Red House

For a while, during the early September rains, I was worried that perhaps the autumn colours were going to pass us by this year, just fading from wet to brown. But they did not. Nature is offering an awesome display of colour just now.

A Taste Of Summer

“Swinging
clusters of red, the hedges are full of them,
red-currant red, a graceful
ornament or a merry smile.”

Denise Levertov (1923 – 1997)

Giant Poppies

 

Little Red Shed

This is a very small building in the back yard of another house and I assume that it is used as a shed rather than to live in (at least nowadays). In the summer you would hardly see it behind trees and bushes and high grass, but now in the early spring it caught my eye. The white tree trunk in the foreground is a birch, in case you don't have any of those where you live. Very common in Sweden, and together with red cottages they are something of a national symbol.

Adrian noted in a comment on my post with the beehives the other day that we seem to paint a lot of buildings red in Sweden. There is a reason, and I repeat my additional comment here:

"Falu red or Falun red (in Swedish Falu rödfärg) is the name of a Swedish, deep red paint well known for its use on wooden cottages and barns. The paint originated from the copper mine at Falun in Dalarna, Sweden. The traditional colour remains popular today due to its effectiveness in preserving wood. The earliest evidence of its use dates from the 16th century."
Wikipedia

Old Red Cottages (2)

 

See yesterday’s post for context and for pictures of the other cottage in the background.

Old Red Cottages (1)

 

     

 

Not far from where my dad lives there are a couple of old cottages which are owned and taken care of by a local history society. I took a walk there on Saturday afternoon (Easter Eve). Not much visible life in nature or gardens yet after the long winter, but as you can see we at least had a clear blue sky, and we’re rid of most of the snow (there are a few patches left here and there in shadowy places). There will be a couple of more picture posts from this place coming up this week.

Windows

The sign on the house translates "Glazier's Workshop".
The picture was edited in Photoshop Elements 2.0

Mosaic Monday: Countryside Outbuildings

See more Monday Mosaics at Mary's Little Red House. 

Typically Swedish

A red wooden house with white corners, in rural surroundings - as "typically Swedish" as it gets! Whether we really want that kind of home and life or not, it is somehow inscribed in our national soul as the image of what it should be like...!

Under Cover

The rest of this week I'll be showing pictures from a sunny snowy Sunday walk in the countryside.

 Have a guess what this is! (answer below)



Hard to believe that in a few months the inhabitants of these little houses will be busy buzzing about among the flowers again.

Why Do Bees Make Honey?

Honeybees are special in that they over winter as a colony unlike wasps and bumblebees. The colony does not hibernate but stays active and clusters together to stay warm. This requires a lot of food stored from the summer before. Although a hive only needs 20-30 lb of honey to survive an average winter, the bees are capable, if given the space of collecting much more. This is what the beekeeper wants them to do. Bees have been producing honey the same way for over one hundred and fifty million years.

Quote from http://www.britishbee.org.uk/faq.php

Frozen Rose Hips

(Pictures taken 31st December 2009)

November Red

Not much colour left in the world in November in our climate, but there is still the occasional find...