2023-01 Out of the Dark

This was our third winter in Sweden so we were a bit more prepared but January is still fairly tough. To combat the winter blues we’ve been going out walking each night to see the stars, my partner has been baking, and I’ve been working on my Swedish. There has been no building work as the conditions are too changeable for getting things delivered, or for operating woodwork machinery outside.

Snowmobile Incident

I heard a snowmobile come past the house at about midnight which is normal. They sound a bit like a motorbike as they cross the snow-covered fields. When they reach the main road to cross it they slow down. The engine noise slows, there is a scraping noise as they go across and then the engine increases as they accelerate away on the other side of the road.

This time though the engine noise stopped about halfway through, with an odd plastic noise. I looked out the window and in the dark I could see a red light, like a taillight in the darkness, sticking up at an angle. I went downstairs and put on a big winter coat and spiked shoes for the ice and went out to take a look. As I got closer I realised the snowmobile was on its side at the bottom of a ditch and the rider was trying to dig it out.

I asked if he wanted some help and jumped into the ditch in my pyjamas, up to about my knees in the snow. I’d like to say I was helpful in getting the snowmobile out over the next 5 minutes but I think that would be inaccurate. However, it was probably calming for the rider to explain to someone what we needed to do to get it out. The exciting part was when I noticed flames. Oil was dripping onto a hot exhaust and had caught alight. The rider knew how to swear in English and put it out with snow. We got it upright and things started to seem easier. I pulled on a rope with all the strength of someone who has sat in front of a computer for 20 years. Meanwhile the rider used the engine to power it out of the ditch.

I posted on the village Facebook group the next day to say that if anyone did end up in the ditch, to please come and ring our doorbell no matter the time and I’d come and help.

Smoke in the House

We were burning firewood over December. Our woodstore was a couple of years old and electric expensive so it made sense to burn it and restock later. After about 4 weeks, there must have been a soot-fall, or a temperature inversion or similar. Smoke came out into the house from the fire. It only takes a little bit of smoke to stink out the whole house. It took about a week to clear the smell. So for now we stopped using the fire. In the spring we’ll take the fire apart and get a good look at the chimney.

Electric Bills

Because of the political situation in Russia causing natural gas prices to be high, there is more demand for electricity across Europe. As a result, although Sweden generates a lot of electricity, the prices here have gone high. We got a 6000SEK electric bill for December which is about £470. We decided to lower the house temperature a bit and over the course of a week went to 19C. With a ground source heat pump, the heating system takes a while to respond to large temperature changes however, and the house isn’t insulated as much as a modern house. As a result, when the temperature dropped from -1C to -15C overnight, the house would get quite cold in places. In the end, we’ve settled on 19.5C, dropping to 19C overnight, which seems to work great.

Vertical Solar

The extra panels we asked to be installed were finished and online in January. They never get covered in snow despite the weather. From about the third week of January onwards, the sun has been bright and reflecting off the snow. As a result, we have been offsetting our electricity. Even exporting to the grid, although the daylight hours are currently short. Due to the low angle of the winter sun, the vertical panels are currently outperforming the roof array that we first installed. This includes when there is no snow on the roof.

Last year we made a tiny 18kWh in January whereas this year we’ve made about 45kWh. Those numbers are tiny compared to a summer day. But they are a good indicator that the new panels should work well. I’m thinking these will make a big impact on bills every Spring and Autumn. I’ve some plans to redo the woodwork on the back of the garage to reduce the visual impact of the panels. It needs warmer weather first.

Deer Drama

We go for a walk each evening and during one walk we saw a deer next to the road looking injured. It saw us and tried to move but couldn’t walk. Likely it had been hit by a lorry on the main road. Although it was late at night, I contacted a hunter we had met and asked him the best course of action. He rang the police and attended but a friend of his arrived just before. They chatted and called us know that it was all dealt with. It was a bit of rural life I hadn’t thought to plan for.

Driving on Ice

We had a few deliveries go to the town north of us, which means taking a trip to collect it from the post depo there. This was during some freezing weather but the car has studded tyres and I need to build up experience driving in the winter.

The first thing to note is that studded tyres are good, but they have limits. The first time I tried to slow down and pull into our driveway we slid straight past and overshot. The second is that the road next to us is a major road through Sweden. Pulling off from it in icy conditions at a high speed without skidding or spinning takes a lot of care. On another attempt to pull off the road, I thought I had slowed down enough only for the backend to slide out. It was dramatic looking briefly but only embarrassing with no harm done. Lastly, that same road has a lot of lorries on it with double trailers and it seems they slow down for absolutely nothing. As such, there is an art to not getting a massive lorry behind you, just before you’re attempting to pull off the road.

Angry Lorries

After collecting one parcel I was looking to join the main road onto visible thick ice. I was being cautious and was waiting for a gap in traffic when a big lorry came up behind us. I wasn’t pulling out of the junction into the gaps it felt I should. It started revving its engine, lurching forward and slamming on the brakes to try and intimidate us while blaring the horn. I eventually saw a gap and wheel span out of the junction and briskly got up to the speed limit to put a good distance between us.

Within a kilometre, I looked in my rearview mirror to see the same lorry gaining on us rapidly despite the double trailer and the speed limit. He must have been flooring it. My driving experience in the UK, where the roads can be quite hostile, told me this was the behaviour of an angry person about to “Mad Max” us for the next 10km home. So I quickly pulled off, let him pass and rejoined. He slowed down to the speed limit (maybe he cooled off). A kilometre later we met the back of a massive traffic queue following a snow plough at a slow speed. Stress over.

Swedish Learning

My Swedish practice hit a bit of a wall in December. I’m not familiar with a lot of common concepts to do with understanding the rules and grammatical structures of languages. Or rather, I don’t find thinking of them as you’re speaking to be natural. To help with breaking past this I decided to enrol on a distance course at Folkuniversitetet. I think the closest comparison is the UK Open University. I’ve been doing 1.5 hours two nights a week with them. I then have a revision partner on Saturdays for a couple of hours. I’d really like to get past the A2 level and onto B1. At B1 things should be a lot less painful for people I speak to, which means they’re more likely to speak Swedish with me. In turn, having more constructive conversations in Swedish should help me learn faster.

Snowshoes

I’ve been out a couple of times on snowshoes for 2-hour trips. These trips make for good mini adventures and exercise. The window at this time of year is about 09:00-14:00. It gets noticeably colder once the sun has set and a small wind can make a large drop in temperature. So setting off at the right time seems important if you’re travelling light.

Baking

My partner has been making lots of cakes and biscuits which has been awesome.