Time for studded tires

Today we started the day with forgetting that it was no longer Daylight Saving Time. We would have been able to sleep one hour more than usual, but instead we started the day a little bit earlier. The main project of the day was switching tires on the car since winter road conditions is approaching. The studded tires have been laying around in the basement since May, but today we had to carry them up to ground level. It was quite easy to remove the ordinary tires, but the winter ones were a little bit harder to fasten because of short bolts. Eventually all four tires were exchanged and we took the car for a ride to see if the bolts were tightened enough (and also to get some food and other articles for the winter).

The bad thing with normal time is that it gets dark already before 4 pm, and it will get even worse as we get closer to the end of the year. Hopefully it will get better when we have some snow on the ground, but on the other hand I guess that we can try to avoid that for another month if possible.

First snow of the season

When we woke up this morning there was something white on the grass. Evidently, the first snow has arrived. It also seemed that most of the lake Maria is biking next to was covered, which means that it also had an ice cover. Perhaps not that thick, but still. Since it is still just October, most of the snow had melted away by noon.

Preparing for winter outdoor activities

Pretty soon, it will be cold and dark outside, most of the day. In order not to sit inside for the next five months also during daylight, you have to do something that takes advantage of the snow. Olle already has cross country skis, but Maria has not owned a pair for many years. Today it was time to change that. We went to the store, were she found a nice pair from last season (they were the same price with the discount as this year's simpler ones, which according to the sales person only would slow you down). You don't have to wax these, you can just hit the tracks whenever you feel like. We will pick up the skis (including boots and ski poles) tomorrow, since the bindings have to be attached to the skis.

New computer

One of our computers was sent in for reparation earlier this year. The screen on the laptop didn't function that well, among others the back light could shut down and be impossible to turn on quite often. The screen colors were not right either.
Today a replacement for that computer arrived. Evidently it was cheaper for the retailer to do this way than to repair it.
It is nice to also have a webcam again.

Moose casserole

Around four thirty we went to Olle's uncle who lives in the city. Beside us, the two cousins with families also arrived. Tonight's dinner was moose casserole. The uncle is a hunter, and today he shot his first moose ever (but the one we ate was from the beginning of the season). It was a really long time since we had game meat and it tasted good. We brought some home baked sour dough bread (we bake that 4 times out of 5 these days).

Exercise Saturday

Today we went to the first group exercise since last December for Olle, and the first one on the floor for Maria since we arrived in Umeå. You could feel that it was a while since last time, but hopefully your body will adapt quite soon.

In the afternoon we passed a big sports equipment shop, where Maria bought a new floorball stick. The old stick broke last Thursday, but it had been used for over ten years so it was time for a new one anyway.

A rainy day

Sunday was rainy in more or less intense showers. Dressed top to toe in rain clothes we were outside for a while. The niece and a friend took two of the ponies for a ride. Unfortunately, one of the horses so badly wanted to get back into the stable, were the other horses were meanwhile, so the pony was hard to steer.
Playing some card games inside, as well as bringing the rabbits to the basement, were more tempting. In the middle of the day some rain showers were really strong, so being inside was excused.
In the afternoon we took the night train back to Umeå. Another night of sleep in the seats, but at least better than a few days earlier.

Birthday party

We woke up to some rain and didn't hurry out after breakfast. Instead we baked cinnamon rolls.
We had planned to watch Maria's nephew driving motocross, but the rainy day didn't inspired to a longer training, so we went back home instead of going watching after dropping the niece off at a birthday party.
Parts of the afternoon passed by while we prepared the dinner for the birthday party in the evening (a la family reunion). Maria's parents and uncle showed up, together with the brother with full family. Naturally the newborn (2½ weeks old) niece were in center for a while. Adorable how small the perfect fingers/nails are.

A trip to the south

Thursday evening we took the night train south. To keep the price down we had normal seat tickets all the way (not beds). Unfortunately, we got bad seats with no possibility to tilt backwards and short distance to the seats in front of us. It wasn't a beauty sleep, more a few necessary hours interrupted often.

Friday morning we arrived in Nässjö and Maria's sister picked us up. We tried to spend this sunny day outside, dressed according to the weather. In the afternoon we picked up the kids after school, while the sister prepared dinner. The niece trained some pony jumping.
In the evening we all went to Maria's uncle for a real sauna (= heated by firewood). Also Maria's brother with his two sons showed up, as well as the parents, so almost the whole family were there. The kids enjoyed playing with water, a useful trick for making them like being in the warm sauna.

Fall is here!

Or is it winter? Anyway, now the night frost is here, covering both the ground and roofs.
Just a week ago the first snow seemed far away during the warm (late-summer) days, but not mornings like today. The premier snow has arrived early October other years, but in my opinion it can wait like two months more.
Maria brought the fall coat from the storage this morning. Biking without gloves is not a possibility anymore, or you won't feel your finger at all.

Via Ferrata to the top of the Skuleberget mountain

Around eight in the morning (left photo from an hour earlier) we started our way back to the south entrance.











Instead of going straight home when we came back to the main highway (E4), we just crossed to the other side: Naturum (Nature Centre) at the foot of Skuleberget mountain. The center provides an introduction to the park´s human and natural history, as well as an exhibition about the post-ice-age isostatic recovery of the land surface.

After about one hour there, we decided to take ourselves to the top of the mountain. But, not the ordinary hiking path.
(notice some "hikers" in the middle of mountain picture? Clue; yellow helmet)




Instead we chose to take the high road; Via Ferrata, a road up the mountain equipped with a fixed steel cable and some steps to put your feet on on the way.
We were equipped with a harness which had two carabiners attached to it, that way you always were connected to the cable with at least one carabiner. That is, you wouldn't fall to a certain death if you lost your grip of the cable. We were also equipped with helmets.
The first part of the "iron road" was quite simple, but then you really had to figure out were to put your feet, and at some places it would have been totally impossible (at least if you were not a quite experienced climber) to continue without using the cable. Your arms worked as much as your legs, if not more. Luckily there were a lot of places to take a rest at.

After about two hours we reached the top. It is quite strange to imagine that the top of the mountain was the coastline after the last ice age, but now it is 286 m (ca 940 ft) above sea level. The distance between the highest shoreline in the High Coast and its present shoreline is only approximately 2 km. The High Coast in Sweden has the highest isostatic land uplift in the world after the latest glaciation!

The cable way was one way only, so we took the ordinary path down to the nature center.












Around Skuleberget is a mix of vegetation more common south as well as north. We don't see many maple trees around Umeå, we do miss their pretty fall colors.









On the way down we passed a cave.

Slåtterdals cleft back and forth

At 6:30 we rose, (you need to use the few lit hours this time of the year) after a night on the hard sand dune. It was somewhat cold during the night, but warmer again when the sun rose.
Breakfast and repacking was done before today's hike started. Pretty soon the ascent began.
At first the path was quite wide and even, but the higher we got, the windier the road become with stones and roots to stumble on.










A wide pebble stone field was passed (the bog was only seen on distance), before we chose to take the "high road", a side track up on one of the mountains.





It was well worth the pain, because the view was astonishing from up there.








The wind was strong, so we didn't rest much in order to not blow away. It's surprisingly how the vegetation adapt to the growth conditions, like this pine.
We then went downhill to the Slåtterdals cleft, after a look from above.








It was impressing, you felt quite small standing between the 40 m high walls.












The track continued downhill to Tärnettvattnet lake, where we stopped for a lunch break.








The road got even steeper, past a cave. You really had to work to find something solid to put your feet on among the many stones.








When we arrived at the Tärnettholmarna islets, the legs and feet were quite tired.








We took a well-needed pause before the last kilometers of the day.









The goal was Näskebodarna, where one of the cabins belongs to the environmental protection agency (which also runs the national parks). Three beds and a stove could be used to cater for yourself. Soon after we arrived another young(er) couple showed up, with whom we shared the cabin.






At around 3:30 we had dinner, upon which followed relaxation at the beach. The cabin was still cool, and quite dark. After some trouble we were able to start a fire in the stove (the firewood was probably damp), which resulted in the cabin almost getting too warm. We allowed ourselves noodles before the sun set. There were tea lights in the cabin which became our source of light for the evening.

Skuleskogen National Park

Around three o'clock Olle picked up Maria at work and the car took us south. About two hours later we arrived at the south entrance to Skuleskogen National Park. The last 10 km was on bumpy gravel road. We got some drizzle on the car the final stretch, so we decided to dress in rain clothes and put the rain covers over the backpacks. But, in retrospect, that was the only rain we got this evening.
We walked about 1,6 km from the parking lot to Kälaviken. You are only allowed to camp at dedicated spots inside the national park, Kälaviken is one of them. This time of the year we were alone, but the sandy glade had room for more than ten tents.
We pitched the tent and started preparing the dinner. Surprisingly many mosquitoes around us, some have obviously survived the cold nights that are becoming more and more frequent. After dinner there wasn't much more to do than to move all the stuff inside the tent/apse. Already at 7:30 the darkness made it quite hard to see anything, so you could only hit the sleeping bag. We slept long before nine for once, which should give us a lot of sleep for the next day.

Choir camp

This weekend Olle and the other choir members went to choir camp (körinternat) close to Husum about one hour's drive south of Umeå. We arrived around 10 in the morning, had some coffee and then the singing began. We started with the full choir, but later during the day we split in order to let the men and women practice their own voices.
The dinner consisted of fermented herring, which was a first time for me.
Around six the cans with the fish were opened outside, and the smell could be felt from a long distance.
But, the smell was diminished a lot when we started to skin the fish at 7:30. The taste was interesting, not so bad, but it is an acquired taste. I had two herrings (and a lot of potatoes) which was enough for this time.
Since we are a choir, there were also a lot of singing during the night. Unfortunately I don't know that many of the "old" songs (the choir started 1997), but this is something I will learn eventually.

A lot of people seemed quite tired "the day after", but 9:30 we were back in business again.
We practiced until lunch, after that followed cleaning of the cottages and common areas that we had used. It really felt good to sing through the whole repertoire that we are going to perform next March. There is still a lot of work left, but at least you recognize the songs next time you see them. It was also nice to have the opportunity to get to know some of the choir members a little bit better, during the two hours of practice every week there isn't a lot of time left for socializing.

Not a perfect seminar

During three days a group of Japanese researchers as well as some German researchers, are visiting Umeå. The days have been filled with seminars, to inform each others about our ongoing research, maybe we can create even more promising collaboration in the future. It's hard to have energy to listen all the days, when you are not used to it.
Thursday afternoon Maria had a twenty minute presentation of some of her work. Which meant she stayed late at work Wednesday afternoon to do the last changes. Except that the pointer stopped working, and the whole presentation freezed for some long seconds (with success she stayed cool, on the outside), Maria passed the presentation at least. As usual, afterwards you find out how you could have made it better.
In the evening she joined the tour of our facilities for the guest, anyway she hasn't been in the lab too long, so especially the plant growing facilities are still new to her. Growing trees is somehow different from growing smaller flowers, take longer time as well. Thereafter followed a dinner of nice dishes with local taste.