Skywatch Friday

 

 

 

Photos from Tuesday 28th October, 
(from my balcony, around 4:30 pm)

 

 And that's just about as much of the sun as we've got a glimpse of this week, I think!

Linking to Skywatch Friday

Autumn Leaves and Balcony Gardening Jobs

Photo from a few days ago

Do you recognise this object (the long red one)? And if you do, what do you call it? (Really, finding the correct names for various household objects and tools in English - and what's BE vs AE -  is among my worst "blogging jobs"...) One suggestion seems to be "grabber/reacher aid". Anyway, I got this one, and also a shorter one, a long time ago, in connection with other physical problems; and still find them useful in many situations. I hesitate to use them for "dirty" jobs, though. But today I got inspired to put a plastic glove on this one - and with that solution, was able to use it to pick up wet plant leaves from the balcony floor without having to bend myself too much...

It's been raining a lot lately, and it still doesn't feel like a good idea to try to exercise my injured knee outdoors for very long at a time. This morning I decided to put what little energy I had into another project instead: Getting rid of the last two plants still standing out on my balcony floor - two rubber plants, almost as tall as the railing, and by now half-withered and no longer in a condition that made me want to take them inside. (I have one healthy plant of the same origin indoors already - plus a cutting - and that's quite enough...) 

The indoors rubber plant

The big leaves on the outdoors plants were dripping wet, the pots heavy with rainwater, the stems too thick and tough for my secateurs to just easily "snip"; and I needed three plastic garbage bags (of normal "kitchen" size)  to pack the remains in. (All while still having to "think" about every movement and position.)  I managed to get it done, though - and then put the plastics bags in bigger paper carrier bag, and then used the wheels belonging to a shopping caddy to get that down in the lift (elevator) and out to bins at the corner of my building... (And then there were the pots to clean... But I got that done as well, a bit later.)

I suspect that this year may have been the last time I tried to have any live plants bigger than a few geraniums (each in its own small pot, easy to take in/out) on the balcony.

Squirrel

 

Squirrel zoomed in from my kitchen window yesterday. I suppose he was looking for something edible among the brown leaves. (Whether he found anything, I can't say!)

The coat of the red squirrel varies in colour with time of year and location. It sheds its coat twice a year, switching from a thinner summer coat to a thicker, darker winter coat with noticeably larger ear-tufts (a prominent distinguishing feature of this species) between August and November. /Wikipedia/ 

Looks to me like this one has put on its winter coat!

Taxi Adventures

Normally, it's extremely rare for me to take a taxi to get anywhere. The few times I've done it, it's usually been health related - like to or from the hospital. I'm used to walking the distance from home to the city centre and back; and taking the bus when it comes to longer distances within the city. Compared to when I first moved to the street where I've now lived for 17 years, the bus communications have deteriorated a lot, though. For one thing, there are fewer bus stops along the whole line, and for another, it doesn't actually go into the very "heart" of the city any more - I only have a choice of two different stops on what I regard as the outskirts of the proper city centre.

And in my present predicament, with a knee contusion and doctor's orders not to walk too much until that has healed properly, pretty much the only alternative is to take a taxi when I need to go into the city centre - including my primary health care centre. I have one or two friends whom I might ask to drive me, if there is a special reason - but then private cars aren't allowed to drive everywhere in the city centre anyway... while taxis are... 

Today, I had an appointment for "double vaccination" at the HCC. It's only a 10 minutes drive (if even that), so not all that expensive to take a taxi. I pre-booked one to get there, and it arrived in good time. That journey did not get a five star review from me though. First, the driver almost slammed the door on my injured leg before I had managed to get that properly into the car... He managed to stop at the last second though (before the door actually touched me). But it was close enough to give me a scare! And then, he also didn't drive all the way up to the entrance to the HCC (which is kind of up on a little hill), but stopped to let me off in the street below. (Two weeks ago, the taxi that I was in then did drive up to the entrance, without any special request.) I guess I could have demanded that he did - but then I suppose he'd have had to drive round the whole block again; and I wasn't in arguing mood, and knew that I'd manage the walk (not up the staircase, but up the driveway). So I said nothing -  just made mental note to myself to be sure to give clearer instructions from start next time...

My appointment was att 11:15 and to my surprise the waiting room on this day was nearly empty; the nurse came to fetch me even before 11:15, and the two jabs were soon over and done with, and I was free to go...

... back to the waiting room to wrestle with the taxi app again, to book an asap return journey. This time I did include a specific note to the driver to fetch me "at the entrance"... And I could see it arrive from the waiting room, so did not have to go out before it came. I did not have to wait long, but when the taxi came, it was a HUGE one, more like a van, and I realised I wouldn't be able to climb up in it! However, the driver realised that as well, so immediately went to the back and brought an extra device for me to step on to make that easier. And he did the same when we arrived at my address, so that turned out no problem after all.

The booking app asks for a review after each journey... I wasn't in the mood to write comments on the first one (in the waiting room at the HCC), but I gave the second one (after I was safely back home again) five stars because of "helpful driver"...

As mental therapy for myself, I later tried to get Bing Image Creator to recreate the two taxi scenes.  I'm not giving Bing five stars either; but considering my rather complicated and at the same time insufficient instructions/details, not "too" bad...

(I might add that IRL I was wearing trousers, and my knee bandage wasn't visible to the taxi drivers. Their only visual clues would be 1/ that I was using a stick (walking pole) + 2/ my very slow and careful movements + 3/ that the one end of my journey was the HCC.)

Time and Time Again

 

I searched my own blog for previously posted clocks, and found this one - the Astronomical Clock in Lund Cathedral (in Sweden) - from around 1425. (If you're interested in more details, you can read more about it in my post from 2019, and also in Wikipedia.)

The reason I'm bringing up Time and clocks (again!) is of course that this weekend (here in Europe) it was time to reset ours (again!); switching back from Summer Time (daylight saving time) to what I still prefer to call Normal Time... 

I decided to do my "clock round" early on Saturday evening, rather than wait until bedtime or Sunday morning. All in all I have at least 7 manual clocks/watches to reset. Two wrist watches. Two wall clocks, one in my study and one in my hall. One smaller clock standing on the fan cover in my kitchen. One alarm clock beside my bed, and spare one in my living room. (There is also an 8th one in the old small stereo in my bedroom that has to be reset manually - which I often forget, as I rarely look at that one anyway.)

I made my round among them all, and then sat down to watch TV. 

A couple of hours later - just as all the clocks and myself all agreed that it was time to go to bed soon - it suddenly hit me that I had set all the clocks FORWARD rather than BACK... So I had to do the whole procedure over again - now setting them all back two hours.

Obvioiusly that all got a bit too complicated for my sleepy brain, because today - just as I sat down at the computer in my study to write this post - I discovered that the one on the wall above was still on Summer Time. So I had to pause the blogging project to immediately make another round among the rest of my clocks and watches to check those as well - but they seemed to be correct... 

Ever since this fiddling with time first started (1980 here in Sweden), I have been a firm advocate for going back to "Normal" all year round... Still keeping my fingers crossed that it will happen before I get much older!!

Tomorrow, I have an appointment at the Health Care Centre at 11:15 for a double vaccination. And I'll have to take a taxi to get there - still too far for me to walk. At least as it's not an early morning appointment, I hope I'll have a fair chance of getting it right...

(Note to self: I should also check the time on my separate camera, as I can't remember if I reset that one back in spring or if I decided not to bother...) 

 

Autumn Decorations

 

My autumn (fall) decorations are rather modest compared to what I see on some American blogs - we don't have quite the same tradition here of filling our homes and gardens with ghosts and carved pumpkins this time of year.

An old chest in my living room is my main place of changing decorations with the seasons, though, and the orange candles + fake orange gladiouli have been there throughout October. The other day I added my two owls (which during summer live elsewhere). In the big one you can put a tea candle (nowadays I use battery ones for safety). That one I inherited from my mum. The small one is made of solid concrete (very heavy for its size!), and I bought that one a few years ago, because it reminded me so much of the bigger one!

Today Ginny's blog post reminded me that I actually also have a small scarecrow that  rarely gets to be on display. So I added that to the brown vase for the next week or so. 

 

As scarecrows go, it's not really very scary! 

 

 

If memory serves me right, I got the scarecrowfrom my friend Gunilla up in Karlstad on some occasion. We were close friends since our early 20s. In February it will sadly be three years since she died - shortly before her 70th birthday. (She had a lot of health problems all her life, but in spite of that also managed to spread a lot of joy.) 

 

Halloween in Sweden is primarily a holiday when people remember loved ones who passed away, and visit their graves to decorate them with winter wreaths and candles. I'm not sure I'll be walking even as far as to the nearby cemetery in the week to come - but memories can be honoured in other ways, without going anywhere at all. 

How To Annoy Bing Image Creator

 

I asked Bing Image Creator for a cartoon image of a senior woman cleaning the floor with a dry mop, with a vacuum cleaner ("of Scandinavian design") in the background. In the first attempt (alas I forgot to save that one!) the woman was looking way too happy about the job, so I asked for a remake with a "more neutral" facial expression (result as above). 

Then I discovered the double hoses on the vacuum cleaner, and asked Bing to remove the second hose. Bing did obey my order - but please note the change in the woman's facial expression in the next picture... I don't think Bing appreciated having to redo it again! (LOL)

And when I asked for a third correction... Bing claimed my request to be inappropriate, and refused to make another attempt! 

Originally, the image was supposed to illustrate my "indoors workout" today: cleaning my flat. Because of my present slight handicaps, it occurred to me to just use a dry mop to go over some bare floor surfaces this time, as the mop is so much lighter to handle (especially reaching in under furniture etc). I only used the vacuum cleaner on the carpets.

Two Soons in a While

Adapted to English by me from a Swedish version I saw on Facebook:

A Moment is 3 minutes.

A Right Away is 12 minutes.

A Soon is 24 minutes.

A While is 48 minutes.

Which means that there are 4 moments in a Right Away, 
2 Right-Aways in a Soon, and 2 Soons in a While. 

I reposted the Swedish original on FB (for Swedish friends) with the comment that it's good to have guidelines, but I probably still need to double those figures...! 

 

On Monday I managed a walk to the nearest small convenience "corner shop" (to buy some bananas). Normally that takes less than 15 minutes there and back again. Walking very slowly and carefully now, it took me 25+.. (Including sitting down for a couple of minutes on a bench on the way back.)

 

Autumn keeps advancing outdoors

 

Here's a Peanuts comics strip that made me smile the other day:

I don't think I'm being quite as grumpy as Lucy yet, though. I certainly don't hate the whole world... On the contrary, I'm still very grateful to be able to communicate with the whole world, without even going outdoors!

Monday at the A&E (Part 2)

 (Continued from my previous post.)

To wait for transport back up to Radiology for the supplementary CT scan, my bed was rolled out from the consulting room into the corridor; and there I lay for quite a while. I had kind of stopped looking at my watch by now, but some photos snapped now and then with my phone show the time. While waiting, I also managed a short post on FB on my phone for Swedish friends... Struck me that it might be good if at least a few local friends knew the situation – in case I might need to ask for help from someone with something...! 

 

 

15:50, still waiting in corridor for transport back up to Radiology for CT scan.

 

The doctor who referred me to the CT scan came back for a short visit (in the corridor) at the end of his own work shift (I don't recall the exact time) to tell me that another doctor would be taking over and give me the results. “You're in luck, he's an orthopedist and better than me at these things!” was his farewell promise... 

At 17:17, still waiting for transport to CT scan, 
I was brought a second cup of tea + sandwich.

Once up at Radiology again, the scan was quickly done. But then of course I had to wait again for transport back down to the A&E...
 

Radiology corridor, 18:17

Radiology corridor, 18:27

As entertainment in the Radiology corridor, I had a handyman of some sort fixing some electrics around me... He apologised, but I said never mind - watching a bit of "action" was quite welcome as a change to all the waiting!  

18:47 - back in the A&E corridor

Some time between 18:27 and 18:47 I was brought back down to A&E again. 

Transporter to Nurse (shouting): "Where do you want her?" 
Nurse (probably pointing): "I've become used to having her in that corridor." 
Me: "Yes, I'm feeling quite at home here now..." 

By then I had sort of accepted the situation, and was “happy” (hm) just to be allowed to keep my bed... I even managed to get some passing nurse to bring me a pillow (until then I'd been using my own jacket rolled up). All day I was also able to get up and visit the toilet by myself when needed (several times!). (I had brought one of my walking poles with me from home in the morning, for extra support when walking.) 

Lying for hours in corridors with bright lights, constant beeping, and people running to and fro all the time, is not exactly peaceful, though... 

The 18:47 photo is from looking up at a reflection in some kind of round mirror-thingy in the ceiling. It's actually me lying under that blue blanket. The mirror perespective feels so confusing for my brain now that I feel need to edit it to "normal", though:

That's better - now the image fits with my memories! :)

Eventually (must have been around 7 pm), the orthopedist turned up. He summed up that they had found no fractures in my right foot, but there was still some doubt about how to interpret a certain spot on the x-rays of my left knee. He said it might possibly indicate a small bone fragment of "come loose" (??) in some way? But they could not say for sure. Like the previous doctor he again also patted and prodded both my knee (left) and foot (right) in various ways before finally "letting me go" – with (stern but vague!) instructions not to try any “long” walks for at least 3-4 weeks. When I asked him to specify  “long”, he said like around 3+ km (2 miles). Which to me means, for example, all the way into town + back; a distance I do normally walk at least a couple of times a week. Ah well... Honestly I don't think I'm going to feel very tempted (physically) to try that for a while anyway... 

19:17, back in the reception area waiting for "ambulance taxi" back home (which they ordered for me from the A&E). When it arrived - around 19:40 - that turned out to be a kind of mini-bus, transporting several passengers at the same time (to different addresses). I first thought "oh no..." - but I turned out lucky, as the driver drove to my address first  (I guess all the others must have lived further away). So I was back home around 20:00 (8 pm).

 ---

PS. Everyone all day seemed as mystified as myself as to how I'd been able to contract my bruises in the places where they obviously were/are. Before they first x-rays in the morning, the staff preparing for that came out to me in the corridor to "double-check" with me if  my GP had really got it right on the referral? Right foot, and left knee?? When bandages were removed, though, they could see for themselves... Bruises almost all over my right foot and ankle, but nothing higher up on that leg. But big bruises just about all over my left leg (front and sides) - except for the foot!

So, that's the end of my story about last Monday at the A&E. Can hardly believe that a whole week has actually gone by since then! 

In the upcoming week, one thing on my list is to tackle getting acquainted with a new Health Care app for digitally reporting my blood pressure to a nurse at the HCC. (I've got as far as managing to download the app to my phone; but then I put off the rest. It's very possible that my bp medication does need some adjusting - but basing that on values from the past extremely unusual kind of week would probably not be optimal either!)

 

Monday at the A&E (Part 1)

 It's been over a week now since my Fall outdoors last Friday; in which both my right foot and my left knee got badly bruised - and led to me spending a full day in the Accident & Emergency department of our hospital on the following Monday. I managed a "mini" update here on Tuesday, but a fuller version has just had to wait, as I've been too tired. 

As it's a long story of a long day, I've now decided to do it in two parts. 

Here we go:

On Monday Morning (13 Oct) at 9:15(-9:45) I had a pre-booked appointment for an annual (although at least 18 months since the last one!) follow-up of this and that with a new GP at my primary Health Care Centre (located in the city centre). Normally walking distance for me, but now I realised I'd better take a taxi. (Pre-booked to arrive at 8:45 outside my building, and only 5-10 min drive to the HHC.)

I'd never met this doctor before but immediately liked her; she was fairly young (certainly compared to me!) and seemed both sympathetic and efficient. I decided to start with informing her about my recent accident; and after going through my list of prescriptions (to be renewed), she prioritised taking a look at my injuries rather than measuring my blood pressure right then and there. She said that could be followed up by a nurse later. 

My bruises had kept spreading over the weekend, so by now my whole right foot was rather blue; while my left leg was showing quite an impressive display of various shades of red, blue and purple both over and below the knee. After visual inspection + a good deal of poking and prodding, the GP decided to refer me straight up the hospital for x-rays, in case there were some hidden fractures after all. - She did not specify how to get myself there; but there aren't all that many steps to walk from the Health Care Centre to a bus stop from where I could to take an ordinary bus straight uphill to the hospital. And knowing the distances involved, I saw no problem with choosing that over calling a taxi again. 

I had to wait for a while in the Radiology department waiting room, but actually that particular part of that day's adventures took less time than I had expected. On the other hand - everything after that took a lot longer! 

The x-ray itself was quick, but what I had not really counted on was then being ordered to go to the A&E to wait for the results. And even less that I'd  be spending the whole rest of the day there, and not be home until 8 pm... 

 

Photo taken 11:27, looking back at the main entrance of the hospital as I went round the outside to the A&E. 

Approaching the A&E (Swedish: Akutmottagning) at 11:29.

After registering at the reception, I sat in their main waiting room for a while; but it did not take all that long before a nurse came and brought me + a few others (probably also waiting for x-ray analyses) to another, smaller waiting room. No info about how long I might have to wait there, though. But in retrospect I get that staff can't have had a clue either... They were having a very busy day, and my case obviously wasn't of the highest priority (I could see that for myself!). 

I think it must have been around 2:30 pm that I went out to the nurses' desk in the corridor and said, “excuse me, but I've been waiting a long time now, and I've not had anything to eat since breakfast around 7 am”... 

Not much they could do about the waiting as such, but I was then brought a cup of tea and a sandwich. And almost immideately after, I was taken to an examination room where (after finishing my tea and sandwich, which came with me!) I could lie down on a bed instead, to wait for a doctor. That took a good while again - but at least I was more comfortable now, and had had something to eat. 

14:47 in consulting room, waiting for doc 

At last a doctor did come (rather young, and very sympathetic) - but only to tell me that unfortunately there was some "ambiguity" on the x-rays of my knee, which meant that they needed to do a CT scan as well. This time I would not have to walk all the way back up to Radiology again, though, but would be transported lying on the bed... I'd have to wait again for that of course; and for that, my bed was rolled out into the corridor. But at least I was now waiting more comfortably than sitting on a hard chair in a waiting room!

To be continued... 

Skywatch Friday

 

Sunset photos from my balcony yesterday (16 October, 2025)

With doctor's orders not to try longer walks for a while (after a fall outdoors a week ago, in which I hurt my left knee + right foot - see my previous two posts), I appreciate even more than usual to be able to watch the sky from my own balcony... 

More updates will follow eventually - I'm just still in "sloth mode". Can move about in my own home ok, and manage what's most necessary. But a lot of rest needed in between. (I'm reading some blogs from my tablet, but not always commenting - and to blog myself I really feel I need to sit at my computer!)

Linking to Skywatch Friday 

Short Update

I've got started on writing a longer blog post about how my visit to my GP on Monday morning turned into a full day at the Emergency Department of the hospital; but I won't be able to finish that tonight, and not sure about tomorrow either* - but meanwhile, here is the very short version that I gave as reply to Meike this morning, in answer to a question from her on my previous Fall post.

"My GP sent me to the hospital for x-rays and I ended up spending the whole day yesterday at the ED - mostly just waiting, as they had an extremely busy day with many patients in worse condition than me. But rather exhausting for me too, as I did not get home until 8 pm! Basically ok, but no long walks for a month or so... Will no doubt write more about it later on this week."

* Tomorrow, I have a more pleasant plan, made before all this happened, but I've decided to stick with it: I'm invited to have lunch to with a couple of old friends H&K - married couple - whom I met at a mutual friends' 70th birthday party back in mid August. H will come and pick me up and also drive me home afterwards, so it won't involve any extra walking for me.

On FB, for my Swedish friends, I posted this AI-generated image (on my instructions!) today: Supposed to symbolise feeling a bit tired and slow (and bruised) - but hoping to get "back up" eventually... 

 

Fall

 

Linden trees along a street in my neighbourhood.

How quickly things can change from "normal" (cf. previous post) to - not quite normal!

There is a reason why I chose the title "Fall" for this post - and is has little to do with all the leaves falling to the ground.

Yesterday afternoon (as so often on a Friday) I went to dispose of some "recyclables" in the bins at the end of the linden-lined street above. Having finished that job, I decided to extend my walk a bit further. As the photo shows, it was a sunny day. 

Between the street I was on and a pedestrian crossing over another road, there is a small grassy patch. One second I was happily walking across that grassy patch (only a few steps), while keeping my eyes on the traffic situation on the bigger road... 

... and the next second, I found myself sprawled on the ground, with no idea how that had happened, or which parts of me might or might not still be in working order...

I must have slipped on a patch still muddy from the rain the day before. But there is still a complete blank in my brain as to exactly how I fell, or in what position I landed. (Checking my clothes later, there was not a trace of dirt on my white (!) jacket, neither front nor back - while my trousers were dirty both back and front!)

It felt like I lay there quite a while trying to work out which parts of me I might be able to move at all; and if there might be a position from which it would feel safe to try and get up to standing position...

Two very young girls (around 9-10?) on the sidewalk along the major road were the first to notice my predicament, and ask if I was all right - looking rather scared. It did not look to me like they'd be able to actually help me get back up on my feet, though... Luckily, a more grown-up Angel also appeared - a young woman who had seen me from her car, and stopped to come to my rescue. She was quite small and thin as well, but she seemed to know what she was doing, and after a few attempts did manage to get me up to standing positon. Although I felt generally bruised - and feared for my left knee in particular, as that has a tendency to play up for less! - to my amazement, nothing seemed to be broken or even "seriously" sprained. Once upright, I felt that I could stand on my legs, and also take a few steps without too much pain. 

The Angel decided it was probably best that she drove me home though (and I did not protest!) As I wasn't far from home that only took a few minutes. The car she was driving had the logo of the council housing company that I rent from. It turned out that she works for them as inspector, and was on her way to such a job nearby. I forgot to ask her name, but I'll be forever grateful. She let me off at my entrance - as there's a lift (elevator), no need to worry about my ability to manage the stairs. 

Taking off my trousers to assess the damage, I was shocked at the size of my left knee, which was also obviously going to turn into an enormous bruise... Instinct told me to make a priority of getting some ice on that, and also a compression bandage. Luckily I did have a variety of bandages already. There was also a small scrape wound on the knee, but very superficial, so nothing to worry about. I had some ice cubes in the freezer and made a first provisorical compress with those. Later on, it struck me that it made more sense to use one of those plastic cooling thingys that you put in cooler bags (not sure of the English word for them), as those don't make everything wet when they thaw... 

 The other place where I felt a bit sore and had a bruise arising was on the outer side of my left foot, below the ankle. It's still a mystery to me how I came to be bruised in those two places - left knee + right ankle - but nowhere else. I also have some pain in my left shoulcer/arm, but no visible bruises there, so I think that's probably from my attempts to get up rather than from the fall as such. (In my right shoulder/arm+ neck I have chronic problems since many years, but that seems not to have got much worse by this incident.) 

I've been taking a series of photos of the development of my bruises, but I think I'll spare you those (for now, anyway), and just give you this neatly bandaged version from Friday afternoon... (My summer jeans with very wide legs came in handy to wear at home - I can just roll up the trouser leg when I need to check on the knee...) 

Apart from the colour of my bruises I don't think anything has been getting "worse". I've been resting with my knee and foot "high" quite a bit, and I've not been out; but I can get around in the flat, and I can sit down and get up again, and do what I need to do at home (like getting food, and washing the dishes). I suppose I'd better take a take a taxi to my doctor's appointment (for other things!!) on Monday morning... But that's not the end of the world...

P.S. There is an emergency clinic at my primary health care centre on weekday evenings (including Friday), and daytime on Saturday and Sunday. So had I felt things getting worse and needed advice, I could have contacted them. But it has not felt necessary.

...

A similar fall happened to me once before. My blog tells me it was as long ago as in the spring of 2017. (8+ years ago!) That time, I stumbled on a kerb of cobble stones separating a walk path from a bicycle path (a very unusual arrangement). But I recall the same feeling of suddeny finding myself on the ground, with no idea what happened, or how much damage... That time, I got a rather deep cut on my elbow. But then, too, "Angels" appeared to help (and that time, gave me a lift to my health care centre to have the cut professionally looked after). 

Re-reading my post from back then, I note that I then also listed a number of "things" not damaged in my fall. It was the same now: Glasses and sunglasses undamaged, phone safe in my handbag, trousers not torn (in spite of scratch wound underneath).

"Sometimes, the greatest angels 
are not found in the heavens, 
but walking beside us on this earth."  
~ Shannon L. Alder

All Normal (?)

 

Mostly grey skies here today, but I managed a turn around the old cemetery in the early afternoon before it started to rain. In the trees, various shades of yellow keep taking over  more and more every day... (Pretty much following the normal pattern for this time of year, I think!)

When I got back home, the post had been delivered, and brought an unexpected letter from my health care centre - just to inform me that the blood tests they took last week for an upcoming doctor's appointment on Monday next week were... "normal"!

That's a relief, of course. But a surprise in the sense that it's the first time in 35+ years of annual (or almost annual) checkups that I've been sent such a letter in advance, rather than just being told the results by the doctor when we meet! Whether that's to do with new routines for the whole clinic or just this new doctor (whom I've never yet met), I don't know!  

Now I just keep my fingers crossed that the knowledge that I probably at least have no need to fear a sudden new diagnosis of diabetes or high cholesterol (or whatever) will also have a general positive effect on my blood pressure at the actual appoinment... 

Not long after opening that letter, my phone rang. It turned out to be a nurse from the same health care centre, wanting to change my booked vaccination appointment from next Friday to 1½ week later. I actually did not mind that at all, as I had been wondering myself (looking at my calendar) if perhaps I had managed to get next week a bit too full... An extra day of "nothing special planned" felt rather welcome!

 

Keeping Up with Modern Technology

Yesterday was rainy, and I did not go out - it was also Laundry Day for me anyway, and I had enough to do indoors. Today the sun made an appearance again, and in the afternon I decided to go for a walk to the supermarket for a few items. 

Above: I stopped on the bridge across the river to snap a photo of yellow leaves dropping to the ground now (and into the water as well)... 
Below: Some very red Rowan trees next to a tall building.

 

For over ten years now I've been doing most of my grocery shopping online with home delivery (from the same supermarket that I walked to now); but once in a while I like to go myself for some speical item, or just to try to keep up with changes in the store. When I do go in person, I always self-scan the few items I bought (with a hand-held scanner), so don't have to stand in line to check out. I've been doing that for even longer than I've been using their home delivery service, and it's routine procedure for me. ... 

 

However, recently they have also made some changes to their self-checkout area; and for the second time this year, I found myself bewildered when getting there. I blipped my card at one of the stations and then clicked on what I thought was the right button that came up - but my self-scanned items did not appear on the screen. So I had to ask for help from a young girl (member of staff), who patiently took me through the explanations of how these check-out points were for customers not carrying a scanner with them through the store, but doing the scanning at the check-out; whereas those ones (pointing) are for customers who used a scanner along the way... 

It all suddenly gave me a feeling of being old and confused and out-of-date... (And in this particular case, I suppose that's exactly what I was!) ...  I'm not normally very chatty in stores, but it also made me want to explain, "in my defense", that the reason that the two different ways of "self scanning" had escaped me was that I do most of my shopping online these days! (Hoping somewhere at the back of my head, I suppose, that this might restore her opinion of me as perhaps not totally out of touch with the modern world after all...) 

After I got back home, I learned that there's also a third scanning method now - downloading their special app to my phone, and then scan a QR code at the exit to pay. However much they claim that to be "simple", I don't think I'll complicate my life further by adding that to my personal mix of options. I just hope that they'll continue their home delivery service!!

Autumn Colours

Storm Amy has gone away, whereever storms go when they're "done"... I was able to go  for a rain-free walk around the old cemetery this afternoon; and everything looked pretty much normal for the time of year - not much evidence of a storm having passed. But Autumn keeps making steady progress now, changing the general colour scheme; and no doubt an increasing number of leaves dropping to the ground will be keeping the cemetery workers very busy over the next month or two... 

 

 

Linking to Through My Lens

 

Weekend Reflections, and Storm Amy

 The Calm Before the Storm 

Wednesday, 1 October 2025

Friday, 3 October 2025

October is Breast Cancer Awareness (and fundraising) month here in Sweden - and if memory serves me right, I think in a number of other countries as well (?) Anyway, when walking into town on Friday, I found these temporary pink decorations added on one of the bridges across the river... Reminding me both of the friends I have lost to breast cancer over the years - and those who survived. (Note to self: Make an extra donation to cancer research.)

The Storm 

With sunny and calm autumn weather all week so far, it was almost hard to believe the forecasts about the storm expected to blow in over us on Saturday, and likely to wreak havoc here and there. I decided to take the warnings seriously, though, so spent Friday afternoon taking in some things from my balcony.  I took my foldable "sun chair" down to winter storage in the basement, made room for my geraniums on the window sill in the living room, and even tied my wooden bench to the balcony railing. Felt a bit silly doing that with the sun shining from a perfect blue sky - but...

... when Storm Amy arrived on Saturday, she did prove to be quite capricious. I can't say I noticed her wreaking any serious havoc just around my street (and we stayed connected to electricity and internet all day) - but I followed her adventures on my local newspaper app during the day, and it seems she behaved quite badly elsewhere in town, uprooting and throwing big trees around (blocking roads, and damaging buildings), and even managed to tear an old steamboat loose from its jetty in the lake north of town...  
 

My own photo of the steamboat on a calmer day...

Photo from our local newspaper

The photo above, copied from the local newspaper's website, shows how a tree fell on an apartment building (not in my street, but another part of town). Luckily it did not break any windows, but it caused some damage to a couple of balconies. 

Today it still kept raining all day; but in the afternoon the wind had died down, and I went for a short walk around a few of the neighbouring buildings in connection with taking out some rubbish to the bins at the corner. (Only about 10 minutes or so, though, and in spite of both umbrella and raincoat I also felt need to change my trousers when I got back in...) 

Linking to Weekend Street/Reflections