2024-08 Blight
This month is when a lot of vegetables and fruits are harvestable. The onions in one bed were massive. They really seemed to like the conditions. We had a great crop from inside the greenhouse. Growing less made everything more manageable this year. Because we were overproducing, we queried local neighbours to see if they […]
2024-07 Gardening
About this time of year, everyone else is on holiday and the garden is happily growing. The weather is swapping between sun, light rain, and overcast so it’s sunny but a lot less extreme than other months. If you have the time needed you can achieve a lot in the garden. Garden Plan The garden […]
Phone and Internet in Northern Sweden
This article is aimed at friends and family in the UK wondering about the mechanics of moving to Sweden. It covers some learning points that might help someone emigrating. Swedish SIM When living in Sweden, it is a great idea to get a Swedish SIM as soon as you are able because it is going […]
Four Years In Sweden
We arrived in July 2020 so it is now our 4 year anniversary of coming to Sweden. We’ve both really glad to be here. We’ve been stretched in multiple directions and so we’ve made great progress in some areas but have a lot more to do in others. Here’s a short round-up of where we […]
2024-06 – Summer Rush
June has been hot, and the start of June needed lots of garden upkeep, such as strimming, mowing, and hand-weeding. It’s hard budgeting available spare time between maintenance, planting and progressing the garden plan. The current plan is to reduce windspeed a little, increase shade, remove remains from previous projects and then think about infrastructure […]
Post in Northern Sweden
This describes the postal experience in northern Sweden for the major post companies and compares to experiences in the UK. The information is intended for people in the UK wondering how everything works in Sweden. General Rules Typically there is a standalone postbox outside the property and the postbox should have the name on it […]
2024-05 Adding a Fence
In northern Sweden, May is the big change from below zero overnight temperatures to full/blown summer. Here is what we got up to this month. New Fence Our main investment this month was a small traditional Swedish fence (gärdsgårder). The idea was to give a bit of a windbreak because the plants in this corner […]
Gardening in Northern Sweden
This article is for people wondering what it is like growing vegetables in northern Sweden, compared to places like the UK. Specifically for location and climate, we’re a little south of Umeå and near the sea. We aren’t experts, we’re just having fun learning as we go. The Seasons Not much happens prior to April […]
Driving in Northern Sweden
If you’re used to driving in another country, like the UK, and you haven’t done lots of driving in other countries then you might have some questions, which I’ll try and cover below: As an immigrant, is it hard driving on the other side of the road? No, as long as you are not distracted […]
Domestic Solar and other Generation in Northern Sweden
There are some weird opinions on the internet, and one common one regarding solar is that it’s not a good idea in places like northern Sweden. As someone living in with a solar installation in northern Sweden, this is always an odd belief to read; it’s not that dark, panels are cheap, and there’s good […]
Swedish Domestic Electric
Here’s everything you might have wondered about the domestic electric supply in Sweden. This is mainly aimed at people that have never been to Sweden. How is electric provided? As a domestic home owner, you will have an electric supplier, and a electric network operator. They might be the same company, but you would otherwise […]
2024-04 Winters End
April brought the start of the return of the birds, and the snow started to melt. It’s not possible to plant anything due to frosts, snow and the ground being frozen. Most winter sports are no longer possible but also neither are the non-snow activities, so it felt a little like waiting for May. Starting […]
2024-03 House Renovation
This month I worked on renovating the spare bedroom and fixing a problem in the attic. In hindsight I took on too much work. I might need a new rule of no renovation projects over winter. Outside was pretty but no significant sunshine yet. Water damage fix A sewer vent pipe routed through the wall […]
2024-02 Room Renovation
I took two weeks off work and spent most of February renovating the small bedroom I use as a work from home office. The snow outside had started to harden and so the snowmobiles were all out. Work From Home The office had gypsum walls that were damaged with some large holes. Despite using background […]