Pelargoniums

 

I haven't been sitting on my balcony much this summer, except for a very short while now and then. On sunny days it's been way too hot - and otherwise too windy (or even wet). The balcony faces south-west and the sun comes round the corner around noon and stays until sunset. SW is also usually where our winds and rain come from here, though... And the showers we've had this summer have often been of the torrential kind. 

The pelargoniums (geraniums) that I bought back around Midsummer have been thriving, though. Because of the weather situation they've remained standing on the wooden bench against the wall under the windows (the most protected place); and I've been out to water them manually almost every evening. (A couple of times earlier in the summer when there were storm warnings issued, I took them in over night.)

The photo above is from today - which for a change has been rather rainy, and the temperature suddenly as low as around 14C (57F) all day!

The photo below is from my blog post 23 June, when I had just bought them:  

Photo from my blog post 23 June

  

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.)

The First Week of June

 

The first week of June offered rather "mixed" weather, with high risk of showers most days - so I've mostly been keeping to short walks. On Wednesday 3rd June, I managed a walk into town for a few errands and back again without getting wet, though. 

 

On my way  home, I passed by this really massive hedge of purple rhododendron in the park (photos above and below):

 

Besides stocking up on tea from my favourite tea shop, and a few minor things from the pharmacy - all of which I managed to fit into my small backpack - I also visited a flower shop to buy two flowering pelargoniums. Maneuvering a walking stick with one hand these days, one extra bag is as much as much as I can manage!

As I'm not (at least not yet) sitting on the balcony much, I placed the pelargoniums indoors for now. One in the living room (above) and the other one in the kitchen (below).

 

 

 

This time of year, I have a very green view from the spot at the kitchen table where I always sit - for example at breakfast. 

 

I bought a new black tea blend with strawberries, mango and lemon in it to try out. (I like it!) (A direct translation of the Swedish name to English would be "strawberry straw"...) 

 

Thursday afternoon was laundry day for me and I don't think I went outdoors at all - but from the laundry room down in the basement I could enjoy this "different" view of the rhododendrons outside (through a small window high up on the wall):

 

 

Friday the 5th was rather rainy, but dressed in a raincoat I managed my usual "recycling walk" + a visit to a small shop on the way back to buy some fruit & veg. (Fresh strawberries included! I think probably Dutch rather than Swedish, though.)

 

6th June is Sweden's National Day and a public holiday with  traditions attached. There are usually celebrations in the city park in the afternoon and I assume that was probably the case this year as well. The weather that afternoon also turned out rather good. But personally I didn't quite feel up for a walk into town just to mix with crowds of people this year. So I just went for a quiet stroll on my own in the cemetery, where the azaleas were still in full bloom:

 

 

 

 

And in the evening I watched parts of the national celebrations in Stockholm on TV. Below is an official photo I copied from the royal family's website, of them traditionally joining the crowds at the open air museum Skansen in Stockholm:

Princess Madeleine and her husband Chris O'Neill; Prince Carl Philip with his wife Princess Sofia; King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia; MrAndreas Norlén (Speaker of the Parliament), Crown Princess Victoria with son Prince Oscar and husband Prince Daniel. The queen and the princesses all wearing a national folk costume in yellow and blue (the colours of the Swedish flag).

Busy times for the royal family just now, as the King and Queen will also be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary next weekend. (They got married 19th June 1976, but as in 2026 that date happens to be Midsummer Eve, the official celebration will be held the weekend before.) 

 

Busy Bee

 

Yesterday I sat for a good while on my balcony, watching this busy bee making the most of the pelargoniums next to me. 

 
    What do you call a bee that can't make up its mind? A maybee.
    What do you call a bee that misses its target? A fumble bee.
    How do bees communicate with each other? They use bee-mail.
   
 ---

PS. "Pelargonium is a genus of flowering plants that includes about 280 species of perennials, succulents, and shrubs, commonly called geraniums, pelargoniums, or storksbills. Geranium is also the botanical name and common name of a separate genus of related plants, also known as cranesbills. Both genera belong to the family Geraniaceae, and Carl Linnaeus originally included all the species in one genus, Geranium; they were later separated into two genera by Charles Louis L'Héritier de Brutelle in 1789." (Wikipedia)

Autumn Continues

 

The temperature dropped rather drastically yesterday. While it was sunny in the daytime I took the opportunity to remove the plastic floor mats from my balcony - newly "washed" by a night of heavy rain, so hung them on the railing for a while, and then rolled them up and took them in to dry in my bathroom for a day or two before I take them down to the basement for winter storage... (Also made a bit of an effort to sweep/mop the balcony floor after, although the result of that is not likely to last very long...) 

Before I went to bed last night, the outdoors temperature had dropped all the way down to +2°C (35°F), so then I also hastened to  take in my two geranium plants, which were the two flowering plants I had left out there. Probably a good thing that I did, because this morning the lawns outside were covered with frost (for the first time this season).

This afternoon, I once again passed by the bench where I made my little "autumn collage" the other day. Rain and wind had now removed one more leaf and the chestnut on top of it. I decided to replace them! (We have a saying in Swedish that goes something like "you don't have more fun than you create yourself"...)