A Full Moon for Skywatch Friday

 

Looking out of my kitchen window on Sunday afternoon, I noticed the full moon, and went to grab my camera. I think the photo below is probably the best shot of the moon I've ever managed with my little Sony DSC HX 80 compact camera.

31/01/2026, 16:46

Linking to Skywatch Friday

Window Ornaments

 

Today the February Sun drew my attention to another kind of "bling". I have two window ornaments made of horseshoe nails and glass. One (above) hangs in my study, and the other (below) in my bedroom. (Not easy to tell from the photos, but the one below is smaller, only about 1/3 of the size of the one above.)

I've been racking my brain to remember their history, but the details aren't really clear in my my memory any more. I think that both may have been bought on some family holiday trip in the south of Sweden in my early teens or so - and that orginally, one was kept by us/me while the other was given to my p. grandmother. One reason why the details are blurred in my memory now is probably that later on, my parents moved to live in my dad's childhood home - and I seem to have memories of both ornaments from different windows over time. The only thing I'm sure about now is that at least since 2014, they have both been residing with me! 

Faux Bling

 

The sun happened to shine on my "fake" jewellery on display on the side of a bookcase next to my wardrobes, and tempted me to snap a couple of photos. 

The word that first sprang to mind for me was "bling". But when checking up on it, "bling" seems to actually denote "expensive, ostentatious clothing and jewellery" - rather than cheap imitations that never in their life pretended to be anything else but just that...

I searched on, and found some more definitions:

• Costume Jewelry / Fashion Jewelry: The standard terms for items designed to complement outfits rather than serve as investment pieces.
• Trinkets: Small, inexpensive jewelry items or baubles.
• Faux Jewelry: Jewelry that mimics real, high-end pieces.
• Junk Jewelry: A derogatory term for very low-quality items.
• Base Metal Jewelry: Jewelry made from metals like brass, copper, or aluminum.

I give up. The items on display above are probably a mix of all that - unless perhaps some of them are so old now that they've become some sort of faux antiques? They're all made of materials like wood, glass beads, ceramics, leather and base metals, though... (The few pieces I have of possibly somewhat higher value are not hanging out on daily display.)

I wear very little jewellery at all except on special occasions - and special occasions these days are becoming rather rare! I look at these items every now and then and think that I should give most of them away to some charity shop, as I so rarely use them. The main reason that they're still hanging where they're hanging, though, is that a lot of them are still associated with memories. (And they aren't really in the way either...)

February

 

Photo from 13 February, 2025 - Greenfinch 

A week or so ago I mentioned my habit of using my own photos to have personal calendars printed, and showed the January image I used for this year. Inspired by Ginny I'll try to make a habit of showing the rest at the start of each month. For February I chose another bird photo, this time a greenfinch sitting on the red bird feeder in the old cemetery. That feeder was a new addition there last winter, but is still there and in use. No doubt appreciated by several kinds of birds, as we've been having a persistently cold start to 2026.

My paternal grandmother Sally was born 3 February, 1900.
My maternal grandfather Hugo was born 4 February, 1901.
My mother was born 20 February, 1930.  

Lift Adventures

Dear Diary,

I'm still in the grip of the Cold, and reality still feels a bit blurry. 

Yesterday I might possibly have managed to pass the virus on to strangers myself. (Hopefully neither they nor I will ever know.) 

When stepping into the lift to go down to the laundry room in the basement, instead of taking me straight down there, the lift (very confusingly) took me UP to the 3rd floor - where I was joined by a youngish couple whom I can't recall ever having seen before. Presumably living here, though, as they weren't dressed to go outdoors. Their destination was the basement as well. (The ride down only takes half a minute, which did not really allow for more conversation than to establish that fact.) 

Down there, our ways parted. The couple disappeared down the corridor towards some storage space. I had the laundry room to myself; and over the next 2-3 hours also managed to go up/down in the lift on my own a few more times without interference... Until finally I was going back up with my last bag of dry clothes...

When the lift came down, and the door opened, it was empty of people - but its floor covered with Stuff. I could also hear voices from the entrance floor above. Obviously someone was in the process of moving things (perhaps also themselves?) either in or out of the building.

Not yet having walked the whole set of stairs up to my flat since before my knee accident, I really did not want my first attempt to be with the extra burden of a heavy bag - and who knows, maybe even encountering other people carrying things or furniture as well... 

On the other hand: Stepping into a lift half full of someone else's stuff didn't seem like a super idea either. So I didn't. But left the lift go back up without me.

There's a door to the stairwell next to the lift. I opened that; and caught sight of a couple of people handling more "stuff" up at the entrance. One of them was (I think) the same man who had been in the lift with me when I first went down. Luckily it seemed they were moving things out of the lift rather than into it. I called their attention; and soon the man said that the lift had been emptied now so that I could use it.

Looking out of my window when I got back up to my flat, there was no removal van parked outside, though. Only an ordinary car. Not having known for quite a while now who lives in one of the flats upstairs, I'm still not sure if anyone was really moving out (or in). Perhaps they were just having a bit of a clearout. 

It did strike me that it was the 31st of the month, though. So note to self for the future: Avoid booking laundry room on the last (or first) day (or weekend) of the month...