Category: My dogs.

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Dark and grey again even though we almost could see the sun for a few seconds in the afternoon 🙂 We were supposed to have rain but it missed us. Perhaps a good thing because there’s so much water in the creek now that if we would get lots more it would overflow.

I could see a few ravens in the sky but no other bigger animals, they tend to stay where it is calm and today was nothing but. We did however see a big forest machine in the distance and the sound from it stressed Alma so much, she really doesn’t like strange sounds or any change what so ever. We managed to have a walk without her freaking out too much anyway 🙂

I realised how old I am now when I was on Reddit and looked at their different forums about aquariums. Back in the days when I was a kid I learned one way to have and keep an aquarium healthy and have never really changed my ways as it has worked well. Today having an aquarium is high tech! They fertilise the plants, use CO2 as well and they even use soil  and having soil in aquariums was something they always said was a big no no.

They also test for the, for me, most odd things like ammonium. Can’t remember that I ever had a problem with that, must smell horribly if that happens 🙂 🙂 I don’t however think necessarily were better back then but it sure was less complicated and less expensive 🙂 🙂 Anyway when I looked at those forums I started to remember all the old books I read until they broke and realised I don’t have any left and started to look on the net. So now I have two of those books I read and a third is on its way. These are of course old school because I’ll never start with any of that they do now days 🙂 🙂 The book that’s on its way is printed in 1938 so it’ll be interesting to see how things have changed since then 🙂

It is time for that last cup of tea for the day. There’s absolutely nothing I want to watch on tv so I guess I’ll be reading those two books all evening long 🙂

Have a great day!

A new morning routine :-)

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We’ve had two really grey and dark days but today the sun suddenly appeared again (of course not while we were out walking) and it felt really strange 🙂 It didn’t give any heat away though so I guess it appeared just for show 🙂 Still we were in the garden enjoying it as much as we could. It is and has been very windy as well but no wind could reach us here in the garden.

Well I guess it’s a bit wrong to call it logs, they’ll grind it down and make pellets of them. So this is the place I let the mice free.

It was so dark for a while yesterday so I switched to black and white for a short while.

I’ve sort of started a new routine. Wake up and let the dogs out to the garden and when they’ve come in I go down to the cool cellar and check what the box trap has caught during the night. When it gets brighter outside I take the mouse/mice out to the forest in the travel box and let them out just beside a big pile of logs they haven’t removed yet and walk hone.

The clouds thinned out so I turned back to cooler again 🙂

When I come home I leash the dogs and out we go on our morning walk. They are really interested in the smells at that pile of logs 🙂 Alma seems to have understood that if she is quiet we will see bigger animals and two days ago we saw a big moose. Unfortunately just as it vanished in to the forest so I didn’t get a chance to take a photo. Lately I’ve driven to the different places where I can pick up parcels so we might have our walk after that instead, it’s usually brighter outside if we do it that way.

Thankfully I don’t have any more parcels waiting to be picked up so I hope I don’t have to go anywhere until Monday when I’ll visit my old work friends again and also do that last christmas food shopping. I need a small ham and mustard and I’ll also check what I need for making gingerbreads. It’s always nice to have some gingerbreads at christmas but the gluten free we can but are an abomination to the world but I’ve made this kind before and they are delicious but perhaps a bit strong spice-wise 🙂

It is time for that last cup of tea and most likely a slice or two of the just a few hours old Vörtbröd I baked today 🙂

Have a great day!

They behaved really well today :-)

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Rain all day long, not even the monster likes to go outside. It is warmish outside though but that doesn’t help much since we really can’t be outside anyway.

The travel cage for hamsters that I bought arrived today so I went to the grocery store in Gudhem to pick it up. They have so many parcels there now that one really can’t wait a day or so to pick it up, sort of annoying since I’ll get another one tomorrow. I’ll most likely have to go to the supermarket in Skara to pick up another one and that’s a bit annoying since that means I’ll almost go all the way back home just to continue 20 km the other way 🙂 🙂

We went out to the bog this morning and we could hear lots of animals moving around. I must say that both Alma and Malcolm showed their best behaviour all the way, even when we met a young Fallow deer buck. There was some whining and some pulling the leash but I don’t think they ever have behaved better than today 🙂 Before our morning walk however I went out to the forest by myself with the box trap.

It had caught a small yellow necked mouse but it was still so dark that I had to wait a couple of hours before I could release it. When it was time to do it another one sat in the trap as well 🙂 Rather big so I guess the small one was a female and the big one a male. There was no coconut flakes left so I guess the big one wasn’t out to get fed 🙂 🙂 This time I went further away in to the forest just to make sure they can’t find their way back home again 🙂

The Fallow deer buck has two tiny antlers, hard to see though. Must be around two years old.
Now I don’t have to walk out to the forest with two cowards following me to release the mice, They can stay in this cage until it is time. I’ve put some peanuts in it so they have something to eat while waiting 🙂

It is time for that last cup of tea and I’ll also have the last of the ice cream. I’ll buy more tomorrow since I most likely will have to get that parcel at the supermarket anyway 🙂

Have a great day!

Saint Lucia’s day.

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Grey, dull and rain all day here.

We didn’t have an especially long morning walk today, we had walked perhaps half of what we usually do when I suddenly heard a shot not especially far from us. It wasn’t our hunters but in the castles grounds neighbouring to this area. Well even if they were outside where we usually walk I really didn’t want to get too close just in case those hunters weren’t sure where to shoot, so we turned back home again.

A male Bullfinch.

So today, December 13, is Saint Lucias day and even though it isn’t a holiday now days we celebrate her. Its origins here is from the 16th century when we still were a catholic country and that’s when it was a holiday as well. I don’t know how they celebrated back then but that it wasn’t the way we do now. One can say it’s a procession led by a Lucia, all in white wearing a crown with lit candlesticks (kids have electric candles of course) she is followed by maids, star boys and sometimes gnomes and almost always a Saint Stephen. I’m not sure how all these are bout together but that really doesn’t matter when it comes to traditions, does it 🙂 🙂

This procession then travels to different places to sing  Christmas songs, like in retirement homes, hospitals or work places. Schools usually have their own ones. I hated that because I was always forced to be Saint Stephen and had to sing solo for the entire school about Stephen the stable boy 🙂 🙂 🙂 The gnomes sing about gnomes and the Star boys sing other Christmas songs 🙂 (I’ll try and post a video at the end). Everyone looking at this have coffee and gingerbreads and a wheat bun called Lussekatter 🙂

This is also broadcasted on tv so the ones at home gets a chance to see it as well. The first written story about a white dressed Lucia was written down 1764 at a place called Horn in this region of Sweden. It was traditionally a feast day here so I guess it fitted to have the first Lucia procession here (It’s a bit of a story to how they celebrated this day here before Lucia took over but that’s for another day). She was dressed in white but instead of having burning candles on her head she had candlesticks in her hands and she also wore wings. The way we celebrate now is from the early 1900’s when it spread from this region to all of Sweden and to our neighbouring countries.

It is time for that last cup of tea that stands beside me 🙂 I woke up at 4 am and as soon as I did Alma came over to me and placed her chin on my head. I took that as a I must out now 🙂 She is much much better now but she still poops out the occasional peanut 🙂 🙂 🙂 Thankfully the farting has stopped so now the cottage have gone back to smelling like it usually does 🙂 🙂

There isn’t a specific Saint Stephen in this video or gnomes but I guess that pagan gnomes perhaps doesn’t fit in a church 🙂

Have a great day!

They are not the most courageous :-)

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So yesterday after it had gone dark I found another little mouse in the box trap. I thought I really couldn’t leave it there all night so I took the trap and started to walk towards the forest. Since I was sure I wouldn’t  meet anyone (even though there are some people who loves to walk in the forest in the dark) I let the dogs follow me unleashed.

This is what spruces look like when cattle is around 🙂 They don’t eat it but scrub themselves towards them when it itches 🙂

They were running all around me and had lots of fun. Then I suddenly realised that they’ve stopped, turned around and watched how they hurriedly ran back home 🙂 🙂 🙂 I have no idea why but suddenly I stood there all alone in the dark not knowing why 🙂 🙂 Well what ever it was it left me alone anyway so I just let the mouse out and walked back home. That little travelling cage I’ve bought hasn’t arrived yet but I know it is on its way. I’ve learned one thing, if ever anything serious will happen to me I really can’t count of any help from the dogs 🙂 🙂 🙂

I said I hadn’t seen any signs of beaver actions lately, well I saw this today 🙂

The morning walk was rather pleasant, no wind and it almost reached 10C (50F). No sun of course but slightly more daylight than previous days. Alma and Malkolm almost behaved all the way as well. We did see a Roe deer around a football field away and that did of course stress out Alma and it didn’t help that they were cutting down forest somewhere close but as soon as we were on the way home again she calmed down.

Tomorrow is Saint Lucias day here and oddly enough we Lutherans who rarely celebrate anything celebrates this catholic saint 🙂 I’ll tell You more about it tomorrow but I can say this that this custom actually have spread to the US even if it still is very few who does this over at Yours.

It is time for that last cup of tea for the day and even though I’ve just had dinner I still think I’ll have a couple of vörtbröd sandwiches with cheese, spotted sausages and shrimp salad 🙂

Have a great day!

Lots of water in the creek.

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So we had a night without any disturbance thankfully but Alma was in a hurry to go outside. She hurried away behind some bushes in the garden so I couldn’t see how bad it was but she’s full of energy and happy so I guess she’s ok.

She’s not the one pooping outside the garden unless she’s desperate and that was what she was when we were out on our morning walk and this time I could check how bad her stomach was, I have seen worse 🙂 and most of what comes out are peanuts! I have no idea how much she ate from that big bag of peanuts but by the look of it at least a third of it 🙂 🙂

So she’s getting better but she farts and the smell is something that most likely can knock down a rhino 🙂 🙂 It is a horrible mix of sweet, sour and something that must have been dead for a week or so. I’ve tried to let the wind blow through the cottage, sprayed more of that air cleaner and used loads of matches but it has already sort of stuck to the walls and furnitures! I better go to the grocery store in Gudhem tomorrow to buy more rice.

Besides that the day has been rather nice, we walked down to the creek this morning and the latest rain has really filled up the creek again. It would of course not have been this full of water if the beavers hadn’t blocked the concrete pipe that goes beneath the gravel road. The thing is that I haven’t seen any more traces of beaver activity and haven’t in a few weeks so if they’ve moved they really should unblock that pipe. If we’ll get more rain which is quite possible that creek soon will overflow and start filling the fields as well 🙂

It is time to have that last cup of tea and some ice cream as well 🙂

Have a great day!

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Perhaps the darkest day so far but fairly warm, no wind and no rain so I can’t complain too much. We had our morning walk fairly late because I had to pick up two parcels that arrived a bit late yesterday at the grocery store in Gudhem. One was the two quality street boxes and the second was with two peonies.

Yule is here soon so they really need us to pick anything we get as soon as possible otherwise I could have waited until Monday, even though the peonies do feel better to be planted as soon as possible. We walked out to the bog and since both Alma and Malkolm behaved so well we walked to an area we seldom walk at because it’s more or less a big thicket and walking with wild leashed dogs there is a nightmare 🙂

Worked well today though so the both gf them had so many more treats than they usually have on our walks 🙂 We didn’t hear any animals walking close to us but we did hear lots of hunting dogs from a distance. I guess most animals laid low listening if the dogs came any closer or moved away.  After that we’ve been doing very little and I think I should have taken a nap because I really had time for it. I did look at my neighbour while he was carrying a dryer over the garden and up the stairs to their cottage though 🙂 Looked exhausting 🙂 🙂

There’s ice under the water and that’s a bit surprising since it has been warm for so long now.

It is time for that last cup tea and then watch the news I think. It’s most likely the same as yesterday and the day before and most likely about the orange blob doing something stupid or Hegseth doing something even more stupid. Well our politicians do stupid things too but on a much lower level. The hunters will be here tomorrow morning so we’ll have a late morning walk I guess. We’ve most likely had a wolf passing close to the garden because the dogs still refuse to go especially far from the entrance even during daytime.

The wild hogs have dug a hole just a couple of meters away from the hunting lodge 🙂

Have a great day!

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If the weather two days ago was meh, yesterdays weather was meeeh and today we were back to meh again. Not a lot of variation but today we didn’t have to deal with misty rain. If we’re going to have rain just give us regular showers so we at least can put the right clothes on, misty rain eats its way through most clothes and it just makes us feel miserable 🙂

We walked down to the creek today, nothing special to say about that but both Alma and Malkolm behaved so well!! I’m not used to that so I’m starting to worry about both of them being sick 🙂 🙂 🙂 They did pull the leashes hard one time and I’m paying for that at the moment, my back every now and again hits me with a pain that feels something like my nerves being burned at both ends. Not so often thankfully but that makes it a bit worse since I never knows when it will hit 🙂 🙂 🙂

Every Christmas I buy myself a huge Quality Street tin bucket, 2.5 kg (5,5 pound) 🙂 It lasts for a very long time so I don’t gulp it down the same week, that I think would kill me 🙂 🙂 🙂 This year however that tin bucket is so expensive so I bought two smaller ones 0,55 kg (1 pound plus a bit more) because I will not stop my tradition to have my quality street bonbons 🙂 Anyhow, I did the math and if I had bought 4 I had almost got just as much as the big one but for less money. Well I’ll survive to have less, probably even better because that’s a lot of sugar and fat 🙂

Just before sitting down to write anything here I let the dogs out in to the garden. They just rounded the corner and both stopped and refused to go any further. They just stop there looking towards the fence. So I thought I better go and have a look what might be behind the fence but couldn’t see anything they were quick to go inside as well so I guess a wolf must have passed by. The only time they refuse to leave the entrance like that is when we have wolves around. I’m mostly annoyed by still not have seen any wolves myself, especially since plenty of the villagers have 🙂 🙂 It would be nice to have a photo on a wolf from a good distance 🙂 🙂

My cool cellar and it is time to harvest the tomatillos. I’m not quite sure what I think about them to be honest but I’ll still use them in my food 🙂
My Date plum tree (Diospyros lotus) is starting to grow way too early. It is good in one way because I have over watered it so the risk of it starting to rotten is much lower now.

It is time for that last cup of tea for the day. Yesterday I had it way too late and woke up in the middle of the night feeling that I had around ten seconds to reach the bathroom 🙂 🙂 I will not do the same mistake today so it’ll be an early last cup for the day.

Have a great day!

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Mixed weather here today, anything from misty rain to drizzle and then showers but also a lot of sunshine and it was so nice to stand in it feeling the warmth from it. Tomorrow it’ll be 4C (39,2F) all day, both day and night but with no chance of seeing the sun they say.

There was almost no vegetation growing in the bog (except for the pines) when I moved here 25 years ago but long draughts have made sure that birches thrive.
The idea was that they weren’t allowed to keep the ditches so that the water level would rise but nature has another idea. So now when animals walk here I can’t see them, just hear them.

It was a joy to have our morning walk today, Alma behaved all the time and Malkolm pushed the leash much less, I guess the smell from what ever it was that the ravens ate made them more focused 🙂 🙂 🙂 This time of year the birds don’t make a lot of sounds, the occasional tweeting but they are so focused at finding food that they really don’t have the time to do other things. That makes it easier for us to hear other things, like wild hogs trying to move as quietly as possible .

We had lots of them around us today and as long as they keep trying to avoid us I don’t care about them 🙂 there were lots of ravens in the air and Great tits flew between the trees looking for insects hiding in the moss and lichens. No woodpeckers today though and oddly enough I didn’t hear any Jays arguing, normally those are the ones one mostly can hear 🙂

I also went to the supermarket today. I didn’t need especially much but came home with more than I had written down on my list 🙂 They did have whole chicken on sale so why not and I found this cereal that was supposed to taste like apple pie (and it was also gluten free) and I thought I really needed to try that one. Well it didn’t taste anything like apple pie and one could think that since it was made from oat that it possibly at least would taste like oatmeal cookies but no. So sit was like eating hard bread in a bowl of yogurt 🙂 🙂 🙂

Then I thought I should buy sand for the aquarium so I walked in top the pet store just beside. They now have a license to sell fish so they actually had a few aquariums with fish but they were so expensive that I doubt anyone will buy any fish from that place. I did eventually find aquarium sand but I couldn’t find how much it weighed but took it anyway, I would need around 10kg (22 pound) and it looked like that bag would way something like that. I did think that I must have lost a lot of muscle because it was so heavy. It was expensive too but since the fish was expensive I didn’t think much of it. Turns out that I bought a 20kg (44 pound) bag 🙂 🙂 so now I have around 22 pound of sand just standing in a corner 🙂 🙂 🙂

I think this might be the last leaf still hanging on in the entire area, it’s on my peach tree 🙂
I really should cut of this big branch on the apple tree but I like all the moss that’s growing on it 🙂

It is time for that last cup of tea I think. Perhaps I should have some of that apple pie cereal as some kind of cookie 🙂 🙂 🙂 I can always pour some cinnamon over it all and pretend it’s a Christmas cookie 🙂 🙂

Have a great day!

It continues to stay warmish :-)

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I can’t for my life remember the name on this little bird but they are adorable when flying around looking for insects on the trees. Quite small but with long tail feathers. They only sit still for a second or two so I’m glad I managed to get this photo. Now I remember 🙂 It is a Long-tailed bushtit.

The days have been warmish now with a bit of sunshine yesterday but with mostly drizzle today. Not cold enough to feel that it’s ok staying indoors all day but not warm enough to actually wanting to do anything outdoors 🙂 We’ve been out on our walks but nothing more really.

We were on our way out and the monster wanted to go indoors and she showed really well what she thought of me when I continued with our walk 🙂

I’ve put together the table for the aquarium I bought, looking at the descriptions on how to do it it looked complicated but to be honest it wasn’t. It was like putting together something from IKEA but for some reason nothing was missing and for once they had put some extra screws and other things in the package and that was a good thing because I did need them. They had also put in lots of other screws, nuts and rubber things I think should be around some of the screws but not to this table 🙂 🙂 🙂

Here’s a raven gulping down something. This and the next photo were taken yesterday and since Alma is the dog she is these were the only ones I managed to take 🙂 🙂

This and the next one was taken today. Ravens are very aware of what is happening around them so if they see a camera they fly away.

Then I had to find somewhere to place it. I have had an old fridge in the kitchen that stopped working long ago but that I for some reason never moved out, I’ve used it as a storage unit more or less 🙂 🙂 The thing is that after a while it just collects dust and dog hair so I decided to move it out to the garage, (nowadays an indoor dog yard for the dogs since they dug their way in so I couldn’t have the car there any more 🙂 🙂 🙂 ). I tied and taped together the door because if dogs are determined to get inside they will and the risk of them getting in and the door gets closed so they suffocate isn’t something I would like to experience. One day I’ll move it to the scrap yard 🙂

A Magpie in flight.

It isn’t a big one but get it outside and in to the old garage wasn’t easy, especially when I dragged across the gravel road 🙂 🙂 Well it is done and I was surprised over how much dust and things had managed to get in under it 🙂 🙂 So now I’ve put it all ups and now It’ll stay empty for quite some time since I really don’t need it until next autumn when the goldfish I’m planning to have in the little pond and three water barrels need to go inside during winter. I can of course fill up with sand and plants and have some kind of fish in it until then it all depends on when I can drive to the pet store that still sell aquarium fish. The rules to sell aquarium fish are so hard now days and the licenses they need are so expensive that fewer pet stores sell fish now days. Cats and dogs have never been allowed to sell in pet stores here.

Either we have hunters here during nights or the lynx or the wolves hunt here at night because we came really close to ravens yesterday, They were clearly eating either leftovers after a hunt or what’s left after something a predator has killed. Yesterday they were sitting in the middle of a field and today they flew up from the ground in the forest. A raven would never be on the ground in the forest unless they had something to eat. The dogs were a bit stressed when we followed the creek up-stream but not like they usually are when we have wolves around so if it is an animal my guess is on the lynx.

It is time for that last cup of tea for the day, I haven’t really eaten anything since noon so I guess a couple of sandwiches would be great to have at the same time. Nothing interesting on tv to watch as usual so perhaps I’ll watch a dvd or read a book

I wish You all a nice first of advent!

I almost missed it :-)

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We woke up to a cold and foggy world today which, despite the cold, is one of my favourite weathers 🙂 So as soon as it was light enough the dogs and I walked out to the bog. If I had known the fog would stay all day we would have had a longer walk down to the creek and out on the bog there. Days like these are quiet days, not only does the fog dampen sounds from the big road but also no birds make any sounds at all. Well there was these two ravens flying above us who made their metallic sounds a couple of times but that was it.

Alma behaved so well so if there had been any animals out on the fields we would have been able to see them, at least if they were close enough because the fog was so thick sometimes that the camera couldn’t find places to focus on 🙂  we walked out on the peninsula and when we stood there looking out over the bog we could hear something moving around but it never came close enough for us to see it. It was most likely one or two wild hogs because if they know we are around they really don’t care if they can be seen 🙂 and really doesn’t care if we hear them. I always thought the wolves would hunt them but I’ve learned that wolves aren’t especially interested in wild hogs and I guess that’s why they don’t care about being heard or seen.

I sat in my recliner after we had come home and started to think about what time I was going to x-ray my hips tomorrow and after that see my doctor. I have experimental hip implants in my hips since I was too young to get hip prostheses since they would wear out way to fast. Turns out that these implants mostly were quite horrible to those getting them. They leaked lots of heavy metals in to the body and both the bones, muscles and tendon attachments could start to dissolve because of that. The doctor I had for my first surgery however is a snob 🙂 🙂 🙂 so he chose the most expensive kinds there was and therefore I have no such problems 🙂 My “new” doctor of course chose the same kind for my other hip 🙂 They do check my blood and take new x-rays every five years now (before it was every year) just in case something goes wrong. So if they can’t find any heavy metals in my blood I’ll do this again after five years 🙂

Anyway it turns out it was today I would go to the hospital 🙂 🙂 🙂 I still had lots of time going there so no panic 🙂 Normally I don’t mind driving around in fog unless it is dark outside or that it is colder then 0C (32F) since fog is water and when it hits the road it starts to freeze. Most of the way was fine though but it had started to freeze on my way home. No traffic at that time though so I could drive in the speed I felt safe, also it helps if one drives behind a tractor the last 500 meters before driving in on the village gravel road 🙂 

It started to become dark again as soon as I had come home otherwise we would have had another walk to the forest but since we have hogs, moose and eventual wolves here I didn’t want to meet any of them when it was dark 🙂 🙂 🙂 I haven’t figured out what to have for dinner so I guess it’ll be warm sandwiches with meatballs and sausages and lots of cheese 🙂 Plus I*ll of course have that last cup of tea for the day 🙂

Have a great day!

So this is my Korean spruce. Its top was destroyed long ago and it took may years before a branch decided to become the new top 🙂 So it does have an odd shape.
So the lights also have an odd shape 🙂 🙂 🙂

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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 🙂 🙂 🙂 and I hope it’ll never happen again 🙂

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.  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 🙂

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 🙂 🙂 🙂 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 🙂 🙂 🙂 I didn’t know one could get pimples there but now I’ve learned something 🙂 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 🙂 🙂 🙂

Have a great day!