Category: Mice.

It does at least not snow.

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Nothing much to write about today, the wind is back and is nasty cold but for most of the day it didn’t reach my cottage or reach in to the forest. Now it clearly reach the cottage and the kitchen feels a bit chilly. Now both big weather sites says cold during Sunday and Monday but one says -13C (8,6F) and the other says -16C (3,2F) I really don’t like either of those options 🙂 🙂 Two days after they say above 0C (32F). cold roads with melting water will be fun to drive on.

I could almost see the sun but those blue gaps in the clouds were never in the right place 🙂

No mice have been caught in the cool cellar but the monster has been very interested in going down there and of course I let her do it. She tells me when she think it is enough 🙂 Lots of people are sick here now, lots of coughing and nose dripping 🙂 So far I’ve been spared but I do feel tired all the time but that can also be because the lack of sunshine.

We walked down to the creek this morning and as long as we walked on the gravel road everything was fine but then we followed the creek and only had our old tracks to walk in and the wind had blow a lot of snow in those tracks so it was like walking in potato flour, I never knew what way I would slide 🙂 🙂 It was even worse in the fields because the perfectly smooth snow surface didn’t show where the wild hogs had been digging 🙂 :-)Sometimes the snow barely reached the sole of my shoes, sometimes I stood in knee deep snow 🙂 🙂 🙂

Not a sign in the snow where the wild hogs have been digging 🙂

It was even a bit too much for the dogs in the end and the walk took much longer than normal. I didn’t mind the longer time especially but I did mind the wind that hit us all the time. I could barely feel my hands when we came back home. It was so nice to be able to sit down and have a cup of tea just doing nothing after we had come back.

I think it is time for that last cup of tea for the day and to fall asleep in the recliner. I’ll have to have the alarm on though because today it’s On the Tracks on tv, something I actually like to watch 🙂

Have a great day!

I really don’t like winter.

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It has been snowing since last night and it will continue to do so for at least two more days. The flakes are smaller though so it only builds up rather slowly. I really don’t like winter! It does look like people are taking it easy in the traffic though, so far I’ve only read about one accident involving two cars and a bus.

I don’t think I would have hated it this much if it wasn’t for the wind, it reaches all the way in to the forest as well and since I wear glasses it only takes five seconds before I can’t see anything 🙂 🙂 I wouldn’t have moved outside the garden at all if it wasn’t for the dogs 🙂 They didn’t seem to be bothered at all and they followed tracks not visible because of the new snow that covered them. I must say they did behave really well today and I didn’t hear especially much whining from Alma, perhaps she has finally understood that it isn’t necessary to make sound all the time 🙂 🙂 Well I doubt it but I value the times she actually is quiet 🙂

I wished that I had something sweet to have with my tea but had nothing at home and no matter how much I wanted something I sure wouldn’t drive anywhere in this weather, so I baked a sponge cake (the Swedish name for it would be sugar cake and thinking about how much sugar there is in a sponge cake I think our name is more appropriate 🙂 🙂 ). I checked online for gluten free ones and as always I didn’t follow the recipe especially much 🙂 🙂 Most of those recipes says to use a flour mix and those flour mixes are usually just some kind of starch and usually taste horrible. So I took what I had and I must say that it turned out so well that I wish I could remember what I used 🙂 🙂 🙂

There was a tiny forest mouse in the trap this morning and since I thought it shouldn’t sit in that tiny space I moved it to the travel cage I bought. When I came down to fetch it and walk to the forest with it the little bugger had chewed its way through the plastic!! I hadn’t even gone an hour! so from now on they’ll need to stay in the trap and have a much more uncomfortable journey to the forest. I can hear it in the walls and I think it is laughing at me 🙂 🙂 🙂

It is time for that last cup of tea and I’ll have what’s left of the sponge cake 🙂 I did put half a banana in it but to be honest I couldn’t feel any banana taste. I guess it wasn’t ripe enough and perhaps I should have used the entire banana and not just half of it. I’ll know better the next time this happen 🙂

Have a great day!

I’ve been sleeping so bad lately.

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I’ve slept bad for a few days now and the closer I came to today the worse it got. I haven’t had especially many hours of sleep to be honest and the reason? The annual vehicle inspection 🙂 🙂 🙂 It doesn’t matter how new my car has been and also knowing there’s absolutely no wrong with it, I still have a slight panic when it comes closer 🙂 🙂

These are taken through my kitchen window so they are a bit blurry.

I had the appointment at 7 am today and my first thought when I woke up was, why didn’t I take one later in the day 🙂 🙂 🙂 Don’t get me wrong, I really think we do need this since I want my car and the ones with me in the traffic as good as possible but I just can’t stand it 🙂 🙂 🙂 I knew it wouldn’t pass this year because there’s a clonk sound when I drive over bumps or potholes, I didn’t know why though. Turns out the spring to the front right tire had broken. At the bottom and just a little so it is still safe to drive it. I was also tole that the Lamda value, something to do with the exhaust fumes) was a bit too high. 1,03 is ok but my car had 1,05. My car had that problem last year as well but and it takes a few minutes to fix so no bigger deal.

They build “tipis” several years ago and it looks like they still use them, It’s for the grandkids to the forest owner.

So now it’s over for this time and I know I’ll sleep like a baby tonight 🙂 🙂  Well below 0C (32F) this morning but there was no ice on the car! I had it on the inside instead 🙂 The humidity here is almost always high so it creeps in to the car and when one doesn’t drive every day it builds up inside and I’ll have to dry it off as soon as the motor works and heats up the ice. I drive perhaps once a week now so I’ve just accepted it 🙂 The weeks before when I drove to pick up parcels however I had no such problems at all.

The horrible wind we had yesterday was even more so today, not even the forest managed to keep it away. So I’m now for the first time this winter wearing my winter jacket. The wind will calm down towards Friday but instead we’ll get snow!!! I had hoped we had seen the last of that white garbage this winter 🙂 I know it was stupid because if we’re unlucky winter can continue here until early May but it was a long time ago that happened.

If I had known if we would have an early spring this coming year I would have started the sowing now. Some I think I need to sow now, perennials, bushes and trees that needs a period with cold temperatures to be able to germinate. I also have some things that needs a long growth period before they start to flower, like tomatoes for instance, but it is way too early to sow them now, too warm indoors and too little daylight so they grow slow enough. Not even having a greenhouse now will help a lot with that.

There’s a newly dug hole in the old tree stump, I wonder what animal lives there. Could be a water vole, Ratty in the Wind in the willows are a water vole, I only see them as big aggressive monsters 🙂 🙂

It is time for that last cup of tea for the day. I baked two loafs of bread earlier today. I’ve already had a couple of slices but one can never have too many when they are absolutely fresh 🙂 I haven’t caught a mouse in two days now. I know there’s at least one still here, I could hear it earlier today. I hope they haven’t learned that they’ll get caught in the box trap 🙂 🙂 The monsterkitten has been down in the cool cellar so I’m pretty sure she’s after it and hopefully successful in taking it.

Have a great day!

A nasty biting wind.

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The day started rather nice even though it was -6C (21,2F) but there was no wind so it didn’t feel that bad when I let the dogs out after we’d woken up. The sun rose and it felt even better until the wind started to blow. A bitter cold wind that made its way in to the bones in my body.

Today the wind blew from north-east and it’s the only time it actually reach my cottage and garden (well it reaches from east as well). We were mostly in the forest while having our walks so in there it was quite a lot better. Still not an animal moved and not birds made any sound, not even the Jays.

So we’ve done very little today just because of the wind. The most exiting thing I did was to make pancakes 🙂 🙂 Also I ate the last of the christmas food and that’s always a relief to be honest. Holiday food is always great the first two days but after that it’s just annoying to have to continue eating it 🙂

No mice in the box trap today so perhaps I’ve now thinned most of them out 🙂 I will not shout hi before I crossed the creek though (old Swedish saying). It might just be that they now learned that no matter how tasty coconut flakes are it still isn’t worth trying to reach them 🙂 🙂

It is time for that last cup of tea for the day. I think I’ll read a book or perhaps surf the net. To be honest, how often do You get out on the internet without having something already planned? I rarely do because no matter how much info there is about frogs in Africa or monkeys in Asia or what ever I rarely just go out and search for anything unless I really need to know about something special. I could do like that back in the days we had dictionaries, just open a book and read the first subject on a random page and then just keep on following references in that text 🙂 🙂 It was actually quite fun and I did learn a lot by doing so 🙂

Have a great day!

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It was still rather cold when I went out with the nights catch and also a bit foggy but the fog was gone by the time we went on our morning walk. The cold weather was still on though but that is changing now. The snow has already started to melt and my guess is that it will be gone in a few days. After that however it’ll be pretty cold again so in a way it had been better if the snow had stayed for a while. Then again we might get more since winter isn’t especially old yet.

Alma behaves very different each time we’re out on a walk, yesterday she was a pain for a while but today she behaved so good that it surprised me. Almost no whining or pulling the leash!! I always wonder in what way she’ll punish me the next time we’ll be out for a walk 🙂 🙂 Since that walk was so amazing I’m almost afraid to go out with her tomorrow morning 🙂 🙂 🙂

If yesterday was the big day at christmas here today is the day people to other relatives meeting the same people they met the day before and tomorrow (boxing day is a holiday here) will be much the same but in a different place 🙂 🙂 Also the food will also be the same, Ham, pickled herring, beetroot salad, herring salad (truly one of the most horrible things we can eat, I’d rather eat pigs feet again than having herring salad 🙂 🙂 🙂 ) and if there is any rice porridge left we’ll make risalamand as dessert, lots of whipped cream is mixed with the porridge plus in my family also lots of berries mixed in to it, some prefer tangerine wedges.

I didn’t make any porridge plus I’m not a fan of too much whipped cream so I just had leftovers from yesterday and since I bought so much of the christmas food it feel like I’ll have leftovers for at least a week 🙂 🙂 🙂 I will however make rice porridge tomorrow 🙂 After all it is often called yule porridge over here. I had planned to make an oven omelette and cover it with a mushroom stew but I can do that for new years eve instead, I like that because I don’t feel full for several days after eating that 🙂 🙂

It is time for that last cup of tea for the day, I actually have the cup beside me 🙂 No more food today though. I’ll actually watch tv tonight, the Swedish version of Task Master, the Christmas edition 🙂

I wish You all a good continuing of Yule!

I wish You all a Good Yule!

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So the important parts of Christmas, or Jul as we call it, is over. I’ve baked gingerbread and failed something spectacular 🙂 🙂 🙂  It’s like eating hard bread and at first they don’t taste much but after a while the mouth is burning, I think there’s just to much ginger in them 🙂 🙂 Still they go down with lots of cold milk 🙂 After that I grilled the ham and had the first slices on a couple of vörtbröd sandwiches 🙂

After that I went out with the catch of the night and guess who had returned for a fourth time? Yes the mouse with the short tail. This time however it was in a bad shape and it didn’t make the trip to where I now let them out again. I guess it takes just too much energy for a small yellow-necked mouse to do those long trips, especially in snow and cold weather. I went back for the dogs so we could have our morning walk.

More snow had fallen during the night and it continued to do so until at least noon. Small tiny flakes so it didn’t add that much to be honest, just enough to cover our tracks from yesterday. Snowy days makes the world very quiet, especially since no one was out driving tractors or cars. We did hear a few birds tweeting and a couple of ravens as well. So when one suddenly hear three big moose running in the forest it will be a bit stressing 🙂 🙂 🙂 The best thing is just to stop and hope they don’t run over you 🙂 🙂 We didn’t see them this time but running moose in a dense forest do make a lot of sound 🙂 🙂

I had a christmas lunch around 1 pm ad it feels like I won’t have to eat anything more this week 🙂 🙂 I didn’t think it was that much but christmas food is anything but light 🙂 I napped in my recliner for a while before Donald Duck and his friends celebrates Christmas (The Wonderful World of Disney). We’ve seen this hour long program at 3 pm every year since 1960 and we know most of it by heart now. It is actually one of the most popular reprograms we have here in Sweden and even though they sometimes makes changes in it we don’t care, not as long as they don’t touch Ferdinand the Bull. Last time they tried to do that and show the ugly duckling instead the complaints were so many that they showed him after the original program and is back again since then 🙂 We Swedes can tolerate a lot but not that 🙂 🙂 🙂

I’ve had a few of my gingerbreads with lots and lots of cold milk and now I’ll skip the tv and read some book instead and I doubt I’ll have anything more to eat. I will however have that last cup of tea but that’s it.

I wish You all a Good Yule!

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Well it’s thankfully frost and not snow :-)

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I knew it was going to get colder but I didn’t know it would be that cold. the temperature dropped down to -7C (19,4F) this morning. The fog was gone though and the sky clear so I forgave the cold weather since it would mean sunshine 🙂

One funny thing with fog and below freezing point temperatures is that the ice created on the windshields on the car is just as good protecting against bullets like kevlar is 🙂 🙂 🙂 I really don’t like the motor running so the heat will soften the ice in but even that heat had problems thawing that ice, so I removed as much as I could and drove to the edge of the village. There I stopped and removed most of what was left but it still wasn’t easy 🙂 🙂

So I guessed right, there was almost no traffic on the roads, the big ones were ice free but the smaller ones in the forest was anything but. I wasn’t in any hurry though so I just drove as fast as it was possible and still have a chance to stop if any animals would jump out on the road. Usually they stay calm when it is this cold though but one never knows. The only wildlife I did see today was the two tiny mice I caught in the box trap 🙂 🙂  I’ve decided to move the peanut bird feeder from the kitchen window because I know they will climb up to it and eat the peanuts and that’s ok as long as they don’t walk inside again like they just had bought some takeout 🙂 🙂 🙂

I had written down a list what to buy in the grocery store and even remembered touring it with me but I still wasn’t prepared for how much it was or the price to be honest 🙂 🙂 I bought big packets of most things because it will most likely cost even more in the long run if I buy the smaller packages. Plus I would have to drive many more times to get what I need so I’ll have to add the petrol price as well and even though the petrol price is really low here right now it still costs a lot to drive shorter distances since the car barely gets warm enough to work effective. I will at least not starve during christmas and new years eve 🙂 🙂 🙂

So I wished every one in the store a merry christmas (or as we say a good yule) and continued to my old working place and wished those who worked a merry christmas as well. There were more people working today than I thought it would be but I think everyone has taken tomorrow off and most likely till after new years eve. I don’t think I’ve ever worked during christmas time ever. Normally I have stopped working at December 22 and not come back to work until after the 6th of January. I always saved a week of vacation and the rest of the time I used the hours I’ve saved during the year.

It is time for that last cup of tea for the day and I had planned to bake a couple of loafs of bread today but it takes such a long time so I wouldn’t be in bed until midnight and that’s way too late for me so I’ll bake them tomorrow and I’ll make some rice porridge in the slow cooker at the same time, it is after all our christmas porridge (and also the porridge we give to the yule gnome at christmas 🙂

Have a great day!

The next best weather, fog.

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Yesterday they said on tv that we would have fog all day today and usually they’re wrong 🙂 Not today however, fog all day and some time the sun even managed to shine through. No hunters out either so we managed to have rather nice walks today.  It is supposed to stay well in to the afternoon tomorrow but the temperature will drop below 0C (32F) so the roads will be slippery.

I’ll drive to my old workplace tomorrow to wish those few that will be working a merry christmas. Most people in the industry and offices will take a winter vacation now, most likely two whole weeks so even if I’m out on the roads before it gets bright and the roads most likely will be slippery I’ll probably drive on them alone 🙂 I guess the worst traffic before christmas is done by now so perhaps not so many people will kill themselves in the traffic due to stress.

So finally the tide has changed, days will finally start to be brighter, well at least longer because so far the winter has been long, grey, dark and murky. To be honest our winters usually are all those things and I can just say that I’m happy that we at least haven’t had any snow to speak of. It looks like our winter comes later and later every year, now it starts sometime in late February and usually ends around late March. I wouldn’t mind if they didn’t come at all 🙂 🙂

It took two days until another mouse was caught in the box trap. I released it early this morning, came home and set it up only to find a new one sitting in the trap after an hour 🙂 🙂 🙂 My neighbours kids think I’m so exciting because they are allowed to look at the mice in the travel box 🙂 Today their friends were over for a visit and those kids loved to see the little mouse too 🙂 🙂 🙂 The ones caught now are a different species though, the previous ones were the yellow necked mouse but the latest ones are a slightly smaller close relative the Wood mouse.

What I don’t want to catch in then trap is the Bank vole, perhaps even more cute than the mice but it can also carry a nasty disease called vole fever. It starts like a slight cold but if one is unlucky it can kill humans. This year there’s a warning for people living in the northern parts of this country that it might be vole fever they have instead of a cold because these last years have been good for bank voles (well every little rodent one can find actually) so the risk of getting vole fever is really high now. We do have them here as well but they are more common further north.

It is time for that last cup of tea and later on I’ll make some rose-hip soup as well. Nothing on tv to watch besides the news so I’ll probably read a book or surf the net for the rest of the day 🙂

Have a great day!

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I haven’t caught any mouse in over a day and a half now 🙂 I won’t say hooray yet because since I do have a sort of semi wild garden there’s most likely more just waiting to come in 🙂

I was lucky to get a photo of our smallest bird, the Goldcrest. It rarely sit still for more than a second 🙂

We couldn’t have our morning walk today because the hunters came, I doubt that they had any luck though. So I was even late with getting the sod far last mouse out of the cottage. It didn’t suffer because I put in plenty of food before it was caught 🙂 So cross Your fingers and hold Your thumbs for good luck so none of the rest out there decides to move in 🙂 I guess it’s useless to hope but anyway 🙂

Dark and murky all day long, ok the day isn’t that long anyway 🙂 Only less than 23 hours left before it oh so slowly turns towards longer days again. In the beginning the sun will rise slightly later though and at the same time set later as well but in a few days even the mornings will turn again. No one will notice much for quite some time though but just knowing make life better 🙂 🙂

It is time for that last cup of tea for the day and I’ll have my vitamin D at the same time. I do still get a lot of vitamin D anyway since I can be outside in the daylight despite not having any sun but that’s not really enough anyway.

Have a great day!

A new morning routine :-)

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We’ve had two really grey and dark days but today the sun suddenly appeared again (of course not while we were out walking) and it felt really strange 🙂 It didn’t give any heat away though so I guess it appeared just for show 🙂 Still we were in the garden enjoying it as much as we could. It is and has been very windy as well but no wind could reach us here in the garden.

Well I guess it’s a bit wrong to call it logs, they’ll grind it down and make pellets of them. So this is the place I let the mice free.

It was so dark for a while yesterday so I switched to black and white for a short while.

I’ve sort of started a new routine. Wake up and let the dogs out to the garden and when they’ve come in I go down to the cool cellar and check what the box trap has caught during the night. When it gets brighter outside I take the mouse/mice out to the forest in the travel box and let them out just beside a big pile of logs they haven’t removed yet and walk hone.

The clouds thinned out so I turned back to cooler again 🙂

When I come home I leash the dogs and out we go on our morning walk. They are really interested in the smells at that pile of logs 🙂 Alma seems to have understood that if she is quiet we will see bigger animals and two days ago we saw a big moose. Unfortunately just as it vanished in to the forest so I didn’t get a chance to take a photo. Lately I’ve driven to the different places where I can pick up parcels so we might have our walk after that instead, it’s usually brighter outside if we do it that way.

Thankfully I don’t have any more parcels waiting to be picked up so I hope I don’t have to go anywhere until Monday when I’ll visit my old work friends again and also do that last christmas food shopping. I need a small ham and mustard and I’ll also check what I need for making gingerbreads. It’s always nice to have some gingerbreads at christmas but the gluten free we can but are an abomination to the world but I’ve made this kind before and they are delicious but perhaps a bit strong spice-wise 🙂

It is time for that last cup of tea and most likely a slice or two of the just a few hours old Vörtbröd I baked today 🙂

Have a great day!

They behaved really well today :-)

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Rain all day long, not even the monster likes to go outside. It is warmish outside though but that doesn’t help much since we really can’t be outside anyway.

The travel cage for hamsters that I bought arrived today so I went to the grocery store in Gudhem to pick it up. They have so many parcels there now that one really can’t wait a day or so to pick it up, sort of annoying since I’ll get another one tomorrow. I’ll most likely have to go to the supermarket in Skara to pick up another one and that’s a bit annoying since that means I’ll almost go all the way back home just to continue 20 km the other way 🙂 🙂

We went out to the bog this morning and we could hear lots of animals moving around. I must say that both Alma and Malcolm showed their best behaviour all the way, even when we met a young Fallow deer buck. There was some whining and some pulling the leash but I don’t think they ever have behaved better than today 🙂 Before our morning walk however I went out to the forest by myself with the box trap.

It had caught a small yellow necked mouse but it was still so dark that I had to wait a couple of hours before I could release it. When it was time to do it another one sat in the trap as well 🙂 Rather big so I guess the small one was a female and the big one a male. There was no coconut flakes left so I guess the big one wasn’t out to get fed 🙂 🙂 This time I went further away in to the forest just to make sure they can’t find their way back home again 🙂

The Fallow deer buck has two tiny antlers, hard to see though. Must be around two years old.
Now I don’t have to walk out to the forest with two cowards following me to release the mice, They can stay in this cage until it is time. I’ve put some peanuts in it so they have something to eat while waiting 🙂

It is time for that last cup of tea and I’ll also have the last of the ice cream. I’ll buy more tomorrow since I most likely will have to get that parcel at the supermarket anyway 🙂

Have a great day!

They are not the most courageous :-)

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So yesterday after it had gone dark I found another little mouse in the box trap. I thought I really couldn’t leave it there all night so I took the trap and started to walk towards the forest. Since I was sure I wouldn’t  meet anyone (even though there are some people who loves to walk in the forest in the dark) I let the dogs follow me unleashed.

This is what spruces look like when cattle is around 🙂 They don’t eat it but scrub themselves towards them when it itches 🙂

They were running all around me and had lots of fun. Then I suddenly realised that they’ve stopped, turned around and watched how they hurriedly ran back home 🙂 🙂 🙂 I have no idea why but suddenly I stood there all alone in the dark not knowing why 🙂 🙂 Well what ever it was it left me alone anyway so I just let the mouse out and walked back home. That little travelling cage I’ve bought hasn’t arrived yet but I know it is on its way. I’ve learned one thing, if ever anything serious will happen to me I really can’t count of any help from the dogs 🙂 🙂 🙂

I said I hadn’t seen any signs of beaver actions lately, well I saw this today 🙂

The morning walk was rather pleasant, no wind and it almost reached 10C (50F). No sun of course but slightly more daylight than previous days. Alma and Malkolm almost behaved all the way as well. We did see a Roe deer around a football field away and that did of course stress out Alma and it didn’t help that they were cutting down forest somewhere close but as soon as we were on the way home again she calmed down.

Tomorrow is Saint Lucias day here and oddly enough we Lutherans who rarely celebrate anything celebrates this catholic saint 🙂 I’ll tell You more about it tomorrow but I can say this that this custom actually have spread to the US even if it still is very few who does this over at Yours.

It is time for that last cup of tea for the day and even though I’ve just had dinner I still think I’ll have a couple of vörtbröd sandwiches with cheese, spotted sausages and shrimp salad 🙂

Have a great day!