Home Sweet Home

The Midsummer weekend here has been "up and down" with a mix of sun, rain and thunder, and varying degrees of humidity. In my neighbourhood, quite a few people besides myself seem to have been spending it at home; which in turn means it tends to get noisy, especially in the afternoons and evenings, with all the windows and balcony doors kept open because of the heat, people talking, and kids out playing etc. 

I find a bit hard to cope with the afternoons sometimes, as in hot summer weather that's neither the best time of day for me to be out, nor to stay in - and I can't really think of a third alternative! (And of course, this year, the corona situation adds to the frustration for everyone.) On the other hand, the morning seems the best time for me for anything and everything from sleeping in, being lazy, reading, going out, sitting on the balcony (before the sun hits) - and for cleaning and cooking and doing computer work etc indoors. As I'm not exactly an early bird by nature to begin with, that means my active time of day is rather limited (between late breakfast and lunch!) And the rest... Phew, well, never mind! (Today I managed to fit in a nice nap while heavy rain was drumming away on my windows, though. And with the rain, no need to keep thinking that perhaps I should be out instead...)

This morning (seems like a long time ago now), I woke up with fragments of a dream lingering in my head - and thought I might blog about that later. Now is later, but of course now, my vague recollections of the dream seem even more fragmentary and blurry. Copying the photo of the bird houses from my camera to the computer reminded me of it again, though, because I know it was all somehow to do with "home" - and including some feelings of frustration. However, I can't really recapture the dream itself now, and only vaguely some of my thoughts while thinking about it back in the morning.

For one thing, the audio book I'm listening to at the moment is Coming Home by Rosamunde Pilcher. It's a 'coming of age' story set in Cornwall before and during WWII. A young girl (Judith) is left behind at a British boarding school while her mother and baby sister go to Singapore to join the father working there. The war means Judith cannot travel to visit or join them later as intended either. She had two aunts in Britain but her main substitute family becomes that of a classmate of hers, living on a big estate. I haven't finished the book yet (it's a long one - 40 hours as audio!) so not sure yet where it will end. Sometimes I'm finding it a bit long-winded, but here and there it does make interesting points - like about family, friends and what else equals "home" to us, but also how we are affected by various crises, both on personal and national level (like the War, back then - and, reading it just now, also bringing to mind the pandemic which is now the Enemy to all of us, where ever we happen to live).

I know that this morning, I also had more thoughts in my head connecting to this, but now I can't recreate them. I think some were probably to do with other people's blogs I'd been reading, too. I think a lot of us have been struggling a bit extra with coming up with ideas to blog about while being ''@home" more than usual this spring! Alas, it seems that having time on our hands does not necessarily mean also feeling inspired and creative...

Home Office Makeover

‘Santa Per’ (my brother) came visiting this week, bringing Big Parcels from Ikea. He also spent one afternoon and the next morning assembling all the bits and pieces into nice new study/home office furniture for me; and when he left, he took all the old retired things away with him. (Almost. I’m still here…)

Bottom left: Before
Middle: After

Have to say the result feels like a major face-lift, even though ‘only’ three pieces of furniture were replaced. The new desk + two new chests of drawers are blackish brown on top but with white drawers; thus colour matching (more or less) my old bookcases (three tall dark brown ones + a lower white one next to the desk). Just as I hoped, this brought a more coherent look to the room, without making me feel I need to replace the bookcases as well (they still do their job well enough).

The new desk is a little bigger than the old one, and the drawer units also give me a few more drawers compared to before, making it easier to organize stuff. (Or at least hide it!) 

Patience, Please…

To be fair, most of my recent technical troubles have had nothing to do with Windows 10. This message from the W10 update sums it up rather well, though!

My own birthday present to myself for my 60th recently – accomplished with the practical help of my brother (three weekends ago) – was a more or less complete “audiovisual makeover” in my living room, including new (smart) TV, new receiver, new speakers, new Bluray player + some rearranging of furniture because the new TV is wider. I paid for the equipment as such, but he helped me choose, purchase, transport and install - and took the old stuff away to recycling.

    

Moreover, my scanner/printer in the study had been indicating lately (rather loudly) that it had in mind to retire from its duties a.s.a.p. So after having installed the audiovisual system (which my brother had bought beforehand and brought with him), we also went out to get a new printer – which then took more or less the rest of the evening to install, because it insisted on searching for a (seemingly) never-ending number of updates before it declared itself satisfied. (Since then it has been working fine, though.)

Per had to go back home again the next day, and there I was with half a dozen new appliances, almost as many remote controls, and about a ton of manuals, instructions and technical specifications etc (not my favourite kind of reading) …

… and, as of that same weekend, a mysteriously sagging and unreliable wireless internet connection to rule them all…

While trying to work out what was what, most of the time I’ve been getting by with a lot of “turning it off and turning it on again”, though. “It” usually being the router, but sometimes also the TV or phone or whatever.

Somewhere in between, I managed the Windows 10 update on the computer (not sure where I got the courage from).

At the beginning of this week, my main suspects were pretty much narrowed down to two: the router, and/or the broadband itself.

I found out there was a firmware update available online for the router, which might possibly be helpful – and at least worth trying before rushing out and buying a new one of those as well, without knowing if that would solve anything. But before I got round to downloading and trying that update, this Wednesday I lost touch with the internet completely – which gave me reason to call my broadband support.

I’m still not sure exactly what the problem was, but the support guy managed some magic tweaks at his end, and voilà (but not until after a long restart of course) I was back on satisfactory broadband speed.

The breakdown happened, by the way, while I was trying to do my first order in a new online ordering system just introduced by my supermarket… (I’ve been able to order food online from there since last autumn, but they just switched to a new system.) So of course I lost that order and had to start over again when I got the internet back… And then I had to call the supermarket’s online support as well, before I got it to go through (because of unclear instructions).

So that pretty much took the whole day.

The next day (Thursday) I was able to download and install the router update and reconfigure the router settings. Even if there are step-by-step instructions, I find the terminology of all the various outlets and cords and settings etc very confusing (and not always improved by translations…) – so that took me more or less a whole day as well (or at least that’s how I felt).

Not until yesterday did I get round to trying to figure out how to deal with pictures in Windows 10. I’m not really “done” with that yet… (mutter, grumble)… On the whole, my computer seems happy with Windows 10 (it seems to run smoother somehow). But as for finding my way within it…

Ah well. If only the internet stays up, I guess I’ll figure it out eventually…

Just a few more tweaks, perhaps??

No Place Like Home

As comparison to the new apartment blocks along the river (above), representing today’s urban densification, I thought I’d also take you on a little tour around the housing estate/area where I live, which was built in the 1940’s.

Back then, just as today, there was a great need of new housing, but the planning had a slightly different focus: let the people have air, light, and wide open space in between the apartment buildings.

In the panorama view above (taken from the nearby football field), you see the edge of “my part of town” to the left; while on the horizon to the right, you can also spot the modern highrise tower down by the river.

Before the 1940’s, this all used to be farmland. For this town, which is otherwise rather hilly, it is an unusually flat area; and the ‘low’ buildings with quite a bit of space in between contribute to preserving the impression that there is still a lot of sky over our heads.

For a modern day family (with all the “stuff” we tend to add to our lives and homes) the apartments were/are a bit on the small side - but 70 years ago, they were next to luxurious for many who were used to much lower standards. (I have read about “back then” in a book about the local history...)

The street (nicknamed “Yellow Brick Road” by me, but of course in real life it has another name) goes round in a circle (or oval), with lookalike buildings on each side…

… and in the middle a large park area and playground.

For a council housing estate, plenty of open space.

At the south end,  yellow brick meets red. The yellow blocks were built in the early 1940’s, the red ones in the later years of that decade.

Across another street we find more Red Brick blocks. Here, in the post-war section of the area, the buildings are still similar in style and height to the yellow ones, but built closer together. Like with a tad less optimism; or one step closer to the densification idea…

There are playgrounds and lawns here too, but not quite the same generous feeling of open space as in the Yellow Brick area.

One villa from “the olden days” (when this was still the countryside) breaks off the monotony. It has been serving as day care centre. I’m not sure about its future, though… It seems pretty worn-down.

Cross another street in a different direction, and you’ll find other styles of architechture. That variety is one of the things I like about this part of town. Even when I don’t feel up to walking very far, there are choices.

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I intend to link this post to

Tough Love

Today I decided to give my old tired pot plants a bit of TLC. Some just got a  gentle trimming and a scoop or two of fresh top soil. Others might not agree to call the way I treated them “tender”, though… Remains to be seen if these survive:

Left: top stem cutting of a Ficus elastica
Right: leaf cuttings of an African Violet

Linking to Mosaic Monday

Shadow Shot Sunday: First Day of Spring (?)

I caught this Shadow Shot yesterday afternoon, when the sun broke through the clouds for a short while. I was reminded that we’d be entering March today, and that it might be time to also help Spring along indoors. This for me includes changing the textiles in my kitchen (see post from last year); and in the sitting room my primary place to mark the seasons is the top of a low wooden chest (in which I keep some of that seasonal stuff, like curtains and table cloths).

The flowers in the big vase are artificial; over the years I have collected a number of different such sprigs, which I keep changing around from time to time.

The bowl is Spanish and was a 40th birthday present from friends of mine. I also have four small ones that belong to it (glazed white on the outside but with the same pattern inside) which I use for soup, salad, yoghurt, desserts etc.

The glass candlesticks belonged to my mother. I don’t remember when or where she got them from but I quite like them, so decided to keep them.

PS. We’re back to snow/rain/slush again today.

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Linking to Shadow Shot Sunday

Waiting for Magic

I’m still waiting to be connected to the new fibre optic broadband. 1st April turned out to be joke… Well. Not happening, anyway! Since the website still said nothing different today, I did give it a try; but no success. I thought maybe I needed to change some settings or something … But when I phoned my new internet provider, they said the reason it wasnt’ working yet was that the cable has not yet been connected for this area. They hadn’t got any new date yet either. (They’ve now promised to call me when it should be up and running.) Well – as long as I’m not cut off from the old one, I’ve no reason for serious complaints, I suppose…

Waiting…. (new router)

In the meantime, I’m still adjusting to my new chair.

What’s not included in the Manual is the Complete Home Makeover that a Rolls Royce kind of Chair requires:

‘Exuse me,’ it complains, ‘but this carpet that you have here is really not at all what I was designed for. Who ever heard of a rag rug on an office floor?! I can’t get around on this knobbly old thing without getting stuck half the time! Besides, how long have you had it, anyway?! Looks like it’s been through a lot. I’m almost embarrassed to be seen with it!’

I made a quick calculation and had to admit that after 37 years of service, the blue rug rag was probably due for retirement.

So while my brother was here for Easter, we made a little detour to a carpet store.

 

The Chair was pleased when it was introduced to the new Carpet. ‘Just my shade of red!’ it exclaimed. ‘And so smooth… We´ll get along splendidly, I think.’

And so they did. The next day, in the daylight, they ganged up on me and made hints about the curtains.

‘I’m not saying anything about the brownish red,’ said the Chair. ‘That’s almost the right hue. But the other colours… They may have been all right with the old rag rug perhaps, but with the new carpet… It all gets a bit much, don’t you think?’
‘I absolutely agree,’ said the Carpet. ‘There’s way too much green, and they’re too dark, and the pattern kind of clashes with mine. You want something lighter… Also matching my colours, of course – but not so much as to take over!’

So there was nothing for it but take a walk into town to the department store.

‘Hey,’ the Carpet shouted after me as I left. ‘See if they’ve got any with birds on them!’

Fortunately they did.

The curtains were too long and had to be shortened a bit, but the Chair and the Carpet kept cheering me on while I did the job. When I finally got them up, we were all happy – for a little while. Until the Curtains noticed the ironing board cover…

‘Really!’ said the Curtains. ‘That’s one very dominating ironing board cover, isn’t it? Steals all the attention…’
’But it’s not all that long since I bought it,’ I protested. ‘The old one was all worn out, you wouldn’t have liked that either…’
’But those colours… what were you thinking?’ said the Curtains. ‘Big blobs in weird colours on black?!’
’There wasn’t much to choose from!’ I defended myself. ‘And it almost matched the old curtains…’
’Well, we’re not happy with it!’ said the New Curtains, curling up in extra wrinkles. ‘We really don’t need the competition. You’d better get something more neutral.’

‘All right, all right…’ said I. ‘I’ll see what I can find. Anything else when I’m off to the stores again anyway?’
’Yes,’ said the Chair. ‘Do get another one of those sheepskin pads for me, will you? Surely you want one for the neckrest as well as for the armrests? I can’t believe you didn’t think of it at once. You know by now that when I get cold, you do too…’
’You’ve got a point,’ said I.

 
New ironing board cover in white and grey.

Warming sheep skin pads for the chair.

PS. While in the department store, my cellphone beeped. It was my coffee table calling me from the living room, requesting a new table runner…

Mid January

It’s been snowing again since yesterday. I’ve been staying in today, taking down the last of my Christmas things – well, almost. I’m in the habit of taking things down in reversed order to how I put them up. My Christmas tree and various little angels and gnomes and such are usually only up for a couple of weeks around Christmas and New Year. The electric candles and window stars, which I put up for 1st Advent, usually get to stay until mid January. Even now it feels strangely empty without them the first couple of days - even though I put other window lamps back up instead. The outdoor lights on the balcony will get to stay a bit longer though – especially since they’ve just been snowed over again! The red/white kitchen curtains will stay up for a few more weeks too; as will the poinsettia, still thriving.

The Cable and the Consequences

consequence:
‘a phenomenon that follows and is caused by some previous phenomenon’ [tyda.se]

The Hall was mentioned a lot in the [mis]information letters as being the place where it would all start from. However, the Cable’s chosen way in and out of the flat turned out to be the phone jack in my Study. (Which means the Hall did not get involved at all, except of course as entrance for the Guys who did the job.)

From the phone jack the Cable turned left along a piece of wall I did not anticipate would be involved (so nothing there had been moved in advance) ...

… and went up in the corner, to continue steadfastly to the left over the window…

… and magically disappear through the wall into the next room …

… to continue over the windows in that room as well…
… Oops, sorry! We’ll have to move the bookcase! …

(‘Before’ photo from my archives)

… because the new magic cable box turned out to be too big to fit above the old sockets beside the window …

The folded piece of paper stuck in behind the magic box forbids me to plug it in yet. Before I am allowed to do that I shall have to read more INFORMATION that will be sent to me…

Conversation at the end of the day:
Cable guys: We’ll move the bookcase back now…
Terrified tenant: No, no, no… Stop!!!

My photo albums got to sit on the sofa for a day or two – while yours truly did not get to sit much at all.

But “all’s well that ends well” – n’est-ce pas?

The bookcase has gone to live in the study, while one of two small chests of drawers from there has moved into the sitting room instead. (The bookcase is happy, and the chest of drawers will just have to get used to it.)

As for me, I end up asking myself, like blogging friend GB did recently: “Why, oh why, didn't I do this 5 years ago?” (or 4½ in my case, as that’s when I moved in)

Home Sweet Home

My home has been “upside-down” the last week…

“Factually” I was only expelled from home for about eight hours on Thursday (because of a change of windows in my flat, see previous post). It was a fine early autumn day at that (chilly winds, but sunny), and I tried to make the best of it. And yet it felt like an awfully long day (with nowhere to lie down for a bit of a proper neck-rest); which made me realize how lucky I am, not only to have a place to call home at all, but one where I feel at home, and normally quite like to spend as much “hometime” as I usually do/need to.

I don’t mean “realize” like in never having thought about it before (because I have); it just hit me a bit more forcefully than a normal day, as I found myself aimlessly wandering some unknown streets in town, with Paul Simon’s “Homeless” popping up in my head…

So when I got back home in the late afternoon, to my upside-down home, and was met by another realization – that new windows do not equal clean windows, but windows that need extra cleaning before anything else can be done – I decided not to complain but just take my time about it… and be thankful… First of all that the building is being kept in good repair; and second that the timing was “as good as it gets” with this kind of thing. (I much prefer September to December, which is probably how long it will be until they get through all the buildings on the estate.)

I was actually back on wi-fi already on Friday, but my computer has remained “off” the whole weekend, as I’ve been putting my energies towards restoring my home to normal.

Now I’m off to the dentist’s; life goes on…

Time to Tear Down, Time to Build

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:
… a time to tear down and a time to build…
… a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them…
… a time to keep and a time to throw away…”
(from Ecclesiastes Ch. 3)

There is a lot of tearing down and building going on in my neighbourhood this spring. (See also the Friday My Town post at my other blog.)

Instead of the old factory building (3rd photo) there will be new apartment buildings. All part of a strategy to create more housing in or near the town centre.

Four years ago I was looking for a new (although not brand new) flat myself and had narrowed my search down to two streets or areas. At the end of April, 2008, I got the lease contract on the flat where I now live, which is about 1 km from the sites where all the tearing down and building is now going on.

The other alternative I had in mind (although there were no actual openings there while I was looking) would have been closer to where all the action is now. I’m glad I ended up where I did.

When they’ve finished the new buildings down by the river, I might be able to just see the top of one of them from one of my windows (I think I read one is going to be 12 storeys high) but otherwise my view is likely to remain unchanged. (Well – for a while anyway…) And while they’re working on it, the noise is too far away to be bothering us here.

The housing estate where I live was built in the 1940s but in good repair. I do live among a number look-alike buildings, but they are only 3 storeys high, each no more than three entrances wide, and with lawns and trees etc in between; and I don’t have to walk far to see other kinds of buildings. 

From one of my windows I see taller buildings but they are some distance away. In the summer I hardly see them at all because there is too much greenery in the way. Between “here” and “there”, there are trees, a football field, a railway, a street and on the other side of the street an old cemetery with more trees. And between those taller buildings runs the river.

Foggy November morning sunrise.
(In fog the far-away buildings disappear, too!)

End of March fiery sunset (from the balcony).

Linking to SOOC Sunday and Weekend Reflections.