There will be photos that were taken today and yesterday.
It has been a couple of calm days here, mostly grey and dull, some rain and even some sunshine, around two minutes of it 🙂 🙂
We were lucky that those minutes happened while we were out walking but we need more of it now when days get shorter and it’s still around two more months of that until it finally turns around again. It does however help that I am unemployed because I never had enough daylight when I had a job so I guess that’s positive 🙂 🙂 It was the same last year and to be honest I really didn’t get sick last year so I’m hoping for the same result this year, as soon as that cold that seems to love me finally leaves 🙂 🙂
The hunters were here today and had brought hunting dogs, I didn’t hear a sound from them so I guess that’s why they left early. There has been unusually few deer , hares and other animals around lately and I guess that can have to do with the wolf/ wolves being here. Well I didn’t think we would have a chance to tale a walk in the forest today so I was pretty happy when I noticed that they all had left.
Because of the rain we haven’t been out in the garden much either so I’ve mostly watched the dvd collection of A Town called Eureka and I’ve also been drinking a lot of coffee so it is time to make that cup of tea instead before I continue with watching dvd’s 🙂
The old rose covered all space behind the chips I made from the branches in my compost grinder, around 4 square meter (I think it’s more or less the same in square yards)
Not the happiest weather today, cloudy and boring when we were out on our morning walk but on the way home the rain arrived and it continued to rain half the day or so. Even though the garden is rather muddy (and also my home) we still need more rain so the groundwater level finally rise to more normal levels. I’ve cleaned the bottom floor so much now that it feels that there isn’t much left of it 🙂 🙂
I’ve now made an appointment for when my car will go through the annual vehicle inspection, December 29th. We used to have it every twelve month but we’ve it every fourteen month because that what they have down on the continent. I can’t see the logic in that but since we’re member of the EU we do what they do. I usually have it the last day I can because if there’s something that needs to be fixed I have one more month to drive before it is illegal 🙂  I really don’t like to have to do it when it is winter but next year it can be done as late as late February to early March 🙂 All problems are so much nicer when it is warmer and nicer outdoors 🙂
It is Persimmon season now and it is one of my favourite fruits. This time however they sold Kaki fruits, a relative to the Persimmon, they taste much the same but You can eat the Kaki even though it isn’t fully ripe. These are always seedless but every now in a blue moon some have a seed in them and I’ve been lucky twice already 🙂 Both Persimmon and Kaki fruits are just as cranny as Pawpaw seeds to germinate but I’ve done as I always do, put them in a moist paper towel and inside a plastic bag and placed them in the fridge so I’m hoping for good luck. I doubt these will be especially hardy though but I can have them in pots for several years before they grow too big. The problem I can see is that those pots will be nasty heavy and difficult to bring down to the cool cellar during each winter 🙂 🙂
All the chickens have moved, I’ll miss them.
It is time for that last cup of tea for the day. I’m thinking of perhaps having an ice cream at the same time but I have already had two today 🙂 🙂
Waiting for his turn at the bird feeder. The photos will be from both yesterday and today.
I haven’t done much today or yesterday to be honest, well I drove to the store in Kvänum and was surprised over how much it costed but I really shouldn’t have because everything is nasty expensive now days. Didn’t think I bought that much but then again I did but a quite big chunk of cheese and Wiener sausages, they do cost more than the others but it is worth it 🙂 🙂 Also I bought a few batteries and even though they’re not especially big the price on them is so after a while I realised it wasn’t that bad after all 🙂 🙂 🙂
I have two old dvd players, one that doesn’t open up so I can put a dvd in it and one that do open up but for some reason doesn’t put out the sound when it should so people can talk like crazy but no sound, however it does come after a while at the wrong place 🙂 🙂 So I had bought a new cheap one to replace them. Well something didn’t work as it should on that one either, it might be as simple as something is wrong with the HDMI cable. I’ve tried everything, even the old screen to my last computer. I was in the kitchen when I tried it but nothing happened. So a bit annoyed I ripped out the cable to the screen and would bring it back from where I fetched it. Well I didn’t rip out the right cable so the dvd player fell down on the floor in a quite high speed.
So that one doesn’t work either now 🙂 🙂 🙂 That’s when I remembered my old laptops have dvd players so I brought one of them down to the living room and put in a dvd. All worked just fine until it didn’t. So since I now was a bit more annoyed I hit my fist over the laptop and everything stopped and the screen froze 🙂 🙂 🙂 Nothing worked so since I do need this laptop when I want to write out documents for the road association meetings I shut it off and then on again. Now the dvd player works just as it should and everything else seems to be working fine as well 🙂 🙂 🙂
When I was in Kvänum I also visited my old work friends and I talked with my old apprentice about that I need to get a banked on my new phone and that’s always tricky as best. so he showed me what to do and that worked so easily that it surprised me, so now I don’t have to worry about the old phone shutting down again because now I have it on my new phone 🙂 Yesterday we had muggy weather with rain on and off but today the sun shone all day long 🙂 Also the sun warmed up the cottage so much that I could turn off the radiators 🙂 The muggy and rainy weather will return again tomorrow though. We do need it but days get so boring when we have to stay indoors all the time, then again I can now watch my dvd’s so that’s better 🙂 🙂 I bought all seasons of an old favourite of mine called “A town called Eureka” it has not aged bad at all 🙂
It is time to give the animals their food and after that I guess I’ll watch a couple of programs on my old laptop 🙂 Of course I’ll make a pot of tea before I start 🙂
Despite we’ve had so many really cold nights here now the moose fly still flies, very few others show themselves even when the sun shines now but moose flies just refuse to give up. I do wonder why we even have them now since we have almost no moose left around here.
I thought this was a hole in the tree but it isn’t. For some reason the place where the branch once sat has gone completely black 🙂
The morning walk was nice though, despite the moose flies, and since we had a cloudy sky and on and off rain it was fairly warm. There are still some leafs hanging on the trees but every day get less colourful and a bit more dull. Some Yarrow still flowers but very few other flowers.
Most people stay in their homes as well, only the tractors are still active, farmers rarely have some time over to do other things. Even the hunters seems to have given up this year, I’m not complaining because that means I’ll be able to be in the forest without getting disturbed 🙂 🙂
I just found the wildlife camera but so far nothing have shown in the garden. The only thing it has taken photos of is the dogs and I 🙂
These are the best tasting tomatoes I’ve eaten in years but I have no name so I’ll save some seeds and sow them next year again 🙂
The little cold I’ve had for some time now just refuses to give up and today I was freezing all the time so nothing much has happened here but I’ve had a lot of ice cream 🙂 I think it is time for that last cup of tea for the day and after that I’ll most likely will fall asleep in front of the tv 🙂
It has been a meh day weather-wise. The sun didn’t show itself until now when it is about to set for the day. Ok it has been around 10C (50F) all from morning to now so at least there was no need for any radiator to be working.
Malkolm is now refusing to eat anything in the morning but after a walk there’s no problem what so ever to give him the exact same food from my hand 🙂 🙂 🙂 I guess this has to do with the chemical neutering slowly is giving up, he’s also normally a sensitive dog but at the moment he’s even more so, so if I sound the least annoyed he looks like the world is ending 🙂 poor guy. No problem what so ever to eat his food in the afternoons though.
I’ve removed the fence around the vegetable garden now and it looks quite funny with a circle with no vegetation (well there are my tiny leeks, they never grew to anything really since I mistreated them from the start but I can say they taste really good) and a sort of border with higher grass growing around it 🙂 🙂 I’ll take a photo of it tomorrow. I also moved the chrysanthemums I had planted outside the fence to new and hopefully better places for them climate-wise. They aren’t as hardy as autumn asters are.
It is time for that last cup of tea for the day. The sun is down and I can see ground fog slowly flowing out in the pasture I can see from my window here by the computer. They say we’ll have fog again tomorrow and I hope it stay for longer than it did this morning.
It is raining, sort of a nice spring rain. Ok I know it’s autumn but that’s the feeling I get when being outside and not even the dogs seems to dislike it. We walked down to the creek this morning unlike yesterday when we walked out to the bog. It is strange but those moose flies survives lots of night with frost and they love it out by the bog so I didn’t want that to do that mistake again 🙂 🙂 🙂
I’ve noticed that there are lots fewer moose flies if we walk on the wider gravel roads even though they do sometimes even turn up here in my garden. Also it is seldom that any of them stays close to the creek, I have no idea to why though and it could just be coincidence but it’s like that every year. I think the moose passed just outside the garden yesterday evening because Alma was in guarding mood the entire time we were outside when it started to go dark. I could see some big tracks in the grass just outside my fence. If it had been a wolf she wouldn’t go outside at all 🙂 and the wild hogs walks closer to the forest on the other side of my home.
Our squirrels are quite shy so it’s always a joy when one can see them.
I always go out on seed sites this time of year and to be honest I already have many more seeds than I can sow next year 🙂 🙂 Then however, a couple of days ago I found seeds to something called Litchie tomato. It isn’t a tomato but a relative in the Nightshade family and even though I could see in photos that it must have been made in hell because it has zillions with really sharp small thorns I thought I have to test it 🙂 🙂 I’ve now been out on Youtube and watched a few videos and it is clear that it can’t grow in a place I have to pass at all because those spikes will hit me 🙂 🙂
Also I’ve learned that it is quite hardy, not that it will survive a winter here but night frost isn’t a problem at all. So it is either growing in the back of the greenhouse or it’ll just grow up there and later planted outside. Anyway it will be fun to try it 🙂 An odd thing happened when I tried to order it via my phone, for some reason I couldn’t get the seeds I bought by mail? Really strange since those packages I ordered hardly would even be noticed in an ordinary envelope. I could however go and pick it up at the seed firm not too far from where I live. That annoyed me so much that I cancelled the order 🙂 🙂 However I regretted it and did the order via my computer and then I didn’t even get a choice to pick it it, I could only get the seeds by mail 🙂 🙂 🙂 Thos are the problems we have in the village at the outskirts of the world 🙂 🙂 🙂
Well it is a long time until spring so I’ll place these seeds together with all the other seeds I already have in a plastic lunch box until it is time to start thinking about it again. It is time to feed the dogs and the monster and I already have a cup of tea by my side. I have caught a small cold, nothing serious just stuffed nose, freezing a little and sneezing a lot 🙂 🙂 I still have honey that my old neighbours gave me so I’ll have some of that and hope this will pass quickly even though it isn’t that bad 🙂
They are slowly ripening 🙂 I had to take this photo with a flash so the colours aren’t quite right. They are turning towards a very dark red colour.
For a while in the early morning it looked like we were going to have sunshine while we were out walking and we did for around twenty seconds 🙂 Then the rain arrived, no heavy showers but either a steady but calm rainfall or misty rain. It wasn’t until just after noon the sun made a come back and now three hours later I can see that the rain is falling again.
The rain on the mountain missed us but another one came a short moment after.
So I haven’t done a lot today, mostly drinking tea and watching tv, well I wouldn’t be able to tell You what it was I looked at because mostly it was pretty boring and nothing I really wanted to see. When the sunshine finally arrived I’ve mostly been throwing away what I’ve had in pots and poured it all out close to where the plum tree stood. I dug up all the dahlias and for the first time in my life only one can be saved till next year, I have no idea why they didn’t create root lumps like dahlias always do. Could be that I’ve watered them too little.
No signs of any wolf still staying around, they rarely do to be honest. I did see some tracks from moose though and they looked really fresh, if they had been old the rain would have wiped them out. To my very big surprise I finally found my jigsaw!! and it was pure luck because I can’t really understand why I had placed it there, beneath the entrance stairs??!! It must have been that a shower passed by and that was the closest place I could find, otherwise I have absolutely no idea 🙂 🙂 🙂 Thankfully it is in a sort of plastic suitcase so no water from the latest rains had managed to get to it. So it still works and soon I’ll be able to have that third rainwater barrel 🙂
Well the weather doesn’t seem to become any nicer again so I guess I better make a pot of tea and perhaps doze off in front of the tv 🙂 🙂
Just a short one today. The greenhouse still stands, I went out several times to check how the anchors and pegs were holding up and they show no signs of even moving the slightest. The only thing that did was the broken golf club in front of the door, so I pressed it down in the ground in another place and much further down and it is still standing 🙂
The dogs barely went out to do their business because the wind was fierce and I must say I didn’t think a tree could bend that much as my Chinese catalpa, any normal tree bending so much would have broken in two 🙂 🙂
The badger visited us in the late morning, I was surprised it even had went out on a day like this. I was outside just minutes earlier to check the greenhouse and went back to let the dogs out. Took a bit longer than I expected so by the time we came out the badger had left us again 🙂 They dig mall holes searching for snails and larvae to eat and they weren’t there when I was out earlier 🙂 So everything has went well and we’re all sitting in the cottage enjoying not being outside 🙂 It is time for that last cup of tea for the day and after that it feels like an early night is the right thing to do 🙂 Well I’ll watch the news first just in case something has happened in the world 🙂
We didn’t have any walks today the dogs and I. My body is aching everywhere and today was not a day when having dogs pulling the leash would be a good idea 🙂 🙂 🙂 (so the photos You see were taken two days ago and perhaps I’ll toss in a photo taken with my analog cameras).
I’m used to pain since I have rheumatism but today is a bit above that 🙂 🙂 🙂 It is for some reason easier to walk up the stairs than down 🙂 🙂 🙂 The weather hasn’t been that wonderful anyway, ok it is wind free and fairly warm or warmish at least but no sunshine.
I didn’t just sit still though, that would only make it worse. Instead I secured the green house for storm winds. I had already bought a set with ground anchors, wires and the small things like screws. The anchors are the kind that one simply screw down in to the ground. The thing was that I only could find three even though I know I should have four. So I walked around looking for it (I have every now and again used them for other things 🙂 🙂 🙂 ) well while I did that I found a very similar thing, it was for a dog I had and it is a kind of screw that is screwed down in to the ground and one fastens the leash in it.
I never used it though so since it had the same size and works the same way I used it. The problem was that while looking for the fourth anchor I lost the third 🙂 🙂 🙂 This is nothing new but sometimes it scares me 🙂 🙂 I looked for two hours and just couldn’t find it. So I decided to make a pot of tea and take a small break. I had old tea leafs that I needed to bring to my compost and for some reason I wasn’t surprised to see the anchor lying on the compost 🙂 🙂 🙂 So now if a storm comes and the wind actually can reach the green house it should be safe from blowing away 🙂 🙂 at least in theory 🙂
I also found the holder to the ventilation window, it had fallen down beside the big compost so I could attach that and it was fairly easy. so while I was at it I also fastened the door handle so now I’m done for the moment because I’ve ordered a sort of tent pegs for greenhouses. Amazon had good ones that will be screwed down with the help of a drilling machine. It’s not as if I don’t trust the storm anchors but I only have sand in the ground and it just feels like I would be able to pull them up by hand 🙂 🙂 This was the first time I’ve ordered anything from Amazon and so far so good 🙂 Amazon isn’t that big over here since we already have many similar sites we rather go to instead.
I hope I’ll be able to have walks tomorrow, if not for any other reason than that the dogs need to be somewhere else than here. It is time for that last cup of tea for the day and later I’ll check what’s on tv.
It felt much colder this morning even though it actually was slightly warmer, or less cold is better because there was no warmth what so ever 🙂  It was a bit cloudy when we went out on our morning walk so the cold air stayed and the moose flies weren’t near.
Bittersweet berries.
At least one moose fly did wake up when the sun finally showed itself, that fly is no more 🙂 I think it walked over to my hand while I was lifting some branches to pick a mushroom, still cold so it was pretty easy to get rid of it. We walked down to the creek and followed it up-streams and there’s definitely a beaver living in the creek again. The water level was pretty high and since we’ve had little rain it shouldn’t be possible to have that much water there unless the creek is blocked. They have placed materials to build a trap so I guess it won’t be long until we have no beavers here again.
The sun really made the day so much nicer so I’ve finally planted the last two Quince tree seedling, I now have six of them but this is a bit tough climate wise so I’m not even sure if any of them will manage through winter. It all depends on if winter will continue to behave as it has for several years now or if we’ll get a “normal” winter again, very cold and very long. Most likely it won’t be like the old days though but we’ll not know until next year.
I’ve also continued to cut down that huge rose with all the small but plentiful thorns. It’s not because I don’t like it, I do and it gives the birds lots of rose-hips to eat during winter. It is because this rose is seen as an invasive species and it might soon be illegal to have it anywhere. I actually have two of it and both have become huge during the 25 years I’ve lived here. So I’m slowly cutting it away but will leave some so if it isn’t banned it can grow back again 🙂 I might remove the other one totally because even if it is big it still has problems because of other invasive plants I have 🙂 🙂 🙂
It is time for that last cup of tea and I’m waiting for a bread to be ready to be picked out of the oven. I might have a slice or two with the tea but I really should eat the last piece of the bread I still have, then again a warm slice of newly baked bread with strong cheese is a good excuse to wait and use the last bread tomorrow morning instead 🙂 🙂
Two nice days in a row, yesterday started out sunny and it wasn’t until pretty late in the afternoon the rain arrived, today started with deep dark clouds and rain but later in the afternoon the sun showed itself. From no on they’re guessing that we’ll have sunshine all day long for a couple of days but the temperature will drop rather a lot.
So today I started to bring down the smaller citrus trees and the hardy hibiscus I have outside plus one little tree called Date-plum (Diospyrus lotus, a Persimmon relative). I bought it late in the season since it was for sale and affordable so I felt it was too late to try and plant it since this is on the border to what it can take climate-wise. I do hope that if any mouse would go down there that it doesn’t like to eat the little tree 🙂 🙂 🙂 I know they don’t like any kind of citrus so those will be safe. Then again the monsterkitten is a great mouse hunter and so far I haven’t heard any mice running inside the walls 🙂
The dogs and I went out to the bog yesterday morning so I could pick the mushrooms I found. It looks like I now days am the only one picking mushrooms so I don’t have to worry about anyone else taking them before me 🙂 I fried them with butter until all water had evaporated from the frying pan and then I tossed them in the freezer. I think we’ll be taking that road again tomorrow 🙂 After we had come home I got the idea that I should preserve apples in sugar syrup. It is easy to be honest if one has the right kind of apple, I didn’t 🙂 🙂 🙂 I can however tell You that I might have made the best applesauce I’ve ever tasted 🙂 🙂
After I had drained off most of the sugar syrup I poured it down in to jars, so do anyone know what one could do with lots of rather good tasting sugar syrup 🙂 🙂 🙂 I also baked a big loaf of bread with lots of cheese in it (at the same time I did the laundry) and I must say it is really tasty 🙂 Since I did so so much yesterday I’ve done almost nothing today (except for bringing down those trees to the cellar) , not even napped. I did however since the morning was so dull make some rice porridge,. It’s really a winter porridge but it sort of fitted to the mood both I and the dogs had.
Still getting strawberries but they don’t taste especially much now.I need to clean the table for some cacti I have but otherwise it looks pretty good. I also have a new led-light ramp beside the old plant light ramp.Soon I’ll also place five bigger citrus trees here (not so big nowadays since that frost we had early in spring) and a tea tree.
The only thing I still need to do today is to go out to the garden before letting the dogs out for the last time today to make sure there’s no badger out there 🙂 🙂 I have to do that until it gets so cold at night so the badgers decides to just sleep until it’s nice outside again 🙂 I’m just about to have my last cup of tea for the day and perhaps I’ll have a sandwich or two as well. I don’t have much in the fridge but I’ll always have cheese and milk, so tomorrow I’ll have a trip to the grocery store again, So many colds going around at the moment so I’ll drive away as early as possible.
I really like my birthday present I got from my eldest brother 🙂
A sort of meh weather today, mostly cloudy with the sun peeking through the clouds every now and again. It has been warm though so I really shouldn’t complain. Our morning walk was rather late today just because I hoped the sun would show itself more later in the day.
Instead I drove to the big grocery store in Falköping to get what I need for the weekend, nothing much really but cat food was a must 🙂  It’s not that I don’t have any at home but more because she demands the cheapest brand there is, for some reason she loves that wet food and who am I to complain that it is cheap 🙂 🙂 🙂 I had to stop at the grocery store in Gudhem on my way home because I had two parcels waiting to be picked up. The small one was a camera I’ve bought myself as a birthday present (Nikon D5200), nothing special with that camera more that I can turn the little screen at the back in almost any direction I want. So much easier to photograph something on the ground when I don’t have to lie down to get a nice photograph. I just turn have the camera close to the ground, turn the screen so that I can see what I’m photographing and take the photo 🙂
The blueberries are getting autumn colours.
The other parcel was more interesting, it was actually another camera that my eldest brother gave me as a birthday gift 🙂 It is the camera shown in the first photo 🙂 It is a TLR camera (for film) As You can see there are two lenses on the camera. The upper one is the one you look through and the lower one is the one taking the photo. A bit expensive as a gift but I would be an idiot if I didn’t accept it :-):-) 🙂 As You can see there’s also a second lens pair beside it and that’s a telephoto lens. not too common for these old cameras to have that. It weighs a ton so It is perhaps nothing one just hang over the shoulder when going out for a walk, the shoulder would be needed to be adjusted after that 🙂 🙂 🙂
This is a really nice mushroom to fry and perhaps make a stew. Or just fry them and put them on a sandwich with cheese and other things 🙂This and the next ones are even better 🙂 I’ll think I’ll bring a bag so I can pick them all tomorrow on our morning walk 🙂By the way, almost all photos today are taken with the “new” camera (I always buy second hand and when it is cheap 🙂 ). It takes a few days until we know each other well enough so I can get photos to look like I want them to look 🙂
It hasn’t rained today and the grass was surprisingly dry so after the walk I cut down those trunks from the plum trees, they really don’t look that big but they were so heavy that I almost wasn’t able to move them away 🙂 🙂 If I’ve been handy and known how to carve I would have had plenty to work with when they have dried up 🙂
I had to take this and the next photo through the kitchen door window so they look a bit off I’m afraid.
It is time for that last cup of tea for the day and I’ll also have an ice cream at the same time.There’s absolutely nothing to watch on tv tonight. I remember when I was a kid, You know back in the Stone Age, that Friday and Saturday night were family tv nights. When everyone in the family gathered in front of the tv, perhaps having sodas/coffee and something nice to eat. Not so any more and I sort of miss it even if it only be me and my dogs sitting there. The monster would perhaps join us but she would only sleep in the sofa anyway 🙂 🙂
I really hope we don’t get frost next week because this is the only squash (I think it is squash, have actually no idea because I used seeds I had saved from something I harvested years ago and can’t remember what it was, could be a pumpkin as well 🙂 🙂 ). The plants only gave male flowers until now.
The Cottage by the crane lake. 