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 

I Beg Your Pardon...

 

Yesterday afternoon was a bit too hot for comfort for me, and I ended up sleeping through most of the afternoon (indoors). (But then not very well in the night...) 

 

This morning was a bit cooler and overcast, but not yet raining, so I went for a walk into town to stock up on tea in my favourite tea shop at the main square. On my way home I passed by the Rose Garden in the town park, which as usual offers a lovely variety of colours in late summer. 

 

 

In the afternoon it started raining again - and forecasts say we can expect quite a lot of  showers throughout the rest of the week. I guess I'll just have to take it as it comes...

I beg your pardon
I never promised you a rose garden
Along with the sunshine
There's gotta be a little rain sometime
When you take you gotta give so live and let live or let go

Rose Garden

 

We had a sunny afternoon on Thursday, and then I went for a walk to the park in town - where the roses are now in bloom. Many of them did look a bit battered from all the heavy rain lately - but they do still offer a welcome splash of colour.

I also bought myself an ice cream at the ice cream café in the park. Mostly for a bit of "holiday feeling" as it was really almost too chilly to sit outdoors and eat ice cream.

 

I fed the Bing Image Creator a few variations of the theme "woman in rose garden eating ice cream" but wasn't impressed with any of the results. Just for fun, I'll show you some of the worst this time:

 

Top left: I started out with "Woman sitting on a park bench in a summery rose garden, eating ice cream from a beaker"... Have you ever seen anyone sitting in that position on a park bench?!

Top right: I added "cartoon style", and here I'm wondering 1/ what on earth is she holding? and 2/ why is the back of the bench twice as long as the seat?

Bottom left: I left out "beaker", and added "Picasso style". I don't think Picasso would have been happy - and what are those objects behind her on the bench?!

Bottom right: I tried Rembrandt instead, but I doubt he'd have been pleased either...

I Never Promised You a Rose Garden

 ... but here it is anyway...

We've been having a sunny week, and the Rose Garden in the City Park is in full bloom. These photos were taken on Tuesday, when the temperature was also rather pleasant for a walk downtown. The rose garden looked pretty much the same today - but it was several degrees (C) hotter. Too hot for my liking, really - but not much to do about that, except sit and have an ice cream in the shadow for a while before walking back home again (along the river, and in tree shadow where possible).

Stop and Smell the Roses

 

Photos from the rose garden in the town park (last week).

“Take time to smell the roses.” – Proverb

“The world is a rose, smell it, and pass it to your friends.” – Persian Proverb

“Those who don’t pick roses in summer won’t pick them in winter either.” – German Proverb

“The rose is a rose from the time it is a seed to the time it dies. Within it, at all times, it contains its whole potential. It seems to be constantly in the process of change: Yet at each state, at each moment, it is perfectly all right as it is.” – Paulo Coelho

 

Rose Gardens & Politics

From a rose garden I passed by last week

 

♫ I beg your pardon, I never promised you a rose garden
Along with the sunshine there's gotta be a little rain sometime
When you take you gotta give so live and let live or let go
I beg your pardon, I never promised you a rose garden ♫

Lynn Anderson's old hit came to mind while I was pondering how to present this post, following up on the situation in Swedish politics. (Feel free to skip the politics, and just enjoy the roses and the music, if you prefer! Full Youtube video hopefully included at the bottom, if the link works out as intended.)

Today our parliament took another vote, this time with the result that our previous Prime Minister (recently resigned after a vote of no confidence against him in the parliament) made a comeback and was elected as 'new' Prime Minister. An outcome that was more or less expected - at least since Monday, when the opposition's candidate stepped down, declaring that he had not been able to find enough support to form a new government. 

The new government will be pretty much the same as before, i.e. a minority government consisting of the Social Democrats + the Green Party. However, their position now may be seen as even weaker, as old agreements have fallen, and one minor support party, the Liberals, has joined "the other side". And the two support parties that remain, the Centre and the Left, agree on very little except that they do still prefer this government to a right-wing alternative which would include the "extreme right" party, the Sweden Democrats.

Whether the government will also manage to gather enough support in the parliament to pass their budget later on in the autumn, still remains to be seen, though. Our PM Stefan Löfven is known as a skillful negotiator but this may be his toughest job so far. On the other hand, no one on either side is likely to be keen on a snap election only months before the next regular election in September 2022... So I suppose they're hoping to make things work until then somehow, with compromises, and by postponing the most controversial issues.

Rose Garden

 

♫ I beg your pardon, I never promised you a rose garden
Along with the sunshine, there's got to be a little rain sometimes
When you take you got to give so live and let live or let go
I beg your pardon, I never promised you a rose garden ♫  (*)

I'd actually love a little rain along with all the sunshine right now! However, it looks like we have another few hot days ahead... The roses in the park seem to be enjoying it, though. (Photos from a walk into the city on Saturday, before noon.)

 

 

Ice cream before lunch. The world is upside down! :)
("Lejonet & Björnen" = The Lion and the Bear. Trademark.)

 

 (*) Rose Garden - The song sung by Lynn Anderson back in the early 1970s came into my head while looking at the photos... (Video from YouTube)