A Retired House Husband in Sweden

I built a bridge today. It was to replace the old one across the ditch at the back gate, into the woods, behind our house. The old one was a pallet that I employed to be a makeshift bridge, and it has served its purpose well. But, its days as a reliable support structure have become very limited. Also, a while ago now, a tall, thin tree fell over one end, creating an awkward step over.

I have mulled the job over for a fair while, considering how I was going to build a new one to replace the old one. There was also the fallen tree to deal with.

And, finally, this morning I started building. I used wood originally left with the house so it felt very good reusing stuff but also, it meant I didn’t have to go to a timber yard and buy new. Though I did go through quite a few screws. They were new.

Anyway, I managed to finish the build in time for lunch. I gave Freya the last of her tablets then we all ate and watched Curb Your Enthusiasm for a little bit of Larry wisdom.

After lunch, we had to get ready for a vet appointment which Nicoline was generously driving us to. Mirinda was at uni and we thought the walk there and back may just have finished Freya off.

But, all was well. The vet was very happy with Freya’s progress, though not so happy with her loss of weight which has been caused due to her not eating. Not the best diet, folks.

We now have some new pain medicine – fortunately liquid with a syringe – which she’ll be given every day. She is improving and, hopefully, we’ll be able to leave her alone one day soon.

Having returned from the vet (and Apotek for the prescription) I completed my engineering project by cutting back the tree and manoeuvring the old bridge onto the bank and out of camera shot. I then dropped the new bridge across the gap. Kinda like a drawbridge.

I walked across it a few times to make sure it was stable. I then stood and admired my work. And I was pleased.

The wood is a bit thicker and sturdier so, hopefully, it will last a few years.

The other thing I did today was record my latest Letter from Sweden. I was a little late in the recording but, fortunately, the sound engineers were on holiday and I just made it for tomorrow’s recording in the studio. Anyway, here it is.

The recording wasn’t without its stress. I couldn’t get my microphone to work. I tried all manner of things and was about to give up when I decided to try using a different cable to connect it to the laptop. Damn it! Occam’s Razor was proven right yet again.

It was a quiet old day at home today. Well, apart from a walk to the second bench (for me and Freya) and a birdwatching walk by the Baltic (for Mirinda and Emma). I didn’t even go shopping, instead I spent the time in the stuga, working on my book while Mirinda did homework ahead of her return to uni tomorrow.

About the most exciting thing I did was make a fancy lunch. Instead of just salad, I included a ramekin of oeufs cocotte.

It made for a tasty change.

On our walk, Freya was almost back to her normal self and, most wonderful, she ate her lunch AND dinner today. Hopefully this means she is on her way to recovering from whatever it is that’s been ailing her. We are returning to the vet tomorrow so fingers crossed that the news is good.

Mirinda said there were fewer birds around today. I suggested it might be because a lot of them have paired off and the males that lost out have flown off somewhere else to sow their seeds. She conceded this maybe so.

The weather was an absolute delight. I even wore shorts. Okay, not all day but enough to signal the change of temperature and subsequent reveal of white legs.

I was talking to Stefan the other morning, and he said he’d booked three weeks in the south of Spain from yesterday and was a bit mad with himself for booking for so long given the weather in Trosa has turned for the good following the big Easter storm.

Maybe that should be a saying: A big storm at Easter blows the winter out and better weather in. Or, in Google Swedish: En stor storm vid påsk blåser bort vintern och in bättre väder.

Anyway, he told me his son would be staying in his house to feed the cats. When I told Mirinda that, she ticked off the number of people around here that have cats. Apparently, they are here to keep the mice down. The only mice we’ve seen are not house mice but wood mice, the ones almost exclusively from the forest. I guess the locals don’t like either.

By the way, the Norwegian forest cats hunt in the forest so they are probably keeping the numbers of the natives down.

It’s a shame because the wood mice are fascinating little creatures that rarely infest houses.

Still, I know that a lot of people can’t abide living alongside harmless little creatures. I think that’s a bit harsh when we are the invaders of their woodland homes.

STOP THE PRESSES!

Viktor Orbán has been defeated, after 16 years as the Hungarian prime minister to be replaced by EU supporter, Péter Magyar. No doubt Putin and Trump will not be pleased with this result but Europe and Ukraine most surely are. Maybe JD Vance should do more electioneering for far right despots given his delightful lack of success.

O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!

My first job for today was to find the winter tyres a new home. So, almost as soon as Mirinda had left for Swedish class, I got stuck in. Of course, the shed was full of rubbish which I had to organise first then there was the job of rolling, lifting and stacking them in a newly cleared corner.

Nicoline was right, it’s great exercise.

Something else I did was to give Freya’s hair a bit more of a trim, though only on her left side because that’s the way she was sleeping on the deck sofa. She’s always a bit annoyed at my snipping but, I have discovered, if she’s sound asleep, and I don’t stab her with the scissors, she’s quite compliant.

Naturally, only doing one side was a bit odd but, hey, what can I say, it’s a Gaz Hack Original after all. I can see all the neighbourhood kids lining up to get one of their own.

Speaking of the neighbourhood kids, I noticed that one of Louise’s boys was having a play date today, with The Princess from down the road. We call her The Princess because she always wears a Princess dress.

She has an old face, as if she’s been here before. She’s about four or five and she always says “Hej” to me when she rides by on her bike.

The only reason I’m mentioning the play date is because, when I returned from our walk to the second bench, the result of their playing was in the front garden. It was two lines of toys – stuffed animals, cars, dolls, boxes of things, etc as if in some sort of military parade. The odd thing was that the parade was headed by a football.

And our walk was a great success. As I said, we reached the second bench where we had a sit down for Freya to have a bit of a break. She had been better today, she even ate her lunch and some cheese, which is a vast improvement over how she has been lately.

Anyway, she was sitting next to me on the bench while Emma found us a stick that she could chase and a couple appeared, walking towards us, each with a dog. Obviously, the girls were off lead, but something about the couple made me put their leads on.

When they reached us, their two little snappy dogs did a bit of growling while ours just checked them out, obviously not understanding the Swedish the other dogs were barking. Having looked at the dogs and smiled, I looked up at the humans. The man had a look of abject fear on his face.

I mean, seriously, who on earth would be afraid of her? (Note that the photo shows her uncut right-hand side. The other side looks way better.)

I should add that the woman of the couple was fine and normal and not afraid of such small, beautiful dogs, one with an exceptionally original haircut. Or, maybe that was what the man was frightened by…

Nature notes

I saw my first bee of the season today. We were out on the deck, soaking up the sun, cutting Freya’s hair, when a big bumblebee started flying around Emma’s face. She watched it for a bit, only slightly interested. Then it landed on her head. She suddenly started looking everywhere for the bee. Eventually it buzzed off, leaving her very confused indeed.

We met up with the Jolly Roger tonight. The three of us had dinner at a very busy Två Små Svin. It was great to see a local restaurant so popular quite apart from enjoying the food, atmosphere and company ourselves. It was also lovely to chat with Roger over a few small plates.

Obviously I had my usual steak tartare along with a second plate of bratwurst on sauerkraut.

Of course, the girls came with us and were perfectly behaved. Afterwards, having extricated ourselves from the crowded room, we went for a short wander down to the beginning of the harbour.

The night sky was beautiful and Trosa looked just as magical. It really was a splendid night. Pretty much an echo of the day.

Mirinda, Nicoline and Emma, having all recovered from last night’s French meal, went for a long walk at Krymla. Mirinda left the house shortly after helping me finish off the last of the apple cake over our usual morning coffee. Nicoline was right, the cake is too delicious by half.

(Talking of French cooking, I received the detailed itinerary for my week in Toulouse today. With less than a month to go, it is getting quite exciting. Also, I know what we’ll be cooking so there may be some practice before I go.)

But that wasn’t all that we did. We also made our, possibly, final journey to Euromaster at Nyköping. We not only had our tyres changed from winter to summer but, on Nicoline’s advice, we bought the winter tyres home with us, to store in the shed rather than the tyre hotel.

It was a bit of a shame really; sort the end of an adventure.

Back in 2020, when Tommy told us that we had to have winter tyres (we were unaware such a thing was required) we first went to Euromaster, on his advice, and have used them ever since. The staff have always been super helpful, particularly in moving our tyres around the country to find us. From Tyresö to Trelleberg then finally to Nyköping, it has been a big adventure for the tyres as well.

So, goodbye Euromaster, you have been splendid.

And, finally, a big thank you to Två Små Svin, for a lovely Trosa night out.

An all round delightful Friday.

Most people would, no doubt, think that restless leg syndrome is the purview of the young. But no. This morning, a man of around my age, sitting with the usual group of old men in the ICA bistro, couldn’t stop jiggling both of his legs. I imagine he would get quite worn out. Almost like running a marathon without leaving his seat.

There was no marathon for me as I walked to the ICA this morning. The tree which had blocked my path on Tuesday, was gone by this morning. Another bit of splendid work by Trosa Kommun.

That was all first thing, of course. The rest of my day was almost exclusively devoted to cooking.

A little while ago I had planned to cook Nicoline a French meal which would include cake. It was to be a surprise birthday dinner. For various reasons, it never happened, but I decided to remedy that tonight. Without the surprise bit.

To be fair, it wasn’t just for Nicoline. I was also practicing ahead of my French cooking course next month. Given we, the participants, will be cooking our own meals, I need to up my game a bit. Particularly with presentation.

First up, almost as soon as I returned from the shop, I made a French apple cake which turned out brilliantly delicious. Mirinda took particular delight in licking the bowl. As the sun was out and the wind benign, she sat outside on the deck sofa, and licked the bowl very clean. She called it ‘cushions and cake mix’, which was almost going to be this posts title. Until Nicoline provided me with the one that I used.

Mind you, when it was finished, the cake looked a bit rustic. But the taste was divine. In fact, the three of us had two helpings each, leaving very little for me to finish tomorrow.

And so, as the day wore on and the amount of washing up increased, so my menu started to take shape. I made the same scallops I did for New Year’s Eve and, I think, they were better. At least the creamy, leek and mushroom sauce was better. That was a bowl that I licked.

The full menu, I thought, worked quite well. And, while I’ve made the pork mignon before, it included my very first Dauphinois which really needed more starchy potatoes. My report card would say ‘Gary could do better’.

Apologies for my appalling French. Not to mention the handwriting.

Well, it would appear that the Great Easter Storm of 2026 was not a fan of live theatre. As it blew through Trosa, Vagnhärad and Västerljung, it took with it a lot of the posters for this week’s play, The Lovebirds. That would be the posters we put up the other week. The storm ripped the posters right off the boards, leaving only the eight staples used to hold them on.

This became apparent as we drove around this afternoon, removing the ones that were still in existence. At first, we thought that, perhaps, some disgruntled person had ripped them down because we’d accidentally covered their poster or someone who didn’t like the image on the poster. Maybe, even, someone who really wanted to see the play but was denied because something important suddenly came up to thwart their previous plans.

By the time we were halfway round the circle of poster boards, it started to become obvious that some of the posters had been in the direct line of fire of the storm and it was the culprit.

Now, back in the day, when we ran our theatre company, we adjudged that posters didn’t work very well at getting ‘bums on seats’. There was no evidence that they worked at all. We tried to collect data on how people heard about performances and it wasn’t very often that people said they saw a poster.

It was a long time ago but I vaguely remember Karen, in the box office, asking people as they arrived at the theatre. The main responses were repeat audience, word of mouth, friend or relative in the cast and reading about it in the local paper. I think we stopped going to the trouble and expense of posters after a few performances proved it pointless. Except for the printers, of course.

Anyway, the poster is still a big thing here and I can’t see them stopping anytime soon, regardless of their effectiveness. Ours are not the only ones on the boards. When they remain on the boards, I mean. Before any capricious wind prefers otherwise.

And, speaking of the weather, today was gorgeous. No rain, little wind, lots of sunshine. I actually wore a straw hat as we drove around. And the view from the kitchen was beautiful.

And Freya enjoyed a bit of it as well. Mirinda took her for a short walk into the woods this afternoon prior to taking Emma for a much longer one later. While Freya was exhausted, I think she enjoyed getting out and about and sniffing it all in.

This morning on my way to the ICA, when I reached the woods, I found my way blocked by a big tree. It was a bit annoying. However it was nothing compared to what KSP and Jonas went through, out at WoopWoop. I just walked into the woods, in between the trees and through the stubbly grass and back onto the track. I didn’t have to keep any little chickens warm or go to Nyköping and buy a generator because the power went out.

As Mirinda said, thank goodness it didn’t happen mid-turkey cooking on Sunday.

No, this tree was merely awkward.

My first thought, on seeing it, was that, perhaps the MTB people had caused it to weaken by digging around, under and/or through the roots but, as you can see by the photo, the tree snapped rather than toppled. Maybe an elk pushed it over.

Later, as I was returning from the ICA, a big branch was also blocking the track, though it was small enough to step over. It would have inconvenienced a stroller or bike, but not me.

So, the weather remained very windy all day. Mirinda took Emma down to the Baltic in order to count some birds. Freya and I stayed home because we feared being blown away.

Speaking of birds, one was blown into the glass panels of the glassroom and died. We left it for a while, in case it was just a bit dazed but, no, it was an ex-bird; gone off to join the choir invisible. It had snuffed it.

Earlier, I saw a crow trying to fly into the wind but only managed to fly backwards. I’m not exaggerating, it was actually blown backwards. After a few wing flaps, it decided that walking was a better option and headed downwards instead.

It was last seen walking down the footpath with its wings held tightly against it’s body.

On her bird watching walk around Trosa, Mirinda reported a general downturn in avian numbers. She also said that she’d had a 15 minute Swedish conversation with a woman and her dog. The woman said she slept with the dog and her husband snored. Among other things. The dog didn’t say anything about her sleeping arrangements or the husband’s snoring.

Weatherwise, it was a wild old day but at least it didn’t rain.

On the writing front, I installed a bit of editing software which told me how sloppy my writing can be. Marvellous.

And, for reference, here’s the fallen tree from the other side.

Late in the day, we had an email from Kerstin asking us to take down the posters for the show that was scheduled for Friday night. Sadly, no tickets had been sold so it had been cancelled. Very sad, particularly as I was looking forward to it.

Emma had three walks today. Obviously this is only right given her status in this house. Actually, if she was pressed, she’d, no doubt, insist on five. On the other hand, Freya managed a very short walk but at least she got out of the house and into the wide world, albeit a slightly damp one.

The weather was a bit of an extension of yesterday with strong winds blowing in rain then sunshine, all day. The wind was so bad that the dead tree just the other side of our back fence, the one favoured by the woodpecker, was snapped in half. Fortunately, the top half fell in the woods rather than across our fence.

I spotted it this morning from the stuga as I ploughed my way through my second draft which, I can report, is going very well. I have read it through to the end and now have a few additions to make before declaring it complete and ready for editing work to commence elsewhere.

And, just for the record, the repeated chapter number is deliberate. I mean, it was actually accidental but, rather than fix it, I quite liked it. So I kept it in. I know anyone who notices it will think it’s an editorial failure but this proves it wasn’t.

Following my few hours plugging away at the laptop, I then returned to the house to make coffee and work in my study. It was while I was deep inside a spreadsheet that a tiny tap at the Glass Room door dragged me out. It was Mathilde, arriving to ‘haul’ Emma off for her first walk.

Then, while I made dinner (aubergine parmigiana) Mirinda took Emma around Mount Trosa, having exhausted Freya 15 minutes earlier. By the time they returned, Freya was fast asleep and I had the house smelling delicious.

While we ate, Emma luxuriated in her bounty.

Such a spoiled princess of a dog.

Okay, so I’ve seen a lot of rainbows. Like anyone. Sometimes I have seen a whole one, from end to end, although not appearing to touch the ground. But that all changed today. On a day when the weather went from pouring with rain to bright sunshine then hurricane force wind, we saw a rainbow that touched the ground. Had it not been in a ploughed field, I might have got Mirinda to drive across to it in order to get the pot of gold.

While I’m on the subject, here’s a real pot of gold. The delight on Mirinda’s face as she chats to a baby chicken.

The day started off having fika with our new neighbour, Louise. She seems to share a lot of our weird lifestyle choices, like lo carbs and no breakfast. A very refreshing revelation. It’s always nice when you find a kindred spirit. It was a very long fika, with a lot of chat.

While fika was great, the highlight of the day was, clearly, getting to sample Jonas’ second roast turkey. And, can I say here and now, it was perfectly cooked and perfectly carved. Anyone who has eaten my Christmas turkey (or just about any Chez Gaz roasted meat) will confirm that my carving is quite haphazard. That’s putting it mildly.

There was a bit of distress expressed by the new chicks at the sight of a giant bird fresh from the oven, though they might have been a little more surprised at the white fluffy thing that was very keen on sniffing them.

But, back with the bigger bird, Jonas, excelled. He reassembled the carved turkey back into a bird shape. And the meat was perfectly succulent.

We were at WoopWoop for Easter Sunday roast; turkey with all the trimmings. Karl Fredrik and Josefine were still there, and we were joined by Tomas and Kitten. It was a somewhat raucous meal with discussions ranging from the aforementioned turkey to the state of democracy in the world today; from art history (Josefine is doing her Masters in it) to trying to work out the seven deadly sins.

And, seriously, why is Envy a sin? Why should it be wrong to like someone’s kitchen skills?

The girls were obviously there as well. Freya was a bit more alert, especially when the chicks were let loose and Emma was generous enough to sit on laps other than mine.

All in all, it was a wonderful evening spent in delightful company.

Hardly bizarre at all was when the baby chicken raced across the table and through the cheesecake.

A wise woman* once told me, a few weeks ago, that the weather can change rapidly here, with no warning, it can go from blue sky and sunshine to a blizzard. That people here in Sweden know that you are not really safe from snow until, at least the first day of May. And she was proven right today. I was in the stuga, working away on my book when, outside the windows, the world suddenly turned white.

It was a bit of a shock. Mind you, it all turned rapidly to slush when the snow was replaced by rain. A lot of rain, in fact. As I said to Mirinda, the swamp in the front garden had just started drying up but, in a few short hours, it was back to being marshland once more.

Actually, Mirinda’s biggest concern was the state of the driveway at WoopWoop.

We were heading over for an Easter Saturday, smorgasbord lunch but, of course, by that time, the rain had stopped and most of the snow was gone. Jonas asked me if we’d had as much snow as they did. I said yes until I saw the piles they had. He admitted that he’d swept it into piles.

And, while the weather may have been a bit shit (though it improved magnificently a lot later in the day) lunch was fabulous with heaps of homemade treats. (I particularly loved the mushroom omelette which included mushrooms from their woods and eggs from their chickens.)

Karl Fredrik and Josefine were also there (Charlie and Wilma were in Aberdeen, otherwise they would, no doubt, have been there as well) so it was a real family affair. This included the ubiquitous songs and snaps. No snaps for me, of course. Sadly. But there you go.

Actually, KSP was the boozehound today. I happily handed her the crown.

Probably the best thing was how well Freya managed. I’d chucked a pill down her throat before we left and she ate a little lunch and, we think, she was ‘cured’ by the excitement. Her life has been pretty dull lately, and we think this may have kept her spirits down. But not today.

She even sat on Jonas’ lap for a while, something she has not been doing since she became unwell. She was almost our lively puppy again.

Of course, she managed to sleep a lot given she’d claimed a lovely comfy corner of the sofa next to Josefine. In fact, she managed to sleep through the noise and hilarity of a couple of riotous rounds of Hitster, the game that Nicoline hates.

Josefine showed great skill in working out how to split the couples up and into new teams with the minimum of chair movement. She managed to keep it to two people moving one seat. I have no idea what she studied at uni, but she would make an excellent Logistics Manager.

As far as the game was concerned, Jonas and I didn’t do very well, though we did manage to go up a position in the second round, after being last in the first. I’m not going to talk about the other teams. They already received more than enough applause.

It was a lot of fun. As KSP said “It’s not a competition.” Which was odd because it quite clearly was.

And it would be very remiss of me not to mention the incredibly trendy cheese that Karl Fredrik and Josefine brought to the party. It’s called Gammel Knas and this was the cream cheese version, made with old hard cheese. Josefine told us that it is very difficult to get because of its über trendiness. We were very lucky as it was particularly delicious spread on a crispy biscuit.

After making them put up with us for over four hours, we took the girls home. But not before KSP took this excellent photo of everyone, apart from her. She then went and claimed a reclining position on the sofa.

What a most excellent Easter Saturday.

* The wise woman was, of course, Nicoline.