Writer: Helena Bergström
Winter this year is still fantastic! I understand that not everyone likes the cold, but when you get cold, it’s nice to have sun and snow. In Stockholm we are used to short episodes of winter fairy tales, but this year it goes on, and on…
Houseboat life – and replacing the heating cable
Many people wonder if we are cold on our houseboat, but that is not the case. We have underfloor heating, an element and air heat pump, and a stove if we want to encourage that. However, the cold still brings certain challenges. We sweep the gangway, we salt around the gangway wheels and we chop ice around the boat.
Last Friday we told you about the power outage we had. A little while later we realized that we needed to replace the heating cable at the inlet, so we had to bring a plumber in. We then had to turn off the water to the entire jetty (about 20 houseboats) for one morning – yes, that’s what living on a houseboat is like!
What is also interesting to know about our houseboat marina is that the ducks do well here. They love swimming and in our marina there is plenty of open water thanks to the large propellers that keep the water moving.
Winter – with people on the ice
People love to walk on the ice, that’s right! We see them all day long, both from the window of the houseboat and when we walk. The ice is thick now, definitely! At the same time, it is a bit scary here in the city center: there are many sensitive areas with inlets, outlets, drains and gutters where icebreakers run every now and then. And yes people, sometimes walk through the ice!
We get a little nervous looking at the people on the ice… We just want to: Keep an eye on the status of the ice, take ice spikes with you, don’t go alone…!
Inspiration for Kenya
Traveling from the Swedish winter to the warmth of Kenya may seem far, but after all we only traveled to the Kenyan embassy. Here we listened to the ambassador, and also met several representatives from different hotels and operators in Kenya. If we got inspired? Certainly!
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It has been many years since we visited Kenya, but that is where our fascination with the African continent began. Beautiful nature, fantastic wildlife, exciting culture and wonderful people!
This week: Thankful for…
This week we are especially grateful that we managed to get the heating cable at the inlet in order – extremely important for us! What are you grateful for this week…?
Next week
We’ve been hanging out in Stockholm for a while, but soon it’s time to leave for Spain. We will tell you more soon! For now we wish you a happy Friday and weekend!
Did you miss last Friday’s blog? Read Houseboat power outage – and other things that happened this week
#Fridays #blog #Sweden #winter #Kenya #inspiration