An Art Work A Day

This Way - Owls in watercolours on paper 21x30cm=A4 in mount $75 Free shipping worldwide

Alphabetproject - D - size A5, watercolours on paper
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Here is a photo of the sky around noon today. I hope to use it as reference for a painting this week

08.01.2012 Painted Sky 1
mixed media - size A5
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Below is the sky today that inpired me

Today I joined a socalled O-Run. I am a new beginner so I should have taken the N-route but me wanting more of a challenge registered on a C-route. By accident I got a A-route map so in the end me a total beginner did a class 4 instead of a class 6 run. Very proud to tell you that I did find all the 10 posts even though I think I spent 60 minutes finding 2 of them nr 3 and 4. hehehe and used more than twice the time the routined ones used. The route master said it was impressive :-) and of course I take such words to my heart.

Unfortunately I got my feet entangled into a long branch and fell heavily on my knees, and that slowed me even more down.

This is what the International Orienteering Fedreation says for those of you that has not been in contact with the sport before:

Foot orienteering is an endurance sport which involves a huge mental element. There is no marked route - the orienteer must navigate with map and compass while running.

Foot orienteering became a recognized Olympic sport in 1977.

Equipment:

RACING SUIT: A lightweight, stretchy suit protects from undergrowth whilst allowing maximum freedom of movement even if it gets soaking wet.

SHOES: Light, strong shoes with non-slip soles allow sure grip on all types of ground - including mud and bare rock.

MAP: The map provided by the organiser shows the course with the control points which must be visited. The map is designed to give detailed information on the terrain - hills, ground surface, and features such as boulders or cliffs.

COMPASS: There is a wide variety of sophisticated compasses to choose from. Basically they can be divided into two main categories: base plate and thumb compasses.

CONTROL CARD: To prove that they have visited all control points in the right order, the orienteers have to punch their control card at each control using an electronic device.

2 h Orienteering today finding post 26, 27 and 28. The walking included walking in areas with lots of vegetation as well as bare places and climbing over and under fallen trees

One of the Top Ten trips is going to a place called Vrålstadheia, where the top itself where this route goes is called Aksla. The first part of the route is along a tractor road. When that ends the path gets steeper and a more narrow forest path leads up into the hills. Along the route I try not to be in such a hurry that I miss the lovely views even though my breathing sometimes LOL sounds louder in my ears than the sound of the birds and the brocks. Soon we hope to hike all the way to the top but this day we stopped halfway there on a smaller top.

We started our trip just behind Bø skule by the sports field.

As we got higher we started to get abit of a view.

My walking companion was not too happy when we met this little fellow, but it was even more scared for us and "run" away quickly.

This wiev is towards Roennomnibben. To the right, at the base of that Top formation is Skarveberget, one of the other Top ten trips (see blog post)

I love twisted trees so much more that the perfectly pruned ones. They are like stories about life.

Then we came to the top. Not a high one as you can see, only 165moh.

This is a socalled Gapahuk. A kind of open shed. Many of the children's schools have built them within a fair walking distance to the schools and classes walk up there bringing sausages and such and enjoy themselves. Often they also have biology lessons connected to these Gapahuks.

As usual we sign the book in the mailbox

On our way down be catch glimpses of the community below.

This church, Bø kyrkje is where my son was baptised and then confirmated 6 years ago.

Short but steep hike which gave the calves the necessary exercise today hehehe.

Today it was the annual community trip to The Rundkoll Tower. This was an old fire warning tower built in 1939. The trip is said to take approximately 1.5h. We used a bit more than one hour up and that is including 20 stops for the socalled nature trail which is posts along the route with questions. This makes it so much fun especially for the younger ones.

This is the start of the route.

As you can see we brough along 4 legged friends as well.

Since the top is 406 meters above sealevel most of those 3.5 km was pretty steep uphill.

On our way up we met some who had already been there. This 88 year old gentleman has done this yearly trip every year and my friend and I decided we woudl be happy to be as fit as he when we became 66 years old. He and elderly people like him are such an inspiration. My friend is a journalist so he will probably also be in the newspaper in a week.

The kids especially loved trying to find the answers to the quesitons on each post. They run the last 1o meters as soon as they saw a new one.As we came higher we could start to enjoy the wonderful view.

The colours were nearly autumnlike in their variation.

And then we arrived at the tower. I must admit I only walked up the first floor before returning down. The structure is not very stable for those with less than a perfect balance.

As you can see, I enjoyed the view very much.

Small pockets along the way still had some leftover snow from winter.

This afternoon I also took a forest/hill walk for 2 hours. Nature really tempts me to come out and enjoy it.

Tomorrow another trip is planned. Come back for more.