Last trip of the year....

November is the month to spend a weekend at Munch's Hideaway to pack up for winter, put the heating on low & drain the water system (so we don't arrive to burst pipes in spring).

We took a last trip to Jarvzoo & were treated to the wolves sunning themselves on the rocks....

This chap was also spotted in the forest close by....

....recognise him?

We found a stowaway in our luggage when we arrived. It appears from his holiday photos he had a great time....

Although it seems that he does have a bit of a drink problem!!!!!

Interesting shots!

Well to me anyway. A couple more gratuitous pictures of my better shots when out with my bow....

This next one should probably be titled "I suppose you think that's funny" or "How does your deer smell?.... Awful"!!!!



A moose is a fun guy (or fungi)!

Apologies to my loyal readers for neglecting this tome for some time, I have been rather busy of late with work & music. I have found time to visit Munch's Hideaway so I thought you may like to see what Mrs Labrador & I got up to.....
September was a great trip, the first time we had spent more than a few days in Sweden on our own. As well as the grass (which grows like no tomorrow) we had a spectacular array of fungi growing in the garden..

We visited Jarvzoo & the moose were out, mother & calf....

Our friend, Daniel Grenander was away at college during most of our visit so we combined a trip north to Ornskoldsvik & Harnosand with a visit. on the way we passed a great looking cafe with this wooden bear outside....

Tommy (Daniel's Dad) took us into the forest to pick mushrooms & we found we were soon able to recognise Kantarelles which Ewa (Daniel's Mum) cooked & we later ate, delicious!

Mrs Labrador & I also took a walk into the forest close to Munch's Hideaway & after we had walked for about an hour our path was crossed by a cow moose with her two calves. Unfortuntely we didn't have a camera (doh, lesson learnt there) so I've attached a photo from Ocklebo Moose Park - which we also visited....





Before I go loads of congratulations to Daniel on getting engaged to Annica & on the following additions to his family....

Spooky.........

Mrs Labrador's Halloween carving skills!

A tune up!

After a few months of somewhat hit & miss archery I decided that it was about time I spent some money (those of you who know me will understand just how painful this was for me) & have my bow properly tuned.

Bow tuning has always been a bit of a mystery to me, like alchemy. I'm afraid I'd be the one who turned base metal into "a nugget of finest green!" So off I went to Custom Built Archery near Mansfield with my bow, arrows & a wad of cash, the group below I think speaks for itself....

Bow tuned, arrows shortened, just need to adjust the pins now!

Some people you can't take anywhere............

Except back to apologise.........

It could have been worse Vic I could have posted a picture of your legs..............
Sarah x

More Mallett mayhem!

A few more pictures,

Everyone had a great time!

Mallett mayhem!

A few photos from a fantastc fortnight we had at Munch's Hideaway with our friends,

All of a quiver.......

rattling arrows, just what you want when you're stealthily walking through the woods!
Yes, that's what I thought so I added a keeper strap to my home-made quiver to keep the noise down.

For all you kit tarts out there the knife is a Fallkniven F1 with a firesteel in a left-handed custom sheath.

Orsjon

Orsjon, our local lake, part of the Ljusnan river &, from the restaurant at Orbaden, easily one of the best views in the area!
So I thought I'd share the view with you,

cool....... Enjoy

Hydrotherapy

For those of you who haven't met Rolo he is currently undergoing hydrotherapy for his displastic hips. This could present a bit of a problem in Sweden if there weren't so many fantastic lakes!

Feels great on a hot day!!!!!!!

Halsen......

a lake recommended to me by our friend Birger, a wild fish water that can & often does produce superb arctic char.
Mrs Labrador & I took a drive over to the lake to have a look,

it looked amazing, oozing "northern wilderness" from every surrounding tree. This is just the sort of water I love to fish so I returned with my Dad for a day's fishing. I fished from my float tube & Dad fished from the bank,

I only caught one perch (albeit a big one) on the fly & Dad unfortunately blanked - better luck next time!

....and on the way back......

We all visited Vaxbo,

 & Hosarbo!

Trono Kyrkan.....

We took Mum & Dad to Trono to look at the old & new churches, they are famous locally so I thought I'd post a few pictures of them!

First, the new church,

and a few pictures of the old church.

More Midsommar merriment!

Another tradition in Simea at Midsommar is for folk musicians to be taken around the village in a decorated carriage,

So I thought I'd share a picture of our good friends Daniel Grenander with Fia(?), Ulf Nilsson & his friend - who both play with the Gavle Symphony Orchestra - playing folk music on their violins & Ulf's daughters.

This is what making music is really all about, probably one of the most moving performances I have ever been priviledged to be at!

Mum, Dad & Midsommar.......

I picked Mum & Dad up from Vasteras a couple of days before Midsommar so they could spend the holiday with us.
Over to Mrs Labrador who has kindly agreed to write a words..............

Agreed, what he really means is this is the first time he's allowed me in his blog.
Also seen as it is to talk about the Midsommar food it is a case of
"woman know your place" 
...............in the kitchen


Think of Swedish food and most of you will mention meatballs, those of you with more Swedish knowledge will  also think of sill or as we know it herring.

Now no Swedish Midsommer feast is complete without the aforementioned fish.
Not a problem I hear you say you are in Sweden there will be loads of it.
Yes this is very true it comes in every conceivable form and flavouring you could care to mention
Most of it is raw but someof it is cooked, however none of this is any good if two out of your five feast participants hate fish one is not keen on fish and the two remaining  fish eaters don't like herring.........


But no excuses now.....
When in Sweden, do as the Swedes etc etc
So off I went to the store and bought a jar of herring in mustard sauce (hoping this may disguise the fishy taste and fool everyone........)

Photographic evidence of the 5 willing (ok 4 pressed) participants about to enjoy the herring washed down with the requisite schnapps


Well done to Martin and his Dad for managing to eat it although I must point out they did say now they had tried the mustard herring once they never wanted to eat it again so...........


Next year its Surströmming............
For those not in the know or who didn't see Jamie in Sweden Wiki describes this as
"the most putrid smelling food in the world"

There was a prize for the best midsommar crown - the last bit of herring...............

More critters (but less photos)........

Took a drive out to look at a couple of new lakes - Llussjon & Graningen. The lakes both looked fantastic, there was a chap in a float tube on Llussjon,

& Graningen reminded me of lakes I have fished in Canada,

As I drove through the forest on my way to Llussjon I looked into the trees & saw a cow moose & her calf,

After Llussjon a wolverine ran across the road in front of the car & finally, close to Graningen, I saw a big, furry, wobbly bum disappearing into the trees in front of the car, my first wild Swedish bear.  Unfortunately I didn't have a camera to hand so you'll have to take my word for it, Mrs Labrador is still not entirely convinced!

Less of a perch, more of an armchair!

Yes, you heard correctly, an armchair!
That's the best way I can describe my new Sparton Cruiser float tube.
I spent an afternoon casting gold-headed nymphs & mini-muddlers on Simmesjon. Paired with my diving fins the Sparton Cruiser is a revelation, very comfortable to fish from, much quicker moving through the water than my old round tube &, best of all, so much easier to get in & out of (especially when you need a pee)!

Here it is, one tricked out float tube.

No trout this trip but a dozen assorted perch all caught (& returned) on the fly!

Update!
The deer have returned too! A roe doe munched her way around the hay field behind Munch's Hideaway before settling down in the small stand of trees in the middle.

Wierd Poo - an update!

Well it's official, it's (most likely) BEAR POO!!!!!!!!!!!

Talking to our neighbours, they have confirmed that bears are regularly sighted close to "Munch's Hideaway", two females have been seen with cubs along with a couple of young males.

(Unfortunately these are not the culprits of the poo but two cubs playing in their enclosure at Jarvzoo in 2010).

June 2011

I know, you can't believe just how imaginative I can be when I title a new post. What can I do, I'm middle aged, bald & according to the "Hairy Bikers", I'm a master "wok smuggler"!
Well, we've been back to Munch's Hideaway for another month of relaxing, fishing, wildlife watching & doing a few chores.
Being the spontaneous & exciting guy that I am, the first thing I did when I got there was to cut the grass, in my defence I find it relaxing after two & a half days driving & like most blokes I enjoy tinkering with machinery (aka the mower).

I remembered my salt-lick block this time &, as luck would have it, when I sited it at the bottom of the garden I found this on a small birch close to where I've put the block.

To me it looked like a Roe had been rubbing velvet from his antlers & had scored the bark.

I thought I'd check out a new fishing spot & took a drive out to Bergtjarn,

Cool!

I also fitted some kevlar skid plates to the "Nice Beaver". I decided to fit these as the canoe is there for anyone visiting Munch's Hideaway to use.

Not the easiest thing to do but, with lots of help from Mrs Labrador, & a blowtorch we got the plates fitted. Just need to take out some West System epoxy & filler powder next year to smooth out the edges.