Late October

It looks like the wild pigs are not too keen on challenging my electric fence! I could not find a single trace of them when I spent a few days in Svångemåla last week. So far so good ....

The old forest to the north of the house was reap for harvesting and a big machine has made its way through most of it. It has left some hardwood but all conifers are gone. I actually do not mind since this will be a haven for moose and deer next year when new plants come up. It also makes the forest a bit lighter and not as dark as it has been before.

 The linden tree is wonderful this time of the year when it glows in the sunshine.

From "The ManKind Project"

Enough is enough !!!

A line or to be correct, a rope has been drawn in Svångemåla to keep the wild pigs (Sus scrofa) from destroying more of my plot. It was really hard work to set it up and without the help from a good friend it had taken me much more time than the three days it now took. As you know from previous postings, the ground is full of stones and it was as times impossible to get the fence poles down without removing rocks. When that was not possible, we simply had to go around them or in one case through a very small crack in a rock.

One of Sweden's more famous author and artist, Björn Gidstam, has experienced the same problem as I have and wrote a very good article about it in a newspaper, highlighting the fact that so little has been done to assist and help those who are hit by the pigs and that nothing will probably change as long as the politicians in Stockholm and other big cities are not affected.

http://www.smp.se/nyheter/lobbyn/insandare/ge-oss-ett-slut-pa-detta-svineri(3453528).gm

Gidstam also compared how much energy and emotions that have gone into the discussion about wolfs compared to how, relatively, silent it is about the damages done by wild pigs. I fully agree.

Here are some pictures showing the problems we faced setting up the fence. I really, really hope it will keep the beasts out!

The poles are treated to last for at least 15 years. By then I hope the wild pigs have moved on or even better, been reduced in numbers so that they can live in peace in the forests only.

 

 The equipment needed is not cheap. All together I had to pay more than USD 1,000! The instrument I am showing measure how high the voltage is along the rope and from my measurements it reached 7000V ! I do not think even a big pig can take that on the snout without feeling some pain.

Svångemåla under attack

I cannot say that I did not see it coming but I was still surprised, sad and mad when I saw what the wild pigs (Sus scrofa) had done to my lawn while we have been away for some weeks. It has never been a smooth, manicured lawn but I have without problems used a normal lawn mover to cut the grass while it now looks more like a field that has just been plowed. About one third of the lawn is damaged and requires serious work before it is back to what it used to be.

The first night we heard the grunting of pigs and when I rushed out I could see two large pigs staring at me for some seconds before they flew over a one meter high and two meters wide wall of stones. The next day we put some old wire fence there but the next step will be an electric fence. Many have already had to put up such fences and even if my plot was badly damaged we saw one not far away that had been completely ruined. The wild pigs are gradually becoming such a serious threat to the farmers as well as common house owners and motorists and I wonder how long it will take before it becomes a political issue.

Having lived in Africa many years I now have an even better understanding of the anger farmers there feel when elephants and other wild animals ruin their farms / shambas and thereby threaten their one and only way of surviving.

The force required to turn up such large pieces of soil and grass is amazing and it is even more astonishing that they can do it by just using their snouts.

I still don't know what the best way of repairing the damages is. Remove everything and put new soil in the holes or to use a cultivator to smash everything and then even it out???

Airplane crash

Not far from Svångemåla is a lake called Hultabräan. It's water is very clean and the main city in the region, Kalmar, takes some of its drinking water from it. A group of people have also arranged a small bathing area that is very popular among both old and young.  It was therefore with considerable concern I heard that an elderly German pilot had crashed his  amphibian aircraft  in the lake.  Both he and his passenger were rescued and brought to the hospital and the plane was lifted out of the water but some fuel had leaked into the lake. From what I have been told, it was not the first time the pilot has landed on this particular lake but probably not when the water level has been as low as it is this summer due to the little rainfall we have had. I find it a bit upsetting when a water reservoir is used in this way and wonder what the consequences might be?

How to make "the Svångemåla Stool"

My favorite place in the garden is our BBQ area. It is designed to be just as much a place where you can sit around a fire as a place to barbecue /cook. It is not a conventional barbecue but a tripod from which three adjustable chains hold a round grill. The fire / coal is contained in a fire pan (wide metal bowl).

Depending on what kind of gathering you have organized, your guests can either sit on stools or chairs or simply stand around the fire. To make the place look as ”genuine” as possible, I am using local material as much as possible. In particular the stools are special and here is a short guide on how to make them.

 1. Select a medium sized hard wood tree and cut it down (or buy one that has the right size). It's diameter should be between 30 and 45 cm. I was lucky when a good sized birch tree fell onto my land during one of the storms last winter.

2. Cut it up in various long pieces depending on how long legs your friends have. Remember that the children will need much lower stools than your NBA friends :) My stools are 40 – 65 cm.

3. Depending on what kind of tree you are using, let it dry (slowly or fast) and treat it with a suitable oil so that it will last as long as possible. I had to remove some of the bark of the birch pieces to enable them to dry without rotting before all moisture had evaporated.  

4. If you have used a chainsaw you must polish the surfaces as well as all edges as much as possible to prevent your guests from getting splinters in their behinds. To keep them above the wet ground, I put three small (2 cm high ) pieces of specially treated wood under each stool as a form of legs. If you use more than three pieces, the stool will be more stable on an even surface but less so on an uneven. The ring of stones around my fire place is made of stones from Öland and is a bit uneven so I use three.  

5. A stool of this kind is heavy so it is necessary to fit them with some kind of handle. I decided to drill a 20 mm hole about 8 cm from the top and put a hemp rope through it. 

This is not an easy job and I strongly recommend you to use a very strong drill and also to wait a while so that the wood is not too fresh. My old trusted Bosch was finished after six holes :( The drill should be about 2 mm larger than the rope or it will be very difficult to get it through the hole. 

To avoid the rope from splitting up, I used some thin hemp string at the end as you can see below.  You can also treat the hemp with some oil to prevent it from rotting.

The knots I used to tie the rope ends together is a common fisherman's knot.

It took me several hours to finish the job so I hope they will last at least five years. I don't think this is the kind of stool IKEA is interested in but I might write to Mr. Kamprad and propose a deal!

Blue flowers

I don't know why but most flowers in my garden are blue. You have already seen some of them and here are two more. If you happen to know their names, please let me know!!

Bruno Jr

Bruno Jr showed up today. He is just as handsome as his father but much smaller but I am sure that the clover in our lawn will make him grow up very fast!

A snake in Paradise??

No, not this time. It is just a harmless Slow-worm (Anguis fragilis) but it looks a bit scary close-up.

Between a rock and a hard place