Sweden continues, work hard, play easy 9 Mar 15 to 9 Apr 15
Monday 9th March
Tiho didn’t return from Gothenburg. Apparently he’s going to dog sit there for a week. Daz and Merle ran this morning but I couldn’t be bothered even though I was awake. We did the usual chores and then our task was to turn the logs from the trees we cut down last week into useable fire wood. First we have to use the disc saw so cut logs so no greater than 50 cm long and then split them using the log splitter. Then pile them. This wood still needs to dry before use next winter.
Tuesday 10th March
Today we created another log pile. Bigger than yesterday’s too. Unfortunately, we’ve discovered that the birch sawdust sets off Daz’s hayfever. Yesterday he had a rash around his neck and chest from all the sawdust from the circular saw and today within about an hour his eyes are itchy and his nose is running and he’s sneezing. He goes off to take piriton and we swap jobs. But the piriton must have affected his balance as he topples the wheelbarrow full of logs twice! Soon we have enough logs cut and move onto the splitter, this works with hydraulics and makes splitting the logs into four very easy, then all we need to do is move the split logs to our new drying storage area.
. 
Whilst we have been doing this Ion and Merle have been sorting out the foundations for the new greenhouse, digging out and putting some shuttering in place ready for us to make some concrete up. We will all probably work on finishing this tomorrow.
Wednesday 11th March
Today we all work on the foundations for the greenhouse. We collect rocks from all over the farm to use as hard core and then Daz and Ion mix cement and start laying it and tamping it down. All of which is bent over back breaking work, but its something different and with a finished product at the end quite satisfying.
Thursday 12th March
More work concreting, Daz and Ion go with Christina to get more sand and cement and then later when Ion goes for a swim at a local lake (does he not realise it’s still Baltic!)
Daz let’s me mix some cement and even pour the water in! I can see now where he gets all his excitement from… NOT! But by the time Ion is back we are nearly finished and it only takes one more mix to finish the foundations. In the afternoon we manage to get a card game of Hand and Foot going during the lunch break and Merle soon proves to be very good… Fortunately the first hand was a practice, so her score doesn’t count!!!
We watch an action film in the evening (John Wick, all cars, guns and violence!) and then Tiho arrives back from Göteborg and he says he has had a good time in the Croatian bars, apparently there are over 9000 Croats living there! He also has a job interview lined up for a bar manager assistant in Ireland, so depending on how that goes he may be off for good.
Friday 13th March
It now looks like Tiho is off for good as he has booked a flight to Cork on March 18, which means he’s leaving and so is Merle, leaving just me, Daz and Ion but rumour is another volunteer is arriving sometime in April. It’s a slow day today, quite windy and we can’t do much work on the new greenhouse as we have to wait for the concrete to set. We cut up some more logs but that’s about it. Although the days are slower here it gives us time to relax and do our admin. We all go riding in the late afternoon. I still don’t feel in control but hopefully it will come in time.
Saturday 14th March
We have a lie in which is lovely. Just reading and dosing. Merle and Ion take the horses out and we join them for breakfast. We were thinking of going to Gothenburg today but decide that because we’re so late getting up that we’ll do Gothenburg another weekend and instead we decide to cycle to Floby and check out the sights and do some geocaching. It’s a lovely sunny day but the wind is cold. My bike is pretty good but poor Daz is on a mountain bike which is far too small for him and has a buckled front wheel. We find a couple of nice geocaches and look around Floby. It has a supermarket, a pizzeria and not much else. The pizzas are great. I have a Mexicana – Yummy but Daz has a Lambada – chicken, peanuts, banana and curry powder – weird!
After our cycle ride we spend a few hours relaxing on the sofa. Tiho seems to be going for the ‘golden duvet’ award as he spends all afternoon gently snoring away. We thought we might be reunited with Seb, the volunteer we met in Finland from Belgium. Christina asks us to email him, hoping that he can replace Tiho. Unfortunately he’s just arranged a new job in Portugal.
Sunday 15th March
Today we put the horses out and do the stable chores because we had a day off yesterday. In the afternoon we visit Hornborgasjon lake. It’s a huge lake around 7km long that attracts loads of bird life. At the moment it’s still fairly quiet but by the end of the month there will be up to 25,000 cranes there. We will visit again to see the bird life in their full glory. Then in the late afternoon we go to Falkoping bowling.
So all in all it’s been a quiet week with some hard work but plenty of relaxation time. We will see how it goes once Merle and Tiho leave on Wednesday; it’ll be the same work but fewer people to do it!
Monday 16th March
Today Tiho gives us a lesson in chainsaw maintenance so we know how to look after the chainsaws properly and then we plan to have 2 days of tree chopping frenzy to maximise tree chopping potential before Tiho leaves. We do 6 trailer loads so we’re all pretty pooped by the end of the day and then we have a lovely roast pork dinner cooked by Daz to finish the day.
. 
Tuesday 17th March.
More tree cutting but today we only manage 4 trailer loads before we decide enough is enough. Then I’m supposed to go riding; taking Sonny at a gallop so that the 2 ponies, Sparky and Pinnochio, are encouraged into a gallop too because they’re a bit lazy and it’s hard to get them going. However, I chicken out and send Daz in my place. He’s already ridden Sonny a number of times so knows what to expect. Daz returns having had a good ride. Tonight is Merle and Tiho’s last night. We feast on chocolate and cookies. It’s so sad to see them go.
Wednesday 18th March
Merle and Tiho left at 5.30 this morning so it’s just the 3 of us putting the horses out and mucking out. Once that’s done Ion is off to continue work on the greenhouse – this is his pet project of the moment and he’s been working on it everyday since we finished the concrete foundations and has been laying a layer of breeze blocks which will be the base of the wooden framework walls.
. 
Whilst Ion works on this Daz and I fill the planters in the conservatory – this is where Christina will grow tomatoes.
Then in the afternoon I help Christina with Sonny and Nighty. We’re taking them to a farm where Sonny will be ridden by an experienced ‘reining’ horse rider (it’s the western riding equivalent to dressage). After the riding session we take Nighty and Sonny to Falkoping for a spot of shopping. Well actually Christina goes shopping whilst I keep an eye on the horses.
Thursday 19th March
Today we use a the soil/pebble mix that Daz loaded into the tractor trailer yesterday afternoon to fill in the holes in the drive to the farm. Unfortunately Daz manages to snap the spade handle because he’s using the back of the spade to tamp down the mixture in the holes.
We also do a bit of gardening, sharpen the axe, look at the bicycles and ‘sit-on’ mower which won’t start. It’s a beautiful day; warm like a summer’s day. We have been so lucky with the weather – 3 weeks and only one day with some rain although tomorrow it’s due to rain. The vet comes and castrates Korea, checks Silky’s teeth and checks Peanut over; she’s pregnant.
Friday 20th March
After doing the stable chores my mission is to turn the wood pile in the middle of the yard into logs using the circular saw.
Whilst I do that Daz is using the chainsaw to cut up some trunks that are too big for my saw. I make a fair dent in the pile but there’s still a lot of work left.
We finish about 3pm and slob out in front of the telly. At 9pm we go out to bring the horses in and it’s sleeting. We were expecting this weather much earlier and already the paths that were drying out nicely have turned into a quagmire – fortunately Daz and I are both proud owners of ‘hand-me down’ wellies. Result!
Saturday 21st March
Damn the weather. This morning it’s snowing. We were all going to go geocaching but we’re not going in this weather. Christina has to work today and we’ve got a German volunteer coming from Gothenburg today, Florina.
She’s just coming for 4 days to see if she likes it and to come for longer in her summer break. Florina arrives and we show her around the farm. Later Daz and I slob out in front of the TV whilst Christina, Florina and Ion go riding.
Sunday 22nd March
Christina has already left for work when we get up. By 11.30 all the chores are done and we’re planning another lazy day. But Florina is full of beans and wants to do something. She starts talking about going for a walk but that seems a shame to let her go alone so we find some geocaches we haven’t done and go out for a few hours. Then we resume our position in front of the TV whilst Flo bakes a cake.
Monday 23rd March
Flo and Christina go off to visit the “reining lady” with Sonny and Knighty. So after we’ve done the stable chores, me, Daz and Ion I continue with the circular saw. We have discovered that if I run the saw whilst people are in the house using the cooker etc that we keep blowing fuses. So far in about 4 sawing sessions we’ve blown about 15 fuses in total so now I only run the saw if no-one’s in the house. I do about 2.5 hours of sawing which is hard work – lifting the large logs up into the saw but my original pile is slowly decreasing in size so it’s rather satisfying. Meanwhile Daz is building a table so it’s quite difficult to get him to do anything else. He’s googled it and found a model to copy and he’s very excited about it all.
In the afternoon we tidy the shed next door to our cabin – it’s where we store the wood for our wood burner but apart from a small stack of wood there’s barely any spare room. As we empty it we discover that most of it is old cardboard boxes and horse feed bags kept to start fires. There’s so much that we have a small fire to get rid of it all and actually the majority of the other stuff is consigned to the rubbish tip. We’re going to do a “tip” run on Thursday I think.
Tuesday 24th March
Today I do some planting with Christina – we plant sunflowers, salad leaves, peppers and cucumber seeds. I’m looking forward to the results and replanting them in the greenhouse.
Work on the greenhouse continues – now that the foundations are done Ion is busy finding wood and cutting it to size and making the roof A frame. Mucking out today is a bit of a disaster – we’ve kept several horses in because we’re expecting the “hoof” man at 11am.
He’s going to trim the hooves of 5 of the horses – Christina can do it and has done the ponies and several mares but she says the “boys” will take too much of her time. Christina and Flo have got 2 horses ready to ride – Suaga and Wichita but then realise that in the front paddock there’s a ‘real fight’ between Knighty and Lucky. There’s often some rather robust horse play amongst the stallions but this is something else. Lucky is practically on his knees with Knighty on top. It looks really nasty and Christina manages to separate them and brings Lucky into the stables. The poor lad is covered in bites and Knighty has drawn blood in a large number of places. Christina puts on some ointment. Knighty was having his hooves done and Lucky was in Knighty’s stall waiting his turn for the “hoof man” and there were several mares around the stable too, Wichita, Suaga and Peanut. The proximity to the mares got Knighty a bit “hot under the collar” and so when they were returned to the field Knighty was overexcited and took out his ‘hormonal exuberance’ on poor Lucky. As a result Lucky is kept in the stables for the remainder of the day and won’t be returned to the “boys” field until he’s healed and Christina can check how Knighty acts on his return.
In the afternoon I spread chalk on the lawn. It’s supposed to stop the moss growing.
In the evening Flo leaves, she’s catching the 6pm train from Floby back to Gotenburg. We’re hoping to see her again either in Gotenburg or here at the farm if she comes for the weekend.
During the evening Daz is lying on the sofa and kicks our Notebook off the arm of the sofa. It hits the floor and when we check we discover the screen has many cracks and it only has limited functionality.
Wednesday 25th March
Christina is going to work today. After we’ve done the stables I return to the wood pile task, Ion continues with preparation of the greenhouse frame and Daz with the table making.
We send the Notebook with Christina so she can find out if the screen can be replaced but apparently it’ll be stupidly expensive and cheaper to replace. Daz is initially repentant but soon is overcome with the joy of the opportunity of spending money on something new.
Thusday 26th March
Today it’s really wet with a cold wind. We won’t be doing much work outside today. We take the horses out and do our normal stable chores and then we all end up indoors. The rain just gets heavier and heavier. In the afternoon Christina picks up a new volunteer from Floby. She’s Heather from New Zealand and she’s studying Environmental Science for a semester in Sweden.
Friday 27th March
I go with Christina to the ‘reining lady’. Today she rides Sunny but also rides Knighty and he does really well for his first time. Back at the farm we discover that a chicken has been killed – Ion thinks it was killed by a rooster or the other chickens but Christina says she has never heard of such a thing and thinks it was killed by weasel. In the afternoon I saw some more wood, Daz sands his table and fixes one of the bikes and Ion continues work on his greenhouse frame. Then I help Heather with Wichita and Suaga so she and Christina can ride when Christina gets back from Falkoping.
Saturday 28th March
Today we go to Skovde to purchase a new Notebook. First we put the horses out and then Christina is going to give us a lift to Floby so we can get the train but then she realises that she doesn’t need the car today so she lends it to us. So we drive to Skovde and visit a couple of shopping malls. Daz is so happy – things for sale. He buys a new Notebook, a kettle and some herbs. He’s one happy chappy. Then we visit the town centre and have Thai for lunch. It’s a lovely day and great to be out and about. We sit in a bar overlooking the town square – Daz playing with his new purchases whilst I read my Kindle. We get back to the farm at 7pm. Christina, Ion and Heather have only just come back from riding.
Sunday 29th March
Today we miss the clocks going forward and don’t get up until 10am and the horses are already out. I stay in bed reading my book and leave Daz to do the work. Then we have a lazy day
Monday 30th March
So we’re coming to the end of March. We’ve done a month here and it’s a great experience. Today Christina has to work and she’s gone by 8.30am and she won’t be back until 9pm tonight.
So what shall we do today? Well it’s pretty predictable – wood sawing for me, greenhouse frame prep for Ion, and Daz – well he’s making tent pegs for the Teepees so he’s back in the tool shed.
He’s really enjoying making new things – I didn’t realise how good he was at this type of thing. After a few hours he has to help with the wood sawing because there are some logs etc that are just too heavy for me to get onto the saw. Heather is cleaning the house windows and repairing some of the horse coats. About 3pm the rain we were expecting all day finally arrives and we stop work. We decide to play cards and teach Heather ‘ Hand and Foot’ and then later play ‘Nominations’.

Tuesday 31st March
Today Daz and I start a new chore. There’s a huge pile of wood next to our cabin. It’s reclaimed wood from a barn that was dismantled. Unfortunately it’s been sitting outside for several years and has seriously deteriorated. It was going to be used to build new cabins but now it’s too rotten so Christina wants it sawn for firewood.
Unfortunately these beams are up to 18′ long and heavy. So it takes 2 of us to lift the beams and feed them into the saw. And to make matters worse they are riddled with nails and other metal work. This is a really tough job.
Wednesday 1st April
Daz, Heather and I are just leaving the house to feed and put the horses out but Ion is heading in. We ask if he’s fed the horses but he says ‘No, one of the horses is dead’. Heather is convinced it’s Peanut but I’m more interested in taking my toothbrush to the cabin to charge and wondering why Ion’s bad news lacked all emotion – of course it’s an April Fool. Unfortunately Ion tries a similar trick on Christina ‘telling her that her black cat is dead’. Christina is absolutely devoted to all her animals and rushes outside to see the cat. She’s genuinely upset. What a rotten thing to do! This morning I go riding with Christina.
It’s just the 2 of us – it’s to build my confidence and it’s a lovely ride. A beautiful day with plenty of trotting and a couple of canters. I do mess up when I let Sunny too close to Wichita’s rear and she tries to kick him in the teeth for his cheek, but apart from that a great ride! Back at the farm I help Daz change the winter tyres on the horse trailer and then it’s back to the saw and the huge pile of beams which ain’t getting any lighter and to make matters worse when we move the saw into position Daz’s fingers gets jammed and now his little finger has a blackened nail and is throbbing with pain.
Of course Daz wants to keep working but we agree that special care will be taken to avoid further injury. Of course within 20 minutes he jams the same finger again when I push the log forward, and then a falling beam catches his knee on top of an earlier scrape. Poor Daz! Late in the afternoon Christina wants to take out more horses. I’ve already had a lovely ride today so decide to pass. Daz is on Suaga and the others are on the ponies.
Thursday 2nd March
Christina is at work today. Today we put a hay bale in the boys’ feeder; we clean out the horse trailer; saw wood for our wood burner and then return to the reclaimed wood pile.
We’re both finding this job physically challenging (although me more than Daz) carrying long beams and putting them into the saw. The beams still need to be held up at their far end so that they can be held in the blade and then pushed forward as each log is sawn. We’re already using the chainsaw to make sure the beams are more manageable in weight and length. Ion and Heather continue preparation of the greenhouse woodwork.
A busy day and a lovely sunny one too: hopefully this will continue over Easter when Gav and Vikki are visiting.
Friday 3rd March
It’s Good Friday or Long Friday to the Swedish. We’re off to Gotenburg to pick up Gav and Vikki from the airport. We’re so excited! Christina is going to work so we go with her to Falkoping and then we take her car to Gotenburg. There’s barely any traffic but that seems typical here and we make good time.
There’s a minor dispute about parking which results in us driving around the block 4 times!!! But eventually we’re parked and soon waiting at arrivals. It’s so good to see them – I think they’ve been up since 3.30 this morning!
We drive back catching up on all the news and at the farm we have lunch and introduce them to Ion and Heather. We give them a guided tour of the farm and they greet all the animals. Vikki instantly falls for Chip but he is a cutie!!
We do have some chores today and Vikki and Gav give us a hand – bless them. Christina has clients coming on Saturday for a 1 hour horse ride through the woods and we need to tidy up because the farm is looking a bit of a mess. We start by moving the large wire cages that hold all the plastic coverings from the hay bales. There’s just a mass of plastic in front of the stable. Daz and Gav move it all out of sight whilst Vikki and I tidy up the yard and the garden. By the time we’ve tidied away all the mess from our current projects – wood cutting and greenhouse creation, the farm looks so much better. With that task complete (very quickly thanks to the help of Vik and Gav) we decide it’s time for a cuppa and we decide to play cards.
Then we all go out to the Floby pizza joint for dinner and then finish the day with more cards.
Saturday 4th April
Daz, Heather and I put the horses out. We didn’t hear Vik and Gav so we’re hoping they’re having a well deserved lie in. After brekkie we all muck out and it’s done in record time. Daz needs to pick up Christina from work (she was on a 24hour shift) and we have a cuppa. We’ve got an organised ride for 2 Danes at 12 so we need to prepare 4 horses. Unfortunately Suaga won’t come but we get the other 3 and groom them. Vikki and Gav are quickly becoming more comfortable around the horses which is great to see. The Danes are really early and we have to rush to get everything ready. Finally all is prepared and we wave goodbye to Christina, Heather and the 2 Danes. I hope all goes well because the Danish lady looked really nervous. Whilst they’re out we have an early lunch. Christina has asked if Gav and Vikki want to ride so they’ll be going out after the Danes and we’re so pleased they’re giving it a go. When the Danes get back we all go out to assist. They say they’ve had a good ride but Heather seems upset. She was at the back on Silky who was really badly behaved and kept skipping and bucking. He’s upsetting Sunny by biting him – Sunny’s ears are back and he’s swishing his tail – this is a sure sign he’s not happy. So the lady switches so that she’s in front of Wichita and all settles down for a bit but then Silky starts misbehaving again and poor Heather is unseated and comes off but her foot is caught in a stirrup. She’s so upset about coming off in front of clients; the lack of professionalism and frustrated by not knowing how to handle Silky’s behaviour. In the past when it’s happened the ride has stopped and Christina has insisted that Silky follow specific direction until his behaviour improves but this wasn’t possible with clients.
When we hear this I wonder if Gav and Vik should go and I wouldn’t blame them. But they’re still game so we prepare them to go. Gav on Wichita, Vik on Sunny, and Heather’s going to lead on Suaga whilst Christina walks at the back with Silky. Poor Heather – I can see she doesn’t want to go out again. Gav and Vik mount up and we walk with them to the road. They’re looking good! They’re back after 90 minutes and they’ve really enjoyed it.
After the ride we take the car and visit Lake Hornborga. We visited a few weeks ago but there weren’t many cranes. Now there are 14800. This is a main stopping point for the cranes who have wintered in France and Spain. They will rest here for a couple of weeks before moving on to some bog or mire for breeding. The cranes come to rest at Lake Hornborga thanks to the Swedish schnapps (Brannvin) because the potatoes intended for the spirit were left in huge amounts in the fields near the factories in Bjurum and Dagsnas. These were a source of high energy food source and when potato farming ceased barley was grown instead. The cranes are famous for their ‘crane dance’; a skip, a hop followed by rubbing of heads. This is thought to strength family ties and is performed not only by mating pairs but by all family members. It can occur regardless of weather and time of day so if lucky we could have seen 1000s of pairs dancing at the same time but unfortunately we didn’t. A crane will mate for life and family units often fly together. The inverse ‘V’ formation adopted by cranes and other flocks of birds is their equivalent to drafting or using the slip-stream. Everyone can conserve energy except the lead bird. Daz wants to know if the lead switches as it does in pursuit cycling.
The day finishes with a visit to Ullene – where there’s a bonfire and fireworks to celebrate Easter and the arrival of spring. And that’s the end of Gav and Vik’s farm visit. Tomorrow we’re catching the train to Copenhagen and Heather is returning to her student life. I hope they’ve enjoyed their farm experience – they’ve joined in with everything that’s been happening and had some glorious weather. We know they’re both shattered but in a good way I think. They will sleep well tonight and it’s great to see them having time off. In all the time I’ve known them I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen them away from work for more than a day!
