Another cold day, the temperature reached 0C (32F) as highest and to be honest that’s not so cold this time of year now days. I remember one year, about 21 years ago when winter started with snow and below freezing temperatures all the time in October and it lasted until early May. Lots of snow as well so that was for me a nightmare winter π π π and I hope it’ll never happen again π
I could hear the wind blowing in the tree tops but it never reached the ground. So even if the sun was hesitant to show itself we still had a nice morning walk, especially since Alma only whines once in a while. Β She pulled the leash like insane some times though but rather that than her high pitched whining. For me that sound is like a fork drawn over a plate would be like for the rest of the world I guess and hearing it constantly on every walk (which lasts at least an hour, often much more) it’s like torture. So days when she only does it every now and again are joyful days π
I got that light chain in the mail today, so I put it up in the spruce with an odd shape. No matter how I do the lights looks really odd π π π Still any light is a good light. I’ll take photos tomorrow. I have one in my phone but either I miss something or the transfer of a photo from a phone to an iMac computer is ridiculously complicated. In a PC one just mail the photo to oneself and voila! It’s in the computer easily reach when needed, in an iMac not so unfortunately.
It is time for that last cup of tea for the day and today they show the weekly science program on tv. I’ve slept badly for a couple of days now because I have gotten pimples on my earlobes π π π I didn’t know one could get pimples there but now I’ve learned something π They hurt like h..l when I rest my head on the pillow. One on each ear so it doesn’t matter on what side I sleep on π π π
So another really nice and sunny day but rather cold. I could see the wind power plants up on the mountain moving with the wind but that wind didn’t reach us down on the ground. We walked down to the mostly frozen creek and when we walked out on the field there I saw two White tailed eagles fly up from the ground just 50 meters (much the same in yards) away from us π I guess they were eating something but I didn’t check what it was π
Instead of following the creek all the way down to the forest we took a turn and crossed the field and walked in to the forest further away. There’s an old road there no one ever use (unless when they cut down the trees) and followed it till the end where we then walked in to the older forest and later to the creek up-streams instead. This is wild hog area but we didn’t see or hear any today. Well I think the dogs might have since they both stared towards a thicket of spruces but that was it.
White tailed eagles.
I thought the water level in the creek would be lower now when we didn’t have any rain or snow but it is actually much higher.
They say that it will turn to warmer weather again already tomorrow and I’ll believe it when it happens. I will miss the dry ground if it’s right but then again I will also feel happy about the warmer air even though it might mean less sunshine. As the saying goes, we can’t have it all unless we are rich enough to travel to where the weather is to our liking of course π π
I haven’t been walking g in this part of the forest in many years, mostly because this is a very swampy area but frozen water is really great to walk on π
I’ve ordered a new wallet, my old one is falling to pieces and I haven’t found any in any store so when I found one on the net I bought it. Younger people now days don’t use wallets, they sort of combine the wallet with their phone case but I really don’t like that. Yes I know I’m old π π π Β but I don’t want to lose it all by losing just one thing, like the phone. If I lose the phone I still have my wallet with everything important in it and if I lose my wallet I still have the phone so I can make those calls to stop anyone from using my cards and get a new driving license π
I’ve also ordered Christmas lights for my oddly shaped Korean spruce. If one looks at that spruce it looks like some kind of armchair made in the sixties π π You know those laid back space inspired ones π π Well it is the only one I have bog enough so this year I’ll have some outdoor lights. The lights is eleven meters long (much the same in yards) and battery driven. It can either shine all the time or shine for six hour and then start at the same time next day. No one here is outside at night anyway so that will be great. I will of course take a photo of it when the light chain has arrived and dressed around the spruce π
It is time for that last cup of tea for the day and later today I’ll watch the game show On the Tracks. My oldest brother and I send texts to each other when we think we know the answers, we are usually very wrong π π π
Still waiting for that snow to arrive. Well to be honest we have actually had some but so little that it’s hard to find π π Β They are threatening us with more later on though so I guess we’ll get it sooner or later. There has been snow chaos in other places though and I’m so glad it never came to us.
We have had fog though, so thick in the early morning that it was hard to see anything and then it slowly started to thin out just to come back again later. I do like fog so I didn’t complain but it did make the day a bit dark to be honest. The eyes didn’t notice it that much but the camera did π
I had prepared for a snowy day so I made lots of rice porridge and learned that it worked just as well on a foggy day π Rice porridge is not something one make unless it is cold and snowy because it takes a long time to make, easily gets burned and if it is burned one has to toss it away because it tastes awful. Making it on a stove is hot and boring since one must stir it around pretty often. I however make it in the slow cooker so even though it takes almost three hours to make one only have to stir it a few times.
I put on a new collar on the monsterkitten yesterday and she wore it for almost half a day before she lost it π π Β This time I wrote my phone number on the collar so I got a call just minutes ago, she had lost it at the farm just up the slope π So I’ll get it tomorrow when I’ll check if I’ve gotten any mail. I guess that’s the place she mostly walks to because she does tend to smell like a cow Β now days. I’m pretty sure her mother was one of the feral cats living there and that’s where the cat looking almost identical to her lives at as well π
It is time for that last cup of tea for the day. It is pitch black outside and the temperatures will drop considerable so tomorrow morning might be the coldest morning so far this winter.
Pretty chilly here and even though I ‘m not that fond of cold weather I still have to admit that it is nice to walk on ground that isn’t muddy and as long as we have almost no wind it’s quite nice. Ok no wind means higher price on electricity but I guess that’s something we need to take wether we like it or not.
Nothing has happened here so I have very little to write about. We did have the first real snow this morning but it was so little that I only could see it lying on my entrance stairs. If I knew we won’t have any more I would even say that I liked it π π
I was planning on having a little nap every day now when I am at home but so far I’ve had none. The morning just flies by and when I think of having one it’s too late, at least if I want to have any more daylight hitting my eyes. The sun sets already at 3:43 pm now and it is a long time left until it turns again. I really should have been born so much further south where the sun stay up longer during winter and the temperatures never drops π Then again I would miss our summers here when it never gets especially dark, just a couple of hours in the middle of the night.
I made a mug cake today. I can’t remember if I ever have done that before. I wasn’t hungry but wanted something so I went out on the net to see what I could find. The recipe said to use cocoa but I put in a piece of mashed banana and some cinnamon instead and it turned out really yummy. I would have made one more if I hadn’t eaten my last banana π Well now I know what I can do if I feel that way again π
It is time for that last cup of tea for the day and I really wish I had made that mug cake now instead π
It was a bit colder this morning than I thought it would be, it had dropped down to -9,4C (15,08F) as coldest. No wind and sunshine all day made our walks really nice though. I wore my studded boats because it is no fun sliding on ice and breaking something while being out at the bog where it would be very hard to find me π π π That however made it impossible to walk silent, those studs against the gravel road sounds like I’m crushing the stones π So instead of seeing them we could hear them run away in panic in all directions π π
It is much the same when I have them while shopping, people don’t run away but everyone looks around to see what it is breaking down π but it’s only in the beginning of winter that happens because after that most people use studs in either ones that can be removed from the shoes (no one will because they are horrible to try and get back when going outside again) or shoes with studs already in them. Even teenagers use them now days, might be nice to not have to go to school but no fun not being able to go anywhere anyway π
Lots of hunting dogs moving around us while we were at the bog, not from this area but dogs doesn’t know any borders, especially not if they follow what ever it is they’re hunting. So we didn’t walk as far as I wanted to. Not that those dogs actually would care about us but because Alma would go nuts and start to screaming like crazy and I really didn’t want the hunters believe that their dogs was mauled by wolves π π π I hope there are less out hunting tomorrow π
Despite it being so cold now I haven’t heard a single mouse in the cottage walls, it looks like the monster is doing a good job π It is time for that last cup of tea for the day.
Have a great day!
I took lots more photos today so perhaps I’ll save them for another day π
Yes they fell yesterday evening but they were tiny and I think all of them melted away as soon as they hit anything because of all the rain we had just before they started to fall. When I say tiny, imagine misty rain, drops just slightly bigger than fog drops becoming snow instead.
It want cold during night though so I was happy I had bought new studded boots so I could walk anywhere even if it was mostly ice. -4,8C (23,36F) as coldest and just before we went out on our morning walk. Lots of frost everywhere so I must admit that the world did look rather pretty and it even gave me some Christmas feelings π We walked down to the creek and I was a bit hesitant to walk on the road over the creek. Last time we had this much water in it I fell down in to a sink hole created by water flowing beside the concrete pipe that usually leads the water. I was lucky that time because I happened to fall so my feet hit the concrete pipe and I also still had my shoulders high enough up so I could get out from there π π
The little metal bridge isn’t especially visible any more π I really didn’t want to try and walk on it so we followed the field until I found a place where we could pass and in to the forest.
All worked well this time but it was impossible to cross over to the forest on the other side of the fields so we had to walk quite some distance before the ditch that follows the edge was dry enough to walk over to the forest. The reason by the way that the water level is as high is because of beavers, they’ve more or less plugged the entire concrete pipe with sticks and mud π π π Β The rest of the walk wasn’t that exciting π π Β and I never saw any beaver. Just as well because it happens that they attack people if they get too close and there’s also that beaver that for some reason walked up to a bust stop in a bigger city here in Sweden and bit a woman (I think it was) that was waiting for the bus. Just imagine those huge, yellow sharp teeth cutting in to Your leg!
Normally however beavers are very shy so no reason to be afraid to see one close by π I also went to a grocery store in FalkΓΆping today. I had bought what I wanted when I realised that it was a really long time since I had eaten reindeer, back in the days those packages were rather small. just enough for one or perhaps two dinners. Have You ever eaten it? If not You’ll either hate or love it. Reindeer with boiled potatoes and a mushroom stew is delicious according to my tastebuds. Anyway, I noticed that the price is nasty high now, even more expensive than filet of beef and the package was almost a pound so I had to skip it. To be honest, anything tastes great with a good mushroom stew π
The reason I want to FalkΓΆping to buy groceries instead of Skara like I usually do was because I was going to pick up a small package on my way home. I had ordered some Narcissus bulbs and seeds to a small banana plant with edible bananas (if they ever would like to show up) and another seed I can’t remember at the moment. What looked like a good idea last week when it still would be fairly warm (when it comes to the bulbs) is now a slightly less good idea π π Bulbs can be planted as long it is possible to make a hole in the ground and it will stay pretty chilly here for a long while it looks so I’ll most likely plant them in a pot and keep the in the cool cellar during winter and plant them when they have flowered next spring.
Now I remember what the other seed bag is, an edible passion flower species, Barbadine I think it’s called in English. I already have the common passion fruit flower seeds and thought that now when I have a greenhouse I’ll try them in there during summer. They usually germinate quite easy but to get fruit one need two different vines. By that I mean You can’t take a cutting from one and think that it is another plant because it is the exact same one that You took the cutting from. So two seed sown plants are needed and they will not give any fruit the first year. Passion flowers grow like weeds to be honest so as long as one treat them as they like they’ll never die π π π
It is already (5:13 pm) almost as cold outside as it was this morning so I don’t want to guess how cold it’ll be tomorrow when I wake up π Sunny all day though so it might be nice anyway. It is time for that last cup of tea for the day and after that, later tonight, watch my favourite quiz program On the Tracks.
Dryer and colder winds will fly down over the country and I could feel it early this morning. 0C (32F) when the dogs and I went out for our morning walk. All the cars were covered in frost and the ground was slightly frozen so we weren’t especially muddy when we came back home.
Two male Bullfinches.
Sunshine all day long though and the heat from the sun was so strong that I could have the kitchen door open as long as the light hit the south heading wall. I can’t say it felt like early spring but it was really nice. This was however most likely the last sunshine we will see for at least ten days if the weather sites have guessed it right π
The temperatures will fall so from tomorrow it will be a bit chilly here. Not below 0C (32F) during the days but perhaps during nights. Β I took a look at the Kaki fruit kernels (an Asian relative to the Persimmon fruit) in the fridge, It does look as at least one might germinate so hold Your thumbs and cross Your fingers for good luck π Β This time of year is a bit boring when it comes to gardening and sowing. Well some plants need a winter or two to be able to germinate so I’ll start with those but not until January.
I bought myself a big Amaryllis (Hippeastrum) bulb when I went to the grocery store in FalkΓΆping after our walkThe ones I’ve seen has been ridiculously expensive but these were manageable in price. It says this one will have red petals with a white string in the middle of every petal. I don’t care if it is or not (usually lots of those bulbs are wrongly marked but who cares just as long as they flower π ) Have You ever sown the seeds from the Amaryllis? It is quite easy but it’ll take around three to four years until they flower and the flowers will most likely not look the same as the parent plant, sometimes one get the most amazing flowers from seeds.
It is time for that last cup of tea for the day and later I’ll watch On the Tracks on tv, it’s really the only thing I watch now days π
This could have been a really nice day if it wasn’t for the wind that has been blowing all day long, a cold biting wind that made it hard to stay outside for any longer period of time. Not even the dogs wanted to stay out for especially long and kept coming to the door to go inside again.
Cold and frosty in the morning and despite the sun hitting my car I still had to scrape ice from the windows at 9:30am, not a favourite thing to do π π Still the morning walk was quite nice because the wind hadn’t arrived yet and the sun still giving some warmth. We walked out to the bog and while we stood at the end of the peninsula we could hear something walking towards us. We never saw what it was but it did sound relatively big, like a red deer or perhaps a moose.
The dogs didn’t really react to it more than that they stared in the direction the sound came from and looked curious π It was impossible for anything to walk silently in the forest because of all the frozen leafs on the ground, it sounded like we all were walking on cornflakes spread on a hard floor π π π I went to the supermarket after we had come home because I had very little to eat in my fridge.
It was a costly trip, much more than I had expected π I did buy everything on the list but I also went in to the pet shop (can one say it’s a pet shop supermarket because it’s really big that store?) I found a prefect food for my aquarium fish and it costed a fortune but then again the fish are few and will eat very little so it might last for the rest of my life π π Also I bought two new ceramic food bowls for the dogs, Malkolm seems very unwilling to eat from his old one made from some kind of metal. Those weren’t cheap either but oddly enough didn’t cost more than the fish food π π π
After that I went to the Dollar store just around the corner and bought seeds for the wild birds in the garden. They also coast a little fortune but compared to any other store they were cheap π π I don’t want the birds to stop eating what they can find in the nature so I’ll only feed them when I know nights will be frosty. They still need to know how to find food if I for some reason can’t help them. They have noticed that birds who live in areas where lots of people feed them forgets how to find food elsewhere and even what things they can eat. I also only give them seed mixes even though they all most likely would love to just have sunflower seeds for much the same reason. We have very few sunflowers flowering here since those who do comes from either what we sow in our gardens or from bird seeds that birds brought with them from the feeders and dropped them on the way to where they can eat them safely.
It is time for a cup of coffee I think, it’s way too early for that last cup of the yet. I actually bought peanuts for the bird feeder by my kitchen window, I know mice climb up and eat those peanuts but that was before the little monster moved here π She’s outside most nights and I’m pretty sure the mice soon will stop eating the peanuts because she’s a really good mouse hunter π
I have now two bigger and four smaller apricot trees in my garden and this is the only one giving me autumn colours.
Yesterday mornings sunrise. We didn’t see much of the sun until just before it set.
So my mother just called me because she had gotten a text message from me saying I couldn’t manage any more, meaning needed money. Well the thing is that I haven’t sent her a message because I know she most likely don’t know how to answer π π π So the one sending it wanted to scam her for money. What that person doesn’t know is that she barely knows how to make a call and wouldn’t be able to send any money until Monday when the banks open and only if she could get a ride π π π
I really don’t know how this works, if they can do the same to other relatives so I’ve been calling around to relatives so if they get the same message they won’t answer to it. This is at the moment a popular way to trick money out go people because who won’t help a child/ relative in need if they can? I’ve told my 89 year old mother to report it to the police even if it actually won’t help because like everywhere they have too little staff and no money to check in to it. Just imagine how much good these people could do if they tried to help people instead!
Yesterdays morning walk was a disaster π π All of a sudden Malkolm refused to walk in front of me and Alma when we were walking on the very narrow path beside the creek. He did everything to avoid walking and it almost resulted in he almost tied my feet together with his leash. I just couldn’t understand what he was doing but after a long while we managed to continue. Normally he walks with his nose close to the ground but this time he looked straight ahead and pulled the leash unusually hard, then suddenly Alma joined him and they almost made me fall and they didn’t calm down until we were at home.
I can’t figure out what I didn’t understand him until I realised that they behaved like they did the first time we had wolves close to us π π π This time the reaction was much stronger so I guess that if I had looked around I might have seen it but I was more occupied in not getting tied up and fall π π π So I think we better avoid the creek for a while, not because I think the wolf still might be there but because it is still too fresh in his memory. So we walked out to the bog instead and today he was like he always is, nose glued to the ground and slightly pulling the leash. It was pretty cold and the temperature was quite low, -6C (21,2F). Thankfully we had sunshine and the sun is still warming up the air quite a lot.
So I have actually had the kitchen door open as long as the sun hit the southern wall. It is sad to see all the leafs falling off but when they are gone the sun hits that wall for a much longer time π I could even turn off the radiators for several hours. Now it’s dark outside and the temperature will drop quite a lot again tonight.
I’m making rice porridge in the slow cooker and it’s almost time to have some π So I’ll skip that last cup of tea for the day and enjoy the porridge instead with lots of raspberry jam π
Sometimes White tailed eagles flies over the cottage and they always have ravens chasing them.
The Raven is a rather big bird but looks pretty small beside the eagle.
I woke up in the middle of the night because too much tea I guess π π and naturally I couldn’t fall asleep especially quickly leading to me sleeping unusually long and when I looked out the window I could see the ground was covered in unusually thick fog. The dogs and I rushed to go outside, took perhaps as most ten minutes and by that time almost all of it had vanished. I was a bit annoyed to be honest but then the sun shone and the leafs in the trees looked like they were burning, so I stopped being annoyed π π
I wouldn’t say it was cold but I can say it wasn’t warm so even if we went out to the bog only one moose fly showed any interest in us, meaning me π Deer were barking so something out there were scaring them but I doubt that it was a wolf, deer have a tendency to think anything is scary as long as it moves. Could have been a fox or perhaps wild hogs passing by. Lots of small birds flying between the trees, Jays arguing further up close to the tree tops and ravens flying towards the bigger roads to see if breakfast was served (meaning something gotten hit by a car or lorry during the night).
the temperature never rose above 12C (53,6F) in the shadow but the sunshine was so warm today that I had to change from a sweater to a t-shirt. It was impossible not to enjoy it so we spent a big part of the day outside in the garden. I really didn’t have anything to do so I decided that those roses I had cut down and would put in the compost grinder next year (mostly because of the thorns) would be better if I did that today π This rose has millions of small but awfully sharp thorns but they soften a lot if being wet for a longer period of time so the branches can be handled without too much problems. The problem is that not all become soft so now I have lots of tiny thorns in my hands because why would I use gloves π π π
The old vegetable garden looks a bit odd now when the fence is gone. I didn’t remove any weeds after I had harvest all but some leeks and the potatoes so half is green and half brown where the potatoes grew π There are still some tiny leeks in there though π
Since I now have found my jigsaw I thought why not cut those barrels open so I finally have those extra rainwater barrels I’ve been talking bout to do as soon as I found the jigsaw π I do like to play with machines but I must admit I’m not good at it π π So I cut one open at the top and placed it by the entrance door. Then I thought that it is actually impossible to have too many rainwater barrels and I knew I had two more barrels I could use (blue plastic ones, I’m not much for the aesthetics to be honest. Yes a rainwater barrel in oak do look good but costs a fortune especially since we don’t have any distillery where one can get them for free anywhere near π So blue plastic ones will do great π
So I made one more to the greenhouse and realised I have at least one extra barrel in the old garage (so two more instead of one more) but by then I’d started to look at those thorny branches so I might do another rainwater barrel tomorrow and place it Β on the other side of the greenhouse π π Β in between I went indoors to have some tea and ice cream π Β Now it’s dark outside and I could hear rain hitting my window so tomorrow I’ll check how much water has fallen in to the new barrels π At the moment however my biggest concern is to try and remove as many tiny thorns I can from my hands, they itch like crazy right now π
I’ll skip that last cup of tea for the day, it is much nicer to be able to sleep all night instead π Also if I go up the dogs go up as well and if they go up they want to go outside and if they go outside I’ll have to go first to check there’s no badger walking around looking for food and since it’s chilly at night I’ll have problems falling asleep again π π
My big apple tree is actually only half a tree, the other half fell one summer because that side grew too big.
We had a beautiful sunny morning today but it was nasty cold. I don’t understand why it felt that could because we’ve had colder mornings that didn’t feel as bad π Lots of frost, no wind and sunshine and still my hands froze to ice πΒ
No moose flies or ticks though so that was a big plus π We walked down to the creek and followed it up stream. Small birds were tweeting and they Jays screaming but the most noticeable sound was the frozen leafs falling to the ground, for a while I thought squirrels must be jumping between the trees and sort of was disappointed when I understood that it just was icy hard frozen leafs πΒ
Today we finally could walk up and in to the older forest, nothing much had changed since the last time we were there except that the fallen trees had been removed. I don’t know why but it always feel safe when walking there and it is a bit odd since there’s nothing dangerous anywhere in this surrounding π Also compact spruce forest isn’t even my favourite kind of forest to be honest. I guess it’s because not a sound from the outside world can reach in there, not even now when all leafs are falling off the trees outside.
he temperature managed to rise up to 10C (50F) but not even the sunshine could make it so nice that I could have the kitchen door open. We were outside in the garden quite a lot but each time a bit short because the dogs wanted to go inside, none of them are cold weather dogs π π π Well it is that time of year so we better get used to the colder weather. The supermarket has already put up a Christmas tree by the entrance and it is full of coloured lights. I wonder why they want us to hate Christmas by the time it’s actually here?
This little cold I have makes me more tired than I thought it would be so today we took a long nap the dogs and I. Well I’m getting older so I guess I’ll have to get used to that even smaller colds have this effect on me now. I can’t say I feel especially sick but it seems my body really doesn’t care about that π π π The only thing I’ve actually done today is to order new spiked winter shoes. A certain black dog who loves to chew on shoes destroyed the ones I already had. They were a few years old but still in really good shape so to say I was quite annoyed by him doing that is a bit of an understatement π For once I had just left them on the floor and Malkolm will never miss a chance like that to a new chew toy π π π well two since he managed to destroy both π πΒ
It is time for that last cup of tea for the day andI’m pretty sure I’ll doze of in front of the tv even though they show my favourite science program today π
A really nice day again, chilly and sunny in the early morning and warm and sunny for the rest of the day. We haven’t had any hunters here for two days and that’s very unusual. These guys have two smaller areas to hunt at and since we rarely have any moose here now days (we used to have loads, almost always meeting a moose or two each time we were out walking, then some kind of disease hit the moose and they almost disappeared), so they concentrated more on the other little area.
They’ll be here tomorrow though. Neither they nor I have seen especially much wildlife this year, except for wild hogs but they have caught lots with the wild life cameras they’ve put up, so now we’re all wondering what they do during the days when we’re around. So instead of having a morning walk tomorrow I’ll drive to the supermarket instead on doing that on Sunday and we’ll have our usual afternoon walk and hope the moose flies stays calm, I truly dislike those flies.
So the orange blob didn’t get the peace prize and I wonder why he was the favourite in the betting sites? After all the Norwegian peace prize comity has a back bone that few others have and they don’t give a shit about being pressured by him to give him the prize π π π They would never give a peace prize to someone who has stopped aid to starving people, persecuting immigrants in his own country or threatening his own people with violence under the disguise he wants to stop crime that isn’t there. Also I’ve never heard that they’ve ever given it to a fascist ever. Also the tariffs isn’t helping anyone except for perhaps the billionaires already living in the country, it sure doesn’t help the poor, perhaps someone should tell him that?
Plus the fact that it isn’t peace until it lasted for a longer period of time, just signing a paper makes no peace. Over here it has been calm as always π It’s getting dark and the temperature is dropping so I’ve turned on the radiators. This weekend will stay reasonable warm but next week the temperatures will drop below 10C (50F) and even if the sun will be shining a lot according to their guesses it will most likely be cold anyway. So different from spring with that temperature when it suddenly feels nice after the long winter π
It is time for that last cup of tea for the day and I think I’ll warm up the SmΓ₯lΓ€ndska cheesecake I have in the fridge π I better remember to buy a new one when I’m at the store tomorrow π I’ll also buy some blue cheese because Malkolm has become a bit picky when it comes to eat breakfast, suddenly he’s not hungry or don’t like the food he gets. Old Nova was much the same all her life and the only thing making her eat breakfast was to put some blue cheese in her food π π π The rest of the day all food goes down though π I’ve bought so much blue cheese in my life even when I didn’t want any myself, the things we do for our dogs π π