Skywatch Friday

 

Dramatic Moon -  28 April, 21:42 (looking south)

 

 Sunset, 29 April, 20:25, looking west

 Sunset, 29 April, 20:27 - looking north-west

  

Linking to Skywatch Friday, 30 April 2026

Read in April 2026

Two audio books that I listened to in April, both bought with 'credits' included in my Audible membership.  

The Killing Time by Elly Griffiths
Book 2 in the Ali Dawson series*

Release date: 2026-02-12

Audiobook 10 hrs and 33 mins

Narrated by Julie Maisey 

Book 1 was called The Frozen People, and was reviewed by me here a year ago.

Audible's introduction:

Ali Dawson is a police detective who leads a unit that investigates cases so cold her team must travel to the distant past to solve them. But Ali and the team haven't been allowed to time-travel ever since their technical expert, Jones, got stuck in Victorian London.

To distract herself, Ali looks into a present-day case - an apparent suicide of a young man who fell to his death from a high building. She believes the death is linked to a psychic medium called Barry Power, who convinced the boy he could fly. Ali goes to one of Power's shows where he claims to be in contact with Jones.

When Ali notices that evening that her cat, Terry, has gone missing, she decides to go back in time just long enough to prevent Terry from escaping through his open cat flap. A dangerous plan which backfires, and she finds herself once more in Victorian London, where she meets Jones, as well as Power...

My opinion: I still find myself struggling a bit with the time travelling concept in this series - but from her previous books, I know that Elly Griffiths is a good writer; and if this is going to be a longer series, I suppose she may also be planning to develop those ideas further in later books. (The "rules" involved still do not seem to be quite clear even to the characters experimenting with it in the books...) 

Thinking about it now, it also strikes me that in a way, perhaps the idea of time travelling is not really all that far-fetched for an author who already wrote a long series with an archaeologist (Ruth Galloway) as the main character... Those books too do involve quite a lot of "digging into the past", even if in a (literally) more "down to earth" way... (haha)

You can find more info about the author and her books on her own website

 

* * * * * 
 

The Great Hippopotamus Hotel
by Alexander McCall Smith
Book 25 in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series

Release date: 2024-09-05
Audiobook 8 hrs
Narrated by Adjoa Andoh

Audible's introduction:

Mma Ramotswe has a deft hand in delicate cases, and never allows an act of injustice to pass unanswered. So, when it comes to her attention that a matter involving dubious motives has arisen, and that it will require the utmost discretion to resolve, she has no choice but to lend her skills in the arts of detection and reconciliation. She is, after all, head of Botswana’s premier detective agency, but that doesn’t mean she can’t use the help of Mma Makutsi and Mma Potokwane. Meanwhile, Mr J.L.B. Matekoni has found himself in complicated circumstances of his own, requiring not a little of Mma Ramotswe’s time and expertise.

In the end, as each of these predicaments comes untangled, Mma Ramotswe draws on her goodwill and generosity to bring important truths to light – of friendship, honesty and love.

My opinion: I'm quite impressed that Alexander McCall Smith has managed to write yet another book in this long series, and is still able to make them enjoyable - with the main characters still remaining essentially "themselves", but also developing a bit. I always find them quite relaxing reading. (In the past I've borrowed most of them from my local library.)

 

Maple Blossom, Dandelions & More

 

First impression of these trees from afar may be that they it's their leaves that are unfolding already. Getting up closer, though, it becomes clear that it's not leaves, but blossoms:
 

And as I know these trees from other seasons as well, I know they are maples. (They grow in the old cemetery where I walk all year round.)  

Unlike the trimmed forsythia hedges I see from home, some private gardens have forsythias that have been allowed to grow as tall as they please. 

 

In the garden facing the main street, the same house has an impressive cherry blossom tree.
 

It's also dandelion time, and those can turn up almost anywhere!

"I mustn't forget, I'm alive, I know I'm alive, 
I mustn't forget it tonight or tomorrow or the day after that."

Ray Bradbury, Dandelion Wine 

 I've mentioned (and quoted from) this book before, it's an old favourite of mine - and tends to come to mind for me when I see the first dandelions appearing in spring.

It's set in 1928, in a small town in Illinois, and inspired by the author's own childhood memories. "A magical timeless summer in the life of a twelve-year-old boy named Douglas Spaulding" . The title, Dandelion Wine, refers to the idea (or wish) of bottling memories just like home-made wine.  Each chapter is like a short story in itself, with Douglas sometimes the main character and sometimes just witness of events. I think I have it as audio book as well as in print, maybe time to re-listen again...!

More Cherry Blossom

 

 

 

After having seen the trees in the city centre in bloom on Thursday, on Friday I went to check on a little park in a different direction from where I live, where there are still a few very old cherry blossom trees left at one end, while a few years ago they cut down some others that were looking very tired, and replaced those with new small ones. I only took photos of the remaining old ones now, as the small new ones, planted rather far apart, weren't even really in bloom yet. (There are many kinds of cherry blossom trees and some come into bloom later than others.)

 

 

 

 

Sepia Saturday: Early Days of Television, and Barbie Dolls

In his introduction to Sepia Saturday 823, Alan Burnett writes: 

"Back in the 1950s and 60s, people often wanted their television sets included in photographs; those box-like, round-knobbed sets were the status symbol of their time."

This reminded me of probably the only "TV photo" that I have from my early childhood. It's in my first photo album (put together by my mum), and when looking it up now, I note that it's from the autumn of 1957 - which means I was only two years old when it was taken. 

My mum's note (in Swedish) below the photo translates: The child in the Age of Television - or "Look, it's snowing". ...  "Snowing" referring to the fact that more often than not, back then, there was nothing on to watch - and even when there was, the image might often be rather blurry and "snowy"... And here I'm obviously just staring at a blank screen! 

The TV belonged to my maternal grandparents, and the photo is from their living room. Regular TV broadcasts in Sweden did not start until 1956, but my maternal grandfather was always keen to try new inventions, so did not wait long to get one... My own parents did not get one until years later, I think. 

---

I'll combine this with a few photos I snapped from my flat screen TV a few days ago. There was a short documentary on about the history of Barbie dolls, and some women of different ages collecting them, and "remembering"...

As some followers of this blog may recall (I know at least Meike does!), some years ago I gave away most of my own old Barbie dolls, but decided to keep two - which have since been "living" on a shelf next to the TV in my sitting room, rather than tucked away in a box. And when something Barbie-related is on, of course they want to watch with me...

 

"My Barbie and Me"

Looking in my old photo albums for TV-related photos now, I also happened to find the  photo below of my first three Barbie dolls, from the summer of 1965 - and taken by me with an old black-and-white camera then rather recently "inherited" from my dad:

Barbie, Ken and Skipper

Checking up on things now, Barbie dolls were launched in Sweden for Christmas 1963. I doubt I was among the very first to get one, so more likely that I got these three for my birthday + Christmas in 1964. The Skipper doll is the same one that I still have (at some point in early history, she had a haircut); while the Barbie doll is the last one I got. She came with three different wigs, so is really kind of "three in one". But I prefer her in this one: 

(Repeating a photo from Easter)

Cherry Blossom and Magnolia

 

Today I managed to combine a pharmacy errand with a sunny walk + checking up on the progress of spring in the city centre. The first blossoming tree that I've seen this spring caught my eye outside a hotel I passed on my way into town (above). After my errands, I took the way through the city park and along the river towards home.

 Magnolia tree, and flowerbed with hyaciths in the foreground. 
(The round black building in the background is a restaurant/café.)

If memory serves me right, the big tree to the left is a maple tree.

More cherry blossom at a parking lot by the river.

 

A cherry blossom, or sakura, is a flower of Japanese cherry trees. (The cherry fruit is from a different species of tree.) Most of the flowers are white or pink with five petals. There are about 400 different types of cherry trees.

Magnolia is a genus of at least 210 species, or more; named after a French botanist, Pierre Magnol. They existed before bees, so are believed to originally having been pollinated by beetles. Fossilized specimens of magnolia have been dated to 20 million (!) years ago.

(Facts picked from Wikipedia articles.) 

Forsythia

  

We're enjoying warmer temperatures this week, around 16'C in the afternoons, and more and more colour is coming back into the surroundings at last... I didn't walk very far today, but stopped and snapped a couple of photos of Forsythia hedges now bursting into bloom here and there in my neighbourhood. (The yellow brick buildings in my immediate surroundings all look very similar - but there are different kinds of flowerbeds and hedges around them.) 

 

 

I have a forsythia branch in a vase at home, too - but that is a fake one, not stolen from one of the outdoor hedges... As some followers might remember by now, I have a number of different fake branches and flowers for this vase, which I vary with the seasons.

Forsythia flowers are produced in the early spring, before the leaves. The genus is named after William Forsyth (1737–1804), a Scottish botanist who was a royal head gardener and a founding member of the Royal Horticultural Society. (Wikipedia)

Wood Anemones

 

A friend pm:d me the other day and suggested going on picnic some day this week and look for wood anemones. I had to reply that alas, "me and ny knee" still do not feel up for such undefined adventures as unknown woodland paths and outdoor picnics.

However, there is a place quite close to home for me where wood anemones grow; and after having been to post a letter today, I decided to walk that path on my way home (only a very minor detour) and check if they were in bloom yet. They are - which means Spring Has Sprung! Quite enough adventure for me, for now... :)

Spring Flowers, Fashion & Memories

 

Daffodils and pansies in a flowerbed along the ground floor of the old town hall (where there is a restaurant with an outdoors terrace outside).  

Two shops or 'establishments' had balloons on display outside - I don't know why.

Yesterday (Saturday) seemed a good day for going into town for a couple of errands. One of them was to hand in a few items of clothing at a charity shop; and thus having things to carry already on my way to town, I took a bus part of the way. (It doesn't save me much time, but it does save me a few steps, which hopefully my knee might appreciate.) 

Having disposed of my bag of old clothes at the charity shop, I went across the square to where they sell new ones... And actually found what I was looking for: a long and wide denim skirt, with elastic waist. For summer, I might have preferred it in a slightly thinner material - but on the other hand, being sturdier, it can be used all year round. Anyway, it came close enough to what I had in mind, and I bought it. My main purpose for wanting to add this item to my wardrobe just now is that it will cover any kind of leggings, knee sleeves, bandages or support stockings etc that I might need to wear underneath it...! 

I remember when midi/maxi length skirts came into fashion back in my youth - it was 1970-71, when I was 15 years old and in the 9th and last year of our primary school. When the autumn term started, the midi/maxi skirt fashion had not yet reached Sweden - or at least not the town where I was living then. But we had two new students arriving from abroad - two sisters, who had just moved to Sweden from Austria (probably Vienna) - and they both came wearing midi length coats in some red shiny material. And at our graduation, the next summer, I myself was wearing a midi length skirt with buttons down the front, and shorts underneath... 
 

On my walk back home, I was glad to see more spring flowers spreading and brightening up both lawns and flower beds.

Scilla

 

An old grave in the cemetery re-used as flowerbed, with yellow daffodils and crocus.

 

Houseplants

 

 I haven't got all that many houseplants left after this winter; and some of those that have survived are looking rather tired - including one of the African Violets. The lighter blue one has at the same time been in bloom, but with most of its leaves drooping and not looking well at all. I'm not sure if I managed to over-water it, or under-nourish it! Anyway, today I decided to re-pot that one (even while still in bloom) and cut off the lower drooping leaves that made it look sad and tired. Remains to be seen if that will do the trick... 

While I was at it (messing about with pots and soil), I also planted a Coleus ("painted nettle") plant shoot that has (barely) been surviving the winter on water only, in a tiny glass vase. (Bottom right in the collage.) The rest of its mother plant died back in winter... 

Behind the African Violets in the collage above, you also see a bigger glass vase with some green leaves in it.  Close-up of the same below. These are my Mystery branches, which were included in a bouquet of flowers that I got for my 70th birthday back at the end of August. Some of the other flowers in that bouquet I was able to dry and save that way. But these green branches just remained the same, and I left them standing in water just to see what would happen. The answer is: Nothing. 7½ months later, they are still standing in water, an looking just the same. They have neither formed roots, nor withered - and look and feel much like they might just as well be fake...

Google Image search has identified them as Ruscus, and further research tells me that what looks like leaves are really phylloclades - "flattened, green, photosynthetic stems or branches" - while the true "leaves" are the minute, scale-like things on the middle of those. Totally weird! But I'll continue to leave them in their vase for now, just to see if anything happens at all... 
 

In my living room window (below)  I decided to add some "properly fake" pink lilies in a coloured glass vase, just for a bit of colour, until perhaps I get some live splash of colour there...