June was a month of little big things. Finally getting some shelves fitted in the office was one of the highlights.
Our drill wouldn’t go through the thick concrete wall so we booked someone from Clas Fixare (home improvement division of Clas Ohlson). The shelves going up meant we could finally unpack all the books. Most of them had remained packed since we left the UK because we had nothing to store them on.
The shelves are from a brand called String. It’s all modular so you can pick different widths, shelf types, draws and colours etc. An affordable alternative to the 606 Universal Shelving System (by Dieter Rams) we fell in love with a few years ago! Although I’m a big Deiter Rams fan all round to be honest.
The pop-up fruit stands have been chock full of Swedish strawberries so we’ve been eating loads of them. They are getting very cheap now we’re approaching the end of the season.
Scott bashed his head on the corner on the office window and cut it. He wedged some ice under his headphones to stop the bump growing. And I used peas to soothe a mosquito bite that ended up as big as my palm. It was a calamity ridden day.
The Elefantöra went bonkers once I found it’s happy spot in full sun. I tried to dig out a runner and ended up ripping it clean off. Oops. I poked it in some soil, kept it watered and it rooted. Now I plan to propagate a few more. I’ve also been propagating cheese plants and geraniums.
I’m also really pleased to report we had our Covid-19 vaccinations (Pfizer)!! Slots opened for our age group and disappeared fast so we were lucky to get appointments on the same day, even if they were a few hours apart. Everything was very well organised and I’m so grateful someone was able to help us in English. I was more nervous about struggling to understand what I was being told, than the injection itself. Most people got outside and took a photo of their plasters.
We only had minor side effects afterwards. Scott had quite a sore arm. Mine wasn’t as bad as his but I was very tired later that day and my legs felt like lead weights. But we also ended up getting vaccinated on the hottest day of the year (at the time) so it’s hard to know whether my side effects were actually due to 30°C heat. The free ice cream we were given on the way home helped with that a little.
The only orchid that has ever survived more than a few weeks with me has flowered again. It feels like a miracle given my track record.
Other than a hike, a beach day and Midsommar celebrations, that’s everything for the month. I’m keeping my fingers crossed the heatwave ends soon. June has seen record breaking temperatures in Stockholm as well as Nordic regions in general. I worry about the forests burning.
I’m not sure what July will bring yet; definitely more ice cream whatever the weather.
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