Cold

 

The cold incubation period is the time from catching a cold virus to the first symptoms, typically 1 to 3 days, though it can range from 12 hours to a week. (Google AI)  

Yesterday, I started to feel like I had a cold coming on: I had a couple of violent sneeze attacks, and felt a bit congested and generally "weird". I dismissed the idea, though - because where (or who) on earth would I have caught it from?? I haven't been anywhere recently, nor had any vistitors. Could it perhaps be an allergic reaction rather than a cold? But since January has been such a chilly month here (temperatures below zero), that didn't make sense either. I know pollen can drift  with the winds from further south in Europe even before the season really starts here, but still... 

Today, no doubt any more: However I managed to catch it, it is definitely a cold. It's kept me in bed most of the day, half-slumbering to an audio book - and falling properly asleep for a couple of hours in the afternoon. (Just now trying to keep myself sitting upright at the computer for a while, though.) 

This is the extent of my off-line human interaction over the past week: 

Last Thursday I had groceries delievered. I went down to open the entrance door for the delivery girl (it was a young woman this time), and we rode up in the lift together. I live on the 2nd floor, so that only takes seconds. She then put the bags down in the hall just inside my front door and left. We exchanged one or two sentences, no more. She seemed healthy to me - and it also really seems a bit too long ago to be of relevance. 

On Saturday, I spoke to a neighbour in the basement corridor outside the laundry room (looking at the booking board). But we probably stood like two meters apart and only exchanged a few words. (She had booked the slot after me, and I told her that as it seemed like I'd able to start an hour early, she could count on doing the same. We did not meet again.) 

I have gone up and down in the lift a few more times during the past week, but then without meeting anyone. I can't think where else I might have come across some lingering virus though! (The laundry room, possibly - but it's rather "airy" down there, and I wear rubber gloves most of the time, and always start by wiping the surfaces...)

I can't actually recall when I last had a winter cold. Having had flu and covid shots every autumn has in later years seemed to protect me fairly well throughout the winters!

No doubt I'll survive this one too - it just still puzzles me when/where/how I picked it up!

The Grass Is Always Greener on the Other Side

 

"Suddenly I'm having a strange feeling of being watched..."

Looking out of my kitchen window in the middle of the day, I saw the two hares "from the cemetery" out on adventures in among our human habitations again. (More often I see them in the cemetery, which is why I think of them as living there.)

 

"The grass is always greener on the other side" originates from the ancient Roman poet Ovid (43 BC – 17 AD), who wrote in Ars Amatoria (1 BC), "Fertilior seges est alienis semper in agris"—meaning "the harvest is always more fruitful in another man's fields". It highlights the human tendency to envy others' situations, believing them to be better than one's own. 
(Google AI)  

Apparently this does not apply only to humans, but to other creatures as well! ;)

Step By Step

 

Today the clouds seemed less "compact" than they've been lately, and before lunch I decided to go for a short walk over to the old cemetery. Almost a week since last time, but the weather and snow conditions are still pretty much the same. The temperature has steadily kept below zero even in the daytime, and the nearby streets and the major cemetery paths are for the most part dry and clear of snow and ice.

In the cemetery, I practiced a bit of walking without actively using my walking pole with every step. (I.e. from time to time I just held it hovering a few cm above ground for a while, without setting it down - but ready to do so if needed.) I also made mental note that my knee still does not like the slightest downhill tilt - while slightly uphill doesn't seem to bother it as much. (Worth remembering when choosing where to walk...) 

 "Mirror, mirror on the wall..."
Mirror portrait from the lift back home 
- me dressed in full winter gear...

Packing Up Christmas

 

Bedroom - Kitchen - Living Room

It hit me this morning that a whole month has gone by since Christmas, and as I had no special plans for the day, and the Great Outdoors was not looking very inviting (just grey and cold), I decided that it might be a good day to say thanks and goodbye (for this season) to the electric candle holders and stars in my windows; and put my regular window lamps back up instead. This has always been a job that takes some time - and now at age 70, it seems to have expanded to fill "a whole day". (How on earth back in a distant past I ever managed a full time job + a fairly active social life besides all the to-do's at home has long seemed a mystery!) 

 

I'm keeping some red textiles (table runners etc) for a while longer (as it's still very much winter here); and ended up moving the big poinsettia from the living room window to the kitchen to match the red ribbons around the curtains, and kind of make up for the "loss" of the red wooden candle holder. In the living room I'm also keeping some battery candles, as it still gets dark early and the evenings are long. 

 

 

I asked Google for some quotes about "old age and time": 

 

"Age is strictly a case of mind over matter. 
If you don't mind, it doesn't matter." 
— Mark Twain 

 

 "It's important to have a twinkle in your wrinkle." 
— Unknown 

  

 "You are only young once, but you can stay immature indefinitely." 
— Unknown

 

 "To me, old age is always 15 years older than I am." 
— Francis Bacon

 

 

Everyday Life

 

Photo from 25 January 2025 (Female Mallard)

For nearly as long as I've been blogging, I've also been making a photo calendar from my own photos each year - just for myself +  as Christmas presents to family and one or two friends. (These days I'm down to just ordering three - for myself, my brother and my aunt.) 

The female mallard above, photo taken in January 2025, became my choice for January 2026. I'm really only showing it here now because I haven't been out much lately - so desperately turned back to last year for inspiration. But if I remember, I might continue to show my other chosen photos for my 2026 calendar month by month. 

Yesterday, my main achievement was that I managed to take another bag of recycling stuff to the designated containers, as enough snow had thawed away to make access possible. 

This morning, there was a new flurry of snow going on outside my windows, lasting all day - but not very much actually seems to have settled on the ground. I haven't been out for closer inspection, though. I had the laundry room booked for the afternoon, and in between turns down to the basement, watched the last two parts (of three) of a BBC documentary about Jane Austen. (Well worth watching, if available on some channel you have access to.)