Category: Spring.

I remember when I had normal dogs :-)

April 21, 2022 · 2 Comments ·

DSC_0006 (8) — These photos are a couple of days old now.

We’re having the same nice weather today, almost 20C (68F) but with a slightly stronger wind. The wind was perfect at work because I could have the door open when ever I didn’t paint anything 🙂 Too bad that cooler, less sunny and perhaps slightly rainy weather is on its way, I’ve really enjoyed these spring days.

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Two days ago we passed a filed where the farmer was harrowing a field. He wasn’t even close to us but Alma and Albin decided that he probably was evil and would attack us any minute so they began screaming like insane. Today the farmer is doing the exact same thing in the cow pasture just outside my cottage and none of them gives a s it about it 🙂 🙂 🙂 They didn’t even look towards the tractor 🙂 🙂

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I did get extra tired of them yesterday though, not Nova because she really knows how to behave because she is the queen of course. We walked down the road and I thought that we would walk down to the creek. Suddenly a woman with two very well behaved dogs walked around some spruces. We both stopped and then she called and said she would take the forest road instead and I managed to shout back than You before Alma and Albin started.

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Albin started with that strange sound many pitbulls have, something between a growl and a scream. Sounds a bit charming when You see and hear it in a video, not charming at all when You stand beside him 🙂 🙂 Alma then let go of her sound that sounds much like I’m tearing her legs off. It actually sounds like she’s in bad pain and that dog has huge lungs and sounds a lot. I do wonder what the woman was thinking when she passed us behind the trees around twenty meters (much the same in yards) away from us.

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Then suddenly they both decided to howl like wolves!!! Alma started and Albin thought it sounded great so he started also and all I could say was Oh god why can’t You two behave like normal dogs 🙂 🙂 🙂 Of course they then behaved like they were on amphetamine the entire walk and I was so tired when we came back home that I fell asleep as soon as I sat down. I really should have stayed in the recliner because I slept really well there 🙂 🙂 🙂

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Tomorrow I’ll go to the physiotherapist again. My shoulder is better in some way but actually worse in others. I have no idea what that means but I guess it’s not a good thing, it usually isn’t. A wheel bearing, I think, is slowly giving up in my car so I’ll go to the garage next Tuesday. I have heard a sound for a while now but haven’t been able to figure out what it could be. Wheel bearings usually takes their time, even if they can sound really bad, before they give up so I’m not especially worried.

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Have a great day!

Pretty good for being a Tuesday.

April 19, 2022 · 2 Comments ·

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So easter is over and it was so fun, allergies and a cold really gave that golden lining we all love at long holiday 🙂 🙂 🙂 I did go to work today but went home an hour early just because I could and was really tired. Turns out that lots of people at work had gotten this cold as well so many were at home.

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The weather has been really nice and I could enjoy it quite a lot because now when I paint with normal paint I can open the big door and let the sunshine in while the things I’ve painted are drying. The place I paint in now is more or less looking like a garage where a bus easily can fit and there would still be space for a small car 🙂

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I really can’t say that my shoulder is much better but some movements hurts less while others hurt more, I’ll go to the physiotherapist on Friday again and then she’ll decided if I’ll continue with other exercises or if a doctor needs to take a look at my shoulder. I do hope she thinks that more exercises will help because one way or the other a doctors appointment will hurt, sooner or later.

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A good news however is that my work friend who has been on paternity leave for almost six months will start working next week so I will not have to take care of the huge washing machine any more. It takes at least two hours to check it and change filters and so on every day and I’m really tired of it now. It also makes it a bit difficult to manage to paint all the things I need to paint at my new job.

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Alma has actually behaved pretty well these last three days. Now when she understands that I’m getting a bit annoyed (pretty angry to be honest) with her pulling and running around everywhere at the same time she starts to walk behind me for a short while. That was how it started with Albin and the end of him pulling the leash. The screaming as soon as she see something move is still there though but one thing at a time and we’ll might solve that too 🙂

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Have a great day!

Perfect easter weather.

April 17, 2022 · 4 Comments ·

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I’ve survived the cold so far and the honey helps me to keep the cough away, well I wake up coughing but then I have some honey and the cough will be gone in half an hour. At least my brain think it is the honey helping and they’ve realized that the placebo effects are actually just as good as the real thing 🙂

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We’re having a perfect weather this easter, sunny and between 10C-15C (50F and 59F). Also no wind that I can feel and that makes it even better 🙂 We didn’t have any frost last night so it was quite pleasant to let the dogs outside early this morning. I stood on the entrance stairs and listened to all the birds singing and some cranes trumpeting. I know that I’m very privileged to be able to live like I do and this morning I fully enjoyed it 🙂 I’m not that happy about it those times the car breaks down though but that’s a totally different thing 🙂 🙂 🙂

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We walked down to the bog early this morning. We couldn’t walk out on the peninsula because yesterday when we did we suddenly stood around 50 meters (much the same in yards) away from a nesting crane couple. They didn’t seem to mind too much but they did keep an eye on us the whole time we happened to be that close to them. I had unfortunately only an old camera with me and the phone but the phone photos didn’t turn out especially well. Still we went down to the island instead but the ground is still way to wet so we had to turn back homewards again.

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The kitchen door is open and the radiators are turned off, at least during the day. I’ve made another batch with ice cream and this time I had bought a small tin with preserved peaches. It’ll be ready to eat tomorrow I think and it will fit perfect with another sunny and warm day (at least that’s what they’re guessing we’ll have tomorrow and on Tuesday as well). I’ve gotten tired of having my camellias in the cool cellar so today I’ve placed them on the north side of the cottage. I’ll soon make me some lunch and after that we’ll take another walk. Alme behaved really well this morning (yesterday she was awful though) so I hope she can do that again later today 🙂

I also took a couple of black and white photos.

Have a great day!

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A cold and allergy.

April 15, 2022 · Leave a comment ·

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I now have the joy of having a cold at the same time some pollen gives me an allergy. The nose is running, my throat is hurting and in between sneezes I cough a lot. It’s really fun

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I fell asleep in the recliner as soon as I came home yesterday, woke up for a short while and went to bed and fell asleep. I have to say though that having a generous beekeeper as a neighbor has given me enough honey to keep the worst away.

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Every time my throat hurts too much or I’m about to start coughing I take half a teaspoon of honey and most of the problems go away for a couple of hours, so I can actually sleep rather well. I also drink a lot of tea with ginger but besides it tasting really nice I’m not sure if it is helping me or not 🙂 🙂 So if I don’t write anything the coming days You now know that it’s just a common cold and allergies that drain me from all energy I have in my body 🙂

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Have a great day!

Nights will get warmer, finally.

April 12, 2022 · 2 Comments ·

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It has been a rather wonderful day here today, yesterday wasn’t that bad either to be honest but we did have some wind that made it feel a bit more chilly than it actually was. Today started chilly and frosty but it changed quite fast and the rest of the day has been warm, nice and sunny.

DSC_0008 (6) — I’ve noticed that the more blurry a photo is the better those sparkly dots show 🙂

Well the sun is hiding behind clouds now but it is still rather warm. A low pressure will pass tomorrow and on Friday but the temperature won’t drop especially much, could this mean spring has come to stay now? I do hope so. The birds seems to think so anyway but then again they were singing spring songs almost as much as now when we got that last snow 🙂 🙂

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I woke up with a really sour throat today and I’ve had some neck pain/ head ache. No fever though and I wonder if it is the corona virus I’ve gotten? So ever since the early morning I’ve eaten small ammounts of honey and as soon as I’ve done that my throat has felt much better. I’ve also had a lot of tea with ginger but I would have had that anyway 🙂

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One more day at home and then back to work for one day, after that we’re having a four day holiday since it is easter and then on the Friday after that back to the physiotherapist. If my shoulder is better we’ll continue with the exercises if not she’ll send me to the doctor. So far I can’t say I feel much change though, well slightly better to be honest but there’s still time for it to change.

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I planted the rose on Teodor’s resting place today. We might still have chilly nights though so I’ve placed a big clay pot over it. Both to protect it from the cold nights but also from the burning sunshine. No risk of sunshine tomorrow though so I’ll remove the pot in the morning so that the opening leaf buds can get used to daylight and later on the sun shining.I’m a bit late but I’ve also sown melon seeds and the tomato seeds will be sown tomorrow.

DSC_0017 (5) — These four were taken yesterday when we walked down to the bog, it was way to wet to walk out there though.

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I’ve also started to sow annuals, like poppies and cornflower in the old wheel barrow. Later on I’ll sow californian poppies and nasturtium so I think the wheel barrow will look just as nice this year. I also need to sow morning glories and Black-eyed Susan vines soon so they get a chance to flower at all, they are a bit slow with that I’m afraid.

Have a great day!

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Apricot and banana cobbler with home made ice cream :-)

April 10, 2022 · 4 Comments ·

DSC_0034 (1) — If You want to see the photos a bit bigger, just open them up in a new page.

It was supposed to be sunny all day here and the sun did show itself in the early morning but clouds arrived and I didn’t see it again until the afternoon. I didn’t mind much though because it reached 10C (50F) anyway so I had the kitchen door open for quite some time.

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Besides me going to the store to get the rose that will be planted on Teodors grave I did almost nothing yesterday. Well I did my exercises but that was it. There was still snow left on the ground and the other spaces were mostly muddy so I mostly just looked out the window to see my garden 🙂 I was also a bit worried about Nova because her stomach was really bad and she didn’t even want to have a treat.

I boiled rice and saith and she wouldn’t even touch it even after I had put in some tune in it, tuna is probably the thing she likes the most to eat. So I kept an eye on her, especially this morning but I didn’t have to worry, today she was so hungry that she ate it all 🙂 She is after all 15 years old and even if she’s in good shape anything small or big can change that quickly. She just growled towards Alma so now I know she’s ok again 🙂 🙂 🙂

I haven’t done that much today either to be honest but I did bring up my lemon tree from the cold cellar and I also made that apricot and banana cobbler. I didn’t want to open a big tin of either pears or peach and there wasn’t enough with apricots in that tin so I added a banana. I can’t say that the banana added anything to the cobbler but the ice cream i had made was perfect with the cobbler 🙂

Have a great day!

The winter continues.

April 8, 2022 · 4 Comments ·

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It has snowed again and it looks like this snow will stay all day but melt away tomorrow. It was quite nice this morning, despite it being chilly with snow in the air because there was no wind. We actually went out quite late for being us because I had forgotten to turn off the alarm. So up we went at 3:30 in the morning (well night might be a better word for it 🙂 🙂 ) because the dogs really wanted to go outside.

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I sat down in the sofa after that and fell asleep, I didn’t sleep well but for quite a lot of hours 🙂 🙂 Alma behaved reasonable well but I was worried when we reached the fields because we have lots of hares here now and I really didn’t want to deal with her screaming as soon as she see some wildlife. No wildlife in sight thankfully but I could hear the cranes trumpeting all around us.

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I fell asleep again as son as I sat down in the recliner 🙂 I should have had a pillow behind my neck but I must say it is really comfortable. I’ve also done the exercises I got from the physiotherapist and that is much what my day has been like. I’m still just as tired though and days like these I often wonder how on earth I manage to work all day and not fall asleep all the time 🙂 🙂 🙂

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I think I’ll do a peach cobbler tomorrow or apricot or pear one, I bought canned apricots, peaches and pears yesterday so why not make something like that, after all I have my ice cream to have with it 🙂 It looks like it finally has stopped snowing and now the sun shines as well 🙂

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I think it is time for a cup of tea and perhaps go outside for a while to enjoy some of the sunshine. After that I’ll most likely fall asleep in front of the tv 🙂

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Have a great day!

I had to apologize to Alma.

April 7, 2022 · 2 Comments ·

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The snow started to fall yesterday and I think it stopped some time before I went up this morning, that would be around 4:40 am. They had siad that we would have below 0C (32F) temperatures during the night but I think it stayed at that temperature all night. (Most photos today are from yesterday when we took a walk after work)

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All roads were ice free but the smaller ones were covered in a thick layer of snow. They have been warning us for more snow today and strong winds but it looks as if that nasty weather has passed further north of here. The winds are sort of reasonable strong and the rain is pouring down. Everything is wet and muddy now and every time the dogs have been outside, just to quickly do what is necessary, I need to scrub the floors again. They are still guessing that we’ll get more snow later tonight and that the temperature will drop for a short while so that we’ll have a snow white world again at least for a short while.

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I went to the physiotherapist today and she checked how well or not my arms worked. We talked about my rheumatism but she didn’t think it would make any difference on this and we talked about Alma as well 🙂 🙂 Well I had to apologize to Alma when I came home today because she’s not guilty for this, she may have hastened the symptoms but she isn’t responsible for this. I have what she called an inpintchement ( I hope I heard that right, she’s Danish but spoke Swedish really well) in both my shoulders but the right one is much worse than the left.

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It means that my nerves are getting squeesed and therefore gives me pain. I got some exercises I should do and was told to stay at home for at least five working days. I’ll meet her in two weeks and if these exercises doesn’t help she will hand me over to a doctor. If I get better I’ll get more exercises to do and we’ll continue like that until I’m back to much better. This is a rather common thing to get when working with the hands above the head for way too many times and for too long periods without any chance to rest the arm and shoulder. Painters are especially common amongst those who get it.

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They are very helpful at work and now they started to discuss other people who risk getting this too. Nothing bad that doesn’t bring some good with it! I stopped by the lake on my way home and there are some cranes but I could see at least as many in the fields just outside my village. The last counting said 17200 and that was two days ago, it snowed way too much for them to be able to count any yesterday 🙂

Have a great day!

Winter will not give up.

April 5, 2022 · 2 Comments ·

DSC_0001 (1) — Yesterday after the snow fall.

It snowed a lot on my way home after work yesterday, even after I had come home but I still didn’t get a photos with falling snow and most of it had melted away by the time we came out on our walk. I must admit that it did annoy me a bit, photos with falling snow can look really nice.

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What I didn’t know was that it was going to snow even more after I’ve gone to bed, so I woke up to a white world and I must admit that it annoyed me even more 🙂 🙂 I was lucky though because the snow was easy to remove from the car but a rather unlucky because the roads were shining with a smooth surface of very slippery ice. Took forever to get to work.

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The day has been rather nice though and time away at work so I really can’t complain too much. It was enough warm again today so almost all of it had melted away before I came home. We’ll get more snow tomorrow night and the night after that but the days will be warm enough to melt it away. They say that the spring warmth will return just before Easter, I do hope they’re right!

e (6) — The “mail box” I thought I saw stood at the end of this road and I had much the same light.

Yesterday morning when I drove on the forest road I noticed something, far ahead, that sort of looked like a big mail box. Sort of brownish-black and it didn’t make sence to have a mail box there because the closest house are at least 500 meters (much the same in yards). I drove fairly slowly so it took some time to get close to it. It wasn’t a big mailbox, it was probably the same wild hog that I thought was a little bear some weeks ago 🙂 🙂 🙂

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It is time to sit down in my recliner, it is so comfortable that I fear I won’t get up from it when it is time to go to bed 🙂 🙂 Alma and Albin aren’t happy though, they both want to get up and sit in my lap but I refuse, this recliner is mine and mine alone 🙂 🙂

Have a great day!

There’s lesson to learn here but I don’t know what.

April 3, 2022 · 4 Comments ·

DSC_0003 (2) — Not as cold last night as previous nights but still frost everywhere.

We’ve had another rather wonderful day here, a bit chilly in the wind but otherwise mostly sunny. I got a text message yesterday from my neighbors, they asked me if I wanted an armchair, You know the kind that one can lean back and then get a sort of foot step to rest the legs on and also a bit of a rocking chair?

DSC_0004 (2) — There was a halo around the sun this morning, it was so big that I only could photo a small part of it.

They didn’t have the space for it and I like those kinds of armchairs so I said yes. I had to remove the one I had first though, a rattan armchair that I can’t use since I doubt that I now days can get up from if I sit in it 🙂 🙂 🙂 That started a series of cleaning events. I found several more places where Teodor had had his toilet, especially beneath the rattan armchair. I also tossed away a lot of other things I really have no need for and continued out to the kitchen where I finally removed all cardboard boxes and moved them to the car so that I can put them in the recycling containers.

DSC_0012 (1) — This photo was taken two seconds before the hare crossed the field.

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I also filled two empty big dog food sacks with all kinds of rubbish and then thankfully they asked me to come over and have a cup of coffee and also see what kinds of seeds we’re having since we’ll grow our vegetables together this year. If they hadn’t only god knows how much I had cleaned before I would fall down to the floor totally exhausted 🙂 🙂 🙂

a (494) — The rest of the photos are from the folder “For a rainy day”.

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We walked down to the creek again this morning. Everything went well, ok Alma had to walk behind me so that she couldn’t rip my shoulder to pieces again. Then we saw a hare running across a field. I don’t know why but she starts to scream as if she is ripped apart by something and I really can’t calm her down. Albin is much the same but he’s relatively quiet compared to her. The walk was sort of destroyed after that even though she finally did calm down. We had just arrived to the gate here when she suddenly saw another hare cross the cow pasture outside my property. She just sat down and quietly looked at it???

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I guess I can learn something from this but I’m not sure what 🙂 🙂 🙂 She’s rather impossible when we’re out walking (some days are really good though) but the coolest dog in the world when we’re at home. She gets insane if she sees a wild animal when we’re out walking but really doesn’t care if we’re at home or at least close to it. Doesn’t she like taking walks? Can You figure out what the lesson here is since I really can’t?

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It is time to go down to my armchair and most likely fall asleep in it 🙂 I think I actually will sleep better there since no dog will be able to share it with me 🙂 🙂 🙂

Have a great day!

This is the seventh one :-)

April 2, 2022April 2, 2022 · 6 Comments ·

The farmer feeds his cattle just outside my cottage and silage doesn’t smell especially nice to be honest, a heavy sweetish stale scent that eats its way in to the brain 🙂

So a new place once again and now I have 99.98% left of space to use before I need to get a new place again 🙂 🙂 I have however actually paid for having the domain name locked to me, until now anyone actually could use the name Cottage by the Cranelake if they so had wished to. I chose this theme but that can change if I find any I like better later on 🙂

We’re having another sunny and beautiful day here, cold though and quite windy. I can hear the wind blowing but when I go outside nothing moves. the positive side of living at the bottom a slope, the negative side is that it is always a couple of degrees colder down here when it is cold. Then again it usually is hotter here as well on hot days so I guess it evens out even if it really doesn’t feel that way 🙂 🙂 🙂

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I wanted to go out on the bog again this morning but since the dogs didn’t like it yesterday we instead walked down to the creek and back up to the little peninsula by the bog but some distance away from where we walked yesterday. Both Albin and Alma were staring towards the island all the time so I guess they still felt something was out there, Nova didn’t care at all and enjoyed the sunshine instead, just like I did 🙂

Besides that I’ve done very little. Napped for a while and I’ve had loads of tea. I’ve also thawed some soil so that I can plant a mango pit. I do that every now and again and the little tree thrives until winter comes and the air in the cottage gets too dry, then it lose all its leafs and dies. This year I think of trying having a see through plastic bag around it so that the humidity around it will stay high all the time.

I have made some ice cream but haven’t tested it yet. Vanilla and a french jam with four fruits in it and to make it taste more I also added some lemon juice and I do hope I poured in enough of it. I’ll know better in an hour or so 🙂 The dogs and I have also had pancakes for dinner 🙂 Something we all enjoy 🙂

In this and the last photo I’ve tried to capture those sparkling dots from frost and sunshine but it’s tricky 🙂

Have a great day!