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.)

Seeking Shadow

A huge oak tree in a park 10-15 minutes walk from where I live.

I got an email yesterday from someone who was worried because I hadn't posted on my blog for a few days. In case anyone else is wondering too, perhaps I'd better put in a couple of photos with a few words to reassure you that all is well! We've just been having a bit of a heatwave, and it's been too hot to spend much time at the computer, that's all.

 
On Friday, I also had a visit from and old friend since 40+ years and her husband. (He's an old friend too by now! but it was her I knew first.) And 10+ years since we last met "in real life". We've been keeping in touch via Facebook, though, so it didn't quite feel like all that long ago... Or perhaps it did... Or not... It seems to me that Time keeps getting weirder and weirder the older I get!!!

Anyway, I got a surprise message only the day before, saying they'd be in my town the next day and could we meet? Taking corona restrictions etc into account, we ended up having a picnic outdoors where I live. (Conveniently, benches and a table in a quiet spot literally "around the corner" happened to be free.)

Looking at the photo that my friend's husband took, some lyrics by Paul Simon come to mind for me now...

Old friends
Old friends
Sat on their park bench
Like bookends
 

---

Can you imagine us
Years from today
Sharing a park bench quietly?
How terribly strange
To be seventy 
(sixty-something!)

Old friends
Memory brushes the same years
Silently sharing the same fears

Time it was
And what a time it was
It was . . .
A time of innocence
A time of confidences

Long ago . . . it must be . . .
I have a photograph
Preserve your memories
They're all that's left you

From 'Old Friends' by Paul Simon

Shadow Shot Sunday

This iron fence and its shadow caught my eye on a walk around the old cemetery today.

And so did this sunny flowerbed: surrounded by shadows, but enjoying the spotlight of the sun in the late afternoon.

When walking through the 'valley of shadows,' remember, a shadow is cast by a Light. Austin O'Malley
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/austin_omalley_119089?src=t_shadow

Linking to Shadow Shot Sunday 2

Shadow Shot Sunday: Playground

Cheating a little bit here… These are really Thursday shadows. Today has been all grey and wet, and I haven’t set foot outdoors!

Shadow Shot Sunday

This month of May seems determined to go to history as the warmest, sunniest and driest since anyone started keeping records. At this rate, we may have Autumn by Midsummer!

Actually, this weekend I had a sense of autumn already, as it was windy (although still hot and dry), and all the elm trees around town seemed to have arranged to let go of their seeds all at once… Whirling around in the air like snowflakes; and then rustling along the streets with a sound reminding of dry leaves in autumn.

(If anyone is wondering about the lollipop shadow behind mine – it’s a traffic sign.)

Quite a few of these seeds also land on my balcony; and even seek their way indoors through open doors and windows… Well, at least - unlike various tree pollen! - they’re too big to inhale… ; )

I have sooo many pictures, and soo little time that I can comfortably spend in front of the computer in this kind of weather… I was out at the lake Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon. On Monday I stayed two hours, the other days only one hour. On Tuesday it felt worth it, but on Wednesday it felt almost hotter out there than back at home! - and nowhere to sit in the shadow. I think these horses in their paddock found it a bit hot as well.

However, out on the little peninsula, in the half-shadow under the trees there, I was happy to find some lilies-of-the-valley growing.

Good Friday Shadows and Reflections

Playing with reflections and shadows on a playground today!

These shiny objects can be found in a little park near a tall apartment building close to the river.

In spite of sunny weather, it’s still bitterly cold.
The snow is melting away in sunny spots;
but in the shadows, winter still reigns.

Hmm… I think I’d better turn round and take another way here…

Later on, my heart took a little jump for joy when I spotted these tiny signs of spring on a sunny edge of the town park:

Only a few steps ahead, it still looks like this:

That mural cheers one up on any day, though!

Not Far To Go, Anywhere In Hjo

Square, beach walk, park, tourist office… Everything seemed to be just a short walk away in Hjo.

Ice cream café by the river

The sign on the little wooden cottage says ”soap factory”. Checking things up on the internet now, I see that in spite of the “olde” look, this seems to be a contemporary local business (in an old building) – producing and selling their own ecological soap, and related products.

The square

Hjo Church (see separate post from last Sunday)

Randomly wandering the streets on our way back to the hotel, we happened to also come across an enclosed “mystery” estate. We never quite got a grip of whether it was public or private. Either way – a charming environment for whoever it may be who is so lucky as to live there.

Saying goodbye to Hjo, and driving on south…

We made five more stops on that last day of our trip, on our way back home. Each of those stops involved a church; and each one interesting in its own right. (I’m pretty sure I’ve never visited so many churches on one and the same Sunday before!) … I’m thinking of saving those for “Inspired Sundays” to come (one church  per weekend); and get back to posting some other things in between.

This weekend, I’m linking to:

Shadow Shot Sunday 2 

Shadow Shot Sunday

It's raining here this Sunday... But never mind - I still have more sunny pictures from earlier in the week to share!

We're now leaving the enclosed beach area, crossing a bridge over the river, and going for a little walk  along a path with the river on one side, and summer cottages on the other. 

 No diving from the bridge, please!

Melampyrum nemorosum is an herbaceous flowering plant in the broomrape family, Orobanchaceae. It is native to Europe. In Sweden it is called "natt och dag" (Night and Day).

I was happy to find this beautiful flower growing here by the river. I'm not sure if it's really rare, but I've only seen it in one other place before that I can remember - and that is in a certain spot close to where we had our house (at the other end of the same lake). There I remember it even back from my early childhood, when the house belonged to my grandparents, and I sometimes walked in the woods and fields near the lake with my grandmother. It was still growing there a few summers ago (and hopefully still is!). 

Time to turn around - and on our way back, to look at bit more at the cottages on the other side of the path... I didn't go up close to any of them, though - not wanting to intrude on anyone's private space! 

 . . .

Linking to Shadow Shot Sunday 2