Big J

Happy New Year folks. We have had a lovely day today, with 10cm of fresh snow. A long walk, sauna and lake dip and then some table tennis at the sports hall. Excellent.

Morning all. Shaping up to be a cold and sunny morning here. About to head out for 80km on the bike. I had taken my bike up to Stockholm to meet up with a friend, but it was snowing like a mofo up there and we decided against it.

Morning all. Up in Stockholm with the family. Had to pop to the German embassy to get the girls' passports renewed. Went to the Vasa Museum afterwards, which was brilliant. Rather snowy here. Minus 4c and about 10cm snow lying.

I am super tempted to start with sourdough. I've been baking most of my own bread since moving to Sweden (the bread here is a bit inconsistent and quite expensive sometimes) but I'm bored of my own loaves. Half of the issue is that it's virtually impossible to get good, wholemeal flour. 25% wholemeal seems to be as much as you'll get. So perhaps before going down the sourdough route, I'll start milling my own flour. But if I'm going to go to all that effort, then sourdough doesn't seem like much more outlay. Great effort though - your loaves look outstanding!

I will at the weekend Combined with the sauna, it's very pleasant.

A couple of inches of snow today, falling on a wet base. So the roads are slushy and there is 5-6 inches of snow on the grass. A short, deep cold snap starting tomorrow. Wednesday night forecast minus 17c. We often get it a bit colder than forecast, so maybe minus 20c. That'll make the cycle to work on Thursday morning 'interesting'.

Yep, euc. nitens.

Morning all. Grabbing a couple of rounds of breakfast before popping up to the ski slope to help dismantle the snow making rigs ahead of the slope being pisted.

Very slightly above freezing. The snow is slowly melting and the roads are not great (for cycling). Had to limit todays ride to the main road as the side roads would have been a major struggle, even with studded tyres. But we've had over two weeks sub-zero, so can't really complain. It was a good run.

It was actually that winter that was one of the reasons that influenced our decision to leave the UK. As a forestry worker, I just couldn't (mentally) handle the rain any more. We had to shut down our forestry site for a month due to it being so wet that it was unworkable. We had 4-5 weeks of very damp weather here October into November. It was grey and drizzled a lot. Minimal wind though.

Coming to the end of a two week sub zero spell. Hovering around freezing now and snowing steadily. May have to call the wife for a lift home. I may struggle on the bike. The photo is one my wife took a couple of hours ago from the top of the ski slope.

Always really enjoyed Alex Horne and the Horne Section, but this has to be their best song 😄

Minus 7c on the way to work this morning. About -1-2c for the way home shortly. A minor thaw with highs of plus 1-2c for the next week. Then back to cold.

And the income from the north sea that was taken was used to fund tax cuts. Typical British short-termism 😞

I've been very happy so far to live in Sweden. Society seems a whole lot more cohesive and equal than what we experienced in Scotland and England. We live in a middle sized village (1700 people) in a very low population area of the south east. I cannot comment on how it is in Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö or any of the other larger cities. Here, the average family house is between £60-80k. And the average family house is about twice the size of the average family house in the UK. There is a lot of space (average plot is about 800-1000 square metres) and nothing feels crowded. Wages are similar to the UK and our area has a lot of primary and secondary industry. The socialist nature of society here is something that I generally enjoy. I value the fact that regardless of a parent's financial background, all children have essentially the same opportunities. I also like the fact that having a child isn't going to financially cripple you (as it does in the UK). As regards the housing issue in the UK, I struggle to see a likely outcome that is going to be satisfactory. 90% (or more) of houses are built (badly) by mass developers for whom quality comes a distant second to profit. Basically, they build badly designed houses badly, in neighbours that lack even the most basic of planning considerations or amenities. They make vast profits, whilst all the while convincing (through marketing and lack of choice) the public that what everyone should aspire to is their very own house with postage stamp garden, garage you can't park a car in and bedroom you can't fit a double bed in. Given the desity of the population in the UK, it would be prudent to think about building more vertically, with high quality, spacious apartment with extensive green space and cycle/foot networks. Many suburbs in Sweden are similar to that now. We visited friends in Uppsala who lived in a huge, ground floor flat, where the kids had immediate access to a large playground and it was only 5 minutes of traffic free paths to get to their leafy, suburban school. I really do think the public wouldn't be as resistant to new development if the development wasn't so shit. It's almost impossible to find anything positive to say about your average Persimmon development.

I requested night time hours actually. I work during the day and at weekends I like to have the option of going out with the family or on my bike during daylight hours. The reason they use artificial snow is density. The 10-12cm of natural snow we have lying here just now compacts to almost nothing when you stand on it. It's fallen well below freezing so is very fluffy. Here now. Been up the hill on the tracked quad. Once the slope has been pisted, the snowmobile can be used. At the moment it's just massive piles of snow. Here are photos:

Pumping massive amounts of water out of the lake through the snow cannons mainly. And then spreading it out. We don't actually have much real snow here, though it has been snowing steadily all day and we have about 9cm lying on the ground. Whenever the snow is being made, people have to be there to supervise. The main water pump is about 110kw, plus a smaller air pump to supply compressed air. The Piste machine is very similar to the one you mention. I'm planning to train on it and do some of the operation over this season.

It's a not-for-profit, run only by volunteers, with a little bit of support from the council. You have to pay for lift passes and equipment hire (unless you volunteer there) but it's all very reasonable.

Minus 4c and snowing steadily. It's the village Christmas market this afternoon, so the weather should contribute to the Christmassy feel. Sauna during the early evening (complete with ice hole in the lake) and then I'm on ski slope snow production from 2300 - 0300. Winter in full flow

Minus 13.7c overnight at home. Minus 11c on the bike on the way to work. Snow forecast for later this afternoon. Hope I dodge it on thr way home.

Cycle commuting at minus 10c means you have to be OK with ice on your face Coldest day of winter so far.

Very pretty! We have snow too, but only maybe 2cm. Still minus 10c on the way to work this morning though

It is very pleasant, and nice to have some variety too (I'm going to go via asphalt for the next few days). They are normal, USB rechargeable batteries and a heating element in each sock. Washable, but not in a washing machine. About £25-30 for a pair, if memory serves.

Minus 10c on the cycle ride to work this morning. Was absolutely fine with my heated socks and ski mitts. Really enjoy it. A centimetre of snow fell yesterday and I was following my tyre tracks from yesterday this morning. No one else had been on the gravel road ☺️

Didn't get above minus 2c here today after minus 7c overnight. Minus 7c again now, forecast to drop a bit further overnight. It'll make for a chilly commute in the morning. Cycling in those temps results in 'beard-cicles', which my daughters find very amusing. Snow production on the ski slope is starting imminently. Has to be below minus 3 or 4c, or a touch milder if the humidity is low (which it is - barely any frost forming). A few photos from the weekend: