Weeping Silver Pear

I have long been wondering what kind of tree it is that is home to the "red birdhouse feeder" in the cemetery. Last year when I posted about it, someone suggested that it was an olive tree. Now the tree is blossoming again, and also another tree of the same kind in a different part of the cemetery. So today I took some close-ups of the blossoms and uploaded those to Google Image Search/AI, which gave me this answer:

This plant is a Weeping Silver Pear (Pyrus salicifolia 'Pendula'), a popular ornamental tree known for its silver-green foliage and white blossoms in spring.

Flowers: It produces creamy-white, bowl-shaped flowers in clusters during mid-spring.

Foliage: The leaves are long, narrow, and lance-shaped, covered in a soft silver felt when they first emerge.

Growth Habit: This variety is known for its weeping or drooping branches, creating a distinctive aesthetic often likened to an olive tree.

Hardiness: It is highly tolerant of drought and heat, making it suitable for various urban environments and gardens.

A Spring Walk in the Cemetery

 A lovely spring afternoon yesterday (Saturday), and I took my new walking stick for a 'test walk' around the old cemetery nearby. I was out for about an hour, just walking slowly up and down randomly chosen paths, stopping here and there to look at the greenery and flowers, listen to birds singing, and snap a few photos. 

Huge horse chestnut tree

 

Maples are developing leaves now, while dropping green flower petals to the ground.

Google image search identifies these trees/bushes as Amelanchier  ('häggmispel' in Swedish). Lots of these in bloom around the cemetery just now. 

... And Spiraea shrubs ...

Flowerbeds with purple pansies by the chapel. 

Also pansies planted on many graves in spring, including that of my great grandparents. (Photo from another day, when the light was right for that particular spot.) Cared for by cemetery gardening staff, paid for my aunt, but I'm "keeping an eye" on it for her... 

Flower bed of 'Narcissus poeticus' in the memorial grove.

PS. The new walking stick served me well enough as light and comfortable support on a walk of that kind. (You can see a photo of the stick here if you missed that earlier post.) 

Troubleshooting Continued...

 

Earlier this week I blogged about my sudden problems with the Firefox browser - which has been my No 1 browser used with this blog for many years, until a few days ago it suddenly refused to turn up any bigger than approximately the size of a stamp on my computer (laptop) screen.

As other browsers were working as they should, I've not been totally shut out from blogging - but I don't like unsolved mysteries, so it's still been "bugging" me.

Today I had a bit more time on my hands, so had another go at trying to "fix" the Firefox problem, by uninstalling and re-installing that app. Had to seek instructions on how to do that, but it worked. And after re-installing I did get the program up to full size on my screen again, managed to log in, and my basic settings and bookmarks etc seemed to have been saved. 

I also managed to log into my blog ok. Or so it seemed - until I ran into a new problem that I can't recall ever having encountered before. Clicking the "Sign in" on the main page of my blog would transfer me straight to the "design" page instead. What it would not do was sign me in to the comment section on the main page... So while I could create new posts, I could not reply to readers' comments! *groan* 

So more troubleshooting was required. Probably another hour or so of futile searches, but finally I came across a tip about making sure to remove any "additional" safety settings to do with blocking tracking and cookies etc. And yes! Somewhere in the setting up process I must have allowed some such extras; because after removing a couple of "suspects" of that kind, I suddenly did get back to being logged in properly, including being able to add comments.

I'm writing down this primarily as a reminder for myself, but perhaps this kind of thing may be behind commenting problems occurring for other people on other blogs/browsers as well? So if you feel yourself inexplicably "locked out" from somewhere - the "security" settings on your browser may be one place to look into... 

Now I'm just hoping that when I finally click "Publish", this post (written from Firefox) will not only appear on my blog - but also allow comments, both from others and from myself...

PS. Photo from a walk in the cemetery today. Do you get why I chose it for this post?

 

Skywatch Friday

 

Saturday, 2 May 2026 - 19:56

Sunday, 3 May, 2026 - 20:30

Wednesday, 6 May, 2026 - 20:21

Wednesday, 6 May, 2026 - 20:21

I was going to link this to Skywatch Friday but find myself unable to. Not sure if this has to do with changes on that website, or with my own switch of browser for this blog. No energy to look into that just now! 

Linking to SkyWatch Friday

(Saturday: Seems to be working now...)

Dental Visit + a Walk in the Park

 

The huge tree to the right is a horse chestnut tree

A bit cooler in the air this week compared to the weekend, but the sunny weather continues, and each day just now is "greener" than the previous one. I walked into town for my dental appointment, and had time for a little detour through one corner of the park. The sky was incredibly blue - most of the photos in this post are straight from my phone without any editing. 

Much as I expected - knowing the broken tooth had a very old crown attached - it turned out that I was in for a major dental job. As soon as the nurse started poking at it (very gently), it all came apart and the old crown came loose. As I noticed already on Friday that "something" had happened, it's almost a miracle that I managed to keep it in place for nearly five days! (I avoided to chew on that side, and was also very gentle with the toothbrush.)

I was also lucky in that the dentist + a specialist nurse had time straight away to do the scanning + other preparations for having a new crown made. With various holidays coming up in May it will probably be 3 weeks before I get it put in place; but in the meantime I've have a temporary plastic filling to cover the remnants of the tooth. I'm advised to abstain from hard and "chewy" food, though - but I've already been practising that for a few days by now! (I'm foreseeing using my "mixer" more than usual...) 

After an hour in the dentist's chair, when I finally got up I was feeling kind of dizzy, so sat for a while in the waiting room sipping a glass of water afterwards, before going out. 

I walked home through another part of the park, and along the river.

Close-up of the flowerbed by the river...

The "later" kind of cherry blossom trees are now also in bloom...

Before continuing towards home, I crossed that bridge in the photo above, and on the other side made a little detour to a shop which I hadn't visited in years, but where once upon a time I had bought an item which I was wondering if maybe they might still be selling. Actually I didn't even know if the shop would still be there. (I had not been able to check, as I had also forgotten its name!). But it was still there, and when I asked, they even had what I was after, which was this: A (foldable) walking stick. 

I have a similar, all black one since before (bought over a decade ago when I had some temporary trouble) but this one seems to have both a better rubber tip at the bottom, and a sturdier handle. So I bought it.

All winter since my fall back in October I've consistently been using at least one (sometimes both) of my taller "walking poles" outdoors. But with summer and warmer weather, too warm to wear gloves, and mostly feeling need of support in "certain situations" now, I'm thinking that a stick like this may sometimes be enough. So I was glad to find that shop still selling them. (Sometimes I do still prefer to be able to "see and touch" before buying!)