Good morning guys and gals, it is time, once again, for our weekly installment of home repair talk!
(disclaimer, this is what Stockholm would look like today if global warming wasn't here. I did take the image a few years ago on a luckily clear day. notice people walking on the ice.)
As DarkSyde reminds us today, Dec 22 is the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere, meaning the shortest day. Since I'm living in Sweden, this day, midvinter, carries special meaning and tradition as it predates Christianity, its rituals and practices, as pagans who worshipped the earth's cycles marked the beginning of a new year. During this time, most of these religious observances were carried out in a village some 70km north of what would become Stockholm, just outside of what is now Uppsala, at Gamla Uppsala meaning Old Uppsala.
In later modern times, the Swedish painter Carl Larsson depicted this scene and it has its own story and place in history.
What is interesting, is that for some time, and there is still some discrepancy on the issue, is that as Christianity began to replace pagan traditions, there were some merging of the two practices. It has been thought for years that the church which now exists at the Gamla Uppsala site was built upon the remains of a previous structure, but this is unclear. However, it does occur in history such as in the Cathedral of Chartres and, for example, smaller churches around this area, would use pagan rune stones as masonry blocks to build their walls. Some of these stones are visible today as restoration efforts have sought to expose these stones from their stucco facades.
Just a tidbit on the architecture and history here, some links if you want to explore.
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Seeing as how I'm running late with getting the rest of the info on this page this morning, the fair trade coffee is already ready, so, grab a cup, have a seat and lets get started. I'll get the pics up momentarily.
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Oh, and for those who didn't see the Glögg thread last week, here is also a recipie which has perhaps a bit more detail but a slight difference in the recipe. Google will have more, so you can pick and choose, if you will.
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Also from last week, I did manage to find those IR pics from a special camera that detects IR radiation on the low end of the spectrum, which, as it were, IR photography records reflected light in the higher portion of IR and possibly other light as well. So, here are some pics from two weekends ago:
A normal Swedish radiant heater w/water pipes coming from the ground.
Same area, the IR pic reveals that the pipes are run under the floor.
Footprints:)