OLD FAMILY PHOTOS FROM A TRIP TO NORWAY BACK IN THE SUMMER OF 1987

Rooting through my archives I found these old photos of our trip to Norway in 1987. My dear husband had put out to sea for six months and I used the opportunity to visit my family. The first part of our holiday was with my parents in England, and the second half of our time we visited my sister, brother-in-law and niece. They lived in Norway for a few years. Son was eight years' old.  

On one of our daytrips we were out and about with my family. You never knew what you were going to see around the next bend of the road.

We had a longish journey to see the sights and stopped to look at the views. I had turned my back to look in another direction for a few moments. You can see son climbing on all these logs left for pick up. I had my camera in hand when I turned around and this gave me a start, but even as I was walking quickly towards him, I snapped a picture. A moment in time captured. I was heading over to tell him to come down, but he was already getting ready to jump to the ground after his little climbing adventure. My son was a climber, just like his mum I might add. One memory is of me at three years' old climbing to the top of the window-cleaner's ladder to the upstairs window. Mum was paying him she said years later, and turned her back for a moment. I frightened both of them apparently, but still remember that adventure on my ladder. As for son and his climbing all those logs, I suppose I was a bit of a nervous mum myself.

One young kid making friends with another young kid. We were at an outdoor living museum but I can't remember the name of it. Great place for all ages.

He is with a much larger one this time and they were both looking in my direction which I found amusing.

He loved the goats, as did I. There were dozens of them. On the back of one of the photos I had written: When we got out of this enclosure, my brother-in-law read a sign that said, 'Don't run around the goats, don't approach the goats at break-neck speed, don't make loud noises.'  Son was so excited he had done all of these but fortunately was not head-butted once.

This little one was quite at home climbing on the side of the rock wall.

In the following we were at Norway's Folk Museum in Oslo. It is a marvelous place. You can click on the name to see great photos and info. If you are ever visiting Oslo, I can highly recommend it. Years later Gregg and I went there. Son was an adult by this time and long out of the house. But, here you can see him with a young lady who was very nice to him and patiently answered all his questions. She was bilingual and spoke perfect English.

A sign in Norwegian. We were visiting a silver mine, (though I have no recollection of this place). 

Another one of him walking by these lovely boats, a sign on the first one read, 'Drive the Viking Way'. This is a marina in Kristiansand, Norway. 'Kristiansand is a city in southern Norway that's known for its beaches, parks, museums and festivals. It is also a major industrial center and a popular summer destination.' I found all this online. 

Here are two maps the second showing Kristiansand's red location marker in Norway, and the surrounding countries.

Below he is taking care of his cousin with us not too far away, following behind them. We were at one of the many lakes we visited. At the time our son was eight and our niece was 20 months' old. 

Probably my favorite photos from our time there.

I may have put one of these photos on this blog somewhere. 

Enjoy your day and thanks for stopping by.

A LOVEABLE DONKEY

 I have combined two posts here from my old blog.  The dates published were in summer and fall of 2013.

We stopped by an old wooden gate to take my photos. I hung around quite a while waiting for her to look up hoping for a better picture, but she was too interested in munching on all that sweet grass. We were on a relatively short ride in the countryside, not too far from here. I believe she is a Miniature Mediterranean donkey. I visited several websites online and it was the closest I could get to an ID. I learned the following information from this website. It belongs to the Rosamind Gifford Zoo at Burnett Park in Syracuse, New York.

"Miniature Mediterranean donkeys originated in the Mediterranean area of Northern Africa, and have been established in the areas of Sicily, Sardinia and the United States. Their diet in the wild: grasses, shrubs and desert plants. At the zoo where I found this information, they are fed hay and mineral supplements.

Their life span in the wild is 25 to 30 years old. In human care, 30 to 35 years. There are three categories of donkeys: Miniature (36 inches tall and under), Standard (37 to  54 inches tall, and Mammoths (greater than 54 inches tall).

The miniature Mediterranean donkey uses vocalizations to communicate with other donkeys. Some of their vocalizations are so loud that they can be heard from over a mile away.

Miniature Mediterranean donkeys curl their top lip and show their front teeth when they discover a new or interesting smell. This response is called a "flehmen response," and it helps to move smells to an organ that processes new smells.

Male donkeys are called "jacks" and females are called "jennets" or "jennies".  Baby donkeys are called "foals", just like those of a horse."

I read elsewhere that they were imported into America in 1929 by Mr. Robert Green, a New York Stockbroker. He is quoted as saying, "Miniature donkeys possess the affectionate nature of a Newfoundland pony, the resignation of a cow, the durability of a mule, the courage of a tiger and the intellectual capability only slightly inferior to man". More information can be found at this link.

They are considered to be without doubt the most charming, sweet-natured and affectionate animals on earth.  

They are intelligent, easy-going and easily trained, and become very attached to their owners and to other donkeys they live with.  They make wonderful pets for both young and old.

It is also important to note that they are social animals and need company as they will pine if they are left on their own. This sweet little donkey was in a field with several goats.

I decided to combine another post for today. The same donkey with his other companions in the field, the goats mentioned above. These photos were taken in the Fall a few months later. It was dreary weather and drizzled steadily. However, this didn't deter us from stopping at the gate entrance. When traveling on the same road we usually see lots of goats and a solitary Mediterranean donkey. They weren't as close as they normally are, no close-ups this time. We observed one interesting interaction between the donkey and a young goat.

There was the donkey, doing what donkeys love to do, chomp on tasty grass.

He looked up and stared at us briefly and then went back to eating.  My attention turned to the metal cut-out of the goat on my right.  It wasn't there on our last visit a few months ago.

A little grainy but I saw a young goat eating out of what looked like an enormous pumpkin. He was looking towards to the rest of his tribe/trip. What do you call a group of goats? A tribe or a trip.  

He decided it was time to join his family, maybe its mother had called him, who knows.  As he was walking past the donkey, something odd happened.  

The donkey's ears flattened and he started chasing the goat.  

That young goat took off as fast as its little legs could go.

When the goat rejoined its family, the donkey stopped and they were joined by a little white dog, that saw us looking from over the gate and barked very loudly at us. We took the hint and thought it was time to move on. Good little guard dog and for such a tiny body he had a very loud bark.

Something else I learned today, I didn't know a donkey could move that fast! Why do you think he behaved that way?  Normally whenever we have seen both donkey and goats, they have been quite amicable towards each other.  Is it a protective instinct on the donkey's part, a herding instinct like that of a sheep dog? All I know is that I absolutely adore donkeys, goats too but my special spot today goes for the donkey.

Thanks for visiting everyone, and 

I hope your week is going well.

AN OLD FAVORITE

 Revisiting an old photo taken at a place called Frying Pan Park, not too far from us. It seems a long time since we went there, and I only remembered it when I found the photo in my archives. It's fun to walk around. It depicts farming life from the 1920s to the 1950s. It has a working farm, live farm animals, a playground, country store, wagon rides and an antique carousel. There is also a visitor center and family concerts are held throughout the year. You can see several photos from our other visits here. It would be nice to go back sometime this year.

JIGSAW PUZZLES 🧩

 I have put these together over the last several weeks.  I usually do a couple of them a week (on my iPad). Today I am concentrating on animals and birds.  

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day and weekend 

SATURDAY MORNING - NOT AT THE BIRD FEEDER

Since the beginning of time, all across the species… 

I will be away from my computer on Monday.  My normal Monday Recipe Post will be on Tuesday instead, just for this week.  

SILLY BILLY....

 

Today I saw a Billy Goat.

We had a little laugh

He said he was quite hungry,

so he nibbled on my scarf.

I said "Why have you done that?"

And he answered with a bleat.

"I had a hat for breakfast

so the set is now complete."

~Author Unknown~

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

GOATS IN THE COUNTRYSIDE

 This was a fun experience watching several baby goats running around and playing in a large field.  Adults were  in the same field as their offspring, a little quieter and slower.  Parents and children are the same across the species I think.  All across the species, kids seem to be bright balls of energy. 

This was a few years ago when I drove out to Middleburg to meet some friends for lunch.  Thankfully the traffic wasn't heavy.  Normally the town has a lot of traffic going back and forth, but this day it was much quieter and it made for a pleasant ride, country roads all the way.  I was looking for a sign on the main street of Middleburg, which would tell me to turn left towards The Plains.  It is a lovely ride and about half way to the town I saw a field of goats, very active goats, at least the kids were active.  I pulled into a gate and parked for ten minutes, took my photos and enjoyed all the frolicking.  I always plan to arrive early and would have plenty of time to meet my friends. 

They were adorable and here are a few facts about goats. 

Goats were one of the first animals to be tamed by humans, and were being herded 9,000 years ago.

Goats can be taught their name and to come when called.

The life span of a goat is about that of a dog.

Each baby goat - called a kid - has a unique call, and along with its scent, that is how its mother recognizes it from birth, not by sight.

Counter to the dominant stereotype about goats being willing to eat anything, they are actually picky eaters.  They have sensitive lips, which they use to 'mouth' things in search of clean and tasty food.  They will often refuse to eat hay that has been walked on or lying around loose for a day.

Goats are herd animals and will become depressed if kept without any goat companions.  So, it is unhealthy for a goat if a family just owns one as a pet.

Goats, being mountain animals, are very good at climbing.  They have been known to climb to the tops of trees, or even dams.  

Goats' pupils (like many hooved animals) are rectangular.  This gives them vision for 320 to 340 degrees (compared to humans with 160 to 210) around them without having to move, and they are thought to have excellent vision.

Goats are foragers, not grazers. In their natural habitat they roam mountaintops and reach up as high as possible to pick out choice bits of forage around them.

I found out these interesting facts and more at this website.