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!
