Bringing In Spring

It may be too early yet to start looking for proper signs of spring outside… But as usual around this time of year, I try to bring some spring feeling into my kitchen.

Nothing much going on otherwise – except I’m almost getting dizzy from watching hours of Olympic figure ice skating (going round-and-round-and-round). I really don’t know why I got so mesmerized by it this year. (I guess partly because it happens to have been on at a time of day – late afternoon/early evening – when I’ve been home but too tired to do much else anyway.)

Alexander Majorov did well for Sweden today in the men’s short program (no 10 out of 30 and flawless performance).

Postcard from Sochi

Those of you who know me well, also know that I’m not a big sports fan. Four weeks ago I would not even have been able to say where the Winter Olympics were going to be held. But three weeks ago, I received notification in the form of postcrossing postcard. So at least this time I knew before the games started!

Actually, I’ve just watched three hours of figure ice skating. That’s just about the only sports I enjoy watching. I suspect it has something to do with music and sparkly clothes being involved. Maybe the other sports should have a think about that!

Entrances (Friday My Town)

▲The entrance door of an old inn, now serving as summer café in our museum park. (The buildings in this park were moved here from various places in the countryside in the early 1900s, to be preserved for the future.)▼

The cellar door at the back of the same building ▼

Old wooden church originating from the 1690s, and a gate in the stone wall surrounding the churchyard.▼▼

Old cottage of a kind that was in use in these parts of Sweden between the Middle Ages to the mid 1800s. The keyhole-shaped entrances were supposed to bring luck and represent wealth.▼

From a walk (last summer) in one of the older parts of Borås, with apartment blocks from the early 1900s. (Norrby, for those who are more familiar with the city.) I don’t think I’ve actually blogged about these before. ▼

I find these houses fascinating because of the variations of style within the same block – especially the entrance doors!

Friday My Town Shoot Out: Entrances

Excuses–or lack thereof

 

When not too personally involved, I’ve been known to be pretty good at coming up with excuses for strange things people do (sort of trying to argue their case for them when they’re not there to do it themselves).

Sometimes, though, I have to confess I find it very hard to figure out any reason at all for very minor offenses. Like: Who steals a dish-washing brush – and why? (From the common laundry room in the building where I live. The brush was there last week, but gone today. I know the same one has been there for months, neither brand new nor so worn out that it deserved to just be thrown away. Unless something very serious happened to it since last Wednesday!)

More frequently, it’s the dishrags that disappear without trace. I usually end up donating a new used (but clean) one myself, as it does not seem worth the hassle of a phone call to complain about it. At the same time I just cant help wondering who takes them, and what on earth they do with them!

Any creative suggestions?

PS. I stole both pictures from the internet, out of pure laziness.

Hope Springs Eternal*

After a very cold and snowy end to January, we suddenly had thaw again this weekend. Nature seems as eager as I to just skip the winter month of February and go straight on to March.

*The title refers to the famous quote by Alexander Pope:

Hope springs eternal in the human breast;

Man never is, but always to be blessed:

The soul, uneasy and confined from home,

Rests and expatiates in a life to come.