Yesterday we went out to my parents and spent the day in the sunshine. Considering it was still only the first of April, the weather was fantastic. We sat in the garden and enjoyed every last ray. I played with Pløk (the dog) until I was fair wiped out and Freja found a pile of interesting stones. Apparently my daughter is aiming at becoming a geologist or something because she is wild about stones. We went for a walk up the road and she picked up every interesting stone along the way and carried them tightly in her little fists.
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It was nice to be out there. I haven't been out since last autumn. Its not all that far away but I am a virtual recluse these days. Illness and indifference have left me in the city. Hopefully the goood weather will see more inclination to get out more. The sun is shining again today and were it not for an impending visit from our friends Pinky and Poodle, I think I'd go for a bike ride (actually I may do that anyway).
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My Dad showed me his quarter scale model traction engine which is beginning to take form. So far he's built the wheels and is now working on the boiler and fire box (a traction engine is a steam powered tractor). I was well impressed. Steam engines are an interest he picked up in the UK where such model engineering is far more wide spread than in Denmark. I'm not as enthusiastic about it as my Dad is, but I'm envious of his workshop which is a veritable Aladdin's cave of engineering treasures:
He reckons the model should take about two years to complete, which isn't bad considering its taken him twenty years to actually start it. I guess early retirement was a good idea, else he might never have fulfilled his ambition! I only hope I don't have to wait as long before I can settle down to something equally as rewarding!
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My parents live out in the middle of no where. Circa 30 km out from Århus. You can get an idea of how desolate the place is from the video below. There are few people out there and the silence of the place, nothing but the wind and the birds, was like a hammer blow. I lived there from 1986 to 1992 and I have many conflicting memories of it. As a teenager I hated the loneliness. Not a girl in sight for love nor money! Now though I can see why my Dad chose it. I crave that privacy now and if I could I'd live some where equally reclusive! You can sing and dance, play loud music, or wear what you like, sit in the garden in your underwear if it pleases you and no one is there to look down their noses at you. In Danish you'd say it was 'hyggeligt', which means, cosy/comfortable.
Freja havde en rigtig god dag i går. Vi var ud til de gamle for at nyde det god vejr. Jeg tror ikke de forventede at se mig der ud, men jeg er begyndt at få det bedre nu. Det nye medicine ser ud til at gør en forskell. Hvis bar det holder!
-Vi lavede ikke det helt stor. Gik små ture, legede med hunden, kiggede på den model damp maskine min Far er ved at lave. Spiste og spiste og spiste. Jeg var totalt smaderet da vi kom hjem.
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6 comments:
What is your dad building in there!?
I like the nothingness of where your parents live too, is that farm land?
My youngest loved rocks, she still does and she is now 7 yrs old. I am always finding them in her pockets and having to fish tme out of the washer. And if she sees you getting rid of them she gets very upset.
Its a 1/4 scale, Fowler 7hp traction engine. He says he's thinking of naming it 'Freja'.
Its a model of one of these:
http://www.steamengine.com.au/events/reports/echuca_vic_2003/pics/fowler_traction_engine_5.jpg
Oh, and yes, its all farming lands. Denmark never went in for hedgerows like they did in England so its all wind spwept and desolate, though there are still animals and we saw five or six deer whilst we were out there.
Link doesn't work... I'll add it to the main page
Cool...miniature steam engine! Will, it actually function at that scale?
I know what you mean about wanting to live somewhere with a large amount of privacy. I often miss living in the mountains where things were much more spread out (although not as spread out as the imagery that you've posted)
Mostly, I miss the quiet. I get so tired of hearing the movements of people who aren't a part of my family unit. It's so distracting to be doing something while hearing the neighbors crank their music...and yet, I don't feel like I can reasonably do the same thing. It's not courteous, and I always use headphones when I want to listen to loud music. It would be nice to be somewhere without those sorts of concerns.
Oh yes. You can build working steam enines to quite small scales.
This one will be quite strong too. Easily able to pull the whole family on trailers. Such smaller model traction engines are very popular in the UK. Steam engines are very popular there and there aren't enough to go round, so people build working scale models as a hobby. My Dad's always wanted one. I just know he's going to be showing it off at every given opportunity.
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