Category: The forest.

I can always use it as a berså later on.

May 14, 2022 · 3 Comments ·

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It looks nicer outside than it is. Mostly sunshine, I can hear the wind blow pretty hard but I can’t say it feels warm even in the sunshine. They keep saying warmer weather will come soon but they’ve said that for some time now. Most likely it’ll arrive when we work and go away again when the weekend comes 🙂 🙂

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I’ve planted the peach tree today and when I watered it I suddenly saw that there are tine peaches on it 🙂 Seven for sure but it looks like two more withered flowers might give two more. I do hope the tree hasn’t been too stressed by being shipped in a box so that these peaches grow to become big and I’ll be able to eat them. My hopes aren’t high but I’ll hold my thumbs and cross my fingers for good luck 🙂

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I saw cats, hares and foxes on our morning walk today but thankfully none of the dogs did 🙂 So Alma was actually behaving rather well almost all the walk. Too much to see when walking by the fields so she was a bit hyper there but as soon as we entered the forest she calmed down again. She didn’t even scream when we met and left the Beekeepers. Normally it would sound as if she knew they were walking towards their bitter end 🙂 🙂 🙂

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I fell asleep in front of the tv and woke up to the American Song Contest. I had already heard who won it all but I didn’t know the end result. Turns out that my three favorites ended up amongst the four first. I did not like the one who came second though but three out of four isn’t bad. Our big final is tonight. Ukraine is going to win, not only because the group got special permission to go by the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy (they are after all in war) but the song is not that bad. So the fight is really about second place and our song is one of three (the other two are United Kingdom and Italy) that will fight about it.

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Tomorrow will be lawn mowing day, I noticed that my neighbor mowed outside my garage, we have our trash bins there so he tends to mow that part for me 🙂 I’ll also do the laundry as usual but esides that I’ll do very little. The fence I’ve bought is self standing so to make it easy I might make my two vegetable patches round. The fence is rolled tightly so trying to make the corners in90 degrees will be a bit hard. I’m also thinking of planting my mini kiwi vines towards one of those fenced in vegetable patches so they will keep that fence at place when they start growing.

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If I in the future doesn’t want a vegetable patch there I can use that space as a what we call berså (from the french word berceau and is pronounced much the same way). A berså is a place where one can sit and have coffee with friends and normally there’s a horse shoe shaped hedge around it. Typically here they use lilacs as the hedge. No roof above it though. Mostly the hedge is high so no one can look in and to keep the wind away but I’ve seen those with lower hedges too. So my “hedge” would be a fence covered in mini kiwi vines, not bad at all to be honest 🙂

DSC_0031 (1) — Four small peaches in this photo and five more on the way if the tree isn’t too stressed by the move in a package.

Have a great day!

I went out and took a look at the label :-)

May 13, 2022 · Leave a comment ·

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So just before I was going to bed yesterday evening I suddenly started to think about the label on my new apricot tree. I thought it looked a bit odd but also thought it must be a standardized thing they put on and then the text would say what it was. Well I went out to look at it a second time.

DSC_0018 (2) — Cherry trees are in bloom everywhere now.

Turns out it wasn’t a standardized label, I haven’t gotten an apricot tree 🙂 🙂 🙂 Instead I got one of those flat peaches 🙂 🙂 🙂 So the last thing i did before going to bed was to email the company. It costs the same and has the same hardiness so I wondered if they wanted me to send it back to them or if I could take this tree instead since I really didn’t want to find a new box, since I had cut it down 🙂 🙂 🙂 The sort of fun thing about this is that they don’t even sell that peach yet so someone must have made a big mistake.

They answered that I could keep it if I wanted so now I have a peach tree instead 🙂 I do like them a lot those flat peaches but peach trees have huge problems with a fungus that kills them after a few years so I wasn’t sure at first but then I found out that they now have a good pesticide that kills the fungus (it contains sulfur which kills off the fungus and one need so small ammounts that it isn’t dangerous for anything else). One need to spray the tree with it after the leafs have fallen in autumn and one more time before the new leafs grow out.After doing that the problems will go away. I do like apricots though so I might order one anyway but most likely from another business 🙂

DSC_0034 (1) — We have a few Elm trees that still look really healthy so I hope that the Dutch Elm tree disease stays away.

I’ve been a bit worried about Nova for a couple of days again because she really didn’t want to eat, not even treats and she is on her sixteenth year. Turns out her stomach was wobbly again so today she had no problems what so ever to gulp down her food again 🙂 I’ve also bought the old food she likes better again and I’m pretty sure that helped as well. Still I need to find one she likes and keeps her stomach well so I better check out other varieties again.

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It rained some when we were out walking but we also had some sunshine. It’ll rain again later tonight but after that the skies will keep the water to themselves for quite some time, at least that is what they’re guessing. It is time for something to eat and after that I’ll doze off in front of the tv, like always 🙂

h (1) — In my garden right now. I hope the wheel-barrow will look good again this year.

h (2) — Marsh marigold in the root zone.

h (4) — Yellow wood anemone. These came with the perennial sunflowers that You can see the first leafs from around it.

Have a great day!

h (5) — I have three Serviceberry trees in my garden.

An attempted fraud?

May 8, 2022 · 2 Comments ·

We’ve had a really nice weather here today, a few clouds in the morning but the rest of the day has been totally free from them. Not as warm as yesterday though and the wind was a bit chilly but since it couldn’t reach my property I really didn’t mind 🙂

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We walked down to the creek and in to the forest this morning and Alma behaved really well, to my very big surprise! I so wish that this is the way (or even better of course) she’ll behave from now on. I won’t hope too much though, she has behaved well occasionally before 🙂 🙂 🙂

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I don’t know if You have the Swish app, an app that one can use for sending smaller ammounts of money to other peoples accounts? One connects ones phone number to the bank account so it’s really easy to use if someone wants to lend money or to pay in stores as well. There are of course lots of frauds done that way too and today I got a text message from someone I don’t know who claimed that he had, by accident, swished me some money.

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I really don’t know how anyone can use this to scam anyone else from money but apparently one can. I used to have this app but that was several phones ago and I’m not planning on getting it again. So I texted back that: He had to do this via his bank because I don’t have the app any longer and won’t get it again, because You know too many frauds are done that way. 🙂 🙂 🙂 I’ve also called the bank and told them about it and they said I did the exact right thing. It will take a bit longer for that person to get his money back but he will get them back as soon as they’ve talked to me and I say it’s ok.

I’ve mowed the lawn today as well, well spots of it anyway 🙂 Mostly I actually mowed stinging nettles and that always make it feel more as a fun job that mowing grass. Stinging nettles thrives when one have several dogs peeing and pooping in the garden and they also spread very easily both by seeds and roots. They are edible (they stop to sting when heated up) and are full of nutrients but I can’t say that they taste delicious even though many actually think they do.

I didn’t win the lottery yesterday so back to work on Monday as always. Well I would actually have stayed the month we are supposed to after giving notice but I would not have to come to work until I’ve had a visit to the bank to make sure the money had found their way in to my account 🙂 🙂 🙂

Have a great day!

Slow tv.

April 30, 2022 · 2 Comments ·

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We’ve had a rather wonderful day today. Sunny with the occasional cloud until the afternoon when more clouds arrived but it is still pretty nice and warm outside. Also the night was frost free, which is a bit odd since the sky was clear and usually clear nights this early in the year means nightly frost.

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DSC_0005 (15) — I wish the doe could have just stayed there but of course not. I did however manage to distract Alma so that she didn’t see it run away.

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We went out on our morning walk a bit later than normal, I did wake up by myself but that didn’t mean I wasn’t really tired all morning 🙂 They have started to show the great moose migration now so I watched that for a while (for those of You who don’t know what this is, it’s cameras stationed at the same place every year showing how moose migrate north when winter is over. We also see a lot of other animals of course and this is called slow tv), something they do every year and the fun thing is that I can hear the same kind of birds singing through the tv as I can if I open the door 🙂 🙂

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After that I’ve sown some more seeds, annuals outdoors because they’ll germinate when they feel it is the right time and some berry plant seeds that still need to stay indoors until we know the risk of night frost is over. I also dug up a Wisteria. I thought it died three winters ago but it resurrected last summer and grew terrible fast and slid up beneath the tiles on the roof. I really can’t have that so today I cut it down. I managed to get two big pieces of roots with a climbing stalk on each and thought why not plant them where they’ll do no harm?

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I planted one beside the crabapple tree with the big magpie nest. We call wisteria here for Blue Rain so I planted it beside the tree we call Gold Rain, The Laburnum. I could work all by myself without the dogs because my neighbors little daughter has her birthday today and lots of people would come. Since Albin and Alma really can’t behave, Albin would run up and down beside the fence huffing and puffing while Alma would start barking and then jump over the fence so she can bark a bit more before jumping back to star all over again 🙂 🙂 🙂 So I said that I’ll bring in the dogs while people will be arriving, my neighbors thought it was unnecessary because they all love dogs but I said that today none of us on this side of the fence would be the center of attention after all 🙂 🙂 🙂

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I think I’ll make myself a cup of tea and have some of my home made ice cream. First however I’ll give the dogs their food, they are standing beside me demanding it right now 🙂

Have a great day!!

So nice to have my car back.

April 29, 2022 · 2 Comments ·

DSC_0001 (8) — The magpie nest is really big now but it doesn’t look as if they’ll use it this year. I rarely see magpies in the garden now days.

It’s so nice to have my own car back again and it is for the first time since at least before christmas very quiet again 🙂 So now I’ll be able to hear all those new strange sounds I haven’t been able to hear since then either 🙂 🙂 🙂

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It didn’t feel that cold this morning, 3:30 am (well perhaps late night is a better word for it 🙂 )when I opened the door to let the dogs outside but it was actually -5C (23F). I could see that the sun was on it’s way up, not exactly on the way up but I could see where it would go up a bit later on. The birds were singing and there was no wind at all and I guess it was the absence of wind that made it feel so nice. I hadn’t become warm enough for me to not scrape ice from the when I drove to work at 4:40 am but the ice was so soft that it didn’t take more than a couple of seconds to get rid of it.

DSC_0025 (11) — I think we have four species of Yellow star of Bethlehem in our nature but they are also very popular in our gardens.

DSC_0027 (11) — Lesser celandine, is siad to be a weed but it never survives in my garden 🙂 🙂

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DSC_0030 (11) — The wild gooseberry bushes are in bloom, the garden varieties in my garden isn’t even close yet.

The other week I bought a new kind of food for Nova and Alma because they had been a bit wobbly in their stomachs, the new food fixed it but then Nova decided that she wouldn’t eat it 🙂 🙂 🙂 So now I had to buy a new small bag with the old food again so that she would eat again. Treats were no problem though and I think she even considered to eat Albins food, just as long as she didn’t have to eat the new one 🙂 🙂 🙂 I’ll see if I can find another kind that her stomach tolerates and she will eat as well.

DSC_0031 (11) — The Yellow wood anemone has started to open up in my garden.

DSC_0032 (11) — Another species of Yellow star of Bethlehem in my garden.

DSC_0002 (14) — The root zone is getting green. Irises, Marsh marigold and Bog arum have started to grow 🙂

DSC_0005 (14) — I think this is a Cherry plum tree and it has started to flower way too early, the flowers are destroyed when we have frost at night so no plums if all opens up too early.

Besides our walk I’ve done very little the rest of the day. I stopped by the grocery store on my way home and bought, besides food, three lavender. The ones I had died this winter. I also noticed that they now sell berry bushes! They didn’t have a lot but I think it is a step in the right direction. I might even buy some next week just to encourage them 🙂 I’ve also napped for quite some time after we had eaten 🙂 I’m still nasty tired though so I’ll have at least one cup of tea after writing here because I doubt that cup will have any chance what so ever to keep me up this coming night, if it will I have a good book that I’m reading to keep me company 🙂

DSC_0007 (10) — More in my garden right now. Chiodonoxa.

DSC_0009 (12) — White wood anemone and Scilla sibirica.

Have a great day!

Biting wind.

April 23, 2022 · Leave a comment ·

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The sun is shining, the sky is mostly blue and there’s an ice freezing wind there to destroy it all. At first it hit from south east so it was impossible to stay in the garden for more than a minute or two but now it has moved to blow from north so we can finally stay on the south side of the cottage without freezing.

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We stayed mostly in the forest on our morning walk today but we had to pass a couple of fields and of course we then met eight roe deer. I managed to stop Alma from seeing them but that didn’t stop her from shouting like crazy 🙂 It passed fairly quickly though and the rest of the walk she behaved reasonable well.Too bad I had to occupie her because I therefore couldn’t take any photos of the deer

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I sowed twenty kernels of corn in a small container about a month ago and they have all grown together, so today was the day I needed to do something about it. They are quite big now and that helped. I filled a bucket with water and after that I just put the entire lump with corn plants and soil in it. It took around an hour but finally the soil was so wet that I could separate them from each other so now I’ll just plant each and everyone of them in separate pots. Have no idea where I’ll place them because even though the pots are small they will need a lot of space 🙂

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Also it looks like Alme believes this is grass for her to eat, she tried to chew one of them but I managed to stop her 🙂 🙂 Perhaps I’ll place them in my cool cellar with the plant light. The cooler temperatures will slow down the growing but no dog will be able to chew them down 🙂 My brother’s cherry plum tree is in full bloom now, he lives by the coast. So I took a look at mine and it turns out that a few of its flowers also are open now. I wish it would calm down because frost and flowers aren’t a great thing if one want fruit and we can after all have frost at nights until at least June sixth.

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I better replant those corn plants and after that I think I’ll sow some cabbage and Broccolo. It looks like a green cauliflower but the taste is more like common broccoli. I’ve grown it before I moved from my old home town and I remember liking it a lot. Well I better get started or I’ll forget to do any of it 🙂

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Have a great day!

I’m a bit lopsided.

April 22, 2022 · 2 Comments ·

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Alma is in heat and is pretty annoying towards all of us 🙂 🙂 So now I’ll have to keep an eye on her again every time she’s outdoors. She had stopped jumping over the fence all the time so I had finally relaxed from that but I really don’t want her to run over to the dogs on the other side of the village and I really don’t want her to have puppies 🙂 🙂

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I went to the physiotherapist today and I will continue with more exercises. She still hasn’t ruled out that Alma actually did tear something in my shoulder because it seems that the nerv(s) isn’t that pinched any longer but I still have the pain in my shoulder. I have also over compensated for the pain so now I’m a bit lopsided 🙂 My left shoulder is placed way higher than my right and I also have a pain in my neck and behind the shoulder blade. These new exercises should help with that and I’ll continue with those I’ve already have done for two weeks. I’ll see her again in three weeks.

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We went out to the bog today, Nova didn’t want that at all so she sort of dragged behind all the time we were out there, Albin and Alma behaved just the opposite. It turned the other way when we went homewards again, Albin and Alma dragged behind and Nova did what she could to hurry us up 🙂 🙂 I have no idea why Nova didn’t want to walk out there because it was really pleasant and none of the other dogs seemed to smell anything that could be unpleasant for them, like pigs or moose or wolf because there are at least one roaming around in the county and we now have a pack in a neighboring county as well.

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Besides that very little has happened here. I’ve had plenty of tea but still managed to doze off in front of the tv 🙂 To be honest they don’t show much quality tv in the middle of the day so that could be the one of the reasons I managed to fall asleep so fast 🙂

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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 ·

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!