Spooky Weather

It's Halloween, and here Nature is up to some spooky tricks of its own tonight - like moving/turning over dust-bins on wheels outdoors, and rattling the balconies on my building, making scary noises. And most likely worse, elsewhere...!

Earlier in the afternoon, as I was sitting in my chair in the living room, watching TV, there was some sudden very unusual kind of noise from outside, which made me jump up and look out of my windows. This was the sight that met me:

Photo taken from my balcony door. That bench has its normal place against the wall below the window to the left of that door... Now a gust of wind from the west had lifted it up and  blown it across the balcony floor, banging into the railing in the opposite corner! (I've lived here 16 years, the bench has always been in the same place, all year round, and this has never happened before...)

Checking the weather app on my phone I saw that warnings for strong gusts of wind had been issued for tonight and a day or two onward, with recommendations to secure things like garden furniture etc outdoors. So I ended up taking the bench inside, and the box of strawberry plants still hanging on the railing as well. Normally the box of strawberries hibernates all winter under the bench. I think what caused the situation now was probably that so far this autumn I had just covered the top of the bench provisionally (obviously just making it more tempting for the wind to play with, rather than serving as protection...)

I think I'll have to await a calmer day to decide if I can recreate my usual winter arrangement or if I'd better just take the bench down to the basement storage room this year. (There are some problems with that as well, though.)

While dealing with this rather minor "incident", inside my head I had images from all the recent much worse weather situations around the world: The hurricanes in Florida, where I have at least one blogging friend (Sandra) still dealing with the aftermaths. The flooding in Chiang Mai, Thailand, where other friends had their house severly flooded. They lost most of their furniture and other belongings. Similar situations now on the east coast of Spain, from what I've seen on TV. And via Facebook I've learned that "Typhoon Kong-rey, the biggest typhoon to directly hit Taiwan in nearly 30 years, has made landfall on the island's eastern coast" (where I also have friends living).

Here, I still have power, so am going to turn my TV on now and check what of all this (and more) that's currently considered worth mentioning in my corner of the world.

Illusion

 

In my previous post, I showed a photo of this winter decoration on what in spring and summer is a flower bed (in the cemetery where I often walk). Sandra asked if the trees were planted or potted, and I replied "neither". They're just a very clever illusion, created by branches stuck into the ground:

 

"Fall Leaves Us in Awe"

Still some autumn colours to be seen in nature, this last week of October - in spite of rather wet, grey and foggy weather. The photos below were taken during a walk into town and back yesterday, along the river.

 

And in the cemetery, the gardeners are being quite creative with the winter coverings of the public flower beds.

 

We don't see all that much of the British/American kind of Halloween celebrations with spooky garden decorations and kids going trick-or-treat-ing around here; but it's very common to light candles and put winter decorations on the graves of one's ancestors, for what we call All Saints' Weekend (Allhelgona). (In church: All Saints' Day on Saturday, and All Souls' Day on Sunday.)

 “Fall leaves us in awe with its colorful magic!” (Unknown)

 “As long as autumn lasts, I shall not have hands, canvas, and colors enough to paint the beautiful things I see.” – Vincent Van Gogh

Back on Winter Time

Last night was a long one. For some reason I felt unusually tired yesterday evening, so went to bed and turned off the light "early" (around 10 pm), leaving the changing of clocks until the morning. I always wake up a few times during the night, but last night I went back to sleep fairly quickly each time - including after waking up around 6 or 7 (depending on which clock)... Next time I woke up the manual clocks were showing almost 11 am - so I was rather relieved to be allowed to turn them back an hour!! 

I still have about half a dozen clocks/watches that need to be changed manually. Usually, I tend to forget at least one. (If I did this time too, I have not yet discovered it...)

Outdoors, it's foggy and rainy, which probably contributed to my hibernation mood. 

However, this afternoon the rain stopped for a while, and we even got some glimpses of blue sky between the clouds. So I got out for a half hour walk after all.

Another sure sign that we are now back on Winter Time is that I have started my annual re-watching of the American TV series Gilmore Girls. It's been my No. 1 "Comfort" TV show ever since it started, I think (2001 in Sweden). (After the series was complete, I bought it on DVD; but nowadays it's also available on Netflix.) 

The Black Loch (Book Review)

 

The Black Loch (The Lewis Trilogy, Book 4)
by Peter May

Audio book narrated by Peter Forbes (11 hrs and 29 mins). The audiobook also includes an audio-exclusive conversation between Peter May (author) and Peter Forbes (narrator).

This book re-introduces detective Fin Macleod from May's Lewis trilogy (The Blackhouse, The Lewis Man and The Chess Men, 2009-2013).

When the body of an 18 year old young woman is found on a remote beach on the west coast of the Isle of Lewis, it seems unlikely that she died by accident. When it turns out that she was having an affair with Fin's son, Fionnlagh Macleod (a teacher at the institute where she was a student), Fionnlagh becomes the prime suspect in her murder. This brings Fin and Marsaili back to the island to try and find out more about the situation, and hopefully clear their son's name. Of course things take an unexpected turn or two along the way; and the case also turns out to have connections back to Fin's own teenage years...

As usual, Peter Forbes' narration of the audio book is excellent; and the conversation between him and Peter May included at the end was very enjoyable as well. I gathered from their talk that Forbes has now recorded all of May's books.

I first read the Lewis trilogy back in 2012-13, and since then I think I've also read/listened to (and enjoyed) most of the author's standalones published after that - most of them as audio books. (I have not caught up with his earlier books though.) 

If you haven't yet read the Lewis Trilogy, I recommend that you do that before you read this one.

Late October

 

These are two different huge old horse chestnut trees, growing a hundred meters or so apart in the cemetery. As they are the same kind of tree, I can't help but wonder why one is still holding on to most of its leaves while the other one has already dropped all but a few! (But I'm not expecting anyone to have the answer...)

I don't know what kind of tree this is.

These are larches, which are "deciduous conifers". Unlike spruces and pines that stay green all year round (and are much more common here), these loose their needles in winter.

A display of late autumn colours along the railway (photo taken from a bridge for pedestrians and cyclists over the railway that I cross almost daily). 

Tomorrow, daylight saving time ("summer time") ends here. From experience I predict that  I'll welcome getting back to "normal" in the mornings, but that it will take me a while to get used to it suddenly getting dark an hour earlier in the afternoon... (And as usual, I wish they'd stop the whole nonsense of changing the clock twice a year, and keep the same time all year round!)

Autumn Skies

 

Photos from last Saturday, taken on an afternoon walk around the cemetery close to home. I'll be linking to Skywatch Friday.

We've had quite a bit more rain and wind since then, so leaves have kept falling. Winds not so strong around here as to be called a proper storm - but enough to keep the leaf blowers busy, both in the cemetery and around the housing estate where I live.

The Comfort of Ghosts (Maisie Dobbs #18) - Book Review

 

The Comfort of Ghosts
(Maisie Dobbs, Book 18)
by  Jacqueline Winspear (2024)
Narrated by: Orlagh Cassidy
Audio book, 10 hrs and 6 mins

Jacqueline Winspear was born in 1955 and raised in Cranbrook, in Kent, England. She emigrated to the United States in 1990. She has stated that her childhood awareness of her grandfather's suffering in World War I led to an interest in that period - and to writing the Maise Dobbs series. 

Her character Maisie Dobbs was born a working class girl in England, but received an unusual education thanks to the patronage of her aristocratic employer, who took her on as a housemaid from when she was just in her early teens. During WWI Maisie worked as a nurse, and after that set up her own business as a private investigator. She grows older throughout the series of novels; and the stories and cases that Maise gets involved in reflect the times, from WWI through WW2. 

This 18th novel in the series is set just after the end of WWII, and I suspect it may be intended to be the last. Anyway it sums up quite a lot from the whole time period, and the ups and downs of Maisie's own life.

London, 1945: Four adolescent orphans with a dark wartime history are squatting in a vacant Belgravia mansion—the owners having fled London under heavy Luftwaffe bombing. Psychologist and Investigator Maisie Dobbs visits the mansion on behalf of the owners and discovers that a demobilized soldier, gravely ill and reeling from his experiences overseas, has taken shelter with the group.

Maisie’s quest to bring comfort to the youngsters and the ailing soldier brings to light a decades-old mystery concerning Maisie’s first husband, James Compton, who was killed while piloting an experimental fighter aircraft. As Maisie unravels the threads of her dead husband’s life, she is forced to examine her own painful past and question beliefs she has always accepted as true.

As I have read all of the earlier books (some borrowed, some in paperback, some on Kindle, and some as audio books) over a period of 20 years, it's hard for me to guess how this last novel might come across to a new reader who has not read any of the previous ones. There is quite a bit of repetition of details in this one though, so perhaps it might actually work as an "independent" read as well. 

For my own part, I'm thinking of going back and maybe get additional audio book editions of some that I don't already have in that format. I think they have all been recorded by Orlagh Cassidy now; and I like her narration.

Just Weird

Out walking (around the old cemetery), from the corner of my eye, across a fence, I became aware of Something Blue that just did not fit in among the natural autumn colours...

I haven't got a clue what it's supposed to be. I uploaded my photo to Google Image Search and various images of weird art projects came up, as well as just rubbish dumped in nature. This definitely looks "made" rather than just dumped, though.

 

"I think winter wear is communal. You get some gloves and a scarf from a lost-and-found box, wash them, wear them for a while until you lose them. Then somebody else does the same thing."
- Adrian Grenier

 

 

Autumn Gold - Weekend Reflections

 “Autumn carries more gold in its pocket than all the other seasons.”

Two more photos from Thursday this week,
for Weekend Reflections

How Beautifully Leaves Grow Old

“How beautifully leaves grow old.
How full of light and color are their last days.”
– George Burns

Another sunny afternoon today, and after lunch (at home) I felt inspired to take the bus to the shopping centre "across town". Once there, however, I found that I had quite lost the inspiration for any actual shopping. After just a very quick look into a couple of shops, I just decided on a long walk back home instead.

 Passing by Jaume Plensa's House of Knowledge sculpture at the Textile Fashion Center.

Ooops... The bridge I'd normally have passed over on my way back is being re-constructed, a job that is not only currently causing major traffic chaos in that part of town, but not even allowing pedestrians to walk that way now...

 Sitting down to rest for a while on a bench, and staring at these... well, whatever they are... (Looking magically "silvery" in the backlight this time of year, anyway...)

 

Reching the city centre, I decided that my usual walk through the park, along the river, and across the old cemetery was undoubtedly still the nicest alternative (avoiding other various construction work going on here and there).

 Some trees have dropped all their leaves now.
Others have quite a few left still.

Autumn leaves floating on the surface of the river.

Wading ankle-deep in leaves in the old cemetery (not everywhere, but in some places).

 

Linking to Skywatch Friday

Leaf Blowing Season

 

View from my window this morning

Probably a bit of frost during the night, followed by a bit of wind this morning... Now the leaves are dropping fast from the trees! Leaf blowers were already hard at work on the lawns outside my buildning when I got up today.

For me today was laundry day, so spent mostly indoors. But I was able to get started an hour early, so also finished early; and had time for a sunny afternoon walk afterwards. Today I enjoyed that special autumnal feeling (and sound!) of literally wading in dry leaves practially all the way around the old cemetery...

 

Certain trees have lost practially all their leaves, while others still have plenty left.

A comment on my previous post reminded me of a report that was published back in September, to do with which of the 20 largest cities in Sweden are the "greenest" - as in having the most trees and the most green areas etc. Comparing a number of different parameters of that kind, a study showed that Borås has the greatest tree cover in relation to its surface area (52 percent), but is also at the top when it comes to the percentage of inhabited green space (58 percent). In total, we ended up as No 5 on the list. Although all the greenery is one reason that I like living here, I don't think I would have guessed!