Category: Norway

And soon it will be spring

2. March 2025 · Leave a comment ·

This weekend was a lot warmer than the last weeks and yesterday was the first day in March which, in Norway, is considered as the first month of spring. I like March, not only because I was born in March, but I like that the days are getting longer, the air is warmer and soon the forest starts living again. Birds are singing and the trees are budding, the snow is vanishing day by day and a walk in the forest is again possible.

Besides knitting a walk in the forest is my way to mindfulness, it has always been that way. The forest makes me breathe and my mind gets to rest from busy thoughts. Shinrin-Yoku (“forest bathing”) is used in Japan as therapeutic relaxation. It works, if I am stressed or in a bad temper a walk in the forest makes me feel much better, it gives you new energy. You should try it, if you live in the city a walk in the park will have the same effect!

The old oak

27. November 2022 · Leave a comment ·

Old trees are fascinating in so many ways. Especially oak trees.

I often wonder : “How old are these trees?” and “what did the landscape look like when they were little saplings?” Think of all the history and development they have experienced through the years.

The appearance of an oak tree changes all through the year and display different kinds of beauty and color in each season. It is fascinating how the oak tree dressed up in white after the first snowfall. The white snow, resting on the branches, makes the beautiful shapes of all the crocked branches visible. Even though the pattern of the many branches is very intricate the white snow somehow gives the whole oak tree a calm expression. This is one of my favorite impressions of winter.

Moody winter

5. February 2022 · Leave a comment ·

Here in Norway and Scandinavia the winter month of January can be though. It can be very cold and the days are quite short. So when the sky is grey and cloudy the surroundings look like a black and white landscape. Now that February has arrived the days are starting to get a little bit longer. Now the sun rise at 0815 and set at 1645.

Doing macro photography can be difficult this time of the year, as it is dependent of a sufficient amount of light. Photographing leaves is fun as they comes in so many shapes. During winter they turn grey or black, but some times you can find some that have some colors left. Like this rowan (in the photo below), it still has some deep brown color. The landscape behind is all in shades of grey and the brown leaf stand a little bit out due to the frosty edges. Winter may be colorless but it is beautiful in many ways.

December feeling

18. December 2021 · Leave a comment ·

Into the woods
a cold day in December 
the old trees covered
with white frost
Feels just like
walking into a fairy tale
acknowledging the beauty of winter
and the good vibes of Christmas

Winter – not yet

21. November 202121. November 2021 · Leave a comment ·

It is November and still the winter hasn’t arrived here in Norway. In this time of the year we use to have temperatures below zero and it is time for snow. But we still have a rather warm autumn and in the forest there still grows mushrooms.

On Friday when I went for a walk it was 13 C and the sun was shining. It was a wonderful day. I went to a view point in mye neighborhood, the first photo. The mushroom on the second photo is beautiful even though it is getting old and fading very soon. I am not sure what type it is and if it is edible, but it could be Hygrophorus hypothejus also known as “herald of the winter”.

Under the old oak tree

2. October 2021 · Leave a comment ·

When I walk my dog I have several paths to choose between. Beside one of these paths there are some quite old trees, well I assume that they are old. One of these old trees, a spruce, is very large. I am trying to find a way to take a good photo of it, but so far I haven’t succeeded. I have tried different angles, but it doesn’t look good.

The other old trees alongside this path are two oak trees which stands almost next to each other. As they are very big it is difficult to take photos of them in full figure but a shot from beneath shows the beauty in these trees, I think. The chunky, grey log against the light green leaves is a good looking color combination together with the light blue sky above.

I wonder how old these two oaks really are?

Orchids in Norway

5. September 2021 · Leave a comment ·

I always thought of orchids as an exotic flower, so I think it is fantastic that there is wild orchids to be found in Norway too. They may not be quite as beautiful as the ones you find in more tropic areas, but they are beautiful in their own way.

In the forest close to were I live you can find one of the most common orchids growing in Norway, Dactylorhiza maculata also known as heath spotted or moorland spotted orchid.

Photo challenge – Architecture

13. October 2019 · Leave a comment ·

The photo challenge for last month was Architecture. I have a special interest in architecture not especially from a photographic perspective, but more because I have always been very interested in the different time periods through history of art. It is exciting to see how the architecture changes through the different time periods.

My plan was to focus on modern architecture and maybe do some shots in an abstract kind of way…….. Well, it turned out different. My daughter wanted to take a Sunday trip to Norsk Folkemuseum (The Norwegian museum of Cultural History). So, in stead of modern architecture my answer to the photo challenge was historic architecture.

The museum has a large collection of building through Norwegian history. There are houses from old farms from the period of 1500 to present time and houses and appartement buildings from the old town of Oslo (Christiania). The main attraction is Gol Stavkirke (Gol Stave Church) which is built approximately during the 11th to 12th century.

Arkitektur 3 — Detail from Gol Stave Church

Hiking and photography

22. September 2019 · 4 Comments ·

My photo challenge friend Ellen owns a cabin at Ble and a little while ago I was invited to stay there for a week end. The cabin is situated in the forest below Blefjell in Buskerud (Norway) so there are a lot of hiking possibilities both in the mountain and in the forest. We normally bring our dogs too but this time the dogs stayed at home, there is a mystical illness among dogs in the Oslo area these days and no one have found out what is the cause for this illness.

We both love photography so we hoped for proper weather for some cool shots. Friday evening was all rainy so we spent the time in doors by the fire, knitting. Saturday was a little bit rainy, but we went for a walk anyway. Saturday afternoon was sunny and warm so we had our dinner out doors. Sunday was OK, I slept too long (not a good thing for photography…..) so after breakfast the sun had disappeared, but we had a nice walk that day too.

Here are some shots from the trip:

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