Clematis Progress

Feels a like a miracle after the long hard winter to see my clematis on the balcony bursting out into lots and lots of flowers!

I’m even more excited because this plant has a history. Click the link to read what I wrote about it last summer.

I know I have some readers with a very keen eye for detail, so in case you wonder about the different leaves at the bottom, those are false. (One is supposed to protect the part near the roots from the sun.) And the plant on the left is a geranium which has spent the winter indoors in a window, and has just been moved out.

Upwards and Onwards

Tomorrow is Ascension Day in the Christian churches, in memory of Christ’s ascension into heaven. This day is still a holiday in Sweden. It is always celebrated 40 days after Easter, on a Thursday. (Those who can, often take the Friday off from work too, to get a long weekend.)

I had a post on this day last year, entitled Ascension and Attention. Follow the link if you’re interested in finding out why we also associate this day with the cuckoo.

This year, Ascension Day is not very likely to tempt a lot of people to rise from their bed early and go out for a picnic breakfast. At least not around where I live. I suspect even the cuckoo might prefer a sleep-in. In spite of my screen name, I definitely will… Wednesday we’ve had heavy rain all day and only around +5°C (41°F).

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‘I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.’  - Jesus in the Gospel of John, 16:28

‘The farther up and the farther in you go, the bigger everything gets. The inside is larger than the outside.’  - C.S. Lewis, The Last Battle

Photo: Looking up a hill, the ground covered with wood anemones. © DawnTreader 2010

Spring Flowers Collage

I know that some readers of this blog also follow my photo blog – DawnTreader’s Picture Book – but in case you are among those who don’t, I’m taking the opportunity to remind you of it’s existence.

The collage of early spring flowers above is a “summary” of more detailed pictures and facts I’ve been sharing in the Picture Book this week, starting with the post Springtime at the Old Mill on Tuesday 4 May.

Seeing that the individual pictures get very small in a collage, here they are again:

 
 
 
  
 

Focus

Sometimes the camera and I don’t quite share the same idea about focus. My idea was to have the close-up flowers sharp, and the background blurry. The camera had a different opinion. Anyway, spring is coming along, even if slowly. This was three days ago. Since then it has just been getting colder again. +6°C and rain today… brrr…

 

In the Jungle, the Mighty Jungle…

I know that most readers of this blog don’t understand Swedish. I just “have to” include this anyway, even though half the joke gets lost in translation…
 
Brother, dog and I went for a walk in a nature reserve in the countryside again this weekend. (It is quite close to where our dad lives.) From a meadow, a path along the river leads into a wood of mostly alder and birch. Here and there there are signs to tell you what you’re looking at…




For some unfathomable reason, this one sign among all the others seemed to be directed at children rather than adults. First of all they call the alder wood a “jungle”. (?!) Then they go on to say that “in this jungle, there are no dangerous predatory animals or elephants…” (elephants?!)
“But if you look down into the calm water…”
 


… Any idea yet what you’re looking at? …*
 


“… you may see some insects walking on the surface of the water. These are called water striders, and they are predators hunting for other small insects…” 
 


“… using their proboscis.” (Swedish: snabel)
 
You tell me! - but I do suspect that the proboscis joke gets even more lost in English than in Swedish, since with the elephant you usually use the word ‘trunk’…? Even in Swedish, if and when you finally get it at all, the whole jungle joke still feels so far-fetched and out of place that it makes you go “aaargh”…!


* Sorry, to get close enough for a proper macro shot of the insects I would have had to step into the water, and since unlike the water striders I’m not able to walk on the surface… Well, anyway - the black ‘dots’ are their shadows on the bottom of the river (you can see they have quite large feet!); and in the enlarged picture the striders themselves are kind of purplish in colour.

In the Jungle,
the mighty jungle,
the lion sleeps tonight.
In the jungle,
the quiet jungle,
the lion sleeps tonight…
A-weema-weh, a-weema-weh,
a-weema-weh, a-weema-weh…

PS. Would you have known how to spell that ? I mean “a-weema-weh”… Another thing I never gave a thought until just now! But I found it on the Web. Of course!

Quotation of the Week (18/2010)

It's spring fever.  That is what the name of it is.  And when you've got it, you want - oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so! 
~ Mark Twain ~

Wood Anemones – Anemone Nemorosa – Vitsippa

Slow Spring

We're still having chilly, even frosty nights here, and spring is slow.
My clematis on the balcony however is coming along...
(Picture taken tree days ago.)

I'm not feeling at the top of inspiration at the moment. Tomorrow I have another hospital appointment - not related to the eye problem and not of emergency kind, but I'm not sure how much waiting around etc it might include. I also have some income tax forms waiting to be dealt with within the next few days (for myself and for my father).

I have a couple of more Picture Book posts already pre-scheduled, though, so they will (hopefully) be showing up even if I'm actually busy with other things.

Surprise

One of our earliest and most beloved wild spring flowers is the Hepatica. It is not all that common, in some parts of Sweden it is under a special protection law (i.e. you're not allowed to pick it). You usually have to go to special places in the countryside to find it; it doesn't grow just anywhere. So I was pleasantly surprised to find it growing in a spot next to a stone wall in a cemeterery in town that I was walking across the other day. (Not planted on a grave; although I suppose it might have spread from a plant someone brought some time).

Balcony Gardening

April 2010

Every spring when the sun comes back, so does the itch to plant things...!

On my previous balcony, which was a little bigger than the present one - and also a bit more protected from sun, wind and rain - I used to have quite a garden in the summer (see below). I settle for less greenery now (this flat, including the balcony, has other advantages). But of course it's early days yet, spring just getting started.  


July 2007

Enjoying the Sunshine

We're enjoying beautiful spring weather now, and they say it is going to continue over the next few days. So I was inspired to "move outdoors", i.e. to fetch my deck chair from the storage room in the basement to the balcony, for the summer season. My balcony faces south-west, which is perfect in the early spring and in the autumn. On a really hot and sunny summer day however it gets too hot there in the afternoon. But on the whole... comparing it to my previous flat, where the balcony had morning sun... It really prolongs the summer season to get the afternoon and evening sun instead. Monday afternoon I was out there for two or three hours; planting some more flowers, and then just sitting in the sun, and reading a bit - wearing jeans, but short sleeves. And it's not even mid April yet! After the long, cold winter we had... it's a very special feeling to be able to do that again!

And my clematis plant has survived the winter, too! :)

Spring Is Here

There are more and more signs of spring. I can’t remember the name of these blue flowers (in any language) – I think they’re some kind of runaway garden flower rather than properly “wild”. I found them in a small grove close to some apartment buildings yesterday, together with mini daffodils…

… and some more Small Tortoiseshell butterflies…

It’s good to see them back!

Sorry the pictures are a little blurry, I’m not terribly good at bending down to the ground and holding my camera completely still at the same time…!

Another sign of spring is the sound of the gulls. I live an hour’s drive (or so) away from the coast, but they follow the river (I suppose) in the spring and come inland. Yesterday afternoon, I sat for a little while in the sun on my balcony… Closing my eyes, hearing the gulls, I get the feeling of being by the sea… I also see them circling in the sky high above me, but no use trying to catch them with my camera from that distance. 

There is definitely life in my clematis plant on the balcony – the buds are swelling. But the box of garden strawberry plants seemed to have given up.  (I’ve had that box for years without being able to add any new soil, and this winter was extremely cold.) So I’ve got rid of that now.

Butterflies and Parcels

Not sure I've experienced it before: +14°C (57°F) with snow still covering the ground in many places. Strange! And I swear a saw a butterfly! although I was too far away from it to determine what kind. Seemed rather big and dark, so possibly a Red Admiral - I was just reading about those the other day and it seems they do hibernate and sometimes come out early. From its aimless fluttering over the middle of a town street I got the impression it was feeling a bit confused. Probably regretted getting out of bed, because there would still be some difficulties finding any breakfast...

Myself I've been to the supermarket twice. First in the morning, and then again in the afternoon, because the supermarket is also nowadays the post office.

Ordering things on the internet is simple, but the actual delivery is sometimes another matter. In this case, a couple of books. On the internet order form I chose a private delivery service, and to pick up the parcel at a small shop close to where I live. Then I got one of those double-checking questions: "Are you sure? Because according to our information, that's not the closest place to where you live." Well, excuse me! I live here. Trust me, it would be the most convenient place for me to pick up the parcel; that's why I chose it. Even if the zip code might indicate something else.

Okay, they seemed to accept that. Then I got an email: They had packed my books, and were feeling confident that the parcel was small enough to fit into my mailbox, so they were going to send it as a letter through the post. Well, good for them, although I did not quite share their confidence. Then I got a cheerful text message from the Post Office: They just wanted to let me know that a letter had been handed in to them and was on its way to me. Isn't that nice? Being made such a fuss of, you almost begin to feel like an Important Customer, having ordered something really Valuable. But then of course today they ruined the illusion by another text message, in a harsher tone of voice: They could not deliver my letter. If I wanted it, I had to come and get it.

Ah well. Never mind. Two weeks ago it would have caused me problems. Today, with spring in the air and the pavements ice-free - not so much. Even if I really do think the parcel/letter would have fitted into my mailbox (=slit in the door)...

Walking Into the Future

I'm feeling relieved just being able to go for a walk again, without having to keep my eyes fixed on the ground every step of the way to watch out carefully exactly where I put my feet.

Even the withered remains of last year's verdure are a welcome sight as they turn up again from under the snow.



Have to steel myself against the curious looks from passers-by, though. What on earth is that crazy woman with the camera finding so interesting about the old stone wall surrounding the cemetery?

Springtide

The ice is breaking up, and on its way to Nowhere.



Four swans flew north over my head and shouted hello,
but did not have time to stop to have their photograh taken.



The snow is melting.



Puddles everywhere on the ground, mirroring the sky.



Some green buds are beginning to show.



... and I planted spring flowers on my balcony!

Spring Cleaning

Whilst I'm convinced that anyone speaking fluent Swedish would "get" this picture immediately, I'm feeling less sure about my English-speaking friends. I had to go to urbandictionary.com to find the word Dust Rat in English. (The Swedish equivalent is quite commonly used.)

Anyway, I've been doing a bit of Spring Cleaning this week, inspired by a few sunny days, and the fact that an old friend whom I hadn't seen in a long time was coming to visit today.

Unfortunately, yesterday the sun went into hiding again, and for tomorrow the weather forecast predicts another round of snow or slush.

We don't want more snow, we have plenty of left-overs as it is. What we need is a real Spring Cleaning, getting rid not only of Dust Rats inside, but of the Snow Heffalumps outside:

First Signs of Spring

Today I woke up with the inside of my head feeling foggy. Looking out of my windows there was fog outside too. And still -8°C on the thermometer at around 8 o'clock in the morning. We have been having some very cold nights again; and in spite of rain last week, and sunshine over the last few days, winter is still keeping us in its grip.

This has been quite a busy week. I heard there is something called Post Busy Itis going around.[ ;)] Since my sort of Busy can hardly quite be compared to either Heather's kind or GB's, I'm not sure that my Post-Itis can either. Maybe we all have our own kind?

Anyway, after two months of not much going on at all except the daily struggle with the winter weather, I managed to squeeze in no less than two "cultural events" in the same week. With Photography and Blogging Responsibilities, that also generates quite a lot of Afterwork! (And after that, the Post-Itis.) The first cultural Event was of course my visit to the art exhibition on Thursday, resulting in no less than three blog posts (scroll down, or see Blog Archive). And before I even had time to finish those, there was another Event yesterday, when our Town Hall celebrated its 100th anniversary with an Open House.
I'll be getting back to that, with pictures, another day.

But aside from that, yesterday was also the first day I felt that in spite of all the ice and snow still attacking us both from below and above (making our feet slip, and threatening to fall down on our heads from the roofs at the same time) - spring IS on its way!

My balcony faces south-west, and yesterday - ta-daa! - it was completely snow free! So I finally had a chance to take down the Christmas (!) lights that have been decorating the railing ever since late November! Moreover, I took the opportunity to give the balcony floor a wash, and then took out my "camping chair", and just SAT for nearly an hour in the sun. Well wrapped up, but still. There's nothing like the FIRST time, after a long, long winter...

I also, with great curiosity, took a close look at the shrivelled remains of my clematis plant. There couldn't possibly still be any life left in those delicate stems after a winter such as this, could there? Well... actually... maybe...???!

At least a few houseleeks have evidently survived, although they weren't even covered (except by snow). But then I notice, looking them up in Wikipedia, that in English they're also called Liveforever (Sempervivum)!

Simple But Promising

These blueberry branches came with the bouquet of tulips  I got the other week. They are still "alive" and developing buds, serving as a reminder that winter will eventually be defeated; even though this morning the thermometer was again down to -20°C.