Friday, June 25, 2010



The sun is just breaking through the clouds we´ve had here all morning (for me the morning starts at 5am :-) ). My dogs and I took our morning walk out into the bog, since it was only 13C (55F) i was pretty sure that the flies would stay rather calm, but mosquitoes not. So I had a sweater on me and I brought my mosquitoe hat just in case.








Birds were singing and we could see a couple of deers from a distance and we actually passed one only a few yards away from us. It stood absolutly still believing nobody could see it :-) I realised that I was right about the mosquitoes, we were greated by about a zillion of them and some even tried to get some blood out of my camera :-) :-) :-). But with the sweater and mosquitoe hat on they didn´t bother me at all. I was however wrong about the flies. They were ready and active when we reached as far out onnthe bog as we could get :-) :-)


I thought I saw a butterfly when I looked down on the ground, but it´s a forest star that has gotten deformed. Now I´ll have to remember to look there next year too. If it is a genetic reason it has gotten deformed it might appere next year too. Then it might follow me home to my garden :-)


This is how it normally looks.


I have to go to the grocery store in Gudhem today. I´m going to make a Banana pudding. Most of the ingredients I´ve already gotten from Joyce at Octoberfarm, she sent them to me when I didn´t think I could find some of the ingredients over here. Some I already have here at home, but I forgot one key ingredient, the bananas :-) :-) :-) Funny really, because when I drove home from work yesterday I went in to the grocery store in Kvänum and re´membered that I had to buy some fruit for this weekend. I bought passion fruits, melons, lots of strawberries one grape but no bananas :-) :-) :-)






Otherwise this is not a weekend one wants to be driving on the roads if it´s not necessary. Midsummer is as I told You yesterday one of out biggest holidays. People are outside barbequing and drinking lots of alcohol, unfortunally many of them drives their cars before getting sober again. Today isn´t that bad though, it´s tomorrow that is the dangerous day being out on the roads.






Midsummers eve isn´t a holiday really, but midsummers day is. But I doubt there is any place but stores with people working today. I don´t think any employer (exept when it comes to stores) would even dare thinking of not lettings us have a day of today and they also pay us a normal days pay. We sweeds seldom fights when we think things are wrong, but we would start if theyb tried to change how it is now during midsummer :-) :-) :-)


The old birdfeeder is now almost completely covered with geraniums.




The temperature is rising fast now when the sun has started to shine. I think it´s time to make a cup of tea and some breakfast. I will stayb at home today, I always feel a bit down this weekend since I know the days will get shorter and winters not far away. This will however pass until tomorrow :-) Then I´ll bring the pudding to friends in Tråvad. Their sun has his birthday and I´ll bring the pudding :-)
Have a great day now!


My Mock orange is opening up. Soon the scent will fill my and my neighbours gardens.


Incarvillea zhongdiaensis.

18 comments:

Alen Trädgård said...

Yes, we have no bananas;)) Typiskt det där att köpa allt utom huvudingrediensen,) Skulle tro att det stackars rådjuret du mötte i skogen blev helt stel av skräck när han såg dig i din moskithatt hehe, måtte vara en syn för gudar. Hoppas att den vackra skogsstjärnan kommer tillbaka lika vacker o underlig nästa år. Ha en härlig midsommar/Monne

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

Christer, while you are battling the flies and mosquitoes outdoors (and sometimes indoors) we now have our own invaders...ants...who have come indoors. This happens eevery summer when the weather gets hot and humid and these ants are looking for water vs. food, but we are sure not to leave anything on the counter that could encourage them further. We are spraying and have an exterminator coming today to reat the house exterior...maybe we should send him to your house too?

Thanks for all the details on the Midsummer's holiday....enjoy the day off.

Oldfool said...

You cannot make banana pudding without bananas. Banana pudding is a staple here in the southern USA but since my bride cannot stand vanilla wafers I never get any. I have resorted to making my own but it's not the same.
If you have bananas that get dark and are unappetizing just freeze them. When frozen peel and put in a blender until smooth and eat immediately. It compares to soft vanilla ice cream.

Anonymous said...

Hi Christer,
So glad that others celebrate the seasonal holidays. Here no one but me celebrates the solstices or the equinoxes (guess it is the old Druid blood in me). I only heard about MidSummer day yesterday from the Farmers Almanac. But then i celebrate all the special days like week days and weekends ;-]]
Was that your tractor in an earlier post? Your bog looks really nice. The closest we have here are Salt Marshes (with mosquitos, Green Head Flies, and Deer Flies with BIG teeth).

Vittran said...

Minnet är bra men kort ibland.
Tala inte om knott, här finns massor varje kväll. När det är dags att vattna är det bara att ta på sig hatten men knottnätet. Tur att ingen ser hur man ser ut.:-)
En del får jobba även idag, min sambo har beredskap hela helgen. Än har ingen ringt men man vet aldrig. Som du skrev så är det olycksdrabbad helg så är man anställd på ett sjukhus vet man inte hur det blir. Sambon är inte vanlig läkare utan dataläkare. ;)
Önskar dig en rolig och solig midsommar.

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

Tjänare Monne!
Visst är det typiskt :-) :-) Vad jag skulle med den andra frukten jag köpte har jag ingen aning :-) :-)
kte så iväg till affären och när jag skulle betala visade det sig att plånboken låg kvar här hemma :-) :-) De tyckte gott att jag kunde koma någon annan dag och betala, men det var lika bra att få det gjort så slapp jag tänka på det mer :-)


Tror också att det var mygghatten :-) Rådjuren här känner oss väl och vet att det är lugnt när vi kommer :-)

Jag håller tummarna för att det dyker upp lite annorlunda skogsstjärnor nästa år också :-)
Ha en riktigt trevlig midsommar!
Christer.

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

Hi Beatrice!
I seldome have any problems with ants. It´s the few things one has to be happy about :-) :-) But we are getting more and more problem with a species called Farao ant. They live in small groups in the smallest places so they can be difficult to find. But I think that exterminator would get more job than he wants too :-) :-) :-) He would have to work on the whole bog all day long :-) :-)

Have a great midsummer now!
Christer.

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

Hi Oldfool!
I Think it would taste very little withoput the bananas :-) I went bto the store and bought bananas and lots of other things and when I was going to pay I had forgotten my wallet :-) :-) :-) They said I could come in and pay next week if I wanted too, but I felt it was better to get it done directly. So I went back as soon as I found my wallet :-)

I´ve never even heard about bananapudding before, so I really look forward to this. We are a bunch of people that will try this for the first time tomorrow. I´ll read the recipe twice to make it right :-)

I love when bananas gets dark skinned and almost the same inside. But I have tried what You describe and likes it a lot! A sort of healthy ice cream.
Have a great midsummer now!
Christer.

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

Hi Grenville!
It must be the druid blood in You I think :-) :-) Over here midsummer is almost holy and people looks forward to it all spring.

No it´s not my tractor, unfortunally. It´s a neighbour that owns it and he does have a couple more old ones. So now they have started to build an extra garage for them.

I love that bog, even if most insects likes to drink my blood there :-) :-) We have deer flies too, but they are still rather rare thankfully. We also have moose flies. They can´t survive on human blood but sometimes tries anyway. It hurts!!! I´ll tell You more about them when they starts to arrive. Green head flies however I´v never heard of over here. Well I don´t miss them, we have so many other :-) :-)
Have a great midsummer now!
Christer.

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

Tjänare Vittran!
Jag tillhör ju de lyckliga som knotten inte gillar speciellt mycket :-) Men å andra siden gör ju myggen, hästflugorna, bromsarna, blinningarna och alla de andra monstren det desto mera :-) :-) :-)

Här börjar allt fler inse hur bra mygghattar är, så numera är det inte bara jag som vandrar omkring och ser ut som ett ufo :-) :-)

Ja det är ju vissa grupper, framförallt alla sorters läkare. Datorläkare inte minst. Tänk så beroende vi blivit av dem. Lägger de av blir det bara kaos av allt!

Ha en riktigt trevlig midsommar nu!
Christer.

Sharlene T. said...

I hope the banana pudding made up for the anecdotal journey to get the MAIN ingredient...it sure is delicious here in the South...you are a brave man to face the bog and insects so early in the morning...love the photos...

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

Hi Sharlene!
:-)
I think we all will like it a lot. There are few other people that eats that much bananas (outside the countries that grows them) in the world.

It´s a bit strange really. I hate all those insects, but I love the bog so It´s worth it :-)
Have a great Midsummers day now!
Christer.

jaz@octoberfarm said...

hi christer! glad you got the bananas! banana pudding sort of needs them. this recipe is an authentic southern one. can't wait to hear how everyone likes it. my son has requested it for his 4th of july party so i will be making it next weekend! joyce

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

Hi Joyce!
It would have been a strange banana pudding without bananas, but with grape, passion fruits and a melon that didn´t taste anything :-) :-) :-)

I´m pretty sure of that we all will love it :-)
Have a great Midsummers eve!
Christer.

caryn said...

Hi Christer.
Thinking about your deformed Forest Star blossom it occurred to me that some flowers with that shape split at the ends of the petals as they age. It looks as if that blossom is past its prime. Would be nice if it was a genetic sport, though.
I have a question for you. Is it possible to espalier a black walnut tree? All the stuff I read about espalier refers to fruit trees. I have a black walnut that is growing in a great place for an espalier but not so great for a full-grown nut tree. Transplanting it would be difficult, if not impossible to do without killing the tree.
Good luck with your banana pudding.

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

Hi Caryn!
I´ve never seen a forest star look like that, so I´m quiet sure it´s not due to old age. But it can have been damaged by an insect before it opened up. If it is a genetic variation it´s a dead end street. This will never spread in nature.

I don´t think it is possible to espalier a walnut treeI´ve heard that they don´t like to be pruned and there´s a lot of pruning when it comes to espalier trees. Moving them is difficult too, because of their roots.

Have a great Midummer now!
Christer.

Anjas Hill said...

Ha det så gott i ditt paradis!/Anja

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

Hejsan Anja!
Det har jag trots flugor och myggor :-)
Ha en trevlig midsommarsdag!
Christer.