So we went to the lake, as I had promised You.
The water tower/ lookout tower in Falköping. The clouds had gathered over the mountain but it was sunny everywhere else.
Yesterday they said that the strong winds would be gone today, I don’t know what universe they live it but it’s sure not the one I live in 🙂 it is much nicer though and so far the day has been rather fine. Rain will come tonight though but will be gone by tomorrow morning. I think I like this strong wind after all 🙂
In to Forentorp we walked.
We woke up pretty early today and since I had promised to go to the big lake this weekend to get some photos of the cranes I thought I just as well could do it today. I also had to fill the tires on my car with some more air and that would take quite some time and I really didn’t want the dogs to have to stay in the dog yard a day when I’m at home (Sweden has a holiday today too). So I put the dogs in the car and off we went. The first stop would be the petrol station to fill the tires and also to buy some oil, my car tends to eat it every now and again.
The old mill. Unfortunately they have removed the wheel and the water now runs beside the mill. I guess that’s one way to make sure it doesn’t get water damages, it is after all several hundred years old.
After that I drove homewards again but stopped at the nature reserve Forentorp Ängar (Forentorp meadows), You know where the old mill once belonging to the abbey in Gudhem. Unfortunately most pastures had signs saying cows and calves were walking in them so dogs weren’t allowed and the only open one was occupied by a woman and her Boxer, she was training it tracking. I guess she must have had some blood that she would drop every now and again so the dog could follow where she had walked.
The creek must have been bigger back in the days, this doesn’t look like it would be strong enough to spin that wheel.
and back to the car we walked again.
So we didn’t stay there for long but continued to the lake. Since we just had our daylight savings time most people would still be asleep when we were there but I had forgotten about those staying here in caravans, most of them seemed to be outside looking at the cranes. Still I got some photos before we went home again and took a normal walk in the forest. Lots of birds are singing now so I do hope we won’t get a too bad setback even though it is more than likely that we will get. I can’t remember when we had spring this early before.
This is just around 300 meters (much the same in yards) away from where most tourists and cranes are but so much more beautiful.
I’ve done the laundry and I have a tomato sauce in the slow cooker, I’ve just started it so it won’t be ready for several hours yet. Tomato sauce only get better and better by the day so I’ll have it to work too 🙂 The clouds are getting thicker and thicker so perhaps it is a good idea to take another walk before the rain starts.
Hello darling, nice to see You again.
Should we give it a go?
Oh grow up! in front of all these people?!
Okidoki, see You later then.
Have a great day!
Some of all the caravans parked by the lake.
One better have a fire in the stove now so the Jackdaws understand that it is not a good idea to put sticks dowm our chimneys. This one however they’ve used for years.
and Sune took a bath in a creek 🙂
The wind tells me otherwise.
This could have been a rather wonderful morning if it wasn’t for the wind, strong and cold. If one can find a spot where it doesn’t reach though it’s quite nice. At the moment if sounds as if it reaches every corner og my cottage, so staying indoors feels like a good choice to make today. The predictions are actually right about the wind so I hope they are right about the temperature too because it will rise above 14C (57,2F).
I had planned to clean up in the garden today and to be honest, the wind would help me get rid of it all. I wouldn’t have to do much but toss it up in the air and gone it would be 🙂 It is just too cold in the wind though so I’ll save it for another day when the wind has calmed down and I’ll have to carry it away myself 🙂 The weeds and grass have grown very well this winter since it has been so warm.
The old church ruin.
We walked to the little lake again this morning and this time I did hear some cranes there but I just couldn’t find any when we arrived, rather irritating 🙂 Lots of them flew above our heads though. There are now around 15 000 cranes by the big lake and more will arrive before most of them have moved to Norway. The ones staying in Sweden rest by other lakes (well of course the ones staying in this neighborhood rests by this lake too 🙂 ).
I have now started the new place when this don’t have any more space. I still have around 400MB to use so the move won’t take place for another month or so, it all depends on how many photos I put in here. The continuing is called “The Cottage by the Cranelake. Still we have hope.” (click on the red text and a new window will open up to the new home of the cottage). I am however not sure if I’ll keep how it looks, the bright white background for the text can be difficult for those having problems with their eyesight. I’ll see if I can change that to something less bright. There are other backgrounds but yesterday I couldn’t find anyone I liked.
I’ll see if there’s anything worth watching on tv. The weather look so inviting but the sound of the roaring wind tells me it isn’t especially nice out there. Well I can always take a nap 🙂
Have a great day!
A tad cold on my head.
The night was rather chilly so the world was covered in a thing white frost layer, quite beautiful ans since the sun is slightly blocked by thin clouds it stayed for quite some time. Even though we went out later than yesterday the cranes hadn’t arrived and when they finally did we already had passed that field and I really didn’t want to walk back. These cranes are the local ones so we’ll get plenty of chances to see them later anyway.
I can’t decide whether I want to take a nap or to go on another walk. I did nap too long yesterday so even if I was really tired yesterday evening I still had troubles falling asleep. The problem is that if even if one set the alarm it is too hard to get up if one still is very sleepy 🙂 I’ve heard that a nap shouldn’t be longer than maximum 30 minutes, I’m not sure I would have heard the alarm after only 30 minutes yesterday 🙂
I shaved off all my hair on my head yesterday and my skull had the colors I would think a zombie would have 🙂 Lots of pigments from the powder paint was still there despite me washing my hair every day 🙂 It was a bit chilly on the walk this morning, I didn’t wear anything on my head 🙂 but it is amazing how fast one gets used to it, it felt absolutely ok by the time we came home again.
I think we’ll take a walk again and then I’ll see if I need a nap when I come home again. Today I was looking forward to watch an episode of Grimm again, channel six never change what they show no matter what holiday it is. Well it turns out they did this Easter. Ok, they’ll show Tintin (very, very big here in Europe) and after that Ice Age 3 instead but I wanted to watch Grimm, this latest season is really good!
Have a great day!
He’s so fat now! He doesn’t get more food than his brother Bertil but still he just gets bigger and bigger! I think he might be eating food up at the farm because they feed any cat who comes. They are organic farmers and all cats are welcome since they eat mice, voles and rats.
It has been quite pleasant.
The day started out slightly foggy and drizzly, the fog gave up but the drizzle kept on until early afternoon. It has been warm though and the wind has been rather weak so it has been pleasant to take walks anyway. I had planned on doing some repotting of plants but instead a took a nap, an hour and a half long nap and the only reason I woke up was because of a telemarketer. I was actually quite happy she called so I finally woke up but not so happy that I bought anything from her 🙂
I have tried to find any folklore about the beings and their activities at Easter but have found almost nothing, only the witches seems to have been active this holiday. I guess however they are out and about like always though even if humans were more concentrated on scaring witches. I did however find a lot of sites about the old Norse believes and can dig in to that if You wish to know more. The Norse beliefs (or Asa tron as we call it) is a growing religion here though even if few say it out loud yet. Almost all swedish names for the days in the week comes from the Norse gods. Monday and Saturday sort of linked to it too since Monday is the Moon’s day (it was pulled across the sky by the horse Rimfaxe) and the sun was pulled across the sky by the horse Skinfaxe).
Tuesday (Tisdag in Swedish) is Tyr’s day, he was the son Of Oden. Wednesday (Onsdag in Swedish) is Oden’s day. Thursday (Torsdag in Swedish) is Thor’s day (His name in swedish is Tor) and Friday is Freya’s day (She’s called Freja in Swedish), Saturday however has nothing to do with any beliefs, it is the day for baths 🙂 Saturday is called Lördag in Swedish and to löga is to take a bath in old Swedish 🙂
I had high hopes of seeing cranes by the little lake today but there wasn’t a single bird of any kind there 🙂
It is time to shave off all the hair on my head again, it doesn’t matter how much I wash my hair, I can still find powder paint if I scratch on my skull 🙂
Instead I found the cranes just a few hundred meters (much the same in yards) away from my cottage. Unfortunately my camera prefered to focus on the trees 🙂
Have a great day!
Tonight they fly to the big party.
Old photos again today. I have a few new ones in the camera but I just didn’t have the energy to get them in to my computer 🙂
Tonight is the night when the witches flies to Blåkulla to have a party with the devil, at least according to old folklore. We actually call them påskkärringar which directly translated is Easter hags but the word kärring actually means my loved one in Swedish so it is hard to translate it good 🙂 Anyhow, tonight is the night. Blåkulla is most likely an island by the east coast of Sweden and its real name is Blå Jungfrun (The Blue Maiden). Naturally most of You think that witches fly by broom but not all do, many actually fly on an upside-down cow 🙂 Rather practical if one gets thirsty on the way 🙂
Three from the Zeiss camera.
Anything could actually work to fly to Blåkulla so to make sure nothing one owned would be used by the nearest witch they put away anything they thought could be used in sheds or barns and then they painted white crosses on the doors. But it isn’t only women flying there to be honest, there are also men and quite a lot of children too. One way to at least make life difficult for the witches was to, on Easter eve when they were flying back home again, start huge bonfires and use fire works. Today most of us think of the animals and the environment since there usually are lots of bad thing in the fireworks like led so we don’t use that much of it, there’s even talk about forbidding it totally and I won’t mind if that happens even if I think it is beautiful.
Three from the Kiev.
One could say that this is the Swedish (and Finnish) Halloween because today in the eastern parts of Sweden kids dress up like witches or wizards and goes from house to house to get candy, we in the western parts do it on Easter eve instead. I doubt it will happen here though because the kids here are either too young or too shy 🙂 I don’t have any candy at home anyway so I do hope no one comes here 🙂 I will however look up in the sky to see if any witches fly over my cottage, I won’t start a bonfire or use fireworks but I will wave to them and wish them a happy easter 🙂
and three from the Retinette.
It is time to make something to eat. I’m not sure if I’ll just make a few sandwiches or if I should have a piece of the Småländska cheesecake (slightly different from the American one) I bought yesterday 🙂
and three from the folder “For a rainy day”.
Have a great day!
Nasty cold morning.
Doves.
Nasty cold here this morning, -9C (15,8F) and I refused to go outside until the rising sun had warmed up the air at least some. So we came out rather late for being is in to a -5C (23F) heat wave 🙂 It was actually rather nice since we don’t have any wind at all this morning. The almost 20 000 cranes created a wall of sound that is amazing and I can’t understand how those living closer to the lake can sleep at all even with earplugs 🙂
They’ve changed the weather predictions again so this will not be the last nice day in Easter, tomorrow will be even warmer and after that the cold nights will have an end and daytime temperatures will rise too.
One of my favorite plants, Myrica gale (Bog myrtle or Pors in Swedish). I love the smell they have.
We went down to the creek this morning and walked over the fields to get there. I was a bit worried that it might be too much for Orvar but he managed to walk that far without any bigger problems, his legs are not wobbling worse or less and he doesn’t seem to be bothered about it especially much. Two deers stood in the neighbor field and a big flock of doves flew by on their way to the lake. I could see birds all over collecting nest-building materials so nature is very busy right now.
The bird nest is almost impossible to see.
The America clock is ticking loudly here ion the kitchen, I’ve always loved that sound. The chime doesn’t work thankfully 🙂 it is a nice sound too but the clock would start every fifteen minutes and I think that it in the long run would drive us insane 🙂 It is time to do the laundry and after that I think it’s time for a nap.
Some photos from yesterday afternoon.
Have a great day!
Happy Easter.
It didn’t look promising this morning.
The kitchen door is open and it will stay that way until it starts to get cold again this evening. The wind that is comes from north-west and my kitchen door heads towards south-east. The birds are singing, the flies are flying and the old boys are asleep in the cool livingroom 🙂 Nova sleeps in the sun on the kitchen stairs and Sune runs in and out every two seconds 🙂 He’s having fun by himself since the others rather sleep 🙂
It was hard to believe that we would get this wonderful weather since the morning was even colder than it was yesterday morning and the clouds so much thicker and heavier. We even had some snow fall for a while, big flakes that fell so slowly that I actually thought it was beautiful, especially since it by them was so warm it melted just as it hit the ground. Orvar looked really fine the first two hundred meters (219 yards) but then his legs started to wobble again. Much better than yesterday though so I’m hoping this started only because the other dogs hit him while playing. It won’t go away once it started but perhaps it won’t get worse as fast as I feared yesterday.
The sun started to shine when I drove away to get cat food, something I forgot last Thursday. I brought the Hasselblad camera with me and took some photos on the way to the store and stopped by the lake on my way home. It’s amazing how many different languages I could hear there today. German, English, Danish, Flemish, Norwegian and Swedish of course but I also heard at least one language from Africa. I could of course not identify it since I don’t know what different languages they speak down there, I guess they speak more languages in Africa than in most continents. But it was very visible that these people had their roots somewhere on that continent. I’ll send the three rolls of film I have to be developed next week. I didn’t bring any digital camera so You’ll have to be patient.
It is easy to understand that most of the oxygen on this planet comes from algae when seeing all the bubbles in the algae beneath a frozen water surface.
Swedes are really boring when it comes to holiday food, we eat much the same things every holiday with only small variations. Pickled herring in oh so many ways, smoked, grilled and pickled salmon, meatballs and prince sausages is sort of the staple food we have. Christmas has ham and Easter has eggs and chicken of course. Many want something we call Äggost (egg cheese) and I do like that 🙂 It is made from lots of eggs, milk, sour milk or sour cream. Oven omelet with a stew made from chanterelle mushrooms is a must for many and I think I’ll do one today but with another mushroom because I don’t have any chanterelle here at home.
The coming photos could have been taken today because it’s just as sunny but I took them yesterday afternoon.
Today is the most likely day the risk of meeting warlocks and easter witches (or easter hags as the real translation is) begging for candy, we don’t have any kids in this village who will do that though, the one kid we have is too shy I’m afraid. Homes are now decorated with Påskris and naturally there are chickens and eggs on the drapes, table cloths and handkerchiefs. The witch is probably the biggest easter symbol we have here and Facebook has been flooded with witch jokes and how to fly safely and so on. The children have probably already gotten their easter eggs filled with candy already when they got up this morning. The eggs are made from paper and I’ve seen eggs so big that they most likely could contain more than four kilos (almost 9 pounds) of candy 🙂
The Easter bunny, or as we call it, the Easter hare, has never been especially popular here. We have him as candy and printed on the easter eggs but that is more or less it. I never really understood why a hare would run around and give us eggs at easter when I was a kid, I always thought that was a job for hens 🙂 We made lots of easter ornaments at school, like paper hen and roosters, chickens made with balls made from paper (can’t find any english name for them) and pipe cleaners. My mother has never been the nostalgic kind so nothing of that is left I’m afraid.
It is time for something to eat and a pot of tea. I think I might take a nap after that, I did that yesterday and slept for almost three hours and I was so tired when I finally woke up that I wanted to go to sleep again 🙂
I’m glad my neighbor decorated some outside since I didn’t 🙂
Påskris.
Happy Easter!
The cottage by the Crane Lake, life goes on. 
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