Men At Work

 

Back in March, I wrote a post about Dutch Elm Disease, in connection with seeing a sick tree being taken down in the cemetery where I often walk. Ever since last spring, I've also been seeing a sick tree closer to home, and wondering when that might be removed. Over winter it has become even more obvious that it's not going to miraculously recover. So when today I woke up to the sounds of a chain saw at work, it did not take me long to guess what was going on. When I looked out, the tree was already felled, and they were cutting  branches to later have it all moved by that green machine to a truck to take it away.

In the background, by the fence, there is another tree obviously suffering from the same thing. That one is not on the grounds of this housing estate, though, so I suppose "someone else" is responsible for having that removed. (Probably also more difficult to get to that one, as it's on the wrong side of the fence with a steep railway bank beneath...)

My view in that direction is "opening up" more than I'd prefer; but I can see the necessity of having the sick trees removed.  

Much Ado about a Small Parcel

 

It's been six months since my knee injury back in early October. I've come a long way since the initial stage when the whole leg was blue and the left knee resembled a balloon.  But I still depend on wearing knee sleeves on that knee for support, plus using a walking pole/stick when I go out. And I'm still struggling to figure out the "right balance" between  "being on my feet" vs resting, during the day. 

I'm using two different kinds of knee sleeves. When I go out, or am on my feet a lot at home, I prefer a compression one in synthetic material (on the left below). Luckily, I already had those (having had milder "on and off" problems before), so could use those right from start after my injury. (Which helped to keep the swelling down - and the doctors I saw shortly afterwards seemed to approve.) 

    

After the injury I also bought the grey ones to the right, made of bamboo - softer, "airier" and more comfortable to wear in the night. (I'm actually surprised how much that helps to keep the knee steady during sleep.)

With spring/summer and warmer weather ahead now, I thought it might be a good idea to order yet another pair of bamboo sleeves, as I imagine they may also be more comfortable than the synthetic ones in hot weather. However, when I checked the website where I had bought the old ones, that company did no longer have them in stock... 

... But if you have ever googled anything even once, you know that a lot of products will prove to be available from more than one company... (My FB ad algorithms have been actually been showing me very little but knee sleeves and compression socks all winter!) 

I found some looking very similar, from another Swedish company, which did seem to have them in stock for speedy delivery. They also seemed to promise to deliver parcels to the most convenient place for the customer - which in this case should have been by "letter" directly to my own mailbox. (As that had worked with similar deliveries from other companies before.) At worst (I thought), I might have to go a covenience shop in my own neighbourhood to pick it up (~300 m away). 

Big Groan from me when yesterday I received a text that the parcel had arrived at a (for me) very incovenient shop around 2 km away - across the city centre from where I live, and up a rather steep hill... 

Ah well. This morning was neither wet nor windy, and as it was Saturday, the buses shouldn't be crowded. I walked to the nearest bus stop (~300 m), took a bus from there to the railway station, where I changed to another bus that took me (via the city centre) half way up the hill towards my goal. Got my parcel (which could indeed easily have been made flat enough to be sent by regular mail) - and managed to refrain from complaining to the shop assistant (as it wasn't his fault)... 

Out on the street again, I decided to try a downhill walk back "downtown". I managed it - but learned that walking downhill still requires "baby steps". So it took a while. 

Back down at the bus square (on flat ground by the river), I got on a third bus to take me two stops further along the river; from where I knew it would "only" take me another 15 min or so to walk the rest of the way home. 

All in all, the whole outing took me about an hour and a half. 

However, the content of the package did turn out to my satisfaction. The new bamboo  sleeves (I ordered two) seem to be the same size and quality as the old ones, and feel the same. So at least I won't have to return them - and hopefully it will be a while before I feel need to buy more... 

Left: New - Right: Old

 

The photo at the top of this post was taken from about half way down the hill from the shop - turning back and looking uphill. (If anyone wonders about the windowless brick wall on the right, that belongs to a church.)

 

Spring Preparations

 

Yesterday: Crocuses in a flowerbed in my neighbourhood.

Today I decided to put what energy I had into getting started to "make spring" on my balcony. So I got the plastic rug, my chair, and  the trellis with fake leaves (bought last year) up from the basement storage room. With pauses in between, I also got them in place during the day. (Fingers crossed that April has no plans to throw another storm at us!) 

No live flowers for a while yet, as frosty nights are still likely to happen. I also plan to keep it simple - not too much messing about with "growing things"... But I'll buy some geraniums later on, they're easy to move around depending on the weather, or even take in if needed.
 

After the Storm...

 We have a proverb in Swedish that is probably used in English as well: "After the rain comes the sun". Looking it up now, I learn that the origin is Latin: "Post nubila phoebus" ("after the clouds, the sun"). 

On Tuesday Storm Dave had moved on. It left quite a bit of debris behind, but in my immediate neighbourhood, and along the way I chose to walk into town, only "minor" stuff. (I.e. while there was still a mess of minor broken branches etc here and there, I saw no fallen trees, or roofs blown off, etc. - Our local newspaper has reported some such events as well, though, from other parts of town and its surroundings.)

When I approached the city centre yesterday, it seemed that the winds from the coast had also brought (or been followed by) a sure sign of spring, though: The seagulls are here now, and making their voices heard to let us know. There was a whole flock of them circling over that footbridge in the photo above - but before I got the camera up, they had temporarily scattered...

Branches/trees decorated with feathers are an old tradition and probably still the most common Easter decoration here (besides eggs). I noticed these outside an hotel near that bridge. (There were two of them, one on each side of the entrance, but I found it made better photo to just focus on one of them.)

My main purpose for the walk into town was not to take photos, though, but to get a haircut. I had called my hairdresser in the morning and asked if the could fit me in, and she could. 

I walked both into town and back, which means around 3+ km or 2 miles; which is still enough to make not only my left knee but also the rest of me tired. So not a whole lot more got done yesterday. 

Today was another sunny day, but a short walk to the nearest corner shop for some bananas felt like enough. Later I put some energy into cleaning the outside of the windows in my living room, from the balcony outside. The Easter rain had somehow managed to make those dirty rather than clean them. I also gave the (metal) floor out there a brief mopping while I was at it. If the sun continues to shine for few more days, I might even bring my foldable chair up from the storage room... 

 

Easter Monday

 

It's Easter Monday, which is still a public holiday here in Sweden (and in several other countries too, I think). For my own part, Easter "celebrations" have been very modest this year, though - as I've hardly been out at all, nor had any visitors.

On second thought, that last statement is not 100% true. On Friday afternoon, someone  tried to pay me an unannounced visit, exactly during that half hour or so when I was out on that day (for my usual weekly walk to the recycling station some ten minutes away).

When I got back from that short walk, I found a pot of small daffodils sitting outside the door to my flat. No card attached, so it had me puzzled for a while who had brought them. I was contemplating putting a "thanks to whoever" on Facebook, when the benefactor called me. It turned out to be a friend still not using neither computer nor smartphone (so a message on FB wouldn't have reached her anyway). I thanked her of course - and the daffodils really were a nice surprise, as I had not got round to buying any myself. (No flower shop nearby, and when I was in town last week, other errands took priority.) 

I did not say what at the same time I thought to myself: that paying someone a surprise visit is not really the best idea these days - even if statistically, I'm likely to be at home "more often than not". 20-30 years ago, this person and I were neighbours. These days, we are both 70+, don't live in the same residential area, and our paths rarely cross spontaneously. So really better from several aspects to call first... 

With the weather forecasts for the rest of the weekend in mind, I also did not suggest that she'd "pop by" another day soon instead. 

Storm Dave from England had announced its arrival in advance (via the weather people on TV etc), and did not care one bit that most people might prefer some peace and quiet for Easter. The whole weekend was very windy, with Easter Sunday the worst: the wind noisily rattling the windows on the south-west side of my apartment all day yesterday, and including quite a bit of rain, too. (Luckily I had taken the warnings seriously, so had removed the plastic tarpaulin from my wooden bench out on the balcony and tied the bench itself to the balcony railing - not leaving the wind much to "play with" this time.)

Today it's been sunny again, but still with capricious winds blowing. I took out a bag or two to the bins by the corner, but felt discouraged from walking further. From national and local news I've also learned that quite a few trees have fallen over roads, trains and buses have been cancelled, and electricity and internet have been out for people in some areas. For my own part, power and wifi have been working the whole weekend, though.

So as blog readers may have noticed, I spent pretty much the whole Easter weekend  finishing my 1983 time travelling project instead. (With some food and TV in between.)