2 December 2016

A short stay in Svångemåla did not give me any real winter feelings but it was frosty and the sun was out part of the time so I am not complaining.

I am, however, complaining about the wild pigs messing up our road!  Although it is just frozen gravel with hardly any insects or roots, they have made several deep holes very close to the electric fence.

The lone tree in the middle of the Field looks a bit like the many lone tree one can see on the African savanna :)

The main road in Svångemåla. 

A few apples have survived the wind and cold weather.

Still no snow.

The squirrel is preparing for a long and cold winter in Svångemåla and many birds are going south in search of warmer places. The mushrooms are thriving but I am not sure which are edible so I just admire them and let the wild pigs have them. 

October in Sweden is not the most cheerful of months. The days are getting shorter and shorter, strong winds and rains are more common than during any other part of the year. It is, however, also the time of the year when the apples are ready for picking, the flowers that are still there really stand out and you appreciate every hour of sunshine and good weather! It is also the time of the year when the air feels full of oxygen and your lungs have an easy job :)

Akero apple. 

More Akero apples that were made into "apple butter".

A single harbell (Campanula rotundifolia) stood all alone in the lawn. Wonder how it has manged to stay this fresh?

Our sunflowers (Helianthus) are in various stages of their lives. Some, like the one below, was still in its prime...

while this one had seen better days.

The wild growing wine (Parthenocissus ) has left its usual habitat on the barn's wall and nestled in the jasmine. I had probably not noticed it if its red leaves had not given it away. 

The end of this summer ! ?

It is getting cooler and darker day by day and when the clouds start to look like this, I think it is time to leave Svångemåla and move to warmer regions.

Sunflowers

Sunflowers always make me happy. They look like big sunny smiles and it is no wonder that butterflies love them. This year we have had various kinds of sunflowers going from bright yellow to lovely red.

From the stone age?

I found this stone a couple of years ago and the more I look at it, the more intrigued I get. Is it man made? Has someone had a house on my plot thousands of years ago or is it just a natural piece of rock? I you have any idea, please let me know!

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Beetles

There are a large number of beetles in Svångemåla. Some of them are well known even to me but several of them are total strangers. If you know the names of the ones below, please let me know!

Update: This is some sort of leaf beetle.

This one I know!  It is a female stag beatle (Lucanus cervus ). 

This one looks like a some sort of stink bug but I am not sure. They are called "berry farts" in Sweden :) Update: This nice looking beetle is an Italian Striped Bug (Graphosoma lineatum )

It really looks like a AC Milan fan!

RIO !

The Olympic Games are soon here and I have started to see signs :) Or is there another message to me?

One of my neighbours

This is an abandoned house close to where our house is in Svångemåla. It is called Goliatsmålen and from what I have been told a tailor lived here. He was unusually short, maybe a dwarf and was therefore called "the short tailor" since a taller tailor actually lived in our house at that time. No one lives here any longer and the house is slowly falling apart but is still beautiful in its own way.

As always, click on the picture to enlarge it!

Humulus lupulus (common hop or hop)

Our hop is unusually green and big this year. Its total height is now over 4.5 meter and if the pole had been higher it would easily have reached 5 meters. Maybe it will be enough hops to make some beer??

Butterfly - Purple Emperor

I don't think this butterfly will make me faster or jogging easier but it sure looks nice! Unfortunately I don't know what kind of butterfly it is so if you happen to know, please let me know! 

PS. Thanks to a good friend I am now more or less convinced that this is a Purple Emperor (Apatura iris) The purple color does not show very clearly in the angle I took the first picture from but it is visible in the one below. Click on the picture to make it larger!

Slow worm

It looks like a snake but is a limbless lizard. Due to its color it is in Swedish called "kopparorm" which means "cupper snake". It is totally harmless. In English it is called slow worm (Anguis fragilis) or blindworm. It is famous for its ability to shed its tail when an enemy grabs it. It is common in Svångemåla as well as in most of southern Sweden.

Very late evening, 26th of June

Acacia

This tree reminds me of two things, Africa where I learned to love acacias and my father from whom I got the plant. It is still small but it's flowers are wonderful. If you know what kind of acacia it is, please let me know. As always, click on the picture to see more details!

The road through Svångemåla, 9 PM, 20th of June 2016

Svångemålasjön (Svångemåla lake)

Svångemåla has its own little lake, Svångemålasjön. It has been both larger and deeper but to get more farm land, the water lever was lowered many years ago. The small areas of visible water are full of water lilies and the whole lake is a paradise for all kinds of water birds. The forest surrounding it is a protected area which means that no one is allowed to cut down any trees or in any way change what nature has created.

Small flowers...

Most wild flowers are actually very small and you have to get really close to see how beautiful they are. If you are lucky you might even see an insect walking around in them :) 

Improved power supply in Svångemåla!

Most of us have become more and more dependent on an uninterrupted supply of electricity.  Although this is seen as a luxury in many countries, the responsible Swedish companies are now trying hard to make sure that the supply of electricity is not interrupted even when the wind is blowing and snow covers the trees. The main reason is probably that they have to compensate their customers every time this happens.  Since Svångemåla is in the middle of large forests the problem of interrupted power supply has been a real nuisance and efforts are now made to improve the situation. The latest improvement was made in May and June when cables were changed and several were put in the ground where falling trees cannot cut them off. The machines used are really impressive and make the life of the workers much easier than it used to be when they had to climb each and every pole.

Blackberry (Rubus fruticosus)

I love Blackberries! First of all because they taste very good and secondly because they are in Swedish called Björnbär which means Bearberriers :) In addition, the flowers are really pretty!