I have just purchased a Tentipi Zirkon 15cp (15 person) tält kåta.
It comes in its own rucksack and weighs 19kgs.
You can set up the tipi on snow but first it must be compressed down (I used my snowshoes)
It took about 15 minutes for me to set up the tipi on my own
I plan to have an open fire when using the tipi
The vent at the top of the tipi can be opened to let out the smoke.
I am thinking to organise a Tentipi gathering here next year.
The sun appears above the horizon for about three hours at the moment. Here are some pictures of the sun rise in Nattavaara
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We have also had some really nice views of the full moon during the day. It took this picture at 13:30
We have at least 15 Willow Tit coming to our bird feeder, 11 Great Tit, 1 Blue Tit, 4 Northern Bullfinch, and 1 Siberian Tit (Lappmes in Swedish).
The temperature outside as I am writing this is -31 degrees C.
Emma was keen to see the Reindeer, so we set off to look for them, using her “spark”
Many people use these here. They have two thin metal runners and either a chair or basket on the front. Emma sits in the chair and I stand in the back and move the spark along the ice by pushing with my foot on the ground. You can move very quickly, but of course it doesn’t work in deep snow.
It was not long before we spotted the first Reindeer
As we sat quietly and watched the herd gradually moved closer and closer until they eventually crossed in front of us.
and more
We also had a very unexpected find while we were out……
Roe deer tracks!!
Emma wanted to travel further into the forest to look for animals so we headed off on the snowmobile.
I have now completed my new website. Learning to work with html code hasn’t been easy, but I am now happy with the look and content of the site.
I also have the first item for sale in our shop.
http://naturallore.com/shop.html
It’s a knife hand-made by me using my favorite blade
which is 8cms long and made by Leif Carlsson. Here is the knife and sheath.
I have made the knife handle from Reindeer horn and Birch bur, with Lapp leather between each piece. The sheath is also made from Lapp leather (half tanned Reindeer leather) and has my Natural Lore design on it.
I seem to have few opportunities to get out and about these days so the other afternoon I decided to go out in the forest and do some tracking, so I put on my snowshoes and headed out.
Very quickly I found fresh Reindeer tracks and droppings
There were some beautiful views as the sun was setting
but as the sun disappeared the temperature dropped to -23 degrees and my breath started freezing on my face
There were many Reindeer tracks in the snow as I walked
It was not long before I glimpsed the first Reindeer on the horizon
I quietly walked up behind a ridge and looked over
The animals quickly spotted me and were soon on the move, but I walked quietly and steadily behind them and eventually they stopped to rest and feed and they allowed me to get quite close unfortunately it was getting dark and difficult to hand hold the camera
After about 15 minutes they headed off deeper into the forest and I made my way back home.
Yesterday morning it was -28 degrees C as I drove into Gallivare at 8am. Unfortunately I did not have time to go out and take pictures, but here are three I took from the car.
This morning the temperature was -24 degrees and as I write this a 5:30pm the temperature is already down to -21. The daytime temperature is not going above -15 and with sunrise just before 9 and sunset at 3pm the days are getting much shorter!
We are about to put a woodburning stove in our house, so just before the snow arrived I was out in the forest harvesting wood from the land that we have.
The first task of course was to make fire
It was a very cold day so the coffee pot was cooking all the time
and of course it was nice to get warm by the fire
As I felled the trees I stacked the branches for use in shelter building
and the timber I have stacked against trees to dry and I will collect them with the snow mobile later in the winter
Some of the Pine I used to build a bed
I covered it with a layer of small Birch and then covered the Birch with a thick layer of Pine.
I was hoping to build a shelter over the bed before the snow came, but did not have time.
It’s now dark by 4pm but things are continuing to progress. I have just added pictures and text to my post about our new cabin http://naturallore.wordpress.com/2010/10/26/another-cabin/.
Our new website www.naturallore.com is now up and running and I have just published details of the first Sami course we are offering called Skin. wool and fur. The first five people booking on the courses will being staying in the above cabin.
I am also busy working on the cabin we have in the garden, to make it into a classroom for our craft courses, but more about that soon.
