I have been robbed!

Last Sunday I was reminded that it was time to harvest nuts from my Hazel shrubs - a pair of spotted nutcrackers were robbing me.

I seem to remember that the thieves of previous years have been eurasian jays. Last year they took everything. But this time I joined the harvesting and managed to secure more nuts than I have ever had before. And still there were more on the shrubs that I let the birds handle.

I don't think I have seen spotted nutcrackers before. They were beautiful birds, and I hope they stay in my area. They are welcome to more nuts, and maybe they will contribute to spreading hazels in the neighborhood.

Camping at Kobberhaughytta

At Kobberhaughytta in the forrests surrounding Oslo there are two Leantos that can be rented. This place is part of the Norwegian Trekking Association's chain of cabins that allow people to enjoy the great out-doors.

During Pentecost we were four dads and 5 boys renting the leantos for two nights. The weather was warm and the water temperature was so high that even adults enjoyed swimming.

At the same time we were there so early in the spring that the mosquitos were not active. Combined with the bog volleyball field, the superb dinner served by the cabin's personel on Sunday, and the wonderful view from the nearby Kobberhaugen the trip was almost perfect. Something to make the plank floors in the leantos softer to sleep on would have been nice, though!

Spring before schedule

This year's month of March was particularly warm. As a consequence the snow melted too early, in the eyes of anybody eager to go sking. Yesterday we took a trip to the cabin, and here is what we found.

This picture shows the stump of a birch tree that I felled in the beginning of March. That was probably before the sap started to rise but the temperature was already higher than normal. Later, as the temperature increased the root system started to prepare for a new season by pumping sap into the trunk - but the trunk wasn't there any more. So the sap drained to the ground. However, then the temperature fell again, the sap froze, and the picture shows the resulting frozen sap. I can't remember seeing this before, but I take it as an indication that the tree that I felled was relative dry and probably will be usable as firewood the coming season.

This next picute shows the flower blåveis as it is called in Norwegian. There is even a leaf of wild strawberries there. The "blåveis" and its sister the "hvitveis" normally appear in early May. But with the warm March they have been tricked to appear much earlier, maybe so early that the ants and other insects needed for pollination and distribution of seeds have not appeared yet. The "blåveis" is actually rare in Norway, and having it in large numbers on our property is very nice.

Are Swedish lampposts cold in summer?

Check out the image on the right. It shows a lamppost with a knitted cover. I found a number of such lampposts on a visit to Simrishamn in Sweden in early May. They were nice, but why? Are the lampposts cold in summer, or had they just forgotten to remove them after winter?