Category: Cloudy.

We had a rain free day!

DSC_1920

Yesterday we had a rain free day!! Not any sunshine but still rain free so we all did those chores in the gardens and on the farms that has been impossible or too hard to do when the rain is falling. I was the one who started the mowing, a couple of hours before the rest. The grass is growing like crazy now and even though I do like my electric mower it sure doesn’t work especially well when it is filled up with long and wet grass 🙂

DSC_1914
I think we actually have a couple of real Wild apple trees (their Swedish name is actually Wild apple) Malus sylvestris.
DSC_1916
They are becoming rare, we don’t even know if there are any real left because they cross pollinate with our garden apples. It’s always great to have a real Wild apple tree close by especially if one only have one apple tree because the Wild apple will help pollinating the garden apple. The ones we have a shoots from the old one that grew here when I moved to this place and that tree were old enough to actually be a real Wild apple tree. The apples are really small and mor sour than any lemon 🙂 🙂
DSC_1922
.
DSC_1923
European spindle.

The mowing too three times as long because every thirty seconds or so the mower stopped because there was just too much grass glued to its inside. I now have loads of small mounds with wet grass all over the lawn. I started to spread out the grass so it would dry up better but since it is pouring outside there’s no use in doping that any more. The farmers were out fetching those white balls that contains the silage they’ve made from earlier this summer. Also one neighbor was out cutting the grass and flowers along the gravel roads. They normally do that earlier in the season but since everything went late they waited long enough for most of those flowers to release their seeds.

DSC_1925
It’s a great apple year.
DSC_1929
These are the seven Apricot trees from seeds this winter. Growing well.
DSC_1930
The pears however was hit by mildew and some died but they are finally growing again 🙂

DSC_1931

I doubt that the hunters had any luck yesterday because of all the noise, I doubt there was a single animal even remotely close to the village 🙂 I don’t think they’re out there today either since it is pouring down and I really would like to take a walk today but then again my dogs refuse to step outside while it is raining so here we are, quite restless to be honest 🙂 Well I can do the laundry, bake bread and make dinner for next week at work but then again I’m not sure I’m restless enough to do more than the bare minimum 🙂 🙂

A15398_008
Four photos from the Agfa Ambiflex.
A15398_009
.
A15398_010
.

A15398_011

Have a great day!

e (8)
Well, I do at least get grapes 🙂 🙂 🙂

I ordered two batteries.

DSC_1879

The hunting season started this week and the hunters has been out in the forest since Wednesday morning and will be out all day until Sunday evening. It’s the Roe deer buck hunting that starts but they will also hunt wild hogs. We have so many wild hogs here now and they’ve started to destroy the roads in the forest so I won’t complain if they shoot lots of them.

DSC_1881
In my garden right now. The Venus Flytrap is in bloom.
DSC_1883
The Sarracenias do take their time to open up their flowers, it has looked the same for almost a week now 🙂
DSC_1886
.
DSC_1888
Illiamna remota, Kankakee mallow.

That however means we’ll not be able to take any walks until Monday. We could have if I had been able to stop Albin and Alma screaming and pulling the leash every time they see another animal, especially if it is moving but it’s just impossible to reach them when they are like that and if we’ll walk in the village we’ll see plenty of animals moving around and also a couple of joggers. I do have to say that Alma now days is much calmer than she used to be, actually so much that it’s hard to believe she’s the same dog.

DSC_1892
Geranium “Splish splash.
DSC_1893
Creeping bellflower.
DSC_1895
Hedgerow cranesbill, Geranium pyrenaicum.
DSC_1896
Hungarian hollyhock.

It is fairly warm here now but a thick layer of clouds is covering the sky and they’re guessing it’ll be like that until Monday. The occasional shower will pass by as well and now I’m getting really tired of that rain. Why can’t it just fly to those places in need of rain instead of locking towards us all the time 🙂 🙂 Then again that’s better than to have that heatwave they once again will have in southern Europe, just as bad as the ones they’ve already had.

DSC_1897
My Eastern Redbud never grows any higher than this because every spring and late frost keep on killing most of it every year.
DSC_1898
Kirengeshoma palmata, the Yellow waxbell.
DSC_1900
Common soapwart.
DSC_1901
Spotted dead-nettle.

I really should use my brain when ordering something online. A couple of days ago I ordered two batteries to my old Nikon F75 camera. I could either have them delivered to the grocery store in Gudhem or shipped to my cottage. Well I really didn’t want to drive up there again just to fetch two batteries, each half the size of an AA battery, so I clicked that they should drive it here. It wasn’t until I already had clicked ok to the order that I realized that the shipping cost were three times as much as what the two batteries cost 🙂 🙂 🙂 What really annoyed me was the size of the package, You can see it in the photo below.

DSC_1878
So they came in a box one foot long and they didn’t put anything else in the box than those two batteries 🙂 🙂 Why didn’t they just send them in a padded envelope?
A15659_006A
Three photos from the Agfa Flexilette.
A15659_007A
.

A15659_008A

It is time for a last cup of tea for the day and after that I’ll most likely doze off in front of the tv 🙂

Have a great day!

A second harvest and autumn colors.

DSC_1721
It’s a good year for acorns.

We haven’t had as much sunshine today as they guessed yesterday but instead it started to rain much earlier 🙂 To be honest it was mostly drizzle but the grass went wet so I decided that I wouldn’t detsroy my day with mowing the lawn 🙂 Also the few flies that still flies around are nasty now and I don’t know what kind is biting but it sure itch a lot afterwards.

DSC_1720
.
DSC_1727
.
DSC_1722
.

DSC_1723

We went out to the bog on our morning walk. Nova wanted to walk there yesterday but I managed to make her walk to the part I wanted to walk in 🙂 🙂 Today we went out to where she wanted. Lots of mushrooms everywhere now but I still haven’t picked a single one. I guess I still have plenty of time because the rainy weather will continue for quite a while they’re guessing now. The trees in the bog have started to change colors and it feels like it is a bit too early even for here but it has been quite cold and rainy for quite some time so I guess the trees just thought it was time to give up for the year 🙂

DSC_1728
,
DSC_1731
,
DSC_1732
,

DSC_1733

I also found several flower buds on my rhododendron today, I guess for the same reason but it believing we’ve had an unusually mild winter 🙂 🙂 🙂 I guess that it’ll flower in early September, especially if we would get some more warm weather again. It will from now on reach 20C (68F) if they’re guessing right but they seldom do that 🙂 🙂 🙂

DSC_1735
.
DSC_1737
.
DSC_1739
.

DSC_1740

I took a look at my cacti that I placed in my apple trees this summer. They all look pretty fine and the Christmas cactus now have small buds 🙂 I also have an orchid hanging out there but that one only flower once every year and just before spring arrives so I won’t know if it liked this or not until then. I did forget to check the ones that grows in my old woodland but I’m pretty sure they like it too. The only problem with hanging all these potted plants in my trees is to remember to bring them indoors again before the frost arrives 🙂 🙂

DSC_1742
.
DSC_1744
.
DSC_1746
.

DSC_1747

I have a second harvest of potatoes as well 🙂 I poured out the soil from the second bucket where I planted only the broken off potato sprouts. More in this bucket than in the previous one but not as many as I had last summer. Still I’m quite content as it is because I didn’t have to sacrifice any potatoes to get these, just the broken off sprouts 🙂

DSC_1757
My Black walnut is rather big now, higher than my cottage actually.
DSC_1769
The English walnut does grow too but I would be surprised and happy if it survives the winter here.
DSC_1761
No buds on my Easter cactus.
DSC_1760
But tiny white ones on my Christmas cactus.

It is time to have a last cup of tea before dozing off in front of the tv. I will not miss anything on tv if I would sleep alla night, I think the quality of the programs they show now days are crap to be honest.

DSC_1767
In the front but hard to see since it is green towards green is my Persimmon hybrid tree. Behaind it the peach tree.
DSC_1775
Buds on my Catawbiense rhododendron.
DSC_1758
The potato leafs showed it was time to harvest the potatoes.
DSC_1759
The variety Astrix once again.

Have a great day!

Back to work again.

DSC_0009

It is raining and thunder is closing in as well. We didn’t have any thunder at all when the heatwave was here or when the cold weather started but now we’ve had it several times. I hope it won’t be as bad as it was the last time because it lasted for hours and sometimes the sound just kept on all the time because of all the lightnings 🙂 🙂

DSC_0001
.
DSC_0002
.
DSC_0003
.

DSC_0005

We did have a really nice morning and up until just after noon though, mostly sunshine and actually rather warm weather, something we haven’t been spoiled with this vacation. Still I’ve had a really nice vacation and I am so relaxed that it will be hard to start working again tomorrow 🙂 🙂 I’ll have no problems waking up, I’ve woken up the same time I normally do when going to work the entire vacation 🙂 🙂

DSC_0007
The ghost tree 🙂
DSC_0010
.
DSC_0011
.

DSC_0017

It was 6C (42,8F) when we went out on our morning walk today, perfect because there were no flies flying around and I only found two ticks in total when I checked the dogs and we had walked in pretty high grass quite a lot. Ticks normally don’t like temperatures around those degrees. The water level is still quite high in the creek and I guess that after these four coming days it will rise even higher, they’re guessing we’ll get up to four inches of rain.

DSC_0025
.
DSC_0026
.
DSC_0027
.

DSC_0028

Four days ago I was stung on the backside of my ear by one of the wasps that lived between the roof and ceiling by my entrance door. I did swell a bit but not much, normally I swell like a balloon where I’m stung but I think it hit the cartilage in the ear. My ear has been aching ever since, it isn’t until now that the pain has gone away. It has been itching a lot and the skin started to sort of flake away 🙂 🙂 The ear is still rather warm though but that I can live with 🙂 🙂 It actually took three days until all the wasps were gone. I didn’t think that many actually stayed outdoors during longer periods. There’s still the occasional wasp flying there but they don’t even try to get in any more. I don’t mind wasps as long as they don’t attack me or the dogs, if they do it’s good bye!

DSC_0040
.
DSC_0047
.
DSC_0049
.

DSC_0057

It looks like the thunder will continue along the mountain and go north but these last have sounded to be really close even though the lightning apps says different so I better stop for today.

DSC_0053
She will become 17 years old next month 🙂
DSC_0079
Albin’s only 8 🙂 
DSC_0078
and Alma a bit more than two years old now.
DSC_0080
She and Albin loves to eat the Japanese quince fruits. I can’t understand that because they are hard as rocks 🙂 🙂

Have a great day!

My first harvest :-)

DSC_1630

The weather has been mostly meh today. We had some sunshine in the early morning and about two minutes in the afternoon but it has at least not been raining. That however will change tomorrow evening if they’re guessing right. From Tomorrow evening till Tuesday night, perhaps early Wednesday, we’ll get around 4 inches of rain. I am happy for the rain we’ve gotten but now we need some sunshine and warmer weather so that the fruits will ripen properly and become sweet.

DSC_1631
.
DSC_1633
.
DSC_1634
.

DSC_1636

They’ve removed the warnings about low ground water levels now and I haven’t seen so much water in the creek since the snow melted this spring 🙂 🙂 I think these last heavy rainfalls have killed off a lot of flies because I really don’t need to wear my mosquito hat on our walks now. I can’t say I mind especially much but I guess birds still need them so they can build up energy for the move south. Still lots of mosquitoes though so they can fiest on them instead 🙂 🙂

DSC_1638
.
DSC_1639
.
DSC_1640
.

DSC_1641

The ice cream van came by today, I missed it the last time because I was in the bathroom and had no chance of getting outside in time 🙂 🙂 Our ice cream vans doesn’t sell individual ice creams but only sell packages of different varieties or  mixed boxes with their most popular varieties. I actually don’t know if they’ve ever sold individual cones or popsicles, they did however sell both frozen fish, ready dinners and hamburgers back in the day. I couldn’t see any of that today though. So now I have one box with gluten free cones with chocolate ice cream and one with vanilla ice cream covered with chocolate and crushed almond on sticks. So if I don’t win the lottery today I can at least have some ice cream to comfort myself 🙂 🙂 🙂

DSC_1642
.
DSC_1643
.
DSC_1644
.

DSC_1645

Do You remember that I planted those sprouts that broke off when I planted the potatoes in the potato patch? Today I emptied the bucket with just two stalks. Last year I got enough potatoes in each bucket/ pot to last a week but in this one I got enough potatoes for one dinner 🙂 Well first they almost drowned because I had forgotten to make extra holes in the bucket so one shower was enough to fill up the bucket with water. After that the drought came and I forgot to water every now and again so I think this isn’t too bad after all. I do hope for better results in the coming buckets/ pots. This variety of potato is called Asterix.

DSC_1647
.
DSC_1649
.
DSC_1650
.

DSC_1651

I think it is time to go downstairs and to have one of those ice creams 🙂 I think I’ll have one of that vanilla with chocolate and crushed almond 🙂

DSC_1655

DSC_1666
I bought a Mahonia yesterday just because I wanted the plastic pot it was growing in, narrow and deep. I’m now using that pot for one of my Pawpaw (Asimina triloba) seedlings, well it’s just a seed with a tiny root so far. I did want the Mahonia as well because it gives quite tasty berries that both look and taste rather much like blueberries.

DSC_1668

DSC_1669
The harvest 🙂 🙂 To be honest I did find two more as big as the two smallest in this photo 🙂

Have a great day!

Thunder and lightning and bank ID.

a (28)

We had fog again this morning and I think fog must be my favorite kind of weather, especially when the sun can shine through every now and again. Nova decided that we were going out to the bog again. We didn’t see or hear any animals except for the birds and only one bird still sung its spring songs. There were no wolves around either since the dogs were happy and calm. Alma has calmed down so much that it’s hard to believe she’s the same dog that tore my shoulder apart a couple of time last year 🙂 🙂 🙂

a (29)
.
a (30)
.
a (31)
.

a (32)

My Bank ID, a digital ID that I must have if I want to buy something online now days (I’m sure You have it too but one never know what it can be called), had to be updated, and I asked people and they said I had to do that in the online bank. I tried but the online bank said I had to either have an absolutely new passport or an international ID card where I could scan something to proof that I am who I am. My new drivers license wasn’t ok enough to use. I know we are several people who are quite upset about that because it will cost around $40 US to get an international ID card and why should I have to have that? I’ll never use it.

a (33)
.
a (34)
.
a (35)
.

a (36)

So I drove to the bank today and my bank is in a neighbor county 50km (31 mile) away. I was quite annoyed when I arrived because after all my bank is well known for helping Russian oligarchs laundry their money and I doubt that those people would have to have an international ID card 🙂 🙂 🙂 Well it turns out that I really don’t have to have anything new because all I needed to do was to update the app in my phone 🙂 🙂 🙂 The young woman who helped me had gone through this a lot of times 🙂 🙂 🙂 I still have no idea why the online bank said I had to have those things but I think that it had to do with newcomers to this country who aren’t citizens.

a (37)
.
a (38)
.
a (39)
.

a (40)

I came home just before one of the angriest thunderstorms we have had here in years arrived. The Lightning app said that we had well over 800 lightning hits in and around this village during 30 minutes! I can’t remember that heavy showers falling either and the sound from the rain was so loud that I couldn’t hear the thunder at the same time. I loved it, Nova and Alma slept through it and Albin was so angry because I didn’t allow him to go outside to check what it was that made so much noise 🙂 🙂 🙂 I did open the door for him when the thunder had moved away some but the showers still were just as heavy and then suddenly it wasn’t that important to go outside after all 🙂 🙂 🙂

a (42)
.
a (43)
.
a (44)
.

a (45)

After that we’ve had sunshine for a while but now it’s just as cloudy as before and the lightning app has warned about lightning in the area again. I think the worst is over but perhaps it’s best to close doors and windows again just in case.

a (16)

Have a great day!

The rain has given back what the drought took away :-)

a (2)
We were caught in a heavy shower this morning and all of us,except for Nova took shelter beneath big trees. I understand why she didn’t want to go there because that was the place most biting flies decided to stay as well 🙂 🙂 🙂

The weather has really been mixed today. Steady rain in the early morning but after that it has been mixed between heavy showers and sunshine. One minute sunshine and one minute showers just to go back to sunshine again. The dogs refused to go outside until rather late for being us so when we finally went out on our morning walk the flies were already there waiting for us. I can happily say that there now are fewer biting ones than there were before we went out on our walk 🙂 🙂

a (4)
I wasn’t expecting to find any mushrooms on our walk since I guessed that Nova would chose to walk down to the creek today. So I could unfortunately not pick this rather delicious mushroom because I had nothing to carry it in.
a (5)
.
a (6)
.

a (7)

I’m glad I mowed the lawn yesterday because it would have been impossible to do it today. My neighbor however mowed the last parts along their hedge and that mower can’t have been fun to clean up afterwards 🙂 🙂 But I haven’t been lazy despite the weather. I’ve trimmed away lots from the lilacs (and some of a mock-orange) that now made life hard for my Chinese catalpa. I’ve also ripped up some weeds around one of my ginkgos and I realized that I also ripped up a stinging nettle. I now have that burning sensation in my finger on my right hand.

a (8)
.
a (9)
.
a (10)
.
a (11)
Lots of water in the creek now, so I would say that what the drought removed when it comes to water the rain now has given back.

Some of the summer apples are ripe now, I don’t like them especially much unless they are slightly un-ripe because when un-ripe they’re slightly sour. When ripe they are more bland and sort of mealy. I guess they could be great for apple sauce though so perhaps I should pick some for myself, I give away most to my closest neighbors because their oldest daughter really likes apples and especially those. In September I’ll have too many winter apples so I hope they take lots of those as well 🙂

a (12)
.
a (13)
.
a (14)
Snails are now eating my melon vines. I removed this one before it ate those tiny flower buds 🙂
DSC_1371
I sowed some cone flower seeds just a few days ago and they first one has already germinated 🙂

So tomorrow starts the last week of my summer vacation. I can’t say I don’t like my work place but I desperately wants to win the lottery anyway 🙂 🙂 🙂 Just thinking of having to drive to work when the roads are slippery with ice again and most parts of the days will be dark again is depressing 🙂 🙂 Ok I’ll start working evenings in September so I will actually see daylight but still I really don’t look forward to winter again.

DSC_1416
The Catalpa doesn’t stand a chance if I don’t do something about those lilacs and the mock-orange.
DSC_1418
This is the result. I’ll leave the branches where they are and later on I’ll drive over them with the mower.
DSC_1386
Finally buds on my squash plants. They really didn’t like the heat wave we had but grows better now.
DSC_1387
The same with the chicory. They do look a lot like dandelions 🙂 🙂
DSC_1419
The Catalpa is in bloom but the flowers are hard to find since they all are up at the top of the tree 🙂

Have a great day!

Lots and lots with rain.

DSC_1267

So after this weekend I’ll only have one week of vacation left, well until Christmas time when I’ll use my last week. We have no holidays at all until then so I really hope I’ll like working evenings again. AI’ll at least get fewer hours to work with slightly more in pay but I still don’t look forward to work evenings. Still I’ll have a job so I won’t complain too much.

DSC_1269
.
DSC_1270
.
DSC_1274
.

DSC_1277

This week had been rather chilly and we’ve had so much rain that I haven’t had to water anything out in the garden. I really didn’t mind that much but some of those showers were so bad that I thought much of what’s growing in the garden would break. That didn’t happen but I still hope that the coming rain next week will be less heavy 🙂

DSC_1278
.
DSC_1280
.
DSC_1282
.

DSC_1284

Nova decided that we should walk in the forest this morning. She went out to the peninsula in the bog and I hoped that there would be lots of fog because we had fairly thick fog everywhere else. I was sort of disappointed because there was almost no fog at all. We hadn’t been out there for especially long when the dogs suddenly wanted to walk home again and they seemed to be in a hurry. We hadn’t walked far when we heard the deer “barking” around the place we had been at so my guess is that a wolf must have arrived.

DSC_1285
.
DSC_1287
.
DSC_1294
It was while standing here the dogs suddenly wanted to hurry back home.

DSC_1297

I read an article that most dogs when smelling a wolf nearby reacts just like that, they want to leave unless they are terriers because they want to attack 🙂 🙂 but as the article said since they were so aggressive towards wolves the wolf would most likely run away even though they were so small. Well one terrier didn’t react like that and that was the Amstaff, Albin really doesn’t like other dogs and would love to be able to attack but as soon as he smells wolf he reacts just the opposite 🙂 and I’m glad he does 🙂

DSC_1301
.

DSC_1302

DSC_1305
.
DSC_1310
.

I haven’t been able to do much because of the rain but I have weeded (well to be honest that sounds a bit lame because I used spades and secateurs to get rid of what was growing there. I used to have blueberry bushes there but all the sand that I dug up while doing the root zone had to go somewhere and that was the best and closest place to put it. I did find three blueberry bushes still in there amongst the high grass, wildflowers and grapevines though 🙂 I let the blueberries stay and added some peat around them. After that I placed all the pots with the apricot seedlings and some citrus trees there but couldn’t stop myself from planting the seedlings I had this year. I have even sowed some seeds from perennial Hollyhocks and they’ll look good already next year . I also found lots of things I forgot I had placed there before the weeds and grass started to grow in the sand 🙂 🙂 🙂

DSC_1202
This is the before photo.
DSC_1203
This is the after photo. The angle of the photo make the place look smaller than it is but it is around 4 square meter (much the same in yards).
a (4)
I also placed the rubber sheet from my old pond over all those shoots from the thorny sloes, roses and the false spirea.
DSC_1244
I’ve “pruned” (with big and heavy tools 🙂 🙂 ) the Rowan tree that grows beside the plum tree. It sowed itself and I like it but it was starting to push away the plum tree plus it was so dark and dry on the ground that almost all ferns that grew there had died.
DSC_1247
No all the plums will get sunshine and ripe nicely 🙂

It is time to have something to eat and after that I have no idea. Nothing worth watching on tv so perhaps I’ll start reading a book?

Have a great day!

I could have mowed it all.

DSC_0003 (1)
I didn’t think we would have any sunshine when we went out on our morning walk but these clouds vanished pretty fast.

Nova decided that we should walk in the forest this morning and it was so cool that even mosquitoes kept to themselves until we were almost at home and the sun had warmed up the air. Very few ticks again when we came home and I hope it will continue like that from now on. Alma behaves better for each day now, she still has a tendency to pull the leash but it isn’t as hard as it used to be and now days she doesn’t scream that much when she wee wildlife either. I don’t think it ever will go as far as she walking without a leash but no pulling is good enough for me.

DSC_0005 (2)
.
DSC_0009 (2)
.
DSC_0012 (1)
.

DSC_0014 (1)

I’m waiting for the rain they said would start to fall a couple of hours ago 🙂 🙂 🙂 Now they say it’ll start raining in about two hours from now. They also say that all the rain we would get tomorrow won’t come at all, it’ll be sunny all day. I will not mind if we actually get sunshine because then I can finish the mowing I started today.

DSC_0015 (2)
.
DSC_0017 (2)
.
DSC_0018
.

DSC_0021 (1)

I mowed the garden and when that was done I saw heavy dark grey clouds slowly approaching so I thought it was best to stop, I have an electric mower with a cord and a couple of extension cables so mowing in rain isn’t something I would like to do 🙂 🙂 🙂 Well those clouds came and passed without letting go of any rain and after that the sun started to shine most of the time. So I did some laundry instead and it dried nice and quickly in the sunshine.

DSC_0024 (1)
.
DSC_0026 (1)
.
DSC_0030 (2)
Perhaps I should bring a bucket on our next walk and pick wild raspberries, lots of them this year and with a bit of luck I’ll be able to pick some blackberries as well later on.

DSC_0031 (1)

I’ve picked all the gooseberries that were left, all the lower hanging ones has been eaten by the dogs 🙂 so it wasn’t that many left. I also picked all the redcurrants (same story there plus birds love them) a few garden raspberries and two! strawberries 🙂 🙂 There will be lots more strawberries though, I’ve never seen my strawberry plants bloom this much before. Normally the season should be over by now but these just started and as long as they get sunshine they’ll be just as yummy as if they had started earlier. I think I got enough of berries to make a jar of jam but I’ll put these in the freezer and add the coming berries to make more jam later on.

DSC_0033 (1)
.
DSC_0034 (2)
.
DSC_0037 (2)
.

DSC_0038 (1)

Lots of apples on the big apple tree, I’ll try and preserve some just like one does with peaches and pears. I’ve only seen preserved apples once in my life and they tasted really nice. I wonder why they don’t do that more often? I’ll get some cherries and this year I’ll get plenty of plums. I like eating plums straight from the tree but I think I’ll make jam or plum ade from most of these. I will get some blueberries as well but they are still far from being ripe. I can add them to the berries I picked today and make a nice mixed jam 🙂

DSC_0045 (1)
.
DSC_0046
This is an edible flower that I think is called Shunguku. I’ve tried the leafs but can’t say I think they tasted especially much. I’ll try a couple of flowers next time.
DSC_0050 (1)
.
DSC_0055 (1)
I’ve finally made a way in to the English walnut. This spring it was just a stick with a weak root system. Then it started to grow but a late frost destroyed it so I didn’t think it would survive at all. Now it has at least four new branches, so lets hope we’ll get a mild winter so it survives 🙂

It is time for a cup of tea and I’ll give the dogs their dinner at the same time.

Have a great day!

Much the same weather all week long.

DSC_1014

We haven’t had much rain this week, a shower now and again. The weather has been very much the same each day though, lots of clouds, sunshine in between. Rather chilly when cloudy but really nice when the sun shone. One day it did reach above 20C (68F) but mostly it has been lower than that. Sunshine in the early and cool morning so not many flies or mosquitoes annoying us while having our morning walk.

DSC_1018
.
DSC_1019
.
DSC_1022
.

DSC_1024

The Norwegian site says it will be warmer than the Swedish one but then again they say we’ll get more rain. I looked at the weather sites early this morning and none of the sites said rain tomorrow, they do now. So I sort of regrets that I didn’t mow the lawn today while it was quite windy and the grass was dry. Well we know how great they are in predicting the weather over here so it might be sunny and warm all day 🙂 🙂 🙂

DSC_1026
.
DSC_1028
.
DSC_1030
.

DSC_1031

I have gotten the carpet/ furniture cleaner but I haven’t tried it yet. So I guess I’ll try it tomorrow if the rain actually arrives. I think I’ll start with something not as thick as the big cushions I have on my sofas, they will after all have to dry up before I can put them back on the sofas. I have a couple of those thin mattresses on my bed, I can easily sleep one night without one of them.

DSC_1033
.
DSC_1036
.
DSC_1037
.

DSC_1040

It was quite nice when we were out walking early this morning. No wind but cool enough so that most flies stayed calm, at least until we came closer to home and the sun had warmed up the air. Nova decided that we should walk along the creek again. We have lots of morning dew here right now and there’s a lot of relatively high grass along that way so we were soaked by the time we came home. What surprises me each time we’ve walked there is how few ticks I need to remove from the dogs. It should be tick paradise there and lots of animals full of ticks walks there as well but each time I go through the dogs there are just a few. Well I can’t say I feel sorry about that 🙂

DSC_1045
.
DSC_1048
.
DSC_1052
.

DSC_1054

Nothing much is happening in the garden right now. My Persimmon seems to do very well, my Pawpaws grow and look healthy and so so my Ginkgos. The English walnut still grows but it is hard to see it since the plant in front of it is so big that I barely can see it 🙂 🙂 🙂 The last two Nectarine kernels that I’ve had in and out of the fridge finally started to germinate this week. Mostly it’s enough with one round to the fridge to make them start but these two needed several times in and out. I think that means that they come from a tougher area (climatewise) and that their spring can be as treacherous as ours, like really warm and sunny in early March but then full blown winter in April 🙂 🙂 🙂 The Apricots are growing fine and the biggest ones are now over 30cm (one foot) high.

DSC_0955
Finally, the Nectarines germinated. They are now planted in two small pots so cross Your fingers and hold Your thumbs for good luck 🙂
DSC_1012
The Apricot trees looks fine.
DSC_0965
The Sarracenias do their job well 🙂
DSC_0974
The Bittersweet continues to flower.

I think I’ll make myself a cup of tea even if it is well after 4pm. I have vacation, it doesn’t matter if I can fall asleep normal time or not 🙂

DSC_1005
The Teodor rose 🙂
DSC_0894
I’ve planted one of the Cherry plums on the north side of my cottage, close to the gate. I’ve put a bottomless tub around it so that the roots can’t spread and give new Cherryplums. I’ll plant one on the other side of the gate when I can find another tub I can remove the bottom from.
DSC_0928
The Hazelnut bush has also found a place not far from the Cherry plum.
DSC_0943
The House sparrow fledglings learns how to fly under the roof of my old patio, which I haven’t used in over twent years. Now some are daring enough to fly outside it, a whole meter (a yard) out to my Apricot tree 🙂 🙂

Have a great day!

The weather is anything but boring today :-)

DSC_0045
The Chinese Catalpa isn’t happy about the wind.

I’m not sure if we’re having a storm but the winds are strong and the gusts roar through the forest. The winds even reach my garden and that’s unusual. We had rain almost all morning, except for when we were out on our morning walk, it started shortly after we had come home so I took a long nap while it continued to rain for a couple of hours 🙂

a (3)
Some of its flowers have opened up now.
DSC_0031
.
DSC_0037
I don’t know why but the strawberries are finally in bloom, very late and the Magpies takes all the berries 🙂 🙂
DSC_0043
I’ve bought two Hardy Hibiscuses. They should be planted in early spring so it has time to establish itself. They aren’t that hardy to be honest so they also need the best spot in the entire bgarden to survive the winters here.

After that we’ve had sunshine, some showers and grey skies so one can’t say that the weather has been boring 🙂 More rain is on the way and it’ll pour down tomorrow plus the wind will stay they say. I really don’t mind to be honest, I can’t do anything outside so I’ll nap instead 🙂 🙂 🙂 Alma is bored though, especially since the little girl next door also stays indoors during this weather.

DSC_0003
.
DSC_0004
.
DSC_0007
.

DSC_0008

Nova wasn’t allowed to walk along the creek this morning because we would have been soaking wet after just a couple of steps, so instead I told her that we would continue on the gravel road. She didn’t like that at all 🙂 🙂 🙂 and when I noticed that her knee support had broken and I wanted ti fix it she just refused to come to me, even started to run away from me when I tried to fix it. So the little lady is pretty cranky, has been that all day 🙂 🙂 🙂 Albin on the other hand is sad because I scolded him. If was after we had come home and I had to clean his ear.

DSC_0011
.
DSC_0012
.
DSC_0015
.

DSC_0017

I know he hates that but I really needed to do it since he shook his head all the time. I poured in the cleaning fluid and started to massage the ear when he just had to shake his head violently. I really tried to hold him still but he’s strong 🙂 🙂 🙂 Now my entire kitchen is full of oily drops and his entire head is too. He always get sad if I scold him and has continued to stay that way all day. So one angry old lady, one sad old man and one really bored girl have been rather annoying all day 🙂 🙂 🙂

DSC_0020
.
DSC_0021
.
DSC_0022
.

DSC_0025

I think I will take one more walk around the garden before the next rain arrives. The coming week will have some rain but it’ll mostly be sunny and around 19C-20C (66F-68F) and that sounds rather nice 🙂 It looks like we’ll have a normal Swedish summer for once 🙂

DSC_0038
I was trying to photograph my Persimmon tree when Alma thought she would be in the photo as well 🙂
DSC_0039
The Persimmon tree to the right seems to like where it’s growing. It stands too close to the peach on the left and it does so because I was pretty sure the peach tree would die already this summer. I sprayed the peach tree with sulfur before the leafs started to grow because peach trees are always hit with curled leaf disease and sulfur is said to be the only thing that can kill that fungi. So I was disappointed when all leafs it had started to curl. To my big surprise the tree started to grow and get new leafs instead of slowly dies as they always do. I have no idea if it is because of the sulfur or anything else but now I’ve started to believe it will survive anyway 🙂 🙂 🙂
DSC_0042
Something that didn’t survive the drought was the App,e rowan. It was sad already after last years drought and this time it couldn’t manage it any more. So now I have a new spot for another tree 🙂

Have a great day!

cleaning my sofas will be easier, I hope :-)

DSC_0892

The day has mostly been gray and dreary. Rather chilly in the beginning but not chilly enough to keep the flies calm though. Later in the day rain passed by and now there are some cracks in the clouds where the sun can peak through and it’s also much warmer. Still it won’t last for long because it’ll start raining tonight and we can either get almost nothing to very little or just as much as we had the last time. It all depends on where the heavy showers will pass.

a (14)
.
a (15)
.
a (16)
.

a (17)

So we’ve done very little today. Alma has been really bored because none of us wanted to go outside to play and the neighbors daughter has been indoors as well. So no one to play with and all that energy has made Alma a very talkative dog 🙂 🙂 🙂 She’s normally not a quiet dog but today she’s been worse 🙂 🙂

a (18)
.
a (19)
.
a (20)
.

a (21)

I’ve just ordered a small carpet and furniture washing machine 🙂 I was thinking about how I was supposed to be able to clean the big cushions on my sofas and was thinking of a pressure washer. I’ve seen how good they work on carpets but then again those cushions are quite thick and would become so heavy with all that water that it would take ages for them to dry if at all in this cool and rainy weather 🙂 🙂 🙂 So instead I found this little machine where the only complaints about it is that it is very loud. Does its job really well though. It’s called Bissell SpotClean Pro 1558N. I even looked at international reviews and all said just the same, does its job really well but is very loud. Well I have earplugs at home so I’ll use those.

a (22)
.
a (23)
.
a (24)
.

a (25)

The odd thing was that I couldn’t buy the detergent at the same time as the machine, as soon as I had pressed the button there was no turning back to buy anything more. So annoyed as I was I bought the detergent from another business 🙂 🙂 🙂 I’ll let You know what I think about it when I’ve tried it and I do hope I’ll say the same thing as the reviews 🙂

DSC_0884
..
DSC_0885
.
DSC_0888
.
DSC_0890
My big apple tree will get loads of apples this year, the rain came just in the right time because it had already dropped lots but now it looks like no more small apples have fallen off.

I have a patio that I haven’t used for well over twenty years, well I put a lot of things there but never sit there any more. It is mostly covered by a big rose, a grape vine and a climbing clematis so now House sparrow fledglings practice their flying in there. Magpies tried to hide there when it was raining but I think I finally managed to scare them away, they are big birds and will have to manage anyway. Every now and again though those little fledglings comes outside very close to my kitchen window and I managed to take a few photos through the rather dirty window 🙂

a (5)
.
a (6)
.
a (9)
.

a (11)

Have a great day!