Friday, August 6, 2010



I thought I should start with these photos of the sunrise this morning, quite beautiful.

The sun is shining but it´s only temporary I´m afraid. Like yesterday we can expect rain and thunder passing by. Yesterday the lightning hit the ground just yards from my home. The little cottage started to shake so much that even old and death Erna noticed the thunderstorm :-) :-) :-) I´m so grateful that none of my dogs and cats are afraid of neither rifle shots nor big heavy thunder sounds.








I drove to the grocery store in Gudhem an hour ago, since I know my breaks are somewhat bad (they do break really good though, the problem is that they don´t want to loosen the grip afterwards :-) ) I started just when they were about to open up and when there is as little traffic as possible. I didn´t have to break even once on the way there and home :-) But I realized that I shouldn´t be out on the roads again until they are fixed. The wheels were really hot when I came home.


I thought that they´d put this property out on the market already. But since it´s not until now that they have started to clean up here I´m not so sure any more.




Too bad really, because I was going to a garden friend tomorrow. She is hosting a “Day lily” day and later on a plant exchanging day. It would have been fun going there and taking photos of the over three hundred different sorts of flowering daylilies she has now. She also sells different plants that one not always can find in other places. Well she hosts this every year so I hope I can show You it all next year instead.


The neighbour across the road still has some cattle, but nowdays it´s more of a hobby for him.
The neighbourhood could be worse don´t You think :-)



I phoned the closest Telia store yesterday (Telia is the company I bought this crappy computer from) to get some help with my internet connection. I have to say that we Swedes doesn´t really understand the meaning of good service. Since I bought my computer via the internet and not from their store they really didn´t want to have anything to do with me. I can´t understand why since it is Telia that owns that store! Anyway they told me to download an update on the internet connection program I already have. I told them that the update I needed couldn´t be found on that website, but she insisted. So I downloaded what I could find and now I hope for the best. If this doesn´t work a very angry Christer will travel to Skövde and speak his mind to them!


I have had this lily in my garden for almost ten years now but it didn´t look like this for the first eight years I had it. Two years ago it changed its looks from pure white with dark red spot to this. Smells just as lovely so I don´t mind :-)

Gillenia stipulata, Indian physic. Can grow on much dryer places than it´s cousine G, trifoliata.
I dropped some seeds in the gravel beside my entrence years ago and now this one is growing there. The trouble is that I have no idea what species it is :-) :-)

Tonight it´s Sci-Fi night at channel six and they will show the two last episodes they have bought of Battle star Galactica. I do hope they will buy the rest of all episodes too because I liked it a lot. But until then I´ll make at least one pot of tea and I´ll enjoy it on my kitchen stairs, if it doesn´t start to rain that is :-)

Have a great day now!

24 comments:

SpinMeAYarn said...

Morn Chister!
not a good idea to go driving without brakes, i agree with you there, although it's a pity to miss the Lily Day, can you imagine the photos???
so how much would one pay for a house out your way, I wonder, if one was for sale, i mean?
rain here in Ireland too, i hope i get a few dry days soon, to do somw weeding and clearing up outside, it's beginning to look a bit wild, weeds thrive in this mild damp Irish summer climate...

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

Hi Liz!
I rather say that my breaks are too good :-) :-)

Well this property that has some land is probably costung around 2-3 million swedish kronor. But a normal sized house would probably cost around 750 000 I think. But the closer one comes to a town the closer the price will come to a million.

It does look wild here in my garden now :-) I have to have at least two days without rain to be able to mow thw lawn now :-) :-)

Have a great day now!
Christer.

Anonymous said...

I love that Lily you have posted Christer. They are wonderful flowers that show us God had an amazing gift for art. All the pictures inspire me this morning. Thank you! Sorry you are having more computer problems. We have Geek on Site which solved all my problems but at twice the price of a local dealer. Enjoy your tea.

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

Morning Christer - at least it is for me now. Great sunrise shots and wondered if you are using your new camera most times.

I have been using the Nikon P90 and was not certain about whether it was better than the previous digital SLRS as this is my first time using the brand. But so far the results are very good. . I have been taking more sunflower photos using it - so another post soon.

We had LOTS of rain and severe thunder and lightnight storms hlast night - almost 3 inches of rain; few short power blips but no long outages - thankfully. We shut down all the computers early.

Hope the car brakes and PC problems get resolved. Good thing you have vacation time to sort them out, but not much fun to use it that way.

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

Hi Z&M!
I do like lilies but we have a beetle here that lives only on lilies, both the adult and the larvaes. So I only have few of them. It´s too much work trying to controll these beetles. THey also scream out loud when killing them and that´s abit creepy :-) :-)

Since my computer is so new it still has insurrabce on it. So this should be dealt with without any cost for me, besides lots of time then.

Have a great day now!
Christer.

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

After noon Beatrice!
We are around 6-7 hours before You here, I´m not sure if You go on eastern time or not.

I only use my new camera now, but I have the old one so I can use that if I don´t want to bring a big camera with me. Nowdays one can get robbed for nothing really (not in this village ofcourse :-) :-) ). Now that I have started to understand it I think this is a great camera. I seldom use the automatic setting exept for when I want to know how wrong I adjusted the settings on the manual mode :-) :-)

I would recommend this camera to anyone since it can be used on automatic as well as on manual. Looking forward to those sunflower photos then :-)

That was a lot of rain comming down in so short time. It was much the same in a village near here the other week, but we "only" got half of that ammount I´m happy to say. We´re having a shower right now actually and as soon as it´s over we´ll take a little walk again. I need all exersice I can get :-)

It would actually been better if my break problems had waited another two weeks. The garage is in the same village as my job and they´ll drive us to work when leeving the car there in the morning. Not expecive either :-)

Have a great day now!
Christer.

decareis said...

Good morning Christer
Yeah, I know little of the Swedish traditions.
Qdo bought the book, I remember not liking some recipes because they had a lot of canned anchovies, the flavor is very strong and very salty.
Just like the white fish and mild flavors, salmon fillet so thin and grilled with passion fruit sauce! heheheheh
What is the staple food in Sweden?
In Brazil, ate lots of fried anchovies on the beach but were huge, different from here, until my brother in law thought differently.

But what I really want to say I loved your photos, love the countryside and the houses are lovely!
See you soon

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

Hi Andrea!
I belong to those not liking anjovis or pickeled herring :-) I can´t understand how people can eat it :-) :-) Otherwise I eat all kinds of food.

If You asked what our staple food is a couple of years ago I would say potatoes and pork in all kinds of varieties, perhaps it still is like that but I´m not sure about it. But we do love our pigs :-)


Have a great day now!
Christer.

Alen Trädgård said...

Hoppas att du passade på att handla vad du behöver nu tills du får bromsarna fixade, det är inte bra att utsätta varken dig själv eller andra för sådana risker;) Hoppas verkligen att du får ordning på din dator nu, annars får du som du säger skälla ut butiken ordentligt. Det är så himla dålig stil av Telia att egentligen skulle man skriva i dagspressen varje gång de beter sig på det viset och de är ju ofta. Ha det gott/Monne

ana_didi said...

Hi Christer,
Your very black dogs are so beautiful in the middle of every green.
Beautiful flowers. Very interesting that very little that can grow in very dry places. I'd love to know which plant grows on the beach, heat, wind and salt air end with them.
Although at the moment, our biggest problem is so much rain, this is the coldest winter in years. But do not claim I know it is difficult winter with rain and cold, as it was in São Paulo.
Well ... you seek care for your car will not break down right in the middle of a road with mud :)
kiss good afternoon to you
Didi

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

Tjänare Monne!
Jo jag har frysen full och kylen också :-) Möjligtvis kanske mjölken och filen tar slut och det skulle i och för sig vara en nära dödenupplevelse för mig :-) :-)

Det är inte första gången jag kommer på kant med den här butiken! Servicekänsla är inget de någonsin haft :-) :-)
Ha en bra dag nu!
Christer.

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

Hi Didi!
Yes it is easy to find my dogs now in summertime. But You should see them in the cold winters night :-) Three big black dogs disapperes totally :-) :-) I have red flshing lights on them then :-)

There are lots of plants that can grow where it´s very dry, even more where You live than here!
Your cold and rainy winter is like a warm and nice summer up here :-) :-) :-)

I have an appointment at the garage on tuesday afternoon, until then i´ll have to stay at home :-)

Have a great day now!
Christer.

jaz@octoberfarm said...

hi christer...yep, that is one tough neighborhood you live in!!! where is all the graffiti and garbage? living in the city, it is really rough. there are shootings close by almost every night. i love city living but i confess, when i look at your pics it makes me yearn for a farm and the countryside! joyce

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

Hi Joyce!
Yes, only the tough dares to live out here :-) We are so tought that we don´t even have graffiti :-) :-)

I´m so glad I moved from my old home town. Nowdays it´s the home for a couple of the most violente gangs in this country. They have a tendency to try to shoot each others and hits other people when they do so.

Have a great day now!
Christer.

Terria said...

Thank you for all your informative posts about Sweden, and for the beautiful photos. Flowers and nature are good for the soul. Do you have willow trees there?

ana_didi said...

I imagine their dogs in winter would be good with a vest with those phosphorescent tracks as the traffic cop, it would be funny :)
Christer knows even the coconut trees are more dead than alive lately?
Salt air is not very nutritious.
Their land is very beautiful but very cold, my land is very beautiful but also very hot. Nothing is perfect. When I was little the seasons were defined, winter, summer, fall, spring .... Now ... we have everything in one day sometimes, a little confusing this.
kiss
Didi

caryn said...

Hi Christer,
Great photos. Red sky at dawning, sailor take warning as my mother would say.
Your mystery plant at the end reminds me of what we call butter and egg plant (linaria vulgaris) except there's no yolk on your eggs. :-)
have a great evening.

Sharlene T. said...

What a beautiful sunrise! I used to sit and welcome the sunrise growing up in Florida -- they are gorgeous, too... please be very, very, careful with your car until the brakes are fixed... even if it's breaking okay but not releasing... that could end up being very bad during emergencies...

Twitter: SolarChief

Wsprsweetly Of Cottages said...

What beautiful photo's! At first I didn't really see that much difference, but I do now.
I am feeling more alive today..but still not normal. Thanks for stopping by with encouragement!! :) I appreciate that.
And...yes the neighborhood could be worse! One day I will show you mine! AWFUL! I don't even go for walks because it is so terrible. It used to be nice but after some 50 years, it is going downhill. At least since I moved in and began to fix up my front yard, others have taken more of an interest in theirs. :) Perhaps it's catching!
I do wish we had more rain here like you do but, not the lightening. Having it strike to close to the house is frightening. Had that happened to me I would have been petrified.

I lived in Florida years ago and their thunder storms were horrible. Every years people were killed by lightening. Awful!

Hope you are making some headway with your computer...and your brakes too?? Sheesh! Never rains but it pours...as they say! :):)
Mona

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

Hi Terria!
Yes flowers and nature is truly good for the soul! I became a much nicer and calmer person when I moved out to the countryside.

Have a great day now!
Christer.

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

Hi Didi!
Lots of dogs has a vest like that over here :-) They need to if they are walking close to a road. But for them to work You must have some light close to them. Out here it´s totally dark. I´ll put in two videos I made last winter so You can see what I mean in todays blog.

No I didn´t know it was so bad that even coconuts has troubles. But the climate is changing now. That´s why our weather is so strange lately. We must plant more trees and reduce the ammount of carbon dioxid we put out in to the air (like not drive our cars if we can walk or bike). The trees are eating carbon dioxide You see so they can help us stop this weather change.

As You say, salt air isn´t very nutricious but is really good for us anyway. People living close to the ocean seldom gets goitre, a not so specially nice disease.

Have a great day now!
Christer.

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

Hi Caryn!
We have a similar saying over here and we did get some windy and rainy weather later that day.

So You have Linaria vulgaris too! It´s one of my favourites and I have planted it in my garden. Some see it as a terrible weed, but it behaves very nicely in my garden. But the plant on my photos is a Monkshood, Aconitum. But what kind no one of us have figured out yet :-)

Have a great day now!
Christer.

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

Hi Sharlene!
If there are some clouds in the sky we usually gets really beautiful sunrises. The clouds reflect the sunlight in the most fantastic colors :-)

Don´t worry, I´m not getting out on the roads until tuesday when the breaks are going to be fixed. I have what I need here at home. Thankfully we have lots of parking spot where I can stop if the breaks gets to hot on the way there.
Have a great day now!
Christer.

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

Hi Mona!
I´m glad You feel a little bit better!

The great thing when someone is fixing up their front yard other follows :-) So You are probably helping the whole neighbourhood getting better just by liking to have a nice front yard Yourself :-) It´s so much easier to do something if others already started!


I really don´t mind the lightning either, as long as it doesn´t hit anything. But some people do get hit by it here too every year. I´m really glad we don´t have the thunderstorms they have in Florida though, that´s a bit to much of a fun thing :-) :-) :-)

As You say, never rains but it pours :-)

Have a great day and take care now!
Christer.