Snowy Start to 2026

 

Skywatching on New Year's Eve ~ 11:45 am

Alas (?) I have no fireworks photos from the evening. I was actually so tired that I went to bed around 9 pm! My eyes were tired, too - so I preferred to just lie in bed listening to an audio book rather than watch TV. And as the last few hours just before midnight actually tend to be rather quiet (until the general midnight hallabaloo breaks out all over town), I even managed to fall asleep before midnight. I know that, because I know I woke up about ten minutes into the new year! ;) Staggered out of bed to have a look of course, but didn't really see much from my windows just then. So I soon gave up trying to catch anything on camera, and went back to bed... And at some unknown point in time managed to go back to sleep.

Many hours later into New Year's Day - after daybreak - I woke up to find the ground covered with perhaps 5 cm of snow. No plough came round all day, but most of it gradually thawed away on its own. Myself, I did not set foot outdoors, but spent the little energy I had on making a quiche (cheese, ham and leek) for lunch (and supper as well). - "Traditionally" I used to make it for my New Year's Eve parties with a small group of friends, for around 20 years. The pandemic broke our habit of seeing the new year in together; and for various "age and health" related reasons among us, it has not been resumed since. (I miss it in a nostalgic kind of way, but this year definitely not from practical/health points of view.)

On the whole, I wasn't awake much more on New Year's Day than I was on the Eve before (and even less "active", since I did not go out at all); and I again went to bed early. But I think I only heard one single explosion all day. (Someone must have found a leftover...) 

I knew there were weather warnings issued for last night and today - snow and wind - the worst of them for further up north in Sweden, but also to a lesser degree in my area here in the south-west. Still, I was surprised this morning to wake up to as much as probably around 10 cm snow on the ground, and still snowing... And it seems likely to continue all weekend!

Photos taken from my windows between c. 10-11 am today.

Today's motto: "Better snowed in than frozen out!"

Linking to Skywatch Friday 

 

Adding a couple of photos copied from our local newspaper's app:

Good Bye to 2025

 

It's the afternoon of New Year's Eve, and so far all is quiet... After weeks of unpredictable explosions, sometimes starting already in full daylight, NYE does still seem to be the one day in December when most people hold back on their fireworks at least until sunset... *

I went to bed early last evening, had a long night and a lazy morning, and managed to get out for a half hour walk in the old cemetery before lunch. Cold and frosty, but dry ground -and less windy than it was yesterday (when I did get out for a little while as well). 

Remember my post from before Christmas, when I found a gnome or elf (or what ever you prefer to call it) sitting on top of a headstone in the cemetery? (If not, you can have a peek here.) Today I happened to walk past a New Year grave decoration (on a different grave) that seemed even more odd to me (as in never having seen anything like it before):

Even more intriguing to me since the person resting here didn't die young, but at the mature age of 94. Under the dates there is a phrase or quote in a foreign language I can't identify. But a scene that might inspire a whole novel... I'm not likely to be the one writing it! - but I couldn't help imagining scenarios like the person being someone's last link to "the old country"... Immigrating perhaps back in the 1960s or so, and missed by children and grandchildren... 

Does anyone among my readers know of traditions somewhere to offer food and drink to the dead, at New Year?? 

* (PS. The sun set at 3:30 pm. The first round of fireworks noise started just as I reached the bottom of this post, around 4:05. It's going to be a long night...)

New Year's Eve Adventures

  

As mentioned in my previous post, I had no special plans for New Year's Eve. Just as well! As expected, it started out as just another very grey day. I managed a short walk before noon, just to stretch my legs a bit, before locking myself in for the rest of the day. By then, it was just beginning to snow a litte - but just a few very small white flakes in the air while I was out, nothing on the ground yet. Back home, and preparing lunch an hour or so later, this was the view from my kitchen window:

I made my traditional New Year quiche (for lunch and supper + a couple of pieces to put in the freezer for another day)  (N.b. only traditional in a personal sense. I don't really know what other people typically eat on New Year's Eve - that probably varies even more than the traditions at Christmas.) 

Outdoors, it continued to snow...

 

... until, towards evening, the outdoors temperature rose a few degrees, and the snow turned to rain, and winds started to increase as well... Which for a while almost lured one to think that maybe it would be a rather quiet new year after all, because, who would want to be out in that weather?!

I had a lazy afternoon watching three episodes in a row of the American series Virgin River on Netflix (the last three of season 6, recently released).  That seemed to put me in a kind of American Outback mood, because the film from my DVD archives that I chose to watch in the evening was Fried Green Tomatoes - which I can't recall when I last saw. (I enjoyed getting re-acquainted with it, though.)

After that I was really just longing to go to bed, and I even "sort of" did - but of course only just in time for the usual seemingly endless Big Bang midnight fireworks show (all over town) to break out after all - starting well before midnight, and going on for nearly an hour into the new year, before it finally started to die down. So I got back up again, as after all it's more fun to watch the spectacle than just lying in bed listening to it...

Some time after 1 a.m. or so, it had died down enough for me to finally try and get some sleep. How much longer before I actually entered Dreamland, I'm not sure.

... The night between the Old Year and the New can be a Magic one, though; and in this case, when I woke up this morning (around 10 am), and made my usual reality-check with the World, I was made aware that far from just sleeping, it seemed I had been off on nightly adventures to a remote island at the end of the world; where I had landed by parachuting from a plane, had been presented with a prestigeous award, and celebrated together with a whole gang of other bloggers from around the world - some of which had sailed there, while others, like myself, parachuted.

With all this excitement going on I had evidently forgotten to take photos of my own; so I asked Bing Image Creator for assistance.

If you don't believe this actually happened, I don't blame you - but further proof of the events may be found on Yorkshire Pudding's blog here. The award received has now also been duly placed in the sidebar of my blog (also with a link, in case future readers should have their doubts about its authenticity as well). 

All is well that ends well, as the saying goes...

As for 2025, it seems like I woke up in my own bed, and my flat seems the same; but outdoors it's raining so much that I have not actually been out to explore the surroundings and to make sure everything is still in its right place. The local news app tells me that the rain has actually caused quite a lot of flooding in the area (my immediate neighbourhood not mentioned in that context, though). It also seems the police had their hands full last night (which is alas not unusual at New Year). And it's still raining...

Luckily I think I have supplies enough to just stay in for a while longer, if needed!

Farewell to 2024

 

Wishing you all a Happy New Year 2025 with these photos of my Christmas amaryllis at its best (a couple of days ago). (It turned out to be one with rather small flowers.) 

The weather here is still predominantly grey. A very bleak sun made an attempt to break through the clouds for a little while around noon today, but didn't quite succeed. But at least it wasn't raining, so I decided on a walk to the supermarket for a few things. Approaching the place, it turned out half the town had the same idea. Which I should really have been able to foresee, as it was the day before New Year's Eve, and one of those in-between-holidays days when anyone who can is likely to take the day off work, and use it for shopping... 

Had it not been for self scanning, I would probably have turned around. With that option, however (which I always use there), I decided to brave it after all. And I did actually manage to get my half dozen items or so without too much trouble, in spite of the store being much too crowded for my liking.

As for New Year's Eve, I have no other plans than to stay in and hide the best I can from the fireworks and firecrackers that will no doubt be set off in spite of fog, storm and rain (possibly even snow). "Some people" around here have been practising for about two weeks already - with random Big Bangs every afternoon/evening (including right now while I'm writing this).

For many years (20 or so), 3-4 friends and I had a tradition of celebrating New Year's Eve together, nearly always at my place. For various reasons (involving health and distances and none of us getting any younger) we have not resumed that after the pandemic. Just now I'm (again) mostly relieved not to have made plans with anyone - even if I know that I can't really hope for a truly "quiet" evening either, that last one of the year! ;)

 

Ecclesiastes 3 -King James Version

1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

² A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

³ A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

⁴ A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

⁵ A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

⁶ A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

⁷ A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

⁸ A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

What 2025 will have to offer, remains to be seen. Let's hope will be seeing less of war, and more of healing, building up, sewing things together, and love and peace around the world... ♥

 

Hello September

 

September is traditionally counted as an autumn month here, even if weather forecasts seem to indicate that in spite of a few yellowing leaves here and there, summer intends to go on for at least another ten days or so, with temperatures around 20-26'C (68-78'F), and only occasional rain showers.

Yesterday and today the weather has been very pleasant - sunny but not hot. Yesterday I walked into town once again, in spite of nothing but a glue stick on my shopping list. (I would have bought that the day before if I had known then that I needed it - but I didn't discover until that evening that my old one was all used up and needed replacing...). Stopped for an ice cream in the park on my way home; and took the photos above on my walk along the river.

Today I spent part of the (late) morning catching up with some correspondence (of the postcards and letters kind), and then after lunch went for a walk to post the results. 

On the radio I've been hearing people talking of the start of autumn as "Girly New Year" (Swedish: "tjej-nyår") - apparently something trending on TikTok at the moment. I don't use TikTok - but from the radio comments I understood it to refer to a trend that even I remember from my own school days: Just like we make new year resolutions at New Year, autumn is another time of Fresh Starts. As we go back to school or work after summer holidays, we also (perhaps especially girls??) tend to make new resolutions (about losing weight, eating healthier, studying more, or whatever). And to help us along, we tend to also like to get New Things... You know: new fresh school books, and pens and notebooks and and bags; and also some new autumn clothes, and shoes, and whatever...

Even though I'm now 69, I still feel it myself: It's in the very air, this time of year. The stationery I bought the other day is proof enough! And on top of that I'm also feeling a certain urge to go shopping for clothes etc. I have had a look in a few shops downtown but didn't see anything I really wanted (alas, so far we seem to be facing a rather "beige" autumn)... So a bus trip to the shopping malls across town may be coming up as well.

Off With A Bang into 2024

 

Where I live, every New Year starts off with a Bang, whether we wish for it or not... Trying to have an "early night" on New Year's Eve is doomed to fail! Snapshots taken around midnight from my living room windows (without opening the balcony door).

If anyone is wondering what film I ended up watching while waiting for the Big Bang, this year I settled for a typical and predictable 2 hr Christmas movie (on Netflix):  A Castle for Christmas. In short: Bestselling female American author, struggling to come up with ideas for her next book, flees to Scotland to look for her family roots, makes friends with a number of quaint Scottish villagers, and meets grumpy duke struggling with the costs for maintaining his old castle... And after various minor complications - Happy End... :-)

• Sophie: I thought that dukes were supposed to be gentlemen?
• Myles: Those are English dukes.
  

 

Not a film I'd recommend for its great plot - but okay as distraction for a couple of hours while just waiting to be able to go to bed... ;-)

As for the weather, we had a bit of snow falling during the night, still covering the ground today. No snow plough has been round yet (1 pm on New Year's Day), so I'll probably just be staying in. (Wasn't out any further than to the dustbin yesterday either.)