Thursday Thoughts – Autumn Hints

23 augusti, 2018 / Leya / 29 kommentarer

Some cool autumn days at our summerhouse – Much is in progress…and nature is slowing down. Totti is adjusting to having Milo around, but as you can see he has also found out how to effectively get away from him…one of his favorite solutions is to jump into the car cage again. Milo cannot reach him there – yet.

Autumn is coming – the crispness of the air, the clear skies and the colours of the trees.

Our little fishing village is preparing for the next season – boats on shore and summer guests gone. Silent mornings, only the swallows’ swift wings dipping in the water.

He is growing so fast…too fast, just like little children do.

Thursday Thoughts – An Ordinary, Early Autumn Day

16 augusti, 201817 augusti, 2018 / Leya / 14 kommentarer

An early dog walk…in Autumn fogs, cool and soft.

There are occasional glimpses of sun – I brought my little point and shoot camera only…

It is difficult to walk two dogs and try to shoot with a heavy camera.

Resting after breakfast – Totti and Milo both love our summer house.

Mornings are the best time to enjoy the stillness – no summer guests anymore. Paths are empty, and the fields belong to geese and horses only. Milo found that dwarfed opening gate in the hedge…I always wonder who once lived there – given that Milo is about 30 cm high now…

Forest walk in the evening – some birds chirping low and softly muted. There is no wind so the flies are on the hunt.

This area, Lindö, is a nature reserve, so you have to be kind to those flies and mosquitoes as well…

Have you ever had a puppy? Sometimes my toes wish they hadn’t…

I know Milo is a good guy, and that Totti is slowly adjusting. But I can read Totti’s thoughts by the look of his eyes – just when is that ”thing” going home again...

Thursday Thoughts – On Beauty

9 augusti, 2018 / Leya / 42 kommentarer

According to Wikipedia, Beauty is ”a characteristic of an animal, idea, object, person or place that provides a perceptual experience of pleasure or satisfaction.”

The experience of ”beauty” is also connected to being in balance and harmony with nature, which may lead to feelings of attraction and emotional well-being.

Philosopher and novelist Umberto Eco wrote On Beauty: A history of a Western idea (2004) and On Ugliness (2007). A character in his novel The Name of the Rose declares: ”three things concur in creating beauty: first of all integrity or perfection, and for this reason we consider ugly all incomplete things; then proper proportion or consonance; and finally clarity and light”, before going on to say ”the sight of the beautiful implies peace”. (Wikipedia)

The best part of beauty is that which no picture can express

Francis Bacon

Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old

Franz Kafka

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

Margaret Wolfe Hungerford

(The first person to use it in the form we know today.)

It is unknown exactly where or how this idiom originated but it has been used in different forms since 3rd century BC when it first appeared in Greek.

Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it

Confucius

The soul that sees beauty may sometimes walk alone

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not

Ralph Waldo Emerson

All photos from Reine, Lofoten – by many considered to be maybe the most beautiful spot in the world.

Thursday Thoughts – From Narvik to Svolvær

2 augusti, 2018 / Leya / 23 kommentarer

Narvik was developed as an all-year ice free port for the Swedish Kiruna and Gällivare iron mines. In my youth I was here once, but did not go further out to Lofoten. This time we also took the train to Riksgränsen and back again. We got an interesting view of the new bridge connecting islands – not finished yet.

Riksgränsen (the border to Sweden) – and as you can see there is no activity during summer – it seems. Abandoned cafées and all lifts still waiting for passengers.

Back in Narvik again I marvelled at the abundance of red clover overlooking the harbour. Flowers everywhere along the roads in Sweden and Norway – a wonder for me used to the brownish yellow burnt landscape at home.

We spent only a day here – then left for Lofoten and its beautiful, varied landscapes.

For the Swedish ”Fika” this first day, we found a lovely place with the sound of running water and a soothing mountain view.

Milo would have loved this place. Low water and easy to splash around and play.

The common butterwort grew on the banks of this little river – did you know this is a carnivorous plant? I didn’t before I looked it up in the flora.

Just before darkness, we arrived in Svolvaer – the main town in Lofoten – which will be in the next post!

Thursday Thoughts – On the Road Again

19 juli, 201818 juli, 2018 / Leya / 31 kommentarer

Country roads

…and the farmers’ never ending work

Fading flowers and ripening blackberries

So, I am heading north for some days – to leave the heat behind

I will be in touch – have a great weekend all!

Thursday Thoughts – Reality is…

12 juli, 2018 / Leya / 16 kommentarer

Thinking about reality and truth…

This is what my garden looks like today. Everything is dried out, and a single survivor is standing there, in the middle of what once was a lawn. A sweet Marguerite.

Then, if I look closely, I might find some more survivors – in the flowerbed at the back of the house, and of course I have tried to save some of my outdoor plants – the Tejas lilies and some begonias are coming now. Everything develops very fast though, in less than a week, they come – and go.

My most faithful friends are the Lavender and the Buddleias. I water them every day, and the wine as well. So – this small part of my garden, about 4 x 2,5 meters – is this the true picture of our summer 2018? No, but sometimes we can choose our own truth. I believe some people always do, but I prefer honesty and trying to show different angles or both sides. Life is never only going one way, and I think that is a good thing.

Thursday Thoughts – Drought

5 juli, 2018 / Leya / 19 kommentarer

Midsummer and all the festivities surrounding it – is over.

But this Midsummer was a different one. Usually we have rather chilly Midsummers, and a bit rainy – but many beautiful wildflowers. This year I had to take the bike out for hours in order to get the midsummer flowers – the result was only one, single bouquet…

This year, the heat in Sweden has been overwhelming since May, and many elderly people and newborn babies have difficulties with it. Not to talk about Nature and wildlife. There are no worms, no snails, no grass for the cattle and no flowers for us to admire. I pour water in seven different pots in the garden – for the birds and the hedgehogs. Wild fires are frequent in the southern part of Sweden, where I live.

I keep some of my flowers alive though – My Flammentanz roses seem to cope rather well. I water them late in the evening or around midnight. Watering is forbidden in many places now, and soon we will get that message too.

In fact, the cherry tree is the only tree liking this heat – or maybe it works like the pine trees – they produce cones in several hundreds when they think they are going to die. Anyway, the cherries taste delightful, and the tree has never been this blessed before. I planted it when my daughter, Emma, was born, in 1990. My son David got a plum when he was born, in 1992, and his tree brought us many kilos of delicious fruit last year, but this year maybe – 5 plums? But that is the way trees work.

Now it is getting late – Good Night to you all. May the rain fall and the sun shine on us all.

Thursday Thoughts – Paths and Colours

28 juni, 201828 juni, 2018 / Leya / 14 kommentarer

On the south coast of Fanö, you will find the little village Sonderho, consisting of about 300 cottages. Almost all the cottages here stand with their house ends to the east and west – because of the wind – and they are all surrounded by small gardens and open greens.

Between the plots there is a labyrinthine network of narrow paths and crooked streets. So, you are asked to park your car and walk around when you arrive in the village.

It was raining the whole of our visit, but the colours, houses, gardens and lovely paths where not at all less charming …

Almost all the houses are very low, so inside you have to step down to reach the floor. Although light blue is frequently used, I believe the most loved colours are these two – yellow and saturated orange.

There are some very good restaurants here as well…

And of course – somewhere out there…the sea.

Thursday Thoughts – The Kites

21 juni, 2018 / Leya / 21 kommentarer

Fanö is a very small island west of Esbjerg, Jylland, Denmark. Go to Vivekas site for more love of this island and more interesting facts!

We started out to get to the Rindby beach on the west coast by 10am – which was the time said for the kite flyers to start. Some of them had been there for two weeks, but June 14-17 was marked for the finishing festival. Non commercial and 5000 enthusiasts – besides the three of us…Viveka, (Myguiltypleasures) , me and my husband.

They come from all over the world…and they all make their own kites from sailcloth and nylon fiber. Some kites are made in a couple of hours, but some take weeks to make.

To give you a taste of what this is all about – here is a short youtube introduction:

To give you something of my own taste – here we go…am:

Wishing you all a lovely Midsummer!

I’ll be back Sunday with the afternoon kites…if you haven’t got enough of them! I haven’t… Or better yet – go visit Fanö yourselves – you will love it!