This morning after my morning chores with the animals I went to a recreated old village with sod roof houses from the 12th century called Asle Ta. On the way there I passed a little roadside picnic table next to a cute little shed that was full of Swedish memorabilia. It’s obviously a spot where…

It’s 7 AM and I am sitting outside outside the front door, listening to the church bells ring next door. It’s slightly cool but very sunny, a few cars have gone past, people on their way to work. While the house is in a rural area it is on a road that connects Floby, the…

Yesterday was berry picking and jelly/jam making day. We picked red and black currant berries, as well as gooseberries from bushes in the backyard. We made the currant berries into jellies. The colors were so gorgeous, the black currant one turned a bright pink to start with then after it cooled became a lovely dark…

During these workaway trips I’ve discovered how much I’ve enjoyed getting to be part of the rhythm of other people‘s lives, especially lives that are very different from my own. It’s now 9:45 at night (or 21:45 as they say in just about every other country in the world!) and I’m standing outside watching one…

What have I been up to the last couple of days? We’ve had a couple of days of lovely sunny weather, apparently this is typical summer weather in this part of Sweden – low to mid 70s, mainly sunny, with occasional rainy days. Besides looking after the animals, I’ve spent time weeding and harvesting arugula.…

I started the day by feeding the animals, which is quite a production because Donnie has to eat after the cats and Pomona, and since Pomona tries to eat all the other animals food, she has to be kept on the couch on a leash while Donnie eats. Once that was done I did some…

The last two days my work has been helping to weed in the garden and around the berry bushes. There are so many slugs here! I’m sure they like the wet weather we’re currently having. While we were weeding and then having lunch Giorgia and I chatted about the different political, educational and social systems…

The short nights here definitely take getting used to. It really wasn’t completely dark until well after 11 PM last night and then the sky was already getting light before 3:30 AM. My body is so used to wanting to get up when it is light outside. It is really hard to let myself go…

Pia, the woman I am doing volunteer work for met me at the train station in Floby. Her place is about 5 km from Floby, on a beautiful forested road. Her house used to be the local school that housed the unmarried ‘spinster’ who taught the younger children in one classroom, as well as the…

First full day in Sweden. I slept much better than I expected on my first night. I read for a little bit after dinner but soon got very tired. My room was on the fifth floor of a building that housed a bar called Beerista on the bottom floor, so it wasn’t too surprising that…