Midsummer Eve

 

Today we celebrate Midsummer Eve in Sweden - nowadays (since the 1950s) always on a Friday, followed by Midsummer Day (public holiday) on the Saturday. The Eve is not formally a public holiday, but is essentially treated like one, as that's traditionally the day of the main public celebrations - like folk music and folk dance performances, and dancing games for children around the Midsummer Pole. (Cf maypole traditions in Britain.)

Most people prefer to celebrate midsummer either in the countryside or at the coastside. It's definitely not a city festival. For those who remain in town, the public celebrations are held in parks on the outskirts rather than in the city centre.

For my own part, it's been many years since I last took more "active" part in any midsummer celebration; but if the weather is right, and I feel up for a long(ish) walk, I do like to go and have a little peek at the event in our Museum Park, up on a hill near a lake that is also kind of a bird sanctuary. There are no buses that go all the way there though - and on weekends, from where I live, none that will even take me half the way. (And just now, non part of that way at all, any day of the week, because of some major roadworks still going on.)  

But we were blessed here this year with rather perfect weather for Midsummer Eve: Sunny without being too hot, and no rain. So I decided to take on the long walk. On my way there, I took "the shortcut" - which instead is partly very steep, though. First, it includes climbing this footbridge over the railway:

(46 steps up and nearly as many down on the other side)

Crossing a major road (on the pedestrian crossing on the right); and then through an underpass under the motorway.

 Then to the right from this roundabout.

Walking on along the left side of the lake...

 

And a bit further on, up a very steep hill to the left. Alas in this photo the path comes out looking almost flat, but I can guarantee that's an illusion! (Luckily I found a bench half way up where I could rest for a few minutes...)

The park was crowded, and the music and dancing games for the kids had started, and I did not get anywhere close to the midsummer pole. This photo (above) was taken holding my phone way up over my head and just hoping for the best!

I did not actually hang around in the park for very long, as there was nowhere (comfortable) to sit... I did rest for a little while on a stone wall near the old church, though.

 

Signs said the café was open but I deemed it a rather hopeless mission to try and get anything from there (not to mention anywhere to sit down and consume it). So I did not stay very long (perhaps half an hour), but walked home by a different route. I'll save the photos from my way back for another post. (All in all I was away from home for a bit over two hours. Most of that time on my feet, though, which made it feel longer!)

Privacy

 

This is the 'privacy screen' thingy that I carried back home with me earlier in the week (on the bus + walking). (Cf my Monday post.) An adjustable trellis made of willow, covered in fake leaves. It's not heavy - just not a really comfortable size to be carrying around for too long.

It was not until I freed it from its plastic cover yesterday, and quite a few fake leaves immediately fell off, that I began to question the truth of the label declaring the contraption to be "eco-friendly and sustainable"... (The trellis itself, absolutely. The fake leaves, maybe not so much...) Luckily I unpacked it indoors rather than outdoors.

As it's lightweight, it wasn't too hard to fasten it onto the balcony railing simply using gardening wire. I put it up yesterday - and as far as I can tell today, it still has most of its leaves in place, in spite of rather windy weather.

Visually, I quite like it; and above all, it serves its purpose.  I can partially see through it, but my "next balcony neighbours" and I no longer have to stare one another right in the face if we happen to be out on our balconies at the same time. (On the other side, there is a permanent frosted plexiglass screen between me and the balcony directly adjoining mine. So while we hear each other all too well, at least we don't see each other.) 

I've seen other balconies in the neighbourhood using the same kind of trellis screen that I bought now, so that's what inspired me to get one like that too. It seemed an easier option  to handle than something more solid that would probably need professional assistance to be mounted in a safe way. (I'll be taking this one down over winter.)

These are my cherry tomato plants. They have grown quite a bit and are now also beginning to bloom, although that may be hard to see in this photo.

 

New Mural

Walking into town today I discovered that one big new mural is now in place. I really like it!

 

 A bit further on along the river, preparations for another one have started:

The 2024 Borås Art Biennial is "up and running"...
No doubt there will be more new art around town to explore during the summer.

Monday Shopping Spree

As today seemed likely to be neither rainy nor too hot, I decided on a trip "across town" to the vast shopping area there in the afternoon. This still involves quite a bit of walking. (15 minutes to where I can get on the bus, and the same on the way back; and also more walking at the other end of the bus route to get to the shops that I wanted to visit.) I had too much else on my mind to stop and take photos; but I did find what I set out to buy (+ more...)

One item on my list was a small(ish) radio that can be used with batteries as well as connected to a wall socket. The old one that I had (usually sitting on the desk in my study) recently gave up on me.  I had found one online, but wanted to see it (and hear it) before buying, so went that store first. They had a demo ex up, which worked well enough. (And the one I bought also worked to my satisfaction when I got home.) (It can also be connected as speaker to for example a portable CD-player. I've not tried that yet but I'm thinking it might come in handy if I want to re-listen to some CD audio books I bought before the days of streaming and downloading...)

Next, I went to my favourite clothes shop - and found them to be celebrating the start of the school holidays with 20% off everything. A pair of jeans was on my list since back in spring, when I failed to find any that fit me in the two different shops in the city centre that I tried. (I then bought a pair of thinner wide trousers instead, which actually proved a better  choice just then, as the whole month of May turned out too hot for jeans anyway...) Now I found a stretchy pair that fit my current body shape rather perfectly - and it was even the first pair that I decided to try on, which somewhat restored my self-confidence...

For warmer days, I also found a wide cobolt blue tunic (with pockets) to wear with leggings; and a loose fit sleeveless summer dress.

My last stop was at a store that (among other stuff) sells garden furniture and such. There I bought a kind of privacy screen for one end of my balcony. I'll take a photo of that when I get it in place - if it works out as I hope! ;)

That was as much as I managed to carry, so then I took the next bus back...

Graduation Anniversary

 

Today is Graduation Day in our high schools / upper secondary schools here. Yesterday I noticed this lavishy decorated entrance at one of the buildings in my neighbourhood. (Decorations still up today.) Someone living there is celebrating "big"! :)

I have blogged about Swedish high school graduation traditions before. Today's local newspaper reminded us all that last years celebrations turned dramatic as a big fire broke out in the town centre - probably not caused by the celebrations as such, but it forced all the parading vehicles with celebrating (ex)students to take a different route than usual. (And the building where the fire was is still wrapped in plastic and undergoing major renovation.) You can read my blog post about that here. Last year the month of June was hot and dry. This year, so far, it's chilly and wet... Hopefully that means less risk of fires - but not so much fun for the students riding around town in open vehicles!

This year it's 50 years since my own high school graduation. Looking back through some more old graduation blog posts, I also found the collage below (photos from 7th June 1974; collage made in 2012). It was raining and rather chilly on my graduation day too.

I did not have a graduation party, as that same weekend I was leaving with my family for a three weeks holiday by car in the U.K. (Our last long trip together as a family.)

My photo album from that journey tells me that exactly 50 years ago today, 14 June 1974, I was at Devil's Bridge in Wales. (Link to a blog post of mine about that from 2021.)

...

Adding a link to Sepia Saturday 728

Wallflowers

 Definitions of Wallflower:
"a person who sits by the wall at a dance because no one has asked them to dance"
"a shy person, especially female, who ...  does not attract much attention".

On top of a stone wall along the old cemetery, these tiny yellow flowers are now in bloom. I did not know their name, but put my photo into Google Image Search, and found that their Latin name is Phedimus hybridus or Sedum sibericum (English: Siberian Stonecrop;  Swedish: Sibiriskt fetblad.)

A bit further on, a taller and older part of the wall is totally covered by these big old Hydrangeas - or Hortensias - which really don't fit the symbolic definitions of wallflower, as they are rather majestic... They are still flowers growing on a wall, though! ;-)

Neighbours

 

Unusual cloud formation seen from my windows around sunset last night. Or it was really more like someone had just managed to rip a peephole in the otherwise rather compact rain clouds...

AI generated image (by me)

Coming back home from a short afternoon walk today (chilly, windy, and rain clouds threatning to burst at any moment), just outside my building I ran into a neighbour living on the floor below me - not directly under, but on the other side of the landing. We don't really "know" each other but we're both senior women and the only ones with Swedish surnames in our entrance. (Two out of six flats. When I first moved in here 16 years ago, I remember the ratio being the reverse - i.e. four Swedish names, two foreign.) And we have exchanged a few words now and then before.

A week or so ago when I also happened to bump into her, she asked me if I was much disturbed by the neighbours in the flat above hers, i.e. partly wall-to-wall and across the landing from me. I answered no, I hardly ever hear anything at all from there. She said she's disturbed daily by their child/ren running back and forth over her head at bedtime. I was surprised to hear this, as my own impression so far has been that the inhabitant of that flat over the past year or two must be a very quiet single man (whom I've only seen once or twice going in or out, plus a few times on his balcony). I've never seen him with a child, or with anyone else at all - and nothing to indicate there is a child living in that flat at all!

Today, She stopped me to say "Sorry, perhaps you heard me yelling the other day, that was at [another neighbour]" I failed to grasp who, but it must be someone wall-to-wall with her to the other side of her flat, in the next entrance. I said, no, I had not heard that either!

She went on to say that those neighbours are driving her crazy by taking showers and noisily yanking faucets in the middle of the night (and since she complained, it's only got worse). I do know that I too hear most from wall-to-wall neighbours (next entrance), as we share kitchen/bathroom/living room/balcony walls. I said so to the neighbour I was talking to now. She was obviously very upset though and kept ranting on for quite a while. She also said she has now decided to move away from here as soon as she can. I listened and tried to be sympathetic, but could not back up her current complaints. She also started talking about Muslims in general (there are a lot of those among our neighbours) but then I did feel obliged to say I really think one can't generalize like that. (And she did agree that a family living on the top floor above us has never given much cause for complaints.) 

It did become obvious during our conversation that besides our experiences differing, the two of us also have different personalities and temper (we both saw and acknowledged that). She obviously notices a lot about her neighbours and at the same time has a temper that flares easily, so does not hesitate to immediately react and "get involved" and discuss and complain etc... I on the other hand have little clue about who's who among my neighbours and where they come from etc, even if I nod and say hello when I meet people going in or out etc. But I also usually tend to "think before I act"...

I do know that long-term disturbances from neighbours can drive one half crazy, though. To assure my complaining neighbour now that I did feel sympathy even if I do not hear the same things she does, I told her I had some experiences of similar kind where I lived before. (By then I was already planning to move for other reasons, though.)

 

6th June - Sweden's National Day

 

National Anthem of Sweden

I have blogged about Sweden's national day before. If you want to refresh your memory about its history, and see photos from a sunny public celebration, you can have a peek at last year's post. This year, after a whole month of early summer in May, the weather now seems to realise it made a mistake, and is trying to make up for it by going back to temperatures around 12-15'C (~57'F), with dark clouds, winds and unpredictable rain showers. 

I did manage a short walk in the mid afternoon without getting wet, but decided to keep it to my usual turn around the nearby cemetery - just out of sight to the right in the photo below - rather than continuing downtown to the park.

The rest of the day I've "celebrated" very quietly at home in the company of Barbie and Skipper. I recently bought them a Swedish flag to celebrate summer. (I got it on a whim at the supermarket. Back home, I discovered that the label underneath says Made in China. So much for patriotism...)

 

Barbie and Skipper both wearing clothes sewn by my mum back in the 1960s. Skipper's trousers are made from the same fabric as Barbie's blouse.

Hares

 

Yesterday when going for an early evening walk around the old cemetery, I came across a hare. I think it was a hare rather than a rabbit, as it was rather big, with long ears. Actually after a while I saw that there were two of them. At first they ran away from me - but when I stopped to take out my camera, they both changed their strategy and decided to stop and remain totally still, trying to look invisible instead. One of them did better than the other. (Can you detect that one in the photo above?)

I tried to remain as still as could as well. Unfortunately my mobile phone camera is not the best for zooming, but I tried... 

 

Decisions, Decisions...

 

Woke up feeling better today; and the weather was sunny, but with temps below 20'C rather than above, and less humid. I was able to follow my plan, and went out (before lunch) to go and hand in my vote for the European Parliament election. The nearest place to do that was in a sports hall down by the railway, some ten minutes walk or so from home. I've been there before - not for sports, but for other elections!

The election is on Sunday the 9th, but one advantage of early voting is that there's rarely a queue... (And there wasn't today either.)

I walked there and back kind of in a circle. On the way back I passed the main post office nearby, and then took a shortcut path up to the area where I live.

 

Buttercups in bloom

A bit "backwards" (as I'd already made my choice), I then spent two whole hours of the afternoon listening to a debate on the radio between all the top candidates (one from each of the eight parties in the Swedish parliament) ...

One thing I'm pretty sure about: I would not last two minutes as a politician myself!

 

Under the Weather

Edited photo from a walk through the park on Saturday morning, when they had the sprinklers on. 

Yesterday, plenty of natural "sprinkling" from up above... Thunder and showers coming and going most of the day. I didn't get out for a walk until towards the evening.

Google Image Search + Wikipedia tell me that this is a Paradise Bush, in English also known as Beauty Bush, or in Latin Kolkwitzia amabilis. It originates from China.

Today I've been feeling generally "under the weather" but not sure if just a reaction to the ongoing changes from warmer to cooler weather (I know I sometimes react weirdly to changes in air pressure) - or if perhaps I also managed to pick up some unknown "bug" from something I ate (no idea what, though). Anyway I woke up with a bit of a stomach ache, and then slept through a lot of the day (on and off) and have not felt like eating much. (No violent reactions to what I did eat, though.) 

If I feel better tomorrow, I may go and put in an early vote in the election for the European Union parliament. (The Big Day is not until Sunday, but I might as well get it over with before then.) Trying to decide about that is really enough in itself just now to give one a headache, though. (Too many issues that I'm not even sure I know my own opinions about.)
 

Fading Beauty

 

The whole month of May having been warmer than usual, and ending with a week of thunder and torrential showers, the azaleas, and also some of the rhododendron, are "past their prime" already... (Photos taken yesterday, 31 May.)