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Saturday, 28 February 2015
Thursday, 26 February 2015
Wednesday, 25 February 2015
Digging Rings
Ok, so it wasn't exactly sunny today, but with spring quickly approaching, you've got to take advantage of the snow-free days. Cat and I were on digging duty today and boy did the rocks make us feel special... The size of the holes that these lovelies leave behind are actually making it a bit tricky to build mounds of our deep beds. We've only got so many twigs and compost.
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| Trophy rock |
The good thing is that we've got plenty of material for a stone wall and stone paths between the beds. Like Monty Python sang, always look on the bright side of life.
After 3 hours of digging, we finally finished our first bed. All in all, it probably took us 3 days of digging 3-4 hours a pop.
After that kind of workout, the rings in the garage provide a great stretch. I'm looking forward to the day when I don't feel like a broken woman after a bit of digging.
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Monday, 23 February 2015
Poor weather for digging
Thursday, 19 February 2015
Wednesday, 18 February 2015
Tuesday, 17 February 2015
The pile just poked me in the eye. The country is a dangerous workplace. #paulssonpaleo
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Sunday, 15 February 2015
Hard Labour
So, the first week in Sweden has been pretty energised. Apart from getting used to living in a completely different, even alien environment, we have kept ourselves busy by jumping head first into some essential manual labour. This comes part of the package when you live fairly remotely and have a bit of land to look after.
First job was to cut back and clear any debris, such as twigs, branches and trees from the electric fence that surrounds our property. Presently, this is used to stop unwanted creatures in, i.e. the wild boar! They have been burrowing in one of the fields, so keeping the fence live to prevent entry is key. This job gradually turned into a tree felling exercise, so brandishing a saw we started to remove some of the trees that were too close to the fence. Fun! We still have a way to go but the pile of logs is pretty big and should make for a good Easter bonfire celebration.
Second job was to start thinking about the Produce Garden. This is a key element of our self-sufficiency plans and we want to be ready to transplant the seeds and seedlings come the beginning of April. We agreed on a perfect location; slightly sloping ground facing south and within close distance from the house. We set out the beds in 7.5m x 1.5m bays and started to dig. The actual technical term is 'double digging' but we'll go into more detail on that in another post. Anyway, this turned out to be really hard work, as the top layer, just beneath the surface was littered with large stones and the odd boulder. We persevered and reached halfway along the bed. Unfortunately the weather turned for the worse, so we will be hitting it hard again this coming week when the freezing rain disappears.
All in all a good first week and the sign of times to come, my body has that satisfied achey feeling all over. Bring it on!
First job was to cut back and clear any debris, such as twigs, branches and trees from the electric fence that surrounds our property. Presently, this is used to stop unwanted creatures in, i.e. the wild boar! They have been burrowing in one of the fields, so keeping the fence live to prevent entry is key. This job gradually turned into a tree felling exercise, so brandishing a saw we started to remove some of the trees that were too close to the fence. Fun! We still have a way to go but the pile of logs is pretty big and should make for a good Easter bonfire celebration.
Second job was to start thinking about the Produce Garden. This is a key element of our self-sufficiency plans and we want to be ready to transplant the seeds and seedlings come the beginning of April. We agreed on a perfect location; slightly sloping ground facing south and within close distance from the house. We set out the beds in 7.5m x 1.5m bays and started to dig. The actual technical term is 'double digging' but we'll go into more detail on that in another post. Anyway, this turned out to be really hard work, as the top layer, just beneath the surface was littered with large stones and the odd boulder. We persevered and reached halfway along the bed. Unfortunately the weather turned for the worse, so we will be hitting it hard again this coming week when the freezing rain disappears.
All in all a good first week and the sign of times to come, my body has that satisfied achey feeling all over. Bring it on!
Found a lagoon. Just need a few more degrees on the thermometer and I'll be swimming in it. ❤️ #paulssonpaleo
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Saturday, 14 February 2015
Saturday, 7 February 2015
Eating It All/ Här Käkar Vi Allt
As you may know by now, we're fans of using all the odd bits of the animals that we eat. The same goes for the veg. I was especially proud of this evening's side dish:
What is it? The leaves of two cauliflowers, fried with copious amounts of onions, ghee and spices. Enough as a side dish for five hungry people, plus leftovers. We're saving the actual cauliflowers for some cauli rice tomorrow. Cheap but oh so cheerful food, check!
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| Sorry, not my best pic... |
****SVENSKA****
Jag predikar ju jämt om att vi ska käka hela djuret. Detsamma gäller ju givetvis även grönsakerna som vi äter. Jag är speciellt stolt över middagens tillbehör. Jag tog blasten från två blomkålshuvuden och stekte den med en massa lök, ghee och kryddor. Det räckte som tillbehör till fem hungriga personer, samt rester. Vi sparar blomkålshuvudena till morgondagens blomkålsris. Riktigt nöjd med mig själv och min påhittighet. ;-)
Friday, 6 February 2015
Sprinting Like An Elf/ Lufsar Som Ett Troll
Now that the move is essentially done, I want to get some more vigorous exercise into my daily regimen again. Apart from spending an inordinate amount of time lugging boxes and cleaning hinges with toothpicks, I've done very little PROPER exercise in the last 3 months. I don't count the daily postural therapy as exercise really, because I've hated every single second of it despite it being necessary to correct my posture... (I'm not sure a PT should admit to hating exercise, but this particular brand of it took the boredom biscuit).
Anyhow, the time has come to start running again, so that's what I did. Bliss!
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| Flared nostrils = excited by the prospect of sprinting like an elf through the woods |
***SVENSKA***
Nu när flytten i princip är avklarad är jag sugen på att få in lite mer flås i mitt liv. De senaste tre månaderna har främst inneburit en massa kartongkånkande och städning och VÄLDIGT lite gammal hederlig motion å styrka. Jag räknar INTE min dagliga posturalterapi till detta, eftersom jag av någon anledning verkligen avskytt den. (Jag vet inte om en personlig tränare borde medge att man inte gillar att träna, men just den här formen var extra trist, om än nödvändig för min hållning).
Iallafall, det är dags att dra på löpardojorna igen! Hurra!
Cat running off into the wilderness. ❤️ Cattis springer ut i djungeln. #paulssonpaleo #functionaltraining #paleo #primal
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Thursday, 5 February 2015
Carrot Spaghetti
Serves 4.5
Four large carrots, cut into spaghetti with a julienne peeler
One stick of celery, sliced thinly
10cm leek, sliced thinly
Handful of chopped butternut squash
Handful of cashew nuts
1 clove of garlic, chopped
Thyme
Salt
Pepper
Ghee (or other fat)
Fry celery, leek, butternut squash in ghee until soft, put to one side. Then using the same pan, fry cashew nuts, carrots and garlic, adding spices to taste and adding more fat if needed. Fold in the other vegetables once the carrots have the consistency of cooked spaghetti. Done! Serve with for example baked salmon.
Excitement at Paulsson Paleo HQ
It doesn't take much to get us excited... The sun is shining again after a few days of clouds and our seeds arrived!
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| Paulsson Paleo HQ aka Breared Kannesten |
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| Long walk with sleeping baby |
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| The seeds finally arrived! |
Wednesday, 4 February 2015
Walkabout In Simlångsdalen
I needed a bit of "me time" today, so I went off on my own this morning. The woods around here are seemingly endless, with loads of trails to discover. So far I've walked a few of the marked trails around our place, straying into the undergrowth a few times with the help of the GPS.
Trailing off into the undergrowth is perhaps not the wisest thing given that it's still hunting season, but I'm hoping they'll spot my red ski jacket before they shoot...
I'm keen to familiarise myself with the surroundings, so that I can share the magic of this place with our friends, family and other guests in the future. I'm starting with the roads and marked trails to get comfortable enough to find my own unmarked paths. The season is ideal for this "exercise", as the leafless trees and snowy ground make it easier to get a feel for the terrain.
My favourite part of the woods is and will probably always be the river and its waterfalls. I can't wait to discover all its twists and turns!
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| Trail art. The red dot with attitude. |
I'm keen to familiarise myself with the surroundings, so that I can share the magic of this place with our friends, family and other guests in the future. I'm starting with the roads and marked trails to get comfortable enough to find my own unmarked paths. The season is ideal for this "exercise", as the leafless trees and snowy ground make it easier to get a feel for the terrain.
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| Spot the river! And what may or may not be an island... Oooh, the suspense! |
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| Part of the "Danish Falls": legend has it some Danish soldiers fell into the river here in the 1600s |
Tuesday, 3 February 2015
I'm Coffee: Alpha is a genius. ❤️ I'm Coffee: den där Alpha vet vad han pysslar med. #paulssonpaleo
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Monday, 2 February 2015
Practicing my fine motor skills. ❤️ Övar på finmotoriken. #paulssonpaleo
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Friday, 30 January 2015
Thursday, 29 January 2015
Planning for Spring
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| View from the window… brr! |
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| Warm and cozy pepper seeds |
There isn't too much actual doing at the moment, but we have started tentatively with peppers, as they take a long time to grow: three yellow peppers, three red peppers and three chillies are in a little greenhouse on the kitchen window sill. We also decided to test out growing some seeds in a colder environment, so three red peppers and three chillies moved out into the stables, where there is a balmy 8 degrees. Brr!
Monday, 26 January 2015
Organizing the freezer. Sorta. ❤️ Frysorganiseringsförsök. Kladdigt. #paulssonpaleo
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Meat muffins! Beef liver and lamb mince. ❤️ Köttmuffins! Nötlever och lammfärs. #paulssonpaleo
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Liver pâté in the making. ❤️ Leverpastej på g. #paulssonpaleo #grassfed #paleo #primal
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Saturday, 24 January 2015
First week in Sweden. #movetoSWE
Our first full week in Sweden is coming to an end and
unfortunately for me, I return to the UK tomorrow for two weeks, to tidy up
some loose ends at work.
Time has flown by but we have accomplished a lot in
the few days we have been here. The house and location are far better than I
remember when we came to view the property for the first time back in late
September.
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| #movetoSWE |
Firstly, the location is really secluded, we are
enclosed on all sides by a dense forest of pine trees, but due to the
undulating topography we have a good vantage point. This meant for the first
few days, we did not see any other beings - a bit strange coming from London
and probably the hardest thing to get used to. It is incredibly peaceful and
the best bit is that we can walk out of our front door and have no-end of
trails to walk, run, and cycle on and lakes, streams, waterfalls to swim in (in
the summer of course). Perfect!
The house is large, which it needs to be to fit us all
in. Bringing everyone together means that we have a lot of stuff. The week has
been boxes and paper galore, unpacking and repacking, sorting and discarding,
moving up and down, and trying to understand the technical aspects of working
with a heating system off-grid. We are all getting used to its peculiarities
and I am sure it will become second nature very soon, still, firing up the wood
burning stove in the morning so we can cook breakfast feels very liberating.
We are really looking forward to settling in further,
starting to plan for the next few months ahead, meeting more of the locals and
understanding what makes this place tick. For me, I think it is going to take a
while for Breared to feel like home and not a holiday location, but I reckon
once the hard work begins and we start to stamp our mark on the place, we are
going to have so much fun seeing it evolve and having family and friends stay.
Follow my instagram
feed @nomispohsib and #movetoSWE for photographic updates.
Little carnivore, big bones, endless chewing fun. ❤️ Liten köttätare, stora ben, härligt tuggmotstånd. #paulssonpaleo #paleo #primal
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Thursday, 22 January 2015
Tuesday, 20 January 2015
Meat on a Budget / Budgetkött
Dinner was a bit unconventional today: beef tongue. We're constantly on the lookout for cheap cuts of meat and tongue is up there with heart and liver. The flavour is reminiscent of salt beef, consistency slightly more compact.
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| Leave the handling to the less squeamish family members |
The recipe went something like this (my friend Anna kindly provided the base :-)):
1.3 kg beef tongue (from a grass fed, happy cow)
20-30 black peppercorns
10 bay leaves
2-3 tablespoons of salt
Sliced carrots, onions, garlic and fresh ginger (this is where I went off on a tangent...)
Cold water to cover the tongue
Add the tongue and spices to a sauce pan, cover with water. Bring to a boil. Let simmer for 2 hours, occasionally turning the tongue if it is not wholly covered. Let cool until you can handle it with your hands and take off the skin. You may have to use a sharp knife. Cut the tongue in half (one half being the tip of the tongue). Put the two pieces in a clean sauce pan and cover with the strained fluid, plus 3 more tablespoons of salt. Let rest for 2-3 days in a cool place, preferably longer.
Slice the bigger piece thinly and serve with mash and a spicy mustard or garlic mayonnaise.
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| In this format it is easier to pretend it's just salt beef |
Chop the tip of the tongue into small pieces to add to soup, broth, omelette, etc (it is slightly tougher).
Next time I think we'll try to cure the tongue for a week before boiling, to make saltier.
***PÅ SVENSKA***
Idag blev det tunga till middag. Kändes sådär lagom udda, och gott! Vi letar ständigt efter mer förmånliga köttdetaljer och tunga är ungefär i samma prisklass som lever och hjärta. Smakar ungefär som rostbiff/ salt beef, med lite mer tuggmotstånd.
Receptet jag använde löd på ett ungefär så här (baserat på min vän Annas recept):
1,3 kg nöttunga (helst från en glad och gräsbetande kossa)
20-30 pepparkorn
10 lagerblad
2-3 msk salt
Skivad morot, lök, vitlök och färsk ingefära (här började jag visst bli lite extra kreativ, förlåt Anna...)
Kallt vatten för att täcka tungan
Lägg tunga och övriga ingredienser i en kastrull, täck med vatten. Koka långsamt i två timmar, vänd tungan då och då. Låt tungan svalna på skärbräda tills du kan dra av/ skära av skinnet. Dela på mitten i en tjock och en tunn del (tungspetsen). Lägg bitarna i en ren kastrull och slå över det silade spadet plus 3 ytterligare matskedar med salt. Låt stå svalt i 2-3 dagar, gärna längre.
Skiva den större biten i tunna skivor och servera med rotmos och en stark senaps-/vitlöksmajonnäs.
Hacka tungspetsen i små små bitar och ät i soppa, buljong, omelett, osv.
Nästa gång tror jag vi testar ett tvärtomrecept och rimmar köttet i en vecka innan vi kokar det, för att få en saltare smak.
5 grown-up cups of broth today. ❤️ Idag behöver vi fem vuxenkoppar till buljongen. #paulssonpaleo
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Sunday, 18 January 2015
Skinless sausages. Meatballs are so yesteryear. ❤️ Varför göra köttbullar när man kan göra skinnlösa korvar. #paulssonpaleo #lindegrens
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Article in "Faktum", whoop! ❤️ Artikeln i Faktum, hurra! #paulssonpaleo #faktum
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Monday, 12 January 2015
Sunday, 11 January 2015
Update on the Hippies
*ENGLISH*
The last two months have entailed sitting in a car for an hour and a half each day, moving one carload at a time. We've had to fire up the furnace each day in the new house as well as sort out a load of things before being able to move in properly. Now that the floors are ready, we're ready to move the big stuff and start living in the new house. It's about time, too, as the London posse are getting their one-way tickets a-ready in about a week. Surreal is the word for the day! I guess you could say that the plan is starting to come together.
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| Random stuff that one has to sift through when moving (imagine running with this on your hip...) |
*SVENSKA*
Till alla våra fanatiska följare (mamma, dåra...), ni får ursäkta Instagram-flödet på bloggen de senaste månaderna. Jag hade aldrig kunnat tro att den här flytten skulle ta så mycket energi! Jag sover typ tio timmar varje natt, men är ändå ett vrak. Och jag som inte ens har barn, djur, ett "riktigt" jobb eller några andra ursäkter. Svagt, jag vet. Stackars mina föräldrar, då...
De senaste två månaderna har inneburit körning fram och tillbaka till Simlångsdalen för att flytta "småsaker", elda (nymodigt värre) samt fixa en massa annat inför inflyttning. Nu när golven är färdiga så kan vi köra de stora grejerna och flytta in på riktigt. Det börjar liksom brinna i knutarna, eftersom resten av klanen anländer om ca en vecka. Det känns helt surrealistiskt att det här verkligen händer! Vi ska bli storfamilj!
Friday, 9 January 2015
Fond Farewells
It almost feels like a family tradition to have leaving drinks at The Remedy, so last night I introduced the lovely Emily to the best wine bar in London.
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| Great chat, delicious wine, meat and cheese. |
Thursday, 8 January 2015
Getting nerdy. Swedish Native Poultry Club. ❤️ Nu nördar vi ner oss. Svenska Lanthönsklubben. #paulssonpaleo
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Wednesday, 7 January 2015
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