More Flowers Are Showing Up! Yay, Mother Nature!

I’m not offering much commentary on this as I only recognize a few of my new flowers, but am enjoying walking the “garden.”  Currently I have more blue flowers than anything else.

The pale blue columbine which is scattered throughout the yard bloomed later is much paler than the picture I posted a few weeks ago.  Those more purple columbine appeared to be clumped and "store bought" rather than wind seeded.

Pale Blue Columbine.

 

Next in line are white flowers.  This looks like Queen Anne's Lace, but the next picture shows huge leaves.  One consultant suggested Giant Hogweed which is quite toxic.  The leaves on my plants are somewhat different from the leaves shown in other Giant Hogweed photos.  Plus my plants are not 10-feet tall giants.  I did need to cut this one down as it was in the way of my clothes line.  I took precautions of wearing gloves and washing up immediately afterwards, and suffered no ill effects, confirming that it probably is not Giant Hogweed.

False Queen Anne's Lace.

Not Giant Hogweed, either.

Right by the Back Steps.

Then a few red ones.

Dianthus in Front of the Strawberries.

Poppy Flower with Some Unopened Buds.

 Finally one green which might turn into a colored flower when it opens more.

And a one yellow.
 

The Adventure Continues –Copenhagen, Denmark

Once the class was over in Stockholm, I flew to Copenhagen, Denmark, to spend a few days with my friend, Louise, before the next class.  Our first excursion was to the Botanical Garden.  This flowering tree – which neither of us could identify – was a glory of white flowers which look kind of like dogwood, except that the leaves did not.

Louisa.

Flowers in the Botanical Garden.

Small Stream in the Botanical Garden.

This bird looks like a magpie to me.  Louise was not sure of its name – either in Danish or English.

Bird in the Botanical Garden.

The next day, we went to an old cemetery near Louise’s apartment.  It was quite park-like, except for the occasional headstone.  There were loads of lovely flowers there, too.

 The headstones were remarkably well preserved considering their apparent age.

Neither of us could figure out the letters of the final word on this tombstone, so it’s not one of the weird Scandinavian letters…

Our third day of sight-seeing was spent at a park where the royal family used – and may still – hunt.  We did not stop to eat at this restaurant as we had brought a picnic with us.

 

Nor did we take a carriage ride as it seemed like the price (overheard) was $100 for an hour’s ride.

But we did see deer, including a fawn which cannot be seen because of the tall grasses.  I was surprised that some of the deer are white!

The next day I started class and was staying at a hotel about 3 block’s walk from the hotel where the class was being held.  The walk along the canal was quite pleasant.  Our first class day was a Saturday, so loads of people were taking advantage of the sun and the water, although it looked quite cold to me.

This lovely boat (barge?) was moored along the esplanade.

Boat Moored Along the Canal.

Boat Living Room.

There was even a kayaker practicing rolling his kayak.  Note that he’s quite bundled up, which is what made me think the water was cold…

Kayaker Practicing Rolling his Kayak.

My flight home the day after the class was around 6:30 pm, so Louise met me at my hotel and we took a boat trip around the canals.  I had already packed my camera, so there are no pictures from that – nor from Tivoli which we visited one evening.  We did see the Little Mermaid, who, disappointingly had her back to us, looking towards the land, not the sea.  We also walked around the area where the jazz festival was being held and hear some wonderful music although we did not stop to listen.  Flight home was uneventful.

Stockholm – the Adventure Begins

As many of you may know, it snows.  A lot.  Where I live in the mountains above Denver.  And like most of the rest of the world, weather has been quite different and therefore unpredictable throughout the whole world.  So I have formed the habit of descending the mountain on the day before I am to leave the area.  So far, in the four trips I have taken from the Denver airport in 2015, it snowed the day I left on four out of four.  I was hoping that the 5^th time would be a charm…  It was June, after all!

I drove down to the hotel I selected, where if you stay one night at the beginning or end of your trip, they will allow you to park your car there for the duration of the trip, for a fee, of course.  Then their airport shuttle will take you to the airport and at the end of your trip bring you back to the hotel to retrieve your car.

I got to the hotel a bit after 4:30 PM and settled in with my overnight bag, then decided to head for a Denny’s I had seen on the drive in.  I got out the door towards my car as large raindrops were starting to fall and could hear a siren in the distance.  The siren did not seem to be moving – so probably wasn’t a police car or ambulance…  One of the things I had noticed about the Denver airport is that it has tornado shelters!  So I went back inside and turned on the TV.  Sure enough, we were under a tornado watch – or warning – don’t remember which, until 5:30 PM.  Also a flash flood warning!  After watching about an hour of weather, during which they showed the storm moving away from the mountains and over the plain – towards the airport! – I found a TV program I enjoy.  The flash flood warnings were scheduled to be in place until at least 7:30 PM.

The flash flood coverage showed cars slowly traversing intersections, with water up to the middle of their hubcaps, but there were reports of water up to the top of the wheel wells and one of a car with water to the windows.  Apparently in some parts of Denver almost 2 inches of rain fell in less than an hour, along with hail.  I tried to take some pictures but through the window, they did not come out well.  There was a little hail at the hotel but about the size of a BB shot, so no damage – thankfully – although one neighborhood reported about 2 inches of hail which melted quite quickly.  By the time the flash flood warnings were lifted, I decided to just stay put and watch TV.

My flight to Stockholm via O’Hare in Chicago was uneventful.  I was able to sleep for most of the 8-hour flight from Chicago to Stockholm.  When I arrived, I took a taxi to the hotel and settled into my room.

 

Hotel Room in Stockholm.

The bathroom did not offer little bottles of lotions and potions as an American hotel would, but had soap and shampoo dispensers at the sink and tub.  The towel rack was heated which is really nice when you manage to spill gravy all down the front of a shirt you were hoping to get another day out of!  What I really love about European bathtub water arrangements – which I have also seen on cruise ships – is that the right hand spigot sets the temperature of the water while the left hand spigot controls the flow volume.  So if you are by yourself, once you set the temperature, each time you bathe or shower you get the same temperature of the water.

Bathroom.

 The toilets also have 2 flush rates – one for liquids and one for solids – a water saving device we would to do well to adopt, too.

The view from my window was quaint, but uninspiring.  I could not figure out the purpose of the ladders – nor could anyone who visited my room.  You’d have to be quite a gymnast to use them as a fire escape and even then they would only take you to the roof!

View from Hotel Room.

Since it was not quite noon – they had let me check in around 10:30 am! – I went out for a walk in the sunshine.  Across from the hotel was a little park with a huge peacock “sculpture.”  I didn’t go closer because it was clear that construction was taking place somewhere.

Peacock in the Park.

This fountain made a great landmark as it was tall enough to be seen over some of the surrounding buildings.  And somehow Burger King looks a great deal more elegant in Stockholm!  (I did not eat there, so cannot comment on relative taste.)

Sergel Plaza, Stockholm.

Burger King in Sergel Plaza, Stockholm.

My walk took me past interesting buildings, next to a church yard.

Fire Escape or Maybe Just Back Door...

Being my mother’s daughter, I went in to the church after figuring out that they were offering a lunchtime organ recital.  It lasted about ½ an hour and was lovely, although nothing I recognized.  The church itself was quite pretty with stained glass windows flanking the altar.  The rest of the windows were clear glass, but some were covered with ivy which made its own lovely green mosaic.

Altar End.

Ivy Covered Side Window.

The organ end of the church was equally impressive.

Church Organ.

 But the thing that almost made me laugh out loud was the ATM-like machine at the back of the church where you could make an electronic donation should you be so moved!

Donations, Anyone?

 There were many other interesting buildings and nooks and crannies.

Interesting Stairway.

Finally there was a lovely park with a double row of flowers flanking the walkway.  I sat for a while before heading back to my hotel.  Thus endeth the first day.  (But don’t look for more on Stockholm as I spent almost all my time in class.  I did ride the subway back to the hotel a few times as they had moved the class from the hotel where we were staying to one that could accommodate a larger class size.  Very clean and nice, with helpful staff who gave me the “pensioner’s” discount even though I clearly was a tourist.  Apparently, it is available to anyone over 65.)

Allee of Flowers.

Close-up of Flowers.