Seasonal Routines

 

I cut the brown autumn leaves off my strawberry plants (last week) - and found "spring" waiting underneath... Seeing that, somehow I could not quite bring myself to put them into winter storage just yet! The soil is also very wet from all the rain lately. So for now, I've just moved them from the rail to on top of the bench against the wall (a bit more protected from the rain). Before it turns really cold I intend to wrap them up in  newspapers and put them down under the bench - as I do every year. (The bench in turn is covered with a tarpaulin over winter so they're pretty well protected under there, and usually survive.)

It's been raining a lot this past week. Yesterday was another day when it just kept pouring down and I didn't set foot outdoors all day. (Got my exercise doing the laundry this time...) This morning when I woke up, it was still raining. But I was in luck - it stopped around noon, before I needed to go out and take a bus across town to get my vaccination for the seasonal flu. This year, they are coordinating that at the same arena as the corona vaccinations. This time too it was all amazingly efficient. Almost no queue, and having booked time online I was in and out again in less then 10 minutes (with this vaccine not having to stay and meditate for 15 minutes after the jab...) Still not raining, and not too cold, so rather than wait 20 minutes for the next bus, I decided to walk back home, which took me about 45 minutes (which it would have done anyway, if I had waited + taken the bus).

Pretty much all the leaves have fallen to the ground now, so no photo stops on my way home, I just kept walking...

In about three weeks, I expect a repetition of the procedure, as then it will be time for my 3rd covid jab. (Just heard today that for my age group, 65+, they've just shortened the time between 2nd and 3rd jab from 6 to 5 months. So hopefully I'll be able to get it done well before Christmas.)

Pretend Shopping

It feels like ages since I last set foot in a clothes shop. I think it was early/mid January. Before the corona outbreak anyway. Not that I'm sure I'd actually have bought anything during this period of early spring anyway. But in normal circumstances, I know I would at least have gone inside a few shops in the city centre for a look. But as things are, I have avoided that.

Today, I played Pretend Shopping at home, by going down to my storage room in the basement to fetch my summer clothes. While most of my clothes are kind of all-year-round, there are also some summer/winter clothes that I switch with the seasons. (Like, in summer I don't need my warmest winter coats and boots taking up space in my wardrobes upstairs; and in the winter I don't need my summer dresses, shorts or tank tops.) 

The older I get, the more exciting the spring/autumn "pretend shopping" gets. Especially with my summer clothes, there's almost always something nowadays that I had forgotten about (until I see it again)... So, the present social distancing situation aside, it's really a good idea anyway to go through my wardrobe properly before I decide if I really need to make any actual new purchases!

 
 

Clothes Swapping

 

The weather is getting more and more autumn-like, and I'm beginning to feel the need to change the contents of my wardrobes from light summer dresses to warm woolly cardigans...

Living in a textile-focused city, every now and then I read/hear about various clothes swapping events; but as far as I can remember, I haven't yet really taken part in one. (I have handed in a few items for one or two such events - primarily wanting to get rid of them! - but I can't recall finding anything I wanted in return.)

Luckily, I have my own private clothes-swapping system, though - which means that every spring and autumn I shift some clothes between the wardrobes in my flat, and my basement storage room - and forget about the ones in storage for a while! Yesterday, in connection with washing day, I felt it was time to start the autumn swap. In particular, there was a certain long cardigan and a pair of "winter" trousers that I wanted, and did remember that I had put away. However, when I got down to the storage room, I discovered several more items of winter clothing that I had totally forgotten about! (Or at least had not been missing them yet...) Probably a good idea both in autumn and in spring to check my own storage spaces before I'm tempted to go out and buy something new (only to come back home with something and then later discover that I already had something very similar - which I have to confess has happened... As I do tend to feel drawn towards certain styles and colours!) 

As for the photos above, I may possibly have blogged these before - but I'm pretty sure they're not from my own wardrobe...! ;)  (They are from a fashion exhibition at the Textile Museum last summer, 2018.)

The Colours of Autumn

Graham recently wrote about Winter (on the Isle of Lewis). Here in south-west Sweden – pretty much on the same latitude on the globe – even if we sometimes get frosty nights already in September, I don’t think of it as winter until the leaves have fallen off the trees, and taken all colour with them. For now, I’m glad to say, we’re still in the full glory of Autumn. Nature’s own fireworks celebration before going into winter rest…

Here’s the tree I see from my kitchen window, Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday this week:

And here are more autumn photos from my recent walkabouts (some wet, some sunny):

Horse chestnuts

Fly agaric, 3rd October

Same fly agaric, 10th October

‘Ölandstok’, Dasiphora fruticosa.
In Sweden, this shrub grows wild on Öland (the island off the east coast that I visited this summer and from where I have been sharing plenty of photos recently). But it is also common in gardens and parks around where I live.

What-A-Week-Ramble

What a week it’s been. Weather-wise Monday started out with almost spring-like weather, followed by snowfall in the evening. On Tuesday everything was covered in the white stuff; but the sky all grey (while forecasts had predicted sun). On Wednesday, not a trace of snow left, and the sun shining from a blue sky (while forecasts had predicted rain). Thursday back to heavy rain and storm! Friday sunny again, but still windy and very chilly.

My brother drove down on Monday and arrived before the worst snowfall set in. He and the dog stayed at The House outside town, but he stopped by here for a cup of tea since he had to go into town to pick up some things anyway.

Tuesday morning he came in again to fetch me, and we both spent the day at The House. The chairman from the local history society also came over (as planned), to have a look at our inherited “archives”… 

… What?! I wrote “chair(wo)man”, and the “wo” turned into a little briefcase! That’s almost as distracting as walking through a doorway!!!  …

… and she ended up relieving us of several carrier bags (not briefcases) full of old notes and photos from our granddad (who was a journalist with special interest in local history). The local history society will have a look at these and then pass them on to the Town Archive to be kept there for the future.

It’s still really just a drop in the lake… But it’s a start!

Wednesday was Per’s birthday, so I took him out to lunch at a restaurant in town. Later, back at the House, we went for a sunny walk down to the beach…

… er, what beach?! The water is so high this winter that there is almost no beach left to walk along! Compare the view in summer:

Thursday Per went back home. Outside it rained and it rained and it rained… Well, for my part I had indoors things to do anyway – like taking down Christmas decorations. My window lights may remain up for another week or so though: Gradual withdrawal treatment!  … (Besides, I might need an extra week to make sure I’ve found all the gnomes…)

 

Macro Monday: Leftovers

▲ Recent find in the park▲
  ▼Back in the summer – I think they looked like this ▼

It’s Macro Monday at Lisa’s Chaos

Autumn Starts Here (… or?)

Today felt like the first day of Autumn, because:

1. My alarm clock was on in the morning.
2. I needed a jacket and an umbrella.
3. The air smelled of rain and – autumn.
4. I went back to my regular training in the Rehab pool, which opened again today after 5 weeks ‘summer holidays’ break.
5. When I got back home I found that my usual daytime TV ‘soap’ (British Emmerdale) was also back on after a summer break.

In other words: Back to Weekly Routines!

Not sure I feel like I’ve really had a Summer Holiday, though.

On the other hand, I have to remind myself it’s not quite like I’m going back to Work, either. Aside from the limitations that are the reason why I’m in early retirement… I still have a lot of freedom.

The picture above is of a piece of artwork on the wall in one of the hospital corridors I walk through to get to the rehab center.