Tuesday, May 18, 2010

It´s getting greener :-)

It´s been a cloudy and rainy day today. Scince it also was fairly warm it was like working in a steam bath :-) I got much the same feeling when my dogs and I took our walk when I got home. But birds was singing and all smells were so strong that it was a joy to walk there.







My favourite peninsula out into the bog has unfortunally also become the favourite place for a couple of moose. It´s a cow and her calf from last year. The moose cow is trying to get rid of the old one since there´s a new one on the way, so she´s a bit irritated as it is. When the new calf comes she will become dangerous, especially towarsd humans and dogs.




Soon the white flowering period starts out in the forest. This is cherry flowerbuds.


Just a couple of days ago they had to shoot a moose cow and her newly born calf since the moose cow attacked a lady that was out walking and injured her badly. They tried everything to make the moose walk away, but she refused. She also did her best attacking the personel that came with the ambulance to get the injured lady. So now I have to make a lot of noice when walking out there or not walk there at all. It´ll most probably be the latter.


Bird-cherry tree. If one is lucky the flowers smells wonderful, but mostly it smells like cat pee.

Sloe bush. Gets berries that tastes awful until they are hit by two days of frost. After that one can make the most wonderful lemonade (or liqueur if You like that). They belive this is one of the ancestors to the european plum.
The forest has changed a lot since lots of spruces and pines has been cut down or fallen in storms. As You know by now I don´t like it when they cut down the forest. But now lots of deciduous trees has migrated to the forest and more will be planted (like oak, beech and cherries) and with them lots more animals and herbs. A spruce and pine forest is poor with different species in comparence so that is an improvement (unfortunally also ticks will benefit from this).


The flowers on the Sloe bush.


For us that loves gardening but lives in a place with rather hard climate for most garden plants this is great. I´ve already seen some bushes that I will (with the landowners permission naturally) take some cuttings from. If I´m lucky I´ll perhaps find some with different shapes on the leafs or with a bit different color on the leafs. By the way, if You have some cuttings that simply refuses to get roots, there is one thing You can try.


This clematis that I´ve sown myself (and calls Tove after a friend that isn´t with us any more) starts with green flowers that slowly turns white.


Cut some branches from a willow (any species in the family Salix will do) cut them in 10cm (4 inches) and put them in water. If You prefere to have cuttings in water to get roots put the cutting in the same place as the willow branches. If You like me wants to put the cuttings in soil let the willow cuttings get some roots and water with that water they stand in. Willows produces a hormone that stimulates the making of roots and the water gets full of it. When the roots on the willows has become an inch or so throw them away and start with new ones. I think it´s a better way than to buy chemically manufactured hormones that can cause troubles in the nature (and it´s cheap too!)

Well it´s time for a cup of tea and then I´ll read all Your blogs!
Have a great day now!

16 comments:

jaz@octoberfarm said...

hi christer..as we approach summer it looks like you approach spring. it has rained here for 2 days which is great. we really needed it and it has dampened the pollen so i am not sneezing as bad. our crazy city has cut a bunch of trees from the hillside to open up the view. now we have landslides and the people that cut the trees can't figure out why this is happening. unreal! i have lots of planting to do but now i have to wait until it dries out a bit. enjoy your tea! joyce

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

Hi Joyce!
We call this early summer over here :-) :-) Our summers usually doesn´t get so hot.

Great that You´ve gotten rain and I´m glad that there isn´t much pollen in the air.

Strange that some people can´t understand why things happens when they do things with nature. Over here people gets surprised when their new built houses by the river gets damaged when the rivers flood. They do so every year so I can´t for my life understand why they get surprised :-) :-) I wonder how they are thinking???

Have a great day now!
Christer.

Anonymous said...

Interesting post today Christer. I needed that Willow tip a month back though. I will try it next year for sure. Lovely photos! Enjoy your tea and don't step in the cat pee.

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

Hi Z&M!
I hope it worksnext year then!
Have a great day now!
Christer.

Caryn said...

Hi Christer,
Thanks for the willow tip. I will try that with the mystery bush in my yard although it does seem to be reproducing itself very well without my help.
It's rainy and cold here today. It's a heavy drizzle and could be called a fine soft day if it wasn't for the wind blowing it sideways.
Have a good day.

Perovskia said...

Yes, please be careful of the moose. It makes me sad they had to shoot it. I mean, it's not her (the moose's) fault, right? To her, people are on HER land, not the other way around. Will you be able to control the dogs (to keep them close) if there's a hint of a moose around? Though I suppose they're faster.

As an inappropriate side note, moose meat is fantastic :)

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

Hi Caryn!
A mystery bush??!! Sound exiting :-)

Really warm here today and it was sunny until I came home and it started to rain :-) :-) But the rain lowered the temperature a bit so it was nice to take a walk in i.
Have a great day now!
Christer.

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

Hi Perovskia!
She refused to walk away and she atacked every one comming close to her, so they couldn´t do anything else I´m afraid. A moose can kill a person without any problems. I don´t trust them for a second.
And yes, moose meat is fantastic :-) :-)


My dogs doesn´t like mooses at all, so they would most probably back of from them very fast I´m happy to say.
Have a great day now!
Christer.

Valerie said...

Fascinating post!

Yes, moose and elk can be extremely dangerous, especially if it is mating season or they have new calves. Please stay safe! How did the woman with the injuries fare?

I sure wish that I could report warm/humid-like temps! Although the weather forecasters are predicting 80s for the next two weeks. I sure hope so...my poor psyche and kids need some desperate outdoor time! My little ones have been begging me to take them to Ernie Miller Nature Park in a neighboring town, but it's either been raining or flooded from the nearby creek.

Thanks so much for dropping by...and yes we have some pretty ferocious storms on our continent. I have to admit that I cried when I saw the story on the news...I had no idea. And to think that our cheap, dump, swing set is still standing in our backyard, but that beautiful barn is gone!

Take care,
Val

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

Hi Valerie!
I´m glad that Your cheap, dump swing set still is standing because That means that You and Your family didn´t get hit by that storms as bad as that barn. Barns can be rebuilt, lifes can´t.


I´make a lot of noice now when I get out towards the bog and I don´t walk as far as I usually does. Elks we don´t have but even the smallest deers can be nasty when they wants to :-) Especially male ones that has grown up with humans. When they grow up they see humans as competing deers. They will perhaps not kill but they will injure if they can.

It´s going to stay warm until Sunday here and then temperatures will drop down to 54F again. Lots of thunder too until then they say.
Have a great day now!
Christer.

Sharon Lovejoy said...

Hello dear Christer,

I loved going on the walk with you, but wow, now I know you must watch out for moose. We have them on our island in Maine. They swim over. I'll watch out if I meet them.

I love your clematis.

Sending love from California,

Sharon

SpinMeAYarn said...

Hi Christer!
Tje tip about the willow sounds great, and well worth remembering.
Humid here yesterday and today, my mother in law in Karkstad says it's sunny and humid today (Thursday) there too.
Anyway, there's an award at my blog for you. I linked to your blog on mine a long time ago, I hope that is ok with you.
Thanks
liz

Kat said...

Christer,
Thank you-I wouldn't have the faintest idea how to use cuttings. I am so ignorant in the garden. I read your blog, see your pictures and envy your knowledge.

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

Hi Sharon!
Yes mooses can be dangerous, especially now when the little ones comes. Otherwise they usually runs away when they hear people comming.
Have a great day now!
Christer.

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

Hi Liz!
I´ll soon use some willow branches when I want to root a couple of cuttings I´ll get. Usually works great!

It has been thunderstorms for over two days now and I´m getting a bit tired of it by now :-)
Have a great day now!
Christer.

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

Hi Kat!
If You ever find something You would like to have in the garden, this is a good way to improove the odds :-)
Have a great day now!
Christer.