A trap door in the cabin floor

I didn’t have to work last weekend, so I spent the weekend at the cabin.  It was 28 degrees and there were many mosquitoes which made for unpleasant working conditions.

On Saturday morning I cut logs with the chainsaw, ready to be split (when its not quite so hot and on Saturday afternoon I cut a hole in the cabin veranda floor, to create access to the staircase I have built down to the food cellar.

On Sunday I mad e a frame around the hole and then made a trap door to fit in the hole.

I just need to fit hinges to it and a handle and then another job is completed.

I spent quite a bit of time fishing but I only caught a 30cm Pike.

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Work and a little play

I have had to work over the weekend, so haven’t had much chance to get out and about.  However, I did get out into the forest with Barbara and Karine on Friday evening.  Each summer we have people from all around the world who come to Nattavaara to spend their summer working and running our summer café.  Barbara and Karine were here two years ago and enjoyed it so much they are back again, so on Friday evening I took them out into the forest and cooked an evening meal for them over the fire.

They grilled some sausage over the fore while we were waiting for the food to cook.

I cooked a meat stew, bannock bread, popcorn and bananas with chocolate.  They enjoyed the food, but not all the mosquitoes!!

On Saturday we have Nattavaara’s Hembygdsdagen, a gathering for those who live or who have lived in Nattavaara.

It rained heavily during the day unfortunately, but there were still a lot of people there to buy homemade cakes and bread.

In the evening we had an outdoor pub but I didn’t take any pictures because I was drunk!!

A working weekend

Had to work over the weekend so there was no visit to the cabin.

I did manage to get some time on Saturday and Sunday to do a bit of fishing

Apart from Perch I did not catch anything.  It’s now over three weeks since I last caught a trout and I do not understand why.  I caught many last year at this time but I am using the same equipment and baits but they are not biting.  I am beginning to wonder if someone has used a fishing net in the lake to remove the fish?

Many birds have fledged their young now and have left the area, so it is very quiet in the forest.  At the lake where I fish a pair of Wryneck (a member of the woodpecker family)

http://woodpeckersoftheworld.blogspot.se/2010/10/genus-jynx.html

have bred in a nest box.  The books show that they do not occur this far north.

We also have a pair of Honey Buzzards in Nattavaara, but I have not located the nest site.

We have a friendly Reindeer around also.

Food and a food cellar

We have been at the cabin last weekend again.  We have painted the kitchen ceiling and I have started a new project.

Under the veranda we have a food cellar

During the spring when the snow melts and when it rains the cellar floor is very wet.  This moisture in the cellar has meant that the ceiling has rotted.  I have removed the ceiling

and under the ceiling was 20cms of sawdust insulation which fell on to the floor.  I have cleaned out the cellar now and removed soil and stones.

I will build up the floor level with gravel to help water drain away and I have dug a plastic pipe under ground to help remove water from the cellar.  You can see the end of the pipe in this picture.

When we want to fetch food from the cellar we must go out of the cabin and walk around to the cellar (in winter this isn’t possible due to all the snow), but now I have decided to make a trapdoor in the cabin floor with a staircase down to the cellar making it much easier to fetch food.

This is the staircase that I am building.

I cooked the evening meal on Saturday.

The main course was bolognese

For the second course I cooked apples and rhubarb in a saucepan

Then I smashed up digestive biscuits and mixed with brown sugar to make a crumble topping

and baked in the oven for 20 minutes and we ate this with whipped cream!

I had planned to do much on Sunday, but unfortunately when I was sitting at the table eating breakfast I got a sharp pain in my back.  I am hoping that it is just muscular pain but even now I cannot do a great deal.  Hoping it will be better soon!

The room is completed

I spent most of last weekend painting all the wood work in the cabin with a white wash (oil and white paint mixed).

I rained a lot over the weekend but between the rain and painting I had time to build a shelter with Emma, using branches from a Spruce tree that we had felled the previous weekend.

Not much more to report I’m afraid……..apart from the mosquitoes!!  It’s the worst year for many years for mosquitoes.  There are so many and when you are outside doing something you are covered in them!  I wonder how much blood I lose every day?