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Trekking pole fishing rod.

Since last writing I have been at the cabin a few times.

We had a pleasant evening baking bannock twists over the fire with different fillings.

I have been out in my boat fishing but caught nothing, Black-throated Divers seemed to do much better.

I decided to hike to a stream

Where I have previously caught Grayling.

I did not carry a fishing rod but had a small fishing kit that I carry in my pocket.

My pocket fishing kit

I attached a length of line to the end of my trekking pole using a constrictor knot and fished with an assortment of flies.

Fishing with a trekking pole

Unfortunately I had no bites at all but I did see some Reindeer,

Forest Reindeer

There were some nice colours in the vegetation.

And a nice sunset.

Norrbotten sunset

I also collected Club-moss

Clubb-moss

To obtain the spores which I use for treating sores and fungal infections.

With Blueberries that I had also gathered, I made a Blueberry flapjack.

The back side of the cabin has started sinking, so I have had to add some more support blocks under.

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Below zero

Last night the temperature dropped to – 1 and this morning the grass was covered with frost.

Last weekend I was alone at the cabin. I altered the water pump hose so the I could move the water to the veranda.

This means that water is just outside the door when needed

It was a warm clear night, so I slept out in my hammock.

It still doesn’t get completely dark here yet.

For breakfast I made bacon and egg sandwiches with Chaga tea.

We have no permanent washing line, so I made one.

When not required, the line can be hung on a wooden peg that I have driven in to a Birch tree and the clothes prop can be hung up in the same tree.

On Saturday evening I fried burgers and deep fried potatoes.

I also spent quite a bit of time fishing, but caught nothing.

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It’s been a busy time.

I’ve been very busy recently. I have finally completed work on the cabin that we have near our house.

We have had problems with our house foundations moving and causing cracks in the walls. We suspect this is caused by the extreme temperatures during the winter causing the ground to expand and contract. To try and remedy the problem I have had to dig around the foundations and lay sheets of fibreglass against the floor beams to prevent soil collapsing in under the house.

And then I have laid sheets of polystyrene insulation against them.

I discovered that the entrance to our house has been built directly on concrete slabs which may explain why we have problems with opening and closing the door during the winter. I have had to remove altan in front of the door to get the slabs out

And place fibreglass sheets and polystyrene under there also. We will see if it helps.

At the cabin I have built a little pump house for our new pump.

We have also been on holiday to Lycksele where we visited a zoo and amusement park.

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First time in a helicopter.

We have been busy recently as I am currently on weeks holiday from work.

Myself and Kelly made a trip to the mountains where we fished,

Hiked

Travelled in a boat

And we flew in a helicopter, which was the first time for both of us.

We spent some time with my friend Tommy, fishing at his cabin.

We have also spent time at our cabin enjoying the hot weather

Cooking food over an open fire

I made a simple game for Kelly out of a saw-horse and a tyre. She had to throw a football through the tyre.

I have also been teaching Kelly to row.

And we have installed running water in the toilet 😁😉 A baked bean tin with a small hole towards the bottom so that when you fill the tin with water, it runs gently out, so that you can wash your hands.

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Water pump

We recently purchased a small petrol driven water pump for the cabin, so that we do not have to go down to the lake every time we need water.

To keep the hose in place in the lake I have tied a weight to the end of a piece of rope and attached a float 1,5 metres up from the weight with the hose attached at the same position.

The pump works very well

I have also built a platform for a 200 litre water butt to stand on, which we can then fill with water.

I made pizza in fire embers

Fried pizza dough rolls

And fried meatballs and potatoes.

Kelly and I have also Ben hiking on a local mountain.

In the middle of May I woke up at 3am on morning and heard a Wryneck singing outside my bedroom window. It has done this on numerous occasions and I have been in the forest searching for the location of its nest (a hole in a tree). Yesterday I located the nest in a flycatcher nestbox I made out of a hollow Birch, situated about 10 metres from my house 😅🥴

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The heat wave continues

We still have temperatures up to 28 degrees and the area where I live has been the warmest in the hole of Sweden.

I have been continuing to work on the new steps at the cabin and work has progressed well.

This weekend I hope to complete the next stage.

On Saturday we made our own beefburgers. The basic mix was 1kg minced beef, eggs, a cuo of flour and bread crumbs, then we each added our own flavourings. Mine was four cheese, chilli and garlic.

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From one extreme to the other!

We now have 28 degrees c here and it looks like it will continue for several more days.

We are currently living at the cabin for a few days.

We have had three Red-necked Phalaropes swimming around on the lake.

And both Goldeneye nest boxes that I built last year are occupied.

I am just starting to construct new steps down to the lake. We do not have enough money to do the whole thing this year, so I will build it in sections.

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Simple pot stand

On Friday /Saturday the snow returned and we had about 15cm.

I spent Saturday burning piles of branches from trees that I had felled last autumn.

A green y-shaped stick makes a simple pot stand if you want to boil water or cook food.

Put some embers between the y sticks and place the pot over.

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Gahkku

We currently have a few days of reasonable weather (snow and +2 degrees are forecast again this weekend) so I am working on the list wall of the cabin that we have in our garden.

I have removed the outer boards

And the old insulation

I have put new insulation in the wall and covered with a wind tight material

I am hoping to get the work completed before the mosquitos emerge.

Bad weather last weekend meant that we baked some traditional bread called “Gahkku”

The dough is divided in small pieces and each rolled out thinly

And then placed in a warm dry frying pan until brown on both sides.

It is a very poor year for migrant birds so far this year. Usually from the beginning of May we can 200+ migrant birds feeding at our bird table but this year there are none.