spring

Apr

2019

Cherry Blossom Time

Cherry Blossom Time 2019. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

It is Cherry Blossom Time presently. Once a year we all (or many of us) go to Kungsträdgården (Kungsan)( in Stockholm to watch and take pictures of the cherry blossoms there when they blossom as best. I’ve been there before for that, but missed it the last couple of years. This year weather was prefect. Sunny. Warm. Everyone was there. So were a lot of Japanese for some reason, and som buddist monks. Here are some pictures from this years bloom.

Not so interested in the cherry blossoms…

All this pinkness is overwhelming.

When I was done taking pictures I walk to the other end of Kungsan (Kungsträdgården) to have a short, nostalgic look at the tea-house where I spent lots of hours with friends during several summers when I was young. The tea-house under the elm-trees looks much the same as it did then. It even looks like they still have the same chairs as they did then. Uncomfortable ones…

teahouse, kungsan, kungsträdgården — The tea-house in Kungsan. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

Feb

2019

The ugly season and pelargonias

The garden, 2019-02-16. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

It is now officially the ugly season. The period between winter and spring. And the time for the pelargonias to wake up.
Snow is gone – hopefully we will not see any more snow this season.
Greenery hasn’t woke up yet. But it will the next couple of days as warmer weather has been promised.
It is still cold outdoors. One day it rains. The next it snows. The next it rains.

icy, — Icy 2019-02-09. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

Or sudden frost and really cold nights that makes it next to impossible to walk outdoors on sidewalks and walkways. The green grass is about to wake up, but not really yet…

Gustav wounded. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

Gustav, the neighbour cat, got wounded catching a fat rat. Gustav is fine now and healing fast. He caught the rat that for some time was stealing bird-food and even climbed the metalrod to get to the feeder. I’ve removed msot fo the bird-food since I saw him/her the first time. Bird with a tail in the feeder? No thanks.

Dead rat, 2019-02-19. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

The rat is dead and went in to the common bin. Good riddance… Gustav killed it and brought into his mom and left it on her office floor… I am grateful that he doesn’t consider me being his mom so he has to bring me such gifts…

Mårbacka pelargonia. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

With the increasing daylight, the few pelargonias that have survived the winter and the dark are waking up. Above is a cutting that came from the large Mårbacka pelargonia as it broke off from it when I moved it indoors in the autumn.

The mother plant of the Mårbacka pelargonia. Photo ©nini.tjader.2019

The motherplant has woken too. I need to cut it down soon and make more cuttings from it. It is growing high. Presently it is 65 cm high from earth up.

Bontrosai pelargonia. Photo: ©ninitjader.2019

The Bontrosai pelargonia – which originally, a year ago, was the top of Ulla’s Bontrosai – is ridiculously high, 75 cm from earth up. It too needs to be cut down, get a new pot, and get siblings. Any day now. I have waited for the daylight to increase.

snowdrop, springflower — Snowdrop, 2019-02-17. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

The first springflower, a snowdrop appeared a week ago. I have seen the leafs of the crocus coming too, but so far no flowers. But soon.

I long for the real spring, warmth, more light, no frost…

Meanwhile when waiting for warmer weather I go 3 times a week to the gym. Above my gym group on February 4th 2019. Till in the middle with Anette our trainer had birthday that day.

Present knitting, a greenish cardigan. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

And I knit (will return to more about that another day). Presently a multi-coloured cardigan from top to bottom. First sleeve almost don, second to follow.

yarn, book, needles — Bought on fair. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

I also visited the Sy- & Hantverksmässan, also called Syfestivalen, on Februari 15th with friend Ulla. I visit this fair whenever it occurs, which is twice a year. The above is what I got this time. The five balls of Opal yarn I won at a contest on the homepage of the fair. The six red skeins will become a simpla sweater when I am done with the cardigan above. This time from a Norwegian pattern that I bought on Ravelry. Looking forward to start it… I try not to knit more than one thing at the time and never start the next project until the one I am working on is done.

yarn, pattern — Yarn and pattern. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

And meanwhile the jungle in the kitchenwindows is still there.

kitchenwindows, kitchen — In the kitchen, 2019-01-27. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

Apr

2018

Icy walk in the woods

Icy walk in the woods. Photo:©nini.tjader.2018

An icy walk in the woods

Day before yesterday, neighbour and I took an icy walk in the woods. The intention was to walk around the two dams we have here in Tumba, the big one and the smaller one. This path is popular for skiers in the winter when it is snow-covered, for walkers and runners when snow-free.

Pinetrees. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

Snow was more or less gone among the trees.

Icy road. Photo:©nini.tjader.2018

The roads were covered with ice… You had to be very careful and keep to the sides of the road so you wouldn’t slip and fall and slide down the slope.

By the big dam. Neighbour Gullis on the other side. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

We finally made it down to the big dam by small steps and carefully moving in order not to slip. By the dam and the road there, there is a fence you could hold on to. The fall from the big dam was all ice too.

The Big Dam in Tumba. Photo: ©ninoi.tjader.2018

The big dam was still ice-covered.

Waterfall from the Big Dam. Photo:©nini.tjader.2018

The above is the waterfall from the Big Dam. All icy but water still streamed strongly there. A couple of weeks more and ice will probably be gone.

Ice on the Big Dam. Photo. ©nini.tjader.2018

The ice is now melting and dangerous if somebody would risk to try to walk in it. There were signs of walking on the ice. I would never… Some years ago an elk drowned here when it went through the ice. But the ice is melting close to the shore and where the waterfall is under the tree-bridge.

The Big dam with ice. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

Unreliable ice on the Big Dam. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

When we passed here there was a cyclist from the other direction with very thick wheels on his bike. He somehow managed to pass and get up the slope with his bike.

Resting place by the Big Dam. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

This corner of the Big Dam later in spring is a mating place for frogs and the water then is full of frogs, the path also full of frogs passing from the below the waterfall up to the dam. And the dam itself for a while is filled with frogs and baby-frogs. Just now the path is slippery with ice, then it will be frogs instead…

The small dam. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

We made it all the way to the smaller dam too. At this time of the year you can actually see it as the trees and bushes have no leaves. Later on it disappears behind the greenery.

The Small Dam. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

The ice looked thicker at the small dam. And its’ waterfall for transport of the water further down the slope was blocked by tree-branches.

The waterfall from the small dam. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

The waterfall from the small dam was more icy and less water than the one from the big dam. It is unnerving to take photos from above at these spots. You don’t want to drop your mobile here…

Not far from here there is a way out of the woods, down to the main road. We opted to leave the woods here as the remaining path we usually take is in shadier parts of the woods and therefore probably even more icy and slippery. We were pretty fed up of the slipping on ice by this time.

Icy roadside. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

By the roadside there were ice-falls from the slope above. That’s what happens when the snow melts and then freezes again. Reasonably warm daytime, freezing at nights.

Ice by the roadside. Photo. ©nini.tjader.2018

The icy roadside is pretty interesting and beautiful I think. Last years growth still stand up through the ice.

Ice by the roadside. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

I’ve always been fascinated by the icefalls you see by the roadside at this time of year.

When we were home again after approximately 10500 steps, we saw the first tussilago by the lawn in our garden. Despite all the ice out there, it now must be spring… right?

The first tussilago. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

Mar

2015

Early spring

Spring is early this year and coming along nicely. Sunny and warm days. Very cold nights with frost.

Got a new sun-driven LED-lamp from Ikea and planted it in one of the flowerbeds. It has charged but noticed yesterday night that only one of the bulbs lit up. Have to check that.

Hung out last years sun-driven lamp (the dirty one in the background) and got a new one from Ikea (the closest one). Both have charged during the week as it has been extremely sunny. ON the wall I still have the light-curtain which during winter has other decorations. Ikea did this smart thing that you can exchange the decorations on the light-curtain according to season. So I got myself some white and green balls with holes in and took off the stars that were there over the Xmas-season. The nights and evenings are still very dark so the extra lighting out there is needed.

The honey-suckle on the corner is coming along fine. The leaves are visible and growing each day. Best though are the flowers. So far snow-drops and crocus, but there are lots of flowers budding in the flower-beds.

May

2014

TBT Things I used to do – aquarelles

TBT (Throw Back Thursday). One of those things I used to do but have not done in a long time is painting aquarelles. Here are some examples from 1996.

One of these days I might, maybe, take it up again and again paint aquarelles.

Nbr 76/100

Mar

2014

Spring has begun

This pansy suddenly appeared in the grass, just beside the rhubarb that my neighbor and I grow together. The pansy probably comes from my neighbor. I know she has a few of them under her bushes. Pansies are sturdy cold-resistant flowers and really give hope that spring is fast approaching. Meteorologically spring is a whole month early in our region this year. The crocus and snowdrops are also up and you can see the tops of the rhubarb as well. Promising. Tulips are coming up in various places in the grass. Don’t remember that they originally where in those places… Last year the row-deer ate the tulips. Most of them. This year, with the early spring, they have so far not ventured into our little corner of the garden. They probably have more greenery to eat elsewhere. So maybe there will be tulip flowers this year… soon as it looks like.

Have to take better pictures of the crocus, when they are open. With this grey weather we are having (grey, but warm) the crocus just stand there and won’t open their flowers.