Eye to Eye

 

My appointment with the optician on Tuesday had a different outcome than I expected. What I had taken for a slight change in astigmatism in one eye turned out to be a cataract (which had not crossed my mind). So instead of new glasses (just now), the next step is a referral from the optician to an eye doctor for more testing. A bit further down the line probably surgery. (No point yet in guessing when.)

On the whole, my eyesight (with glasses) is still quite adequate - I've just been feeling lately that my eyes seem to get tired a bit more quickly (especially from reading etc).

"Science has not yet mastered prophecy.
We predict too much for the next year
and yet far too little for the next 10."
- Neil Armstrong -

(Images by AI)

Lights in the Dark

 

Out for a short walk around 4 pm today (just after sunset, but the sky overcast) I noticed that they had put the Christmas lights up in the playground park.

 

 
A bit earlier in the afternoon, between turns to the laundry room, I had also fetched my own little tree from my basement storage room and put that up on my balcony. 

I'll probably keep it "off" most of the time until December; but I know from experience that it's best to put it up on a dry day with neither rain nor snow going on. We've not had snow yet - but actually, when I was out on my after-sunset walk a bit later, there were a few tiny white grains in the air... So probably just as well that I grabbed the opportunity.

Some of the branches on my little tree do not light up any more, but enough of them still do. And unlit, in the daylight, the bulbs look like little white berries, so it still serves as a winter decoration on the otherwise very empty balcony.  

It's All in the Details...

Since I bought the new phone back in spring, I haven't been using my separate camera as much. Yesterday I brought the Sony on my walk, though, and one thing i'ts definitely better at is zooming. I would not have been able to zoom in the fruit on this (crab-) apple tree with the phone...

 

 

 
Framing skies is another thing the Sony camera is better at.

Today both cameras got to take a rest, as I had a haircut appointment, and did not have time to stop for photos on my walk into town.

My fringe is shorter and the rest of my hair alas also a bit thinner - but on the whole, not a bad effort from AI to illustrate my visit to the hairdresser. (At least this time more flattering than weird!) :-)

On my way back home, I popped in to book an appointment with my optician; and got a time for that tomorrow. I have a feeling that at least one eye has changed a bit since my last checkup a couple of years ago. My eyes seem to be getting more tired lately from reading and "screen time". And as that is rather a big chunk of my life, if new glasses can help, it may be worth it... (I did not stay to try out frames today, though, but will await the result of the eye examination.)

"Novent"

A new word keeps popping up in Swedish media lately: Novent, as in a mix of November + Advent. The definition is a bit vague though... I get the impression that the word was invented by people who love decorating lavishly for Christmas and want to bring it all on early; but at the same time, there seems to be others who prefer it to denote "the calm before the storm"... Like, a time to start certain crafts and decorations, and more lights and candles etc - but still a no-no to the colour red until proper Advent / December...  So I guess Novent can really be whatever you want it to be! ;-)

Shops and supermarkets do of course get started on Christmas decorations as soon as Halloween is behind us nowadays - if they even wait that long... 

For my own part, I've probably been moderately noventing long before I ever had a special word for it. November is a dark and dull pre-winter month here in Sweden, so it does feel rather natural to at least start bringing in some more candles and lights; but at the same time I'm among those who don't like starting full Christmas decorations too early.  For my own part, I have very few presents to buy nowadays, so not all that much shopping involved for me; but I do tend to get started early with preparations for Christmas cards and letters (esp. those to be sent abroad).  

Yesterday, we had a break in the rain that allowed me a walk into the city centre for a couple of errands. 

The bookshop downtown has just reopened after having been closed ever since a fire on a the top floor of the building back in June, which caused smoke damage etc even to the shops down on the ground floor. They now have a Christmas tree up already at the entrance to signal that they're open for business again. I went inside to browse for a bit and get acquainted with changes in their layout. Besides getting some refill cartridges for my crossword pens (on my shopping list), I also ended up buying a Christmas present for myself. (As it's one I can't use until next year anyway, I've wrapped it and put it aside to be "half forgotten" until Christmas...)

In a flower shop, I also bought myself two new fake branches for my big brown vase in the living room. (One with needles and small cones, and the other with dark leaves and white berries - both rather discreet.) I have a number of such fake branches (flowers, leaves, berries, all different) that I use in different combinations for different seasons. So when I got back home, I made a new arrangement for Novent...

This in turn also inspired me to a slight change of colour scheme in the kitchen - where I also don't want to "go red" just yet... So for now, I just exchanged a green table runner for a dark purple one.

I don't remember if I showed this tray before - I bought it back in August when visiting my friend Lena's art exhibition on the west coast. (She's a water colour artists and she has some of her works printed on trays and coasters and things like that. I have couple of different ones since before.) 

View from the window. The big trees are bare now but the lilac shrubs are still holding on to their leaves.

Wednesday through Friday

 

Well, it hasn't exactly been "stormy" here - just dripping wet and grey, and me feeling generally Novemberish, and having difficulties coming up with even a good starting sentece for a couple of days. 

No major reactions to the double covid+flu vaccination on Tuesday, though (previous post). A bit sore around the injection spots as expected; but no fever or other "worries".

Happy washing machine  (by Bing AI)

Had the laundry room booked on Thursday afternoon. The problems from last week seemed to have been fixed, and I even got a load of bedlinen washed which I had been thinking of postponing until next week.

Today I had a home delivery of groceries from the supermarket coming. I asked Bing for illustrations of that as well. Still not all easy to get the details right, though...

Well, this looks rather exemplary, and quite ergonomical. "My guys" do not actually have a pushcart like that, though.

 No, no, no... No driving the truck into my living room, please!!!  And really, carrying the bags like that behind your back really must be worse for you than the way my guys do it - however easy you make it look...! (LOL)

Now this is more like it - except that my guy actually somehow manages four or five bags at the same time. It's not always the same driver, but quite often - and he who came today does look a lot like the one in this image! (Not quite Hagrid-size, but almost...)