Weird story of the Summer

Cleaning the bathroom, I noticed what looked like soil behind the toilet. So I removed it. A week later, there was more of it. So I removed it, thinking there's an issue with the sewage that I should fix, so I did that. A week later, more soil. So I opened the lid on the backside of the Ifö toilet and tried my best to clean out that space using the shower hose that just reached there. A week later, same story. And then like a week or so ago this popped out when I did my now weekly cleaning. A dried out wasp nest, a bit unexpected.

Chilly Day

This was my bedroom window yesterday morning. It was a chilly start to the day. The house is old, built by my great grandparents 120 years ago. Double glazing, but from way back when. Supposed to me much warmer today. The forecast says 0C around noon.

Blossa

The brother just left in a taxi, heading for Arlanda. Flying back home to Barcelona after a three-day visit. Out shopping yesterday he came home with a bottle of Blossa so we enjoyed a few glasses of glögg. Also had time to watch the latest episode of På spåret where we knew most of the answers.

Ljuspunkt

Yet to use a camera in December, but after lighting a candle yesterday, I snapped this photo using my macro lens on the old Canon 77D. And then someone at Flickr pointed it out that it is första advent today. First Sunday of Advent, so why not. Back when my mother was still around she always asked me to fix a Chandelier de l'Avent, and I would then go for a walk in the forest at home picking up some vitmossa, also known as fönsterlav for that. I can't do that today because of the snow, so this will have to do.

Fire in the sky

This was the sunset yesterday afternoon. Shot from home. We were expecting a snow storm overnight, but so far it has hit the island of Gotland, and parts of Northern Stockholm. So no new snow at my place, but it was a windy night and there were quite a few broken tree branches in the back garden. As I am typing this it is very calm, but cold, around -7C.

Smörgåstårta

The brother came home from Barcelona for Christmas and the new year. Now it looks like he will stay on for a bit longer thanks mainly to the pandemic. Yesterday he decided to play Chef and made this Smörgåstårta. I'm not going to give you the recipe, but there are plenty around if you wanna give it a go. I just came back home from a longish e-bike ride in the 5C weather, where I got a few cool Winter scenes that I will show you in a couple of days time. Eating a big portion of the smörgåstårta at the moment and it is preety good. Happy New Year.

Solar-powered headphones

Back in the early Summer, I read about a new pair of headphones that were on their way to the market. From the Swedish maker Urbanista. Cordless, of course. Sleek. And solar-powered! I saw myself riding my eBike wearing them all the time and never having to see them go out of power as they charge non-stop. They also have Noise-cancellation, so you have the option to hear the traffic while riding, which is vital. So I ordered them on the spot. And then I waited, and waited. And I received an email that said soon, very soon. Then more waiting until earlier this week when they finally arrived! You can quick-charge them using the charger I use for my smartphone, so forty minutes after I got them I was wearing them. And they sound great.

Klara Kristalova Monograph

I sold a photo of a sculpture, made by the artist Klara Kristalova to the French publisher Perrotin last year. To be used in their book about her work. I met Klara quite a few years ago now when she visited the park in Tungelsta to repair her sculpture Touched by Flowers. Earlier this week I got a copy of the book.

Piggelin

This is Piggelin. A local hedgehog. Been a regular all week. Twice, when there was no cat food out on the veranda Piggelin walked into the living room and ate the food in there. The cat, Tindra doesn't seem too bothered, but she looked a bit concerned when Piggelin turned over her water bowl. Yesterday evening after a longish dinner Piggelin fell asleep at the plate. I tried to get a few photos of the sleeping hedgehog but managed to wake it up as I walked out but that just got it's appetite up again!

Fjärris

Swedish word of the day. Fjärris. I got another julkapp yesterday. Took a while to install it, but the new Xiaomi Mi Box set-top box is working fine now. With this tiny remote, I can now control Netflix, HBO, C More, Viaplay, Prime Video, YouTube, and anything Google. This probably means that I will be watching a lot of TV in the coming weeks and months.

Self-quarantine

Been doing a lot of that lately. The most exciting thing that happened today was nothing at all, but I did take a photo of this coffee mug.

Free Tuna!

People are panic-shopping in my area. Supermarkets are all out of toilet paper, pasta and other necessities. All thanks to the Coronavirus, of course. I often shop from home and got a delivery from Mathem yesterday evening. Quite a few items were missing from my order, and I also got a number of things that I hadn't ordered, including some tuna. One email later and it was sorted. I could keep everything and they gave 800SEK to shop for next time. Oh, and the cat will enjoy the tuna.

Happy New Year!

The view from the veranda at Midnight.

The Dome

The dishwasher gave up. As they do. Ordered a new machine. As one does. With "free" installation, and removal of the old one. But the delivery guys refused to install the new machine as there was a big water leak under the machine. They told me that I had to move the socket before they would come back. And that I needed a qualified electrician for that job. That was in October. Been doing the dishing by hand ever since. This very cool dome appeared this evening while I was doing the dishing-up. Could be some sort of sign I guess. And as this will be my only photo for the day it will be my 59th photo in the 100 Days Of Darkness project

Kardemummabulle

Swedish word of the day. Kardemummabulle. Cardamom Bun. Recipe here.

The wooden figurines

My dad had a few hobbies. One such pastime was wood carving. We only have three of his figurines left and here they are.

A Treat

My mother have home care. Three times a day she gets a little help from Haninge hemtjänst. They prepare her lunch and help her with clothing, and toilet visits if necessary. They also see to it that she takes her medicine. They did one better today. They baked her some "kubbar" using my grandmothers recipe. And they were very tasty.

National Gingerbread Day

We have been eating "Pepparkakor" in Sweden for 700 years. The first known pepparkaka was baked for medicinal use by nuns. Later a Swedish King, Hans (he ruled over Sweden, Norway and Denmark), was ordered by his doctor to eat pepparkakor as it would make him a nicer person (he was a bit on the grumpy side). Anyway, yesterday we celebrated Pepparkakans Dag, or National Gingerbread Day!

Say hello to Pigge

I was just out on the veranda when I met this little fellow. He said he was here looking for those tasty bird seeds. I call him Pigge. He is a hedgehog or as we like to call them an Igelkott.

Nearly Finished

We are having the house repainted. It looks like it will be finished tonight. All that is left for Sławek and Edek to do is to put up the new veranda roof and paint the wall under the ladders. It has started to rain and we can hear thunder not that far away...This is three photos stitched with Autostitch.