At Long Last...

… Four months after the election back in September 2018, Sweden has a new government. Actually it’s the same prime minister and mostly the same people in the cabinet as before, and all from the same two parties: the Social Democrats + the Green Party. The main difference lies in the new government now relying on backup support from the Centre and Liberal parties (in the “middle” of Swedish politics). This is what has taken them four months to sort out, as it involves a lot of compromises and a historic reararrangement of previous alliances in Swedish politics.The priority in the new agreement has been to stop right-wing extremism from too much influence in the parliament. 

The photo of the Swedish flag is my own. The one below, of the new government, is copied from official media today. The road ahead of them is likely to still be slippery; but I wish them luck.

Shadow Shot Sunday

 

...Another cold and sunny day...

Shadow Shot Sunday 2 

Frozen Rose Hips

 

It's a frozen world here at the moment. Even with my new studded boots on, it's best to keep my eyes on my feet while out walking... But I did have the camera with me today, and stopped to take these photos.

Mission Accomplished

My brother came visiting for a couple of days this week, bringing his complete set of screwdrivers. So that solved my problem (described a few posts ago) of how to best “kill” those two old laptops that I wanted to get rid of for good…

While brother did the manhandling, I had some photo-fun...

Hi–Buy–Bye

We had rain in between my snowy Thursday post and the sunset Friday post, so the snow from Thursday is all gone now. But back to frost again this morning, and again partly icy and slippery streets…

I took the bus into town for a few errands, including looking for a new pair of winter boots. Since I only knew that I wanted them to be warm, comfortable and really nonslippery, I expected the search to probably take some time. However, this is how it went:

I went into the shoe shop that happened to be the most convenient place for me to start. Right inside the entrance, my eyes fell on this boot on a shelf. It was the very first item I saw. I took it down to inspect it further. It had a note on it, telling me that it had a sole with both metallic and rubber studs, which would permit me to walk both on icy ground and on hard indoor surfaces without slipping. Just the kind of thing I wanted; but did not even know existed. The boot I took down happened to be my size. I tried it on. While I was doing so, a shop assistant turned up and asked if he could help. I asked to try on the other one as well, and he fetched it. They felt really comfortable. I chatted a bit with the assistant while walking a few steps with them in the shop. (He praised them as well, of course.) Why look further? I bought them and left – and doubt I spent more than five minutes in the store! It may be my quickest footwear purchase ever! Now I just hope they’ll prove to be as good as they sound. (I haven’t tried them outdoors yet; but no doubt I’ll have the opportunity very soon…)