Elves

Summer is definitely over. The children are back in school, the animals are preparing for the winter and the elves are dancing on the meadows. You have to look long and hard to see them but they are there, hidden in the mist that forms in the evening. Beautiful but also a reminder that it is getting time to leave Svångemåla to go south for a little bit of more warm weather and sunshine.

From Austria to Svångemåla !

Today's Feeling

PS Did you spot the lonely bird?

Diamonds on the Leaves

Lingonberries

Slowly, slowly, nature is getting ready for the long rest it needs to gather energy for the outburst of energy and life we call spring. The leaves are turning yellow, brown and even red and cover the ground like a blanket of gold coins. The summer is not over yet but the signs are there for all of us to see.



At the same time, the transformation of the summers’ flowers into berries is in full progress. It has been a dry summer and the blueberries are fewer than usual. Similarly, the wild raspberries are difficult to find. Even the most important of all berries in this part of Sweden, the lingonberries are small and far in between. This means that the most used jam of all, lingonberry jam, will be more expensive to the disappointment of all who like to put a spoon of this particular jam on their meat balls, pancakes, fried herring, or cold rice porridge. No, I am not joking, we eat lingonberry jam to a lot of very different dishes and can hardly live without it in this part of Sweden.

Growing up

If we walk in the footsteps of our parents what do trees do? The grow in the stumps of their parents!

Free as a Bird

If the feeling of being privileged is the most overwhelming when I meet wild animals, I yesterday felt envy when I watched a young fishhawk hone his flying skills above my head. He was hurling abuse at me at the top of his voice since I was too close to nest and I did not stay long to avoid up-setting him. The saying “free as a bird” was on my mind when I struggled back to the car through the very thick and remote forest still contemplating how effortless he circled above my head, going up and down as he wanted without hardly moving a feather. Homo Sapiens might be at the top of many ladders but not of all!

"Fred the Fox"

As some of you might remember, I had an extraordinary experience a couple of weeks ago when I met two moose calves. I have thought about the emotions that I felt and why and was happy when one of the most famous Swedish photographers, Mattias Klum, described an encounter he had had with a rare kind of lion as being “privileged”.

That is exactly what I also feel when I come very close to wild animals. Privileged. Today it happened again when “Fred the Fox” inspected my garden. I was sitting in my kitchen, surfing the web when he passed by my window. Since he did not seem to be in a hurry, I got my camera, walked outside and took the pictures below. I think he looks as happy as I am to have such a friendly visitor on an early Sunday morning!

Good morning Svångemåla!



Getting ready for the day...



Breakfast ??

A Flower to Celebrate that it is Friday

Going nuts

The time for “going nuts” is coming closer. In more than one way! It seems as if Fred the Fox has got a son who is using my plot as his play-ground. I have seen him sneaking around a couple of times but unfortunately it has been too dark to take a picture but he is definitely getting a bit too brave and has even dared to go all the way up to my door and dragged away one of my shoes! I found it about 25 meters away with one of the shoestrings torn off. He could choose between different brands, Adidas, Nike and Geox and for some reason he chose Adidas. The big question is now why foxes prefer Adidas? One of the big questions I will probably never get a good answer to.