One of the nicer aspects of living in Sweden is having nature on your doorstep. With winter fast approaching we have taken to hanging out food for the birds and have been rewarded with a wide range of visitors. From the more common smaller birds, to walking-down-tree-upside-down-hiding-food-in-the-bark bird to a woodpecker that has taken a fancy to my balls of fat (had to be careful how I phrased that part – phew) Apparently there is a minx in the area, we know this as a dog owner ran to the newspapers upset when it attacked her dog, and we have seen signs of a beaver but not the creature itself.

Ducks can be found in plentifully quantities but I don’t really wish to bring those up for the comments it might result in. In a very blonde moment I was heard to inquire if ducks hibernated. Very stupid I admit. However I am willing to risk asking another daft question about these very same birds. At night, obviously being very tired, they stop chasing floated bits of stale bread, tuck their heads under their eiderdowns and float about asleep. Being night it tends to get cold, being Sweden make that very cold, and water being water it tends to freeze. So how do the ducks know it is safe to go to sleep with risking getting stuck in the water?

Yesterday, just outside our bedroom window we were privileged to be able to get a close up view of an owl. Sadly this proximity was more to do with the owl being dead than showing us some goodwill. The bird has now been taken to its final resting place in the forest. Upon recounting this tale to my mother she replied, “Why don’t you get it stuffed” – sorry have I missed something here? – “You could get it stuffed and have it in your sitting room, someone at work has, cost them 100 pounds mind, but you could” I think we decided to pass on the opportunity. At what point is it you start to worry about your parents?

Maybe its when you hear tales of them kidnapping teddy bears from the porters at their work. When they lay down plans of a military standard of how the bear will be required. Then spend time searching for a font than looks like newspaper clippings for the ransom note and snip off a little bit of fur to add to the effect. Maybe its when the ransom is set at only one bar of chocolate despite there being several kidnappers. Or maybe it’s when the said bear is returned before half the porters’ even notice the little fella was missing.

Whatever the answer, I feel Maria is getting a better understanding by the day the reasons I turned out the way I did.