Skip to main content

Fanø and the mystery of the little dogs

Staffordshire's Dog on the window

Sunday was an excursion to Fanø. A small island 16km long off the coast of Esbjerg.

City of Esbjerg Denmark

To get there you take a big barge that takes 15 minutes to cross the bay. You can get there by car, bike or on foot.
https://www.fanoelinjen.dk

Once there, we visited the pretty town of Nordby, with its cobbled streets and thatched rouf houses.

Nordby mural

We had breakfast there on the Haven's pleasant terrace with croissants and a nice hot chocolate. Because since we've been in Denmark, we've missed French viennoiseries so much 😭.

Haven café in Sønderho

Haven café in Sønderho

In front of the harbour, a few seals were sunbathing under the eyes of tourists and amateur photographers. (On my picture they are the small dots in the background in front of the industrial port of Esbjerg in the distance 😂)

Seals

Next, go to the town of Sønderho. An ultra-charming little village with thatched houses, flea markets and friendly restaurants.

town of Sønderho Fanø

town of Sønderho Fanø

town of Sønderho Fanø

We finished with a swim on the large sandy beach of Fanø Strand

Here, cars can park on the beach. On our French beaches in Brittany, this would be impossible. "Oooo tide, and no more car, hahaha".
And yes, the water isn't warm, but frankly, it's quite comparable to our beaches in Brittany or the north of France.

Fanø Strand

Fanø Strand

The day was really superb and the island is magnificent. If you're visiting Denmark, it's well worth the trip.

Speaking of Sønderho, you can see pairs of little porcelain dogs all over the windows. Sometimes they are facing you. Other times, their backs are to you.

Porcelain Staffordshire Dogs

Porcelain Staffordshire Dogs

Porcelain Staffordshire Dogs

Souvenir Shops


While I was thinking that these dogs had a very English look, my daughter was coming up with all sorts of theories about their positions. She thought it meant something: a secret code, perhaps. 

A few internet searches later, we discovered that the trinkets were Staffordshire ceramics

They have been coming from England and Scotland since the 19th century. 

They were brought back as souvenirs by the island's sailors to their wives. They were placed on the window sill by their wives.

And yes, there is a meaning to their position: if they face the window, it means the sailor is at sea; from behind, the man has returned home.

Those Staffordshire little dogs that I LOVE inspired the two drawings below:

Staffordshire Dog inspired by cocoflower

https://cocoflower.net/collections/postcard

If you like those Staffordshire Dog inspired designs. They are available in my shop in 2 sizes in postcard form. 💖


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Tuto Etui de téléphone portable au crochet - Crochet Phone case DIY Pattern

Aujourd'hui, je vous propose de réaliser un étui pour téléphone portable au crochet. Today, I propose to make a DIY : a crochet phone case. Pour ce faire, il faut /  We need : ♥ du coton en 4 couleurs différentes : rose pale, rose foncé, vert, bleu ciel - cotton with 4 colors : pastel pink, dark pink, green and pastel blue. ♥ un crochet n°3 - a hook number 3 ♥ un joli bouton - a cute button ♥ une aiguille à laine - a wool needle ♥ des ciseaux - scisors ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ Etape 1/ Step 1 : réaliser la pochette / make the case ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ 1.1 - Faire une chainette de la hauteur de votre téléphone / make a Foundation chain of lenght of your phone case. Par exemple, pour mon Samsung Galaxy note 3, j'ai fais une chainette de 35 mailles. For example, for my Samsung Galaxy note 3 phone I made a Chain of 35. 1.2 - 1 maille en l'air, puis une premier rang de mailles serrées. Dans la dernière maille, faire 3 mailles serrées. Puis un rang de mailles

DIY Crochet Easter Chicken - Eggcup and Egg cover - Free Crochet Hen tuto

Hello everybody ! Today we lean to make a crochet Chicken egg cover and eggcup : When you put the cover on the eggcup, you have a cute Chicken, perfect to hide eggs during Easter :) ******** This DIY is for Personal use only . I don't allow to sell the item made with this tuto, to sell the DIY or to use my text and my pictures without my autorisation. ******** Material : -A crochet size 3.5 -Cotton thread -S cissors -Yarn needle  -Motivation and time (maximum 4 hours to make it) Stitches (american lexicon) : -Slip stitch (mailles coulées) -Single crochet (mailles serrées) -Half double crochet (demi-brides) -Double Crochet (brides simples) - Treble ( doubles brides) This Crochet Chicken is easily makable by a crochet beginners. The Steps : 1. Hen Egg Cover : Row 1 -  Chain  2 - 5 Single crochet in the second chain. Row 2 - 2 Single crochet in each Single crochet around. You have 10  stitches. Row 3 - ( 1 Single crochet, 2 Si

10 superbe créations au Crochet - Ma sélection Pinterest de la semaine / Pinterest week's selection - 10 Lovely crochet project

Pinterest addict , je collectionne de très jolies choses sur mes " boards ": des DIY mais aussi des créations très inspirantes. Pinterest addict , I collect some nice things on my Pinterest boards : DIY and inspiring crafts. Voici mes trouvailles de la semaine  / Those are my week's finds: ♥ L'armoire à pharmacie de  Agnieszka Niebieska .  Lovely crochet cabinet by  Agnieszka Niebieska . Une custo d'armoire à pharmacie au crochet très réussie par  Agnieszka Niebieska ♥ Les patchs au crochet de  Jans Schwester .  Crochet patches by  Jans Schwester . Patch au crochet cousus sur un gilet ♥ Le bracelet multicolore de Lavender Field .  Multicolored crochet bracelet by  Lavender Field . Bracelet multicolore crocheté by Lavender Field ♥ Le DIY de cette jolie étoile.  Crochet Star pattern. Etoiles multicolores au crochet par   For the Love of George Retrouvez le tuto sur le blog de Jelly Wares .  Find the free pattern on the  Jelly