1st Advent Sunday

 

Besides my electric candles in the windows (cf yesterday's post), I also still have my adventsljusstake (Advent candle holder) with four real candles in a row - one for each Advent Sunday - sitting on the table in my living room. These days, I'm rather careful when it comes to trusting myself with real candles, and only light those when I'm going to be sitting still for a while - but on the other hand not feeling so relaxed that I might nod off...! 

I've even contemplated switching to battery candles in this one. But I think that would just look weird - at least the first three weeks, until you can have all four of them lit! 

I know that Germany also have the four candles for the Advent Sundays (but usually in a wreath formation), but I'm not sure how widely spread this tradition ever was - or is - in other countries.

 

1st Advent Preparations

 

 

The rest of the week since Monday has been rainy, and I have not been out for any more "long" walks. But I have still been "on my feet" quite a lot just pottering about at home...

Tuesday was Laundry Day, and between my turns to the laundry room I also visited my storage space in the basement to collect my Advent decorations. Some readers who have been following this blog for years may recall that I tend to put up my Christmas decorations gradually during December. For 1st Advent, I usually start with switching my kitchen curtains and some other textiles; plus replacing various window lamps around the flat with electric candle holders and stars. This year, because of my injured knee, I decided to abstain from the curtain project, and just keep the ones that I bought back in spring - but exchange the green ribbons for red ones. I did manage to get the window stars up in the kitchen + study without climbing - just using a long grabber.

Ever since I moved to my present flat (17 years ago) I've also been used to having one electric candle holder (each with 7 lights) in each window; which means four of them. I recalled that the one in my living room stopped working some time after NewYear last winter, though. I was hoping that a whole set of new lightbulbs might fix it - but it did not. And even worse: The kitchen one now turned out to have given up as well! 

As I'm no electrician, my skills don't go beyond switching light bulbs - so both those candle holders had to go back down to the storage room, at least for now. Pity, as both those are kind of special and my favourites... 

However... This was also my week for ordering stuff from the supermarket, and they also have quite a lot of Christmas things. So I added two new ones (standard size and design, and not very expensive) to my order. A red one for the kitchen (see the photo above), and a white one of the same model for the living room (below). They arrived with my groceries on Thursday, and thankfully turned out fully functional. A bit smaller than my old ones, but I'll no doubt get used to that. 

The candle holders in my study (above) and bedroom (below) are lower and bow-shaped.

 

 The orchid on the left has decided to spring some new flower buds in time for Advent.

This small nativity scene is simple and made of plastic - but it's been with me nearly all my life! It was given to me in my early childhood by two "old ladies" (as they appeared to me back then), cousins of my maternal grandmother. They worked in a gift shop and used to give me various ornaments for Christmases and birthdays, some of which I still have. And this one has ended up in my "1st Advent box". 

Skywatch Friday - New Moon

 

New moon, Monday 24th November ~ 16:20
(Colours boosted just a little in editing)

 

 

Linking to Skywatch Friday  

 

Did it take long to find me?
I asked the faithful light
Did it take long to find me?
And are you gonna stay the night?
- Cat Stevens - 

Halfway

 

24 Nov 2025, 14:00

"Believe you can and you're halfway there." 
— Theodore Roosevelt —

We had another sunny November day here, with temperatures hovering around 0'C - but pavements dry and looking "walkable"... I decided to believe myself able to walk at least down to the river and back the same way. But once I reached the bridge, I decided to prolong the walk by crossing that, and walking back along the path on the other side to the next bridge (behind the buildings in the background); and from there up across the old cemetery back home. Which according to my own caluclations should mean that I  managed a walk of at least 1 km. (Only an interim goal; but still worth celebrating!)

Tomorrow is laundry day again, which is likely to keep me busy enough at home. 

The afternoons are very short this time of year...    

Sunrise Today:	8:12 am
Sunset  Today:	3:36 pm

November Skies

 

The weather has been "back and forth" a lot this week. From sunny and frosty to the first snow - and then back to rain and thaw. On Friday I had no idea if Saturday would bring more snow, just rain, or a mix. The answer turned out to be just rain, though. And today the snow was gone, the temperature still above freezing point, and the rain had moved on as well - even leaving glimpses of blue sky and sun.

So I decided to try a walk to/in the old cemetery again. I kept to an "inner circle" of paved paths (avoiding the "outer circle" of gravel ones which might be soggy and muddy) - but with that adjustment managed to walk "almost" round the whole place, for the first time since my knee injury. Was out for about 40 minutes. I'm probably still only walking at about half speed compared to back in summer, though - which is something I have to take into account when setting my "goals". 

The next few days likely to keep hovering around 0'C again - so "one day at time".  

 

Weekend Reflections

 

Friday sunset reflected in the windows of a nearby building. 
(If I hadn't known it was the sunset, I'd have been seriously worried!!) 

Linking to: Weekend/Street Reflections # 252

 

After that spectacular show last night, the sun went into hiding again, though; and today has only offered grey skies and rain, while the snow has kept melting away. I have not set foot outdoors, but neither have I got much"done" indoors. In the afternoon I intended to spend some time reading - lying on my bed with myself and the Kindle both comfortably propped up. Woke up some 2-3 hours later and found that I seemed not to have read more than a couple of pages before I dozed off...

Hello Winter

 Looking back in my photo archives, I see that last year too, we had the first snowfall around the same time in November. 

Photo from Nov 22, 2024

Today (Nov 21, 2025) was also a sunny winter day here, with a thin layer of white on the ground, and a few degrees below 0'C - neither slushy nor particularly icy. As the weather will probably turn more unreliable again tomorrow (a mix of rain and snow to be expected) I decided to take advantage of the here and now. So after lunch I donned my winter boots and coat etc again, and went out for my usual Friday "recycling walk" - and from the recycling bins, back a different way, including a stop at the small corner shop where I sometimes buy some extra fruit & vegs between my regular home deliveries from the supermarket. (Bananas and a cucumber on my list today.) A couple of months ago, hardly worth mentioning... But today, besides being my first proper walk this season with snow on the ground, it was also the first time since my unfortunate fall back in early October that I felt up for combining two errands on the same walk. I was out for about 45 minutes, and even if in total it was still a shorter distance than 1 km, it felt like progress.

No photos from today's walk, as I was busy enough just watching my steps, and holding a walking pole in one hand and a bag in the other... But later, back home, I took this "skywatch" sunset photo from my balcony:

Skywatch Friday

 

 

 

Braving the Snow

 

My winter Moomin mug

 Time to try and overcome the fear of snow... 

 

 

... put on proper winter boots with studded soles... 

... and get out there...

... even if just to the dustbins, plus a few steps extra! 

(Cold winds blowing, so not tempting to stay out long...) 

Back in - after my five minutes or so of "braving it" - I got Barbie and Skipper to dress for winter, too. Skipper is wearing a pair of winter boots that I made for her earlier in the autumn, from two fingers cut off from a worn-out glove. And if anyone is wondering what it is that she is holding under her arm, that's a little yarn gnome that I found under the sofa earlier in the autumn, and who must have been hiding there since last Christmas - if not longer... I entrusted him to Skipper to look after until this Christmas, and she's taking her job seriously. 

First Snow

 

~ 10:50 a.m.

~ 2:30 p.m.

As weather forecasts predicted already last week, we had the first snow here today. Not welcomed by me - but I was glad I had decided already before the weekend to take the weather warnings seriously, and postpone an appointment with my dental hygienist - again. (Had already put it off once, because of my knee injury.) "Whether the weather" will be any better in another two weeks remains to be seen... But today I just stayed in! 

 

Whether the weather be fine,
Or whether the weather be not,
Whether the weather be cold,
Or whether the weather be hot,
We'll weather the weather
Whatever the weather,
Whether we like it or not! 

 

(anonymous British poem)

Frosty Shadow Shot Sunday

 

Frosty weather this weekend. Yesterday the roofs and lawns stayed powdered with frost all day, and the sun also seemed to go to bed unusually early, so I ended up just staying in. Today was a bit sunnier, and after lunch I decided to at least venture out as far as the dustbins (at the corner of my building) - and take it from there. I stayed out for about 20 minutes walking (slowly) along sunny parts of the street + nearby paved footpaths. The bridge leading over to the old cemetery is always a tricky spot as soon as frost hits, though, and that turned out to be true today as well. So I decided not to cross that. 

 After all the rain lately, some of the nearby lawns have sprouted (if that's the word?) lots of brown mushrooms, of unknown kind to me. When I was out on Friday, I first mistook them for wet leaves - until I realised that some of them really were too thick!

Nov 14, 2025

Today I noted that some mushrooms had been "frosted"! Not sure I've ever seen that before!

Nov 16, 2025

 

 PS. I don't think there is a "Shadow Shot Sunday" linking site any more; it just popped up in my memory when snapping a couple of shadows on a Sunday...

Knee Sleeves and Algorithms

 

When I emptied my postbox yesterday, I was happy to find a speedy delivery of a pair of bamboo knee compression sleeves that I had ordered; hoping that they might be a softer alternative to the synthetic ones I've been using so far (not around the clock, but when for example out walking). I've not wanted to wear those directly on my skin though, so have either worn them with a thin tube bandage underneath, or on top of cotton leggings. 

I've also experimented with using the cut off upper parts of a pair of super elastic 'diabetic' bamboo knee-highs (saved from an old pair where the feet got worn out) over a piece of tube bandage on the knee; as a lighter kind of support (at home and in the night). 

The bamboo sleeves I ordered now turned out to be thicker and far from as elastic as the diabetic socks. But I tried keeping them on over night, and they did remain surprisingly comfortable. 24/7 use may not be recommended with these either, but I think they'll be a useful "middle" alternative to the others. 

As soon as you start searching for anything like this online, though (and even more as soon as you actually order something) - it seems to trigger like half a million internet algorithms (for example on Facebook) to say to themselves: "Oh, look, she's interested in bamboo knee bandages! Hooray! Surely she'll not just want one pair! She'll want at least half a dozen - no, make that a full dozen... And all from different companies..."

And the thing with these bamboo knee bandages sems to be that no matter what company or distributor I check out, and whether they claim that the bandages are available in sizes from XS to XXL, or boldly state that "one size fits all"; and whether the sleeves are kept in stock somewhere locally (and may land in your postbox in a couple of days), or shipped directly to customer from China (in which case delivery is more likely to take two weeks) - I notice that every image of them looks the same. They all seem to be in grey and white, with almost exactly the same pattern. Just possibly marked with different labels.

Which makes me imagine one gigantic bamboo-knitting factory somewhere in China, producing billions and billions of these, and shipping them out to an endless number of retailers all over the world, who in turn do their best to sell them on to billions of people with knee problems... (Some of us possibly ordering some from different companies to compare - only to find them all the same??) 

   

   

Fog and Frost

 

Friday ~ 10 a.m.

Yesterday (Friday) was a very grey, dampt and foggy day here, even if the rain had stopped pouring down. Sunnier weather was forecasted for today - but also risk of frost and ice. 

Having given my knee and feet plenty of indoors rest for a couple of days, I decided to try my (in "normal" life) habitual Friday afternoon "recycling" walk. (It's often a good time to go, because then the bins have usually been recently emptied.) It went well, so no regrets.

Saturday ~ 10:15 a.m.

This morning, I woke up to sun and blue skies - but also frost-covered ground. Past noon, it's still frosty in shadowy places. I'm not sure if we're ready for that yet ("we" as in me and my knee!) Not sure yet if I'll be going out at all - but if I do, it won't be far, and I'll try to keep in the sun...

 

Extras

 

Today was Delivery Day for me - as in my usual every-other-week delivery from the supermarket. Having unpacked everying I had ordered, I found myself myseriously left with an extra bag, containing a strange mix of things which I had not ordered... 

 

Had it just been one or two of the smaller items, I'd just have taken them for what Janice of the blog Jabblog the other day called "free gifts". (Actually I was amused to note that the pink "goodies" bar seemed kind of similar to the sweets she blogged about - claiming to be "95% fruit"...) 

 

However, since the bag also contained... 

• a normal size bag of rye bread
• a 3-pack of Taco spice mix
• a weird narrow stick labeled "ölkorv"( = Swedish name for German Bierwurst  = "beer sausuge" in English) (something I've never tasted)
• a small roll of wine gums 
• a mascara
• a small jar of skin cream 
• a small bag of instant coffee
• a small bag of some weird porridge powder (baby food??) 

... I found myself puzzled by the strange variety of stuff, and assumed I must have received someone else's bag by mistake...  

 

So I called the store to ask. But it turned out that they were indeed having some kind of "campaign week"; and as I had been one of the first 150 people to put in an online order this week, I had received all these various "gifts". (The campain thing had totally passed me by when I put in my order, I just went by my list of things I wanted/needed...)

 

I have received free stuff before on a few occasions, but never this many different things all at once. And the only things among them that I might have considered buying myself, on special offer, is the bread and the Taco spices (although I prefer a different brand). 

Conversing with my Knee

 

Photo from last week

Raining today, and I'm not feeling at all tempted to go outside. Which today is probably in my best interest anyway, as I think I managed to be "on my feet" a bit too much on Monday and Tuesday. On Monday another short walk to/in the cemetery; and yesterday was laundry day, and even if I tried to mostly just rest in between my turns down to the basement laundry room, my knee seemed to be complaining. I still can't claim to be 100% fluent in knee language, but it does tend to use a mix of increased heat, swelling and and pain to express displeasure... So today I decided to mostly keep my feet "up" + take Ibuprofen to keep down inflammation. (Kept to Paracetamol the first weeks because of the bruises, but Ibuprofen more effective against inflammation.) And I won't make this post any longer, because sitting at the computer means "feet down", even if not putting weight on the knee...

 

 

Broad Road vs Narrow Path

Another very grey November day here - but not raining. So in the afternoon, in spite of the greyness, I managed to persuade myself to get out for a short walk again. For the first time since my knee injury (a month ago) I chose to go over to the old cemetery - where normally, I walk almost every day. ("over" in the sense that to get there, I need to first cross a pedestrian bridge over a railway, and then a road) 

To enter the cemetery from the nearest corner, there is also a short flight of stairs involved. (Down to enter, up to leave.) As there is a sturdy railing on one side, I managed that without problem. (I also bring one of my walking poles as support as soon as I leave my own flat.) 

Having come down those stairs, I have a choice of paths. I have to confess that just now (...contrary to Biblical recommendations...), I tend to choose the broad road over the narrow paths - because most of the latter are full of wet, slippery leaves... *

 

Anyway, I was out for about half an hour - just walking slowly on paths close to home, but trying to practice "normal length steps". Still a long way to go before I'm also back to normal distances, though.

*/ PS. When searching for the words used in the title of this post, the search engine took me back to my own blog, the same cemetery, and a wintry post from March 2023... 

Déjà Vu - "A Good Story Never Gets Old"

 

 

 In a recent post (Resting) I shared the message in the image above, which I recently received from my Audible app. If you are in the habit of going back to check answers to comments, you already know what audio book(s) it was that gave me that "déjà vu" comment about having listened to the same audiobook "at least 20 times". It appeared after I had (again) recently finished Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, read by Stephen Fry. 

It's also very fitting that the message appeared on my screen just under the "Night Owl" badge - as it is at night that I'm most prone to re-listen to old favourites, rather than start something new. I've long been in the habit of falling asleep listening to audio books - and also to continue to listen if I wake up later in the night. And nowadays, I also need to rest my eyes in the daytime now and then (as a change from all the "screen time"...). I usually set the app on timer - but if I forget, a book may sometimes continue to chatter away for hours in the night without me being aware of it... (So some of my Audible awards may not really be quite as well deserved as it might seem!)

Anyway, the Harry Potter series (especially read by Stephen Fry), but also for example C.S. Lewis' Narnia series, and a number of other "classics" and series that I like - belong to my favourite "night time" listening, because I know them well enough for it to not matter much if I miss parts here and there. What does matter with audio books (especially in the night!) is that I also like the voice and rhythm etc of the person reading, though...

My habit of listening to audio books goes way back, long before mobile phones and apps. It even goes back to before mp3 and CDs - to cassette tapes. I remember borrowing cassette books from the library, and also buying a few of my own. Even back in the 1990s, while I was still working, I liked to just rest and listen sometimes - and did not mind listening in English as well as Swedish. And then I had a neck/shoulder/arm injury that led to early retirement, and also to difficulty holding books to read. And that was still before the days of Kindle and e-books became an option. 

As for Harry Potter, I didn't read the first of those books until a few years after it was first published, and didn't really get "caught up" in them until the middle of the series. (I might write more about that some other time.) Before HP, I already had a few other favourites on cassette or CD/mp3 that I may well have read/listened to 20 times. One of those is the Bristish classic Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome, read by Ian Carmichael. I originally got that book as Swedish paperback back in my early teens. I do think I read it before, or in connection with, our first family trip to England (London) in 1969. (My Swedish copy was printed in 1967, and has an image of the maze at Hampton court on the cover; and we visited Hampton Court on that trip in -69). Later I bought and reread it in English. And then at some point I got it recorded on cassette tapes, with Ian Carmichael reading; and then transferred from cassette to mp3/CD. And nowadays I also have it in my Audible library. (Two different versions even! but I still like Ian Carmichael best.) I've have no idea how many times I may have reread or listened to that one. Considering that it's been on my favourites list for around 55  years, it probably beats Harry Potter!

Skywatch Friday

 

This tree (I think some kind of crab apple tree) is one of very few trees in my neighbourhood still holding on to some leaves (and even green ones!)

 - - - - - - - - - 

We had a rare glimpse of a bleak November sun and blue sky today; and I took advantage of that for a walk to the nearest small convenience store.  Glad to be able to report to regular followers that I did notice an improvement in my injured knee compared to the last time that I walked the same way, 2½ weeks ago. It's also been exactly 4 weeks since my unfortunate fall; and when I got back home I tried (for the first time since then) to also walk up the first "half" flight of stairs (I think 9 steps) from the entrance to the 1st floor in my building. That felt ok (one step at a time); but not to "overdo" things, I then took the lift/elevator from from there up to the 2nd floor where I live.  

Linking to Skywatch Friday 

Resting

 

A rain-free day today, but very grey - until the clouds began breaking up in the afternoon...

 I've been having a lazy/sleepy day, and have not been out at all, except for a little while on my own balcony - taking down my trellis ('privacy screen') with the fake leaves (which is not recommended to leave outdoors through winter).  It's lightweight and was just fastened to the railing with pieces of gardening wire; so not even a 10 minutes job, in dry weather. (All live plants out there already taken in and/or got rid of.) 

Photo from June 2024, when I bought it

I also haven't really been "doing" anything indoors today; except heating some soup for lunch, washing up a few things, and reading some blogs on my tablet. (Just now sitting at the computer for a little while, putting together this post, though.)

If anyone is wondering what else I do for entertainment when just resting, half-sleeping and doing "nothing", Audible sent me a reminder the other day. I'm pretty sure what Déja Vu book(s) they are referring to with the "at least 20 times". Do you know me well enough to dare a guess?? And do you have favourites of your own that you keep returning to? (audible or text)

Autumn and Health Updates

 

/Photo from November 2023/

"Autumn is the season that teaches us to let go."  

On Monday we had a glimpse of sun and blue sky here for a while, in the middle of the day; which inspired me to try a long overdue walk to the nearest "recycling station" (for packaging waste) some 300+ meters or so from home. 

I usually go every weekend, but now it had been 3+ weeks (the last time was the same day that I fell and hurt my knee - just after leaving that spot!). Walking there and back usually takes me perhaps 20 minutes, now it took me 40. Besides me now walking very slowly and keeping my eyes on the ground (looking out for wet leaves), it also turned out when I got there, that every recycling container was already over-full... (No doubt a few more people had been taking advantage of that short break in the almost endless rain lately!) I only "just" managed to squeeze in the contents of my own bag too, in their respective containers... (But I did get it all in, and did not just leave things on the ground - as I hate when others do that...)

No photos, as I had enough to cope with just handling myself and my main "mission". 

It was my longest walk yet since the fall. My knee is still not back to "normal", neither in colour nor size. But the swelling has gone down enough for me to now be able to wear a compression knee bandage over cotton tights... (which makes it easier for me to put it on vs take it off...)

Later, back home, I snapped the shot below through a window. I'm pretty sure those leaves must have had "help" to gather themselves that neatly below the tree... ;)

Yesterday (Tuesday) was laundry day for me, which is still quite enough "being on my feet" for me for one day. (Still some sorting and ironing left for me to do today.)

Since the week after my annual primary health care check-up, I've been self-monitoring my blood pressure at home (morning and evening, three days per week), reporting the results to an HCC nurse via an app - a new way of communicating with them, recently introduced. (I've been using my own monitor, as I have one since before that they "approve of". Otherwise one gets to borrow one.) That's been a relief in the respect that I've not had to transport myself to the HCC to do it (which I find stressful even in normal circumstances, not to mention just now, when I'd have to take a taxi!). But still a bit stressful anyway. And as my values have been "borderline" (perhaps also affected a bit by my "knee situation"?), I've not been feeling sure how the doctor (new to me) would choose to interpret them. But today I got a message in the app that she found them OK, which means I can just continue taking the same meds as before, and in the same dosage. (I guess she also weighed in for example that my blood tests were all good.) So the official monitoring has been declared over for now. A sigh of relief from me, as I know from previous experiences that adjusting medication can be quite a trial in itself...