Good Day Sunshine.....

We have beautiful full sunshine today. The temp was about minus 6 when I arose at 08:00 this morning. But the snowfall yesterday proved much more troubling than I expected. We've had a good few inches of fresh snow, though much of it is going again fast now, as temps have reached the seasonal high of about plus five. The prediction from the weather site online we use for today was this:

	Max Min Max Min 2° -11°

In truth, I don't think it went as low as minus eleven overnight, though at 02:15, when Rocky returned home after about 17 hours out on the razzle, it was reading minus seven.

J is off to London tomorrow for a few days. She has a train to catch at Sundsvall, a three hour drive South, at 08:00. The worry is that without winter tyres on the car, and low overnight temps, the roads will just freeze, making the journey nigh impossible in our car, as she must leave about 05:00. Our German neighbour, Roger, has offered to give her lift down - he has a 4X4 Ford Explorer on all-weather tyres which will easily cope with the conditions. Looks like we'll have to take him up on the offer, as there is more snow forecast for later today and again early tomorrow morning!

The difference in conditions are evident in these random pix taken yesterday afternoon and early this morning:

The Bagarstuga, again snow-covered and tricky to reach!:

The Track to the house, previously clear:

The morning view, looking South, from the porch:

Morning view, over Hakan's field:

One of the local Woodpeckers, a year-round resident, Great Spotted, has finally discovered the nut-feeders and fat-balls again:

And this morning, Håkan decided it was time to collect some timber from the forest, so dug out his big wood transporter thingy - a Volvo, of course:

And here is the scene yesterday, as the snow blew in in increasingly greater amounts and larger flakes:

These little farmhouses, mostly painted red, are typical of Sweden. They are known as 'Torps'. This one is Håkan's:

Torps figure greatly in urban Swede's dreams and perceptions of the rural idyll. They are often passed down through the family and retained as holiday homes: over fifty per cent of the population owns a second home in Sweden - generally a Torp. They are pretty but very cramped and small inside, which must have made them relatively easy to heat in winter, I guess. A decidedly important factor up here, I can assure you.