Saturday, June 19, 2010

Home sweet home.

It is a rainy and cold morning and the day will continue much the same. I had my mosquitoe hat with me on our morning walk, but it was so cold that the insects prefered to stay hidden in the trees and bushes. I saw only one fly on the whole walk actually, not even a bumble bee wanted to be out in this weather :-)






My nose is stuffed and my throat feels a bit rough so I´m probably getting a new cold again, but it can also be the old one that I never got rid of. Getting a cold in the summer usually means that one has a companion that faithfully follows as an old dog until autumn :-) But I have a cup of hot tea and honey by my side all day now. Sooner or later I will win :-) :-)






Today is the big day for oue Crown Princess and her prince to be. He is still a common peasant this morning, but in a few hours he will step up the ladder and become a prince. He will however never become a king, his wife will always be one step in front of him. By the way, do You know that we sweeds looks upon this country as a woman? Every time we talk about the state of this country we talk about "Mother Swea". I wonder how many other looks that way on their country on this little planet of ours.


One of my neighbours two wells. This one never dries out, in fact water is always pouring out of it into a ditch. But it contains so much iron that it is unpleasant to drink, even when filtered. This is their back up well, the other one without iron dries out hot summers.




The coverige of this wedding has been so massive these last months in the media that it actually has made our royal house less popular :-) We are so tired of it now that most people would be prepared to change the constitution just to get rid of them :-) :-) :-) That will most certanly change in a matter of weeks after this wedding when the media finds something else to write and talk about again :-)




This is the last year the honeysuckle will flower here, I will remove it since I want the Frost wine vine (on the white pillar in this photo) to get all that sune the honeysuckle now gets. Cuttings from the honeysuckle will naturally be taken and planted elsewhere.


But there has been another thing that has annoyed many of us, including the Arch bishop. The crown princess wants to be led to the altar by her father. That is so unswedish it can be. Our tradition is that the bride should walk beside her husband to be, to show she´s doing this of her own choise and to show she is not "owned"( perhaps a hard word but I couldn´t find a better one in my head right now) by her father and later on "owned" by her husband. The reaction towards her choice has been so strong that I´ve heard that they changed it slightly. Her father, our king, will lead her half way to the altar and then her husband to be will follow her the rest of the way. We do like to compromise in this country :-) :-) :-)






Now it´s time for another cup of tea and since they most likly won´t show anything else than this wedding on tv I´ll most probaly take a nap instead. The weather doesn´t invite to do things outside.
Have a great day now!


A single flower on the either Nepeta sibirica or Dracocephalum sibirica. They change the names on plants more often than most people breaths :-) :-) :-) beautiful plant with scented leafs. Some like the smell, some hate it. I´m not to fond of the scent myself to be honest. Gets around 1 meter (1yard) high and spreads slowly but unmercyful. I must cut my plants in several smaller this autumn.

20 comments:

jaz@octoberfarm said...

hi christer...i hope you don't get a summer cold. my allergies are so bad i feel like i have a cold! your cottage is fabulous. i love the setting and the white gate. how much land do you own there? at least your cold weather keeps those nasty bugs away. we are roasting here in the heat. i am having trouble keeping up with the watering. i guess people will be happy to have the royal wedding done with. this gulf oil spill over here is just horrible. i can hardly watch the news. it is so awful to see what has happened to all the animals and marine life. i will never buy BP gas again! joyce

Alen Trädgård said...

Har ni så kallt hos er? Här är väl iof ingen värme att skryta med men det är i alla fall insekter här haha. Jobbigt med förkylningar så här års hoppas att du kryar på dig snart. Tänk att detta bröllop nu äntligen ska bli av:) kanske att det nu (som du skriver) kan stå något annat i tidningarna:) Men det är rätt kul det där med att hon driver igenom sin vilja med att kungen ska leda henne fram, även om det bara blir halvvägs;) Ha det gott/Monne

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

Hi Joyce!
I don´t think You would have had any problems with allergies if You had our weather :-) I do hope You´ll get rid of it soon! I most probably have a summer cold now, not surprising with this weather.

I have around 900 square meters, that would be much the same in yards, so it´s not that much. But when I´m mowing the lawn it´s too much :-) :-)


It´s going to be soo nice when this wedding finally is over. I´m a bit tired of all these pårograms about the royal family now. Not to mention all reruns of the latest royal marriages in neighbouring countries??! Why show that at all??

I don´t think we have BP over here any more, but I think the beat thing we can do is to try not to use so many products made of oil, like plastic and other things. Easier said than done I´m afraid.

It´s terrible what´s happening in the gulf now!They will never be able to remove all that oile no matter how they try! They still have rather big troubles up in Alaska where Exxon Valdes made a mess.
Take care now!
Christer.

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

Tjänare Monne!
tolv grader just nu. Inte mycket att skryta med en sommar dag :-)

Visst är det typiskt att man får en förkylning nu! Lär sitta i länge är jag rädd.

Men om hon nu ser sig själv som en viljelös fjolla som ägs av sin far och bör lämnas över till nu ägare tycker jag inte hon skall bli drottning framöver. Men samtidigt visar hon ju egen vilja :-)
Ha det gott!
Christer.

Perovskia said...

Great pictures today, Christer.

What have the temps been like there, lately? We're getting hot this week. It's only 930am and it's 25C. We didn't get the storms they were calling for, though it seems they're still calling for rain. I'd better run to market before all that happens :)

I'm still looking for my 'prince', so if you see any spares, send 'em my way.. lol :)

Love your cottage. I think you're so fortunate to live where you are :)

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

Hi Perovskia!
It was 9C (48F) here this morning and now it´s 14C (57F). It´s been much like that all the time with a few exeptions. But my vacation doesn´t start until week 29, so there´s still time to change :-)


Our Crown Princess has a younger brother. He´s currently dating a woman that once was participated in one of those programs like Big Brother. She can never marry him, that´s for sure. She has shown much to much of her self in television to be able to do that :-) :-) :-) We may also have a couple of young dukes and things like that still unmarried :-) :-) :-)

I am very fortunate to live like this!We all help each other when needed to, but we can still do much as we like to without anyone complaining. I just got a bag of cinnamon bunns from my neighbour just because I kept an eye on their home when they were away on a small vacation :-)

Have a great day now!
Christer.

Terria said...

Christer, Your home looks so peaceful in the photo. No wonder you like living there. Thanks for sharing the lovely flower photos too.

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

Hi Terria Flemming!
It´s so peaceful here that I sometimes wonder if my neighbours live :-) :-) I´ve never been to a quieter place in my life.

There will be more flower photos all summer long :-)
Have a great day now!
Christer.

Anonymous said...

An all day wedding? WOW! They must think they are important people. I wouldn't watch it either but I would see clips on the news. And amen to Joyce for not ever buying BP gas. Me too! Our local DEP chairman predicts the sludge will round Key West and be in our backyard by July 21st. Already the bookings in hotels is down, too many people cancelling vacations to the coast but I see that Disney and MGM are doing good. Lovely pictures as usual and I think your cottage is charming. When was it built?

Perovskia said...

Mmmm..cinnamon buns. That's the nice thing about great neighbours; you always look out for each other.

Hmm.. dukes, eh? :)

You're having the temps I like. We can exchange temps if you like - I'll take your 9/14 if you take my 25 :)

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

Hi Z&M!
To be honest, I think that if it was up to the royal family they would prefere a privet wedding. But since they are very popular (even though their popularity has sunken latly) the common people wants it this big. Even the germans shows all day long I´ve heard. The swedish royal hous is extremely popular there.

I feel so sorry for You all! and in the long run us up here in scandinavia too. All that oil will most certanly follow the gulf stream up to us too! BP will have a lot to answer to here also!
Take care now!
Christer.

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

Hi Perovskia!
:-) Well I´m most happy when it is around 23, that´s just perfect :-)

We never have to worry about our homes if we are travelling somewhere. Many eyes will be looking towards our homes all the time we´re gone :-)

I think there might be soem earls and barons too :-) :-)
Have a great day now!
Christer.

Wenche said...

Oh så vackert du bor, den svenske sommer drömmen, mycket vackra bilder.

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

Hej Wenche!
Visst gör jag :-)
Drömmen om den svenska sommaren slår bara så sällan in :-)
Ha det gott!
Christer.

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

Hi Christer, I will catch some highlights from your country's all-day royal wedding on the internet Sun morning when I read all the news. It will be much quicker than watching TV which we don't do anyway. Lovely seeing the flowers with the rain on the leaves.

Hope you are feeling better - tea and honey always help Grenville and myself. Cinnammon buns should be delicious with the tea!

Perovskia said...

Do you have a hard time looking on each others homes when it seems there's so much distance between you? I mean, all you're surrounded by is fields and bush. Though I imagine people make an effort. I know we did back home.

I like 20-23.. but 25 wit humidity (read: 31)... is too much.

lol.. well, snap to it! I sent you cookies. The least you could do is send me a man ;)

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

Hi Beatrice!
I think it´s better to look at highlights. The wedding I can understand that people wants to see, but the dinner and the party after that?

I´m actually feeling worse this morning. I´m sort of hoping it will rain all day, just so I don´t have to mowe the lawn :-) :-) :-)
Have a great day now!
Christer.

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

Hi Perovskia!
You are absolutly right, the least I can do is finding You a man :-) :-) :-) I´ll start looking on Monday :-)

It´s not that hard to keep an eye open even if it looks that way in my photo´s. Every one knows what cars should drive here, so if a new one shows up most people loooks where it´s driving. There´s only one way in and out of the village also, so unknown people have no chance to drive around here without being noticed.
Have a great day now!
Christer.

Wsprsweetly Of Cottages said...

I have always been against off shore drilling. Those oil derricks (sp?) off the coast oc Southern California, are so ugly..and makes our coast drive less than pretty!
We need to find a different sort of energy and quickly. I have often wondered what would happen...and how they would stop just such a leak. Now I know..

The spill in Alaska was from a shipping accident...not drilling I believe. Different thing but still OIL.

Anyway...Your home looks cozy and wonderful all nestled in the greenery...

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

Hi Mona!
I think many have had the same thoughts about what would happen if the accident happened. Many but not BP apparently!

Yes, it was a ship with a drunk capten in Alaska. But they still have big problems with that oil and every day is worse in the gulf right now!

It´s very cosy here :-)
Have a great day now!
Christer.