Happy Easter!

 

So easter has begun. Well it started here yesterday to be honest since it is one of the worst days when it comes to the traffic, not only on the ground but also in the skies. Maundy Thursday is the day when all witches flies to Blåkulla (a couple of islands in the sea but no one can really say with one of them plus I’ve heard there are a couple of other places that also takes credit for being the real Blåkulla. It is the place where they all go to have a party with the devil. They’ll fly back home tomorrow evening and that’s why many places have huge bonfires and fireworks to scare them all away. Now days we think more of the environment and not having big forest fires so most places don’t have bonfires any more.

The morning has been rather nice since we don’t have any wind, still a bit chilly but that’s nothing I notice when walking with the dogs. Before going out with the dogs I had a walk with a little mouse in the box trap. I have for some time suspected it is one or two mice coming back all the time and now I know that’s so. Yesterday I caught this little mouse and it had a tick sitting on its neck. I would have liked to remove that tick but it is really hard to get a wild animal to sit still while removing it. Anyway this morning the same mouse sat there again and the tick in its neck was still there! I must walk even further away to release them and I still walk 800 meters (half a mile) to do do now 🙂 🙂 🙂

I took a look at the Norwegian weather site this morning and became a bit stressed. It said it will be windy from Saturday and that on Sunday evening the gusts will reach hurricane force!!! So I went out and checked the storm wires and anchors on my greenhouse and I will need to tighten the wires today or tomorrow. Next time I checked they had changed that to storm strength in the gusts 🙂 I’m still not happy about it but to be honest, my neighbours cottage and their greenhouse will protect my greenhouse against the winds anyway 🙂

I was thinking about not seeing any signs of the beavers lately and then I saw this 🙂

It is time to make a pot of tea and I’ll have an ice cream as well, the ice cream lorry were here just a few minutes ago so easter is saved 🙂

Have a great day!

15 responses to “Happy Easter!”

  1. catsworking Avatar
    catsworking

    Yesterday I noticed that my yard is filling again with those short little purple weeds or wildflowers that look like bottle brushes, and I remembered asking you before if you knew what they are called. That means a whole year has passed, though it feels like the blink of an eye.

    I don’t get my yard mowed until those purple flowers fade. Last year there were more than ever before, so this year I’m eager to see if they spread even farther. I would love my whole backyard to be purple.

    You should feel flattered your house is so inviting that those mice will take their chances with Sarah to pay you a visit. And when you think about a mouse running half a mile to return on their tiny legs, it’s simply amazing.

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    1. Christer. Avatar
      Christer.

      Hi catsworking!

      I have been wondering about those purple weeds 🙂 I have no idea what it can be to be honest, for that I need a photo. Sometimes Your weeds are our garden flowers 🙂 🙂 Time do fly by, too fast during spring, summer and autumn but so slow during winter 🙂 Over here it’s Scilla sibirica that spreads everywhere in rocket speed 🙂 🙂

      In a way I guess I should 🙂 🙂

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      1. catsworking Avatar
        catsworking

        I’ve been meaning to find a photo where I can post a link for you. I don’t think I can get a photo of my own into a comment. At least, people on my blog have never been able to do it.

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      2. Christer. Avatar
        Christer.

        No I don’t think putting photos in a comment works but You could put one in a comment on Bluesky I think.

        Liked by 1 person

      3. catsworking Avatar
        catsworking

        I did send you a comment on a photo you posted, which you may have seen already. I took a photo of the purple flowers and used an app the identified them as bugleweed, which isn’t a weed, but a nice ground cover. I wish the flowers lasted all summer, but I never see them again once the yard starts getting mowed.

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      4. Christer. Avatar
        Christer.

        Found it 🙂
        We do have them here too and they are a favourite of mine 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

    2. Denali Sam Avatar
      Denali Sam

      I recall that we talked about this last spring.
      From your description, the plants could be grape hyacinths, an early spring flowering bulb. They have purplish or very dark blue-purple, tiny, bell-shaped flowers in clusters down the stems. It does somewhat resemble a kitchen bottle brush tool. You can easily find photos of grape hyacinths online.

      They will continue to spread through a lawn or garden by producing more bulblets each year. You can buy some of the bulbs to plant throughout the area you want to cover with these lovely early spring flowers; this will expedite the process of creating a full carpet of these flowers covering the area. Your existing bulbs in your garden will continue reproducing now bulbs but fewer of them, and at a slower pace each year, as the bulbs in your yard age.

      If I recall correctly, these spring bulbs are fairly inexpensive.

      Please let us know if this is the plant in your yard.

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      1. Christer. Avatar
        Christer.

        Hi Denali Sam!

        Seems to be Ajuga (Bugle weed). It grows wild here in Sweden and it is a little favourite of mine 🙂

        By the way, do You remember when I had those pimples on my ears? You suggested it might be the shingles and I think You might have been right about that 🙂 The pain I had in my ears when sleeping continued until last week. An odd place to get it but perhaps the best place because it was fairly easy to sleep and not have my ears towards the pillow 🙂

        Liked by 2 people

      2. Denali Sam Avatar
        Denali Sam

        Oh, of course, ajuga would make perfect sense as the answer!

        Christer, I’m so sorry that it turned out to be shingles.
        It can actually be very dangerous if the rash is in and around the ears or eyes; it can cause deafness or vision damage if not treated by a physician while the shingles is active and the rash is there. It sounds like you were very fortunate to avoid any hearing damage.

        Unfortunately, even after the shingles rash has ended, the nerves associated with the spots of rash can produce pain, even a long time after the rash ended. I had shingles in 2020 and every once in a while I still get nerve pain where some of the rash spots were. Usually it’s just a few stabs of pain from time to time for a day or two and then it might not recur for a long time before any pain might happen again.

        Liked by 1 person

      3. Christer. Avatar
        Christer.

        Well it is over now and to be honest I’ve heard about how hard it can be, compared to most getting it this was nothing. No pain after so far 🙂

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      4. catsworking Avatar
        catsworking

        Denali Sam, if you kept reading, you’ve learned that I found out what the purple flowers are. I found the name bugleweed, but I see people here are calling them ajuga.

        My backyard used to be heavily wooded with mostly moss and clover underfoot. Then I had about 6 trees taken down (tree guy said it would “open up” the yard give the remaining trees room to “breathe” and make them healthier, which was a lie). The cutting process churned up the entire yard into a mud hole. As the ground healed, all kinds of greenery I’d never seen before sprang up. Unfortunately, the moss never recovered fully, and the clover disappeared.

        Then a few years ago these purple bugleweeds popped up in a small patch that’s steadily grown each spring. I think all the soil turning, and maybe the wind or birds, brought all these new seeds into play.

        The one thing I’ve NEVER been able to grow in my yard is grass. Except for ugly little tufts that pop up because neighbors seed their yards and some blows into mine. If not for those unwanted splotches of grass growing tall and ugly so they need mowing, I could leave the yard alone and let the moss and weeds take over. They’re short and green and maintenance-free.

        Liked by 1 person

  2. Caryn O'Keefe Avatar
    Caryn O’Keefe

    Hi Christer,

    You have to take mice at least a mile from your house to prevent them from finding their way back. I think most of the time they don’t come back from a mile away because they’ve been taken by a predator or starved. They’re way out of their territory and don’t know hiding places or sources for food. But yours now have a slight advantage. They’ve experienced at least half a mile of that distance already so if they make it through the new half mile, you might be seeing them again. 😀

    About those purple flowers, I don’t know where the commenter comes from but if she’s far enough south of me, they could be ajuga. I’ve got them in the lawn and they do stick up like a bottle brush. It’s too early for them here now but the leaves are evergreen and lie flat to the ground. They are a good ground cover though not native. There is a plant called Meehans Mint which is native to the northeast USA and has similar characteristics.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Christer. Avatar
      Christer.

      Hi Caryn!

      I think the storm stopped the last returner I had here 🙂 I think since we have so many cats here they really should stand a very little chance to come back home but apparently not 🙂 Yesterday I did have a new one in the trap and that one had panicked, there were coconut flakes spread around far away from the trap. An entire mile! I really can’t bring the trap when we’re out on our morning walk and to walk an entire mile feels a bit much, perhaps I should use the car 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Yes it was Ajuga and we have it here as well. A really nice little flower and at least here it doesn’t spread especially fast so it would take quite a while to have it spread a lot in the garden. I know I’ve had it but I think the dogs might have killed them when chasing each other in the garden but it does grow in the forest as well.
      I looked up MeehansMint and it’s really cute, now I want it but I doubt I can find it here, didn’t even seem to have a Swedish name.

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  3. Caryn O'Keefe Avatar
    Caryn O’Keefe

    Latin name is Meehania cordata in case you didn’t come across it in your search. I checked them out here. They’re rather pricey to buy. One dealer asked 132.00 USD for a full flat. Don’t know how many plants that is. The other supplier said 15.95 USD per quart. No explanation for a quart of what? Neither of them shipped overseas.

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    1. Christer. Avatar
      Christer.

      They are rare even in nature so I’m pretty sure we can’t get it here even if we would be a member in a garden club.
      I have absolutely no idea what full flat or a quart of that means 🙂 🙂 🙂

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