Intense blue sky today (Thursday 28 May). I went for a walk in the afternoon to post a birthday card. Along a side street I passed, I noticed this house surrounded by an incredible "hedge" of lilacs (syringa) in bloom. (In Swedish we call them syrén.) In the background you can see that there are lilacs all along the opposite side of the garden as well.
Yesterday, I also took the photos below of a "cluster" of lilacs in the old cemetery. Standing there, it did look to me like branches with two different colours of flowers are actually coming from the same trunk down at the bottom. Not all easy to tell! - but googling it now, AI informs me that lilacs can indeed be grafted:
Yes, lilac trees can be grafted. In fact, many commercial "tree form" lilacs (where a shrub is grafted high onto a single trunk) and unique multicolored varieties are produced this way. Grafting is done to change the plant's growth habit, control its size, or combine multiple flower colors onto a single base.
A bit more about Syringa (Lilacs), from Wikipedia:
Lilacs are small trees, ranging in size from 2 to 10 metres (6+1⁄2 to 33 ft) tall, with stems up to 20 to 30 centimetres (8 to 12 in) diameter.
The usual flower colour is a shade of purple (often a light purple or "lilac"), but white, pale yellow and pink, and even a dark burgundy color are also found.
The genus Syringa was first formally described in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus and the description was published in Species Plantarum.
The genus name Syringa is derived from Ancient Greek word syrinx meaning "pipe" or "tube" and refers to the hollow branches of one species. - The English common name "lilac" comes from the French lilac.
Swedish Whitebeam trees in bloom now in my neighbourhood. (Lots of them!)
Lately, every time I sit down to do something at the computer, it seems that some problem or other pops up.
The other day (I've already forgotten why or how), I managed to get logged into the wrong Blogger account on the Google browser on my computer, and never got round to blogging whatever it was I then indented to write about. There seems to be so many layers of extra security and pincodes and cross-references and back-up accounts everywhere these days that my aging brain is (evidently!) finding it hard to cope with it all...
So when I started the computer again tonight, I first had to try and sort out the mess it seems I unknowingly created last time. (I seem to have succeeded, for now, but alas I'd not be able to retrieve my steps this time either...)
That (+ more) reminded me of the Dylan song - but when looking that up on YouTube, I also discovered (or rather, re-discovered) that YouTube has removed Blogger from the symbols of places to easily share to. So I had to get into the mysteries of using "embedding" and HTML view instead. (If I was successful, the video will appear at the bottom of this post when I eventually get round to posting...)
The Times They Are A-Changin' also kind of sums up that the past week or so has been rather full of information about other things about to change.
Last week I mentioned having been to listen to info about the plans for an old football field in my immediate neighbourhood to be turned into a public park.
Yesterday I attended another info meeting; this time about plans to install "entrance phones" in the buildings on the housing estate where I live. Last summer, problems in some buildings caused the (municipal) housing company to suddenly, around midsummer, lock the entrances 24/7 - and keep it that way until... February, I think it was, when it suddenly got back to normal again (i.e. only locked at night).
For me the main problem with the doors locked around the clock was my regular food deliveries. I had to go down (and because of my knee, use the lift rather than walk) to open the entrance door for the delivery guys - but still needed them to help me carry everything all the way up and into the hall of my own flat. So personally, when the doors suddenly were unlocked again some 7-8 months later, I felt only relief. So much easier when no explanations needed every time!
Now (a few months after the doors were unlocked again) a notice was put up inviting us (I think probably a few buildings at a time) to information about plans to install an entrance phone system. The meeting was held in the basement of a neighbouring building, and I guess we were around 20-30 people. I had looked up some info beforehand about modern such systems, so didn't find it too hard to follow. Apparently nowadays they connect the entrance phone with one's own phone number. So in the future, when visitors push a button with my name on it at the entrance, the call comes in on my cellphone, and after verifying that it's someone I want to see, I can just push a button on my own cellphone to let them in. Sounds easier than having to go down in person to open the entrance, at least!
However, the installation of this system will also add an extra fee to our monthly rent. (Which might be considered a problem by tenants already struggling as it is.) So what they're doing now is trying to get the info out to everyone and make sure we understand; and they're also collecting our consent - or not. And it seems they have decided to go democratic on this for each individual building. If 51% of the tenants in a specific building wants the system, it will be installed. But if 51% of the tenants in a specific building do not want the system, it will not be installed there (and the entrance left open in the daytime, locked at night). So in the area as a whole, we may end up with some buildings having the entrance phone system, and others not.
I signed a form giving my personal consent already at the meeting - also weighing in the info I took part of last week, about the transformation about the nearby field to a park, which is likely to bring more "visitors" (not least teens) to this neighbourhood.
What will become of it all in the end, still remains to be seen - but I'm thinking that either way, The Times They Are A-Changin' ...
I might add that as far as I can recall, this is the first "info meeting" of this kind that has occurred during the 18 years I've been living here. (Inviting anyone interested instead of just discussion between landlord and representatives of a tenants' association.)
For me, the meeting made it a bit clearer to me what kind of problems started the whole discussion in the first place. It seems that it's people living near the playground in the middle of the estate who have been having the most problems with youngsters not actually living here hanging around there in the evenings, and also entering nearby buildings.
After the meeting, outside, I got talking to a woman of around my own age who turned out to be my current wall-to-wall neighbour (next entrance). I think it was last autumn that she moved in. (I've never seen her properly, as there's frosted glass between our balconies and neither of us is so tall that we see over it). She's been a much quieter neighbour than the one who lived there before her, so when I understood where she was living, I introduced myself. Someone else had mentioned earlier incidents in our close neighbourhood (including the entrance where she lives) and I felt a bit of time perspective might be in place... I have lived here 18 years, and while there have undeniably been a few scary incidents - seen in the longer perspective, I still consider it a good neighborhood "on the whole".
The Sepia Saturdayprompt for this weekend shows photo from an old shoe factory, and the host Alan Burnett asks us to "search out your old photographs of factories, workplaces, shoes, boots, benches, leather belts .... or whatever" ...
At first I thought I have no photos like that... But then a summer holiday trip from the past popped to mind - made with two friends nearly 50 years ago (49, to be exact), to the Swedish provinces Halland, Skåne and Småland. The colour photos in my album from 1977 have faded - but since this is Sepia Saturday, never mind! ;) I managed to copy some with my phone camera, and edit them a bit.
The friends I was with on this trip were Gunilla and Lena. Gunilla sadly passed away three years ago. (She's the short one in the photos - she stopped growing when she was around 8 to do with health problems and medication with that side-effect.) Lena is the same age as me and since her official retirement (from teaching) is still keeping busy more or less "full time" as a water-colour artist, living on the west coast (where she was also born), and having several exhibitions there every summer.
Back in the mid 1970s, all three of us were living/studying in Karlstad; and that summer we went on a car trip together to the southern Swedish provinces of Halland, Skåne and Småland - where we visited several places do with different kinds of handicraft.
In Halland, we visited the workshop of an old shoemaker, still making wooden clogs by hand. (Wooden soles, leather tops.) I think this was someone Lena knew since before.
From Halland we went on to Skåne, where we visited a ceramics workshop or two in Höganäs - a village well known for several workshops and factories of that kind.
Here are my friends posing near one such place; and then going in...
The photo below is not my own but a postcard (glued into my album).
The province of Småland is best known for its many glassworks. We visited at least two of them, Boda and Kosta. I'm not sure at which of them the two photos below were taken.
Tuesday evening offered this sunset view from my balcony.
Yesterday, Thursday, was dominated by grey skies and rain showers. I had to walk into town for a dentist appointment at 11 am, to get my new crown put in place. So I both put on my rain coat and brought a foldable umbrella; but fortunately (also managing my walking stick with the other hand) did not need to have the umbrella up much...
At the the north-west entrance to the city park, I found rhododendron in bloom; and down by the river in the park, the huge old horse chestnut trees were in bloom:
The dentist appointment went well. I got a bit worried initially, because when they first put the new crown in to see how it fitted, it did feel to me like it would not fit at all... But of course they fixed that; and in the end I once again walked out of there a satisfied customer/patient. (I've been with the same dental practice for 35+ years. My old dentist retired a few years ago, but the new one soon earned my trust as well.)
On the way back home I walked a different way, did not need my umbrella, and found some more rhododendron in bloom. The wooden door in the photo below sits in the wall of a cemetery (not the cemetery where I usually walk, but an even older one, closer to the city centre and park).
Today the clouds broke up in favour of a clear blue sky again. I've had some indoor things to do but have also been out for two shorter walks. Before lunch, my usual Friday "recycling" walk + stopping by a small local shop on the way back for a few things.
On the way, noticing that the lilacs are now in bloom:
And in the afternoon, a walk to the nearby cemetery to check on the progess of the azaleas there:
Very close to where I live (I can see it from home), there is a large old football (soccer) field. I've lived in this part of town 18 years now, and I don't think I've ever seen a "full size" football game played here (i.e. making use of the whole field). There are junior games played now and then, and practices in between, and occasional school sports days etc are held here. But most of the time, it's just a huge empty space where not much happens except a few people walking their dogs there or jogging around it for exercise. But the lawn gets mowed by machines regularly in summer, to keep the grass short.
If it's a rainy summer, it can be very green - and enjoyed by the local wildlife:
July 2015 (my own photo)
But in hot and dry weather, it does not get watered, and can get very brown and dry:
August 2018 (my own photo)
It can be a great place from where to just watch the sky:
(my own photo)
And in winter, with newly fallen snow and fog, it can look very dreamy and mysterious....
January, 2016
... But it can also be a great place to enjoy walking in snow and making footprints...
January 2013 (my own photo)
January 2026 (my own photo)
A few years ago, the city decided on long term plans to create a long park (green area) more or less following the river through town, making it possible to walk on foot (or ride a bike) from north to south, without having to worry about traffic. If memory serves me right, about 5 km in total - and turning this field into part of the long park area is included in those plans. It will no doubt be years yet before the whole vision is fulfilled, but just now, the turn has come to "our field"...
Image from our local newspaper, 2023
A week or two ago, flyers were put up in the entrances of the buildings around here, welcoming everyone to a presentation of the plans, to be given "on the spot" (in the field), this Tuesday afternoon, starting at 4:30 pm. Living so close, I was definitely curious to know more about the details, so I was at the main gate at the appointed time. And I had expected quite a few other people to be there as well - but found myself alone! Far out in the field, I saw a van parked, and three or four people, who I assumed to be those who were going to present the information. I hesitated to walk all the way over there, though, as I'm still not all that confident about walking long distances on uneven ground... (It was on a piece of muddy lawn that I slipped and fell back in October...) So I waited at the gate for a while longer, to see if more people would be coming. But no. There was just me! ... After a bit longer still, I started walking into the field - and one of the guys back at the van started walking towards me, so we met like somewhere in the middle. I forget his title but he was one of those in charge of the project, anyway. He showed me a couple of sheets with plans of the intended layout of what they're going to do, and explained. In short, it seems that at one end there's going to be a new basket ball court, sort of in the middle also still a football field (but not a huge one), and at the other end an area with two playgrounds for children (younger and a bit older), a public toilet - and a brand new stage structure for outdoor concerts and other events.
After I got back home, I found an image online of what that stage is going to look like:
Please not the size of the people they've put inside... It's going to be HUGE!
Living close by, it's really the noise from presumptive "big events" that worries me the most - I can only hope that they won't be too frequent...
While we were talking about this, two (2) more women + a dog entered the field and came up to us. I stayed on for a while, listening again as the man started over and pretty much gave all the same information again. The newcomers seemed more positive to the idea of big events than I am - but they were younger than me (one of them mentioned she was likely to have like 15 years left before retiring from work), and I also don't know where in the area they live (perhaps not as close as I to the field/park)... After a while, their conversation with the "planner" drifted off to other parts of town that I'm less familiar with; so I just said thanks for the info I had been given, and went back home to contemplate.
From what I could see from home, not many more people arrived in the couple of hours that the van remained parked in the field. I'm still surprised at that, as no doubt the transformation of that field into a public park is likely to affect all of us living here. Not that there is anything I can "do" about it, but for my own part I still find it better to have an idea of what it is they're planning, rather than just wondering over the next few months what on earth it is they're doing...
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Field Day - AI summary:
A field day typically refers to a special day of outdoor sports and athletic competitions organized by schools or community groups. Figuratively, it means an occasion or opportunity for unrestricted fun, activity, or criticism—most commonly heard in the phrase "to have a field day".
The term is used in a few different contexts, including both literal and figurative meanings:
School Events: A day when classes are canceled so students can participate in outdoor games, relays, and athletic contests.
The Idiom (Have a Field Day): To seize the opportunity to criticize, mock, or exploit a situation. For example: "When the scandal broke, the newspapers had a field day criticizing the mayor."
Military & Professional Use: Originally a military term for a day of outdoor exercises, drills, or maneuvers.
