I’ve resigned

I have been ill again for over 2 weeks. All I was ill I did some fly tying ready for summer.

Snow buntings arrived in the beginning of April and there have been a lot passing through this year.

I have also had a male blackbird feeding at the bird table.  This is only the fifth time I’ve seen one since I moved to Sweden.

I have also had the number of hares feeding in the garden.

And a couple of reindeers

I have enjoyed my last three and a half years working as a caretaker at an old people’s home. But significant changes are being made to my job and my work and I don’t feel that I want to be part of this so I have resigned from my job. My last day at work will be on the 14th of June.

A stranger returns

We have spent a lot of time fishing.

I even spent a few hours working as a fishing guide for some German tourists.

But unfortunately no fish have been caught.

Every so often mother nature reminds us that winter is not over yet.

-26 at 7am, but during the night it was -30.

Last summer we had a fox cub in the garden,with two white legs.

And last week it reappeared for the first time.

Primus windbreaker

I have been ice fishing evenings after work this week and about an hour before dark, the Arctic Char have been biting.

I bought a Primus windbreaker several years ago and tested using it on the ice last Friday evening.

It was good that it worked well, because on Saturday there was a strong northerly wind.

I caught two Arctic Char, but both were too small so I put them back and fried sausages for lunch instead.

On Sunday I caught nothing at all!

Stoat

I have had a four day weekend which was nice.

On Thursday we caught an Arctic Char and a Rainbow trout.

But six hours on Saturday and five hours on Sunday produced absolutely nothing.

It was nice to be out enjoying the sun though.

This morning when I opened the bedroom curtains, I had an unusual bird at the bird feeder…….an acrobatic stoat!

It’s melting

It has been over a week now with plus degrees and the snow is melting. I have had to clear a lot of snow that has fallen from the roof, to be able to get into the house.

Walking in the forest is difficult now because both skis and snowshoes sink deep into the snow.

So I have to walk along roads and trails.

Today I have had a male Parrot Crossbill visit my bird feeder. It is the first time I have seen one in the garden (this photo is taken through a window).

Ice fishing premier

It was the ice fishing premier in our village last weekend.

It was a shame that there wasn’t a competition, because Kelly caught the first fish after only five minutes. It was an Arctic Char.

I caught two Arctic Char,but they were only 30cms long, so I had to put them back.

Warmth from the sun

On sunny days you can feel the warmth from the sun now and even though it was very windy on Saturday, myself and Kelly went out on a ski tour.

I pulled the sled loaded with some wood and some food.

Kelly dug down in the snow so that we could make a fire.

We grilled sausage and made hot chocolate.

Kelly pulled the sled all the way home, which impressed me!

Sunday was also relatively warm, so I had a fire at home and made lunch.

Clearing snow

I have been busy clearing snow during the weekend.

A cold job as it was -30, but the snow had fallen earlier during the week.

We have a hungry hare that feeds under the bird feeder during the day at the moment.

Kelly has had a stomach bug again, but is better now. Her and her friend decided to go on a ski tour with wood, food and drink in a sled that they pulled behind them (I wasn’t allowed to go with them🤨).

Kelly sent me a photo to demonstrate that they had made fire.

On Sunday afternoon we baked a cake

And Kelly decorated it.

Working at Jokkmokks marknad

Kelly wanted to visit Jokkmokks marknad, so we went there on Saturday.

But things didn’t go as planned….

Our friends have a stool at the market (he is 81) and usually have help. But this year they didn’t, so myself and Kelly decided to help them.

Here is a ceiling lamp that my friend had made from reindeer horn, and was trying to sell at the market.

Usually the temperature is around -30 during the market, but on Saturday it was only -10.

We worked until 6pm and then helped to pack away everything, so it was late when we had finished.

We arrived home again at 10pm.

I spent Sunday clearing snow from the outbuildings.

For the steeper roof, I used a scraper.

Things don’t always go as planned.

It was a clear morning yesterday and only -16 degrees, so I decided to do a snowshoe walk in the forest.

Most of the time I planned to walk along snowmobile trails.

A fox had also done the same thing.

And a Red squirrel had gone over the trail.

It was when I was going to take the next picture that things started to go wrong.

I dropped my telephone into the deep snow. I dug directly down with my hands, but could not find it. I had to dig a large hole to eventually find it. It had glided sideways as it sank into the snow.

The phone was covered in snow and warning for water in the usb port and turning on and off. Which made it challenging taking pictures.

I continued my walk and managed to get some pictures.

It was when I was going to make a fire and make lunch, that I had forgotten my utility belt and knife at home

Fortunately I had a saw in my chest pack, so I decided to make a fire on a dead Pine stump, so that I could boil water.

I cut two grooves in the stump

And was then going to widen the grooves with my little axe, so that I could start a fire in them.

But when I took my rucksack off, the zip was open and my axe was gone.

I had attached a pair of mittens to the zip of my back and the motion of me walking and the weight of the mittens had pulled the zip open.

At this point, I decided it was best to head home and attempted to take a short cut off of the snowmobile track, but my snowshoes sunk a half metre down into the loose snow and made walking impossible (I should have had skis instead).

At least the sun is starting to appear above the horizon now and I did eventually make it back home.