Lilacs and Global Warming

May 16

 

May 16

May 24

Lilacs are in bloom now, and have been for a while. Back in my childhood/youth I used to associate lilacs with the end of the school year, i.e. the first week of June or so.These days they seem to come into bloom at least a couple of weeks earlier. 

Even scientists seem to agree that spring does start earlier than it used to; connected to global warming. 

Do you have the same feeling where you live, connected to memories of your own?

Hanging Out with Doves

 

Passing through the park in the city centre on Monday this week, when the weather was summery and warm, I noticed this group of girls hanging out peacefully with a flock of doves.

A question for my readers from various corners of the world: 
Do you call them doves or pigeons? 

The internet tells me there's no difference: 

They're all from the same big “Columbidae” family of birds. “Pigeon” is simply the name the French gave to them – from the Latin “pipio” for the peeping sound chicks made. Meanwhile, “dove” was named by Germans – for the bird's diving action. But there's no difference.

In Swedish we call them "duvor" (sing. duva, pl. duvor).
The German word is Taube; and Swedish is more closely related to German than to French.

Linking to Skywatch Friday and Weekend Street/Reflections. 

A Rainy Day

 

As predicted, a rainy and chilly day today - but I ventured out for my usual walk anyway. (Dressed in four layers, with rain coat on top; and rubber boots on my feet!)

The azaleas didn't seem to mind a long, cold shower... :)

At home, I took in my geraniums from the balcony last night, just to be on the safe side... Probably not necessary, as they stand on the bench close to the wall - but I think I'll keep them indoors for another day or so. (I'll definitely not be sitting out there looking at them tomorrow either, according to the weather forecasts...) 

Photo from a week ago (on the balcony).

"Mother and babies"

I've been taking cuttings from a coleus plant that survived the winter, and planted those yesterday. (They're super easy to propagate.) Some of those will also go out on the balcony later. I'll be keeping them in individual pots as that makes it easier to rearrange things according to the weather etc.

Rhododendron

 

From summer temperatures yesterday, we were back to a maximum of around 11C (52F) today - and my hooded warm jacket and more weather-proof shoes back on for my usual afternoon stroll around the cemetery... 

The azaleas are still glorious, but I'll be focusing on rhododendron in this post. They are a bit later than the azaleas and not all of them are in bloom yet -  and that will probably be slowing down further with the return to cooler temperatures. (Expected to be even colder tomorrow.) 

The three photos above are all close-ups of flowers on the tree in the top photo - which is facing south, and has been getting quite a lot of sun. (On the north side of the same tree, most of the buds are still "closed".)  

This arrangement of rhododendron + other bushes and plants in varying colours is found in the "central park" of the housing estate where I live.

More rhododendron can be found right outside some of the apartment buildings.
(All flower beds are a little different from each other, though.)

More Azaleas

 

We've been enjoying a couple of summery days here, with sunshine and temperatures above 20'C. (24-25 today)  Apparently, that's not going to last though -  they're now saying that in a day or two we should not be too surprised to even see some snowflakes mixed with the rain...! (It's very dry, so we could indeed do with a bit of rain - but snow seems rather "unnecessary"...)

Anyway, yesterday I decided to give both myself and my new tablet a rest from the headaches to do with app installations etc, and try to enjoy the outdoors instead. 

So I went for an "early" walk into town for some errands (not super early - but before lunch, rather than after). And in the afternoon, I was able to sit for a an hour or two on my balcony in relative peace and quiet, under a parasol, relaxing and listening to an audio book, without feeling neither too cold nor too hot. (A rare occurrence, as it's usually either too cold, too windy, too hot, or too much noise from neighbours to spend much time out there...) And a bit later still, I went for a another walk around the cemetery, to check on the azaleas - and to try out a new pair of summer shoes that I had bought in town:

Very light and airy and comfortable, at least for a shorter walk. (Upper part and lining textile; sole underneath light plastic, reminding of crocs.)

Today turned out even warmer - but also windy, so not a "balcony day". But it was also laundry day for me anyway; so that didn't matter much. I was able to both start and finish early with that task, though, so I also had time for another "azalea walk" afterwards...