Category: Nikon D5100.

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One of the five Pawpaw seeds I bought now have a tiny root, so I have sown it in a big pot and can place it outdoors as soon as nights get a bit warmer.

For once we didn’t have frost last night but instead we had hard northern winds blowing so that sort of evened it all out 🙂 Sunshine all day with the exception smaller clouds passing in the sky in front of the sun. It was pretty nice as long as one kept away from the wind and stayed in the sunshine 🙂 Pretty tricky when being out on walks though but worked pretty good in the garden. For once the wind blew from a direction where it actually can reach my garden but the cottage managed to block most of it 🙂

The wind is icy cold so it was rather nasty when we walked in the open fields but as soon as we reached the creek and then in to the forest it changed dramatically, even in those places the sun couldn’t reach us. We’ll get a couple of nights with cold nights but the days will get warmer and warmer again. My kitchen door is towards south and the wind comes from north so I can have it open all day thankfully. Both the little monster and the dogs can walk in and out as they please and the cottage gets rid of all the winter air with is quite nice 🙂

The monster had a little break on top of the grape vine 🙂

Yesterday I cut down the Amur grape vine I had outside my kitchen, where all the birds sat while waiting for their turn to eat by the feeder. It didn’t give many grapes to be honest and since dogs shouldn’t eats grapes I just thought it best to remove it. It was a bit too easy to be honest and most of the vines seemed dead, I could only see buds on a few of the vines. Now I need to plant something else  there so that the birds can be protected from raptor birds while they sit and wait for their turn.

Lots of stack ants walking around on the ant stack .

I do have a lot of apricot trees now so it will most likely be one of those, Apricots are really hardy, the problem is that they flower no matter what weather we’re having so it can be really warm or winter and they just don’t care 🙂 🙂 So if one wants the apricots up here in the north one better be prepared to protect those flowers from cold weather 🙂 🙂

It is time for that last cup of tea for the day and I have baked some rolls but they sort of flattened out 🙂 🙂 The taste is just the same though so that doesn’t matter 🙂

Have a great day!

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It was cold this morning when the dogs, monster kitten and I woke up. -14C (6,8F) but there was no wind at all so when I walked out in to the shine from the rising sun it actually felt rather nice even though I only wore a sweatshirt and sweatpants. It didn’t take long before I could hear drops dripping from the roof.

Still I can’t say that the snow did a lot of melting during the day even though it did become rather warm. Today the birds started to sing again and I could hear cranes from fields not too far away. I could also hear Alma the entire walk because today she decided that whining in a high pitched tone would make us all happy 🙂 🙂 🙂 She did behave very well otherwise. Instead I had to scold Malkolm because he decided that if Alma was supposed to walk without pulling the leash someone else had to 🙂 🙂 🙂

I haven’t done much today though, applied for some jobs and been outside in the garden every now and again. The snow is slowly melting around the early spring bulbs but that’s it. This is the time of year when newly plants die, the ones planted last autumn that is. Their roots haven’t spread down properly  in to the ground so if the ground still is frozen they’ll dry out pretty quickly when the warmer weather comes, that little soil that they brought with them from the pot will dry out really quickly and since the ground is frozen it can’t get any moisture from it. So just before the cold weather would arrive I was outside watering everything I planted last autumn and those plants that live on the border to what they can manage. All I can do now is to wish that I watered enough.

Everything down in the cool cellar are now getting tiny leafs, rather annoying since I can’t bring anything of it outside and since one of the plant lights I had broke so it is a bit too dark down there now. Can’t do much about it though, not until the nights a get warmer. As soon as they’ve gotten used to be outside they usually can take a night or two in a row without getting damaged. Doesn’t look like that will happen in the closest seven day 🙂 🙂 🙂 I think I have one peach tree, five apricots, two red mulberries and lots of quince seedlings and even though mice? (could also be a monster kitten 🙂 ) have chewed on all the giant sequoias it still looks like four of them have survived, cross Your fingers and hold Your thumbs for good luck 🙂

It is time for that last cup of tea for the day and I hope that it will warm up quickly tomorrow morning (after a pretty cold night again) so I don’t have to scrape ice from the car before I’ll go to the supermarket 🙂

Have a great day!

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Lets hope the new neighbours are good ones.

It continued to snow here well in to the after noon today, thankfully the flakes were tiny so we didn’t get that much more on the ground. The snow actually started to melt on the south side of the cottage during the day but tonight they say will be nasty cold, down to -10C (14F) It will rise to above 0C (32F) during the day though but Saturday will be even warmer so I changed my plans on going to the grocery store tomorrow and go on Saturday instead.

We’re getting new neighbours again. The Beekeeper moved since they rented and the owner was too greedy to give them a fair prise. All we know so far about these new neighbours is that they’ll be renting and possibly buy later but I’m afraid it will be the same outcome again. The place isn’t worth half of what the owner wants to be payed for it. I do hope they like dogs since they most likely will have a visit from my two 🙂 🙂 🙂

The monster kitten hasn’t shown any interest at all in going out to the cold snow again 🙂 🙂 I think that one time will stay in her mind quite some time. I guess that she will mostly stay indoors next winter when it snows again but then again memory can be short lived so she might go out the first time it snows again 🙂

I was filling in a job application today but hit a wall 🙂 They wanted my high school  grades! It is soon 42 years ago that I graduated from high school and I know I have them somewhere but not where 🙂 🙂 🙂 It sort of feels like they only look for young people 🙂 🙂 🙂 If I find them I will fill in the application anyway. I have a very small cottage with few places to store anything and yet I can’t find anything here 🙂 🙂 🙂

It is time to bake some rolls and have that first warm one with a cup of tea. Is there anything tastier than that first warm slice of bread, preferable with cheese that slowly melts?

Have a great day!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

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The snow started to fall already yesterday afternoon, just tiny flakes but with time they grew bigger and multiplied as well. I’m not surprised because this always happens after the first crane has arrived 🙂 🙂 🙂 I’m not a fan of it though, I would have preferred it to stay green and nice. The weather sites seems to agree that this is the last snow for this time and from Thursday and eight days into the future we’ll have cold nights but fairly warm and sunny days, none of us will believe that’ll happen until it does 🙂 🙂 🙂

The wind today is a bit nasty so we had our morning walk in the forest where it couldn’t reach us. All birds were quiet, even the jays and ravens seems to have thought this weather was just too much 🙂 Yes I admit that it does look pretty with snow everywhere but it is enough to see it in photos and post cards 🙂 Back in the days warm weather like we had just a day ago was quite unusual in March. March was sort of the last winter month and April could go either way. Just around 21 years ago we still had winter the first of May when I opened my garden centre. It was so cold that I couldn’t bring out any spring flowers.

Now days it’s rather unusual to have winter at all in April, the only exception in recent years was last April when I brought home Malkolm, we had had spring temperatures for quite some time when easter came and Malkolm as well plus a snowstorm we haven’t had in years 🙂 🙂 🙂 40cm (16 inches) of snow here but not far away they had 90cm (36 inches) during one day 🙂 🙂 🙂  I don’t miss the old winters but they were more predictable. Winter now days seems to be shorter but more intense when they come.

Since the wind can’t reach my garden I thought it would be a good idea to let the monster kitten meet snow for the first time 🙂 Well I would be lying if I said I think she likes it 🙂 🙂 🙂 She just stood still looking at all this white garbage on the ground and falling from the sky. So I brought her to the apple tree where she was the last time she was outside with the rest of us, she didn’t like that either and suddenly she started to shiver so I put her inside my jacket and brought her inside again. I think I honestly can say that there’s at the moment no risk she freely would go outside again until the snow is gone 🙂 🙂 🙂

Spring flowers are thankfully used to setbacks in the weather but I was surprised to see this spring iris in bloom now.

It is time for a pot of tea and perhaps read a book or see if they show any interesting re-run on tv. I can also take a nap even though last night was the first night in some time that I slept really well.

Have a great day!

So now the snow falls again.

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Not the best photo but it is at least Cranes, they were flying to the other small lake we have in the nature reserve.

 

It is snowing again and will continue for a day or two more. How much we’ll get is hard to guess since they change the amount on the web sites all the time. It will most likely stay for the rest of the week but after that they’re guessing we’ll get warmer temperatures again. I’m not surprised though because as the first Crane arrives here we usually get at least one more snow storm before spring really arrives.

The two days previous to this one was quite wonderful though, a bit chilly in the mornings but sunny and temperatures rose to 10C (50F) and above. Lots more Cranes have arrived though so now I can hear them every morning as soon as I go outside 🙂 I’ve also heard the Larch and the Eurasian curlew. The last one has become a bit rare so I always enjoy hearing it again. So even if spring has reached a temporary halt it feels good to know it’s just around the corner.

I’ve been a bit busy now, well busy isn’t perhaps the right word but I have been to an interview at a staffing agency for a job in the same village as where I worked before but for another company. I must say it did feel like a good meeting so now I’ll have to wait and see what happens. The staffing agency will now recommend the people they think will work well for that company so all I can do now is to wait and hope for the best.

A while ago the employment agency asked if I wanted the help from a job coach and I said why not and today I met her for the first time. She asked me what I had done so far to get a job and it turns out I’m doing what they want me to do. I’ll have a talk with her over the phone every second week and meet her in person the other weeks. When I returned back home she had mailed me some links to companies looking for hiring people. So tomorrow I’ll send an application to each place, as long as the orange idiot doesn’t disturb the world too much I might have a chance.

I would say that the cold is gone but the coughing isn’t. Still very little coughing during nights thankfully. Lots of people have that cold or flu or what ever it is at the moment so I guess I should be happy about having it early especially now when we’ll get winter weather back. I could at least go outside to enjoy the sunshine and warm weather, those having it now just have to suffer through it and not have anything to make the day better.

Can You see the back of the wild hog in the middle of the photo?

Our morning walk was quite nice though, despite the cold wind and dark skies. We walked out to the bog and stood at the end of the peninsula. Alma is behaving so much better now, even the whining is quieting down. We stood there at the end looking out over the bog, all quiet, when we suddenly heard something walking towards us in the thicket. Two wild hogs that must have known we were there suddenly showed themselves to us. This was a bit too much for Alma so she started to whine a lot, so they slowly turned away from us and walked in to the thicket again. I did however get a photos of one of them, even if it only was the back side of it 🙂

It is time for something to eat, haven’t had dinner today. Thinking something easy like sausage and baked white beans. I’ll have my last cup of tea for the day after that 🙂

More croci are showing up just before winter comes back.
Also some spring irises show now. They are built to survive some time of winter returning.
Dying needles on the Himalayan cedar, lets hope it just sheds of the old needles and not dies.

Have a great day! 

The vet visit.

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The photos will be a mix taken these last days.

I had set the alarm today because we were going to the vet this morning. Malkolm would get the chemical neutering and Sara the real surgery. We were all up long before the alarm started so we even could go back to bed and just wait for it to start :-)Well I couldn’t leave Alma at home because I like try little cottage and the little I have here in my home. I couldn’t leave her in the dog yard because this is not the time to renovate it, too cold to even try to dig down net in the ground 🙂 🙂 🙂 So she came along as well.

Alma hates car rides but jumped in to the car, Malkolm loves car rides but refused to put his paws in the car at all 🙂 So it was a bit tricky to even lave the village 🙂 🙂 I didn’t have to scrape any ice from the car even though it was well below freezing point so I took that as a good omen 🙂 The ride to the vet was unusually calm, Alma only whined a little and managed to tie her and Malkolm together with the seat belts. She calmed down even more when she could put her nose outside the car on both sides, the inside of the car went a bit chilly but it was worth it 🙂 🙂

We could course not bring Alma when it was time to insert the chemical neutering in Malkolm so she had to stay in the office. The vet said this will hurt and he must be absolutely still so he called the ones working there. The syringe was pretty big so I held  Malkolm firmly and so did two employees as well. That when we all heard Alma shouting her lungs out so I said For heavens sake You didn’t leave her alone there because nothing will remain 🙂 🙂 🙂  but there was one person still there to keep her as calm as she could 🙂 🙂 🙂 Turns out Malkolm didn’t feel a thing and was so happy when three people hugged him so much 🙂 🙂 🙂

I had to go back and pick up Sara before lunch and she was not a happy camper but I doubt that she actually managed to notice that we were going back home again. They checked her ears and it turns out she had ear mange so we went to the pharmacy on our way home. Almost the first thing she did was to tear off the cone of shame but I managed to make it a bit more tight but still let hear breathe so I hope it stays on at least during the night, she’s supposed to have it for ten days but that’ll never happen 🙂 🙂 🙂 The toughest job will be to keep the dogs away so they don’t clean the area where the surgery took place. I won’t argue with her if the cone at least stays for four days 🙂

It is time for that last cup of tea for the day and hope there will be something interesting on tv. I doubt that though 🙂 🙂 🙂

Have a great day!

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Nothing happened here the previous two days so I really had nothing to write about. We had some snow, it melted away, then we had some rain and today we finally had some fog. Only one problem, I missed most of it.

I was just going to apply to a couple of job ads, no big to be honest. The little problem I had was that no matter what kind of document I tried to save it in no site excepted it, not even as a pdf?! I was trying well over an hour seeing how the fog became weaker and weaker. I was so desperate that I finally called one of the bigger companies telling what I had tried and all versions Id tried as well. They were really confused because all versions I’d tried were accepted.

Then they asked me what browser I used and I said Safari and they said oh 🙂 🙂 🙂 Do it via Google Chrome and it’ll work. So then I needed to find chrome in my computer which the computer said I would have and showed what keys I should press to get there. The problem is that I have a keyboard for pc but adapted to Mac, so those hints didn’t help much 🙂 🙂 🙂  So I had to download it from the net instead 🙂 🙂 🙂 Another fun thing that happened was that My keyboard then changed from a Swedish keyboard to a British English one. So suddenly three of the letters in our alphabet suddenly didn’t work 🙂 🙂 🙂 That one was easy to fix though 🙂 🙂

Well all is fine in the end besides that I missed the best fog 🙂 Alma was nothing but good the first two hundred meters (no big difference in yards) but  then she finally calmed down and we did have a nice walk in the end. I heard one bid sing the entire time and oddly enough it was a spring song. Even though this bird starts earlier than the others it still should wait until late February. I must say it did sound so wonderful hearing it though even if I know spring still is far away for us up here in the north. It is time for that last cup of tea and after that I’ll most likely read a book 🙂

Have a great day!

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I’m so glad that I decided to go to the supermarket yesterday instead of today, arriving a bit late the snowstorm still is bad. Despite that we have lots of snow now I doubt we’ll have much left on Wednesday because we’ll have above freezing temperatures and also lots of rain on the way.

The bird feeder is now even closer to the ground 🙂 It was even hard to fill it when it’s that close to the ground.

North eastern winds so the snow gets stuck in the lilacs and barely reaches the Pawpaws and Camellia.

A couple of hunters did actually come here today but I doubt that they even went out, these gusts and heavy snow on that makes it dangerous to walk around in the forest, so I guess that they sat in the hunting lodge, started a fire and perhaps grilled something over the open fire 🙂 When they finally drove away the weather was so bad that the dogs and I stayed at home, I hope we’ll get a chance tomorrow even though it looks like it’ll rain all day and night.

     

I slept rally bad last night and I did so mostly because the monster kitten now is able to almost jump up on tables and counters. Either she jumps straight in to things and while falling down to the floor she grabs everything in reach so it falls with her or if she’s successful she walks around pushing things down on the floor. We had lots of things going bump in the night here 🙂 🙂 🙂

       

It is time for that last cup of tea for the day and then I’ll most likely will fall asleep in the recliner 🙂

Have a great day!

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Sunrise, well the sun wasn’t supposed to rise in a couple of ours but the tiny gap in the clouds really made it look nice.

The morning was quite cold today since the sky was clear and I could see the stars before the sun rose. No wind which I like but making our electrical bills go sky high (for those that pay per hour, I don’t so it doesn’t affect me that much. I pay for the average price of the month so I really should love the wind so our wind power plants turn as much as possible 🙂 🙂

Here comes photos I took on the way to the store/factory and back home again.

   

I drove to the grocery store in the village where I used to work, I didn’t know I needed as much as I bought 🙂 I forgot the list I had written and only remembered fruit, cat food and a cheese so I brought home a little of everything 🙂 🙂 After that I drove to the factory and wished everyone a good christmas.

     

I had driven almost all the way back home when I realized that I also was supposed to pick up a package in Gudhem so I had to turn and go back out on the roads again. It’s the opposite way than to my old work place 🙂 So up the hill bring the package bought something I thought I had forgotten and drove back home again. It wasn’t until we were out in the forest that I suddenly remembered something I really needed 🙂

     

So as soon as we were back from the walk I put the dogs in the dog yard again, jumped in to my car, drove to Gudhem and bought it and felt pretty annoyed about it all so I also bought a soda and a big chocolate bar 🙂 🙂 🙂  I now refuse to look at the list if I actually needed something more because I refuse to drive to any store again until next Monday 🙂 🙂 🙂

     

Clouds arrived while we were out on our walk and now we have fog again. It’ll be cold during the night but from tomorrow and some days ahead we’ll have warm temperatures again. Yes I know they aren’t that good in guessing the coming weather over here but I wouldn’t complain it it actually reach 10 C (50 F) for a couple of days or why not the rest of the winter 🙂 🙂

Lots of playing in the garden after I had come back home from the second drive to the store 🙂

   

Have a great day!

The monster kitten is for once sleeping 🙂 🙂

Today she had her second shot :-)

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The orchid is slowly opening up.

So today it was time for Sara’s second shot so to the vet we went. The shot just too a second to give but the vet really likes her 🙂 so some patting and belly scratches had to be given 🙂 The vet really likes her and he said he had never seen that color mix before. In photos it looks like she’s silver and black but she’s actually silver and brown. I’ve never seen that either but the world is full of cats so we might be wrong about that 🙂

     

Not the nicest of weather today, a strong but warm wind was blowing and the misty rain we’ve had today fell from the trees in heavy drops. Nova didn’t want to go outside at all but she did eventually follow us. Alma did behave pretty well but there was something in the forest she didn’t like and kept looking towards one spot in some denser part of the forest, so I guessed there must be a wild hog or more hiding there.

     

Now in the evening when I let them out (and I followed them out in the garden) Alma clearly was unhappy about something outside the garden and wanted to go indoors quickly, she even barked loud once. Both Nova and Malkolm wanted to go inside again too, so my guess is that there’s a wolf nearby again. So tomorrow I’ll put out my wildlife camera to hopefully get photos of what it could be. It can be a lynx as well and besides Sara Alma really isn’t happy about cats 🙂 🙂

     

I’ve just baked a loaf of bread so now I’ll make that last cup of tea for the day and have a couple of sandwiches with it 🙂

The Apricots are finally dropping their leafs, some of them get this rather dark red color.

The peach is still refusing to accept winter slowly is coming 🙂

 

Have a great day!

Been to Falköping today.

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We didn’t have any morning walk today because my car would get the new winter tires, instead we had our first walk just around lunch time. The tires are not studded but still get a really good grip on icy roads. I must admit that I never fully feel safe with unstudded tires so therefor I always drive much more careful when not having that 🙂 🙂 🙂 Plus the car is so much more quiet with the unstudded ones.

     

I brought a camera with me of course so today You’ll see photos from elsewhere than usual. It wouldn’t take long to get those tires changed but I took a little walk anyway and also stopped at a cafe just beside the garage. They did have some things gluten free but not any of my favorites. I still bought a cookie and it actually tasted worse than they usually do 🙂 🙂 🙂 To make it even worse it was nasty expensive but what should one do when one want something to the coffee 🙂

I thought this building was pretty ugly at the backside.

On the other side one can see that it is the City Theater and

Hotel Falköping. Great views when staying in that hotel 🙂

These houses are built at the top of Mösseberg, that’s the other side of the Mountain You can see in my photos. One gets a higher status if one live on that mountain and on the side turned towards the town 🙂 🙂

The sun was shining but it still felt a bit too cold in the morning to make it enjoyable, especially since the wind still was pretty hard and Falköping is built on two mountains and the valley in between, so the wind reach everywhere, even between the houses. After that I went to a place called Forentorp ängar (Forentorp Meadows), I think it is a nature reserve even though cattle roam there most parts of the year. It is a favorite place of mine to stop at even though I really can’t bring the dogs just because of the cattle. One pasture in the middle of all trees has a table where one can sit and eat and drink coffee if one so wish and to be honest I’ve never seen cattle there.

     

The rest of the day has been rather calm and nice. We had our walk in the forest and Alma does behave much better still, the big test will be when we walk in to the village, so much things moving and sounding that she might not be able to stay calm. We will keep on trying though, she will calm down even if it perhaps don’t happen until she’s 13 🙂 🙂 🙂

     

I’ll show You photos from Forentorp tomorrow if I remember it 🙂 It is time for that last cup of tea and most likely a sandwich or two 🙂

Have a great day!

New visitors to the feeder :-)

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Hunters out in the forest today, had I known that they would come so late I would have had our morning walk long before they arrived. Since I didn’t know we instead went out when it started to go dark, so I didn’t bring any camera with me. If I would have seen anything extra special I still brought the phone with me.

Instead today’s photos have been taken during the week showing some of the visitors to the feeder outside my kitchen window, not only birds as I thought 🙂 I’ll go to work tomorrow again, I’m well enough I guess but soo tired. All energy I should have doing very little throughout the week is not here at all 🙂 I have only been freezing once today and no boiling at all and both the sneezing and coughing has been minimal.

I have however done the chores I had decided I would do. I did most of the laundry yesterday and the rest today. I’ve made a spaghetti sauce for dinner at work next week and also baked a bread. The bread is really tasty, especially since I had melted butter and cheese on them 🙂

The Magpies don’t eat from the feeder but anything that falls down from it. They have behaved really well now when it has been cold, not even the smaller birds have flown away when they arrive.

The birds arrive to the feeder as soon as the first tiny glimpse of daylight shows. The Blue tits are always first tightly followed by

the Great tits. This morning, long before the daylight was even close to show I noticed, from the light in my kitchen, that the feeder was swaying a lot and I wondered how the small birds even could find the feeder when it was as dark as it was. Turns out that it wasn’t birds at all.

Turns out that I’m feeding two small house mice at nights 🙂 🙂 🙂 I know I shouldn’t like it but I must admit that they are terrible cute 🙂 🙂

They didn’t hesitate to go inside the feeders either 🙂 🙂 🙂

So I guess that I need to find a new place for that feeder, perhaps in the big apple tree? Then again by feeding them like this I think I don’t have to worry that they’ll chew their way in to my home to find food, especially now when the temperatures might drop down to as low as they were earlier.

They did go away as soon as the day shift started 🙂

Have a great day!