confronted by immeasurable beauty………

 

it is only to sigh and surrender to the magnificence of it all

.

The first photo is via my Samsung SGH-J200 mobile phone and highlighted utilising a Photoshop plug-in called 'Conditioner' from Xero Graphics  (free trial and low cost) who also have a lot of free plugins.

The other two photographs are via our new Fujifilm Finepix F200 EXR taken with no flash and no additional photographic lighting. This camera is quite remarkable and the more I'm using it the more impressed I get. It is my third Fuji – and I've never been disappointed yet.

.

 

magnificent………………….

Boxing Day – 26th…the snow-beauty continues

Christmas Day in Gallnas

White Christmas!  White-OUT Christmas. Snow, snow and lots more lovely snow.

Our very welcome guests are creative folk and have shaped some special memories for us, not least

Helen Mirren as 'The Queen'…..and what I think might be a loose interpretation of a Rush Limbaugh picture…..hehehe

 

Meanwhile it has carried on snowing. Fine, small, powdery snowflakes but enough to give 12 cms in 3 hours…and more to come

The last 2 pictures taken at 00-15 26th Dec on Ragnhild's NEW Fujifilm F200EXR – and as you can see, NO FLASH. Amazing camera and chip.

Geely and Volvo

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/columnists/article6967006.ece  --  an article worth reading

what to say……

When LESS is MORE

My late Father was an english policeman for over 30+ years. One piece of advice he once gave me was that you could judge a nation by the behaviour of it's police. Over the years of my life travels I have repeatedly found this to be so. I have never given any cause for the Swedish Police to require my presence, but as part of their endeavour's to assist people to obey the laws (passed in a democratic country) they do occasionally have spot checks at the roadside as I'm driving, or similar procedures.

 

I have always (YES,always) found the Swedish police to be courteous, respectful and helpful. This,I mention, as we move into that other season of the year when driving behaviour can result in police involvement in our lives. People often forget that the Police are required to enforce the laws (they don''t make the laws) and it is the general public that pays them to do just that. So in this winter weather and with the possibility of a 'party influence' being another consideration, it worth for us to remember to treat others as we wish to be treated. My rare inter-action with the Swedish Police has always demonstrated the beauty of that mantra.

So I guess by my Father's advisory measure, Sweden is an excellent country.

 

Which leads me on to yet another aspect of Sweden that is rarely mentioned – the incredible generosity and heart-felt desire to help those less fortunate.

It's been a tough year in the world in respect of finance. It's been pretty tough on almost everyone. This, however, has not prevented almost RECORD LEVELS OF CHARITY DONATIONS from the Swedish Public.

That's another way to assess what the personality of a country is like – what happens when times get tough for everyone.

definitely serious snow… :):):)

seriously snowy……YEEEAAAAHHHHH!

Oh, and since it's nearly Christmas…some bellringing…

Ode to Joy….whoever she is (I didn't know we owed her anything)

It has been reported this week in Sweden that, for the first time, a small majority of people polled were in favour of abandoning the Krone and having the Euro as the currency in Sweden. I personally am not in favour of this (because of the other legislation that is included in the Euro agreement), however, in tribute to those in favour I thought we should play the EU anthem, "Ode to Joy"

 

Good news for Sweden

Climate Talks Near Deal to Save Forests

Damon Winter/The New York Times

The sharp line between a Brazilian forest and a cleared section of land lies at one of the fronts in efforts to save the world's forests.

By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL

Published: December 15, 2009

COPENHAGEN — Negotiators have all but completed a sweeping deal that would compensate countries for preserving forests, and in some cases, other natural landscapes like peat soils, swamps and fields that play a crucial role in curbing climate change.

.

It must be getting near to Christmas….

seriously frosty

Yep. Last night it started to get seriously frosty

Sweden's vital 'export'

compare that with the problem in Indonesia:

and just in case you were thinking that ethanol could save the planet…….. then you need to read this

So you can see that Sweden with it's forest management system is a massive net contributor to saving the planet

Pig production 'industry' scandal.

This is NOT, NOT, nice

via                     at least Sweden has animal protection/rights laws.

But it looks like there will soon be a more humane – and more environmentally friendly – answer

via

a promising development

 

via

do fishermen always exaggerate the size of what they caught……?

meanwhile, life continues as normal in Sweden. Weekend is here so it's time for a little recreation on the lake – bit of late season fishing…..huh?

via

.

spare a thought for the old country…

Truly amazing conditions – 31 centimetres of rain in a 24 hour period – claimed to be the most rain on record since records began, and also said to be a 'once in a thousand years' event.

Interesting that the windows at the National Trust shop are still intact, despite what must be quite a pressure against them. Extraordinary material is glass.

food for thought….and pleasure

I was staying at one of my favourite hotels in Uddevalla, Hotel Gyldenlowe, and then travelled on from there to Oslo.

Uddevalla is a nice town. I like it very much. The centre of the town is so pleasant and 'cosy'.

 

A little behind the main shopping area is Kungstorget, an old-fashioned market place/meeting place square in front of what I guess is the old Rådhus.

 

One of the great things about 'exploring cities and towns' is that occasionally you stumble upon a real treasure.  So there I am, taking an eating/exercise break from my PC work, wandering around wondering what I shall eat.  In the corner of Kungstorget is a Thai take-away called 'Spicy Wok'.  Something told me I should go in, even though my stomach is not tolerant of highly spiced foods.

 

The Spicy Wok is not really a restaurant, so it does not have the 'ambience', atmosphere of a restaurant. What it does have is really nice,friendly staff and…….

an incredible mass of unbelievably delicious fresh-cooked (in front of you) sumptuous food.

 

Here is my half-eaten (truthfully) plateful of Chicken sweet and sour. It cost just Sek 75 (including the coffee) and was some of the best (ranks in my top 3) asian food I have ever eaten in my life.

Needless to say, I went back to Spicy Wok again before leaving Uddevalla to go to Oslo. On my second visit I had frittered sweet and sour chicken – and they really know how to make an excellent batter for frittering.Deeeee----licious

Magnificent Windows 7

Ok.Ok. I know…no postings!  But I've been away and whilst away was soooo busy wiping my Acer Aspire 5315 harddisk

and doing a clean english install of 

 

 

Previously I had Vista Home Premium (which I quite liked)  but it was in Swedish – most laptops now come with little choice as to language install, so I have waited for 7 to be released.

ehem!  er!!   WOW!!!!!

It reminded me of my teenage years, way back before the flood and Noah's Ark, when I went from this to this   

My notebook now goes so fast I am there before I've even left!!   7 is magnificent.

My notebook only has 2 gig RAM – but I can now put an 8gig USB stick in a slot, go to 7's ReadyBoost and (unlike Vista) it will use all 8 gig as additional 'flash' memory. Not quite as fast as RAM but mush faster than accessing progs  from the hdd.

 

Expiring Autumn

.

.

Dark nights entertainments-001

Wow. It goes dark early now, huh?

What to do on such dark nights? I'm not a big fan of TV and I can't spend all my (leisure) time in front

of the puter. Even I have to get some exercise other than dendrite and neuron aerobics.

This looks like it could be entertaining and active enough for me…..

 

hehehe…….!

.

Summertime ends today

We put the clocks back an hour tonight

picture via

.

.

sensing sounds

 

Out here in the forests, by the side of the lake, there is never actually total quietness. The absence of the sounds of human activity often auto-suggest a stillness that is never really there in nature. Even when there seems to be not even the slightest breeze to orchestrate the trees, there are still suggestions of sounds gossamer-winged singing in the air.

Of course, this is the time of the year for the occasional shatter, clatter, natter of hunting rifles. Just once in a while practice flights of jet fighters state the assumed supremacy of technology over nature with their much less than thunder power!

Into this spaghetti-ball of sounds entered yet another herald – the ring-toned mobile phone. A wonderful gadget, really. A helper in time of trouble. A convenience tool that makes me wonder how we managed 40 years ago :)

So, check this out. See what could have been done to help Tchaikovsky

Confusing tourism

A family friend from London visited a few years ago and has obviously been concerned by our

lack of 'cosmopolitan blandishments' in this area. As we don't have one of these in the nearby town

of Bengtsfors – and I don't think we have one in the other nearest town of Årjäng.

If the Kommune ever decides we need them, perhaps this type would be more…hmmm….

interesting

 

Mind you, even that doesn't explain how a wagon+trailer similar to the one below, managed to roll UPHILL at these traffic lights and into my car – damaging the radiator,grill, front, etc.

.

.

Technorati Tags: tourism,London,Bengtsfors,Årjäng,wagon,trailer,traffic,lights,radiator

Windows Live Tags: tourism,London,Bengtsfors,Årjäng,wagon,trailer,traffic,lights,radiator

Blogger Labels: tourism,London,Bengtsfors,Årjäng,wagon,trailer,traffic,lights,radiator

Formula 1 World Champion 2009

Hmmmm…. looks like Lewis Hamilton started a trend, hehehehe.

Yet another englishman is world champion!

Congratulations  Jenson.

Ice Hockey unbelievable goal

I know Ice Hockey is pretty big as a sport in Sweden. So how is this goal – from a 9 year old?

 

the worst time of the year

To a foreigner living here the astounding sight of an Elg walking up the driveway to get apples from the apple trees, or simply standing watching as we drive past, is still – after 20 years in Scandinavia – a wonderfully inspiring sight.

100+ years ago it was more than inspiring – it was surviving! There was much hunger in this area of Sweden and many, many emigrated. It is hard for me to understand how they could leave such a wonderful place.

On Monday next, however, I start to get the urge to leave when this idyllic nature wonderland becomes reminiscent of the Somme battlefield.

The Elg Hunting season 'officially' starts.

It is strange to me how they kill off one of the biggest tourist attractions in the area. Of course it is defended with such words as 'we have to control the elg population', or, 'it's tradition', or…well, I'm sure you can think up some of the other excuses.

I am a foreigner. I have no right to interfere with the lives of others who are 'native to this land'

Shame we can't say exactly those words when discussing elg hunting! I do believe the elg were here before any of us!

such incredible variations… to stop us getting bored?

The first frost hits Gällnäs