sheep – Page 2 – In the Woods

Steindalsfossen

5.25.15.8547 — 5.25.15 ~ Steine, Hordaland, Norway

Fossen means waterfall in Norwegian. The attraction at Steindalsfossen is that one can walk under the waterfall, which was an amazing experience for me. I’m told this is one of the most visited tourist sites in Norway. The souvenir shop (above) was near the bottom of the waterfall, where the path started which led up to the waterfall.

5.25.15.8558 — a troll welcomes us
5.25.15 ~ Steine, Hordaland, Norway

Located in the village of Stein, along Hardangerfjord, we visited when melting snow made Steindalsfossen extra full of rushing water. The waterfall is 151′ (46m) high. We were impressed!

5.25.15.8560 — 5.25.15 ~ Steine, Hordaland, Norway

5.25.15.8571 — along the path we saw plenty of sheep and lambs
5.25.15 ~ Steine, Hordaland, Norway

5.25.15.8572 — 5.25.15 ~ Steine, Hordaland, Norway

5.25.15.8578 — about halfway up, looking down

5.25.15.8579 — 5.25.15 ~ Steine, Hordaland, Norway

5.25.15.8584 — yours truly, trying to give some perspective

5.25.15.8589 — me again, under the waterfall
5.25.15 ~ Steine, Hordaland, Norway

5.25.15.8599 — Dan & Fran ~ 5.25.15 ~ Steine, Hordaland, Norway

5.25.15.8604 — Fran – it was a great place for contemplation
5.25.15 ~ Steine, Hordaland, Norway

5.25.15.8610 — looking back down ~ 5.25.15 ~ Steine, Hordaland, Norway

5.25.15.8612 — 5.25.15 ~ Steine, Hordaland, Norway

There was a platform at the top of the path, beyond the walk under the waterfall. From there the souvenir shop below and nearby village of Stein could be viewed.

5.25.15.8615 — 5.25.15 ~ Steine, Hordaland, Norway

We felt pretty lucky on this trip. We kept arriving places when almost no one else was there, and then as we were leaving, a tour bus (or cruise ship as happened in Flåm) would show up with loads of tourists. As we went back down the path we encountered a big group of people from that tour bus you can see down there in the parking lot. We were grateful we had Steindalsfossen to ourselves as long as we did.

5.25.15.8616 — 5.25.15 ~ Steine, Hordaland, Norway

Nærøyfjord & Aurlandsfjord II

More pictures from our ferry ride on Nærøyfjord and Aurlandsfjord…

5.24.15.7990 — our traveling companions, Tim’s brother, Dan, and his wife, Fran
yes, it was COLD!…

That tiny little house (above) captured my imagination. I wonder what it would be like to live there, especially in the winter. The ferry does run, although less frequently, in the winter.

Those colorful dots (above) near the waterfall are kayakers! In the picture below is the same waterfall, the barely visible kayakers dwarfed by the mountain!

Still more pictures coming!

mind the cows

Carl-Larsson.thestable2 — “The Stable” by Carl Larsson

Many said that now there was no hope of salvation, for a man might do anything and be in the wrong. There was no way to tell. It was better to stay on the steading and mind the cows and be content with such days as are left to one and cease to wonder about life everlasting.
~ Jane Smiley
(The Greenlanders)

an animal’s eyes

8.23.14.1669 — 8.23.14 ~ Groton Family Farm

An animal’s eyes have the power to speak a great language.
~ Martin Buber
(I & Thou)

8.23.14.1674 — 8.23.14 ~ Groton Family Farm

Yesterday we went to pick up fresh eggs from our local family farm. While there I decided to pause and capture some photos of chickens. Well, this sheep presented himself and was very interested in me, as a possible source of food, no doubt. He seemed to be very good natured and patient with all the chickens clucking and cooing around him. And one decided to stand on his back!

8.23.14.1700 — 8.23.14 ~ Groton Family Farm

We’ve been having a quiet, peaceful weekend, with lovely low-humidity weather. It’s a rare treat to putter and meander through the days without feeling rushed about anything. Very refreshing and restorative!

a sap run

Before the bud swells, before the grass springs, before the plow is started, comes the sugar harvest. It is the sequel of the bitter frost; a sap run is the sweet goodbye of winter.
~ John Burroughs
(Signs & Seasons)

We had no idea what a treat we were in for when we checked into a motel in Orange, Massachusetts Saturday night. Our plan was to spend the night, grab a breakfast somewhere, and head over to a family reunion in the neighboring town of Athol on Sunday afternoon. In the morning we discovered a great place to have breakfast, on Johnson’s Farm, a restaurant, sugar house, and gift shop! Maple syrup production was well under way, the old-fashioned way.

Sugar weather is crisp weather. How the tin buckets glisten in the gray woods; how the robins laugh; how the nuthatches call; how lightly the thin blue smoke rises among the trees! The squirrels are out of their dens; the migrating waterfowls are streaming northward; the sheep and cattle look wistfully toward the bare fields; the tide of the season, in fact, is just beginning to rise.
~ John Burroughs
(Signs & Seasons)

If only some way could be found to share the smell of New England in maple sugar season on a blog post! Our olfactory receptors were tickled with delight to whiff in the aromas of wood-burning stoves and sap boiling down into syrup. We bought a couple of jugs of pure maple syrup! Mostly we’ll be using it in marinades, since pancakes are no longer on our grain-free diet…

It was if we had been transported back in time to a place in the heart of New England. It made me appreciate anew that there are more “seasons” than the four four we normally notice as the year goes around. The gnarly old tree in the above picture caught our attention – what an amazing life it has had. And I loved the knotty pine interior of the sugar house in the picture below – so typical of New England.

When we got home Sunday night Zoë and Scarby seemed a little angry with us (ears pinned back, ignoring us) for leaving them overnight, but they’re back to purring and following us around, rubbing our legs and talking to us again.

groundhog day

Technically winter will be over in 6½ weeks no matter what the groundhog says, but because he didn’t see his shadow today, there is hope for an early arrival of spring-like weather.

Our groundhog, Basil, refused to step outside in the raging ice storm for his shadow-less annual photo shoot. So we put him in front of the sliding glass door with one of Brigid’s lambs. No shadows to be seen anywhere! Come spring!

Basil is named for my paternal grandfather, who was born on Groundhog Day, February 2, 1882 in the village now known as Ivano-Frankovsk, Ukraine. When Pop arrived in America at Ellis Island in 1909, instead of translating his name, Wasyl, to its equivalent in English, Basil, the immigration worker wrote his name down as William, by which he was known for the rest of his life.

Last year the sun was shining brightly, so we took Basil down to Eastern Point Beach for pictures.