SkyWatch & Progress of Spring

 

19 May 2026 - 21:05

Tuesday evening offered this sunset view from my balcony. 

Yesterday, Thursday, was dominated by grey skies and rain showers. I had to walk into town for a dentist appointment at 11 am, to get my new crown put in place. So I both put on my rain coat and brought a foldable umbrella; but fortunately (also managing my walking stick with the other hand) did not need to have the umbrella up much... 

At the the north-west entrance to the city park, I found rhododendron in bloom; and down by the river in the park, the huge old horse chestnut trees were in bloom:

The dentist appointment went well. I got a bit worried initially, because when they first put the new crown in to see how it fitted, it did feel to me like it would not fit at all... But of course they fixed that; and in the end I once again walked out of there a satisfied customer/patient. (I've been with the same dental practice for 35+ years. My old dentist retired a few years ago, but the new one soon earned my trust as well.) 

On the way back home I walked a different way, did not need my umbrella, and found some more rhododendron in bloom. The wooden door in the photo below sits in the wall of a cemetery (not the cemetery where I usually walk, but an even older one, closer to the city centre and park).

Today the clouds broke up in favour of a clear blue sky again. I've had some indoor things to do but have also been out for two shorter walks. Before lunch, my usual Friday "recycling" walk + stopping by a small local shop on the way back for a few things. 

On the way, noticing that the lilacs are now in bloom:

And in the afternoon, a walk to the nearby cemetery to check on the progess of the azaleas there:

 

Linking to SkyWatch Friday

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!) 

Daylight "Saving" (?) Time

 

A brief interlude from the "here and now", before I return to processing the last part or two of my time travels to Germany in 1983. (The past couple of weeks have offered a good time to get on with that project, as spring outdoors has not been making much progress.)

 

Two days ago, like in the rest of Europe, it was time to set the clock(s) forward one hour again. I've never been in favour of the idea, and keep hoping that one day we'll all agree to stop that nonsense - but until that happens, there's not much one can do but try and adjust (oneself, as well as the timepieces one happens to possess). I am one of those who still own a number of clocks/watches that need to be tended to manually - and more often than not, I manage to forget at least one...

 

This time, I thought I had managed to remember them all - until Sunday evening, when I suddenly realised that the clock on the wall in my study (above my computer) was still on winter time. Which meant I had been "working" past my intended bedtime... 

 

Not that it usually matters all that much these days (when I go to bed or when I get up) - it was just that this time I had meant to try to make a serious effort to adjust, as all winter I've been very lazy in my morning habits anyway...

 

Well, I had Monday to try to make amends (hm) before today, when I had a dentist appointment in town at 11:20 - which I know can't really be called early, but with my body clock still on winter time, and having to leave home about 9:30 "real time", it still felt early... Setting various alarms and reminders, I somehow managed it, though. ;)

 

Thankfully the last few wet and windy days had given way to more sunny weather, so once I got out there, it wasn't too bad. (Photo above taken on my walk into town.)

 

The dentist appointment was "just" an annual check-up, including x-rays - and luckily, not even those revealed anything that needed fixing. Afterwards, I visited the pharmacy to stock up on some various "dental health" related items - and, as a bonus, also my favourite tea shop. Besides stocking up on three of my usual favourites, I bought their special Easter blend: black tea with bergamot and passion fruit flavour.

 

Glad Påsk - Happy Easter!

 

Back home, after lunch, I lay down on my bed to rest for a while, listening to a radio podcast...  And woke up again around 5:30 p.m. (summer time)... 

 

So much for my efforts to "adjust", so far!! 😁

 

 Barbie and Skipper are yawning, too, after having helped me decorate for Easter.

 

Busy Day/Week

 

I've managed to be quite "busy" lately. First it was the decorating for 1st Advent last week (cf my previous two posts). Then I spent quite a large part of the 1st Advent Sunday writing my Christmas cards to be sent abroad, as I wanted to get those posted on Monday. (Just now it feels like I've been writing about this already? - but I think that must have been as comment on someone else's blog.) Luckily I had enough cards with envelopes left over from previous years - and stamps too. 

So on Monday, I think around 11 am, I went for a walk to the nearest mailbox - which is situated by one of our small local grocery shops, about 10 minutes walk away. (Just now, perhaps more like 15 minutes.) It's one that only gets emptied on weekday mornings - but when I put mine in, I could hear that the box wasn't empty, but probably about half full. So hopefully my cards got sent on their way the same day. I know that the cards within Europe are likely to reach their destinations in just a few days - but sending mail "overseas" is more of a gamble...

That mission accomplished, I went back home and continued to write my cards to be sent within Sweden - which will all be of simple postcard format this year, as that was what I had left in my stash... I won't need to post those for another week or so; but just as well to get them written while I was "in the mood". 

Tuesday was laundry day (afternoon) for me, plus cleaning the bathroom. A combination that tends to keep me busy enough without adding very much else to the mix.  Between my turns down to the basement I usually just watch TV or read.

Today, Wednesday, was set aside for bigger adventures. After having put off an appointment with my dental hygienist twice in November (and some other errands in town as well) - because of my knee making it difficult for me to get anywhere - I decided it was time to test my stamina to "be on my feet" for a while. Not to overdo things, I decided I had better take a taxi to the dentists' to start with, though. From "knee point of view", that was probably a good decision; but it was still another taxi adventure in the sense that most  streets in the city centre are either car-free or one-way - and the driver, speaking broken Swedish, also didn't seem to actually know exactly where the street was (so I had to try to explain!)... In a wide roundabout way he finally did get me there, though! 

The actual appointment with my dental hygienist went smoothly, though. No unpleasant surprises, just routine treatment. 

Not many steps from my dentists' to the main square, where I stopped to take a photo of the big Christmas tree:   

 

 My next errand was to my favourite Tea Shop, situated right by the square. (They also sell coffee, but I only drink tea.) Not having been into the city centre for a couple of months now, nearly all my tea caddies at home were empty! So I made both a shop assistant and myself happy by buying no less than six different kinds of tea (100 g of each). (Three black tea blends, one green tea Christmas blend, and two different Rooibos tea blends.)

Just round the next corner, there's the bookshop; and I made a short stop there too, to buy a pocket calendar - and some more Christmas cards, "just in case" (or else for use next year!).

On the same street is my favourite Pharmacy, and I had a loooong list of both prescription medicines and various other stuff that I have been running out of (or almost) over the past couple of months... So that took a while; but now I have stocked up prescription stuff to last me a couple of months at least, plus some other necessities/favourites as well.

So far, so good... Now remained the question of how to get myself (and all my stuff) home. When I made my plans, it had seemed a good idea to take a certain bus from a small square not very far from the pharmacy. It doesn't run all the way to where I live - but then no bus does. But this one would take me to a stop some 15 minutes walk from home; and as I walked that distance back and forth the other week, I counted on being able to manage that. 

What I had not counted on, though, was having to wait nearly half an hour for that bus - because not only had one just left when I arrived at the bus square, but then the next one turned out to be almost 15 minutes late, and over-full (and with a super-stressed driver shouting at everyone!)  However, while waiting I managed to find a bench in a bus shelter to sit on - and then, even more miracously, also a seat on the bus when it finally arrived... (The fact that I was heavily burdened + leaning on a stick may have helped, but I'm not sure!!)  I rode on that bus for two stops, and somehow also managed to get off unharmed (phew!)... And in spite of being rather tired by then, the last 20 minutes walk from that bus stop back home felt almost like a relief compared to the long wait + short bus ride... (In retrospect I'm thinking that "knee and all" it might have been quicker for me to walk the whole way back home from town - but I just didn't quite trust my stamina for that, with a full backpack + an extra bag to carry as well.)  

Anyway, next time I go into town, I don't think I'll try that particular bus again... 

The next thing on my "list" is that I really need a haircut... My hairdresser is in the same street as my dentist - but it just felt too much to try and coordinate that + all the other things on one and the same day. 

A Sunny Day

 

The "every other day" kind of weather continues. Yesterday (Sunday) it snowed some more, and I did not set foot outside. Today (Monday), the world was still white when I woke up - but to my relief the sun was also shining again. 

The main reason why I felt relieved was that I had spent a week worrying if I should cancel an annual dentist checkup scheduled for today - or not. But my weather app kept insisting that Monday was likely to be the best weather day in the foreseeable future; and so I had decided to keep it. 

Glad I did, as now it's over and done with. I left home a quarter of an hour earlier than I would have done if the ground had been free of snow and ice. That proved a good idea, but got me into town without stress. Had the pleasure of meeting my "old" dentist (who retired a couple of years ago), temporarily filling in for my "new" dentist, who is on maternal leave. And the even greater pleasure of him finding nothing wrong with my teeth. (It was a routine checkup, and I've been feeling okay since I got the last crown fitted back in the autumn.) So in the end I just paid a rather hefty sum of money for a bit of a chat, and having my teeth polished ;-)  As nothing else needed doing, though, there was actually a bit more chatting than usual, both with the dentist and with the nurse. (Chatting at the dentist's usually difficult, as it mostly tends to consist of them asking questions and oneself gurgling something unintelligible in return, with one's mouth numb and full of their instruments and fingers...) 

No teeth removed or replaced on this visit!

My walk there and back was also quite pleasant, even if I had to take it slow (and keep my eyes on the ground a lot). First two photos from crossing the city park on my way into town; the others taken on my way back, then choosing another path along the river.

Magic Transformation

 

Happiness is having one's mouth full of teeth again - after a few weeks of having had to make do without one of them! Yesterday the Tooth Fairy (i.e. my dentist) waved her magic again, and I got my new crown put in place. Turned out a perfect fit, so will hopefully make daily life easier again for a while (until who-knows-what-may-happen-next). 

* * *

Coming out from the dentists' , I still had sort of a contrary feeling of deserving an extra "reward" for going through the process. So before I went back home, I ended up also going to a shoe-shop to buy myself a new pair of warm indoor slippers. Well - it wasn't really an impulse purchase, as I'd had it in mind for for a while. ;-) And probably not one that would have ended up on my blog, if not for a certain detail. I tried on a few different ones, but here is the pair that I ended up buying:

See that little tag? It "sealed the deal" for me...

Recycling magic! :-)

Broken Tooth, New Government, and First Frost

Another week gone by... (I wonder how many blog posts over the years began with that very phrase?) 

On Tuesday, I had a dental appointment; and much as I suspected, it turned out an old crown was broken, and needed replacing. (It came out as soon as the dental hygienist gently poked it.) It will be a similar big job as with another tooth back in spring - I know "the drill" by now... (ha ha) So here I am with a temporary filling, and needing to be inventive with my meals for a while again. Got a lengthy (1 hr) appointment at the end of the month for "preparations", and then I'll have to wait a couple of more weeks or so for the crown to be made, and another appointment to have it fitted... 

Well, to look on the bright side - it's autumn, and a good season to try out soup recipes...

Tuesday was also an Important Politics Day, and besides my visit to the dentist's I spent a good deal of it in front of the TV, as it it was the day our new Swedish government was introduced (the result of negotiations between four parties that have been going on since the election back in September). 

The new prime minister is the rather short man in the middle (Ulf Kristersson). Basically, the new government consists of representatives from three right-wing parties, with a fourth large one lurking in the shadows behind them. (I.e. with no official representatives in the government, but pulling quite a few strings anyway. Not least when it comes to stricter migrations politics.)

In what ways they will live up to their promises (or threats, depending on the point of view) remains to be seen. (Like so many other countries we're still in a situation of nearly half the population having wished for a different outcome of the election.)

Wednesday was laundry day for me (as it often is). It was also a sunny day for a change (after a number of rainy ones), so between turns to the laundry room, I continued with winter preparations on the balcony: like wrapping the wooden bench out there in a tarpaulin. I also took in a couple of geraniums - one of them about to bloom. (Crazy plant/s... They've had all summer, and choose not to produce flowers until the end of October!) Good thing I did, because that night we did get the first frost. (Which killed off the remaining painted nettles; but I had counted on that. I have more of those indoors.) Continued my "autumn cleaning" of the balcony on Thursday afternoon (which was also sunny). The strawberry plants are rather hardy, though, so they'll be up for a while yet. (Before it gets seriously wintry, I'll put them in hibernation beneath the tarpaulin-covered bench.) I also went out for two walks: Before lunch to the supermarket for a few "extras" (as it was the week between my online-order weeks); and again in the afternoon, "just for a walk" (and some photos).

 

Man made Leaf Blowers competing with the forces of Nature this week!

On Friday we were back to grey and rainy (and a bit milder). I seemed to spend a good deal of that day messing up the kitchen by making soup from whatever I could find in the fridge that might suit the purpose. I did follow a basic recipe for carrot soup that I found online, but as usual I didn't have all the suggested ingredients, or the right proportions of them, so exchanged this for that and that for this... The result was a carrot-onion-ginger-potato-red lentils-chicken bullion concoction. Frozen in portions and might be improved by some actual pieces of chicken thrown in when I heat it up... (No photos. I had my hands full!)

Today, another grey day, catching up with a bit of this and that (including blogging).

March

 

The month of March, around here, is still hovering between winter and spring. This year it has started out sunny, but still chilly (frosty in the mornings). In some areas the snow is all gone - and yet it may still be lingering just around the corner. These photos are from a short walk around the old cemetery this afternoon. In one tree I noticed a brand new nesting box. If anyone has moved in yet, I don't know!

In the trees I can see from my windows, the magpies are repairing and adding to their old nests, as usual. (The two photos below are from last year, but it looks much the same now.)

No doubt the ducks in the river are up to some family planning as well - even if not showing me where, but trying to confuse me with reflections of human dwellings...

 - - -

A week ago, I broke a tooth again. Called the dentist on Friday and got my annual check-up brought forward a couple of weeks, to Monday morning this week. Being very far from a "morning person" these days, I usually try to avoid early morning appointments - but as I wasn't sure how the weekend would go, I felt that in this case, I had better take the first option offered. Luckily at least the weather was OK and the streets not too icy. I was back home again before my normal (winter) breakfast time - with some grocery shopping done on the way home as well. But with just a temporary filling; and another appointment next week to begin a "bigger job". Fingers crossed she'll manage to figure out a way to fit a crown on what remains of the original tooth...

Meanwhile, I'm again keeping to soft foods, and trying to chew only on the other side... To avoid complicating things further by for example catching a cold, I also intend to continue to stay away from any attempts to resume "social life" for a while yet. (Can't say I had any immediate such plans anyway, even if corona restrictions have been lifted...)

Toothday

You may think it’s Thursday, but to me it’s been Toothday.  I had a visit from the Evil Tooth Fairy last night - the kind that takes your tooth AND your money!

So first thing in the morning I got on the phone to my dentist’s office; only to be told by their answering machine that the whole gang of them were away for education, and won’t be back until Monday.

Somehow that feels typical, although I suppose if I had kept proper statistics over my tooth emergencies over the years, I’m sure I’d find that my dentist has been available more often than not. In fact I’ve had the same dentist for well over 20 years, and I think it has only happened once before during that period that I had to seek help from a different dental practice.

Today however, they were referring emergencies to another dentist/number; and since four days seemed too long to just wait and worry, I took the plunge.

Luckily they were able to fit me in already at 8:40 am, so no complaints about the service. I took a taxi and got there in time. It was an old crown that had got broken off – together with a piece of the original tooth it was attached to. Luckily it was one that already had a root-filling, so no pain. He gave the rugged remains a bit of a polish and put a temporary protective filling on top. So at least now there’s a smooth surface and no sharp edges to cut my tongue on. This will hopefully keep until I can discuss the more permanent solution with my regular dentist.

There will be no steak for dinner over the weekend. 

Picture from http://www.supercoloring.com/

“The folklore states that when a child loses a baby tooth, if he or she places it beneath the bed pillow, the tooth fairy will visit while the child sleeps, replacing the lost tooth with a small payment.” Wikipedia

I can’t really recall any stories about the tooth fairy in my childhood, but I think I did get coins when I lost my baby teeth.  - What about you?

Midweek Blues: Snowing Again!

This morning I had to get up early to go to the dentist, because I happened to break off a corner of a tooth last week. I’ve not been in pain but as I suspected it resulted in the tooth needing to be replaced by a crown. So I spent 50 minutes in that chair today to get a temporary one and then I will have to go back in two weeks to get the real one. (Well – fake one, but the real fake one. You get my drift…) He also detected another tooth that needs to be fixed; and then there’s a third job that has been postponed before, which I had probably better get out of the way as well. For reasons hidden within the insurance system it will be cheaper to have it done in connection with the other expensive jobs rather than by itself.

For other reasons hidden within the insurance system, there was a new experience involved today. In addition to the usual x-rays, the dentist took a photo before he went to work on the tooth! Have you ever had anyone take a flash photo into your mouth? Maybe I should try that with my own camera?? (But I think I’ll spare you that view.)

My day could have been worse though. The weather forecast yesterday said we were to expect snowstorm today. I mentally prepared myself that it would already have started in the morning when I had to go out to go to the dentist. Actually, when I woke up in the night I took a peek out of the window, and I was convinced I saw slush on the ground. That, however, turned out to be just an illusion, caused by a combination of how colours get distorted by the streetlights, and “headology” (see my previous post today)… Because when I woke up again, there was even a bleak sun on the horizon, and the ground between patches of old ice was perfectly dry. I was even able to walk into town (instead of taking the bus).

 

About an hour after I got home, though, the snowstorm was upon us in full force. “So much for spring”…  Now we’re back to this:

There is still a hard wind blowing, and more snow supposed to fall from the sky tomorrow.

 

For Midweek Blues at The Dusty Cellar

PS. The star in the top photo is made from horseshoe nails. It hangs in my bedroom. All three photos in this post were taken through my windows, today.