and there it was.
Thankfully the road was still frozen when we started walking, it wasn’t when we came home.
I do wonder why the ones working at the Swedish weather forecast service SMHI get paid at all 🙂 No sunshine, no warm weather and no fog what so ever. If the Norwegians can get it right why can’t the Swedes? All week they’ve promised sunny and spring temperatures and to be honest, we’re not close to that. It is however rather nice outside since there’s no wind at all and it is warm enough to make the roads muddy again after a reasonable cold night. It could be worse though, March can be a nasty cold month with lots of snow so I guess this is better after all 🙂
It sure isn’t beautiful down stream the creek any more but I hope it will be again.
Today I had decided that I would reach the lake in the bog and my biggest problem before we left was if I should bring the Hasselblad camera, loaded with B&W film. I decided I would left it at home because it does weigh almost 2 kg (over 4 pounds) and the bag has a tendency to squeek. At first it was like SQUEEEEEK, SQUEEEEEK, SQUEEEEEK all the time. I tried everything to stop it doing that and tape was the best thing I could find. Now the bag says sqrrek, sqrrek, sqrrek instead but at least more quiet but I can tell You that the sound does drive anyone insane after twenty minutes 🙂 🙂 >Naturally I should have brought it even if I would have gone mad long before we reached our goal.
So we walked down to the creek and the first thing I heard was a couple of cranes shouting in a field nearby, that is a wonderful sound at least as long they just are a few. When they reach over 20 000 it’s an awful sound 🙂 I saw a fox hunting out on a field and it too heard the cranes. It can of course not take a crane unless the bird is more or less dead but as the opportunist it is it started walking towards the sound. The snow and ice on the ground cracked with a sound of an explosion every time I took a step so I knew that the fox most likely would be the only animal we would see on our walk. We did however see a few cranes, trumpet swans and geese fly above us though.
I followed the beekeepers instructions on how to get to the lake and when the creek reached its end it split in two, one towards north and one towards south. We followed the one towards north and did after a while find something looking like a path, the snow-covered it pretty good but it was visible every now and again. It felt like we had been walking for hours (which in fact we actually had 🙂 ) and I was almost to the point of turning back since I thought I’d misunderstood the instructions when I finally saw it, the lake.
Here the creek splits in two, we followed the one towards north.
I think this might have been one of the places where one controlled how much water would leave the area.
The pines out here don’t look healthy 🙂 They are probably much older than I am.
The last few meters we mostly walked on ice I think. It is a swampy area where we finally reached the lake but thanks to the cold nights the ice still carried my weight. It is absolutely quiet out there, I think there is one property just beside the lake but that’s it and if I now the authorities right they have most likely forced the owners to sell because that is what they have done with all other landowners close or in the nature reserve. The authorities say they want to protect the area but since they now have forbidden any restoration of the ditches letting the water out of the area the water level will rise as soon as those ditches stop working. When that happens all the places they want to protect will drown so it is a somewhat strange way to protect anything 🙂 Well, in time I’ll get a lake property with zillions of biting flies all summer long, am I not a lucky guy 🙂
Finally! We’ve reached it!
The end of the creek. It felt like I had found the source of the Nile 🙂 All standing photos are more manageable if You click on them.
The last part was filled with grass and Bog myrtle.
I think we were out for almost 3,5 hours and we all took a nap when we came home. To be honest, I’m not sure anyone of us wants to go out again today but I’ll make a try later. It is time to make a pot of tea and then some more sleeping in front of the tv 🙂 So was it worth walking out to the lake? Yes it was 🙂
We can only see a small part of the lake and I’ve looked at maps but aren’t quite sure where this is, I really need to buy that map which shows even the tiniest of paths and creeks. I will come back here again. There is an easier way, I can drive much closer and get there by a walking on a bigger path the last hundred yards but that’s no sport 🙂
Have a great day!
Then we walked back home again.
I did see the Blood Moon.
My car will be at the garage tomorrow to get a few things fixed before the annual vehicle inspection on Wednesday. Nothing big so I didn’t expect any expensive bill to pay but then! I had just started to back out my car from my parking space when it suddenly had no power at all, the engine just died. So I started it again and it seemed to work fine when I slowly started to drive forward.
- I got a visit from a little Robin yesterday.
Once again it had no power to speak about, it sort of jumped forward and it smelled really strange. I thought that there was no use in stopping and feel sorry for myself so I forced it forward and for about 100 meters (much the same in yards) it didn’t work well at all and it smelled even stranger. Then suddenly it went back to normal and worked like a clock all the way home??!!
- Salmiak wasn’t happy to see us 🙂
I’ve called the garage so if it doesn’t work tomorrow they’ll come and get me. The garage owner thought that it might be the turbo that broke down but then there should be lots of dark smoke coming out the exhaust pipe and the car shouldn’t work as a clock at any time after that. I know he was speaking about a sensor the last time the car behaved strange, it wasn’t that sensor that time (it was another sensor) so perhaps it is that one this time. I’ll know tomorrow what it was.
I slept for almost four hours last night! 🙂 I know it was almost exactly four hours because I woke up because I coughed so badly just before 1am, I went downstairs drank some water, took a photo of the not yet blood moon and went back to sleep and didn’t wake up until the alarm started at 5am I went out just in time to see the blood moon and tried to take a photo but it was so dark that I would have needed to use the tripod and that was just too much work 🙂
It is time to make some food and I’ll also have a table-spoon of absolutely fresh honey, the beekeeper just gave me a jar 🙂 This year it is a much milder honey, the one he got last year was a tiny bit bitter.
- And four Minolta photos.
Have a great day!
New Neighbors.
My new neighbors 🙂 The cows moved out from the pasture a few days ago and yesterday the sheep moved in. Neither of them seemed happy about it, both cows and sheep made quite a lot of noise all day 🙂
It looks like it is the Norwegian weather site that once again is right about today’s weather. The Swedish one said sunshine all morning and cloudy for the rest of the day, The Norwegian said cloudy this morning and lots of sunshine for the rest of the day. The morning has been cloudy but the sun is now starting to look through the clouds. You might think that I’m a bit obsessed by weather and yes I might be because I’m Swedish. A survey shows that the only people talking more about the weather than the Swedes are the Chinese 🙂
My wild roses are now all opening up.
I have no idea where the other two horses were.
My neighbors cat, I think it is a Maine Coon. He came running towards us, not looking too happy to see us when he suddenly stopped. Bertil came around a corner and it looks like that little cat of mine is the ruler of the area 🙂
It has been a nice cool morning though and we walked by the fields and since they have cut the grass in most parts of them there’s very few flies around. You might think I am a bit obsessed by flies too and yes I truly am, that is how one becomes by living by a bog 🙂 I love this place but if I had known how much flies there are here during summer I most likely wouldn’t have moved here 🙂 Now I can’t even think the thought to move, I hope to live here until the day I die (despite all nasty flies 🙂 ).
People allergic to grass pollen have problems now.
Tragopogon pratensis. It has edible roots and I’ve read that young stems can be used as asparagus. It grows everywhere here so perhaps I should try it.
My neighbor the bee keeper now have two hives! The bees were swarming yesterday and he was lucky to have a box to place them in. He then bought new parts so now he has two hives 🙂 I have to say I am a bit envious but still, I know my limitations and I know that I have enough with the animals living with me as it is but still 🙂 I think they will have to wait until I retire and then I’ll also have chickens 🙂
I have no idea what kind of bird this is but his song is more interesting than beautiful though. Hard to come close to as well.
He did let me come a bit closer but it is a good thing I had my tele-photo lens 🙂 Quite beautiful don’t You think?
The bee keeper. Well he doesn’t have any bees in there but I thought this would be a good photo 🙂
The only thing I’ll do today is the laundry. I don’t have that much since I’ve washed some things during the week, something I normally don’t do. After all it is only I who lives here so there’s never really much laundry as it is 🙂 Tomorrow starts the last week before my vacation starts 🙂 Four weeks and I’ll save one week to use around christmas. I think this christmas will be the last for a while when it is enough to use five days of vacation and a few compensation hours to get at least two weeks off from work 🙂
Have a great day!
Some photos from my garden.
Lots of irises flower now.
Clematis tangutica.
Rhododendron catawbiense.
This mess I call home.
Bertil followed us as always.
Teodor woke me up at 4:20 this morning, he was shouting so loud that I thought the cottage was on fire. He just wanted to go outside and I think it was he who had thrown up on the kitchen floor. He was nice enough to do it where I wouldn’t walk, something my dogs wouldn’t care about at all 🙂 There was no use in going to bed after that, it was already rather bright outside.
We just looked at each other for quite some time, I doubt the dogs even noticed that she stood so close to us. I had to brighten up these three photos quite a lot because there was no time to adjust the camera.
So we had our breakfasts and went out on a walk. There are a few Black Grouse roosters still out there trying to impress the ladies even though that season is over now. The birds were singing of course and the one that has been waking me up every morning has now changed its tune, it sounds like a woodpecker and it is loud too. I do like starlings but this one is just crazy and I doubt any female like his song 🙂
It was rather nice outside, slightly above 10C (50F) but since there was no wind it felt much warmer. It is still around that temperature and it would have been just as nice and I would have had the kitchen door open if it wasn’t for the rain that comes and goes. I watched a few episodes of a Star Treck series, can’t remember the name, and then I started to clean the cottage.
The floors are scrubbed and vacuumed, I’ve started to throw away old clothes I can’t wear any longer, they have been worn at least one time to many so I can’t give them away to charity. It is starting to look rather nice in my home now but I still have a long way to go until I’m finished. I’ll just have something to eat, a pot of tea, another walk with the dogs and then I’ll continue to clean up this mess I call home 🙂
Leafs on an Elm tree.
I actually managed to catch the rain drops in this photo 🙂
Have a great day!
My neighbor the beekeeper made the beehive bigger yesterday. I stood at a safe distance taking photos with my tele-photo lens 🙂
The cottage by the Crane Lake, life goes on. 
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