To Lothlòrien 4 - End of Summer Report

August has come and gone and here in the North Baltic we are well into the approaches to autumn. That means beautiful sunny days with crystalline blue skies, but days which grow inexorably shorter. At the start of August, the sun rose at 05:21 and set at 21:50 which meant we had 16 hours and 35 minutes of daylight. By the end of the month the sun was setting at 20:32 and the total hours of light had decreased to 14 hours and 05 minutes.

HOWEVER!! I did quite a bit of walking and cycling during the month.

So here are the STATS for August:
Miles traversed in August: 106
Total since starting for Lothlòrian: 273
Still to go: 189
Miles covered since start of the year: 731
Location in relation to Frodo the Fellowship: Having seen the crebain fly over, the group have started walking at night and resting during the day. They are climbing upwards on a stony mountain path and have almost reached the feet of Redhorn.

As well as my walking and cycling, this month I have been tending my garden and offer here a small photo essay on my adventures in tomato growing.


You remember what my 'babies' looked like in the beginning. This was taken on 4 April, 2009.

I had 11 little green globes and for the longest time this is how they looked.

Bit by bit, they slowly began to turn red.

And finally this is the fruit

(pun intended) of my efforts.
Of the 11 fruits 8 are now discernibly red - except for the 2 that I ate.







The days are drawing in, the nights are cooler and the sky tones warn us of what is coming. But as ever it's all beautiful. Talk to you soon!

To Lothlòrien 2 - Jaanipäev

St John's Day, Mid Summer, Summer Solstice, or up here in Estonia - Jaanipäev, which as I'm sure you all have guessed means, John's Day and the longest day of the year . This far north, that's a lotta light, 18 hours & 17 minutes, although not as much as further north in Finland. My grandmother who wasn't given to hyperbole insists that as a child she could read outdoors at midnight without a candle.

First the STATS
Walked or cycled: 36 miles
Total for this leg: 73 miles
Total covered: 531 this year
To go: 389

In relation to Fellowship:
Paths are few and winding; after reaching the top of a rise, we angle southeast.

So what do Islanders get up to on Jaanipäev?

Well first we go to a bonfire. This is us on the way .

Then you need a bonfire,






and dancing.

lot's of dancing




















- and music, preferably traditional - 3 mature ladies playing the 'cordeen, fiddle and kandele are about as traditional as it gets.


- and you have to stay late enough for the sky to be lightening as you roll home.

Hope you're all having a wonderful summer!

To Lothlòrien 1 - A Summer Day

After weeks of praying cursing and hoping, her majesty, the good lady, Summer has finally favoured us with her presence. The sky is a glittering ark of translucent sapphire; shades of green abound - more than you can count, or name; and its warm, nay even hot. This week I have been for a picnic in the country, at my friend Marge's place. We did a little work, had a stroll so I could take some photos and grilled sausages on our work fire.

First some STATS - I have now set out from Rivendell, and in this slightly extended week, have covered quite a bit of ground. Remember, Lothlòrien is 462 miles from Rivendell.

Miles walked or cycled: 37
Still to go: 425
Total walked: 495
Days walked: 8
In relation to Frodo and the Fellowship:
Empty country, rough and barren;
camp in hollow during the day.


One of the things we looked at was a small very carefully tended cemetery, dreaming in the sun, virtually in the middle of nowhere. This iron cross is typical of funerary ornaments from the 19th century on the island.










Wild flowers are still around in abundance. Soon it will be time to go orchid hunting, but until then this humble echium vulgare common viper's bugloss or ussikeel in Estonian will have to do.










When we finished our work we had a wonderful al fresco lunch.






It's not hard to understand why Saaremaa islanders have retained such strong ties to the land and to their old myths and traditions, when you meet this kind of creature on a stroll through the woods.