Sweden: skol!

Well, this post took a bit longer than I expected. I traveled to Sweden a few weeks ago for a workshop. I came back two days before classes began, and then had a grant to write, and then, and then, and you get the idea. I had wanted to write something in the same scope as the Finland trip last year, but even though I had a great time, and in many ways, I enjoyed this trip more than the Finland trip, I feel less inspired to write about this trip. So, I'm hitting "publish post" as-is.

I was able to spend two days in Stockholm before heading out to a field station for the workshop. Most of the photos are from Stockholm, because I didn't take many at the field station.

Stockholm is situated on an archipelago that bridges Lake Malaren and the Baltic Sea. Every where you turn, there is another island surrounded by dramatic cliffs and sparkling water. They tell the tourists that no fishing license is required, and that the water is clean enough that you could live off the fish you caught in the city.

An example of one of the little islands, with a government building on it.


Day one consisted of arriving in Stockholm at 8 AM local time (1 AM my time). We (I convinced a friend from grad school to make this trip with me) couldn't check into the hotel, so we did a boat tour in the morning. It was a great way to start the trip, because it's a quick orientation to Stockholm and you don't they don't mind if you fall asleep on the boat! That night, we ate tapas and crashed.

The next day, after the jetlag had been addressed, we went to Gamla Stan, which translates to "Old Town." We visited the Stockholm Castle. We saw the changing of the guard (well, I *heard* the changing of the guard) and the crown jewels. Next, we hit the Nobel Museum which was fascinating, but no pictures were allowed.

A star within a star at Stockholm Castle.

Gamla Stan is a very touristy portion of Stockholm, but a good way to introduce yourself to the city if you've never been. I also did some shopping, ate lunch (meatballs with lignonberries).
Here's a square on Gamla Stan. The Nobel Museum is just to right, out of frame.

The Royal Church on Riddarholmen. Generations of Swedish royalty are buried here.

The train station. Great public transit in Sweden.

A plaza on Riddarholmen, where I had a cup of tea. The building across the water is the Stockholm's city hall (Stadshuset).

An alley I liked on Riddarholmen.

It's not every day that I sit in an outdoor cafe in Stockholm, drinking a Coke costing 35 SEK (~$5.50). So, I photographed it.

I stayed at the Nordic Sea Hotel which houses the Absolute Icebar. The Absolute Icebar is essentially a refrigerated room with walls, seats, and bar of carved iced. Even the cocktail glasses are made of ice. You're given heavy coats at the front door and you're only allowed 45 minutes in the bar. I stayed long enough to drink lignonberry-vanilla vodka cocktail and take a few photos.

What can I say? It was cool.

After two days in Stockholm, I took a bus to the workshop, which was held at Tovetorp Research Station. The station supports many zoological research projects.

Some phlox (?) in the front of one of the research buildings. The red colored building is common in the farming areas.

Sven, who is the director at the research station. Sven knows more about sperm competition than anyone I've every met before.

Me with a fallow (tame) deer.

The Little Plants that Could

I think the plants that I admire the most are the ones that seem to defy the odds. Sometimes I have begrudging admiration for even pesky plants that manage to trudge along and find their way despite of less-that-perfect circumstances.

For example, I planted three caladium bulbs under the giant bonsai tree this spring. And I watered and waited. And nothing happened. I figured they were goners, and filed them in the "plants that don't survive in my yard" box and forgot about them.

Then, in mid-July, I saw a spike of growth coming out of the ground. A few days later, this emerged:
One of the other caladium bulbs managed too:

Surprise Lilies; the name says it all. They produce thick foliage in the spring and then appear to die back. Then, in August, just when you think they're goners, they bloom beautifully. I fall for it every time. They even smell nice, too.

I started these coleus from seed this spring. They are now taller than O. This is the first time I've found a good spot for coleus, because they seem happy in a spot with lots of morning and early afternoon sun but protection from the late-day heat. This finding has inspired me to fill out this flower bed more, and I hope to try some additional varieties of coleus next year.

I planted the barberry below last fall to replace the thuja that died last summer. This barberry is supposed to about 5 feet tall and doesn't branch out much, which is why I thought it was appropriate for this spot. Unfortunately, this spot is just off the patio in the backyard, where O. like to play, and he tends to run right through this spot, crushing tiny shrubs in his path. We placed the fence you see in the photo around the barberry last fall, but O. insisted that it was a great thing to make shapes with. We gave him his own fence, saying that one fence was for him and one was for the barberry, but the urge to create hexagons was too great, and he ripped the second fence out of the ground as soon as we weren't looking.

Winter came, I thought this would be help; less time outside for O. which would give the barberry a fighting chance. But the ice storm of 2008 proved, once again, too tempting for O., and before I could scream "NOOOOOO!" he snapped the little barberry off at its base. He liked to like the sound of the ice breaking off the branches and clinking on the ice-covered snow. I can't say I blame him for that, but the bad news was that by spring, the barberry was down to a one inch stub above the ground.


And look at it now: the tallest spike is ten inches at least, and still going. O. is doing a better job of staying away from it, too.

And in other news, yesterday O. decided that he was a baby bird. A grey and blue jay, in fact, as noted in his choice of t-shirt and wash cloths. He flapped around the yard, hopped on rocks, and slept in his nest (the castle) most of yesterday morning. J. and I convinced him to do his best fledgling blue jay imitation:
A decent imitation in my opinion.

The Front Door

I finished painting the inside and outside of the front door this weekend. We chose Valspar exterior latex paint, "Betsy's Linen" for color, with a satin finish. Truth be told, I don't think I matched the whites quite right. The new color looks more creamy in comparison to the white in the trim and the white in the storm door on the outside. But the color is a better match on the inside, where the trim is a bit creamy in color.
Another project, mostly finished. A few details remain. We'd like to replace the numbers above the door with ones that actually fit the space (I need to order some non-standardized sized numbers, the space is only 3" high). And someday, we'd like to replace the hardware, but since that's a minor aesthetic issue, we'll hold off until we're ready to re-key a couple of other doors. On the inside, where the door leads to the foyer, I'd still like to replace the overhead light and the linoleum (that fake red brick pattern isn't my favorite). Then maybe add a side table to add a little storage-and-bric-brac space and a lamp for more light. The trick will be to find one that's narrow enough for the entry way. Or maybe not, maybe it's better as is.

By the way, this painting project represents the last of the interesting color choices made by the previous owners. (The door, prior to painting, was an off-lime green, which can be seen here and here. ) It took two years and too many gallons of paint to mention to come to this point, but having the walls and doors colors we chose, for better or worse, makes it seem like home, finally.

In other news, potty training is occurring in the house. I'll spare you the details, but it's safe to say that we now need to find other uses for diapers. Enter Princess Diaper Head:

Morning in the Backyard

For the past few days, I've traipsed around the backyard still wet with morning dew, plastic cup of suds in hand. It's not like it sounds: the beetle last week was not a loner, and we have an problem. The beetles have completely defoliated the roses in the bed next to the road, and now they're starting on the crepe myrtle, the knockout roses by the barbeque, and the big elm tree. The elm may be a problem. It's loosing leaves quickly, like it's autumn, even. All we can do is hope that the beetle's life cycle ends soon and that our poor elm tree that we rely on for shade has a chance to recover.

But I can do something about the roses and the crepe myrtle. Each morning I greet the beetles with a nice warm cup of dish soap (a bath for the beetles, I tell O.). The beetles are more lethargic in the morning, less likely to fly away, and I can shake them into the cup. They drown, and dispose of them in the garbage (interesting note, you shouldn't squish them; they release a pheromone that attracts more beetles).

This morning I was out giving the beetles their death bath, when I spied this little guy, peering at me over a rose.

A side view. Some sort of wasp or hornet. Here's to hoping that it likes to dine on beetles, I could use a little help.This morning I also spied what I think is a juvenile blue jay. It was being stalked by our neighbor's cat when I heard the "EEPS" of a bird who was not happy. I think it is pre-fledgling or near-fledging, because wasn't trying to fly away, but a sturdy hopper.

I stayed back, but it followed me, vocalizing "EEEP!" constantly. I suspect that it's looking for its parent, like a certain kid I know trying to find me. "EEEP!" must be blue jay for "Mom?"

"MOM?!?""MOOOOOMMMM!!!"

Summer Hibernation

We had the first heat index above 100 oF yesterday, which means that summer hibernation has begun. Define summer hibernation? It's that time of year when you minimize the amount of time spent outside due to high heat. I personally tend to revert back to winter-type activities, but with a summer twist. For example, I've been filling the fridge with various "fruits of the summer" preserves:

In the photo above, a couple bags of corn, peachsauce (just like applesauce, but with peaches, great on pancakes), and basil pesto. The corn, peaches, and the basil are locally grown, and some the basil was from my own herb garden. I hope to do another batch of the pesto this weekend; you can't have too much pesto in my opinion.

The blackberries have been outstanding lately:

They're huge! One might think they were overcompensating for something.

And last, a photo of a bumblebee about ready to land on my lavender.

Ready for Storms

Our number 3 project in the queue is finally complete. Well, mostly complete. More on that in a minute.


J. and my father-in-law installed a Larson Classic Elegance 36"storm door in white with brass trim. It features a full-size removeable screen, which we can replace with full glass in the winter. Whether or not we'll actually swap them remains to be seen. We tried the swap once before the door was installed, and it's definitely a short straw job.

We still have a few things to complete. The doorbell doesn't sit correctly with the frame of the new door, so we'll replace that. There's some trim pieces to snap into place and the door closer too install too. And the strike plate for the lock will be installed, too, but we're waiting on a replacement for the "latch side Z-bar", which is the thing that you mount to the door frame so that the door will latch shut. At the moment, the holes for the latch don't line up with the latch on the door. I suspect that J. and his dad made a nonreversable error in cutting that piece from their sheepish behavior, but we're allowing the smokescreen of "I think the company sent us the wrong piece." And I still need to paint the front door white to match the storm door. After that, we'll call it good.

And that makes, oh, four months between purchase of door and (near) complete installation? New rule: thou shalt not purchase renovation supplies without solid plan for installation.

...
Meanwhile, on the other storm (the sliding door that leads to the back yard), we appear to have a little interspecies buggy lovin'.



It's also possible that this little beetle crawled up there thinking it was meeting its maker, the Great Big Bug in the Sky, because it died shortly afterwards.

I wouldn't feel too sorry for it, though. Its friends are busy skeletalizing the cannas.

Ceiling Fan Accoutrements

Because every ceiling fan needs something to make it feel special and unique.

This was a fun little project. See those little baubles hanging ceiling fan #1? That's the project to which I'm referring. Those little baubles hanging from the pullchains for the light and fan motor control. Ever since we've installed this fan, it's lacked the pulls. Not a serious issue, obviously, but chain pulls do make it easier to pull. So J. and I decided we'd buy a pair for each fan.

The pulls for ceiling fan #2 were easily enough to find at Lowes for a few bucks each. The chain for ceiling fan #2 is not like the other two fans; it's silver in color. We thought that silver or gold pulls on black chains look strange, so that cuts our selection at Lowes by 95%, and the remaining 5% of the in stock selection were not good matches for our house.

Google was our next option. And here's where we become very cheap. We found lots of "that's cute but it costs HOW much?" and several "that's....interesting" and several "no way, not it my house."

But then, while roaming our local Hobby Lobby, it came to me: beads. (Bees? Beads.) A few dollars in beads plus some wire from home, and voila: custom ceiling fan pulls. It's like earrings, for inanimate objects.

This is the bauble hanging from ceiling fan #3, in O.'s room. O. was impressed at least.

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We're in the swing of summer now. Air conditioning, popsicles, drumming up excuses to douse my head in the hose, and the daylilies at their best. And in other news, O. has decided to climb the castle and slide down the slide without adult involvement. It happened one day when I was busy and couldn't help him climb when requested (demanded). The next thing I know, I hear "I did it!," look over at the castle, and see O. at the top.

Ignoring as a parenting device: genius.

A Little Landscaping

For the past year, we've had an empty space in the rock bed on the front of the house, just below the office window. Two of the bushes in that bed died, finally, although they were probably on their last legs when we bought the house. I dug out the bushes last year and then was too busy/indecisive to replace them. For a few months, I was looking for a spirea of the right size and able to take some shade. Then I was concerned that this is really a hot spot since although this is a shady spot, it is the West side of the house and receives a few hours of direct afternoon sunlight. Finally, I decided to wait for inspiration to strike.

Three events coincided this weekend which enabled us to finally fill in the empty space on the West side of our house: 1.) a relatively quiet weekend, 2.) a drop in the relative humidity, and 3.) a 40% off plant sale at our local hardware store. The two shrubs on the sides are leptodermis, a flowering shrub that matures to about 2'x2'. The middle shrub is a hummingbird sweetspire, which should mature to about 3'x4'. I hope we've made good choices.

I also hope that the leptodermis doesn't live up to it's name ("thin-skinned" if I'm interpreting the Greek roots correctly). This spot has the worst soil for digging in our yard. It's all hard-packed clay, and there's rocks from previous application, plus the usual tree roots. A shovel gets you absolutely no where, and we dug these by hand spade instead. There's no way we ever want to dig holes here ever again.

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O. Photos

O. is posing for the camera these days. Here he's doing his best (and unintentional) Home Alone impression.

What's with the blue and yellow shoestrings on his feet, you ask?

These are laces from a lacing set. He wraps them around his feet and calls him his "beautiful princess shoes."

Those laces come in handy for other accouterments. I call this photo "I love belts, Momma!" (actual quote from this morning).
Yeah, I don't know what he's doing with his leg in that pose either, but he was insistent that that was how he wanted the photo to look.

One more photo, and this one is future blackmail: O. in his "beautiful princess dress." The dress is the table runner that Mom quilted for us. He likes to spin and twirl around in it.

Ah, June

I admire June (the month, that is). June turns spring into summer. Schedules change: the academic year ends and the summer holidays begin. The weather changes: on June 1st, you may need a light jacket in the evening, but by June 30th, you sweat at the mere sight of a hoodie. With the weather change comes the end of the spring flowers and the beginning of the summer flower, and is what I admire most: June's ability to change the color palette of the landscape.

Par example? My herb garden is no longer the spring colors. The purples, blues, and pinks are gone. The summery colors are here: orange and red. Even the yellows are different; brazen and warm, no longer the chilly daffodil yellow.

Case in point: marigold, started from seed.

The yarrow is gorgeous right now and attracting bees. I like to think that yarrow is doing its part to save the bees.
Some cute annual daisy that I can't remember the name of right now.
And the nasturtiums. Have I mentioned what I've learned about nasturtiums? I've wanted them for several years. I like their foliage and their bright colors. As a bonus, they're edible, which makes them kid- and pet-friendly. So last year, I started a pot of nasturtiums from seed and set the pot on the West side of the house. I babied this pot: fertilizer, good organic soil, and plenty water. I had beautiful foliage...but zero flowers.

This winter, I read up on nasturtiums. Some say that nasturtiums don't like containers. Some say that fertilizer promotes leaf growth over flowering. So this year, I sowed them directly in the herb garden, and didn't add any fertilizer. And -voila- flowers and lots of 'em.

Sometimes doing less is better. Good to know.

Headboard for a twin bead

Project number 1 on the queue is complete! Shown below, I stained, finished, and assembled a headboard for O.'s bed. It features a shelf, which is a currently a good place for his stuffed animal friends and his Ocean Wonders crib music/nightlight (behind the pillow), and later he can use it for books and a reading light, I suppose. The stain is Minwax "Early American" on pine wood, with four coats of a tung oil for the finish. I think the wood color looks nice with Mom's quilt and pillow sham, and it's close enough in color to the bookcase.
However, I'm not completely happy with some of the details with this headboard kit. I suppose you get what you pay for, and it wasn't like I was hoping to make an heirloom piece of furniture, but I was a little surprised at the little things.

For example, several of the joints have white streaks. The photo below shows the left side; the right side, which faces the wall fortunately for us, is even worse. My guess is that the streaks are residual glue. They only appeared after I stained it. I did go back and try to sand out the glue and restain, but no luck.

And there is some unevenness to the wood grain. For example, this big white spot in the top of the shelf. Again, it didn't appeal until after staining, and no amount of sanding would take it out.
I should have known that the quality control with this company was going to be an issue when the shelf support arrived cracked and two camlock pieces of hardware were not supplied. The company was good about about sending a new shelf support, and the camlock was standard and I purchased more at a local hardware store. However, we were thinking about ordering a headboard for our own bed to finish, but after seeing this, I don't think we'll order from this company again.

Oh well, O. is content with the headboard and his new shelf for animal storage.

There's something about this photo that makes me long to see a 1980s era Stephen Spielberg film. Hmm...I wonder why?

Oh. That's why.
...
And what about the pesky project #3 on the queue, i.e., the storm door? Eh. We're on step number four. Out of 14 steps. And that's just part 1. Parts 2 and 3 have yet to be addressed. So, we're getting there. Slowly but surely.

Too busy to post...

...spending all free time outside. Just a couple of quick photos.

First, my sous gardener, trying to restore the Allium purple sensation that he picked.
And my new favorite spot, the hanging basket, next to the front door. It contains a coleus, a Torenia "Golden Moon," and a muehlenbeckia (aka wire vine.) I think they look sweet there, and hope they have enough light.

Insert Title Here

I can't think of a cohesive title for this post, mainly because the topics are not easily cohesive-able, and I think my brain is a little fried from finals week grading this weekend. Let's march forward anyway.

For my birthday, I received a gift certificate to our local True Value, and last weekend I cashed it in for mulch (not pictured) and a Dappled Willow. We set out the dappled willow last weekend in the rock bed on the East side of the house. In theory, if the willow likes this spot (and fingers crossed that this spot is part-shade/part-sun enough), it should grow to 5' x 5' and take up the space between the bedroom and bathroom. The picture does not do it justice; I really like the way the tips of this little bush looks against the brick.

The castle continues to be a source of wonder and delight for O. With the leaves on the tree, it really feels like you're in a jungle, and O. really wants to have a snack here most evenings.
Last night, E. the cat was out with us, and I threw her into the castle with O., thinking that this would be a short-lived experiment. I was wrong. E. likes the castle too. In spite of the annoyed expression in the photo below, she quickly realized that the castle is prime spot to survey the neighborhood.

Year 2 of the Herb Garden. The oregano, lemon balm, lavender, thyme, chives, sage, spearmint, and catnip all came back from last year. The rosemary is hanging in there, but just barely. I'm told that rosemary usually does well here but they're not as cold-hardy as other herbs, and this winter was colder than usual.

I've replanted several basils, marjoram, and cilantro. I've also added nasturtiums and marigolds that I started from seed. The red pot just off center of the photo below is a yarrow, and the purple ball flowers are allium, called Purple Sensation.
I've been trying to be outside for as much as possible right now, before the mosquito season begins. We're already beginning to see them. The photo below was taken last week, and I've included quarter next to the mosquito for size reference. Huge, and these are just non-biting kind.