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!

Finally, the Paverpol culture vultures and course dates and times

A bit later than expected due to a dead computer but here we go...

Susanne will be holding a weekend of Paverpol classes this autumn for children aged about 10 or over with a mum, dad or other adult. Yippee! It takes some concentration but is great fun.

Paverpol course dates: Saturday 12 and 13 September
Price: one day DKK 400 per person
          two days DKK 650 per person

Sign up by mailing her at sussdesign@gmail.com

Here are some beautiful ladies made by one of Susanne's friends.

Here are our finished vultures!
And below, you can see how we made them.

Silver foil, an old wire frame from a dead pot plant (very apt), an old sheet from
Halloween, masking tape and garden wire are some of the things we took along
for a two-day course with our friend Susanne. 

And while jake was making his Sith Warrior figure, I began trying to figure out
what on earth I was going to make 

It took a lot of wire winding, two branches and some tape to start
 holding it together. 

But something was wrong. This was far too elegant for my garden.

So I started giving the bird a hunch back. That's better.
Susanne explained that you have to try to fill in the bulk of the sculpture 
before swathing it in strips of sheet dipped in Paverpol.

I used some old cables. Suddenly I caught sight of a microphone on the end of one - once I'd firmly knotted it into place. It said 'Creative' on it, which rang a bell. Hmmm that was a programme installed on one of my computers. One of the ones you can't remember what it's for - a camera? A free game? Well, now the mystery was solved. Too late to save it now though. 

I look like Obi Wan strangling a Star Wars chicken. 

The second day Jake had finished his and went to play with his dad,
so I had to rig up a stand to hold my birds while I slathered them in Paverpol - without getting any on the floor.

And here they are. Complete with drawer handle eyes. Of course now the drawers in my office are not complete but that just means that getting into my drawers is even harder :o). 

And here is a far more appealing Kiwi bird too, made with seaweed.

Here is a doll given a new lease of life in the garden.

Another bird but MUCH BIGGER than ours.