After a long, dry and hot summer where temperatures went up to 36 degrees in our area, fall has arrived a couple of weeks ago with quite different temperatures. Yesterday it was the first time the grass was a bit frozen in the morning.

Almost three months our garden looked like this. It sometimes made me feel more like living on Crete than in Sweden 😉

What did we do this summer….well, we worked hard for our Somali’s to save a part of the garden for them, so they could enjoy the outdoor life again, like they were used in Holland. We aren’t very experienced handymen ;-)) and we had to deal with some special problems like the very stony surface and the fact that the garden is not really flat. But within about a month we fixed something quite nice for them and everybody is very happy with it.

Because of the stones just under the surface we had to fix the posts on concrete.

Best time for work was late afternoon and in the evening, than there was shadow! The sun is amazingly intense in Sweden, between 11 and 5 it was mostly impossible to work in the full sun.

By mid August everthing was fixed, including electric fencing on top. No worries, they don’t get really hurt when they touch it, and after one try they already know and don’t try again

Time to explore!

The drained pond seemed to be an interesting place, and they still like it.

Zaina was happy to have the lodge back again. One of her favourite places to relax.

View from my room 🙂

Like I told in my previous post we were waiting for Verona to get in heat around half July. Well, she did, exactly half July. I decided to wait for the next heat because we were still so busy at that time with unpacking, the emigration administration etc. . Also Verona did have the pill for little two months wich is not very good for the uterus, so mostly I prefer to wait for the second heat after stopping the pill so the uterus can recover.
I was about 99% sure that her next heat would be around the end of July because she always has her heats every two weeks…….yes, always…, exept when you relay on it of course, haha. So we waited the whole summer…untill finally last week. But, unlike the very strong heat in July, this one was just so and so, and Ganna was hardly interested. So now we have to wait untill the next…I hope it doesn’t take two months again, but I can only wait and hope…

No doubt they do love eachother ❤


And then of course our worry child Zaina. Her problem with the chronic cold has increased again over the last month. We can hear and see that sometimes it’s not very comfortable for her. That makes one think of course…you don’t want her to suffer. But she still has such a good appetite, she even gained weight in July! I’m surprised by this good appetite because cats eat with their nose and it’s obvious that Zaina’s sense of smell must be disturbed. So brave Zaina! Also she still loves to hug and she goes for a walk in the garden. So we think her life is still ok. But we realise that this winter will become difficult for her…let’s hope she makes it and we can celebrate her sixteenth birthday next spring ❤

John with our brave girl ❤