Jutland Tour, Part II: Skagen and Aalborg

And relax..... Finally a rest day.  I think we were both a bit tired of bicycles by this point so a train ride to Skagen was in order. Fortunately the guy at the campsite in Hjorring was very helpful and looked up the train times on the internet for us, so we knew we had an early start.  But we dozed and read eBooks on the way so it was OK (we probably should have been admiring the view or something...).

Two seas

Skagen is on the northernmost tip of Jutland where the North Sea and the Baltic Sea meet, and is the Denmark's most popular seaside resort.  What we didn't know much about was the Skagen Painters movement which was influenced by the French Impressionist with a bit of realism thrown in - fortunately the excellent Skagens Museum told us all about them and they even had a cafe in the studio of P.S. and Marie Krøyer.

The Krøyer's studio in the garden of the Skagens Museum

Garden of the studio looking out to Brondums Hotel

I really liked Skagen (that might have been influenced by the weather!) - it was quite small and very tasteful in the village, with most buildings in the traditional yellow walls and red tiled roofs.  None of the modern brash touristy stuff that you get elsewhere.  In fact, everything in Denmark was like that, even the significant Viking monuments were not over-the-top touristy.

Yellow and red

Skagen Lighthouses

Big sky and sand dunes

The day after Skagen, we cycled south.  All the time we'd been cycling north the wind was in our faces, and we were hoping the change of direction would mean we'd be pushed along by the wind.  But it changed! How unfair!! Fortunately the distance from Hjorring to Aalborg wasn't huge and really there was no route choice.  It was just straight down the road.

Our shorter day meant that we made it to the viking burial site of Lindholm Høje on the north side of Aalborg by lunchtime.  The museum there was excellent, with tonnes of interesting info on the history and use of the surrounding area (and most of it with english translation).  The cafe was run by Brian Blessed's Viking cousin - complete with jolly belly laugh, and a most impressive viking beard.  We had  gorgeous pulled pork sandwiches... which was a relief after days of pizza, burgers and steak.  I don't know where the Danes eat out, but we couldn't find it.  Unless you want mexican italian.  There seems to be a Danish infatuation with mexican pizza (meat and chilli as far as we could work out).  Most strange!

The approach to the Museum takes you past the burial site itself and you get a glimpse of the field - it was quite distracting.... Then when you enter the site you get presented with the view of the whole site.  It is absolutely incredible, the size of site just blew me away.  In much the same way I was in awe of the Callanish Stone circle in the Outer Hebrides, I was completely surprised about how impressive it was.

So far they think there are over 700 graves here dating from around the 5th Century through the Vikings in around 1000AD, and they've recently found evidence of villages on the site.

Triangle grave

The design of the stone settings around the graves gave some indication of their ages.  Earlier ones were laid out in triangles or created mounds, and later ones were ships with larger stones at the prow and stern.

Ship grave

Even Morag Coo was impressed

The following day we had another rest, and spent our time wandering around Aalborg.  First stop the city museum, which wasn't great (but free entry so that's ok!).  There was an interesting exhibition about the tobacco factory but that was it.  We did however find a leaflet for a walking tour of the city....

C18th houses

Aalborg Slot (castle) - now home to civil servants

Jens Bang's House - renaissance architecture at its best!

My favourite bit was the Franciscan Monastery Museum.  The Monastery remains were found when building on the main streets of Aalborg, and still remain under the shopping district.  The entrance was this elevator, unassumingly placed on the side of the street. This was it, put your money in the slot and the doors open and you descend into the depths...  It was all quite surreal.  Amusingly entry to the museum was by weight - if there were too many people in the lift, it wouldn't move!

Stats

Hjorring - Aalborg, 42.9mi

Jutland Tour, Part I: The race north

OK it wasn't really a race but one of the aims for this tour was to make it to Skagen on the northern tip of Jutland, so we decided to try and get there as quickly as possible, then spend the rest our time in Denmark working our way back south, ticking off all the sights that we wanted to visit. I'd already done a rough route plan using the excellent map on the Danish Cycling Federation website which gave us suggested overnight stops and daily mileages (or kilometre-ages as its mainland Europe!).

We met a german guy at the ferry terminal in Harwich who was towing a trailer around the North Sea Cycle Route (now that is crazy). He said it was great for storage and security but way too heavy.  He'd been defeated by the British weather and was going on to Denmark where it was flatter and hopefully less wet/windy.

German style touring

The overnight crossing from Harwich to Esbjerg was hideous. Gale force winds do not make for a pleasant crossing and my tummy was not too impressed. Once off the boat around lunchtime, we headed into Esbjerg and the Tourist Info to buy the missing two maps for the tour.  We had a brief panic as the Tourist Info building was covered in scaffolding and builders, but the lady at the post office pointed us in the direction of the temporary Tourist Info office.

Strapped down and ready for the off

Getting out of Esbjerg wasn't too difficult and we stopped off to have a look at the strange 'People of the Sea' statues... I don't remember much about the route apart from the wind. The storm winds from overnight had continued and trying to keep a loaded touring bike moving was ridiculously hard. I remember when we were on the country lanes, surrounded by fields and no hedgerows - you came out from the shelter of the farmstead and were practically brought to a standstill by the force of the wind.  I think we were both having second thoughts about the whole adventure at this point - if the wind continued to be that bad we wouldn't be getting anywhere....

People of the Sea

The plan had been to get to Skive, but the reality was that we gave up when we got to the end of National Route 2 at Olgod. So we ended up doing only 36 miles the first afternoon.

Day two aim was to get to Viborg (or beyond if possible). To make up time/distance we decided to take the road as far as Herning, as it was more direct than the cycle routes. I wasn't sure about this but it turned out that the roads are quieter in Denmark and most of the time the vehicles give you more room than in the UK.

Herning

Random building in Herning

The wind had slacked off a bit and we made good time in getting to Herning for lunch. After that it was on to the Local Route 21 - the old railway route.  This was the first experience of the proper Danish cycle paths - lovely smooth tarmac, no potholes, and not a road in sight.  As it was the route of the old railway, the path was raised up on an embankment and you got a great view of the surrounding countryside (mostly grass and arable fields).  Going through some villages you could even see the remains of some platforms and station buildings.

What cycle paths should look like.

We got a first experience of Danish village/town churches today as well (the first of many photos).  Iconic whitewashed buildings with red roofs, sometimes with some exposed red brick and a bell tower.  What struck me most was the graveyards, they were so pretty.  Each was beautifully manicured - divided into (family) plots with small hedges and then filled with small shrubs and flowers.  All lovingly maintained.

Karup Kirke

Viborg was lovely.  Situated on the side of two lakes, with the cathedral on a rise above the city.  We arrived and collapsed in the park next to the south lake before working out where the campsite was, and the first thing that struck me was runners.  They were everywhere, single runners and packs of them.  I think that every time we wandered away from the campsite, we saw somebody out running!

Viborg at Sunset

The aim for day three was to get from Viborg to the other side of the Limfjord so we could visit the Viking fortress near Aggersund. Looking at the size of the villages on that side of the fjord, we revised the plan as we didn't think we'd end up being able to find somewhere for dinner.  So the new aim was Logstor, on the south side of the Limfjord.

Big sky

The 'interesting' sand/gravel track down by the Fjord

We used a combination of signed Cycle routes and normal roads.  On one section early on the cycle route went away from the main road and on a minor road down towards the edge of the fjord, so we decided to check out the scenery down there.  The minor road degenerated into a gravel track, which degenerated into a sandy track.  At this point Mal's bike attempted to go sideways and traction disappeared, so we had to get off and push.  The sandy section was only short and before long we were back cycling on gravel.  That was still a bit skittish though and there was a lot of concentration involved in trying to keep the bike upright and moving forward, and trying to pick the line on the track that had the least gravel.

Spot the intrepid Traveller?

Given that we did 60 miles, I'm not sure how we managed to get to Logstor in time for tea and cake.  But we did.  And we had 'speciality of Denmark' cake, which was described to me as having special egg foam.  Turns out that's a very posh Tunnocks tea cake.  They were very nice though.  The tea however.... It's best to stick to coffee outside of the UK I think....

Post tea/cake we mosied on down to the campsite and set up the tent, then decided we had enough time to cycle across the bridge over the Limfjord to check out Aggersund (better than trying to fit it in before the next day's epic cycle).  Photos don't do it justice...

Aggersund Viking Fortress

OK, so it is a big grass covered circle.  But it's big.  And you can see why that clever Harold Bluetooth built it here - the narrowest point of the Limfjord and some cracking (strategic) views!

The kirke at Aggersund

By day four of the big push north, I think we were both feeling a bit dazed.  The original plan had been to go to Frederikshavn on the coast, and then get the train to Skagen the following day as our rest day. But that was quite a long way, and after some studying of the Lonely Planet guide Mal discovered that Hjorring was closer, nicer (Frederikshavn = industrial port, Hjorring = pleasant historical town), and we could still get the train to Skagen from there. We used mostly main roads for the route so it was more direct, and I remember it being hilly (for Denmark) and windy, but not much else.  

Stats:

Esbjerg - Olgod, 37.9mi
Olgod - Viborg, 65.1mi
Viborg - Logstor, 60.7mi
Logstor - Hjorring, 55.2mi

New WIP!

Really needed to crack on with this as its a Baby quilt for a due date of July, fortunately my planned design shouldn't take too long to piece together (no HST's!!).  So this morning I've cut four 9.5x9.5'' squares from 4 fat quarters of Michael Miller fabrics.

The plan is to make snowball blocks with plain white fabric on the corners, then have white sashing between the blocks.

Haven't been doing much really as we've just got back from two weeks in Denmark (more on that later), and before that was a frantic week in the garden to get everything prepped for going away.  Next-door's teenager was tasked with looking after the tunnel whilst we were away, and I have to say he's done a great job.  Everything I've planted has germinated, and it's all looking really healthy.  We may well have a glut of sweetcorn at some point.... He knows nothing about gardening, and was somewhat confused about the flowers on the potato plants! Bless.

Linking up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced, especially as I've started something new!

WIPs and Finishes

1. Wiksten Tova top

Finished!! This is the first piece of clothing I've made since school days and was more advanced than anything else I remember doing.  The front insert was quite fiddly to put in and isn't perfect - there's a small section that overlaps incorrectly and one of the corners you can see the reinforcing stitches if you look closely, but I'm the only one that would notice it.  Gathering the cuffs and sleeves worked well, although the sleeve inserts might have pleated a bit more than they should.  I did change the fit a bit by increasing the seam allowance on the shoulder seams so that the seam across the front sat in the right place, and that seems to have worked out ok, but has made the arm holes a little smaller.  I think next time I make it I'll change those a bit.  That change also altered where the collar sits, so I had to take out a bit at the back of the neck and where the front overlaps before fitting the collar.

2. Stripey messenger bag

Finished too!! I did this a while ago but hadn't got around to taking any pictures.  Its the same bag as the one I made for myself, but bigger. I slightly overestimated it - and it's turned out huge!  I did make a couple of changes from mine - mainly to make it a bit more hard wearing as the one I've got is starting to fall apart from over a year's worth of constant use. The fabric is upholstery weight (from the Abakhan bargain bins), and all the seams have been overlocked before attaching the inside to the outside. I also sewed through the outside, inside and straps on the sides to reenforce where the straps are attached to the bag.  I hope the recipient likes it, and if she doesn't, well I want it!

3. Joseph Quilt back

Now complete! Colours look a bit washed out in this photo as I think we've finished with sunshine and summer in North Wales for this year.  All the fabric came from the bargain bins at Abakhan (again!), and fortunately I had just about enough to finish.  I've learnt from my first few quilts and this back is a fair bit bigger than the (already completed) quilt top.  I've even made the binding already (the black fabric that borders the star) so I just need to start pinning the whole thing together and begin quilting!

I'm really keen to get this finished and out of the way because I've got another quilt planned that needs to be finished some time in July and I don't want the WIP list to continue growing....

Making a rod....

Obviously a jelly roll strip quilt is not enough and what it needs is a pieced back.....

So here's the design process (yes, that is an envelope from the recycling bin):

And this is what it ended up looking like:

And it's quite big (because I didn't want it to take too long/use too much fabric), so the outer star is 40'' across.  Hopefully I've got enough fabric left to finish the back!  The colours don't look quite right on the photo (artificial light again, because I'm impatient) and the big star is actually a lovely rich purple colour, with the background in a black fabric with teal/turquoise swirls.  Both came from the fabric bins at Abakhan, and some of the purple has already been used on the Granny quilt.

Buzzy Bee!

Inspired by the Great British Sewing Bee, I've been cracking on with making my Wiksten Tova top...

So far so good.  Not perfect, but OK.  Just need to do the other sleeve and the collar and then I'm done.

I did make some adjustments to the shoulder seem so that the front insert sat better on my chest.  I stitched an 1 1/4'' from the fabric edge at the neck down to 3/4'' from the edge at the sleeve and it seems to sit much better.  This didn't cause a problem with the sleeve as that's gathered anyway, but I will need to adjust the back and front inserts when I do the collar.

Spring time and storm damage

More crazy weather going on here. After the large quantity of snow a few weeks back, and the below average temperatures, this week we had a big storm.  Gale force winds were forecast so I was very careful to tighten the sides of the polytunnel, and I slept in the quiet room (around the corner, away from the prevailing wind!).  It was fully justified - several of the neighbours lost roof slates, one of the fences to nextdoor collapsed, but my polytunnel remained unharmed! The sides had pulled out of the clips, and a few things had fallen off the bench inside, but I was so relieved that there was no damage to the plastic.

Unfortunately the conifers didn't survive so well - both the ones at the top of the meadow and the big one in the back of the copse had branches broken off... We'll get around to clearing it up sometime!

It's finally started to warm up a bit in the garden and the daffs are out at the top of the meadow - the ones nearer the house always come out a few weeks later, maybe they're different varieties, who knows.... But it's still way to wet to clear out the veg beds near the tunnel/shed, the weeds took over in the monsoon of last year so there's a fair bit of work to do but every time you try it just turns into a quagmire.  One day we'll have a dry garden! Fortunately the beds nearer the house were better, so I finally cleared out the sprouts/broccoli and planted some potatoes. 

And in more potato news... The ones I planted in the tunnel a few weeks ago have finally started to come up! No sign of turnips or carrots that were planted at the same time, but maybe I was being a bit to ambitious with those. Some of the seedlings are going great guns so have been potted on - tomatoes, broccoli, beans, pumpkins.... I love the way that the big seeds just explode, you turn around and suddenly there's a massive pumpkin seedling that appeared from nowhere!  Garlic is coming on well in the pots in the tunnel so I've had to plant them on as well...  

I'm very excited about the Battenburg Quilt project..... all the blocks are now complete!! Hooray!!! Now I can play around with deciding where they'll all go (cue: clearing the lounge and going back to the state of fabric everywhere).... Soon I'll have my very own quilt - just need to tidy up the blocks, sew them all together, cut and sew on the plain border, cut and sew on the pattered border, pin, quilt, bind. I really don't know what to do about the quilting - do I just do some lines (ditch or offset), or do I practise free-motion quilting on scraps and then quilt this one?

Update!

Finally bought and planted the roses for the archway - Rambling Rector is a lovely white open single flower which the bees will absolutely love, and Crimson Glory is a bright red multi flower with (apparently) a fantastic fragrance...

 I've been saying for years that I should get back into baking bread as I did it quite a lot whilst at Uni. So this was the first attempt - inspired by Paul Hollywood.  All I can say is he's wrong. He might be a master baker, but he's wrong.  It took ages to rise, and then in the oven it expanded outwards rather than upwards.  Mal did say it was very tasty, even if it did look a bit ciabatta like.  So next time, activate the yeast first, and I think a little less water....

 Tidy up.  I've inherited my Grandmother's sewing box so it was about time to sort it out - threw out some random bits (tatty scraps of thread and wool, a pair of NHS 70's reading glasses, etc. etc.), cleaned it up, and stocked it with a load of my stuff.  Eventually it'll double as a coffee table with a nice quilted mat (something else for the Project list)....

 Is this cheating? Patchwork foot with a 1/4'' seam guide - best thing since artisan bread.  If I muck up my blocks now I really have no excuse....

 

Talking of blocks.  Hopefully that's a stack of 44 completed blocks of the Battenburg Quilt.  If it's not, I've lost some, as I've only got 4 more blocks to complete.  Next after that is square them all up and work out where they're all going to go.... Exciting stuff!

New project.  Wiksten Tova top. Started yesterday. Patchwork squares are much easier - the front insert was 'challenging'.  It's not perfect, but I'm happy with the first attempt.

Why?

I was going to write an update on all the things I've been doing in the last few weeks, but I can't now.  Just seeing the pictures from Boston, if this was deliberate (and it looks like it might have been).... Why? Why would you destroy the lives of people challenging themselves, bettering themselves, and celebrating the wonder of the human mind and body.  These destroyers do not deserve to be members of the human race.

Neeoowww!

It really did seem like a good idea at the time..... Rob had the idea of meeting up at Oulton Park to watch the supercars in the GT championship and the single-seater F3 cup, and I thought it would be great to cycle there and back as its only around (the 25 mile) corner.

It was a great idea.  For summer.  Unfortunately at this point, I'm struggling to imagine spring turning up let alone summer.  It was freezing and windy and we're not very fit.  There was a lot of complaining.  And when we got there and put all our spare clothes on (we went prepared), it still took 2 hours for my feet to defrost.  Luckily it had warmed up and the wind had slackened by the time we cycled home.

We didn't really do much over the Easter weekend - more chilling out and not trying to do stuff.  The garden is still covered in snow so all I did was plant my Alstroemeria tubers in pots in the polytunnel (they'd been sat on the kitchen window ledge in water for weeks and were sprouting nicely!), and extract a few other pots of things from under the snow to put in the tunnel as well.