2004-07-15 Lithuanian Berries and Bees

On the way to visit the 'dievdirbe', a lady who makes religious artefacts, we stopped on the side of the road to pick some berries. It was the right time of year, so little strawberries and blueberries absolutely everywhere....

Close up. Small stawberries, tangy and sweet, these are called "zemouges".
The blueberries were delicious. You can also see the moss that carpets the floor of these forests. Sphagnum, maybe. Very soft underfoot.

My favourite photo of Jazmina...

Thisis what the forest looks like , the whole forest floor is carpeted with berry bushes. Hansel and Gretel land. Unlike the Australian bush, there's no sense of danger, no snakes, no poisonous spiders...all the bears and wolves have been hunted out, so nothing to be at all scared of.

Rimante's house, from the inside. Some of her sculptures and icons scattered around.

Out the back, she had a whole lot of bee hives...

Some of her work..

Her house from the outside.

More beehives. Colour coded, so the bees find their way home.

This is what the bees were feeding on,not sure what it is, but the honey was white and fairly bland...

Little ramps to help them get back home

This is actually from another day, walking past someone's hives in Kernave.

3 comments:

  1. Hello from London! I found your website when I was researching Lithuanian woodcarvers and was delighted to find you are beekeepers! Could I ask you please to tell me how to find Rimante the woodcarver when I come to Lithuania in spring 2013? I haven't managed to find a website for her, and don't know whether it's possible for a stranger like me to make an appointment to see her work?

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    1. Hi, I dont think I could ever find her house again by my self, even if I tried, a mutual frien took me there. it's about an hours drive from Kaunas, South I think, in a "loop" of the nemunas (one road in/out), farming country. Her full name is Rimante Butkuviene. You could try to google her. Pretty sure she does not speak english. Beautiful work, we have 3 of her angels in our house, she has made some from black timber that was salvaged from a river that are incredible.

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  2. Great post, the pictures tell the story.

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