Weekend Reflections

 

Yesterday was the first day in quite a while that was just offering "nice" summer weather (neither too hot, nor threatening with rain and thunder). So I seized the opportunity for a walk into the city centre just to have a leisurely look around some clothes shops - without any other more urgent errands to tick off my list. (I think that's the first time in nine months - because of the limitations that followed my fall and knee injury last autumn.) 

The photos above show the outdoor terrace of one of the popular restaurants/cafés along the river - currently decorated with white balloons. (I'm not sure if for some special reason - or just "summer".)

Before I went back home, I did sit down for short break myself - but at the ice cream café in the park on the opposite side of the river:

Before that, I had visited three or four clothes shops. What I was looking for was a pair of wide summer trousers, in a different colour than blue or black (which I already have). In my opinion this is an excellent garment for hot summer days - and not least when one also needs to wear a knee sleeve or two underneath... So I wanted to get another pair before they perhaps go out of fashion again (one never knows!). And in the last shop I visited, I did find a pair of mauve ones that I knew could be matched with a few tops I already had. So after trying those on in the shop, I bought them. Mission accomplished!

Entering the Month of May

 

Above, my photo calendar picture for the month of May (photo from mid April, 2025).

As we enter the month of May this year, there are also still cherry blossom trees in bloom.

On Friday 1st May (Labour Day and a holiday) I did not go very far, but just went for a stroll around the estate where I live. Even so, I caught quite a few "signs of spring":

 Narcissi, grapehyacinths and dandelions together in one flowerbed. (I'm guessing the dandelions weren't planted, but I quite like them in the mix...)

 

A single tulip next to a park bench where I sat down for a while.

 Cherry blossom in the playground park. 

 

On Saturday 2nd May, I took a bus into town and after my errands there walked back home through the city park and along the river.

 Chestnut trees unfolding their leaves.

The main square with the old Town Hall in the background, and fountain in the foreground. The Town Hall was built in 1910, and as the district court has just moved out of there to new premises, it's now under discussion what it's going to be used for instead. 

The fountain has images reflecting the town's history of textile industry.

The round building in the park is a restaurant/café.

 Yellow flowerbed along the river in the park.

The Green Rabbit, one of my favourite sculptures. It's official name is Mate Hunting, and its eyes keep moving (only a little each day) so that they're never quite in the exact same position as last time you passed by... Artist: Marianne Lindberg de Geer.

 

It was a summery kind of day, and people were even sunbathing along the river...

Linking to Weekend Street/Reflections  (More "street" than reflections this time!)

Weekend Reflections

 

Weather-wise, it's been a strange week. On Christmas Eve I woke up to a fairytale-like world covered in snow. On Christmas Day, the snow gradually melted away again. On 2nd Day Christmas (Friday), the lawns outside were all green again; but in the afternoon the fog gave way to a glimpse of sun and blue sky. I did get out for a little while then - but kept to the street where I live, as the footbridge over the railway (leading to among other things the old cemetery) still looked treacherously icy. The photo above was taken zooming in a house across the railway (which runs in a valley down below, invisible from this perspective). 

 

Yesterday afternoon I had the laundry room booked and did not go out. 

Today, Sunday, offered sunshine and blue skies again, and around noon I went for a walk down to the river and back. Good to see some water reflections again! :)

 

Linking to Weekend Reflections 

On the whole I've had a "quiet" Christmas - apart from the fact that some people (youngsters?) around here now seem to be treating the whole month of December as a time for playing with fireworks and/or bangers. It's literally been going on almost every afternoon/early evening since 1st Advent, and I hate it. As I never actually see anyone at it - just hear them!!! - I can't say if they're keeping within what's lawful or not. Whether legal or illegal, it makes me jump every time though, and is making me generally nervous! (And not in the least looking forward to New Year's Eve...) 

Autumn Street Market

 

It's the last weekend in September, so time for the annual autumn street market. (We have two major market weekends here - spring and autumn.) The autumn weather just now is perfect for it, so I went for a stroll into town to have a look around, even though there was nothing special I wanted.  
 

Basically there are, or used to be, three kinds of market stalls that I tend to feel drawn to at these events: Socks, handbags and postcards. (My camera is also drawn towards balloons! But I never actually buy any of those...)  

There used to be a stall selling cheap postcards (plus some other "paper" stuff), always at the same corner of the square - but they haven't returned after the covid years, when the whole market was very much reduced. I guess the increase in postage has contributed to not many people being all that interested in buying and sending postcards any more. (Even I don't send very many now - and I still have a good supply left from earlier years.) 

There were several stalls selling handbags, but I had sternly reminded myself before going out, that I'm not in need of any new bag at the moment. (On the contrary, I have a bag full of  bags that should be handed in to a charity shop!!!) 

My favourite sock stall was in the same place as usual - but I had also checked my supply of socks before going out, and realised that I also have a good supply of socks bought at previous markets, that should last me at least until next spring...

So I returned home without having spent any money at all. Moreover, when I checked my camera, I realised I had only taken two photos! The market was simply too crowded!

Linking to Weekend Street/Reflections 

PS: Went back the next day, with my other camera. More photos in my next post.

Weekend Reflections

 

A "leftover" reflection photo from Monday, 30 June. An old curved factory building that always makes irresistible reflections in the river on a calm and sunny day...

Somehow, 30 June already feels like a long time ago, as since then, the weather has gone from sunny and pleasant, to too hot, to thunder and cooling off, to raining all day today. Really rather typical of Swedish summer weather; but it can still be quite hard to keep up and adjust, sometimes!

Anyway, today has been an indoors day for me; and too much of it has been spent on trying to adjust to a different kind of change: A lot of settings on my phone needing to be revised (and figured out again), following an update to Android 15 on that device...

Linking to Weekend Street/Reflections # 232  

A Summer Walk

Summer weather with sunshine, blue skies and temperatures around 23'C (73'F) or so arrived (as forecasted) on Thursday - just in time for high school graduations and summer holidays. 

One definite sign of summer was that when I went out for a walk, I kept coming across half-naked sunbathing people lying flat on the grass in half-hidden places - desperately trying to update their tan for beach parties and whatnot... (I refrained from taking photos, so you'll just have to use your imagination!)  - I should perhaps point out that on that day, my feet were taking me along some different paths than my usual ones around the cemetery, though.

 Summery view from down by the river.

In the little park by the dam and waterfall, some potted palm trees have been added to create an extra exotic feeling. Our very own Palm Beach! (Bathing in the river not recommended, though. At least not in this spot.) 

Lupin(e)s. Loved by some (me included), regarded as "invasive" by others. I associate them with summers in my grandparents' garden, there were lots of them along the railway bank close by, and quite a few had been allowed to invade their garden too...

A surprise "sculpture exhibition" awaited me in a roped off plot of grass (wasteland?) along my way. As I haven't been going in that direction in a long time (at least not since last summer) I have no idea how long they've been there. 

 

In the background, I also spotted some bird houses on tree trunks.

Nearby, there is an old red wooden house, which now looks abandoned and empty - but the yard also unusually tidy, and the lawn seems to have been mowed! The sign on it reveals that it used to be a glazier's workshop. (Not sure what that light phenomenon to the left is!) 

 

Views from a bridge across the river. 

 

On my way back home, casting a glance up the hill beside the road, the impressive roots of these tall old pine trees caught my eye - doing their best to keep the trees in place in spite of the erosion on the sandy hillside...

Buttercup (Ranunculus acris) is a common roadside/grassland wildflower here.  

 

Another young bird (I think possibly a jackdaw rather than a crow this time?) resting on the lawn under some trees near my building - also looking a bit like it just fell from the sky and was contemplating how to get up there again. (I didn't witness the actual fall this time, though, so it may just be my imagination jumping to conclusions...) 

 

Linking to Skywatch Friday and Weekend Reflections

Spring Market 2025

 A long standing tradition in my town is the Spring Market, which takes place on the Friday and Saturday after Ascension Day. A good time for it, as children are then off school, and quite a lot of grown-ups too take the opportunity to get an extra day off work if they can.

It was an overcast day, but not raining, so I went for a stroll downtown to practice some "street photography"... 

 

This man wearing a sunflower hat stood out a bit among all the more common kinds of market stuff! He was selling sunflowers made out of concrete! (No, I did not buy one.)

There always seems to be innumerable stalls selling balloons.

The table tennis table and chess game aren't part of the market as such, but probably there for the duration of the summer - to liven up the square a bit even on less crowded days. 

For my own part, when it came to actually buying something, there was only one market stall that I was looking for - and I found it in the same place as usual. Time to stock up on stockings! - or rather, some summer socks... 

There used to be one other stall that I always visited (and bought something from) but they seem to have given up now, as I haven't seen them around on the last two or three markets. They used to sell cheap postcards and birthday cards (and in the autumn, Christmas cards). But I suppose with the outrageous cost of stamps these days, people also tend to buy less cards... (I've cut down a lot on Postcrossing myself in the last couple of years. So maybe just as well I was not tempted to buy more cards. I do still have quite a good supply left at home...) It was always a fun market stall to visit, though! 

At one end of the square they had gathered the food trucks, and added a few pick-nick tables where people could sit down for a while. (Good idea. I was not tempted, though.) 

  

Walked back home through the city park to check on the huge rhododendrons there - but found that those are not yet in full bloom. 

Linking to Weekend Street/Reflections (#227)