The flower thread II – June 2021

This is post number  two of ny little hobby project: Looking for new flowers on bloom.

The most photos I made through a cheap magnifier because my macro lens is in Tromsø – out of reach for me here in Sweden. This explains the colour fringes, reflections and other artefacts on many of the photos.

I used the website Pl@ntNet identify for the most flowers for identification. Some classifications were done manually, so there is no guarantee that the names are correct.

The rules:

  • I check only flowers on our property and the marshland between our property and the sea.
  • I do not differentiate between wild and domestic flowers.
  • I do not wait for the most beautiful blossom. I just make a photo of the first occurrence.

The statistics:

New flowers in April: 1 — New flowers in May: 19 — New flowers in June: 39

The flowers in June

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4. June: Globeflower | Trollblume | Smörbollar | Ballblom – small wildflower meadow by the house
4. June: Buttercup | Hahnenfuß | Ranunkel | Soleie – amidst the strawberry field
4. June: Iris (Dwarf iris?) | Schwertlilie | Iris | Sverdlilje – on top of the left stone wall

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7. June: (Common) Sorrel | Sauerampfer | Ängssyra | Engsyre – by the house
7. June: Moss phlox¹ | Polster-Phlox | Mossflox | Vårfloks
7. June: Wood crane’s-bill | Wald-Storchschnabel | Midsommarblomster | Skogstorkenebb – behind right stone wall

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8. June: White clover | Weißklee | Vitklöver | Hvitkløver – between the grass on the lawn
8. June: Garden strawberry | Gartenerdbeere | Jordgubbe | Hagejordbær – strawberry field
8. June: ? – behind the sauna

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8. June: Small cow-wheat² |Wald-Wachtelweizen |Skogskovall | ? – behind the sauna
8. June: Cow parsley | Wiesen-Kerbel | Hundkäx | Hundekjeks – behind the left stone wall
8. June: Moss phlox¹ | Polster-Phlox | Mossflox | Vårfloks

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8. June: Lesser spearwort(?) | Brennender Hahnenfuß | Ältranunkel | ? – small wildflower meadow by the house
9. June: Ashy cranesbill | Grauer Storchschnabel | Silkesnäva | ? – by the guest cottage
9. June: Field forget-me-not³ | Acker-Vergissmeinnicht | Åkerförgätmigej | ? – behind the sauna

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11. June: ?
12. June: Alpine knotweed | Alpen-Knöterich | Alpslide | ? – by the stone/greenhouse
12. June: Lupin | Lupine | Lupin | Lupin – by the stone/greenhouse (destroyed, since it is an invasive weed)

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12. June: Columbine | Akelei | Aklej | Akeleie – by the stone/greenhouse
13. June: Marsh Pea | Sumpf-Platterbse | Kärrvial | Myrflatbelg – behind stone wall
13. June: Germander speedwell |Gamander-Ehrenpreis | Teveronika | Tveskjeggveronika – in front of left stone wall

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13. June: Red clover | Wiesenklee | Rödklöver | Rødkløver – by the bbq place
13. June: Thyme-leaved Speedwell | Quendel-Ehrenpreis | Majveronika | ? – in front of left stone wall
15. June: May lily | Zweiblättrige Schattenblume | Ekorrbär | Maiblom – behind the sauna

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15. June: Lily of the valley | Maiglöckchen | Liljekonvalj | Liljekonvall – in front of left stone wall
15. June: Common yarrow | Gemeine Schafgarbe | Röllika | Ryllik – between the grass on the lawn
19. June: Bird vetch | Vogel-Wicke | Kråkvicke | Fuglevikke – by the bbq place

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19. June: Bloody crane’s-bill | Blutroter Storchschnabel | Blodnäva | Blodstorkenebb – between the grass on the lawn
19. June: Hawkweed | Habichtskraut | Hökfibbla | Sveve – gravel by the garage
19. June: Norwegian cinquefoil⁴| Norwegisches Fingerkraut | Norsk fingerört | ? – behind the sauna

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19. June: Grasslike Starwort | Gras-Sternmiere | Grässtjärnblomma | Gresstjerneblom – miscellaneous places
19. June:  Meadow vetchling | Wiesen-Platterbse | Gulvial | Gulflatbelg – behind stone wall
23. June: Common speedwell | Echter Ehrenpreis | Ärenpris | Legeveronika – between the grass by the house

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24. June: Cuckoo flower | Kuckucks-Lichtnelke | Gökblomster | ? – wetland by the sea
24. June: Marsh-bedstraw | Sumpf-Labkraut | Vattenmåra | ? – wetland by the sea
24. June: Tufted Loosestrife | Straußblütiger Gilbweiderich | Topplösa | Gulldusk – wetland by the sea

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24. June: Poppy | Mohn | Vallmo | Valmue – by the garage
24. June: Valerian | Baldrian | Vänderot | Vendelrot – by the bbq place
26. June: Biting stonecrop/Wallpepper | Scharfer Mauerpfeffer | Gul fetknopp | Bitterbergknapp – by the garage

___

Names are in English, German, Swedish, Norwegian. The name can be the species, family or genus. Especially in English there are many different names.

¹ or another phlox
² or common cow-wheat
³ or another forget-me-not
⁴ or another cinquefoil

A short promenade to a near swamp

Spåret is a fantastic motion trail just some 100 metres from here. It is 3.6 km long and good for skiing (if not too much snow), running and going for a walk. It leads through forests, over large granite rocks, over sandy bottoms and passes some small swamps. When I walked there with Annika last weekend I spotted some beautiful pond-lilies. Today I took a hike there to take some pictures.

The mosquitos and horse flies appreciated that.

From top to bottom, from left to right:

  • Sundew, a carnivorous plant. Can grow directly on mud.
  • Heath spotted orchid. Protected in Sweden and other countries.
  • Cloudberry, a berry growing on wet ground. Rich in vitamin C. Guarded by mosquitoes …
  • Sphagnum (or peat moss), the main building bog of peat bogs.
  • Cotton-Grass, a sedge that looks like wool. Loves wet ground.
  •  European white water lily, an aquatic plant with blossoms of great beauty.
SundewHeath-spotted orchidCloudberrySphagnumCotton-grassEuropean white water-lily

Three summer days in Råneå

(Oops, I’ve become lazy with blogging. This happened already a week ago!)

Last week Annika and I used our one-week holiday to visit friends in Råneå – 300 km from home, 100 from the Finnish border. Three days – three sections.

Thursday – getting wet

After a sunny morning a large cloud front approached Råneå, bringing thunderstorms, heavy rain and hail. It was short-lived and probably only some strawberries were harmed. (Or was it a snail that tasted them?). In the afternoon it cleared up and we spent some time by (and in) a bathing lake.

Thistles stretching to the sunThunderstorm approachingHeavy rain and hailStrawberry lying in the hailBathing lake IBathing lake II

Friday – kayaking

We had booked the day before. Four kayaks (three single, one double) and a canoe. On tour: four children between 5 and 13 and five (more or less) grown-ups. We have booked for three hours and decided to paddle through a small creek and then take the Råneå river back to the boat rental by the sea. I have paddled quite a lot on the sea but hardly on rivers, streams or creeks. A great experience!

Building a raftEntering the bayFields of water liliesRåneälven IRåneälven IIWaves on the Rånefjärden

Saturday – open air concert

Annika and I had heard Daniel Wikslund before. On this day he played two open-air concerts in Överkalix – the first one on a large wooden raft on the river Råneälven. It was wonderful to listen to his folk-inspired music from the a small jetty, the water or even from the raft. It was his first concert since February 2020 due to the covid  restrictions. Hard times for musicians!

Raft approachingThe raft as a stageListening from the raftListening from the water IListening from the water IIThe other open-air concert in the evening

You see the wooden keyboard instrument? That’s a pump-organ (Swedish: tramporgel). We’re lucky to have such an instrument in our house soon. Today we’ll meet friends that will help us with the transport from the previous owner’s summer cottage by the sea up the hill to the gravel road and then to our house. Wish us look, that the transport succeeds.

Tramporgel

Harmonium or tramporgel are the Swedish words for a pump organ, an organ where you use your feet to pump air to the pipes. Yesterday such a tramporgel moved into the unheated uterum of our house.

I found the instrument on Facebook Marketplace some weeks ago. It was being given away. It took some weeks to organise a transport but good friends of us offered their help (including a large car with trailer). I was a bit afraid, that transporting the instrument uphills could be hard, but transportation was easier (and less heavy) than expected.

Transport of the pump organ ITransport of the pump organ II

Some hour later the tramporgel had found its new place.

My thanks to S. for giving away this fine instrument and help with organisation and transportation.

My thanks to J. and M. for the transportation (and a real nice lazy day including bathing and lunching).

The tramporgel in its new home.

Now I’ll have six days to play and practise. Then I’ll travel to Tromsø to continue working there – probably for the rest of the year – and home will be many miles away. But that’s another story …

Hejdå home office

Hejdå home office – hejdå Obbola – hejdå Sweden.

Hejdå home office

This picture is from yesterday, my last day in home-home office. One “home” is for not being in the office, another “home” for working from home in Obbola, not in Tromsø.

This room was my home office for eight months.

In normal times you meet colleagues in real life and have landscape photos on your computer monitor as a desktop background. The last eight months it was the opposite: I met my colleagues digitally but the view of the Baltic Sea was real. And so were the sail boats, the screeching sea birds and the roe deer passing by.

While I write this Annika and I sit in the train to Riksgränsen that departed in Umeå at 2:08(!). In Riksgränsen we’ll get a private lift to Narvik crossing the Norwegian border and then take the bus to Tromsø. If everything works well we’ll arrive there this evening. After a week Annika will return home while I’ll stay in Tromsø to continue my work for the Norwegian Polar Institute on-site.

Eight months Annika and I had together in Obbola. I appreciated every single day of this unexpected gift caused by the COVID-19 restrictions and I’ll keep this time in my heart.

What the future brings? Too early to say.