Winter came back...

...and turned to thaw again. Like always in late April and early May here in north Lapland, snow is melting, occassionally raining, sometimes snowing. Just 4 days ago it turned back to the weather of early March or so; warm sunny days, but night temperatures dropped even down to -15 celcius. Bit of fresh snow, and the skiing conditions can't get better.

Yesterday it turned back to normal late spring, raining and warm breeze in the air. South facing hill sides are without snow, but lakes well frozen still.

 

Dogs were bored when having a break during a day trip. They were checking the surroundings, going slowly further away....

When I told them to stay closer, they started playing. Obviously not enough exercise yet.

Sometimes even a 10 year old is ready for a play.

Right place for the skis?

Even with large areas of the ground exposed here and there, skiing is the best way to move around still.

Bread and butter to the craftsman's table

Just got this set of Finnish and a bit of Lappish knife tradition finished. Typical materials in my puukkos and leukus; curly birch, moose and reindeer antler, birch bark and brass.

These knives are not for sale.

Puukkos for sale. ( SOLD! )

Two puukkos looking for a new home. Handles in dyed curly birch and brass, with thin leather spacers. Differentially tempered 80CrV2 carbon steel blades, rhombic cross section. Dark brown leather sheaths with wooden liners for the blade.

Upper one: Blade 81 x 20,5 x 4,7mm. Handle length 113mm. 22,5mm thick and 32mm wide at max.

Lower one: Blade 80 x 20,5 x 4,5mm. Handle 113mm long. Thickness 21,5mm, width 31mm at max.

Both knives are sold!

Still time for winter camping.

Snow is melting fast with warm days and a bit of rain every now and then. Some south facing hillsides have ground exposed already, but otherwise we have a good amount of snow still.

I thought it would be time for my youger dog Kumu to spend his first night in a shelter by the open fire. my older dog Pyry stayed home, as it's good for the young one to make trips without him around all the time. And Pyry has spent countless nights in the wilderness anyways. He didn't look happy though when I left with Kumu....

Nights have been few degrees below zero celcius, easy to ski where ever you like at least around the morning time. Good for the dog too as he can run on the snow like it would be a paved road, otherwise could easily get too heavy for a 7 months old puppy.

Time to set up the camp. When getting off the skis in the evening,

                snow is already pretty soft. And no, this is not a Fiskars ad....

Kumu's idea of helping with the firewood.

Obligatory knife pic in a knife maker's blog....

Easy to start a fire with fatwood, as long as you just find a good stump of fallen pine.

                 My common camp setup in the woods. Savotta Pena laavu, rain poncho on the ground under the mattress. I chose this spot as there had been reindeers digging for lichen, so not that much of snow to remove.

Sun has set. Snow melting in the pot, enough firewood for the evening and next morning. What else does a woodsman need to get one night older.

Later on when it got dark I was already in my sleeping bag, and Kumu finally was ready to lay down after exploring every centimeter around the camp area. It didn't take long before a creepy sound broke the silence! Kumu jumped over me, and ran to the direction of the sound. In this youtube link you can hear the sound and see the answer what made that sound (not my video, just picked it as the voice is exactly the same). Hard to say for sure how far the sound came from, maybe 200-300 meters. It repeated few times, and after a while Kumu came back and laid down again.

But the spring-inspired animals of the forest wouldn't let Kumu to fall asleep that easily.... Then started the concert of few willow grouses in different directions. Kumu had heard this many times before, so I suppose he knew what kind of fellows made this sound. Every time one got loud, Kumu jumped over me and was sighting around the camp. None of the willow grouses was very near, so each time Kumu came back just to jump out again when the next one started. Here's the voice of willow grouse. Again not my video, just a random pick from Youtube.

The show didn't last that long, so we both fell asleep after an hour or so.

Sun rising after I've had my breakfast. Several degrees below zero, promise of good skiing again.

Siperian Jays, typical visitors at campsites everywhere in Lapland, no matter if you're near the villages or in the middle of nowhere. There's always 2 or 3 of them, and with a bit of patience it's possible to feed them from your hand. But having a dog at the camp made it impossible this time.

These droppings tell this is a capercaillie land.

How fun can it be!

Time to head back to the cabin. Warm day and cold night has made a beautiful pattern on the snow.

For sale. ( SOLD! )

        Just got this Lappish / Saami style knife ready today. Hand made all the way, like all my knives.

                             - 115 x 24,5 x 4 mm 80CrV2 fully sanded carbon steel blade. Scandi grind with 

                                a small secondary

                             - Handle in brass, curly birch, reindeer antler, birch bark spacers. Treated with tar/

                                boiled linseed oilmix + gun stock finish.

                             - Handle length 118mm. Width x thickness front 27,5x18,5mm, center 33x22,5mm,

                                pommel 39,5x26,5mm.

                             - Weight knife only 180 grams

                             - Leather sheath with a wooden liner inside for the blade

                                                                            This knife is sold!

Spring is here.

It's the season of frosty weather and thaw taking turns, changing from snowing to fully sunny days. I hope temperatures to drop back below zero still, allowing some good skiing to come before the snow melts away.

As I,ve mentioned earlier, in February and March I'm quite busy with guiding on sled dog trips. Not making much knives at all, as I'm trying to spend as many free days as possible skiing in the woods and fells.

Here's some sceneries and such of my daily chores since the previous post.

Can't really complain about this kind of view from your "office".

Even though the spring is usually quite sunny up here, that's not always the case. This day it was pretty difficult to keep your eyes open without any goggles. Tough wind for the people. For the dogs it most likely gave some wellcomed extra cooling, as the temperature wasn't that low at all.

This hazel grouse trusted in me not spotting it. It was a safe bet though, as the hunting season is in the autumn. I skied a circle around it, only 2 meters away at the closest.

Willow grouse hunting is on 'till the end of March up here.

Youngest member of our family, 6 months old nordic spitz Kumu, being a clever guy here....

When I knocked on the window he obviosly was pretending just to be sighting up there.....

But didn't take long to see what was the real reason to jump up there.

Watching a young dog enjoying the outing always makes you happy. Animals have better ability to live in the moment. Is it a gift or an inability if you compare to us?

Kumu noticed that suddenly it's possible for him to run freely almost anywhere, as the cold nights after warmer days have stiffened the snow. What a joy!

Quite a lot of snow at some places still. This was taken on a skiing trip in Lemmenjoki national park. My pole is about 150cm, and didn't touch the ground yet on this hillside

Benefits of the winter; crossing creeks, rivers, lakes, and marshes is pretty easy.

Peaceful view, open wilderness as far as you can see.

There are pros and cons in both, but good thing in skiing compared to snowshoes is you get to travel gentle slopes like this almost for free.

Nice place for an open wilderness hut in Lemmenjoki national park.

This is what happens for me quite often when hunting willow grouses. Before you get your gun ready with the skis and poles on, birds have taken off already. Especially when the weather is really cold and you have to wear thick gloves while skiing. But there's more days to come. And if not, skiing in the wilderness for the last one definitely wasn't the worst choice.....

Leuku

Even most of my working time goes on sled dog trips at this time of the year, there's a knife or two coming out of the workshop every now and then.

Here's a leuku with 16cm blade. Handle in typical Lappish materials; reindeer antler, curly birch, and reindeer hide.