The first week of June offered rather "mixed" weather, with high risk of showers most days - so I've mostly been keeping to short walks. On Wednesday 3rd June, I managed a walk into town for a few errands and back again without getting wet, though.
On my way home, I passed by this really massive hedge of purple rhododendron in the park (photos above and below):
Besides stocking up on tea from my favourite tea shop, and a few minor things from the pharmacy - all of which I managed to fit into my small backpack - I also visited a flower shop to buy two flowering pelargoniums. Maneuvering a walking stick with one hand these days, one extra bag is as much as much as I can manage!
As I'm not (at least not yet) sitting on the balcony much, I placed the pelargoniums indoors for now. One in the living room (above) and the other one in the kitchen (below).
This time of year, I have a very green view from the spot at the kitchen table where I always sit - for example at breakfast.
I bought a new black tea blend with strawberries, mango and lemon in it to try out. (I like it!) (A direct translation of the Swedish name to English would be "strawberry straw"...)
Thursday afternoon was laundry day for me and I don't think I went outdoors at all - but from the laundry room down in the basement I could enjoy this "different" view of the rhododendrons outside (through a small window high up on the wall):
Friday the 5th was rather rainy, but dressed in a raincoat I managed my usual "recycling walk" + a visit to a small shop on the way back to buy some fruit & veg. (Fresh strawberries included! I think probably Dutch rather than Swedish, though.)
6th June is Sweden's National Day and a public holiday with traditions attached. There are usually celebrations in the city park in the afternoon and I assume that was probably the case this year as well. The weather that afternoon also turned out rather good. But personally I didn't quite feel up for a walk into town just to mix with crowds of people this year. So I just went for a quiet stroll on my own in the cemetery, where the azaleas were still in full bloom:
And in the evening I watched parts of the national celebrations in Stockholm on TV. Below is an official photo I copied from the royal family's website, of them traditionally joining the crowds at the open air museum Skansen in Stockholm:
Princess Madeleine and her husband Chris O'Neill; Prince Carl Philip with his wife Princess Sofia; King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia; MrAndreas Norlén (Speaker of the Parliament), Crown Princess Victoria with son Prince Oscar and husband Prince Daniel. The queen and the princesses all wearing a national folk costume in yellow and blue (the colours of the Swedish flag).
Busy times for the royal family just now, as the King and Queen will also be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary next weekend. (They got married 19th June 1976, but as in 2026 that date happens to be Midsummer Eve, the official celebration will be held the weekend before.)
What an amazing display of flowers you have shown us
ReplyDeleteBilly, it's a beautiful time of year! :)
DeleteWill the celebration be on T.V.? the Azalea colors are so beautiful. And I have never seen a Rhododendron bush this huge!! I Googled your pelargoniums, as I had never heard of them. They are called Geraniums here. I love the really pale pink one.
ReplyDeleteGinny, no doubt the official parts of the royal celebration will be on TV.
DeleteAs for pelargoniums/geraniums, AI sums it up: "The plants commonly sold as "geraniums" in garden centers are almost always Pelargoniums. While both belong to the Geraniaceae family, Pelargoniums are tender, frost-sensitive annuals, whereas true Geraniums are hardy, cold-tolerant perennials." The ones I buy are called "pelargon" in Swedish, and I've never had any of the frost hardy kind.
The magnificent rhododendrons, blooming azaleas, a new tea to enjoy, and a peaceful National Day walk away from the crowds, all framed by the rich traditions of the Swedish summer season.
ReplyDeleteRo, the explosion of colour in nature here in June is a celebration in itself :)
DeleteGorgeous, glorious rhododendron and azaleas! I love it how the basement window showcases the flowers, as if they were on display on purpose.
ReplyDeleteThe first week of June was similar here, weather-wise, with sudden showers but still allowing for a walk or three :-)
Since my childhood (I was 8 years old when Silvia married Carl Gustaf) I remember photos of her, and later her daughters, in national costume, and I always thought it very pretty.
Meike, May-June is a time of celebrations here - welcoming spring on April 30 /May 1 (Labour Day and a holiday), followed by Ascension Day long weekend (the Thursday a public holiday), Pentecost (the Monday no longer a public holiday though), National Day on 6th June (holiday), student balls and graduations (school year ending this week), and then Midsummer... And this year, besides the annual festivities, our king's 80th birthday (30 April), and the king and queen's 50th wedding anniversary. So quite a busy time - not least for the royal family! ;)
DeleteThis post makes me happy, I have Swedish ancestry on my mother's side and now I know when Sweden's National day is. Blue and yellow is also the colour of Ukraine's flag.
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed it, River! :)
DeleteI'm so enjoying your springtime flowers. And now I've learned that my geraniums were always just Pelargoniums after all!
ReplyDeleteBarbara, as Shakespeare put it: "a rose by any other name would smell as sweet" ... Really just a matter of what name we have chosen to most commonly call them in different languages, or different corners of the world... :)
DeleteThose rhododendron bushes are magnificent, as are the azaleas and your pelargoniums. I love this time of year when nature is at its best.
ReplyDeleteAddy, it's such a contrast to the long winter months before...
DeleteAren't pelargoniums just the prettiest flowers?
ReplyDeleteThe illustration on the packet of tea is beautiful - presentation makes such a huge difference.
It's lovely to see your Royal family in national dress - the women, anyway. The English don't have national dress, though the Scots and Welsh do - the Irish may wear a shawl.
Janice, historically Sweden has a lot of varieties of similar costumes, with colours and details varying between different parts of the country - or even between villages. The idea of one national costume was first introduced in the early 1900s, but then "re-introduced" and made popular in the 1970s, and declared official national costume in 1983. The ladies in the royal family now traditionally all wear it on the national day (and perhaps also on certain other occasions like midsummer - I'm not sure).
DeleteI am so happy I chose today to come visit. these flowers are all amazing to me. I have seen mountains in Kentucky USA covered in them like your first photo and it was fantastic. Love your window green and flowers. I need to buy something pretty to look at, the window makes me happy just seeing it and the basement window looks like a framed photo.
ReplyDeleteSandra, I'm happy to have so much beauty "right on my doorstep" this time of year. And glad I was able to get the two geraniums for my windows as well
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