Happy New Year

It's New Year's Eve. Barbie is off to a fancy ball and just wants to show off her dress before she leaves. It's another creation of my mum's from back in the 1960s. Originally it had a white "rose" attached on the front, which some 55 years later looked rather dated. But I found a replacement in my crafts box that is a perfect colour match with the dress itself.  

 

Skipper will be staying home with me, watching a film.
We've not yet decided yet which one...

 

Happy New Year, everyone!

 

From a Far and Lovely Country - Book Review

 

I can hardly believe that this is actually the 24th book in Alexander McCall Smith's series about the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency in Botswana - and I think I've read them all. Some in print, some as audio books; some in Swedish translation, others in English. 

The first book was published in 1998. I did not start keeping record of the books I read until 2002, so I'm not sure when I first read it - but my own statistics tell me that that in January 2006, I read the first three in this series in a row, in Swedish, borrowed from the library. (Whether for the first time, or rereading, I'm not sure.) And since then I have kept on following the series, I think pretty much in order. In the early years I borrowed them from the library in Swedish; in later years (from No. 19 onward) I've listened to them in English as audio books from Audible. It's "comfortable" reading to me, as the main characters feel like old friends by now. But somehow the author does also manage to let them evolve and mature a bit as they grow older (while still "remaining themselves").

In this book, Charlie (previously working for Mma Ramotswe's husband in his garage, but in later years also helping out as apprentice to Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi at the detective agency) is entrusted with an enquiry of his own - and manages to get into some trouble which after all turns out to also need the experience of the more mature ladies to sort out. Certain problems also arise in connection with Mma Ramotswe's birthday, with a red dress that is given to her as a birthday present, but turns out to be too small for her, so that it splits when she tries it on... This requires some delicacy to solve as well (without hurting anyone's feelings). The mysteries, problems and relationships in these books are often of "everyday" character, rather than very serious and violent crimes; and I guess that is why we like them. (Well - those of us that do!)

McCall Smith is an amazingly productive writer - see the Wikipedia bibliography page. (I started counting, but gave up...) Besides the No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series I have also read a few (but far from all) in the 44 Scotland Street series and the Sunday Philosophy Club series. But he seems to have written lots and lots of other books besides those as well. (It's beyond me how he manages it!!!) The Botswana series is my favourite, though.

 

Skywatch Friday

From Thursday noon it kept on raining without freezing again in the night, so today I woke up to streets clear of snow and ice. (Which after the past very slippery week felt like a relief.) At midday there was even a break in the rain, so I grabbed the opportunity to go for a "proper" walk for a change - as in walking at normal speed with normal footwear and no fear of slipping. I had no special errands, but chose to walk to the city centre and back, which means I was out for nearly an hour. Felt good to be able to "stretch my legs" again!  

Photo from my balcony back on Wednesday morning. (Today did not inspire photography.)

Linking to Skywatch Friday

Found in a Bookshop & Excellent Women (Book Reviews)

 

This book was recommended on Facebook by a friend in England, and I bought it as my monthly Audible book in November. I have since learned that it's No 2 in a series, the first one from 2017 entitled Lost for Words (or in another edition The 'Lost for Words' Bookshop) - which I have not read yet. Maybe I will some day; but Found works as a standalone story as well. It is set during the years of the recent Covid pandemic, and I think it really captures the mood from those years, with all the restrictions and isolation that people experienced (even more so in Britain than here in Sweden, from the impressions I got both from blogs during that time, and this book now). 

Quote from the publisher's introduction: "Loveday Cardew's beloved Lost for Words bookshop, along with the rest of York, has fallen quiet. At the very time when people most need books to widen their horizons, or escape from their fears, or enhance their lives, the doors are closed." 

But... Loveday and her team of co-workers in the bookshop find way to continue their business after all; and help a lot of people at the same time. People write to them asking for recommendations, and based on their wishes, or problems, they try to find the right books for them - and also deliver them to the readers.

Which makes this book a list of reading recommendations, as well as a novel in its own right. And for that reason, it's probably better to read it in print or on Kindle rather than listen to it (as I did). Even if I enjoyed the audio narration as well, I've already forgotten most of the other book titles mentioned (except some already familiar to me).

But one author's name that stuck with me from the recommendations in that book - and that I could not recall having read even though the name struck me as familiar - was Barbara Pym. Which led me to also listen to a book by her:

Excellent Women was first published in 1952. It was Barbara Pym's second published novel and has been called "the funniest and most successful of her 'comedies of manners' ".

The phrase "excellent women" refers to the kind of women who perform small but meaningful duties in the service of churches and voluntary organisations. (According to the Wikipedia article on the book, the phrase was borrowed from Jane Austen's -unfinished- novel Sanditon.)

The main character in Excellent Women is Mildred Lathbury, a spinster in her thirties in post-war Britain (early 1950s). She's a part-time voluntary worker helping out at the local church. The arrival of new neighbours, anthropologist Helena Napier and her very handsome husband Rocky, brings some new excitement into her life. Through them, she also gets to know another anthropologist, Everard Bone. A subplot involves the vicar and a glamorous widow. 

In The Oxford Companion to English Literature (in my bookshelf since my days of studying English literature at university back in the 1980s), Pym's novels are described as "satirical tragi-comedies of middle-class life". I rather enjoyed it, but at the same time have to confess that I probably missed things here and there because of mostly listening to it at night (falling asleep...) Not sure yet if I'll be looking for more. 

The main narrator of the audio book is Gerry Halligan (female); Jonathan Keeble only reads the introduction.

Snow, Slush, Rain, Ice - and Repeat...

 

 

I used my 'proper' camera yesterday to play with some more close-ups of the Amaryllis that I bought just before Christmas (then not yet in bloom). From the label attached to it, I thought I was buying another red one... But it turned out white!

Not much happening here besides Weather - which on the other hand keeps "happening" a lot just now, as in shifting frequently between snow, rain and ice. This morning I woke up to lots of snow on the ground again; but a few hours later we're back to heavy rain and +4°C. But if/when the temperature drops again, it will quickly be back to dangerously icy... And alas it looks likely to continue like that (back and forth) at least over the next week or so.

Luckily I'm usually at liberty to choose for myself when to venture out or not. Yesterday turned out sunny (and cold), so I actually did get out for a short walk while waiting for my 2nd load of laundry to dry (in a drying cabinet in the common laundry room). Having seen the weather forecasts for today, I decided I'd better stock up on some fresh fruit from a small greengrocer's shop just some 5-7 minutes walk away... And this morning, I was glad I did! (A lot less tempting to go out at all today.)

Another Day

 

Here in Sweden, the day known as Boxing Day in English is called Annandag Jul, which means the 2nd day - or "another day" - of Christmas. It's a bank holiday, but less loaded with traditions compared to Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. (I suppose that varies a bit from one family to another, though.) Probably quite a few shops are also kept open on this day nowadays. I haven't been into town to check, though!

Christmas Day was rainy and windy (mixed with a bit of wet snow from time to time) and I stayed in - mostly watching TV (or streaming services etc). This morning, looking out of my windows + checking with the thermometer, I got the impression that it was wet outside rather than icy. That impression changed as soon as I set foot outdoors, though. The ground is frozen hard and covered with invisible ice, so very slippery. I had my trekking poles and studded booths though, and thought it would be better on the gravel paths in the old cemetery. But even there it was icy. So I ended up cutting the walk shorter than intended.

I think I already mentioned this in an earlier post, but one thing slipperiness seems to do here is to make people a lot more inclined to chat with complete strangers - even if only to state the obvious (i.e. how slippery it is). In the cemetery, I met another senior lady with trekking poles; and after exchanging a glance and a smile (recognising each other's struggle), we also stopped to verbally confirm to each other how very icy it was... Then on my way back across the footbridge over the railway (an especially tricky spot in winter), I also met a somewhat younger lady, without poles to support her - and obviously hesitating how best to proceed. Body language easy enough to interpret just now! but she too also started a verbal chat... Something which rarely happens the rest of the year, between strangers just passing each other going in opposite directions.

For my own part, I got home safely, and can only hope the other two reached their destinations in one piece as well.

Tomorrow is laundry day for me; a good enough excuse to just stay in again.

Christmas Eve, Christmas Day

In Sweden, the main celebration day of the season has come to be Christmas Eve, even though that's not even an official holiday in the calendar (except when, as this year, it happens to fall on a Sunday). While in England and the US, you probably have to wait for your presents until the morning of Christmas Day, here Santa comes knocking on the door already on Christmas Eve. I guess that makes sense: He has to start somewhere, and we're rather close to the North Pole (where some claim he lives)... If you're still wondering how on earth he manages it all, the image above may give another clue, though: He's pretty good at cloning himself...! 

Christmas Eve started out snowy and cold here, with the streets still very icy. I was only out for a very short walk (5-10 min) in connection with taking out a couple of waste bags to the dustbins. In the afternoon the weather changed to thaw, rain and slush. Evidently it continued to rain throughout the night, because this morning, all the snow was gone.

I had done my cooking the day before, so did not have to spend much time in the kitchen. I had a rather lazy day, until in the late afternoon it was time for a Skype video chat with my brother, which has become our tradition since no longer meeting in person at Christmas. And after that, also a phone call with my aunt. Not a lot of Christmas presents involved any more - but to have at least one parcel to open, my brother and I still send each other one, to be ceremonially opened during our Skype chat. Usually no big surprises involved any more, but both ways a present that lasts a while: He gets a calendar (usually with my own photos), and I a crossword book :)

Barbie and Skipper exchanged presents as well. Barbie got a Christmas brooch and a fancy mirror - made by Skipper (with a little help from me) from things found in my 'crafts' box. Barbie went antiquing in my jewellry box, and for Skipper we found a minature guitar and castanets. (A wooden brooch bought in Spain on my very first trip abroad way back in 1967.)

Merry Christmas to all my international friends, most of whom I suspect have their main celebrations on Christmas Day!

 

Quotes from a little book that years ago was given to me as a present:

The present is what it is.
It is valuable even if I do not know why.
It is already just the way it is supposed to be.
When I see the present,
accept the present,
and experience the present,
I am well, and I am happy.
---
My past was the present,
and my future will be the present.
The present moment is
the only reality I ever experience.

 

White Christmas (?)

We had a snowy start to December; then for the 3rd Advent weekend the snow went away, but now it's back. Thursday and Friday were a mix of snowy and slushy, then it got really cold last night so today has been treacherously icy again. We also got to see the Sun today though (I don't even remember when it was I last saw blue sky) - so I did go out for a walk after lunch. But it was very slippery, so I had to walk very slowly, and with my trekking poles for support. And only stopped once for photos!

Forecasts for tomorrow warn us that temperatures will be rising again, and there may be more snow, or rain, or both. Judging by how slippery it was today already, close to home, I don't think I will be going very far (or may not even go out at all).

Barbie and Skipper went on an outing "across the living room" to admire the Big (all is relative!) Christmas tree. But then went back home again to settle down and wrap some last minute Christmas presents. (Whether they are aware that Santa is waiting up on their roof, I'm not quite sure!)

Christmas Cards

 

Incoming Christmas cards 2023

 

I have always enjoyed both sending and receiving Christmas cards. More and more people are giving up that tradition though - and I really don't blame those who do. Postage keeps increasing with every year, while at the same time our delivery service here has shrunk to 2-3 times a week. (Either Monday-Wednesday-Friday, or Tuesday-Thursday.) 

For my own part, sending cards within Sweden still costs me very little, though - as my father was a foresighted hoarder of early "forever" stamps, and I inherited lots of really early ones (1980s) from him, still valid for use within Sweden (even though postage has gone up by 1000% since then).

The inherited stamps that I could also use for international letters and cards for a while are long gone by now though - which has made me cut down quite a bit on Postcrossing (with strangers) in later years. 

I do still send some postcards and letters abroad anyhow, though - so when it caught my attention shortly before Christmas that PostNord (our postal services) are again about to raise the postage (both domestic and international) by another 20% in January; I decided to follow in my father's footsteps and put in another "hoarding" order on forever stamps myself. (I did the same thing last year.)  

Like magic these tiny pieces of paper will increase 20% in value between 12:59 pm on New Year's Eve and 00:01 am on New Year's Day. (And unlike the old ones from the 1980s, the modern ones are also valid for mail going abroad. One stamp for domestic post, two for international.)

So I'm not quite giving up on snail mail just yet...

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Illustration by Bing AI

 

Gone With the Wind

 

Probably started some time in November, and finished in mid December, I've recently been re-listening to Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell as audio book. (49 hours!)

Checking back on my blog, I found my review from 2016 - and saw that I'd already written then pretty much what I'd still want to say now - including my personal story of my first memories of this book (big as a Bible!) from borrowing it (in Swedish) at the town library in my home town back in my teens... So I'll save myself some energy by just linking back to the previous review; and just confirm that I still found it worth while to listen to again, 7 years later. (I often listen to audio books in a state of mind somewhere between sleep and awake at night - and then prefer old favourites that I already know well enough that it doesn't matter too much if I miss a bit here and there...)

The Christmas Tree is Up

 

My little Christmas tree is up again, in its usual place on top of an old chest of drawers in my living room. It is nearly always the last decoration I put up; still kind of following the tradition from my childhood, when the (real and full size) tree was not taken in and decorated until just before Christmas Eve... 

I have two different chains of led lights in it now; one with 10 led lights inside baubles of different colours, and another with 15 tiny plain led lights. (Both run on batteries.)

 

The trains were both "fun" gifts from me to my dad once upon a time, because he was a train enthusiast. (I found them when clearing out my parents house before we sold that.) 

The Fairy and Unicorn piece was a gift from a friend in England (some years ago).

Kitchen Gnomes

 

Once upon a time, this corner shelf used to hang in my grandmother's kitchen, and nowadays in mine. Some of the items on it are there all year round; but around Christmas it also serves as home to some wooden "forest gnomes".

 

These little ones have their place on top of my cooker hood. 

 

Believe it or not, even more tiny ones are still asleep in the bigger of these two little cottages. (The name on the door is S. Claus.) 

This lot used to be kitchen gnomes while they lived in my mother's house. Since they came to live with me, they've been relocated to the bathroom, though. (More room for them to spread out there...)

Outdoors, the weather has turned - the snow and ice is all gone now, rain has been pouring down all day, and the sun never bothered to get out of bed (i.e. it's been very dark all day). I've not set foot outside, and am not quite sure what I've actually been "doing" at all... (Resting, watching Netflix, and listening to Christmas music... Recently took a cheap subscription to Spotify again, and just discovered how easy to cast the music from the phone to my TV/stereo...)

Slippery Slopes, and Releasing the Gnomes

 

This week, outdoor temperatures have been varying between thawing and freezing - resulting in several treacherous spots like this one. Besides wearing studded boots, I also bring at least one of my trekking poles when going out... There have also been days when I've preferred to just stay in, though!

Wednesday was laundry day, which this time of year means indoor-day, as it's already dark outside by the time I'm finished in the afternoon. Outdoors I think it was thawing.

On Thursday the temperature kept firmly below freezing point. My studded boots are very good on ice, though, if I tread carefully. So as planned, I went out to post my Swedish Christmas cards, and to buy some fruit & vegs in one of the small neighbourhood convenience shops. Went back home with my purchases, and then went out on another round with some things for the recycling bins, and after that I also decided to prolong my walk with a turn around the old cemetery. To get there, I have to pass that slippery slope on the photo above. I stopped for a moment to consider my "strategy", and shift my trekking pole from one hand to the other (to be able to also hold on to the railing when I reached that). Just then, a young man wearing rain boots came sliding by, passing me in a hurry - and was very close to slipping and falling... He managed to regain his balance, though - and then to my astonishment  stopped, turned round and asked if I needed help! I said thanks, but I'll be all right with my walking stick... and he was gone with the wind, slip sliding away along the pavement... It "made my day" though, that he actually thought to stop and ask! But considering his footwear, I think I was really safer just trusting my own equipment... ;-)  I managed a walk around the cemetery as planned, without incidents. (On my way back, at the very same spot, I met yet another young man, more running than walking, and in similar unsuitable footwear, slipping and "almost" falling as well, though...) 

Yesterday the weather had switched to thaw, fog and light rain outside, and I did not set foot outside until just taking out some household waste to the bins at the corner of my building in the afternoon. (By then, nearly all the ice/slush on the street had melted away.)

Instead I devoted a couple of hours to baking gingerbread cookies (dough prepapred the previous day). Only a small batch, but it's worth it even just for the smell filling the flat on the day I bake them...

Later on, I unpacked my box of various Christmas 'gnomes' and Santa figurines that I got up from the storage room the other day. Most of them have more or less permanent spots around my flat - like this 'Santa family' knitted by my mother (and inherited by me). They have chosen a picture shelf on the wall behind my sofa for their Christmas celebrations (pushing a painting slightly to one side).

Another gnome has moved up one floor in a bookshelf next to my TV this year, to keep an eye on a very fancy pop-up Christmas card recently arrived from a penpal in England.

On the shelf below, two 'newcomers' are helping me out this year with the red wooden Christmas tree (of German design), and some last minute Christmas cards. (Barbie and Skipper, showing off some more 1960s clothes made by my mum.)

If they do a good job with that, they may also get to help me with the other tree in a few days - I've not quite decided yet... ;-)  (My 50 cm high tree with lights and various other decorations is traditionally the very last item to be put up, among my decorations.)

Lucia - a Swedish tradition

  

Today is 13th December, and on this day in Sweden we celebrate Lucia (St Lucy's day). I found this short video on YouTube, with a short introduction in English to the tradition.

I haven't been out to see or listen to any live Lucia celebration this year, but I watched one performance on TV this evening (rerun from the early morning, when I wasn't up yet...)

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing...

 

For the 2nd Advent weekend, I brought up my Angels from the basement storage room. The glass angels + matching Christmas tree go under the electric candlestick in my living room:

The rest of them are forming a mixed choir on the window sill in my study.

I've probably mentioned it before, but all the angels are gifts I've received from various friends over the years. The one I've had the longest is the porcelain angel to the left; a gift from cousins of my grandmother when I was quite little, so she's been with me as long as I can remember.

My nativity set is also up now, on its usual shelf in my study.
They're a bit of a "motley crew" as well. ;-)
 

♫ Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the newborn King:
peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!"
Joyful, all ye nations, rise,
join the triumph of the skies;
with th'angelic hosts proclaim,
"Christ is born in Bethlehem!"♫

(Charles Wesley/George Whitefield)

 

If Not One Thing, It's Another

 

Illustration by AI

 
As some of you may recall, back in mid November I went to see my optician for an eye exam, just thinking that I had noticed a change in optical refraction in one eye. But she detected a cataract, and referred me to an eye doctor. As cataract had so far never entered my mind, I spent the next couple of weeks trying to get used to that idea.

Luckily I did not have to wait very long, as I was referred to a small private eye clinic in our city centre. (They don't do operations but they help with eye exams and certain other treatments, in cooperation with our regional health care system.) I got an appointment there on 1st December. At the end of that, I was again in for a surprise, as the doc's conclusion was that well, yes, you do have a cataract - but the main problem is probably that you also have Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD)... (It has another name in Swedish; but both were equally unfamiliar to me.)

... Er, what??... 

... The good news is it's the 'dry' variety (rather than the so-called 'wet' one); the bad news is there's no cure or treatment ...  

 ... Er, what??...

Brief explanation followed - not easy to take in all at once. But it seemed the 'dry' equals slow change (but no cure) whereas the 'wet' is more serious and faster developing (but may be slowed down by treatment).  I was also given a brochure with more info. (And after reading that, I have of course also googled for more.) 

As for the cataract (which I understood to not be very far gone), as that did not seem to be the problem (yet), we agreed to wait and see how things develop. The doc said to contact him again for another checkup in a year or so (which I take to confirm that he does not expect any fast changes). 

Hey ho... It's still a lot to get my head round all at once, when not having suspected any of it myself beforehand. From what I've gathered so far, the AMD diagnosis does seem to make "sense" though (more than the cataract), related to the changes in vision that I'd been noticing in my left eye lately. I also do think it's probably been developing slowly, even if it was only recently that it started bothering me. What happened was that not too long ago I noticed that when looking at the TVscreen with just my left eye, the subtexts on the screen appeared wavy rather than straight, and some letters difficult to see. Watching with both eyes, the right eye "takes over" though, and then I see no distortion. But it's probably still a strain making both eyes tired more quickly.  

For now, the new diagnosis does not really change anything - but it has me in the process of "reinterpreting" symptoms that I've been ascribing to other causes...

Reflections on Dust

 

Illustration by Bing AI

I think it was on Saturday that I walked the vacuum cleaner around the flat, and at the end of our tour checked the bag inside it to see if that needed changing - and found that well, it might have been ok if the dust had been inside the bag (as it should be), but for unknown reason most of the dust this time was on the outside of and around the bag, in the compartment where that resides... Somehow the bag must have slipped out of its right position, so that the end of the hose inside had not connected with it. It's still a mystery to me how that came about. As far as I can recall, it's never happened before. Anyway, the result made me wish that I had had access to a second vacuum cleaner, to be able clean the first one... But I only have the one; which led to a rather complicated and time consuming process of cleaning the inside of the vacuum cleaner with the help of a small dustpan and brush + damp cloths and kitchen paper etc... 

When finally I had completed that tiresome process, it suddenly struck me that hmmm, doesn't this VC also have some kind of filter at the back, which I haven't checked for ages... I managed to find the manual in the drawer where I keep such instructions; and oops, yes, it said that filter should be cleaned every six months and changed every two years or so... I can't tell you how long ago it was since I last did that, as I haven't got a clue... But it was definitely long overdue! (All I can say in my defence is that I'd not been consciously neglecting it - I'd just completely forgotten its existence...) It also proved seriously hard to open the filter grille behind which the filter lives. I managed that eventually, though - and had to admit that by now, the Thing looked definitely more "dead" than "alive"... 

Would I even be able to find a replacement? I searched the manual again and found an article number. On Monday afternoon I put that into Google - and bingo! It seemed they actually had it in stock in a certain tech shop in the city centre. (A favourite of mine since it's within walking distance.) So I was able to reserve the filter online, and go and pick it up there the next morning. 

New filter in place at the back, and new dust bag in front, I took the vacuum cleaner for another walk around the flat in the afternoon. Checked afterwards, and this time the dust seemed to have gone where it should... (I'll probably be a bit obsessive about checking that after every use for a while! Whether in six months I'll remember to check and clean the filter at the back is a different story, though.)

 

On my way home from town this time I walked along/across the South Square, which is lined with old wooden buildings on three sides (the river on the fourth). Part of the square serves as transfer point for some of the local bus lines. (No longer mine, though - alas.)

My reflection in one of the windows on the ground floor of the building above; and buildings across the square also reflected in the background...