It’s been a busy few days here at Alledal. There just has been so much to do. I’ve spent most of the last few days grubbing around in hedgerows trying to clear a fenceline ready for reattaching it to the electric fencing. The line is now clear. I’ve just got to add the isolators for another couple of strands of electric braid and the goats will have another paddock to clear. It’s another acre of brought back into cultivation at Alledal.

St. Martin’s Day is the 11 November and celebrates the life of  St. Martin of Tours. It is a tradition that found it’s way from France to Scandinavia via Germany. Here in Skåne it is celebrated with a goose dinner and any religious meaning has long since been forgotten, none of my Swedish friends knows anything about St. Martin himself. However being in Sweden it is traditionally celebrated on the eve of the day rather than on the day itself, I’m not sure why and none of my Swedish friends seem to have an explanation – it’s just the way it is, even Christmas is celebrated on the eve of the twenty-fourth rather than on the twenty-fifth which is more normal to me.

The skies have been full of wild geese for the last couple of days. I drove Steph down to the station on Wednesday and there were literally hundreds of them huddled down in the fields. As they fly overhead their strange alien honking reverberates. You can hear them way before you can see them. It’s strange the sound seems to come from everywhere and nowhere, it’s very difficult to get a fix on their direction.

At this time of year every Swedish church yard turns into a sea of light when Swedes commemorate their dearly departed, laying wreaths and lighting lanterns and candles on their graves. The Day of the Dead or as it’s more properly known All Saint’s Day is celebrated on the last weekend in October or the first weekend in November. The tradition, which became customary during the 1900s, has evolved from two different traditions: All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day.

We couldn’t have asked for more even the weather cooperated. The much anticipated visit of my parents has now passed and I can honestly say it was better than I hoped. Almost prefect autumnal days gave a backdrop to the first visit of my parents to Alledal. It was a whirlwind tour of some of our favourite places in Skåne and it seemed to go down very well indeed.