It has been pretty cold in Stockholm over the past week. We live centrally where it is normally warmer, but the temperature was still between -10°C/14°F to -15°C/5°F. If you wear proper clothing you don’t feel cold apart from your face, and it is very very slippery out.
One thing I hate is having to keep looking both down (watching for patches of ice) and up (watching out for snowfalls from roofs or falling icicles.
This was the view from my teaching room yesterday. The white at the top of the photograph is a frozen canal.
I found Michael Connelly’s latest book (released last month) in the local bookshop. When I have read this one, I will have read them all.
I popped into Lush to buy a refill of my Grass shower gel, and saw these lovely bath bombs to celebrate this year’s Diwali, which was in November. The Flower Gel shower gel smells gorgeous.
I have always found the smell of Lush shops overpowering. For years I could not go in for more than a few minutes because the smell gave me a headache, but this year it has seemed more subtle. I am not sure if something permanent happened to my sense of smell after I had Covid-19, or if they have toned it down.
I love the names of Lush products. Today I smiled at Unicorn Poop and the perfume called Hairdresser’s Husband.
I received a sample of Ro’s Argan Body Conditioner and remembered how much I like this in-shower moisturiser. You apply it in the shower after washing, then rinse. It leaves your skin so soft and moisturised that you don’t need body lotion and you can dress immediately. I have received body conditioner a couple of times as a gift and I have always meant to buy more, but somehow never have.
Where did you get the first two photos, Janet, if you don’t mind me asking? I saw the first one in a blog in 2021 and the second one in a Russian friend’s collection of photos dating a few years ago. It’s funny how small the world is!
The top one is me, taken by my husband a couple of years ago. I took the photo of the orange sign in the snow that says ‘se upp’ (look up in Swedish) earlier this week. The icicle one I found in a folder on my computer called ‘snow’. I checked now and it has no location, but the date is 2010. The rest of them I took the same day as the orange sign.
That’s incredible! The icicle photo was taken by a Russian friend of mine in 2007 (posted in 03/2007). You can visit her blog and you’ll see that photo. Here is the link trinixy.ru/1223-samaja_bolshaja_sosulka_mire_6_foto.html
Thank you so much for this Nathalie. Now I can credit her!
Those icicles look deadly… It is so cold where you are!… I have a Swedish friend who doesn’t live in Stockholm and she sometimes shows the weather (and the temperatures!) where she is and she has -21C… My eyes got frostbite just looking at this temperature…
You often mention skin products, but I would be curious to know what products you use for your hair. Your hair looks really lovely! Share your secrets!!!
My secret is Sebastian Potion 9. It’s a treatment and styling product in one. For some reason my hair just loves it. I have used it for two decades now. It’s like Eight Hour Cream for hair – I have never found anything like it. I buy the 500ml bottles and refuse to use anything else.
Thank you very much! It just so happens that it’s available in my German Amazon!…
Those icicles are deadly if they happen to fall on someone! That photo was taken in Central Russia where apparently they have a daily council service of icicle breakers. They operate in the streets of cities, town and villages to avoid accidents.
We have this kind of situation in Stockholm (photos taken today) where they cordon off areas where there are icicles with tape and signs and someone stands in the street to warn pedestrians that they are removing the icicles and snow.
and 
We have had several deaths from icicles and large lumps of snow falling from roofs in Stockholm recently. This was taken in Kalmar.
I saw giant icicles in Canada and Finland and I must say they were impressive. Its a good thing we don’t have temperatures that go so low in France so as to get icicles. We hardly get lower than -10°c in the coldest regions if we do.
All that snow is beautiful. I live in South Texas, USA and our temps are all over the place. I can run the heat in the morning and the AC in the afternoon. They range from the mid 50’s to 80s. I find your posts interesting and love to hear how others live… (the sociologist in me LOL).