Some evenings are just magic!
The young heifers enjoy a late night snack while the farmer lady is counting her herd…
Heifers at sunset!
The Rock!
Ever wondered about the story of a rock? Maybe you have even wondered about the story of this spesific one? It is quite visible for everyone passing by on the road close to it.
The Rock looks like something the ice left behind on top of the hill back in the Ice Age. Sure, the ice could have moved it there, theoretically. The moving ice could grind and move like nothing else.
Sorry to disappoint you though. The ice never brought it there; one human did. The rock surfaced in the beginning of the 1970s, when Willy was fixing up the nearby field. Most of it was deep down in the dirt, only the top making trouble for the farmer. It was just like an iceberg, with the top showing and the rest of it below the surface. With his old digging-machine, Willy worked the Rock to the location where it now rests, nice and heavily, probably never to be moved.
The name of the farm
The farm has its name from the ocean bay close by called Vågsvågen.
Different spellings of the name through the ages have been Wage, Vog, Wog, Wogh, Waag, Wog, Vaag, Waag, Wåg and now the modern version is Våg. Different papers from different periods show the various spellings. The official documents states the name Vaag for this property, and hence the name we use in writing about the farm. The modern official address goes by the modern spelling Våg.
The history of the name is old, and there are traces of early, early agricultural activities and people living in this specific area, dating back to at least the Iron Age, it might even be from the Stone Age. The story tells that there have been found an axe of flint dating 3000 years back, among other things.
Go find a Birdhouse!
Be my guest, and go find one of the birdhouses!
There are two of them somewhat hidden in the wilderness somewhere on the farm – one with a pink flower and one with a blue flower!
Look inside and help yourself to a treat!
Naustet
During 1982 and 1983 grandfather Asmund built this charming, little boathouse down by the shore of Vågsvågen, close to Klungvika. It was mainly his project, but both my father and a neighbor, Knut, helped him out a bit.
The materials used in the build was from the old barn up on the farm, which at this point was in the process of being torn down.
The boathouse has since it was built served as storage but also as our little retreat spot, and we try to use it year round.
Laying in the hammock or on the grass on a nice, sunny day is quite a treat!
Some days, it is just nice passing by!
Color fantasy!
These images are small glimpses of part of our garden as of August 1st, 2020, and it can sure look nice – with the angle of the camera just right!
Flowers are nice, and I suppose most people agree that blooming flowers are nice, of course.
My favorite flower color is definitely blue – and when it comes to flowers, blue flowers share a wide variety of shapes and shades, and most of them look awesome. My blue flower-area-project have been corrupted over the years, though. The blue does not stand by itself anymore, and is accompanied by white, green, yellow, pink and so on.
And, guess what, it looks fairly decent when the weeds are taken away!!!! Since I hate pulling weeds: Yes, I admit it!!!! I had the help of my adorable husband and my brother’s superdupergirlfriend! Thank you!
Iris of Trollhaugen, Queen of Scots at Vaag
She is the one with the longest horns and is the oldest one out of the herd of Scottish Highland Cattle on our farm. She is the definite leader of the clan.
We do mainly keep cattle of the breed Norwegian Red, but these Scottish cows are sooooo beautiful. Fall of 2017 our little heard of two Scottish cows and two heifers moved in. Since then the little herd has grown in size, now counting seven, and numbers still growing.
Old pieces of wood!
This nicely painted piece of wood was used as a road sign ages ago. It was placed at the road intersection right down by our farm telling people where they were, and where to go!
In addition to the name of the intersection itself, the additional parts of the sign tells where the road goes and the distance to these places.
The date of origin remains unknown, but the story tells that Marius Skogli, the last man to live in the little, now red, cottage close to the intersection, was the local road keeper back in the days. He kept the signs after they were taken down for new metal ones in the late 1960’s.
Marius maintained and kept the roads in old, old Nærøy county. Marius and wife Gurine built Mariusstua in 1933, and he lived there until he died in 1968. More of his story is in the local “Nærøy bygdebok IV”. His descendants, whom now was ready to part with this little keepsake, kept the signs for many, many years. I really do appreciate being able to display these cool, old signs!
Happy cows!
A dairy farm needs cows. If there are no cows – no dairy farm!
Video is from when they first got out this spring. Always fun to watch the dairy-laidies when they discover the door is open!
This is only the beginning. Within 5 minutes, the barn was empty, and the whole bunch of milking-girls were outside! On days like this, one sure do wish the weather could be like this year round, so that all of the herd could be outside all the time. Truth is, we do live in a place where it could get really soggy and wet, and on those days, the cows are actually better off inside.
Martinstua
In 1937, the same year as Jentoft Strandvahl became owner and farmer of Vaag after his parents, his sister Kristine Strandval got a piece of land besides the main buildings to build her own house. The lot got named Nytun, and she got a house built in the same year. Kristine shared her house with her sister Inger Dine Strandval and her husband Martin Jeremiassen Flosand. They kept a phone station in the house, called Øvervåg telefonstasjon. They were co-owners of the property, and when Kristine died in 1960, they got the house and land belonging to it without charge.
Dine died, and Martin later remarried with Eva, a widow with two grown children, Åse and Hans. Martin and Eva were two gentle souls whom I have spent quite a few breakfasts with in my younger years.
After Eva died, her family kept the house for many years, and used it as a summer residence. But, as years go by, things change, and they decided to sell the property. I feel very fortunate to be able to have acquired this proud, nice, old house filled with so many, many memories.
Since the fall of 2012, we have been renovating and restoring the building. We have been trying to keep most of it in an old style, but updating kitchen and bathroom facilities to modern standards. The colors on the doors upstairs are as they were originally, and we have brought to light the old, wooden floors.
The most visible change however, might be the change of colors on the outside. The house was originally white with green framing around the windows. Now, the outside coloring is orange with white framing and grey at the bottom. The house is now finished, new electrical wiring and all. The final pieces of the renovating process is the garden. Eva and Martin used to have such a wonderful garden. We still do see traces of the past, but most of it is overgrown and gone. I really do have some huge gardening-shoes to fill to complete this task.
The latest fixing of the house was Morten building a new railing for the front steps in the summer of 2020. Pictures following are the step-by-step making of the beautiful, new railing.
Martinstua is a house we have really enjoyed spending time in and renovating. Morten has spent quite a few hours working in and on this cozy, old farmhouse. Currently, we use it as a house for our guests, giving us plenty room for visitors!