low gravehill with trees.

farm in November sun

"Remember to drink lots of water, eat more whole grains and more vegetables and be physically active, your bedroom has to be cold, you'll become more grumpy, because there's less sunlight, it might be a good idea to get a sunlight lamp, do some exercise, socialize, eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, rich in D- vitamin,  it's prime time for colds and flu, again remember a balanced diet, exercise, fresh air and adequate sleep. Get a flu shot. And then here's something I wasn't aware of:  your body adapts to the cold by shifting more blood flow to interior organs and away from your hands, feet and face. So that's what happens!.... again remember exercise and a good diet, wear layers, cover your wrists, ankels and head, when you're outside on cold days".

I promise I'll try to remember everything.
Btw: I have got a flu shot ...........

cattle enjoying still being out...

 oak with  leaves down to the ground, (enlarge).

When all this has been said I went out Saturday to see what was happening outside on a cold day in November. It was not very cold . The cold of winter will arrive on the last day of November, on Friday the 30. "Make no sorrow in advance" is an old saying. The weather people might be wrong. I'm not ready for snow.

well-dressed hunters

old kloster church, Tvilum

                                                                          


It was very foggy that morning, at least here in Århus and East Jutland. There was no sign of a blue heaven and I couldn't imagine it might be any better. It's actually a great help that we can look at the satelite on the net and see where to go. "There are no clouds to the north!"  So we took the north-road hoping for a little sunlight on this short afternoon. It took almost an hour before we were out of the fog, and the sun came through the haze and threw a golden light upon the landscape.

flowing lines

Gudenaa River Valley, at Sminge

Gudenaa River Valley, at Sminge

  

landscape with windmills, Tvilum

I always take some photos while we're driving, which probably is obvious but I use them anyway because they can tell a little about my country. All seasons have their charm. November is reflective, now the year has almost passed, and we are going into a long winter, summer feels far away now, and we'll have to wait almost half a year before we'll see it again. Although the days grow shorter, there is a special light in the day hours when the sun is low. It's this golden light we can see in summer on a late afternoon. I love that golden light. Hours like this makes me wish that I lived in a cosy house out in the country, where I could meet the nature from morning til noon. But I'm a city girl. The countryside is not always so romantic, muddy roads and smell from the swine farms ..........

now we're going back home....

 

 - but we were surprised by a strange change of weather, suddenly dark clouds came close to the ground and surrounded everything with a mysterious dark haze. We could see the lake, but it looked like something from the Arthurian saga, we'll go down and await the boat from Avalon.....

Well, let's go back to reality. What stuff are dreams made of anyway? 

Before reaching home we took a side-trip to a lake close by my home, where a rare bird has visited Denmark for some weeks. This bird has been in Denmark twice and in Europe five times, it comes from far away, from Asia. It's the Brown Shrike - and I'm sure this is now the most photographed "person" in Denmark beside Crownprincess Mary. The birdwatchers come from abroad too. I haven't got a photo yet. I've been promised one and I'll bring it on the blog for those who are interested. But I did see this little fine bird - eventually. First I was staring at a pole with a spot in the top. This was not the right pole, but then I saw the little famous star just before it jumped down into the grass.

See you see soon again. I've been on Amled's Heath with Prince Hamlet's grave. I'll show you later.  

Looking for the Brown Shrike.

the bird is here - somewhere........

photo 24.November 2012: grethe bachmann