I was finally able to get back into the shop today.

Last week was a pretty slow shop week. Izzy was sick the second half of the week, so I had to stay home with her. She’s feeling mostly better today, so I was able to get to the shop. Susanna’s car is still with the mechanic where they are trying to diagnose some sort of electrical problem (or declare the car dead), so it was back on the bus to Rottne with Hoagie. The bus schedule doesn’t give me many hours at the shop, but it does help me get some exercise walking to and from the bus stop. Plus it is better than being stuck at home.

Today I finished throwing together a bench to support the planer. I built the bench out of scraps so it is pretty ugly. But it works. I think I have enough of the workshop built out, so I’m in business. At least this week. Next week is winter sports break for Izzy, so I’ll be out of the shop for the week (but we are visiting Stockholm for a few days, so that will be a fun adventure).

Today the sun came out and it warmed up a little bit (though still below freezing). Izzy was finally feeling good enough to get outside for a short hike. So, this morning the whole family agreed to go for a hike (with some members less excited than the others). We walked downtown, caught the number 4 bus to Öjaby, and walked to Dragsåsen naturreservat. The nature reserve sticks out into Öjabyviken (Öjaby bay) in Helgasjön (Lake Helga). The lake is frozen and we passed an area where a family had shoveled the snow and was skating on the lake. Hopefully Izzy will get the opportunity to skate on a lake some year, it is a pretty cool experience.

A little farther down the path we found a place to walk out onto the lake. We explored a bit while Hoagie had a great time running around on the open ice. He loves running in the snow. Izzy was the most adventurous of us and walked on the ice a ways along the shore while the rest of us walked the path and while Hoagie ran like crazy up and down the trails and hills. If only we could live every moment as carefree and excited as Hoagie is when he is running through the woods.

After a short walk, we crossed the bridge to the southern most part of the nature reserve. The snow had piled fairly deep on that section of trail, so we decided to wait until warmer weather to explore it fully. At least the humans did. Hoagie was having a ton of fun running through the snow piles and he explored a lot more of the southern island than we did.

Overall it was one of the more scenic hikes I have done in the area. It was way more interesting than the loop at Hissö that Izzy and I did on another windy day earlier this winter. It is a very short hike (under a mile) and we spent a lot more time walking to and from the bus than we did walking the trail.