Thunder and Rain

 

Linking to Skywatch Friday 

On Friday afternoon the heatwave that has been ruling here for the past week started to break up, as thunder and rain showers began rolling in from the south-west. The showers have been brief but violent. The night indoors was still hot and clammy, as one could not leave any windows or balcony door open. Nor can one do so today, even if just going out for a short while. 

I did venture out for about 20 minutes around noon today, just for a "breather". I only walked 10 minutes in one direction and then turned around. The three photos above show my view of the sky on the way back. I managed to get back home dry, but shortly after, a sudden gust of wind blew shut the balcony door with a big bang (I had opened it wide when I got back in) and the heavens opened again. (The folding umbrella I had brought with me on my walk probably wouldn't have helped much.) 

This weekend of thunder is likely to be followed by a whole week of cooler weather (even under 20C) and also quite a lot of rain. Whether one considers this a blessing or a curse probably varies a lot from one person to another! Personally, I welcome the drop in temperature, and I know that nature is thirsting for rain... No guarantee how long it will be before I'll start complaining about it being too wet, though! ;)

Eye Test

   

The heat wave here (fairly short compared to further south in Europe) can now be declared over. Today I needed to put on a light jacket for my walk into town, and my foldable umbrella came in useful on the way back. 

The photo above is one I borrowed from myself from a few years ago. Today, with a walking stick in one hand, an umbrella in the other and the rest of my "things" in a backpack, I had no hand free to take photos... ;)  

 

My main errand today was an eye exam originally booked for last week, but which I had to call and postpone because it got too hot for me to go into town.

No such problem today; and as it didn't start to rain until later, I arrived at my destination neither too hot nor wet. 

The result of the examination was that some minor adjustments could this time be made for a pair of new glasses; while at the same time my optician also did not see any need to refer me back to the eye doctor just now, as my problems of "that kind" don't seem to have changed. So I decided to go ahead and buy new glasses; after all I've had my old ones for 5 years.  

So before leaving the shop I also tried on some frames. I ended up taking two back home with me over the weekend, and will go back at the beginning of next week to "close the deal". Both those I took home with me were on sale. I do actually know which one of those that I prefer... But I might also want to have one last look around  next week before making the final decision. After all, I'm likely to be living with my choice for a couple of years at least! 

Recently,  I came across the following two "eye tests" of other kind online. At least I can brag about managing those without running into any major problems. Can you? ;) 

 

 

March

 

Sunset photo from 8 March 2025

1st March today, so I'm posting the March photo I chose for my 2026 photo calendar. I've not seen any similar sunset yet this year - but at least the snow is almost completely gone now. 

It's been raining quite a lot instead, though, so lawns and gravel/sand paths around here are very soggy at the moment. I haven't been out much over the weekend, but tomorrow I have to - and am telling myself that I'd better choose properly paved walkways, with no shortcuts across wet lawns! (...which was how I came to fall and injure my knee back in October...)

No family birthdays in March, but a few friends. Remains to be seen if I'll manage to remember to get greetings sent off in time!

Weekend Reflections, and Storm Amy

 The Calm Before the Storm 

Wednesday, 1 October 2025

Friday, 3 October 2025

October is Breast Cancer Awareness (and fundraising) month here in Sweden - and if memory serves me right, I think in a number of other countries as well (?) Anyway, when walking into town on Friday, I found these temporary pink decorations added on one of the bridges across the river... Reminding me both of the friends I have lost to breast cancer over the years - and those who survived. (Note to self: Make an extra donation to cancer research.)

The Storm 

With sunny and calm autumn weather all week so far, it was almost hard to believe the forecasts about the storm expected to blow in over us on Saturday, and likely to wreak havoc here and there. I decided to take the warnings seriously, though, so spent Friday afternoon taking in some things from my balcony.  I took my foldable "sun chair" down to winter storage in the basement, made room for my geraniums on the window sill in the living room, and even tied my wooden bench to the balcony railing. Felt a bit silly doing that with the sun shining from a perfect blue sky - but...

... when Storm Amy arrived on Saturday, she did prove to be quite capricious. I can't say I noticed her wreaking any serious havoc just around my street (and we stayed connected to electricity and internet all day) - but I followed her adventures on my local newspaper app during the day, and it seems she behaved quite badly elsewhere in town, uprooting and throwing big trees around (blocking roads, and damaging buildings), and even managed to tear an old steamboat loose from its jetty in the lake north of town...  
 

My own photo of the steamboat on a calmer day...

Photo from our local newspaper

The photo above, copied from the local newspaper's website, shows how a tree fell on an apartment building (not in my street, but another part of town). Luckily it did not break any windows, but it caused some damage to a couple of balconies. 

Today it still kept raining all day; but in the afternoon the wind had died down, and I went for a short walk around a few of the neighbouring buildings in connection with taking out some rubbish to the bins at the corner. (Only about 10 minutes or so, though, and in spite of both umbrella and raincoat I also felt need to change my trousers when I got back in...) 

Linking to Weekend Street/Reflections 

 

Skywatch Friday

 

Sunday

Tuesday

It's been a week of weather warnings here, but until today, just where I live, nothing much has come of the warnings to do with thunder, rain and flooding. This Friday afternoon we did get our share of it though: with lightning, several clashes of thunder so close and loud that they made me jump, and "the heavens opened" to suddenly let all the water down at once. For a while, the footpaths that I see from my windows seemed to turn into little brooks... The rain fell pretty much straight down, though;  and a few hours later, the earth seems to have managed to absorb most of it around here (as far as I can see from home).  

From the local newspaper's website I gather that it was worse in other places, though! (The photo below is a screenshot from the local newspaper's website; photographer anonymous.)

(not my own photo)

Linking to Skywatch Friday

Unpredictability

 

Coleus plant brought by my friend

My friend E.A. came visiting today, and brought me this coleus plant. Very similar to the one(s) I already have; but not exactly the same:

Coleus plants on my balcony, from cuttings of an older plant of mine.

 As I know coleus can shift quite a lot in colour depending on how much light they get (they get much paler indoors in winter) it will be interesting to see if they will continue to differ, or if they will become more alike with time.

Our original plan for this afternoon was for E to drive us both to a lakeside café on the outskirts of town. However, the weather forecasts for today turned out as threatening as yesterday (i.e. more or less predicting the end of the world by lightning and floods). So I suggested that if she was brave enough to venture out at all, perhaps a cup of tea and a muffin in my flat would be adventure enough. She accepted, and as things turned out, she even managed to get a lift with her husband rather than driving herself. (He had some errands in town and then came back to pick her up again after a couple of hours, when he was done with whatever it was he had planned.) 

Just like yesterday, lightning and floods decided (presumably) to hit on some other spot rather than just around here, and all we got was some rather ordinary rain. My friend and I both agreed that "staying home" was still a better choice for this afternoon, though.

Looking at various weather apps for tomorrow now, it seems that we may then expect warnings for temperatures rapidly rising to "too hot" instead... Ah well. As Scarlett O'Hara (in Gone with the Wind) would have said - "I'll think about that tomorrow"! 

Paradise?

 

I'm not sure of the name of these flowering bushes, but my Google Image searches indicate that it's pobably what you call Beauty bush in English, while in Swedish it is known as Paradise Bush (paradisbuske). Anyway, there are lots of these in bloom in the old cemetery just now; and that's as far as my walks took me over the weekend. Heat + grass allergy had me rather tired, and uninspired for longer outings.

On Saturday, I made the discovery that there now seem to be at least three hares living in the cemetery, because first I spotted the two I already "knew" to the left of me, but disappearing into a hedge before I got the camera out - but then when I turned my head, there was this one sitting on the other side of the path... 

(Little fountain in the cemetery)

Today the midsummer heatwave broke. I haven't heard any actual clashes of thunder nearby, but we had some torrential showers, and the temperature has now dropped considerably. I optimistically thought I'd manage a short walk to a convenience shop 5 minutes away before the worst of the rain... But ended up in one of the worst downpours - and even if if somewhat protected by my umbrella, that does not help much against additional sudden flooding on the ground... My shoes (supposed to be fairly weatherproof) and socks got thorougly soaked in just a couple of minutes... 

As I was so close to home, no major disaster, though! ;-) 
 

Sun and Rain

Saturday (May 31) offered sunnier weather than Friday; which I assume was probably good for business on the second day of our spring market. Personally I did not feel inclined to join the market crowd a second time, though, so did not extend my walk that day further than to the southern end of the city park, to check on some of the purple rhododendrons there - which are seriously impressive when in bloom:

Closer to home, there is a Golden Rain tree (Laburnum) in bloom. These always bring back childhood memories for me, as my grandparents had a whole hedge of them in their garden.

 On Sunday it was raining; but there was a break in the downpour in the afternoon, and I managed a short walk (snapping a few raindrop photos without getting too wet myself):

Rhododendron (left) and azaleas (right), and a glimps of the chapel in the background.

Rhododendron

Rhododendron

 

 
Google image search tells me that these green leaves are hostas (also known as funkia) - a name I tend to forget from one summer to the next...   

 

I also noticed some "wild" roses (dog rose) in bloom. 
(Like with many other flowers this spring, it seems a bit early?)

 

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet..."

Romeo and Juliet, Act II, Scene II 

A Rainy Day

 

As predicted, a rainy and chilly day today - but I ventured out for my usual walk anyway. (Dressed in four layers, with rain coat on top; and rubber boots on my feet!)

The azaleas didn't seem to mind a long, cold shower... :)

At home, I took in my geraniums from the balcony last night, just to be on the safe side... Probably not necessary, as they stand on the bench close to the wall - but I think I'll keep them indoors for another day or so. (I'll definitely not be sitting out there looking at them tomorrow either, according to the weather forecasts...) 

Photo from a week ago (on the balcony).

"Mother and babies"

I've been taking cuttings from a coleus plant that survived the winter, and planted those yesterday. (They're super easy to propagate.) Some of those will also go out on the balcony later. I'll be keeping them in individual pots as that makes it easier to rearrange things according to the weather etc.

Rainy Week, and Discussions with AI

It's been a grey and rainy week, and as you may already have gathered from yesterday's post, I've not been in my most inspired mood. 

Before I asked Bing AI for illustrations of "tired and uninspired" yesterday (the results of which actually cheered me up!), I had made some attempts to explore another AI image generator: Craiyon. It did not impress me, though. I only downloaded a very few examples:

Today, it occurred to me to ask Microsoft's new Copilot the question from my post yesterday: "Why can't AI spell?"  

In my first attempt I'm afraid I phrased the question a bit too personal...

Me: Why can't Bing Image Creator spell?

Copilot: I apologize if there was any inconvenience caused. As an AI language model, I don’t have direct control over the Bing Image Creator, but I appreciate your feedback. If you have any other questions or need assistance, feel free to ask! 😊

 

Oops, in spite of the smiley, someone seems to have taken offence... Better rephrase!

 

Me: Why can't AI image creators manage spelling?

 

Copilot: AI image creators, like any other technology, have their limitations. While they excel in certain areas, they may struggle with others. Here are a few reasons why spelling errors might occur in AI-generated images:

1. Training Data: AI models learn from vast amounts of data, including text. However, if the training data contains spelling mistakes or inconsistencies, the AI might inadvertently reproduce those errors.

2. Context and Ambiguity: Spelling correctness often depends on context. AI image creators lack the understanding that humans have, which can lead to misinterpretations. For example, the word “lead” can refer to both a metal and a verb, leading to different spellings (“lead” vs. “led”).

3. Noise and Noise Tolerance: AI models are sensitive to noise (irrelevant information). If an image contains noise (such as artifacts or distortions), it might affect the generated text, including spelling.

4. Complexity of Language: Spelling involves intricate rules, exceptions, and regional variations. AI models may not always capture these nuances accurately.

5. Trade-offs: AI creators balance various factors, such as fluency, coherence, and relevance. Sometimes, spelling correctness takes a back seat to other priorities.

6. Feedback Loop: AI models improve over time with feedback. If users report spelling errors, developers can fine-tune the model to enhance accuracy.

In summary, while AI image creators have made significant strides, they are still evolving. As users, we can provide feedback to help improve their performance. 🤖📝

 

Excuses, excuses... (LOL)

Autumn Is Coming...

Thursday (previous post) may well have been not only a Late Summer Day, but even the Last Summer Day ...  Since yesterday we're back to rain pouring down again, and I've been donning full rain gear for my walks - including the wellies that I bought for our recent trip to the coast...