Where did our summer go?!?

We honestly don`t know what happened.

First there was spring, then there was
some dodgy weather, then the fall was upon us. The weather is still shite and close to nothing has been done in the garden. Most of the lawn was killed during two weeks of hard rain and all that is left dark clay-like soil slowly being covered by
the fallen leaves.
We where lucky to have some swedish help this weekend and some trimming of trees was done.Now the view is, if possible, even more spectacular.

The evil brownslug was in overwhelming numbers this year and the few we off`ed won`t make much difference. We will use the winter to think up cunning traps to kill as many as possible, as early as possible when they return after spawning like the evil maggots they are. The battle is lost, not the war..

Enjoy the colors of the fall and have a nice day...

The lawn is here!

The lawn has begun. After two weeks the young grass finally appeared

The sunflowers has not shown yet, and might never, but some peppermint have been planted. Linn has arranged for some protective measures as the garden is infested the evil brown snail. I`m considering putting up a trap for them, but I`m reluctant because of what this might do to my karma.

Remembering the Fern.

The fern that was moved in early may has acclimatized itself supremely and looks quite strong. It has been hot and dry here in the city of rain lately so on todays to-do-list there is a lot of watering to be done including the ferns.
Fred og Hygge to everyone.

A fern (bregne) to remember!

Ferns are nice and we want to avoid upsetting them too much.


In the middle of the path around the house a fern had lived for several years.
We carefully dug it out and moved it to a perfectly shady place. Now, after a couple of weeks, it seems to thrive on it`s new location. The digging itself was pure pleasure and it showed that the trash we already picked up was not the tip of trash mountain.

Above you can see sjefens supreme digging technique.


It has started rolling out more branches and we are very optimistic about its future.
Say hello to your friends and have a nice day.

Sunflower fix and a strange cleanup session

The sunflower bed has new stones! The leca stones are now free to be used somewhere else. Haven`t got a plan for them, but i`m sure they will do more good somewhere else than looking ugly by the someday blossoming sunflowers. One of the stones has to stay for now as it is in a crucial corner protecting a drainage pocket.




Outside the kitchen window there where several plastic bags with bottles left there by someone living here years ago. Some of them had shattered by getting filled with water then frozen during the winter.
There where of course a lot of soil and leaves around the bags and there lived the biggest earthworms seen yet in the garden.






This is the earthworm Fleip-Andre. He-she is a big brother!














Yellow.

JIPPI!

We have reached 200 uniqe hits!

The sunflower corner

Cleaning up outside sjefens window revealed rich soil, sadly there where also old rotten plastic and other unidentifiable items positively bursting with asbestos. This was carefully removed of course.

We needed to have some use for the leaf/soil mix from the north side and a sunflower bed was the natural choice. The stones we used are, as you can see, not very fitting. The leca stones should be used somewhere else and we have begun gathering rocks by the trail to replace them.

Allting er så grått og trist(everything is so grey and sad)

The weather is scitzophrenic to say the least.
Warm, cold, snow, rain, hail, sun. No hurricane yet, but we won`t hold our breath. The thing that bothers us the most is the moist. The ongoing battle on the vines exposes bare ground and the soil is extremely slippery and washes easily away here in Bergen.
Therefore the plan to grow a lawn outside my window is in progress.
We need to build up a wall and fill in some pure earth and sow the grass.
Hopefully I will get around to posting some pictures of the cleanup behind the west wing and maybe a sketch of the ongoing lawn project.
Have a nice day!

This is a flower!
What kind of flower is it?

The plan that became some other plan.

This weekend we where suppose to begin construction of a greenhouse. We where not even remotely close to beginning this project. Instead we did some badly needed maintenance on the house itself.

this is sjefen in the process of securing a rope to the
threatening branch in order to avoid damaging the roof of the west wing.
After removing a branch that was closing in on the 2knd floor kitchen window. We started cleaning off the roof after probably over a decade of neglect.

The roof had more dirt than leaves and there where small plants and trees growing several places. This is the brutal removal of a tiny tree

After trying to use a branch it was obvious that getting ones hand dirty was the quick and thorough way to do it.

After this we started preparing a nice corner for some sunflowers that will have earth and leaves to grow in. Soon there will be pictures of the "new" roof and of the new hangout outside sjefens window. Feel free to comment or suggest tasks and projects. Fred og Hygge til alle.






all photos by: Linn Kjersti the glassmaker

This weekend we will hopefully start building the greenhouse and continue
to cut down and haul away things we do not want around. Sjefen`s brother Sindre
will be helping with the construction and the eating of breakfasts. We will also try to find a more suitable place for the broken couch currently dying under our beloved balcony(priority). This weekend will also include the baking of tradisjonal birthday cake , probably nothing like , but just as tasty as the one sjefen recived for his birthday(shown below).

The south wing of Brattlien 38

Everyone here in our garden hope`s too see you soon and that you have a wonderful weekend.
Next week we will publish new pictures of the garden and we hope there is great difference from its current state.
Till next time, remember to water your indoor plants.

This is the glassmaker

This is Linn. She likes the sun and, as you can see, we let her eat with us sometimes when she promises to behave at the table. She is very good at letting sjefen know that he does good work in the garden. We are very glad to have her in Brattlien. Thanks goes to "den tenksome Vraslosken" and "Repthule" for connecting us all.

The Evil vines of Brattlien

The Evil vines of Wrath, which isn't evil at all, grow everywhere i our garden. They start at the bottom of the trail and climbs to the roof of the west wing. I`m sure they are damaging the house and something needs to be done. I`m hoping I don`t have to cut them all down and instead I will try to pull most of it off the wall(of the house) and show it where it can grow in peace, like in a big peace sign maybe.
It is of course possible that you have snow(like the snow that came last night) and are unwilling to battle the vines in such harsh conditions and therefore spend the day creating the ultimate triple Decker sandwich.
This one was made in November and has the following ingredients:

• cucumber
• finely sliced onion rings
• thin tomato slices(thin is important for the stability and enables you to use as much tomato as you like)
• matured Chev re
  
• butter
• mayonnaise
  
• spinach
  
• salt and pepper
• a thin layer of mustard on one side of one deck

I think that`s about it on this sandwich and this post. Have a splendid whatever.

Viewing

The View
Is stupid and avkvard to describe with words, much like sjefens own vocabulary,
therefore the pictures will do the talking.

Below: breakfast at Brattlien where sjefen obviously has made a comment
that Mr. Mong frowns upon, possibly that onions are perfect with brown cheese and sour cream with salt and pepper on top(if you feel really funky you might even kick it all off with some finely chopped garlic, superb for the experienced sandwich eater)
Same situation, different background.

A new beginning

This will become a blog about our garden. Which is special even if I`m the only one that thinks so.

Soon there will be plans and pictures to support our(my) opinion.

Suggestions are more than welcome

Peace on earth!
Fred på jord!