Pre-Election Saturday

Waking up fairly cough-free this morning, I decided to try and get myself into town for a couple of errands that I didn't feel up for earlier in the week. I took the bus part of the way there, but then walked back.

With the election coming up tomorrow, there were quite a lot of people about in the main square, as all the political parties have information booths up (no doubt they've been there all week). There's also a portable cabin for early voting, and today there was a long queue of people waiting to make use of that. 

Reports in the media say we've already broken previous records this year when it comes to the number of people preferring to vote early - and I made my contribution to that myself back on Monday. (I didn't have to go into town for that, as I could do it at a place closer to home.) 

 

These flags across a shopping street in the city centre are part of the past summer's art biennial. I did not stop to try and figure out the symbolism - and just as well that I didn't, as I'd never have succeeded...  Looking it up now on the Art Museum's Instagram page:

"Michelle Eistrup’s series of flags along Stora Brogatan draws on the heritage of Bakongo culture from Central Africa, which spread across the Americas due to the transatlantic slave trade. The flags form a “dictionary” of Bakongo gestures and evoke diasporic knowledge systems. They are organized into four sections, which represent the parallel cycles of the sun and of human life — sunrise and spiritual awakening, noon and maturity, sunset and decline, midnight and regeneration." 

On my way home, I walked through a corner of the city park, and noted that there are autumn colours to be seen in some of the trees now.

 

One of my favourite sculptures - I don't recall its name now, but I think it's been there since one of our first art biennials. For me as "Narnian" (referring to my blog name) it always makes me think of ancient mythological portals between worlds... 

Linking to Weekend Street/Reflection #294

Dental Visit + a Walk in the Park

 

The huge tree to the right is a horse chestnut tree

A bit cooler in the air this week compared to the weekend, but the sunny weather continues, and each day just now is "greener" than the previous one. I walked into town for my dental appointment, and had time for a little detour through one corner of the park. The sky was incredibly blue - most of the photos in this post are straight from my phone without any editing. 

Much as I expected - knowing the broken tooth had a very old crown attached - it turned out that I was in for a major dental job. As soon as the nurse started poking at it (very gently), it all came apart and the old crown came loose. As I noticed already on Friday that "something" had happened, it's almost a miracle that I managed to keep it in place for nearly five days! (I avoided to chew on that side, and was also very gentle with the toothbrush.)

I was also lucky in that the dentist + a specialist nurse had time straight away to do the scanning + other preparations for having a new crown made. With various holidays coming up in May it will probably be 3 weeks before I get it put in place; but in the meantime I've have a temporary plastic filling to cover the remnants of the tooth. I'm advised to abstain from hard and "chewy" food, though - but I've already been practising that for a few days by now! (I'm foreseeing using my "mixer" more than usual...) 

After an hour in the dentist's chair, when I finally got up I was feeling kind of dizzy, so sat for a while in the waiting room sipping a glass of water afterwards, before going out. 

I walked home through another part of the park, and along the river.

Close-up of the flowerbed by the river...

The "later" kind of cherry blossom trees are now also in bloom...

Before continuing towards home, I crossed that bridge in the photo above, and on the other side made a little detour to a shop which I hadn't visited in years, but where once upon a time I had bought an item which I was wondering if maybe they might still be selling. Actually I didn't even know if the shop would still be there. (I had not been able to check, as I had also forgotten its name!). But it was still there, and when I asked, they even had what I was after, which was this: A (foldable) walking stick. 

I have a similar, all black one since before (bought over a decade ago when I had some temporary trouble) but this one seems to have both a better rubber tip at the bottom, and a sturdier handle. So I bought it.

All winter since my fall back in October I've consistently been using at least one (sometimes both) of my taller "walking poles" outdoors. But with summer and warmer weather, too warm to wear gloves, and mostly feeling need of support in "certain situations" now, I'm thinking that a stick like this may sometimes be enough. So I was glad to find that shop still selling them. (Sometimes I do still prefer to be able to "see and touch" before buying!) 

Goodbye August, Hello September

Decorations on the old chest in my living room
were changed to 'autumn colours' last weekend.

The last week of August seems to have "swooshed" by. For one thing, I woke up on Tuesday morning finding myself 68 years old, while when I went to bed the night before I was still 67. Really quite enough to make one a bit confused about the Passing of Time... ;-) 

I did not "celebrate" as in having a party; but  various greetings kept dropping in anyway - by mail, email and Facebook etc, + four long(ish) phone calls spread over the day. 

In between, in the early afternoon, I also went for a walk into town for a couple of minor errands + had an ice cream in the park. It was a "nice enough" day, although not quite as sunny as in the photos below ...

 

... which were taken a week earlier, when I was in town for a haircut.

Decided (in cooperation with my hairdresser) to have an attempt at a fringe (bangs) again. Not all that much hair to play with these days, though, so we'll see how it goes! 

The day before my birthday, I tidied up a bit on my balcony, after all the rain lately.

My strawberry plants have kept producing some berries in spite of all the rain during July and August. And even the single cherry tomato plant has given me a dozen or so fruits.

Photo from mid August

 

Hello August

This afternoon was more pleasant outside than I expected. I had only intended a short walk but found myself continuing all the way into the town centre and park.

Part of the flower arrangements on one of the bridges. 
Sweet peas in bloom now on the trellises.

A flowerbed in the main square.

A sculpture standing outside one of the major hotels in the city centre. The name of the artist is Lars-Åke Åberg (click on the link to see more of his stone sculptures). This is not a new sculpture and I've probably shown it before, but I think not recently. The collage shows it from opposite sides.

The new stairs in the park have been finished. (I think I showed them under construction earlier in the summer.) I walked up them today (around 30 steps) and found them quite well "balanced" - or whatever the correct terminology to do with stairs may be. (Feeling less steep than they may look.) 

Looking down on plantations on the hillside from the top of those stairs.

The new stairs connect the bridge down below with an older set of stairs leading up to the very top of the park (where there is a miniature golf course, but I did not go all the way up there today).

 

Finishing off with a photo of this construction, which is growing (literally!) increasingly effective in hiding a rather hideous piece of machinery inside (belonging to the indoor swimming hall nearby, I think).

 

Spring in the Air

 

I went for a walk to the park downtown, and discovered that they'd filled the flower beds there with pansies and hyacints.

 

The seagulls arrived inland from the coast just before Easter... Always a sign of spring here!

Daffodils are in bloom...

 

... and I found some Tussilago (or Coltsfoot) too.

Rhododendron & Azaleas

 

The rhododendron and the azaleas have been amazing these past couple of weeks. Beginning to fade away now (after a hot period followed by rain), but the photos above were taken while they were in their prime. The massive hedges of purple rhododendron are found in our town park. The pink ones grow "right on my doorstep"; and the azaleas in the old graveyard where I walk almost daily. A blast of colour to get summer started!

Spring Tulips

Most of my walks lately have gone in other directions (or circles!), but today I decided to go and check on the progress of spring in the city centre again.  On a Monday morning there weren't too many people about; but the park is full of lovely tulips, at their very best just now.