Down Memory Lane

I don’t know the name of this tree/shrub. If anyone can enlighten me, please do! It grows in the old cemetery and was at its most beautiful a couple of weeks ago.

I’m having a busy time packing this weekend as I’ll be going away on a little trip for a few days with my brother. From the items spread out in my flat just now one might assume I’m going to the end of the earth and planning to stay away for at least a month… In reality it’s just that there’s so much stuff I need (or might need) these days, even for a short trip. And it’s been such a long time since I last went anywhere at all that I’m out of practice when it comes to packing.

I will be taking a break from blogging until I get back; but I do hope to keep my camera busy. It will be a trip down Memory Lane for me (or at least partly). But I’ve never been there with a digital camera before!

…

Linking to
Shadow Shot Sunday2

Young Gulls–Part 3

Hey, look at me! I’m swimming now!

It’s easy, really… Comes natural to me, somehow.

Oops. Seems I ran aground in the shallow waters…

But how does one get up from here? That’s an awfully steep wall! (squeak) Mummy, help… Where are you??

It didn’t look quite like this where I got into the water…

O
   O
      o

Hey, you up there, stop laughing at me – you haven’t seen my Mummy about anywhere, have you?

Not to worry… I do think Mum (or Dad) is still keeping watch…

…

No, of course I don’t know if these are “my” gulls. Probably not. But “mine” would probably be at just about this stage too by now… (About to begin flying lessons as well, but still not awfully good at it.) It’s been a month since I first saw the “babies”, and a web page I found says it takes 35 days before they are ready to fly.

 

Part 1 – Baby News
Part 2 – They Grow Up So Fast

Ruby Tuesday

Some more photos from my walk to the Textile Fashion Center & Museum on Saturday.

Colourful flowers on the railing of one of the many bridges crossing the river in Borås town centre.

  

This plant in one of the parks was recently mentioned in our local newspaper. It’s an agave plant. When grown in greenhouses (as ours are – they are taken in every winter and planted outdoors again only for the summer), it is rare for them to bloom – and it takes decades before they do. But this one is about to now. Whether I’ll happen to be passing again at just the right time to take photos of it at its best, remains to be seen.

The Textile Fashion Center, including Textile Museum and Textile College, café/restaurant and a number of textile related businesses.

The sculpture House of Knowledge by Jaume Plensa, acquired by our town last year and placed in a symbolically powerful position between the Textile College and the rest of the University.

Lounge area in the entrance hall within the Center.

The sculpture Cloned Frogs on Gala Dress by William Sweetlove (that for a while seemed to appear all over town) now resides here, too.

You’ll find several older posts of mine both about the Textile Museum and the sculptures by clicking on the label Textile Fashion Center below.

Linking this post to Ruby Tuesday Too

Mosaic Monday: Siskins

“Hey, there’s water down there, but how on earth does one reach it?”

On Saturday afternoon, on my way back from town, I sat for a while to rest by the fountain in the old cemetery. While I was sitting there, a whole flock of these birds came swooshing down to explore. They were very small, and kept their distance (to me) and did not sit still for long. My first thought was “sparrows” but then I noticed how colourful they were. So I just kept zooming in and taking lots of pictures, hoping some would come out good enough for me to compare with my bird book when I got home.

When I did, I arrived at the conclusion they must be

European siskin – Grönsiska
(Carduelis spinus / Spinus spinus)

Quite common here in southern Sweden according to the book (and Wiki) but I can’t remember seeing them before. Maybe they were just travelling through… They were still there on Sunday morning, though. Not at the fountain, but elsewhere around the cemetery. We were back to rainy weather again then, but I went for a walk around the cemetery anyway.

Haute Couture

On Saturday I went to see an exhibition at our Textile Museum presenting the World of Lars Wallin, a Swedish couture designer. He made lots of costumes for various kinds of shows and events like the Royal Opera, the Eurovision song contest and and the Nobel Prize ceremonies.

  
It was a very impressive collection of costumes and dresses. As I have an annual pass to the museums in my town I might go back again for another look.

 Shadow Shot Sunday 2