The sun has thankfully made a reappearance today. So I put away my razor blades and cancelled plans to slit my wrists. No it wasn't the nasty strep throat that has plagued me for what seems like weeks which prompted this angst, but rather it was that on Sunday morning we turned our clocks back for winter time. I've come to absolutely dread this changeover. While it's true that you get an extra hour in bed on Sunday morning, you still have to suffer shorter days for the rest of the winter.

In Svenska Dagbladet I read of a new study which reports that people are far more affected by the change from summertime to wintertime than anybody had previously thought. DUH! I could have told them that for free.

When I lived in Australia, I was never really affected by the clock change from daylight saving time to winter time. There is comparatively very little difference between daylight hours in summer or winter in South Australia - we're talking about a couple of hours or so. However, now that I live so much further north, it has become really noticeable, with 20 hours of daylight in midsummer and only 5 hours in mid December. That's a huge difference, so it's no wonder that my body clock protests.

At the risk of sounding like a complaining old bat, I'm finding that in summer I have trouble sleeping because it is so light outside that my body doesn't get the signals it needs in order to rest. So I often feel tired. And quite perversely, in the winter I am still tired all of the time. Even if I choose to go to bed at 10.30pm, it does not seem help at all. As a naïve Australian I assumed that Swedes had learned to cope with these varying amount of daylight hours or that perhaps they had simply developed a genetic tolerance to it over the centuries. But this is not the case. I still meet a lot of Swedes who become almost like zombies during the winter months.

Anyway, after feeling like death warmed up last weekend, this week was the time to rebound and get things done. We had laid low last week, but we wanted to make sure we got out of the house a little this time around. We have had the most beautiful autumn weather, so we wandered over to the nearby farm and took advantage of such a pretty afternoon.




This is about a fifteen minute walk from our place and part of a lovely round route from the centre of town. It's hard to believe that we are so close to civilisation when you look at such an obvious rural landscape. This is quite a busy laneway with many pedestrians out for a scenic walk. The road winds along this farm and out to the shore of the lake, following the edge of the water before swinging back into town. It is very narrow and lined with trees, which can make it interesting when pedestrians and large trucks meet.




As you can see, it's quite a tight fit for the truck on its own and I wonder how he'd squeeze past in summer when the trees are sprouting with foliage. Funnily enough, the driver was still able to talk on his mobile phone. Which by the way is not illegal in Sweden.

One other thing that is striking in Sweden is the numbers of people you see out taking a walk. Young, old, men, women, children - they are all out getting some fresh air. And it is not only those walking - you see plenty of cyclists, horse riders, rollerbladers and even those on motorised wheelchairs! I mean, if he can be bothered getting rugged up and going out for a spin, then so can I.




We've also been looking around at the area immediately around Vadstena. There seem to be a lot of tiny hamlets, clusters of farmhouses and many, many churches no matter in which direction you choose to take. This is a view across the fields to the church at Fivelstad, perhaps about 8 kms away from our town. It's quite an imposing looking church, quite dominating the flat landscape around it.




While driving around we found some sheep out for a play. We first saw them sitting in a little covered shelter and it looked really funny. However, once we stopped the car and dug out the camera, they all came tearing out to see us, no doubt thinking we were the farmer come to feed them.




This little trio brought a big smile to my face as they reminded me of the childhood rhyme "Baas baa Black Sheep" and the three bags of wool. It's a little unusual to see sheep in Sweden. I've seen a few out on the archipelago in summer months and on the island of Gotland, but not so much on the mainland. Whether it is too cold and wet for them or there is some other reason, it seems they are not a popular farm animal. This is quite a contrast to what I was used to, with wool exports being one of Australia's big sources of income and sheep abounding on the open plains. While this trio are not the merinos I'm used to seeing, they were a nice reminder of home.




Not far from the sheep farm and nestled on a hill was yet another church. This one is at Hagebyhöga and dates from 1120. This entire region is well known for its churches and I intend to investigate them all in detail over time. I'm sure that they all have fascinating histories as there were great wars fought over the land around here between Swedish and Danish forces.




Our day would not be complete without a water view. While it is very sunny, it is also quite windy yet again. And as the wind is blowing from the west, we thought that a good place to see the waves roll in would be the area around Varamobaden, which is touted as Europe's longest lake sand beach. It is around three kilometres long, curving around a small bay and is incredibly popular in summer for swimming and windsurfing. But today, it was just us, the waves and a few gulls busy fishing. It provided the perfect spot for a light picnic lunch.




Who would have thought that I'd be out on a cold, windy day enjoying a picnic. Certainly not me, that's for sure. But I've found that one of the best ways to combat winter lethargy is to take every chance you can get to go out while its light. The rewards are a feeling of well-being when you get home, rushing inside to the welcome warmth and feeling flushed and energised. It's a great antidote to the winter blues in this cold, northern climate.

Another Australian living in a northern climate even more cold than Sweden (waves to Peter in Canada) sent me this video snippet. He mistakenly thought it was a Swedish group, but they are in fact Norwegian. They are Hurra Torpedo, the world's leading kitchen appliance rock group. You just have to love that! And they are here performing the old Bonnie Tyler hit Total Eclipse of the Heart in a way that is totally unique. It will bring a smile to your face, even as you bemoan the lack of light in your life!