Wednesday 29th and Thursday 30th
Our excellent progress on the chicken coop is rudely curtailed by hail and storm showers. Instead we work on the electric fences… rain and electric?! Good idea! Daz starts to feel poorly and this continues into Thursday so it’s ‘girl power’ as Manon, Lotta and I do more work on the fences.
Friday 1st May
We’re having a horse camp with Mikkel from Denmark who is famous for his horsemanship (www.heartsandhorses.se or Facebook search Mikkel Eron Angel Oster)
His aim to create a world of happier relationships between horses and humans.
“Through the power of education, inspiration and empowerment, we help people to make small changes in their attitude and actions, which make a huge difference in their relationships with their horses.” He works towards creating a happier relationships between horses and humans. He arrives late Thursday with his daughter and we’ll have other guests interested in learning from ‘the master’ arriving over the weekend.
I continue work on the electric fences whilst Daz returns to the chicken coop. Whilst showing Manon how it is done I electrocute myself numerous times as I forget to earth the reading device into the ground and hold it in my hand instead!!
Then in the evening we take Lotte and Manon to Floby for pizza. Whilst there we meet Jon, a Dutch man who has lived in Floby for about 18 years and after pizza he takes us for an impromptu tour of some of the houses he has renovated and then shows us his garden…
We notice he has got an infestation of Japanese knotweed that is already coming through the asphalt in the road opposite…
Obviously the Swedes are not as stringent about its proliferation as in the UK. In its native Japanese volcanic landscape, the climate and regular deposits of ash would keep knotweed plants small, while the plant survive thanks to energy stores in its deep root system. But in Britain, without these impediments, it grows unabated. And at its most prolific it can grow up to 20cm EVERY DAY. It can even grow through concrete and tarmac and its roots can go down to 3m deep.
There are no natural predators either meaning the weed can grow unabated, swamping other plants and preventing them from getting any light. And while it does not produce seeds it can grow from minuscule fragments of rhizomes – the underground network of stems and roots – meaning it spreads easily. It will easily knock vast amounts of the value of a house if there is an infestation!
Saturday 2nd May / Sunday
We have a nice lazy start to the day and then start working on the chicken coop only to be interrupted by Christina who is unhappy with the design as she thinks with 6 feet of snow in the winter the roof isn’t steep enough to shrug it off.
We down tools and consider rework options available and then take the rest of the day off and watch Mikkel at work. He is very impressive and makes it look effortless. He works Rocco, an unbroken horse, firstly working bareback and then with a saddle. He lives in the south of Sweden, and all the guests are getting their monies worth from his tuition. He has his own ranch with about 18 horses of various types and takes in rescue horses too.
On Sunday Daz is still feeling poorly but we muck out the stables and then watch Mikkel ride Rocco again. Then we walk to an old cottage. We passed it on a horse ride and Christina told us she wanted the stove that’s in it. We would need some tools to free the stove from its surrounds.
We check out all the rooms and outbuildings before continuing back to the farm. On our way we see a farm with numerous sacks of firewood outside. They are cutting up huge tree trunks into firewood with an amazing machine. The tree trunk comes in on rollers. It passes a sensor and when at the correct length it’s locked down and a chainsaw blade comes down and cuts it. The log moves into the next section which splits it and then it goes up a conveyor belt into the trailer full of wood. This machine is run by a man who controls all the different parts and manual intervention is required but nothing compared to the work it takes me and Daz to produce similar results at the farm!
Monday 4th May
Daz is still poorly and the weather is terrible. We muck out and then do some cleaning in the house and then wait for the rain to stop. Rain has stopped and it’s back to the electric fences but it’s a frustrating business. We’ve replaced loads of old wiring and we were getting good readings on the amp tester but today we do more changes but when we check the current the readings are pants. More checking/ more work required. Tomorrow I think!
Tuesday 5th May
Daz is better today. Ion has now taken charge of the chicken coop construction.
Manon and I do some more work on the fences and then we show her how to use the circular saw and the wood splitter. We then start splitting the huge wood pile.
Today Peanut starts producing colostrum from her teats. This is a really good sign and she should give birth in the next 24 hours. Christina is at work today so we need to check Peanut every hour or so. In the afternoon we have torrential rain which goes on all night.
Wednesday 6th May
Today there’s a reorganisation of the horses because Christina wants to put Nighty with the mares – Zoega, Wichita and perhaps Skippy. We’re also expecting another mare – a lady from the horse workshop at the weekend wants Nighty as a stud. We also do more log splitting. Nighty services the new mare – it’s over in seconds. The mare is then put in a field with our mares. Nighty will join them tomorrow.
Thursday 7th May
Finally Peanut has her foal. She cheated everyone by having him at 11pm last night when no-one was ‘on foal watch’!. He’s lovely but so wobbly. He won’t nurse for some reason.
Nighty is put in the field with the mares but ours aren’t interested because they’re not in season and the guest mare who is in season – he’s only interested in biting and chasing her and finally he’s removed!
We start log splitting but the intermittent showers means it’s a poor day for outside work!