Category: Windy.

I got it :-)

· 17 Comments ·
Most photos are from yesterday when the sun arrived a bit earlier than today. There was still ice on the creeks.

The sun is shining outside my window. It should have showed earlier but I guess one should be happy for what one get. Still 10C (50F) during the day isn’t that bad but the dogs wanted to go indoors pretty quickly after we had gone outside.

A male Starling sitting on the ghost tree.
The doves are here again and lots of them, this is just a small part of the flock.

My new neighbours have two roosters and I think three hen. They said that once of the roosters keep on crowing all the time and they were are right 🙂 🙂 🙂 I do like that sound so I enjoy it a lot, plus that they have them on the other side of a building so even if I’m outside it isn’t especially loud and I can’t hear them at all if I’m indoors. I do however think that the second rooster might take over if the first one quiets down 🙂 🙂 🙂 Alma was absolutely stunned when seeing them 🙂 🙂 🙂 She just stood there watching them, she didn’t even whine like she always do 🙂 🙂 🙂

I got a call from the coffin factory today and he told me I got the job 🙂 I’ll start working there next week 🙂 So now I’ll see these last days of unemployment as the end of a vacation and I’ll most likely have “the end of vacation anxiety” on Sunday evening 🙂 🙂 🙂 I must say that I’ve have enjoyed this time I’ve been unemployed but only because I’ve had money enough myself so that I never have had to worry about expenses, otherwise this would most likely have been a long stressful period. Now instead I’ve enjoyed every day and especially those mornings when my neighbours have been outside scraping ice and brushing snow from their cars 🙂 🙂 🙂

It is time for a cup of instant coffee because I don’t have enough tea at home 🙂 By the way, now when we all hate the orange one all over the world there’s actually one thing that upsets us Swedes even more and it has nothing to do with the blob at all, the coffee price is now so high that many struggle to be able to buy it and as the second most coffee drinking country in the world this is serious to us 🙂 🙂 🙂

I gathered all the pots and placed them by the big compost before deciding where to put them, they became very interesting for a certain monster kitten 🙂

When that became boring she started to play with Malkolm instead 🙂

Have a great day!

· 6 Comments ·
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!

Our nesting couples are here now :-)

· 8 Comments ·
The new neighbours cat. The photos can come from today but also several days back, sunny photos are always nicer 🙂

It was warmish and cloudy this morning when we went out in the garden. Four cranes were walking in the field outside my garden, two left when they heard us but two stayed. The problem was that I only could photograph them through the branches on my catalpa tree 🙂 I did get a few reasonable good ones though.

I had forgotten a few things last time I was at the supermarket so I went there again this morning before our morning walk, I like to go there as early as possible so that very few other customers are there. They tend to annoy me when they start complaining when there’s only one cashier even though they already are second in line 🙂 🙂 🙂 Anyway I stopped by the lake to take a few photos of the cranes there and once again I was too lazy to get out of the car 🙂 🙂

The clouds blew away in the petty strong wind we’ve had since yesterday, a steady wind with few gusts  so it was quite nice to walk in the forest. I took a look at the small trees I’ve placed in the patio and so far they look really good, even if we would have temperatures below 0C (32F) at night the cottage itself will make sure those temperatures won’t reach the plants.

Besides this very little has happened here, the dogs and I had pancakes for dinner (well they had their own food first, I don’t think pancakes would be especially good to have as the only thing to eat 🙂 ). I think I can see flower buds on the apricot trees in the garden. Apricots are really hardy but they don’t change their habits just because they live in a harsher climate, they will flower at the same time as they do everywhere else they grow naturally 🙂 So if they start to flower soon I’ll need to cover the trees with some cloth so no frost takes away eventual fruit. Easy at the moment but one day they’ll be big trees 🙂 🙂

I’m not sure if I’ve missed all the Germans (and Dutch) because there’s only “normal” sized motorhomes by the lake. Could be that I’m a bit early because it looks like most cranes will come in April, yesterday there were 9300 cranes by the lake.

It is time for that last cup of tea and then watch some tv 🙂

Have a great day!

A day outside for the monsterkitten.

· 8 Comments ·

We’re having a really nice day here, a bit frosty in the morning but temperatures rose when the sun did. So today we’ve had 11C (51,8F) 🙂 There is a wind blowing but it isn’t that cold and like most days it can’t reach my garden.

We walked down to the creek and I must say that Alma is getting better and better walking well. Malkolm is just the opposite but that could be that I only notice it now when Alma has started to calm down 🙂 🙂 🙂 We could hear lots of cranes but couldn’t see any, the big migration north has just started and soon I’ll be able to see them flying over us as soon as we’re outside. The doves have arrived too, I do like their sound in the morning when we go outside.

I took a look at my small vegetable garden yesterday and since the weather is so nice I decided I would start removing all the weeds today. This early in spring I can only see the biennals and the perennial weeds and thankfully they grow big enough in autumn that they are easy to see now. It was mostly Aarons’ rod, a few dandelions and also small stinging nettles. The Aarons’rods grow so big that they need to be removed and I did remove most of the dandelions as well, left a couple since I like the leafs in a salad.

Also stinging nettles are nutritious but to be honest, they spread like wild fires and no matter what people say they do sting badly already as tiny plants. Wild raspberries is a bit of a problem here, they too spread fast but then again those berries are probably the tastiest one can find but not in my vegetable patch 🙂 🙂 I also found some carrots from last year so the dogs and I shared them 🙂 🙂 All these weeds filled up that small compost I bought last summer, the black one that one can and must spin around to make it work properly.

Where the Pawpaws grow. Doesn’t look much but they have survived the winter, all green beneath the bark 🙂

It was so so full now that I barely could spin it 🙂 🙂 It works amazingly good, it’s just made of some kind of plastic that also insulated really well. They say it works down to -11C (12,2F) and I believe them. It’s counted as a warm compost and during summer it gets really warm and I put my hands in it now when it was cold and I could still feel warmth in there. I’ll continue tomorrow with more weeding and thankfully I do have a big compost made from the same material that still has some space it it 🙂

She didn’t look too happy when she looked out the door 🙂

Malkolm never far behind.

The monsterkitten was allowed to walk out from the kitchen door by herself today. Can’t say she was especially enthusiastic in the beginning, lots of going in and out at the beginning 🙂 🙂 She did get more brave after a while but as soon as the dogs thought she had wandered a bit too far (4 meters as most wich is much the same in yards) they started to make sure she walked back to the door 🙂 🙂 🙂 We’ll have much the same temperatures the coming five days so she’ll have plsnty more times to explore the garden 🙂

Alma was also keeping an eye on her. An exciting day for the monster kitten and she’s been sleeping all afternoon 🙂

Time for dinner I think, have no clue what I’ll make but after that I’ll make a pot of tea 🙂

Have a great day!

Northern winds.

· 10 Comments ·
The path down to the bog.

Warmer this morning but with an annoying wind from north but warmer, despite northern winds so why complain 🙂 Also today it took some time before the clouds flew away so that the sun could reach us.

Lots of water in the small creeks.

I met our new neighbours today and can happily tell You it’s a younger couple who loves how quiet it is here. Very easy to talk to as well so that’s a relief 🙂 We met them on our morning walk when they were out walking with their tiny white dog and I shouted to them that Alma most likely would scream as obsessed but that she’s harmless 🙂 🙂 🙂 Yes Alma did shout and pulled the leash but gently greeting their dog and so did Malkolm. I told them that Alma is an escape artist and that they most likely would meet her when they walk out of their home but that she also most likely would run away from them after a sniff or two 🙂 🙂

The path down to the bog.
Lots of water in the small creeks.

They told me that they have chicken and that the rooster crows all the time. No problem said I. I mean roosters do that and I like the sound so that was nothing to be worried about 🙂 They had also already noticed that the wild hogs comes close to their cottage. I didn’t tell them about our wolves though, better to save the exciting things to when they’ve settled 🙂 🙂 🙂 

One really doesn’t want to sink down in that mud 🙂

We walked out to the bog to see if the ground still was frozen enough so that we could walk out to my favourite island but it wasn’t. The ground was frozen all the way to where we’ve just passed the creek and that’s where the sun had reached. If I had had rubber boots I might have been able to go out there but I think it is Alma who chewed through my old ones and I’ve never bothered to buy new ones. The sun slowly started to break through the clouds on our way home but not fully until we’ve had come home, so we’ve spent a lot of time in the garden instead 🙂

I’ve baked some rolls so it is time to have that last cup of tea for the day and then try one of the rolls 🙂

Have a great day!

Snow is slowly melting away again.

· 4 Comments ·

A cold night followed by a sunny morning today, there was no wind when I let the dogs out after we woke up and no wind when I drove to the supermarket. I prefer to go grocery shopping early in the morning when the place hasn’t that many costumers, very few customers are younger than 60 at that time in the morning 🙂 🙂

The weather seems just right for the spruce cones to open up and start spreading their seeds.

There was no one before me when I reached the cashier and no one followed after me when I was done 🙂 It showed in the traffic as well, I didn’t have a single car behind me when I drove back home. I looked towards the lake but could just see photographers with lenses bigger than I thought was possible I guess You need those big ones if You want to photograph the first cranes of the year, later on one can use any camera because the birds walks just a few steps away 🙂

So our morning walk started a bit late and the wind had started to blow but just a little, that has changed now, it’s not like it’s a storm passing by but I think I can say that the wind was a bit brisk 🙂 We walked mostly in the forest though so the worst thing that happened was that big chunks of snow fell down from the trees and covered us in it instead 🙂

The new neighbours are moving in today, they have a small lorry or perhaps I should call it bigger pickup truck? I’ve just seen the vehicle but not those moving in so we still have no idea what they look like 🙂  I guess that if the morning walk is at the right time tomorrow I’ll see them sit in the kitchen having breakfast when we pass 🙂 🙂 The beekeeper removed the hedge when he moved in so we can see straight in to the kitchen when we walk by 🙂 🙂

It is time for that last cup of tea but I ‘ve just had my dinner so I’ll skip anything edible this time, I won’t even have a banana this time 🙂

Have a great day!

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

· 2 Comments ·

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!

Roaring winds all night.

· 4 Comments ·
A Hazel in bloom, lost of allergic people now have problems.

I didn’t get a good night sleep last night, I was woken up several times by the roaring in the trees, still no wind in my garden though since all wind hit my neighbours cottage and garage 🙂  Much less wind when we finally could go out for our morning walk. From what I could see al the trees had managed to still stand up.

I went to the grocery store yesterday morning and left both dogs in the dog yard and the evening before Malkolm and I slept without being leashed during the night. Malcolm’s injection seems to have kicked in rather well and Nova is just not interested any more. Since a similar thing happened back in the days and My Erna later had puppies I know nothing happened during the time I was away 🙂

The reason I eventually decided to bring the dogs was because the last time I drove, before the cold hit me my car started to beep every time I drove in a steep up hill road. Didn’t tell me why though, it just beeped until it was less steep for flat ground I was driving on. Really annoying and I think it is a French car thing 🙂 🙂 🙂 It wasn’t too hard to figure out what it was though since it only happened when driving uphill. It must be a fluid and I can only think of three ones. Either it’s for the brakes but then it would have warned as soon as the car started, or it must be the motor oil but the level was good there as well.

So it could only be the coolant level. There’s never any problem seeing the level in a new car but more tricky in an older. So I poured in some more just before driving to the grocery store. No more beeping 🙂 I didn’t have to fill especially much at all so I mostly felt annoyed when I had to 🙂 🙂 🙂 Back in the days we only had a blue coolant but now days we have red ones as well and I have no idea if they work together or not 🙂 🙂 I don’t think the blue and red mix together but what about the different brands in either colour? What actually happens if mixing the wrong kinds together? I need to ask that next time I’ll have to go to the garage!

It is time for that last cup of tea and I bought bananas yesterday so I might have one of those as well. Too green yet for my taste, I don’t mind if they have brown spots.

The Croci show everywhere now.
It looks like all three Camellias have survived the winter but spring is the big killer here so it’s too early to say yippie yet.
Many years of dogs running along the hedge shows now 🙂 🙂

Have a great day!

Windy.

· 8 Comments ·

More or less s storm outside and it will be worse during the night so we haven’t had any walk today, too dangerous to walk amongst trees in these winds. The steady wind isn’t that bad but the gusts are, we’ve spent a lot of time in the garden instead, not the same but better than nothing.

Alma is close to ending being in heat and Malcolm’s injection is close to sick in to a 100% so tonight Malkolm and I won’t be leashed together so all of You cross Your fingers and hold Your thumbs for good luck and that my guess is right 🙂 🙂 🙂

I’ll also go the the grocery store for the first time in a long time tomorrow and I’ll bring the dogs, Alma in the back seat so she has plenty of space to be tangled into the safety belts 🙂 🙂 🙂 and Malkolm beside me in the passenger seat. The winds will still be strong so it’ll be fun to drive to the top of the mountain with no shelter from the forest 🙂 No risk of tipping over in the gusts but I’m pretty sure it’ll be a bumpy ride 🙂 🙂 🙂

It is soon time to bring out the monster kitten to the garden, I’ll need to make some kind of harness because I don’t want her to walk away by her own already now. She’s too small to meet any of the bigger cats in the area on her own yet. It is so much easier in summer when the doors are open all day and she can walk in and out as she pleases and most likely won’t walk away too far, I can say that all she wants right now is to wander the world by her self and she’s really not prepared for that.

It is time for that last cup of tea and then watch some tv.

Have a great day!

Warmer winds.

· 12 Comments ·

So today was the last day with cold weather and sunshine for quite some time it seems, I’ll miss the sunshine but not the temperatures 🙂 The low pressure is arriving with a roaring wind now and it might even be as warm as 10C (50F) already on Saturday.

This morning however was still pretty cold and the sun shone as well. Thankfully once again totally wind free (it arrived later in the day) so it was quite nice being outside walking. Alma behaved reasonable well but Malkolm pulled the leash instead. He’s not that big and strong though so that isn’t so bad to be honest but if Alma isn’t allowed to do it neither is he. I must start thinking about the possibility that the tutor on my kidney has grown and that I’ll get treatment during the summer so having dogs pulling the leash when I most likely won’t be especially strong is a bad idea. However we aren’t there yet so perhaps I can make them both calm down by then.

I’m so lucky that my neighbour works in a supermarket now when Alma is in heat and the shot Malkolm had doesn’t work properly yet because I realised that the cat litter wouldn’t last for long so she brought home a bag for me plus I suddenly had a craving for some soda, I normally don’t drink soda unless I have a head ache so it will be something with caffein in it. Today I wanted something else, so now I have pear soda at home. I didn’t think they still made that so when she said they sold it I really wanted it 🙂 🙂 🙂 I remember when being at my mormors’ (grandmother on my mothers side) I was always allowed to go downstairs to get a soda and I usually chased between raspberry soda or pear soda 🙂 I was also always allowed to take an ice cream if I wanted to 🙂

The monster kitten was allowed to be without the cone of shame for a couple of hours today and she really enjoyed it. Tomorrow it’ll be eight days after surgery so I’ll allow her to be without it even longer and on Saturday she will not have it any more. It should be totally healed already now I think but it might still be a bit fragile I guess so better be safe than sorry. The scar doesn’t seem to bother her at all though   but to be honest neither does the cone 🙂 The only thing is that the the place where the cone is tied together seems to be itching, as soon as it goes off the itching stops.

Today I won’t have that last cup of tea for the day, instead I’ll have some pear soda 🙂

Have a great day!

The vet visit.

· 6 Comments ·
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!

More snow to melt away.

· 6 Comments ·

it was just grey and dull when we went out on our morning walk and from that it went downhill. First some lighter snow with tiny snow flies that couldn’t be seen when they landed on the ground, then rather big and lots  of them that really showed on the ground and then it started to rain. Still lots of snow on the ground but hopefully those slightly higher temperatures they’ve been talking about will arrive as they’re guessing.

I can never capture this old tree trunk properly but I still keep on trying 🙂

Canada geese, many of them refuse to leave when the nasty weather comes.

Besides that very little has happened, the most exiting being that the dogs and I had pancakes for lunch 🙂 The dogs are bored but every time they go outside they want to go inside again. So we have most been indoors being inactive watching tv or napping. The monster cat was active for a while though, one could think that if she tries to do a thing on and on again and fail she finally would understand that it won’t work next time either. I don’t know how many times she failed to pass an orchid by the windows and both she and the poor plant have fallen down to the floor 🙂 🙂

I guess it is time for that last cup of tea for the day but today I’ll try and stay awake since it’s a weekly science program I want to watch, they re-run it several time but for some reason I’ll still miss it if I don’t watch it the first time they show it 🙂

Have a great day!