Wet and Dry

 I had a few comments on my previous post about how it still looks rather green here - and as I replied to some, for one thing we've not had the same long-lasting extreme heat as further south in Europe (Britain included); and for another we've probably also had more rain (even if mostly rather unpredictable showers combined with thunder). 

In our area/town there has also so far been no ban on using sprinklers for watering, which means that the places where I usually walk and snap photos - like the old cemetery nearby, and the park down in the city centre - have had extra help to remain predominantly green. 

However, today I walked a different way down to the riverside, and snapped the photo below to show you one example of places nearby where it's more obvious that it's really "fundamentally" rather dry around here too:

 
This is the grassy hillside below the cemetery up on the hill; and on the other side of the street, a slope down to the railway running in a valley further down below looks much the same.

But then down by the river, it's quite easy to forget about the drought again for a while. (There are dams at the northern vs the southern end of town to adjust the water level through the city centre, and it has been kept normal so far.)

 Water lilies are now in bloom in certain places in the river - here, yellow ones. (Alas as I only had my phone camera, I could not really zoom in the flowers properly.)

 

Early Bird

 

I'm not usually an early riser, but this morning it seemed like a good idea to try it. So after an early visit to the bathroom, I did not go back to bed as I usually would. Instead I had an early breakfast, and then went out for a walk already at 07:15. (My working days are so far back in history now that can't even remember when I was last out that early. Once upon a time I used to start work at that time, though, so must have been up and out even earlier!)

The reason today was of course just knowing that it's going to get too hot later (see yesterday's post). And already at this early hour, I found that I preferred to keep in the shadow for the most part.

Luckily, the old cemetery with its huge old trees is only a few minutes away. I did not go any further, but just strolled around there for about 40 minutes before returning home. It was me, the birds - and cemetery staff already busy with hoses and watering cans... 

 

I liked how the morning light fell on this old grave.

 

The little fountain near the funeral chapel adds a refreshing splashing sound - a good place to sit for a while on a hot day (I know since many summers before). 

 Not a cloud in the sky; and the hydrangea climbing on the cemetery wall was buzzing with what must have been hundreds of bumble bees, in the sunny spot next to this gate. (You probably won't be able to see the bees in this photo though - I can't!) 

The last photo, with the water sprinkler (and rainbow!), was taken on another day and at a somewhat later hour. But the sprinklers were on in the same spot when I passed there this morning too.

Casting a glance at the clock on the wall in my study just now, it says 11:15 (summer time). I can hardly believe that. Feels like a lot later in the day for me... Pretending to be an early bird for a change is really messing with my inner sense of time! 

 * * *

"An early bird" is an idiom that refers to a person who wakes up early in the morning, arrives before others, or acts ahead of schedule to gain an advantage.
The term originates from the classic proverb, "The early bird catches the worm".
(AI summary)

 

Seeking Shadow

Nights are still "blissfully cool" here but the days sunny, and temperatures are predicted to keep increasing until and through next weekend. Still, from the latest prognosis it seems likely they may drop a bit again after that, so that we won't have to face the really extreme long-lasting heat that has been reigning further south in Europe. (I for one am keeping my fingers crossed...!)

Today I was up early to open the balcony door and windows to let some cooler air in before it got too warm. I also did my online order from the super/mega market (delivery on Thursday) while my study was still in shadow. Around 10:30 I went for a walk to the same supermarket, though. (About an hour there and back.) One thing they don't include in the online deliveries is flowers; and I wanted to buy two more pelargoniums (geraniums), for my balcony. (And that was my only purchase today - so just "in and out again"...) 

I think the two I got a few weeks ago will stay indoors, and these two new ones will be my only live balcony decoration this summer. I just don't feel I have the energy to "potter about" a lot now. But I have put these two in pots that can easily be moved around to either hang on the railing or just sit on the bench next to the wall. (Or taken indoors in a rainstorm, or if I go away for a few days.)

Out and About

I'm still feeling a bit "knocked out" by the hot weather here. The temperature may have gone down a couple of degrees (C) compared to the weekend; but instead it's now more humid, with occasional thunder and rain showers. Still too warm indoors; and as my study faces south-west, I'm limiting my time at the computer... 

Today I managed to get out for a walk (or a "stroll") between 10-11 am; just my usual paths around the old cemetery, and down to the little park by the river for a bit. 

 

Yellow water lilies in the river, blurry because zoomed in from quite a long distance with my phone camera. 

 

 
A number of similar flowerbeds in blue are found in different "park" areas of the cemetery.

I have shown several photos before of the hares living in the cemetery - or at least I assume that they "live" there, as that's where I usually see them. However, it happens that they also visit the lawns between the apartment buildings where I live. But it's usually in winter evnings that I have spotted them there, and not least when snow on the ground, so I have kind of assumed that it's been when they've had difficulties finding food elsewhere.) But a few nights ago (Saturday) I saw one grazing on the lawn below my balcony, and it wasn't even dark yet! And certainly no lack of greenery in other places, less frequented by humans. (It was unusually quiet in the neighbourhood at the time, though - not children out playing etc.)

Multiple images of one and the same hare, zoomed in from my balcony on Saturday evening.

Hot (Skywatch Friday)

 

15 July (from my balcony, shortly before sunset)

Even here in Sweden we now seem to be in the grip of the European heat wave, with temperatures up around 29-30'C (85'F) in the afternoon - and even hotter in direct sunlight, of course. (I put a thermometer out on my balcony for a while in the afternoon today and it went up to around 40'C/104'F...) So just now, between noon and sunset, the best alternative is to keep balcony doors and windows shut, and all blinds and curtains drawn - and fans going in every room. (No I don't have A/C. Very few Swedish homes do, and especially not rental apartments. In general, our houses are built to keep heat in, not to let it out.)

I find the heat very tiring, so have had to cut my walks very short the past few days. And my sleeping pattern is even more upside down than usual, as I've also fallen into "siesta" habits (i.e. sleeping in the afternoon). Sometimes for much longer than intended, and even making it hard to recall what day (or time of day) it is when I wake up again! 

 Below are some more evening "skywatch" photos from my own balcony

14 July

The last three were all taken within the same minute last night (18 July), close to sunset.

 Linking to Skywatch Friday

Hot

 

While here in Sweden we haven't had summer temperatures as high as the southern parts of Europe (and are not very likely to end up there either), we have had a few days a bit above my own "comfort zone".  

On Monday morning it was still quite pleasant, though, and I went for an "early-ish" (as in before lunch) walk into town, and bought Swedish strawberries from a stand in the main square.

 

Yesterday was warmer still, but as it was laundry day for me, I didn't really feel it all that much until after 4 pm, when I was done with that and went outside... "Not a cloud was in the sky", and it was beautiful - but I cut my walk short (and did not go out again later, either).

Today I woke up to 26'C indoors (in spite of fans going all night and a window or two slightly ajar); and outdoors feeling clammy, with threat of thunder. I decided to go out before lunch rather than later, and again that was no doubt the right decision. This time I found my strawberries (and a few other things) closer to home - there is a small "corner" grocery shop only 5 minutes away, which I've come to appreciate more and more... They don't have "everything", but they do have a wide assortment of fruit and vegs. This time of year, with a lot of it on display outdoors, it also almost gives me a feeling of being on holiday somewhere exotic, without going through the actual hassle of travelling!

Tonight there are weather warnings for thunder and heavy rain in the southern parts of Sweden, including the area where I live. Not having to be out in it, no serious worries for my own part, though. (Better keep my windows closed, though!)

 If I'm finding it too warm even at 26'C (78.8F), I dare not even think how I'd feel about 46'C (114.8F), like they've been experiencing in southern Spain and Portugal...

 

(Map from one of our major Swedish newspapers, DN, 1 July)

Time is Out of Joint

 

 

 

Photos from a flowerbed in my neighbourhood, snapped about a week ago. I was surprised to see the pansies, as they are normally spring flowers!

A Shakespeare quote comes to mind: "The Time is Out of Joint"... (Hamlet)

Another proof of that is that today is 4 September, and in the southern parts of Sweden we are setting heat records for this time of year, with temperatures around 28-29'C (82-84'F)

Laundry day for me anyway, so I had a good excuse to just stay in. Even with the dryers going, the basement laundry room felt nice and cool compared to my balcony...

Hot Update

 

The hot and dry weather continues. Writing this around 6 pm on Thursday, and it's still 28'C (82'F) outdoors (and 25/77 indoors).  My legs are telling me they wouldn't mind going for an evening stroll, but my head is saying no. We tried that yesterday but even though keeping in the shadow as much as possible, it still just felt too hot! At the moment it's not until after sunset (around 10 pm) that the outdoors temperature drops below that indoors - and that, for other reasons, feels too late for me to be out and about.

The azaleas have dropped almost every flower now, and the rhododendrons are about to give up now too.

There are millions of elm seeds covering the cemetery right now. We'd be wading in them if not for churchyard workers/gardeners doing their best to keep things neat... (I took the photo of this heap because it's shaped almost like a heart!)

So I'm still in that dilemma that I think I've already sighed about before: Everything just now is best done in the early morning - and that includes sleep...

There are still daily reports of fires from the countryside and forests around our town - and buildings too. The other day, there was one just a couple of streets away from where I live. It seems the damage there was limited to just one flat though (and I don't know the cause). 

As for the big fire in the city centre on Friday last week, the whole top floor  of that building with twelve flats got totally destroyed, and even shops on the ground floor are still closed. I haven't been down to the city centre myself since it happened, I've just seen photos and read about it in the local newspaper. 

All in all I haven't done much this week. On Monday I think I managed an afternoon stroll around the cemetery. (I must have, because I seem to have photos to prove it.) On Tuesday morning (well, before noon anyway), I walked to the supermarket for a few things. I forgot to bring a bottle of tap water with me (which I try always to remember when I go out in hot summer weather). So I bought a bottle at the store. Tried to open that on the way home - but could not manage to get it open! Now I've added a piece of anti-slip (rubber) material to the necessities to carry with me in my handbag... ;)

Yesterday was my weekly laundry day, and even with both the tumble drier and the drying cabinet going in the basement laundry room, that felt cooler than upstairs, so I did not mind! I also took the opportunity to wash my duvet, as at the moment I don't use it anyway - just an empty cover... (Washing and tumble-drying it went well though. So it's ready for use when I need it again...)

Today's only adventure was a short stroll to the recycling bins and the nearest small convenience shop in the late morning. Like 7-8 min away but I still found myself criss-crossing to keep in the shadow as far as possible.

The next few days seem likely to continue in a similar pattern: My main job still being to try and keep both myself and my flat as cool as possible...

Summer Heat

We've been in a long period of unusually sunny weather and drought in the southern parts of Sweden this spring/early summer. Not all that noticeable yet in the still fresh greenery in our town parks (being watered regularly), but on the news there are daily reports of fires, and farmers getting increasingly worried about their crops etc.

Yesterday was one of the warmest afternoons here so far (~27'C/81'F); which means I've now entered the stage of constantly trying to keep the sun and heat out of my flat, and spending my time indoors in summer semi darkness with blinds down, curtains closed, and fans in every room (not all of them whirring around the clock, though).

The kitchen (morning sun) is the only room where I don't need to keep the blinds down all day. The top left photo is my bedroom window (also morning sun), where on top of blinds I also have 'blackout' curtains drawn in the night (and still half-drawn in the daytime). In the living room (bottom left, afternoon sun) I have a blackout curtain in front of the balcony door (and two parasols outside, when wind conditions allow). In the study (also afternoon sun) no blackout curtains (as then I wouldn't see a thing in here) but blinds down around the clock  + now  the white curtains drawn as well... 

The major downside of hot summer weather is that the best time of day for getting anything done (whether indoors or outdoors) is the morning. Unfortunately, that's also the time when I usually get my best sleep...

In the mid afternoon on hot summer days, I often end up sitting behind drawn blinds and curtains watching episodes of the British TV show "A Place in the Sun", i.e. Brits looking for homes (or holiday homes) in places like southern Spain or Portugal. More often than not, they seem to enter a flat or house and immediately react with complaining that it's "too dark". Myself, I think what I'd look for first of all in that climate would be air conditioning and ways to seek shade...! ;-) (In Swedish homes AC is rare though, as the summer is after all fairly short - and sometimes also more rainy than sunny.)

Yesterday was laundry day for me, so I also spent parts of the afternoon down in the (fairly cool) basement, and didn't go out until 5 p.m. - and then just for a stroll around the nearby cemetery with big old trees providing plenty of shadow.

 

Today (one or two degrees cooler) I may venture out a bit earlier (soon after I've pressed "send" on this post). Will probably still be seeking shadow rather than sun, though...

Heat Wave and Chillers

 

It's been a hot and sunny weekend... Too hot for me to be out much, except for very short walks either in the morning or early evening (and even then more for exercise than for pleasure). So the afternoons I've mostly spent sitting very still behind drawn blinds and curtains, with fans whirring in the background, and watching streamed reruns of old British crime series (to send a 'chill' down my spine...) Just now it's Lewis (spin-off from Inspector Morse, set in Oxford). For some reason, I don't think I've seen more than occasional episodes of this series before. (Possibly because I don't like watching crime series late at night!) 

While the detectives are trying to figure out whodunnit, I usually end up trying to figure out "in what other TV series and as what character have I seen that actor"... While I'm rather hopeless at remembering names of actors (beyond perhaps some particular favourites), the name of the character they played in another context does often eventually come to me. But sometimes not until the next day, and while watching another episode with different actors! 

Meanwhile, Swedish politics has been offering its own nail-biter, in the shape of a major political crisis, resulting in Sweden's parliament today voting for a no-confidence motion against our Social Democrat Prime Minister and his government, which in turn might lead to a snap election in the early autumn. (Next regular election is in 2022.) 

It's a unique situation as it was only made possible by the Left party joining forces with the three right-wing parties (which no one ever thought they'd actually do). The situation after the last election (2018) was very difficult to solve, but ended in a government consisting of the Social Democrats + the Green Party, formally (by written agreement) supported by two "middle" parties (Center and Liberal), but also needing the silent support of the Left party in the parliament (which has kind of been taken for granted). But now there was a proposal coming up (to do with a -possible- change of rental laws) that the Left party just could not support...

So for the first time since corona restrictions, the whole parliament gathered today to cast their votes for or against a no-confidence motion against the present prime minister; with the outcome that the majority of the parliament no longer has confidence in him and his government. And "bang"... Suddenly we're in this most unusual situation - including, of course, a lot of different opinions about who's most to blame for it...

 

The practical outcome is still uncertain. There are two alternatives, and the prime minister has one week to decide which way to go: Either to call a snap election; or else leave it to the speaker of the parliament to first try a new round of negotiations with all parties to see if there is another way to form a new government. Either way, it's likely to involve difficulties.

Remains to be seen if there is a way out!

Sunflower

 

Yesterday I bought this small sunflower at my supermarket. It was only ~35 cm ( ~14" ) high including its original pot. At home, I re-potted it in a somewhat bigger pot, which I then put in this basket and put it out on my balcony. It will be interesting to see if it grows really tall, or if perhaps it remains a "dwarf" variety. 

The last few days we've been having (in my opinion) "nice and cool" summer weather here - by which I mean not too hot neither outdoors nor indoors (but also not cold, nor very rainy).

Now they say that we can expect another heatwave coming in for the weekend, with like 33°C on Friday (or into the 90s in °F). Way too hot for my liking, as that will soon turn my flat into an oven with nowhere cooler to escape to. So I can't say I'm really looking forward to it... What I will never understand is why our weather-people on TV insist on always reporting forecasts about really hot weather as "good news", looking pleased about it!

Perhaps the Sunflower will enjoy it, though? (That remains to be seen!) 

Too Hot

This week has continued to be too hot (see previous post), with temperatures up over +30°C, and no wind. And the temperature indoors has kept on rising every day, too. (Phew.)

Today I went for a slow walk into the city around 10:30 am, to buy fresh strawberries from a market stall in the square. I kept to the shadow as much as I possibly could, but actually even the river looked dusty!



This afternoon, a weather front with thunder, rain and a drop in temperature finally came in, though... Most welcome! :) 

Now trying to get some fresh air into the flat before bedtime!

Weather Report

The Peanuts strip pretty much sums up why I haven’t been able to spend much time at the computer this past week… (Not that I have spent much time digging in the sand – but I have mostly been keeping very still in the coolest spots I’ve been able to find!!)

July beat all kinds of (hot) weather records both in Sweden as a whole and in my town and area. In Borås, on 31st July we had over 33’C in the daytime, and the average 24 h (day+night) temperature was the highest ever officially recorded for our town – 25,6’C. (I know: In some places on earth this is “nothing” – but we’re not used to it!)

Up in the North of Sweden they have got some rain during the past week to help control the forest fires. Down here in the south, August has started out a little cooler, but still extremely dry, with warnings for very high risk of fires. (All open fires and barbequeing strictly forbidden, even in private gardens.) In Borås, we had one clash of thunder followed by a few drops of gentle rain on Wednesday; but that literally wasn’t enough to wet anything. (I know, because I walked home from town in that shower, and I did not even have to change clothes when I got back home, as the sparse drops of rain that fell steamed right off me…)

To give you an idea what it looks like around here just now, here are some photos from my neighbourhood taken during the past week:

The football field close to where I live will serve as an example of every lawn that has not been irrigated.

A little park which is always lovely in the spring when the cherry trees are in bloom, but now…

Dry leaves rattling around on the streets in the wind, making the sounds of autumn (much too early)

The roses in our ‘Central Park’ do seem to be enjoying the sun, though – I suspect these have not been left completely without water…!