More Stormy Weather

Another winter storm came blowing in over Sweden from the west this weekend. We called it Egon. It caused a bit more trouble around here than the last one (Svea). Where I live it started with snow Saturday morning but turned to rain later as the wind increased.

To keep it personal, while Svea only ripped the tarpaulin off the bench on my balcony, Egon tried to take the whole bench. He did not manage it, as I noticed the attempt and took the bench inside for the night… I’ve put it back out now (after the storm passed on) with an extra safety strap attached to the rail… I might have to try and come up with something better, though. Should perhaps give up and just put it in winter storage in the basement. But the thing is, I’m used to hibernating last year’s strawberry plants under there… (And often succeed, if not too cold!)

I also did my best (or so I thought) already back in autumn to "secure" the trellis with my clematis plants against the winter storms (middle picture). It seems I did a fairly good job with the trellis as such… But, failing to rip that off the wall, Egon managed instead to mischeiveiously turn over one of the three pots (the one closest to the door). It's back in place now, but whether the plant survived or got broken I’ll have to wait until spring to find out!

I also realised this morning that clothes pins are not much use in a storm, so have now also added extra staples to keep the fabric together. And a couple of extra extra extra wires on top of the whole construction. (It will be really interesting to see if anything survives to bloom in the spring…)

I should perhaps add that Egon caused more havoc around the neighbourhood (and indeed the whole south of Sweden) than just playing around on my balcony though. Trees falling over roads and railroads, power outages, flooded quays and cellars on the coast (it reached hurricane force in some places), even roofs blown off a few buildings etc. However, precautions were also taken by cancelling trains and ferries, and closing a couple of big bridges etc, and I don’t think there have been a lot of bodily injuries to people. What’s been reported on the news has been mostly about damage to nature and property.

Meanwhile, at least I have some cheerful budding going on indoors:

*Amaryllis with three stems (bought before New Year).
*White rose I was given by my New Year Eve guests.
*Purple orchid that has been resting for a while but then decided New Year was a good time to spring some new flowers.

And the Lucky Winners Are…

My New Year Giveaway lottery draw has now been duly performed (by putting folded pieces of paper with the names in the tin above and giving it a good shake, and then closing my eyes while drawing the tickets).

It turned out I actually had four calendars left (three was what I promised); and as the year is ticking on, and as (in spite of postcrossing) I still haven’t run out of inherited stamps, I decided to draw four winners.

And they are:

Scriptor Senex of Rambles from my Chair
Wanda of Got a Minute or Two?
Rae of Sun-Dried Tomato(e)
GB of Eagleton Notes

Well-deserved winners, all four. (But so would any of the others be who commented on that post! That’s why I had to draw lots…) Rae was among the very first followers of the forerunner of this blog back in 2009 (then called The Island of the Voices). Scriptor and GB were not far behind; and have become so much like “extended family” to me that it actually seems odd now to think that there was ever a time when I did not know them (in spite of the fact that I still haven’t actually met them). Wanda officially signed up as follower more recently, but we’ve been visiting each other’s blogs for a good while too.

Congratulations to the winners (and Rae and Wanda, don’t forget to send me your mailing addresses).

And to those who did not win this time – better luck next time! (when and whatever that might be)

And to All of Us, a Happy New Blogging Year!

 

Golden Monday

Sunny, frosty, still and dry this morning; so I went for a walk into town and along the river (following the new path that was inaugurated back in December). The low sun this time of year gives a very golden light - and is totally blinding when looking straight towards it! But with the digital camera one can be bold….

(The artsy pictures in the middle were created by using the “heatmap” filter in Picasa. I had in mind to link to ‘Mandarin Monday’… But it turned out they’re on a holiday break. Never mind!)

After the Storm

We had a storm passing by yesterday (by name of Svea, which is the ‘name of the day’ for 2nd January in our calendar) . I stayed indoors yesterday, but when going out today I could see that the wind had managed to cause a bit of a “mess” even if no major damage just around here. (It also ripped a tarpaulin from the bench on my balcony… But it got stuck against the rail and I heard and saw it and managed to salvage it.)

Trains between here and the coast were cancelled; and one of my guests on New Year’s Eve (who lives on the coast) was one of many who got delayed and had to take a replacement bus instead of the train when going home yesterday (I learned from her sister).

A video on YouTube shows the waves on the coast.
Not as bad as was expected, but still quite impressive: http://youtu.be/5GnU5vv2gW0

PS. For those of you who missed my 1st January post: if you go back to it before 10th January, there’s still a chance to win one of my photo calendars for 2015.

New Year, Leftovers and a Giveaway

I woke up this morning around 9:30 (shortly – it seemed! - after having gone to bed around 1:30), and could not help but start the day with some philosophical bemusements (is that a word?!) – possibly helped along by listening to a philosophical discussion about Time on the radio while doing the washing up from my New Year Eve’s party the night before…

Now here’s my question to you: How come every New Year seems to start with leftovers rather than the clean slates we always seem to be longing for?

A walk around the neighbourhood and seeing all the left-overs of pyrotechnics just proved my point – and reminded me further of politics. (Fiery political discussions here in Sweden during the autumn also included a lot of questions about who laid vs cleared the table for whom.)

I got cheered up when I opened a leftover Kinder Egg with my afternoon tea, though, and found this:

The egg was lying on the table. There were deep cracks in it. Something was moving inside; a funny clicking noise was coming from it. --- All at once there was a scraping noise and the egg split open. The baby dragon flopped out on to the table…’'
---
‘I’ve decided to call him Norbert,’ said Hagrid, looking at the dragon with misty eyes.
(Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Ch. 14)

At least this is something that’s never been on my blog before: A newborn dragon, fresh from the egg!

Naughty little fellow – he coloured my thumb green while we were getting acquainted (turned out he has a tiny green felt pen inside).

Then I taught him to ride the blue-and-orange bicycle I built yesterday (found in another Kinder Egg). And I who thought I would find no use for that. Silly me!

(Yes, we had a fun New Year’s Eve.)

A Giveaway

It so happens I find myself with three spare wall calendars for 2015 (made from my own photos), and have decided to put these up for a giveaway.

(I did the same thing once before, in 2012, to celebrate my 3rd Blogoversary. Can hardly believe three more years have gone by since then!)

All you have to do to have a chance to win one of them is to be a follower of this blog and to leave a comment on this post before next Saturday - 10th January (CET). I’ll then write down the names on separate pieces of paper and have a lottery and announce the winners here on my blog. (If I have an email address I’ll also let them know by email.)

Good Luck!