2024-12 December Part 1 – Before the Major Snow
As of mid December there has been a lot less snow this year than in previous years. But spiked shoes or Yaktraxs are still important as there is sheet ice everywhere. Although it has been cloudy we’ve made the most of sunny days to go out walking and had a bit of time to sort out a backlog of tasks.
Getting Out
The photo below is visiting the local stugga that overlooks the town. It’s open to the pubic and maintained by the local snöskotter (snowmobile) club. Inside is a small fire, tables, and a kitchen. We’ve paid to sign up to the local snöskotter club to help support their work, despite not having a snowmobile – maybe next year we’ll get something ancient and reliable.
On any walk we keep an eye out for foxes. We mostly see them as sunset but we were lucky enough to see one around the local harbour, walking on the ice. The sea is frozen now, and probably safe to walk across but I don’t fancy taking that risk until it gets colder.
Day Out in Ö-vik
Örnsköldsvik (literal translation: eagle-sheild-bay | Örn-skölds-vik), also called ö-vik locally is one of the nearest three large towns. It’s also the prettiest of the three choices. It’s where we need to go for a lot of administration tasks like driving license paperwork and also specialist services like opticians and sewing machine/fabric shops.
It’s also a good opportunity for stocking up on Gin which I can use to say thanks for favours from neighbours. Sometimes I have no idea how to do something in Sweden and asking a neighbour is the best approach.
Creatures
We’ve had no more mice caught, which is good, but something big-ish is occasionally moving in the attic (like once a week) and not going anywhere near the mouse bait. I think it is probably a red squirrel starting to hibernate. Or just a really noisy shrew.
Property work
I paid for a load of electrical work in the garage (where the electric feed from the grid enters the property) to use some of this years tax reduction. It’ll be good in the long term but a bit of a sting this month.
Innebandy
In winter we play indoor nordic floorball (Innebandy) which is like hockey but with lightweight sticks and ball. It’s quite fast and I am slowly learning. The number of times someone passes to me and I miss the ball is current quite high.
I’m hoping to work more on my fitness in the Christmas holidays and there is a gym opening about 800m from our house which is a big deal locally. I went along to the open evening and had a look around but it doesn’t open until the 1st of January.
Neighbour Assistance
My first ever skis arrived which are an old fashioned wood style for exploring the forests. Although attaching the boot bindings should be easy I didn’t want to make a mistake, so I took them to a good neighbour and swapped a bottle of gin. My poles are slightly too long but not long enough to be a big deal, and I’ve forgotten to get the coating for the bottom of the skis which I should be able to get at the hardware shop.
Everyone here knows how to ski and snowboard, but I don’t at all so I intend to disappear into the forest to practice when no-one is looking.
Incoming Snow
It’s been between 0 and -15C recently. We’ve had a bit of snow but nothing major. We have 14-24cm of snow forecast with 100% probably stated, for 2 days time which should be fun. Most of the storms normally come in the first week of January so I think the snow will be a bit epic this year. The snowploughs will be out on the road and make a distinctive sound as they go past the house in the night.
I think everyone much prefers the winter months with the snow compared to the Oct-Nov period. With the snow everything is brighter and sports are possible. Just a little moonlight is enough to see the landscape when it is covered in snow. Without the snow it’s just cold, dark and icy. I’m really looking forward to the winter snow activities.
