Jennys Farm – part 2 ;) – Hannis Reisetagebuch

Hej, hej!

It’s been almost 1.5 weeks since the last post. Since Saturday we have been with Jenny and her family for a total of 2 weeks. A lot has happened since then, we have experienced a lot, expanded our skills in various things and the list of our „favorite hobbies“ has also grown.

The days immediately after the last report were pretty relaxed.

On Friday (September 24th) a horse masseuse was there, which is why we had to get the first horses from the paddock at eight. Then we had the task of mowing the lawn. After work we studied Swedish hard and then went to the lake.

Unfortunately, the sun had practically disappeared from the morning, it was cloudy and windy. Nevertheless, we wanted to put our plan into action and dared to go swimming. All you have to say is actually: It was cold. Very cold. So cold, in fact, that it was a little painful. But bearable and I was even able to swim a few short strokes. After that we were definitely super refreshed.

On Saturday we went to the zoo in Borås, which sounded very interesting on the internet. It says that the park is trying to offer its animals enough place with a resemblance to the wild. Actually, neither Lina nor I are really fans of zoos and animal parks, but we didn’t want to miss the opportunity to see a moose. Unfortunately, it turned out that the zoo was very similar to the zoo near our hometown and that we had imagined the large savannah to be more spectacular. Unfortunately, we didn’t find the moose either, but this could also be our fault, as we weren’t really looking for it in the end of our walk. Still, it was a nice day with nice weather. In the afternoon we went to the lake for the second time, this time in sunshine. It was still cold, but somehow still more pleasant.

On Sunday morning we went riding early and then had to stack branches and smaller trunks in a big pile, which we will light up at some point and clear a shelf in the barn.

Monday was less spectacular, we learned a lot of Swedish.

Tuesday, September 28th – A day in Gothenburg

Tuesday we had another day to visit Gothenburg. Around eight in the morning Jenny drove us to the next bus stop as it is 15km away from their farm. Then it took us about 2 hours to reach our first destination: a small bouldering hall, which was definitely enough to work out;). For lunch we looked for a small café in the Haga district.

Then we just strolled through Gothenburg and checked out various outdoor shops in order to equip ourselves a little better for our trip to Kiruna. We noticed how much we like Gothenburg. Gothenburg is very clean compared to other major European cities that we have seen so far.

We also noticed positively that there are relatively few people and cars on the streets and that there are many beautiful green areas.

A visit, especially in the Haga district, is definitely worth it!

On Wednesday and Thursday we had to take care of Zoey (1 year) and Kayden (2 years) because they had been sick since Sunday and were therefore not allowed to go to kindergarten. Fortunately, we can now speak a few Swedish words, which actually makes communicating with the two of them pretty easy, as they can’t really speak themselves yet. The babysitting itself was not difficult either, as they took an afternoon nap for at least an hour after lunch and we could then always enjoy our break. On Thursday we even started to bake bread during our break, which was „not that bad“, as Wictor commented.

A new paddock for the horses

At the weekend we did some jobs at the farm. Jenny, who works as a self-employed farrier, had taken time off for Friday. Since the nights are now getting a little colder and rainier, the horses come back inside to their boxes for the night.

The first time they were enjoying it on Thursday evening, which in turn meant for us that we had to muck out Friday morning together with Jenny and the children. Then we tidied up the part of the barn that served as a playground for the children over the summer and cleaned three boxes full of chicken waste.

On Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning (around seven o’clock) we learned how to build fences for horse paddocks.

Our task was to first place the stakes at a certain distance on the ground and after Jenny had then driven them into the ground, we attached the hooks where the wire would later be pulled through. Sunday morning after 2 hours of work in the rain, the happy horses were allowed to go to their new paddock. The actually fun part of the job was going to the paddock with Jenny. Since the material was in the trunk of her Land Rover, there were or are generally only two seats. So we were allowed to ride on the roof, which was really fun!

We enjoyed it again on Monday evening (October 4th). Since the horses still needed water in their paddock and we don’t have enough water hoses. Both, an old bathtub as a water container and the water, had to be transported with the Land Rover. But how do you transport a bathtub by car? Of course – you put them on the hood …

… and assign a volunteer to ensure that the bathtub stays where it should be. This is how the horses came to their water.

Fasting in October

For some reason we decided to avoid sweets for the whole of October. We held out until about 7 p.m. on October 1st … Well, if Jenny brings such delicious stuff from the store … Then we made a new agreement: From 8:41 pm on October 1st, 2021 to October 15th, 2021 At 6 p.m. we now want to pass on sweets. We have decided to do it until October 15th, as Jenny and Wictor will be spending Victor’s birthday in Gothenburg and the children with their grandmother, we’ll have the house for ourselves. And a movie night without chocolate is just sad. Our condition for fasting is: If you give up sooner, you have to bear the cost of the „food“ for the movie night alone, otherwise it will of course be shared fairly. Let’s see how that turns out …

Yes, and otherwise we have now been given the task of tidying up the hayloft, as the roof will be raised next year. This is a task that we will probably not be able to cope with during our stay here …