Wet and Dry

 I had a few comments on my previous post about how it still looks rather green here - and as I replied to some, for one thing we've not had the same long-lasting extreme heat as further south in Europe (Britain included); and for another we've probably also had more rain (even if mostly rather unpredictable showers combined with thunder). 

In our area/town there has also so far been no ban on using sprinklers for watering, which means that the places where I usually walk and snap photos - like the old cemetery nearby, and the park down in the city centre - have had extra help to remain predominantly green. 

However, today I walked a different way down to the riverside, and snapped the photo below to show you one example of places nearby where it's more obvious that it's really "fundamentally" rather dry around here too:

 
This is the grassy hillside below the cemetery up on the hill; and on the other side of the street, a slope down to the railway running in a valley further down below looks much the same.

But then down by the river, it's quite easy to forget about the drought again for a while. (There are dams at the northern vs the southern end of town to adjust the water level through the city centre, and it has been kept normal so far.)

 Water lilies are now in bloom in certain places in the river - here, yellow ones. (Alas as I only had my phone camera, I could not really zoom in the flowers properly.)

 

Interlude

 

Finally a day of neither glaringly hot, nor risk of sudden heavy downpours and thunder. As seems to have become the pattern this summer, I needed to take advantage of that for a couple of necessary errands in the city centre (mainly to the pharmacy this time); leaving me very little room for any more exciting excursions. But it did allow me a walk through the city park, and along the river, to get myself there and back. 

 On the way back, along the river, I sat down for a little while on a bench in the shadow on a kind of jetty (or wooden platform) - opposite the apartment blocks below:

In spite of the weather today being quite pleasant compared to last week, being on my feet for a couple of hours in the sun still had me feeling quite hot before getting back home again... So after lunch, I had another one of those afternoons when I just fell asleep, listening to an audio book - and then really not getting much else done...

I'm still using a walking stick, which is both "a blessing and a curse" at the same time. A blessing because it allows me to walk further than I would dare try without it. But a curse because it means I never have both hands free (and have to plan any errands or other activities accordingly - including photo stops!) 

Brrr...

 

 "Sudden drop in temperature" - AI generated image...

I know I said in my previous post that I'd welcome a drop in temperature - but then I had in mind daytime temps getting down to like perhaps just under 20C - not 12...

On Thursday afternoon we reached 32C here (89.6 F). Today, Sunday, it's not risen above 12C (53.6 F) all day . That's a drop of 20C (68F) in 2½ days... Not sure I've ever experienced that before?!

With unpredictable winds and rain showers reigning outside, I've just been staying in today - trying to let "enough" chilly winds in now and then to get the indoors temperature back to some kind of normal - but not too cold!! 

Thunder and Rain

 

Linking to Skywatch Friday 

On Friday afternoon the heatwave that has been ruling here for the past week started to break up, as thunder and rain showers began rolling in from the south-west. The showers have been brief but violent. The night indoors was still hot and clammy, as one could not leave any windows or balcony door open. Nor can one do so today, even if just going out for a short while. 

I did venture out for about 20 minutes around noon today, just for a "breather". I only walked 10 minutes in one direction and then turned around. The three photos above show my view of the sky on the way back. I managed to get back home dry, but shortly after, a sudden gust of wind blew shut the balcony door with a big bang (I had opened it wide when I got back in) and the heavens opened again. (The folding umbrella I had brought with me on my walk probably wouldn't have helped much.) 

This weekend of thunder is likely to be followed by a whole week of cooler weather (even under 20C) and also quite a lot of rain. Whether one considers this a blessing or a curse probably varies a lot from one person to another! Personally, I welcome the drop in temperature, and I know that nature is thirsting for rain... No guarantee how long it will be before I'll start complaining about it being too wet, though! ;)

Flamingo Fountain

 

Photo snapped off my TV screen, from the news on Swedish Television today. At a retirement home somewhere they have introduced this as a fun way for their residents to "cool off" in the current heat wave.  

 I did contemplate yesterday to perhaps make similar use of the sprinklers in the cemetery. (But then it wasn't yet all that hot, so I didn't...)

 

Today I might have been more tempted, as we reached 31C (88F) here in the afternoon. But that also meant it was too hot for me to walk that "far". I was only out for a very short walk in the morning, to buy some fruit & veg in the nearest small convenience shop. The rest of the day was spent indoors behind closed blinds and curtains, with fans whirring... 

Tomorrow they predict 32C, so I won't be doing much then either!