Winter in Svångemåla

This is a really hard and difficult winter although it is only December. Hate is a strong word but not far from what I felt yesterday when I had to walk forth and back several times from the car to the house, remove snow from the cellar door and in general fight hard to find out the status of the small cottage.

Overwhelmed

I am a bit overwhelmed today. It is full winter in Sweden and I have not been to Svångemåla for a while but readers from all over the world continue to log on to this blog. The last week it has had readers from Russia, Serbia, Taiwan, Israel and Sweden. During the last year surfers from 56 countries have visited Svångemåla News which must make Svångemåla one of the most internationally known small villages in the world :) I got a very nice comment from Taiwan (?) written in Chinese but thanks to Google Translate I could read it without any problems.

The last time I traveled to Svångemåla a rainbow arched over the road like a bridge. An amazing sight.



The red poles are put along the roads to guide the snow plows when the roads are completely covered by snow like they have been this early and unusually cold winter.

I wish...

that the terrible looking tower the moose hunters have erected right in the opening I made to have a better view of The Field will be moved! As you know, The Field is very special to me and the area where I see the most animals but those having the hunting rights have also discovered this and erected a tower right in the middle of my line of sight. I have talked to one of them and he promised that they will move it but I do not know when.

This is what it looks like through a wide angle lens.



And this is what it looks like through a tele lens.



Secondly, I wish that these tall trees are cut down or I am afraid that they all come down on my shed a day when the winter storm is blowing from the north. They are all dead due to an attack by European spruce bark beetle (http://www.invasive.org/species/subject.cfm?sub=888)

F R O S T !

It has been minus 1.6 C tonight. It is not unusual that we have this kind of temperatures mid October but it is still nothing I look forward to. It means that the wonderful foliage we have had is soon over and will in a few months be replaced by naked trees covered in snow. Time to move on !

Autumn

The wet weather has made our "garden" a heaven for mushrooms of all sorts. Some you can eat, some you cannot. I wish I know but I do not and stick to the very safe, yellow ones :)





I am a great fan of lichen and admire their ability to live on the hardest of surfaces with hardly anything to survive of.



As I have reported earlier, most of the apples were attacked by various insects and the few that have survived are now taken take care of by the birds.

Keeping warm

It is getting cold in Sweden and Svångemåla. To be able to keep the little house warm I have installed two different kind of heaters. The first one is run purely by solar power. A panel generates electricity for a fan that forces hot air from the panel into the house. The panel manages to increase the temperature of the air to about 25 degrees C above the general air temperature when the sun is shining. Perfect to keep the house ventilated without using any energy from the grid but useless when it is cloudy or the sun is down. (www.solarventi.com)

Solarventi



The second heater is much more efficient but uses some electricity. It works, more or less, like a freezer but backwards, i.e. it takes warmth out of the surrounding air, increases it and transfers the heat to a heater inside the house. It is very efficient and one unit can easily keep the whole house warm and comfortable without too much noise.

So far, so good but the real test will be in the winter when the temperature is far below 0 C.

Air to air heat-pump

Black Grouse (Tetrao tetrix)

All big birds in the forest are not birds of prey. In a few, relatively remote and unpopulated forests like the one around Svångemåla, you can still be lucky and spot a Black grouse or a Capercaillie although they are not very common. I was therefore very happy when I today came across a young Blackcock and managed to get picture of him.

September

It is the time of the year when drizzle is more common than sunshine, the temperature is falling by the week and we all start to prepare for the winter. Many birds have or are preparing to leave for warmer regions. The hunters are getting their weapons ready for one of the biggest events of the year in Sweden, the moose hunt and I wonder if these two will live to see next spring? The couple showed up some hundred meters away from my cottage and I wonder if it is the same couple I once met eye to eye?

http://svangemalanews.blogspot.com/2008/06/absolutely-amazing-meeting.html

Two is just perfect!

Two is just perfect. Lots of space but still someone to warm you!



Four is possible but it is getting a bit crowded.




Five is just one too many! Please find some other friends!

Mist

Although I do not really like or enjoy the cooler weather we are experiencing, I cannot deny that it looks amazing when the mist covers the field in thin layers. It is easy to understand that many can see the elves dancing around in white, long dresses. Mystical!

Cattle invasion

The new road has now been tested by our neighbor's cattle. We heard a loud "muuuuu" and saw a small herd of cattle walking slowly pass our plot. It was headed by a big bull who looked a bit like my favorite "Ferdinand" but he did not stop to smell our flowers but showed some interest in a Mercedes parked not far from us. Maybe the owner will get a Smart some months from now?

August 2010

August 2010 is almost history. Nothing much has happened in Svångemåla. Surprisingly few animals have showed up around my house and no other major events have taken place. It is slowly getting colder and darker. The dew makes the grass glitter in the morning and the well known August moon is as bright as it always is.



As you know, my apples were early destroyed by insects but a few were spared and made into a delicious apple pie.

There are berries in the forest and we made a couple of blueberry pies and have seen, but not picked any lingonberries.



The most typical Swedish tradition this time of the year is the eating of crayfish and fermented herring (smells like it is rotten!) called "surströmming".

Despite all the rain we have had, there are not as much mushrooms as usual but it is still not too late for them so we just have to be patient.

Mid August

Many birds, including the swallows are getting ready for their long journey south. Right now, we can see them gathering and practicing their flying skills.



This is also the time of the year when we can start harvesting all kinds of fruits and berries. Not so many of us harvest any juniper berries but they can be used for spicing up all kinds of meat and also to make lemonade.



Even the birds that are not going as far as the swallows are also gathering in huge flocks.When they land to pick food they look like a huge mass of feathers and it is almost difficult to separate one from the other.

Wasp / hornet trap

I am not sure how effective this trap is but I have already caught a few wasps so it is worth a try if you feel that the wasps are getting a bit too many. Take a 1.5 liter PET bottle, cut off the top, turn it around and put it back like a funnel into the bottom part of the bottle. Use some cello tape to keep the construction together and add a bit of sugary water or lemonade to it and the trap is ready. I am been told not to use honey since it attracts the valuable bees that we must do everything to protect.

Hornets

Life in the forest is not easy. One day badgers are digging up your lawn, the other wild pigs attack and right now hornets are chewing on the timber my house is built of. They are amazingly large and able to kill and eat ordinary wasps and bees. Last night their attacks on my bedroom window made me anxious that they might even break the glass. I have made a trap of a cut off PET bottle with some sugar and lemonade but they are not that easily fooled and more drastic measures will be needed soon.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_hornet



Note how small the very large fly to the left of the hornets looks!
As always, click on the picture to enlarge it.

Argyresthia conjugella

It has got a fancy name but it makes me both sad and mad. The few apples I usually can harvest are in danger of being food for a small insect that digs a small hole in the apples before they are ripe and leave me with nothing. Not fair.

Butterflies

I am not the only one who is attracted to Mrs Bear. Today, when painting windows, a butterfly landed on her arm, rolled out its trunk and started to "nibble" on her arm. It seemed very secure and comfortable and did not move until I had fetched my camera and taken some pictures. If you click on the picture, you will get an enlargement and can see that it has a small droplet on its trunk. Is it sweating?



Half an hour later, a second butterfly landed on her hat and spent some time just sitting there, enjoying the nice weather we have. The trunk was now rolled up or is it a ring in his/her nose?

Holes

The badger has not done any damage to the lawn for a while but I strongly suspect that he has started to dig big holes in, at least, two places. I am not sure why but guess that his search for food has made him go much deeper than he used to. They are big enough to be dangerous if you happen to stumble into one of them so I have had to fill them to prevent people from breaking their legs.

Hops

My hops pole is a constant source of joy and reflections. First it is amazing how fast the plants grow and the intricate way they wrap themselves around the pole. Secondly, when the top is reached (4.4 m !) they continue out in thin air until gravity brings them down or at least sideways. Just like we all do when we have climbed fast thanks to solid support and suddenly are on our own.

Drying the foot?

Why do swans put one foot on the back when they rest? I noticed this when looking at the swans but have not managed to find out why? Anyone who knows? It was not just this one but almost half of them did the same thing. Cold water?

Örarevet

When the air is not moving at all in Svångemåla and the forest feels a bit too dense, it is only a 35 k trip to the sea and a nature reserve called Örarevet. It is only a tiny piece of land with a few places to bbq and a lot of bushes to hid behind if you just would like to rest in the sun. There are plenty of birds in the area, mainly sea birds and a few rabbits and some cows keeping the small bushes at bay. Peaceful is probably the best word to describe Örarevet and that is why we like it so much and have done so for more than 30 years.

Happy Midsummer !

Today is Midsummer Eve in Sweden. It is very special day since it celebrates the longest day of the year. The sun never settles in the northern parts of our country and even as far down as Svångemåla you have almost daylight until 23.30. The celebrations are a bit strange to most non Swedes and include the decoration and raising of a maypole, eating herring (no it is not really raw fish but almost) and drinking too much alcohol. The latter is of course not compulsory but when you read the reports from Öland and Dalarna, you might think so. All un-married females can this particular night find out who they will marry by picking seven different kinds of flowers and put them under her pillow. Her husband to be will the come to her in her dreams. I think she might just as well get dried flowers in her hair but that is me, an old grumpy Bear!

Rhododendron

As I wrote earlier, our Rhododendron is now in full bloom. When I looked in Wikipedia, I learned that the name comes from "the Greek: ροδον, rodon, meaning "rose", and δενδρον, dendron, meaning "tree". It is a large genus with over 1000 species and most have showy flower displays. It includes the plants known to gardeners as azaleas. It is the national flower of Nepal, the State flower of Sikkim, India and the State Flower of both West Virginia and Washington in the USA."

Insects

I have had the privilege to live many years in Africa and one of the most common questions from my friends and relatives in Sweden was about all insects they were sure we had to fight. I thought about it today when swarms of flies and mosquitoes took turn attacking me depending on where I was. In the shade, the mosquitoes were the most active while the flies came in full force as soon as I got out in the sun.



All is not bad. The Rhododendrons are now in full bloom and we have had no rain today!

Air crash in Svångemåla!

A loud bang almost made me drop my coffee mug in the middle of Denmark v. Holland. I rushed to the window to see what was going on and saw a very groggy looking Woody the woodpecker sitting on the ground. It is the first time I have seen a woodpecker sitting like that and realized immediately that he must be in very bad shape but since he was still sitting, I let him recover and to my relief, he managed to fly away after 15 anxious minutes. Sometimes it is good to have a brain that is well protected and can manage a head on collision with a window without major injuries.

Has Twiggy got acne?

Suddenly my teenager Twiggy the Linden tree has got something looking like acne. Or is it too much sun? Not possible this summer but its leaves are getting reddish and has got small bumps that makes it look at bit unhealthy. After a bit of research the conclusion is that she is suffering from Phytoptus tiliae. It is not going to harm her too much but I am still a bit concerned and wonder what needs to be done to remove the small, very small animals.

Mrs Wagtail

As always, Mrs Wagtail is busy in the garden. Click on the picture to get a closer look of her latest catch!

The Twig 2010

Do you remember "the twig"? Well, this is a recent picture of it. No big changes and it is obvious that the soil is not very fertile and that it will take a looooong time before I can use it for a swing :)

Baby moose has grown up!

One of the calves I saw 2008 (I think) has now grown up and was peacefully grazing on the Field when I woke up this morning. A wonderful sight early in the morning.