Hedgehog birthday party!

Happy 25th birthday soon, Zachary!

And as we'd hoped...

...he had special guests at his party. 

They thought it started at 7.30 pm so they were a little late, but very sweet and very thirsty!

SO KEEP PUTTING OUT WATER AND CHICKEN FLAVOURED CAT FOOD AND

YOU MIGHT GET SOME VISITORS TOO

NOT MILK 

If you see black poos about, with beetle bits in, don't worry about rats. 

It's your friendly hedgehogs leaving manure for your garden.

To top it all off, Jake's hedgehog muffins were featured in the Danish hedgehog society 

member's magazine! 

www.pindsvin.dk

Parkour with Street Movement

Schedule

Here's a superman photo, though it's probably technically
taken with totally the wrong setting.

Notice the special hand holds! Cool! 

You learn to jump and land softly and safely. First by landing on a circle chalked
on the ground until you're certain of your balance. Then if you like, landing on concrete blocks.

Friendly instructors are on hand.

And all the 'obstacles' are realistic street furniture.

Here they all are, training their tummy muscles.

Upside down, without getting a rollicking for putting footprints on the wall. 

Ooh look, everyone learns from watching each other -
and the instructors demonstrate the moves slowly first, giving useful tips.


So if you fancy it, give it a go, visit http://www.streetmovement.dk/ and trot along to a course
or turn up at the Experimentariet during the autumn half-term holiday,
and join in the parkour workshop every day.

Check out the details at:
https://experimentarium.dk/

Keep checking in for more photos roughly once a week.

NEXT WEEK: pretty dresses and soldiers with muskets at Kronborg.

Due to a technical hitch, impending Scout camp and heavy workload...

...here is a photo shot of Jakob taking 

a reluctant Dr Watson the Dog for a walk. 

Normal service and the promised photos, 

will be up and running,

like Watson, 

...as SOON as possible.

In other words, by tomorrow.

Apologies all round, parkour buddies.


PS They made it across the river without getting wet! 

Last Christmas at the open air museum

I guess Father Christmas's reindeer had a cold -
he was feeling a little horse, at least. 

Here's the cosy museum shop with plenty of ideas for good quality presents from the past. 

The sails were on at the mill, which was open by chance.
Check out the website to find out exactly when the mills are open at

 www.natmus.dk/museerne/frilandsmuseet

It would have been nice if that link had been blue 

but I guess the nissers (Danish Christmas goblins that play tricks) 

have been up to mischief.

A nice view is waiting at the top.

Oops here's the nice view.

And inside, you can see how different types of wood are used for
 the teeth, wheels and central treetrunk around which the mill turns
to make the most of the wind direction.

It was really impressive to see how flour was made all those years ago.

It was also interesting to think that mel in Danish = 'flour' in English
but we have 'wholemeal bread' in English too.

There were lots of houses to explore and big barns where
you could enjoy food and drink. But they were full of people who
might not want to be on a blog. So I've only used photos
without close-ups on faces except for these lovely ladies who
might well be serving again this year. 

Yummy!

Jake warmed up with a meatball and bread...

...before polishing off a traditional pork sandwich with all the trimmings.
Well not all the trimmings because there were hearts and nissers all over the place!
This is Denmark after all!

We'll be back this year for seconds!

Hedgehogs in our own back yard!

You won't see many photos of me on this blog.
But here's a very happy exception!

Watson and Jakob found not one but two baby hedgehogs sniffing about
 in our garden and called me out to see. I didn't have time to put shoes on.

Run snail run!

Jake took photos and we fed them with kitten food.
They must have come for the water I put out in a bowl every night.

Then they trotted back off into the hedge. And Jake went back to bed.
AMAZING!

Potty time at the open air museum

This is cheating a bit but I'll pass it off as a good way to learn some Danish
- if you can zoom in close enough.
This is just one of the MANY old houses at the open air museum.
But these photos will give you an idea of what to look forward to
on this huge site, where admission is free.

All the potter's tools are on display

Neatly lined up.

Ouch - also at head height. Though judging by the height of some of the doorways,
Danes may just have been related to hobbits.

Imagine the potter sitting with his back against the wall,
treadling like mad with his feet (if there's such a word)
so the base goes round as he's shaping the lump of clay
 on the top. I guess that's how it works, anyway.
I'd be no good at that because I can't even rub my tummy while patting my head!   

Here's the kiln where the pots were fired.

And here are some more pretty pots. Is that a pig's head hanging on the wall?

This photo has nothing to do with the museum, but Dr Watson has just had his whiskers trimmed.
Hold on, Watson...is that a packet of crisps?