It’s been a little quiet here lately. The days have flown by as we’ve tried to take in all the new impressions. We’ve now been living in Skåne for a month, and we continue to be amazed by how different life is compared to what we were used to before. So here’s a look at some highlights from our first month.

The New House

The biggest question mark from the very beginning was, of course, the house. How would we feel about living in a home we’d never actually seen in person? A home we’d bought based solely on a virtual viewing?

The answer: we absolutely love it.

The photos didn’t exactly lie—they just showed about a third of the reality. The house feels enormous, and we’re really enjoying having so much space. No one has to shout, “Could you move over so I can get past?” in the hallway anymore. We can even be in the kitchen at the same time, each doing completely different things, without risking being run over by a saucepan or a toaster. That alone feels like a whole new level of quality of life.

And the ceiling height… it’s incredible. The rooms are already huge, but with these high ceilings they feel absolutely gigantic. Then there are the windows—large, plentiful, and perfectly positioned to let in light from every direction. When the sun is shining, the entire house is flooded with daylight, and even on cloudy days it feels bright and airy. With six windows in the living room and four in the kitchen, it doesn’t take long to realise that replacing the curtains one day won’t be cheap.

If the previous owners hadn’t left behind quite a bit of furniture and various bits and pieces, it probably would have felt like living in a gymnasium. Instead, it feels like we’ve been given a comfortable starting point, with plenty of room to make the house our own over time. We’re incredibly grateful for that.

Looking back, we probably should have realised we’d bought a stone house rather than a wooden one. We are in Skåne after all. But somehow that never crossed our minds, so now we need to buy wall plugs and a new set of masonry drill bits before we can hang anything on the walls.

And then there are the remaining outbuildings, with even more enormous spaces waiting to be filled. Honestly, I think that’s going to take quite a while. More updates about the house and the outbuildings will definitely be coming.

Caspian

The house also came with Caspian – the true master of the property. He’s slowly started to accept us, but he’ll let us know very loudly if we fail to serve food that’s up to his standards. In short, he’s simply the king of the house!

The Downsides

There are a few things that aren’t quite as perfect as we’d hoped.

The spiders. Good grief, I honestly wonder if they’re radioactive. I’m absolutely terrified of them, and I’m already dreading the day I have to clean the outside of the windows. (They live there, I swear.)

Ticks: Caspian brought home the very first one, closely followed by Annika, who somehow managed to get one attached to her backside. So far, I’ve successfully avoided them myself, mostly by wisely assigning the entire tick-removal mission to Pär. You have to work smarter, not harder.

The lack of small birds: You know that idyllic birdsong you imagine hearing when you step outside on an early morning? Instead, we’re greeted by crows and pigeons. I can tell you, it’s nowhere near as charming as listening to bullfinches. To make matters worse, they tend to arrive in large flocks, making it feel more like Hitchcock’s The Birds than a peaceful countryside experience. The only upside so far is that I haven’t seen a woodpecker yet.

Everything Is Close By

Everything around us is incredibly convenient. It’s only five minutes to Hyllinge, where you’ll find Jula, Bauhaus and ICA Maxi. Väla, with IKEA, Hornbach and more shops than anyone could possibly need, is just fifteen minutes away. During our first few weeks, our step counters got quite the workout as we ran around buying furniture, groceries and everything in between. Who needs a gym membership when you’ve just moved to Skåne?

My biggest challenge so far has been getting Pär out of the tool departments at Bauhaus and Hornbach. He’s stood there with tears of pure joy in his eyes, admiring the selection, moving slower than a bargain hunter during the Boxing Day sales while carefully inspecting every electrical fitting and plumbing connector he could get his hands on. Personally, I think the garden centre deserves a much higher priority, but apparently we’re not entirely on the same wavelength there.

On top of that, we’ve apparently discovered “the mother of all Thai grocery stores” in Bjuv. Within less than a kilometre, you can find just about everything you could ever want. As Pär put it:

Have We Started Gardening Yet?

One of the very first things I wanted to do was visit Jeppas Trädgård, which was having a sale on plants. That meant a trip to northeastern Skåne, and the landscape changed dramatically the closer we got to Småland. Flat farmland gave way to rolling hills, stone walls, and roads winding beneath leafy tree canopies. I can absolutely understand why the roads become slippery once the leaves start falling. Perhaps that also explains why people in southern Sweden seem to drive off the road the moment it snows?

I came home with pear, cherry, lemon, banana, and peach trees, as well as two grapevines that cost next to nothing. I would happily have bought even more, but then I realised I don’t actually know where to plant them—or even how to take care of them. To be honest, I don’t even recognise all the trees already growing on the property, and Google Image Search has been anything but helpful.

I’ve also discovered that Facebook Marketplace and just about every garden centre seem to have the same kind of clearance sales. It’s absolutely crazy! You almost start stressing over all the bargains that “simply have to come home” with you. Maybe I don’t actually need more plants—maybe I just need more land?

Helsingborg

It actually took us two weeks before we had time to visit Helsingborg itself. I didn’t really have any expectations of what the city would be like, so it turned out to be a very pleasant surprise. Helsingborg is charming in every way. Ferries shuttle constantly across to Helsingør in Denmark, and I was genuinely surprised by just how close it is. You can barely finish your beer before you’ve arrived.

The Øresund Strait is much narrower than I’d ever imagined, and suddenly the local tradition of “tura” made perfect sense. It’s when people hop on the ferry, sail back and forth without ever getting off, and use the trip as an excuse to enjoy a few beers at much friendlier prices. We haven’t tried it ourselves yet, but I strongly suspect it’s only a matter of time.

From what little we’ve seen so far, Helsingborg is full of cobbled streets, cosy restaurants and little independent shops that make you want to wander around for hours. We simply haven’t had much time to explore yet. But everything we’ve seen so far has been absolutely charming, and I have a feeling we’ve only scratched the surface.

A town square we’re not entirely sure about, but it’s probably something interesting. To be continued…
Little David standing on Goliath’s head
We found a local hot dog stand. That definitely needs to be tested.
Outdoor dining beneath a canopy of trees

Exploring the House and the Surroundings

There’s so much to take in. So many new impressions. We’re discovering the house one section at a time, slowly but surely. Pär has already managed to climb onto the roof and crawl into the crawl space beneath the house. I’ve wisely stayed at ground level. The roof is a little too high for my liking, and the crawl space is so full of spiders that even horror movie directors would be jealous. Good thing I made sure Pär is insured, because if he gets stuck down there in the spider kingdom, I’m certainly not crawling in to rescue him.

View from the roof, Spiders everywhere

What About the Chickens?

Of course I’ve already started my first hatch!

We took a trip to visit Mika in Lund, who kindly gave us a tour of her farm. We tasted fresh figs for the very first time, along with tiny grapes picked straight from the vine. They were absolutely delicious! What a luxury.

Mika generously shared her advice on keeping chickens in Skåne, and I even came home with a few hatching eggs. If everything goes according to plan, I should have a flock of tiny chicks by the end of next week. I can’t wait!

Malmö

This week I took a trip to Malmö and spent some time wandering around the city. It couldn’t have shown itself from a better side—the weather was absolutely gorgeous! After more than 11,000 steps I’d managed to explore quite a bit. I saw the bridge (from a distance), the bright green water (I still have no idea why it’s green), Turning Torso, and found all sorts of delicious food along the way. I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised.

Turning Torso, Green water, Fantastic food, The bridge to Denmark in the background

Ullared

After realising that Ullared is only about an hour and a half away, I came to the obvious conclusion (and by I, I naturally mean me) that we simply had to go. We needed to stock up on supplies, and everyone says it’s so cheap.

It turned out to be a terrible idea.

Even though we arrived as soon as the doors opened, shopping there felt more like driving bumper cars at an amusement park than browsing a department store. You had no idea whether anything was actually a bargain, and the selection wasn’t nearly as impressive as we’d expected. Honestly, it mostly felt like a Dollarstore on steroids.

We somehow managed to leave having spent less than 4,000 SEK, which I suppose counts as a victory. The downside? There was a garden centre outside that relieved me of another 2,000 SEK. I’ve come to the conclusion that life is rarely simple.

The real reward of the trip, however, was getting to see Halland. I won’t repeat the conversations we had in the car—they’d reveal just how little attention we paid in geography class—but I can tell you that apparently there can be two places called Båstad. One on each side of the country. At least, that’s entirely possible according to us.

Hallandsåsen,Road junction on the way to Ullared. Arriving at the chaos of Ullared. Garden centre treasures

In Summary

We’re incredibly happy, but also a little overwhelmed by everything that’s new. We’ll try to update the blog more often from now on, sharing everything we discover—from spiders that scare the life out of me to Pär getting hopelessly stuck in the tool department at Bauhaus.

The house, the garden, and everything around us feel like one continuous adventure, and every single day brings new little surprises. We never quite know what’s waiting around the next corner, but one thing is certain:

Life is never boring here.