Dwarf Cornel

These berries have a very mundane name in Swedish…

… it’s called Hen Berries, for some reason. Hopefully someone out there can also tell me if the name honeysuckle would be correct for this plant – I’ve always thought that was a totally different one.

Looking at the little calendar on the right, I realise that my posts have been very irregular this month. Could be a result of the situation at work and otherwise – there has been one thing after the other this whole month. We know there are going to be further cuts – both among teachers, administrative and support staff.

On top of that, one of my boys decided to take off about 10 days ago. We knew there was a chance he would try since he’s known for some time that he wouldn’t be allowed to stay in the country. The decisions are taken – but no under-age refugees have been deported since last January. Meanwhile these guys learn the language, build up a network of contact all over the country and have ample opportunity to disappear into the underground world of illegal immigrants/

Fall Storms

The lakes around here have been looking like this for the past two days.

High winds from north-west means that the whitecaps have been quite spectacular – and that almost all treees have lost all leaves. We know what’s right around the corner…

Friday Fun

This afternoon I went out to a cottage area that is normally all mine in the afternoon…

… today we met Martina and her Border Collie Timmie and there was instant contact – both canine and human. She likes to have someone along when she’s walking Timmie – just like I’d like company sometimes. The dogs certainly got on well – and by now Loki is sleeping like a baby under my desk.

Tomorrow I’m heading out to collect juniper branches and some mosses to put on my Grandparent’s graves as decorations for the winter. Back on Sunday with pictures.

Thursday Thirteen

Again, Kcinnova has saved me from making another uninspired blog post. She had this on her blog today:

I won’t give you the rather convoluted way in which this meme came to her – here’s mine instead.

1. Please share one middle school memory. It can be good, bad, ugly, funny. Pictures or words, I don’t care, just share.

We had a very cruel bully in my middle school. He was especially cruel towards a girl whose parents had escaped from Germany during the war. He loved nothing better than giving her nicknames alluding to her parent’s supposed close dealings with the N*zi Party. I was livid – but since it would have taken three like me to make up his weight, I couldn’t do much… Until I realised that I could run soooo much faster than he did… I had a shoulder bag for my books and I used that to wallop him when he was bullying my friend. Then I ran for dear life… This went on for a few weeks or so and pretty soon my school bag was in tatters. Mom and Dad couldn’t understand how I could be so careless, but I got a new one…. Before Christmas that one was a goner as well and that time I had to promise to be really careful with my new bag.

As luck would have it, I never needed to use it as a weapon. The day before X-mas holidays, he slipped and fell on the road home. Being rather well rounded to body, he couldn’t get up before I had a chance to sit down on his chest, where I jumped up and down  until he begged for mercy. I didn’t get up before he had made a solemn promise to never say anything bad about my friend – and from what I remember, he never did.

10 years ago, he tried contacting me via a friend of a friend… I still haven’t responded.

2. What’s your favorite Beatles song?
Imagine – hands down.

3. If I asked you to describe your most comfortable outfit, what would it be?

Leotards and a XXXL-t-shirt – not the stuff you let anyone else see you in…

4. Would you rather host a party or be a guest?
I actually prefer hosting the party. I like the planning, the cooking, seeing friends enjoy my food and of course the conversations and fun. Then I’d like to have someone else come in and do the cleaning up!

5. Do you think we will move completely from traditional books to digital ones, and if we do, are you OK with that?
I hope not! I can’t see myself reading anything else in bed than books! Like KC, I like the rustle of paper, the smell  – even falling asleep with the book over my face! Digital media is OK for reading the evening paper, blogs and some non-fiction, but fiction “fits” better in good old-fashioned books.

6. Do you learn best by reading, listening or experiencing?
Depends on what it’s about, but I believe a mix of all three works best in most cases.

7. If you are (or when you were) single, what is the kiss of death for you concerning the opposite sex? (That is, what is one trait or behavior or habit or anything at all that immediately turns you off from considering that person a potential match for you?)
Narrow-mindedness, smoking and two-toned shoes. In that order.

8. Snacks. Salty or sweet?
Salty. Feta cheese and olives, licorice and crackers with just about anything on….

9. Look around you in a four foot radius. What object is around you that you didn’t realize was there or forgot was there? How long has it been there?
No need to look that far away. My desk is a constant disaster area… I think I can throw away the manual for the cell phone I lost about a year ago, for instance…

10. What is your favorite Tom Cruise movie?
Top Gun – again like KC – it was the soundtrack that made me shiver. (Oh well, he wasn’t too bad for resting your eyes on, either!)

11. You buy a bottle of shampoo and discover that you don’t like what it does to your hair at all. What do you do with that full bottle?
The truth? I have a few bottles collecting dust on a shelf right now…

12. Your favorite Fall comfort food? (Last week it was beverage.)
Fresh berries with cream.

13.  What is one thing you are thankful for today?
Life. Almost two years ago, I had a close call… My name was on the page but not in the top position!

A Day Well Spent

On Sunday I went along with my friends when they were gathering their reindeer for a day of branding and butchering. Some calves are always missed when they do the initial branding in early July, but since the calves keep to their mothers more or less for at leat 9 months, they can still brand them. This time of year, they are also slaughter some of the males – for their own needs and to sell the meat.

Here’s the next generation getting lessons in how to brand their animals. Yes, these two sisters will eventually take over after their parents.

The female reindeer still have the black velvet cover on their horns, but the males have started shedding it in preparation for rutting season. Some of them were actually getting kind of randy – but didn’t have nothing for it as the females aren’t interested just yet.

Favourite Area

This is the view not even 5 km from where I live.

The area Boulder Ridge stretches out over several kilometers but the system of trails is such, that you can easily choose one that’ll take 15 minutes to walk, or half an hour, or…. This is where I head most days directly after work, almost regardless of the weather.

Fall Colours

The leaves have changed colour rapidly the last few days. We had our first night with frost just yesterday and there is no denying that fall is well underway.

I always marvel at the wooden bridges they built along country roads as late as in the 1940’s. There are a number of these along the old road to what used to be the nations bigggest lead mine – a road that was used to freight heavy material to the mine and even heavier ore from there!

But one of untold tree stumps along the shores, reminders of how the lakes were made into water reservoirs for the power companies. In the background you can see some of the very secret facilities used by the cartesting industry – the biggest industry in the county during the winter.

While I was busy taking pictures, Loki found something absolutely scrumptious – to roll in….  Something he thought smelled totally divine – but something I could only identify as dead. VERY dead, at that…

The trip back to town was made with the side window open and once at home he was dumped in the tub for a thorough cleaning. He didn’t at all think that was fun – after all, he’d just put on some perfume HE really liked the smell of…

For Merinz…

… and anyone else who is wondering what on earth is going on at my place of employment.

The county has been cutting down on staff every year over the past 5-6 years. Admittedly, at first there was reason to do so because there was definitely a few people too many in places – Grades 1-5 didn’t even need to hire substitute teachers when two teachers went on extended sick leave….  There were 2 or 3 Building Inspectors knocking about… The General Office Staff almost had to make up work to kill time… Those were the days!

Fast forward to 2009. All departments have been slashed and they are all beginning to approach a critical state, one way or another. The Tech Dept. have “only” lost one on staff since 2004 – but instead the systems have not been updated at the rate they should have been. New programs need a lot of “space” on the main frame, outdated PC’s can’t handle as much and need to be upgraded – not to mention and a lot of other technical mumbo-jumbo I really don’t understand.

In short – in some cases antedeluvian terminals,  a partways outdated system, staff shortages and space-hogging programs create a situation that drives us all mad!

This is not a good shot – but I just had to share the fantastic colours in the sky as I drove into my parking lot.

I really should have driven down to the lakeside to get some better pictures, but after 660 km in one day I just didn’t have it in me!

Oh, and the interview at Migration went fine! Or, at least both the lawyer and I think so but we’ll know more in about ten days.

Loki spent the day at the stables getting to know the horses and The Cat. He has crashed on the floor by my feet and is already snoring…. Give me 10 minutes and I’ll do the same!

Can Someone Stop This Carousel?

It feels as if I’m constantly slipping further and further behind with everything… We’re into our 3rd or 4th week of systems trouble at work – logins fail, catalogues “go missing” or the terminal is just sitting there chewing. It’s been called systems failure, communications problems and even ” a glitch” – but the fact s of the matter is that everything takes at least twise as long to accomplish.  Problems like this is merely annoying when it comes to my teaching. I have any number of tried and tested lesson plans (naturally under my user name on the main frame…) which would be handy to just check over and then print. Now I’ve had to re-create some from memory – that is when I haven’t been able to access my catalogue!

Far worse is the effect all this has on my duties when working in administration. We’re in the middle of preparing financial statements for the last 8 months…

there are budget changes for the next three years that has to be entered…

I desperately need to read through whatever manuals there are for the various software programs I’m supposed to work with…

I take heart in the fact that I haven’t lost the ability to notice the fantastic show Nature is putting on every day this time of year!

Tomorrow I’m off on another trek towards the coast. This time with a teenager for his initial interview with the Migration people. Wish us luck!

Colmis

…is the Sami word for this…

… the result of where the inner bark was harvested to become a cover for sinews meant for sewing. They needed to be kept supple and prevented from moulding, which the bark did.

I’ve had a wonderful day, listening to the people from the museum sharing their knowledge and recent findings. So much more enjoyable than spending the day at home, doing laundry and crap like that!