Feeling right at home!

We spent our second weekend on Södratorp. We went up north (again with a full trailer attached to the back of the car) Saturday morning (and got back this afternoon). 

Saturday the sun was shining at first, but then the wind picked up and a lot of clouds showed up on the sky. 

It was rather chilly when we continued to work on the fence and later in the evening it even started raining a bit. 

We went to bed early and the night was calm and silent. We all slept like babies, the dogs are adjusting really well to the new home. 

We are thankful to have the chance to introduce them to new place gradually. 

(The cats will not get so lucky, but we'll do anything to make the transition as easy as possible for them.)

The first weekend we stayed overnight Cleo was still acting like "when are we going back home folks?"

This weekend she was already more settled and started to play on her own in the living room while we were sitting at the dining table in the kitchen. 

Aaron found a plastic cup in the yard today and was playing all enthusiastic with it.
He acts like a clown when he gets the chance to put his teeth into one of those...

And Cleo enjoyed the sun, she (the sun) showed up again after lunch today.

It's nice to be able to REALLY live in the country again after two years in a rather noisy environment. When I walked with Cleo this morning I only heard birds sing, and the church bells rang down in the village - I realized that I hadn't heard church bells for a very long time!

We don't live far away from the village here, but I never heard the church bells. I wonder if it is the traffic noise  that we have gotten so used to hear all day, a noise that tends to superimpose itself on everything else.... I definitely prefer church bells and singing birds, let me tell you that :)

One of our new neighbors came by to extend a very warm welcome to us, in her hands she had a beautiful bunch of tulips! Look!

She told us that they are originally from Denmark and that they work there, but they come to Sweden/their house here every Thursday and stay until Sunday... all year around. So practically, they live one half week in Denmark and the other half in Sweden!
Well, "it's only about one and a half hours drive" she said. That's really not much, I agree, but I don't know if I would do that every week. Anyhow, we are looking forward to get to know all our neighbors.
Two more weeks!

:)

Södratorp - our new home!

***

Yes, it's a trailer. A moving trailer... with furniture in it!

We'll be moving soon, we are actually already in the middle of it. 

We found a great house, bigger then the one we are living in now, much cheeper in rent, recently renovated and surrounded by gorgeous nature! 

We started renting the new place from 1st of April, but will be living in our current home here in Åhus until end of April. 

The advantage of that is that we are having a whole month to move the entire household and personal effects - piece by piece almost, meaning trailer by trailer. 

Our future home is located about 2 hours north of here, so we are mostly using weekends and time off work to drive back and forth, with the trailer hooked up to the car.

Last weekend we made our 5th trip AND stayed overnight for the first time. It was a great weekend! 

Very good friends of ours helped us to build a fence around the back yard... too keep the dogs IN and the moose, rabbits etc. OUT...

We are not done yet, but we got really far! :)

We worked hard all day, but as you can see we didn't forget to rest in between! :)

Aaron has a new girl-friend... Her name is Bessy and she got the most beautiful brown eyes you can imagine - no wonder that Aaron fell for her in a heart-beat! 

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

After a round of playing Aaron got to "cool off" in the back of the car and Cleo and Bessy teamed up for a round through the yard - searching for rodents. 

The "ladies" at work! :))

And in the following photo you see Cleo thinking...
"are they REALLY building a fence here??? How can I get to the rodents if they build a fence?? Those humans... they don't get it, do they!!"

We'll be driving up again on Saturday and spend the weekend there. It feels really like going away on vacation for a weekend, the scenery is beautiful and !!! - it's really quiet there, almost no traffic.
All you hear when you wake up in the morning are the singing birds!
HEAVEN :)))))

SPRING REALLY DOES GET A DIFFERENT MEANING WHEN YOU CAN ENJOY IT IN SUCH A ADORABLE COUNTRYSIDE...
Space to be, Space to breath and feel alive even more :)

...to be continued!

♥

Another week in photos

The week started out with nice weather, we got a REAL first taste of spring!
Thank you for that, it was REALLY needed! :)



Both Dogs are taking a nap while we watch the F1 GP Melbourne.
Aaron and Cleo are collecting energy for the walks later on.
This is Aaron, napping on my legs right now, and the photo beneath shows Cleo on her favorite pillow right beside me...

Earlier this week we went for a walk on the beach near Furuboda. That is one of the few places where Aaron is able to run free, without a leash. And as you can see, he enjoys it very much.

This is the bow of an old fisher boat, just in case you wonder...

Beneath, one of many returning eurasian cranes -  he's preparing for landing on a big field.
In the background one of many modern windmills of this area.

Life isn't a good one without a proper lunch break!
If you ever decide to come to this area, you should definitely check out the little town called Sölvesborg. And when you go there you should plan a lunch-break at the "coffeehouse" right in the center of it.
A great place to relax, eat a nice salad or pasta, and drink a fantastic cup of coffee or tea...

The area offers great trails for hiking and biking.
There is always a motive for you to discover if you happen to have a camera with you (even if it is just a simple camera like the one of your mobile phone - my iPhone in this case...).

And when you feel like a nice cafe latte after you've done some food shopping, you just sit down and give in to your cravings right there in the grocery store;-)

Last but not least I'll post a "mystery photo"
More about that in the near future...

I wish you all a fantastic spring sunday!


"All through the long winter, I dream of my garden. On the first day of spring, I dig my fingers deep into the soft earth. I can feel its energy, and my spirits soar.!
by Helen Heyes

Where is the beach?

It is almost dull to start yet another post by telling how the weather has been here lately.

And it has been cold, and still is.
We didn't get more new snow, most parts of Skåne are without the white glory by now (not so further north of course).

Unfortunately we are currently harassed (and have been since about two weeks) by a freezing cold wind coming from East, from the baltic sea area.

As a consequence of that icy cold wind the water along the coastline is all frozen over!

It is a strange sight, let me tell you that! No water and no waves... but see for yourself!

Ingrid and the dogs are walking where the waves hit the beach normally. And waves make usually a nice enjoyable sound, not now. Where you look, only ice covered by a thin layer of snow.

They say that the baltic sea along the swedish coast hasn't been frozen over like that since the 80s.

We hope that the temperatures will rise soon, not only because the walks along the beach are more fun when it's warmer, but also because we will soon run out of firewood.
It has been a long and cold winter and we managed to heat the entire house with using just one soapstone oven, situated in the center of the house. It was comfortably warm everywhere, even upstairs in the bedroom where the warmth comes from the chimney.
We have about one week of firewood left and then we are forced to use the central heating system which is powered electrically. That will elevate our electrical bill a lot, but buying firewood this time of the year is also expensive.
Well, it's almost March and it WILL get warmer eventually.
We just have to be patient for a little bit longer.

I will complete this post with a snapshot that Ingrid took this week.
Aaron has a couple of toys which we keep in a basket next to the TV. He loves to take them out one for one and play with them.
The other day Cleo decided to go and sit IN the basket ON TOP of all the toys so that Aaron couldn't get them...
Smart girl - confused Aaron!

It is winter!

Yes, big parts of south Sweden are covered with snow.
It started to snow about a week ago - about 4 inches at first.
Then we got about 3 additional inches over this past weekend.
Of course it's been windy and cold too.

Today it seems that we'll see some sunlight again, there are just a few clouds up in the sky this morning.
The last two weeks our skies were full of thick snow clouds that wouldn't allow much sunlight to come through.

Before it got so cold we had lots of rain pouring down on us. Personally I prefer the cold and the snow and so do Aaron and Cleo.
Especially Aaron...

Aaron is now 11 month.
Last month he finished his "pre-school" course with flying colors!
He'll be going to dog school again in spring, until that he is on winter break - and he loves it! :)

He's a very active dog, still very VERY! playful and of course, very sweet.
He's an early riser, meaning he wants to get up between 5:30 and 6:30 EVERY SINGLE DAY which means that Ingrid gets up early too.
I and Cleo get to sleep in, of course. :))
By the time Cleo and I come down, usually around 8 or 9am, the two early birds are already back from their first walk around the neighborhood.

Aaron loves to go on trips in his Aaron-Mobil (- that is what we call our KIA these days), especially since he got even more space to sit and lay down then before. Last month we purchased a professional safety grid for the car and the registration has been changed to "light truck". That means it has just two seats left, one for the driver and one for the passenger. It also means that we pay less tax! :))
But most importantly Aaron and Cleo love to travel safely and so do we.



Everything's fine at work. I mostly get to drive afternoon and evening shifts and that really agrees with me. As I wrote in an earlier post, I am definitely not an early bird and I don't mind working evenings.
Of course, driving a bus in winterly road conditions is a bit more challenging then driving on dry roads. The timetables are tight as it is, even without icy roads, but all that matters at the end of the day is safety, even though people are late for work or school.
It is stressful sometimes, but what can you do, that is part of the job.

Generally life is good, especially with x-mas just around the corner and my 40th birthday coming up in just a couple of days.
40!
Who would have thought that.
That really is half of a lifetime, at least these days. After all I got to do and experience in those first 40 years of my life (and that has been quite a lot) I wonder what the next 40 years will bring.
I feel excitement and look forward to the unknown. I just wish to stay healthy enough to make it through those next 40 in sanity. *lol*



Here's some more photos that I took from around the house during those last few days...

Our current home covered in snow, taken on Sunday.

 The flower pot at the "stuga" (cabin) showing off it's last, all dried and frozen daisies. 

Deer family, gathering in groups during the winter.
(Photo taken about 3 weeks ago just outside of our backyard)

Even though the sun is low, it is out and that is why it is time to finish up here and to get going, Cleo is waiting for her morning walk!

Have a nice time everyone!!!


HBFG

♥

Tracking dogs - the first steps

This morning at 9am we went to Aaron's dog school.
It was time for a little tracking lesson out in the woods.
After gathering at the club house we got divided in groups and drove out to Rinkaby Skjutfält, into the woods at the coast, located south-east of Rinkaby. The area is normally used by the military for shooting practice purposes, but especially in the weekends (and always when the barriers are open) it is okay for the people to go in and use the area for recreation purposes as well.

We went there today to get instructions on how to teach a dog to track... and to see which of the dogs had the interest and talent to do it.
Since we have all kind of different breeds in the class it was exciting to see how everyone would do.
Of course, there are breeds who are predestinated for that kind of work, like hunting dogs and shepherds...
but it is amazing how even a little Chihuahua or a crossbreed (mutt sounds so diminishing) are able to get excited about following their owners tracks and how happy they are when they find their favorite toy in the grass somewhere between the trees. :)
It's all about the attitude, right!

Well, here (for the ones that are new to this kind of dog sport) is how it's done...

At first you have to make sure that you lay out the track in the right direction, meaning you have to make sure you have the wind in your back (ideally) or coming from the side.
Then you need to bring your dogs favorite toy and maybe a small wooden stick and some goodies.
On a short track you don't need to mark where you lay it out, but when you go and lay out longer tracks you also need a couple of ribbons or something that you can tie to a tree or something along the way.
You need to be able to remember where you went cause when the dog get's distracted and you are not sure where you went, you are screwed! *lol*

Ingrid and Aaron got to be the first to try, maybe because Aaron was already anxious to get into action, I don't know. Jessica, Ingrid's and Aaron's trainer, gave Ingrid instructions and then she took over Aaron.

Ingrid had to walk away from Aaron in a straight line, about 75 meters. Then she placed the toy at the ground, made a 90° turn to the right, walk another 15 meters and then make another turn to come back to us/Aaron.
Aaron was getting all excited and when Jessica told him to sit down he had really a hard time following her instructions. Once Ingrid was back, he couldn't wait to go and "find out" why his mommy went into the woods between the trees, he just looked at her, jumped and said LET'S GO!!!
Ingrid took Aaron to the starting point and gave the command for him to start tracking...

Boy was he quick! No doubt that he LOVES to track! He doesn't even want to stop after he's found the toy, the target, the destination, whatever you want to call it.
He wasn't very interested in playing, he just seemed to want to go on and finish the entire round Ingrid had walked. But that is, of course, not the goal. So Ingrid had to take him back the same way he had tracked before even though Aaron didn't seem to like that. He was sure he wasn't done with his job!
It was so funny!
He really did well on his first GO.

After everyone was finished with tracking for the first time, it was time for "fika" - a coffee/tea and sandwiches.
Everybody was equipped with something to sit on, a outdoor chair or just a blanket to sit in the grass... only we didn't have anything. Well, NEXT TIME we'll be prepared! ;-)

Time to practice "Nose-trick"

All the dogs got to try a second time and it was nice to see how much everyone improved and did their best to their abilities.

Here are some more impressions of a very nice Saturday morning in the outdoors, humans/families spending time with their best friends, their dogs...

Have a great weekend everyone!
Use it and spend time with your loved ones and animals! ♥


HBFG