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!

Update on Aaron

We had a big storm coming through last night, and it is still blowing hard outside (9am).

The weather has been quite good those last few weeks. We had warmer temperatures, some rain - who helped get rid of all the snow and ice and in between some sunshine. 

We are already in the second week of february and it's been a while since my last entry, hasn't it. 

Aaron's injure in his front leg (we suspect he had a over-streched muscle or ligament around his elbow) has healed and he is moving normally again. We had it checked out at the vet and he gave some pain-killers and some anti-inflammatory drug. Keeping him on the leash for more then two weeks might have helped as well even though it was very frustrating for him not to be able to run, jump and stretch as usual.

But he got through it and all the efforts payed off at the end. 

And because we wanted to know for sure that everything was fine we decided to let them x-ray his elbows together with his hips (that has to be done anyways after the dog turns one).

Last week we got the results and it all turned out to be perfect. 

Aaron's hips and elbows are all fine! 

:)

Here's his certificate:

So now he can play and run and jump again like a young dog is supposed to. 

Nothing is nicer then to know that your Shepherd is fine in his joints!!! :))

Right Aaron!?

 ♥

Expedition "Ice and more on Furuboda beach"

Because I had to work on New Year's Day we went for a New Year's Walk on the beach today.
The weather couldn't have been more gorgeous.

We didn't bring Cleo this time, but I had walked a nice neighborhood - round with her in the morning though.
;-)

Since we walk the dogs separately so often during the week, Aaron seemed to enjoy the fact that I was coming along this time. He kept circling and inviting me to play with him.
Unfortunately he has problems with his right front leg, seems to have injured himself while playing in the snow about a week ago, or so.
Although it doesn't keep him from doing all the things he loves to do, we try to protect him a little by keeping him on the leash.
Aaron, just 8 more days until his 1st birthday! :)

The scenery along the shoreline was just gorgeous and fascinating at the same time.
Sea water, sand, snow and ice.
Beautifully shaped by the changing tides, temperatures below zero and gusting winds.

Already on the way back we spotted a group of Swans (Mute Swan/Höckerschwan/Cygnus olor) flying by. Two adults leading the way for their 4 kids...

Another dream couple (also Mute Swans) came by just before we left the beach, as a New Year's FIRST BONUS! :)

I named this last photograph "the dream couple".

May they fly together in harmony forever!

(click on image to enlarge)

:) HBFG

A thought on New Year's Eve fireworks

We (humans) love nature.

We go "green" to protect her.


We love to watch the wildlife that lives around us in the woods and fields.

We put out bird feeders in the winter to provide our birds with food.


We love our animals, the ones that live in our houses, in our stables.

We care for them every day, make sure they feel secure and safe.


But only for one day of the year, for one night

WE DON'T GIVE A SHIT!



We start a big, noisy FIREWORK!

Because it is something everyone else does.

For a few hours of the year it's okay to think

only about US,

waste money,

pollute the environment

and

scare the shit out of every precious living being around us.



*



You wanna know how we (me and Hasi and our animals) spent the first few minutes of 2011?

We were in laying in bed, listening to worried, barking dogs for 15 minutes....

Cleo was a bit scared, and Aaron was barking, trying to protect his family, trying desperately to scare "them" off!

And I am sure that our cats (which we kept inside that night) had worried faces as well as they were hiding under the sofa.








HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE!





*

In-between

Yes, we are right in between Xmas and New Year's Eve...

We made it through the pre - Xmas Holi-days just fine.
No shopping stress for us.
No tree in the house, just some minor little decoration changes in the living room (red curtains, table cloth and candles) and a wreath on the front door.

It's warm in the house, the animals are taking a nap and we are sitting at our Mac's.
Life is good.
It's dawn and the birds just started twittering in our backyard. Good that we filled the bird feeder up last night, they can get started with breakfast right away.
:)

We had yet another very cold night, temperatures way beneath freezing point.
The other day we had around -24 ℃ which is REALLY cold for this area.
They say that it hasn't been that cold here in a 100 years!
And we have lot's of snow.
A white Christmas we had, that's for sure. But isn't that what everyone wanted?! HO HO HO!

Soon it's New Year's Eve and we'll say "Good bye" to yet another year which passed by so quickly.
A great year filled with a lot of experiences to be thankful for!
♥2010♥

What can I say, we are happy, our animals are happy and life goes on as usual.
Here is a photo of Cleo that I took on one of our walks the other day...
(And yes MJ, the photo that I used in the header before - the one with Cleo in the Snow - was taken back in Austria a couple of years ago ;-))

Cleo is wearing jackets in layers these days, as she gets older we assume that she needs them. I her younger years we felt she really didn't need them, but now she seems to enjoy the layers that help her stay warm. I bet she wouldn't mind warm winter boots either...

And Aaron and Mika ("the guys") playing on the sofa...

With the hope this post "finds you" in good health and happiness...



MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL OF YOU

AND

A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

♥

Michaela, Ingrid and our 4 four-legged family members

Snow Snow Snow

I wonder how this post will look like - it is the first time I use my iPad for blogging.
The typing is of course asking a little bit patience, it takes quite a bit longer when using only 4-5 fingers then 10 as I usually would on my laptop.
But it works and I will get better at it as I go along. Other then that - the iPad is really a very nice mobile companion! :)

Winter still has a firm grip on us, on the entire country and many other parts of Europe. Even those who are not used to so much snow and the temperatures under zero this time a year.
Being on the road every day in all that snow and ice is challenging. Road conditions change day by day from icy to snowy and icy to snowy and so on. And right when you think the worst is over and they managed to clear and salt the roads, it's starting to snow again.
Like right now. 10 to 20 cm of new snow is expected today. And the wind does it's best to make sure to move as much of it as possible onto the roads :)
......................
I didn't get to finish my post the other day.
Saturday evening it is and we did get more snow. And it has been snowing a bit every day, all week long.
And I have to say I don't mind.
It's beautiful out in the woods, and the birds empty the feeders in just one and a half days... Here they sit in the tree and wait for the feeders to be filled up again.



We found a dead buzzard in our backyard this morning, natural selection I guess. The winter is hard on the wildlife, especially on the young and weak.
After all, no one in this area seems to be used to this kind of weather, the south part of Sweden is usually blessed with mild winters.

Well, it is at it is.
I like the sound the snow makes under my boots when it is cold.

Crunch crunch crunch....


:)


- Posted from my iPad

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

♥

Easy blogging

I haven't been very motivated or inspired to blog lately.
And I still feel not much motivation or inspiration today.
Let's see if I can put something nice together anyways...

The weather hasn't exactly been inviting to take the camera for walks either...
One morning past week I took this photo of our car, through the living room window.
It had been raining and a layer of ice was covering the car, a thin layer of snow on top.
Our first snow this year.

This week we've had everything from warm and sunny hours to heavy rain and ice showers.
Real april weather in october.

I put out some bird feeders and I have to say the birds really appreciate that already.
They act as they didn't have food for months!

While the horses in the neighborhood eat this years last grass, they wear either thick blankets or a thick self made coat, like these brood mares who have been separated from their foals just recently.

The house we live in is usually very privacy shielded.
The entire garden is surrounded by trees and shrubbery and that makes the house practically invisible from all directions. But now it's the time where all the foliage ends up on the ground and the house becomes more an more visible.

Here some more impressions from the backyard...

As I already said at the beginning of this post, I am not very motivated to blog right now.
I don't really want to take a real break from blogging either.
So I will continue to practice a form of EASY BLOGGING.
Feels good, no pressure and no must.
Easy blogging feels good!

:))