Woke Up This Morning Feeling Fine.....

Well, not too hungover, at any rate. Another bright, sunny morning. A slight chill in the air, but generally speaking, pretty acceptable. Still some sub-zero nights in Sweden, it seems. Still snow around too, though it is steadily going. Should be clear by mid/late May!

An early morning haze over one of the local lakes:

Spring: looking towards Fun City from the Ångermanälven (Ångerman River):

The problem up there is that when the thaw sets in, as it has/is at present, everything drips - from rooves, eaves, everywhere it can basically. It then freezes overnight leaving every surface coated in a glistening cover of ....well...... ice. Walking around becomes a bone-threatening challenge; slithering and grasping for support becomes the norm. It's quite extraordinary. And dangerous.

On one memorable occasion, I found it nigh impossible to walk back up the slight incline from the road to the house front/porch. In the end, I simply gave up the unequal struggle and, getting down on my knees, crawled back up the slope to the house - much to the puzzlement/amusement of our neighbour Håkan. I had been on the heavily taxed, overpriced, vin rouge beforehand, mind you.

Charlie spent most of the night indoors, curled up asleep, on his blaketty thingy, at the foot of the bed. Unfortunately, before dropping off for the night, he inadvertently, dropped something off. On the bed, on the duvet, near my pillows:

Ixodus ricinus

I don't know about you, but I can survive perfectly well without Ticks. This was of the  common or garden sheep variety. It had obviously been with Charlie for a bit and I'd failed to spot it. It was fully bloated, sated on the wee chappies blood. Horrible things! Luckily it had fallen where it was in clear sight, so I was able to dispose of it before it became tempted by my own sanguinity! Needless to say, I checked around in case any cousins had joined it. All was clear.

Not a great piccy, again I know - but I couldn't figure out how to use the zoomy bit. It's a relatively new camera. That's my excuse anyway. Or one of them, at any rate.

The Aubergines still look a bit sad for themselves. It definitely looks like frost damage (unless anybody out there knows or suggests different). But....when could it have happened?:

And everything else looks unharmed:

Peppers are fine and thriving:

Toms and cucumber, also doing well (despite my interest in their well-being):  

I will certainly get another couple of Aubergine plants at tomorrow's market; looks like we might well need them. And they'll do so much better than our current, apparently frosted variety.

The Quince is looking splendid right now, in full bloom:

The Pear (or is that an Apple?) alongside it is looking not too bad either.

Whereas the Mulberry still has a way to go; only now in sparse leaf, but the promise is there:

And as for the Peas. My tender ministrations - ie. singing nightly, crooning and preening and watering and nurturing them looks like it might yet pay off:

Last year my rather haphazard Pea plantings actually worked pretty well, with a surprisingly - at least to J -  good harvest being obtained from both they and the Beans, I'd also scattered in an extremely loose/louche way. So what can go wrong this time, I ask? Of course this means that I must now clear and dig and prepare more beds for more seed planting, to ensure a spaced crop harvest later. Booger! Booger! Booger!