The old bird feeder had gotten enough bangs and dents (from falling down due to cat attacks) that it was in pretty bad shape, so we have a new one this year. It looks rather similar, because we were happy with the old one and wanted to just buy a fresh copy, but the differences became apparent quite soon.

The previous feeder was round and had three sections with three seats each, so it could be hung with six of them more or less facing the house. The new one is square and has two seats on each side, it kind of feels like fewer birds can be there at the same time.

But the construction itself is much better. The old one had a solid core, and walls between the sections, which made cleaning the inside very awkward. I was poking in there with sticks, and cooking spoons, and table knives. This one is just empty (or full of birdseed) all the way through. I can put my entire hand in there and scrape away seed gunk. Much easier to keep it clean.

The Nordic Museum had posted an invitation today, on their 150th birthday, to share memories of this day, in words and pictures, for the future. I’m posting here the photos I submitted to their collection as well.

The morning was gray and windy, just a few degrees above freezing, but there were glimpses of sun breaking through as I got to Spånga station.

Normally during rush hour the trains here are supposed to go eight times an hour, but the company currently running the commuter train service hasn’t managed to deliver that for quite a while. At least you can generally count on a train once every fifteen minutes. The train this morning was quite crowded but not too horribly crammed full.

I got off the train at Stockholm Central and walked from there to the tretton37 office in the Waterfront building. On the way I stopped by Coop at the lower floor of the station to buy lunch, because I was all out of leftovers at home.

I got a small green smoothie for breakfast 29 kr and a bouillabaisse for 79 kr, for a total of 108 kr.

Many supermarkets have replaced most of their manned checkouts with self-checkout stations. I like it when I only have one or two things to pay for and can get it done quickly, but their occasional random checks really annoy me when they happen.

The entrances to the Waterfront are all automated doors, just like the entrance and exit to the train stations and the supermarket.

The office was relatively empty today. Even though it was almost 9 o’clock when I got there, almost all desks were still empty and I could choose whichever seat I liked.

I didn’t even think of photographs or much else around me during the day as I was working. Then I stood up at five-ish and realized the sun was going down already, glinting off the skyscrapers next to Hötorget.

This street, Klarabergsgatan, used to see a lot more traffic. It has now mostly been closed off for everyone except public transport, and the pavements have been widened.

The folks in the office were gearing up for a Halloween-themed after-work event, with people dressed up as anything from kings to bananas, and a monthly company meeting. I was out of social energy and went home, and will watch a recording of the meeting some other day.

A blip of the SL Access card to take the train home. Costs me 39 kr for a one-way trip. After the most recent price hike, a monthly card costs 970 kr so it is generally not worth it if I only go to the office twice a week.

I got a seat on the train back to Spånga so I could crochet on the way. Much better than randomly scrolling social media. This piece of lace has been my travel project for literally years. I’ve gotten tired of waiting for it, so now I’m working on it more frequently during meetings and such so that I can get it done.

One of the station entrance doors has been broken for the last few days, and for some reason the staff has elected to leave it in the closed position, rather than having it always open. All the people getting off the train clump up in front of the entrance.

On Spånga Torg, the second-hand ladies’ wear shop has filled their windows with warm coats. The florist’s show windows are an odd mixture of Halloween, and pink for breast cancer awareness month.

The first to do when I got home was to feed Nysse.

Then to feed the rest of the family. They would not like pellets from a tin. I made a meal from a Linas Matkasse meal kit – a vegetarian bibimbap.

Reduced the amounts of all chillies and such by a factor of three or four, and some of it was still super spicy. We didn’t manage to eat all the spicy cabbage salad.

After dinner, Ingrid disappeared to her room, while Adrian & Eric watched season 2 of Loki, accompanied by potato chips for Adrian and some leftover lemon merengue pie for Eric.

The Dasiphora really isn’t justifying its existence here, especially with its neighbours for contrast. Little to no growth since they were planted, easily squashed by winter snows, and no autumn colour. Bleh.

October came, and with it, colder weather, as if it was following the calendar. A frosty morning, and a chilly afternoon. It’s time to turn on the heating.

There’s work ongoing in and around the electricity cabinets at the corner. A couple of months ago one of them was damaged somehow – possibly hit by a car. It looked all dented and crooked and got fixed up temporarily with webbing straps. Now I think they’re fixing it for real. But also there is a ditch on the other side of the street so maybe this is something to do with the newly built house there.

In any case, we will have no power for 4 hours in the afternoon, which makes WFH a bit complicated.

We have somehow acquired an infestation of fruit flies in the bathroom – on the bathroom mirror, more precisely – and I can’t seem to get rid of them.

There’s a glass of red wine vinegar to attract and kill the flies, and every couple of days I pour out the vinegar with a few dozen dead flies on the bottom, and they never seem to get fewer.

I don’t understand what they eat, and I guess that’s the problem, because as long as there is something here for them, they’ll keep multiplying. I’ve thoroughly cleaned the floor drain, removed the small garbage bin, removed the ecosystem-in-a-jar that they might find nice with its humid air. I’ve removed the head of Adrian’s electric toothbrush, which I’ve seen the fruit flies land on occasionally – maybe for the fruity-tasting toothpaste. I can’t think of what else it could be.

The slugs have eaten the dahlia, and left mere skeletons of the martagon lilies I planted, but they’ve mostly left the toad lily alone, so I’ve got something flowering there at least!

The season’s first red leaves.

Slugs are bastards (together with deer) and they’re the reason why we can’t have nice things in the garden.