tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57018114161461309592012-02-04T20:08:27.093+01:00Two individualists who moved to Lapland, survived an arctic winter in a summer cottage and tell about their daily life in the wilderness of northern Sweden.Aurinkonoreply@blogger.comBlogger1041100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-29303927936026584012011-11-05T19:00:00.002+01:002011-11-06T10:01:42.368+01:00

... since our last entry... over six months actually... fate has taken a toll on us last summer. Nevertheless, we'll sum up the past months in a few pictures for you. First in June/July we had a very hot summer here in Lapland at the arctic circle. Followed by a rainy and humid autumn in August/September. Since October we are waiting for winter to come but until today we haven't had much snow

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-89361025072811444222011-04-13T08:44:00.001+02:002011-04-21T16:00:30.200+02:00

After an unspectacular spring-winter (the fifth season in Lapland) this year we are lucky to experience a fantastic and -for Lapland standards- warm April so far. A couple of days ago we had temperatures of up to 25°C (!) in the sun (ok, 13°C in the shade but that's still warm!;o) with wonderful views over the Pite river (Piteälven).Big chunks of ice breaking off the edges. Pretty spectacular to

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-72597999844658660932011-03-02T12:03:00.001+01:002011-03-02T12:28:20.926+01:00

Northern lights!!! Finally. We've been waiting long for this. The entire winter we weren't very lucky to see many of them but last night should be different. With only -3°C and a strong wind we saw the northern lights quickly changing shapes illuminating the entire sky. It was like magic...lasting for an amazing two hours  or so...

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-6836955445063875452011-01-02T16:09:00.002+01:002011-09-24T18:24:27.340+02:00

The shortest day with approx. two hours between sunrise and sunset and 4-5 hrs of daylight or twilight lays behind us and since a little over week we are heading towards midsummer again. Yes! It might still seem far away but we gain 5-7 minutes each day and we can already now feel the difference. Days are getting longer, which feels very nice.We went for a few snowshoeing trips lately and before

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-48118043051631524462010-12-26T20:02:00.001+01:002010-12-26T20:04:56.641+01:00

What have we been doing at Christmas? First, eating good food, of course! Eating looots of good food such as finnish salmon soup, moose roast, with own potatoes from our garden, couscous sallad and for dessert blueberries with joghurt and cream . Other than that we burnt a lot of candles. Here in Sweden people light up big candles or flambeaus and put them in front of their houses, which looks

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-87385267158252722132010-12-23T20:28:00.003+01:002010-12-23T20:50:57.486+01:00

These light pyramids decorate most Swedish windows at the moment. Most people keep them in their windows for about 1,5 months from the beginning of December to mid January some even longer. We are looking forward to a peaceful and quiet Christmas holiday with loads of snow, good company & food plus nice trips enjoying the great outdoors. Merry Christmas everyone! :o)

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-13299852238413811782010-12-18T17:50:00.001+01:002010-12-18T17:51:23.532+01:00

We have approx. four hours of daylight at this time of the year and while days are short and cold there is not much enthusiasm for outdoor photography at the moment. However, on a clear day like this one was the light truly is spectacular. The sun stays at the horizon for about two hours until it sets again. It doesn't come up any further, thus the 'endless sunset feeling'.

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-27066269012151801562010-12-05T21:21:00.004+01:002011-08-22T15:16:23.219+02:00

We arrived at the bridge crossing the Pite River (Piteälven) at the E45, parked our car and started walking. Crossing the bridge was quite easy as the snow wasn't too deep. On the bridge we had a lovely view over the Pite River Valley.Due to cold temperatures of below -20°C throughout the last weeks the entire bridge is coated with a layer of ice. It hasn't been snowing considerably for many

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-9965542192109273362010-12-01T20:08:00.002+01:002010-12-01T20:13:03.191+01:00

Days are getting shorter but unlike common thinking it's not completely dark in Lapland at this time of the year. The sun still rises and then stays at the horizon for a couple of hours until it sets again. Still enough time to go for a walk on a frozen lake and take a few pictures.  Forgotten  Picnic?  Snow Plough  Animal Tracks

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-27500779535332033492010-11-29T22:06:00.001+01:002010-11-29T22:24:46.771+01:00

Woof! I am a 'snow dog'!

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-4139915735754207552010-11-25T23:32:00.004+01:002010-11-25T23:41:36.887+01:00

Lately we've had constantly cold temperatures around -20°C, which is quite unusual for this time of the year even for Lapland standards. Normally we have those temperatures in January/February. The question is how cold will it be then? Below minus 30°C now and then is normal in the beginning of a year but hopefully not for many weeks! ;o) Last night we broke another record this winter. We had -32

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-7737363015566806162010-11-18T16:02:00.000+01:002010-11-18T16:02:09.891+01:00

Driving on snowy or icy roads at this time of the year is normal course of life in Lapland. Something you gotta get used to as a mid European. Hard to imagine that even main roads like the E45 are not snow or ice free. Enjoy the ride!

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-32820510012253758922010-11-14T17:28:00.003+01:002010-11-14T18:25:03.556+01:00

...no more hand work...well, at least much less. After four winters in Lapland we thought it's time to modernize our method of clearing our land from snow. ;-) While our neighbours use snow clearers such as the ATV or snowblower we shoveled snow by hand. No problem with a few cms maybe but if we get 30-50cm of fresh snow in only 24 hours it can be very exhausting. Especially if you have a long

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-69151415207661698202010-11-09T22:03:00.004+01:002010-11-09T22:08:28.407+01:00

Last night the temperature went as low as -28°C in some places here in Lapland. We measured a max temperature of -21.9°C right at our house wall last night. We don't recall we ever had such low temperatures in the beginning of November since we moved up here but we might as well have forgotten about it. Anyhow, considering the coldest time is yet to come in the beginning of next year we are

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-76441425323542599402010-11-06T16:16:00.001+01:002010-11-06T16:17:17.034+01:00

We have a new video for you. Our October video. A five minute video about the beginning of winter in Lapland at the Arctic Circle. Watch and enjoy! You are welcome to share this video with others. October in Lapland from LapplandTimes on Vimeo.

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-37077227480067979882010-11-01T20:27:00.002+01:002010-11-01T21:36:24.769+01:00

The lingonberry might not be the most popular berry eaten raw, which is due to the fact that it has quite a sour taste compared to the sweet bilberry or cloudberry.BUT, I'll let you into a little secret.;) Wait until the first frost has come or the second or so. In any way they should be dark red when eaten raw. There is another advantage of not picking the first red lingonberries. You don't need

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-54534576229393162382010-10-28T21:56:00.004+02:002010-10-28T22:11:18.855+02:00

Blue Ice Originally uploaded by LapplandTimesToday it was blue ice that caught my attention while standing at a streamlet. Been shooting until my fingers were blue themselves! ;o)

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-46898505218493614122010-10-24T10:00:00.000+02:002010-10-24T10:00:01.388+02:00

Yesterday was the perfect weather to go ice skating here. Far away from the elegance of figure skating but it was a lot of fun to have the lake all for yourself and to skate in this scenery. The ice wasn't mirror-like this time but that didn't minimize the fun! Ice Skating in October / Lapland, Sweden from LapplandTimes on Vimeo.

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-61986532154736150192010-10-23T08:52:00.026+02:002010-10-30T13:27:27.596+02:00

We have a few more pictures for you. Basicly it's been a mix of cold nights with the lowest temperature of -15°C, snowfall at around zero and some melting during the daytime. We did a couple of nice walks in the snow so far. No need for snowshoeing just yet but some locals were very eager to start the engines of their snowmobiles for the first time this season.We still have too little snow to

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-2687457443282919272010-10-20T13:11:00.003+02:002010-10-20T13:15:28.003+02:00

View over Piteälven in October Originally uploaded by LapplandTimesA couple of days ago we went for a walk at the Piteälven (The Pite River) only a 10km drive from our winter house. When you turn right from the E45 there is a forest road going along the river with plenty of resting places right at the river. These places are pretty occupied by campers during the summer time or by locals in

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-20558183410318659272010-10-16T23:27:00.004+02:002010-10-16T23:37:51.362+02:00

A week ago we went hiking in the Dellikälvens Nature Reserve at the river Laisan, which is about 50km west of Arjeplog. It's a good day tour when you start from our cabin. Größere Kartenansicht It was a 10km hike into the past visiting the historical settlement Delliknäs. We took some homemade jerky (dried moose meat) with us as provisions for the day hike. The tour started at the river

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-48541116313988444032010-10-15T18:55:00.003+02:002010-10-30T13:28:22.695+02:00

It's been a busy week and if you follow us on Twitter you've probably already heard the news about our first snow here in Lapland at the Arctic Circle. Yesterday, we drove on snowy roads again after about six months of ice-free roads. Luckily we had changed tires just the evening before cuz otherwise it wouldn't have been much fun driving on this snowy road! While yesterday it was grey and

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-51808685796386782342010-10-11T12:26:00.000+02:002010-10-11T12:26:36.577+02:00

Yesterday, we went outside to enjoy the great outdoors near our cottage. This time we decided to walk in the  close-by Ståkke-Bårgå nature reserve. On our way there we met two reindeer herds. We parked at the end of a forest track and  started off into the wilderness. When we arrived at this beautiful lake called Båhttsá we had this wonderful view with hills of 700-800 meters surrounding it. The

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-46655085717822853642010-10-08T12:05:00.001+02:002010-10-08T12:06:09.203+02:00

Anne's autumn video is now available online! Over 8 minutes of Lapland impressions. A pictures says more than a thousand words that's why I let the video speak for itself. Enjoy...Autumn Impressions from Anne@LapplandTimes on Vimeo. More information about the video available at Vimeo.

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-16875403769337222682010-10-05T16:46:00.003+02:002010-10-15T23:06:39.379+02:00

Throughout the years we've seen many beautiful sunsets in the north of Sweden but none of them was quite as beautiful as this one. There are no words to describe this beauty.

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-62562758093535108622010-10-02T12:35:00.003+02:002010-10-02T15:43:14.894+02:00

We are still 'in the hunt' for fish to fill our winter stocks. When the water cools down, the whitefish returns to 'our' lake. Together with perch we've been eating quite a lot of it lately. Either fried, grilled, smoked or pickled. Now we caught this big guy the other day. Take a look!

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-53428060539445401922010-09-30T10:24:00.001+02:002010-09-30T17:40:02.021+02:00

from us to you... The last days have been a dream for every nature photographer. Also for me (Anne), as an amateur, I yearn for the sun to set again after a 24 hours of daylight summer at the arctic circle. Lapland offers a lot of motifs during this time of the year. Plus it's nice not having to freeze your fingers (or feet) off due to still mild temperatures for Lapland standards. ;-) And

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-79900316368225010012010-09-28T19:42:00.016+02:002010-09-29T19:04:56.132+02:00

Flowing Smoothly Originally uploaded by LapplandTimesYes, I did it! Today I went outside to experiment with my camera a little bit. After a couple of landscape and reindeer shots I took these pictures of a beautiful river close to where we live. I wanted this smooth effect and after my unsatisfactory shots from last time I was pretty happy about these results. :-) If you have any further tips,

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-40285541417671509212010-09-25T11:00:00.006+02:002010-09-25T11:27:32.692+02:00

The short film about our backpacking tours in Finland and Sweden in August and September is out! Yesterday, Anne finished the video about Hiking the Karhunkierros in Finnish Lapland and Backpacking in the Vindelfjäll Nature Reserve in Swedish Lapland. This video truly brings back memories and shall inspire you! Backpacking in Finland and Sweden from Janne@LapplandTimes on Vimeo.

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-86421880004035416672010-09-24T12:53:00.003+02:002010-09-24T13:16:20.192+02:00

What's been going on @LapplandTimes during the last week? Well, we have been quite busy with our potato crop (altogether we have 100kg! of potatoes), moose meat, carrying 4.8 tons of pellets to our cellar, taking part in elections in Sweden, repainting door and window at our shed, making jerky from moose meat for the first time! (gosh, it's so good!), cooking good food from fresh moose meat and

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-7144125444489278422010-09-19T01:53:00.003+02:002010-09-22T08:26:15.160+02:00

A week ago we went hiking at Trollforsen. The Trollforsen is part of the Piteälven and an attraction only a few kilometers from our home. Every year we visit this special place a couple of times with its untamed waters. Now that autumn is in Lapland and everything is so colourful the place is even more magical. It looks like the blueberry bilberry bushes are on fire.The trail leads to an island

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-71014992085492819642010-09-15T08:32:00.000+02:002010-09-15T08:32:34.787+02:00

A little over a week ago hunting season started in Sweden. Our neighbour has been quite lucky this year already. A group of five hunters shot two grown moose in only a couple of days. One of them with a slaughter weight of 307 kg(!). We cannot wait to try this year's first moose meat... ...Svempa gets lucky already ;-)

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-22039252989096829562010-09-12T20:03:00.007+02:002010-09-25T11:06:44.916+02:00

A couple of days ago we came back from another multi-day hike in Sweden's largest nature reserve.  We walked 90km in 6 days through Swedish wilderness. Starting and end point was Ammarnäs. A very desolated trail not far from the more frequented famous trail Kungsleden (King's Trail). On the entire trail we did not have any mobile phone reception but every 15-20km there were huts equipped with

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-76745786655341278842010-09-09T21:58:00.004+02:002010-09-12T20:23:27.101+02:00

Yeah, normally the saying goes like this: "Work before pleasure" but this time it's different. Yesterday, we came back from our wonderful multi-day autumn hiking tour through the Vindelfjäll nature reserve in the Swedish wilderness (report with pictures coming soon!). Today was back to everyday life, meaning: WORKAs we started with the renovation of our shed in the end of July it was time to

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-50025815569867259622010-09-02T21:31:00.001+02:002010-09-02T21:33:41.871+02:00

Hurray! They made it! Umm...who made what? Our black currants and strawberries are mellow! So what? What do you mean 'so what'??! We are in Lapland at the arctic circle, remember?! Right. Show me the berries. I don't believe you. Yum, yum. They are sooo huge! And sooo sweet... never tasted anything like that! And look at the strawberries! Don't they look yummy? Yum,yum...delicious.

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-58589635841924811342010-08-31T21:53:00.000+02:002010-08-31T21:53:59.342+02:00

Soon moose hunting season starts here in Sweden and we are on our warm-up - on a mouse hunt! ;-) Lately we heard a lot of rustling and peeping under our house (standing on piers) - MICE! Normally mice and cheese go together but we used German salami - very efficient! Within a few days we caught eight mice - enough for a mice goulash - and today there were even two mice in one trap...they just

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-54460010936429094612010-08-28T18:21:00.000+02:002010-08-28T18:21:47.744+02:00

A few days ago we wrote about how we begin to fill up our winter stocks with blueberries. The last days were dedicated to whitefish, which we wrote about in one of our earlier posts when we had our first potatoes with pickled whitefish from last year. Whitefish is not only good as pickled fish but also very tasty smoked. We prefer smoked whitefish to smoked perch as it's a fattier fish. Smoked

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-21322303899866193052010-08-25T09:54:00.001+02:002010-08-25T09:56:35.498+02:00

Autumn is knocking on our door and it's time to fill our winter stocks. With the first frost the yummy blueberries will get wizenly and that's it then. Picking them is very time consuming. It takes ages if you want many kilos... The Scandinavian equipment for picking blueberries (and cranberries) looks like this: Take a bucket, two collectors and a sieve... ...Svempa helping...or sth like

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-32510442071894445442010-08-21T16:27:00.012+02:002010-09-25T11:09:19.037+02:00

Time is flying! A week ago we finished our hiking tour in Ruka, north-east of Finland. We hiked the Karhunkierros (Bear's Ring) in the Oulanka National Park. We did 80km in five days from north (Hautajärvi) to south (Ruka). The trail is very well marked, quite frequented and if you don't want to rely on free spaces in one of the huts along the trail you bring a tent with you as we did. On the

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-28682372854231255512010-08-05T12:38:00.000+02:002010-08-05T12:38:06.314+02:00

Finishing our video of the month took a little longer than expected as so much has been going on lately. Despite holiday guests, gardening work, renovating we met some lovely people from southern Sweden and Ukraine. Bless you guys and have a safe journey back home! So here is our video from July about hiking and canoeing in the Swedish Fjäll (mountains). Enjoy! Hiking & Canoeing from Janne@

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-58156629937468346642010-08-02T20:25:00.001+02:002010-08-02T20:26:26.187+02:00

Wow! What a day! We've never seen so many and we didn't even look for them - boletus that is. Actually we wanted to go for a walk and swim afterwards but they just smiled at us... one after the other... Anne started collecting and soon Jan got infected and it was the two of us collecting until 2 1/2 bags were full. Now we are convinced that YES it's a good mushroom year! This is the result after

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-73301303112769288972010-07-30T22:41:00.006+02:002010-09-09T21:58:58.610+02:00

About two months ago we prepared our potatoe land and now our potatoe plants begin to bloom. This is the time when we cannot wait any longer and just have to try our first potatoes of the season. So that's what we did today - amongst picking more mushrooms and renovating our shed...pictures coming soon. Our dinner tonight: Fried potatoes, sallad and pickled fish (whitefish)

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-50591492819927427922010-07-25T21:17:00.000+02:002010-07-25T21:17:36.820+02:00

A few days ago we walked on an island without even the intention of picking mushrooms and we found so many of them that within a few minutes my hat was full of little leccinum versipelle. Guess what we had for dinner!;) The rest was left for drying. We will use them later for soups or sauces. Fried mushrooms with onions, beacon and garlic served with bread.

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-21338922332317011872010-07-19T21:05:00.001+02:002010-07-19T23:45:58.221+02:00

Yesterday we received a call that a strong gust had uprooted a tree on our cottage land and several other trees close by. One of them had fallen on the power line thus causing a power failure. The power supplier was quick to fix it within a relatively short time considering that it was Sunday and somewhere in the bush. Noone was injured luckily but our boat had flown several meters and tipped

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-5104052619803750702010-07-13T19:00:00.004+02:002010-07-14T19:57:05.923+02:00

 We've had some lovely summer days lately. While people in mid-Europe, Germany moan about extreme heat (up to 40 degrees C) we enjoy temperatures around 20 degrees. A couple of days ago we went canoeing on lake Hornavan, the deepest lake in Sweden with a depth of up to 221 m. We had some wonderful views over untamed wilderness of virgin forests and lovely shaped mountains on a at first glassy

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-69284249390406024652010-07-09T20:35:00.006+02:002010-07-10T08:49:26.421+02:00

Thunder Storm Approaching Originally uploaded by LapplandTimesThis was the view from our cottage last evening.

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-60490792836563703282010-07-08T16:22:00.010+02:002010-07-08T16:37:37.855+02:00

A few days ago we climbed up Áhkális (748m). We parked our car near the Hornavan lake and started from there. A lovely trail leading through the Akkelis nature reserve, a virgin forest. From the top of the hill we had a great view over the landscape of Arjeplog's municipality. The great lake area is the gigantic Uddjaure (Storavan).  On top of Áhkális Originally uploaded by LapplandTimes

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-41498426641223155852010-07-05T22:04:00.000+02:002010-07-05T22:04:53.314+02:00

The last week we have had lovely warm summer weather in Swedish Lapland and we still have. For us, summer in Lapland means temperatures above 15 degrees C. The last days we have had average temperatures around 20 degrees C. Perfect for outdoor activities hence not much blogging within the next few weeks. ;) Summers in Lapland are very short only lasting for a couple of weeks really. We enjoy

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-81627893667304053132010-06-28T13:09:00.002+02:002010-06-28T13:15:34.556+02:00

June is the month of midsummer in Lapland. Right now we have 24 hours of daylight at the arctic circle. Last weekend we celebrated Midsummer Night. The weather was perfect, a warm summer breeze. Local people like to spend this time of the year in their holiday homes in the countryside. Yesterday evening Anne sorted all video material from June and today it's ready for you to see! Enjoy our 5

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-36164445649062576172010-06-24T13:02:00.002+02:002010-06-24T13:05:45.170+02:00

In case you haven't noticed: We LOVE hiking. Hiking through nature has a lot of advantages. It keeps you fit, you can spend valuable time together, discover a lot of wildlife and explore the great outdoors. Yesterday we hiked a small trail to the top of a hill called Erik-Larsaberget. Größere Kartenansicht In the beginning of our hiking trip we discovered a couple of ponds with several different

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-22121632232024021832010-06-22T17:58:00.023+02:002010-06-24T12:41:17.550+02:00

Yesterday we went for a 13km hike through Lapland's wilderness. We saw reindeers, a hare, moose poop, a fox and looots of mosquitoes. Summer time is mosquito time in Lapland. During the summer we never go for a walk in the forest without being 'armed' with a mosquito repellent. Otherwise you will be eaten alive by mosquito clouds. I'm not kidding! There are a lot of different mosquito repellents

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-81319663660758604862010-06-16T17:32:00.003+02:002010-06-17T21:44:05.348+02:00

Stranded Originally uploaded by LapplandTimesAfter hiking on a small forest trail, which goes along the Hornavan (the deepest lake in the north of Sweden) near Arjeplog and loosing track of the poorly marked trail at some point we ended up here. Not too bad, huh? So we decided this is a good place to enjoy the views, eat some snacks, send our doggie for a short swim and then return along the

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-65817427368111466892010-06-13T20:04:00.008+02:002010-06-13T21:35:04.064+02:00

Been on a 15km hike through old forest today following the tracks of a bear...or maybe he was following us? We've seen many tracks of bears here in the north of Sweden but never actually faced one. Shy animals as they are. The bear tracks on the photo are not fresh but probably from spring when the dirt road was softened due to the snow melt. After having left the dirt road I couldn't find any

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-24011329059013999532010-06-12T17:06:00.006+02:002010-06-12T23:16:19.380+02:00

Another day out in the bush. It just feels so nice to pass anywhere again in the vast forests of Lapland after seven months of only snow and cold weather. So we try to be outside as much as possible and hike away our last winter fat reserves. ;-) Our hiking day trips vary between 10-20km mostly. The terrain is partly hilly with a lot of trees, some svampland, sandy ground and small rocks.

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-6745467061796117832010-06-11T14:43:00.004+02:002010-06-12T23:17:58.537+02:00

Blue Lake Harmony Originally uploaded by LapplandTimesAnne took this photo last evening on our cottage lake while enjoying the view from our boat. Mosquitoes are back in Lapland so it's wise to be on the water during the evenings.

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-34924149473755255602010-06-09T23:52:00.002+02:002010-06-09T23:53:06.002+02:00

Happy dog smiling Originally uploaded by LapplandTimesThis sweet guy was very happy yesterday on our 20km hiking day trip through the wilderness of Lapland.

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-7470026099641075322010-06-09T22:13:00.001+02:002010-06-12T23:17:01.588+02:00

Today was a good day. Went fishing with rods this evening and used jiggs as bait. After two hours we had to stop because we had enough to eat for supper. ;-) Now this is the result... ...caught these 10 lovely perches.

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-16311094137707410162010-06-07T23:21:00.002+02:002010-06-07T23:36:44.886+02:00

After having eaten inlayed fish from last season for the past 7 months it's nice to have our first fresh fish again. Jan layed out the net this morning and when checking this evening we had four big perches in the net. Our dinner was almost ready! Filleted, a twist of lemon, some salt & pepper and then just fry in a pan...delicious!

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-24807921157555771562010-06-07T21:50:00.003+02:002010-06-07T21:55:48.687+02:00

Moose Hiding Originally uploaded by LapplandTimesWhile we went for a walk at the Akkelis Fjällurskog, a nature reserve near Arjeplog at the Hornavan lake this guy suddently appeared and ran along the road for a bit until he disappeared in the woods again. Unfortunately he was too fast for me to get a good picture of him. But this is a story to tell anyway! Better luck next time! ;-)

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-5446381799780346502010-06-06T20:18:00.001+02:002010-06-06T20:18:48.353+02:00

Summer is over in Lapland before it has really begun. At least that was the feeling we got the last days. After having been spoiled with warm weather up to 26 degrees C in mid May and my first lawn mowing this year a week ago - 6°C is a tough setback! Last night temperature was just above freezing. After all, we still live at the arctic circle, I guess... ... one is in need of a cap and a warm

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-75926199869289683452010-06-05T16:50:00.001+02:002010-06-05T16:51:56.775+02:00

It's been a lot of new material lately and took a while to sort, cut, edit, etc. but now there are two May videos ready for you to watch! Enjoy... Snow & Ice Melting in May Spring in Lapland from Janne on Vimeo. A walk in the forest from our earlier post Into the wild. Between forest & water from Janne on Vimeo.

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-20734066196185880432010-06-04T00:22:00.006+02:002010-06-09T23:59:18.084+02:00

Midsummer is close...a couple of weeks from now and we'll have the longest day of the year. Back in Germany we did not celebrate this day but here in Sweden people celebrate it big time! In the north of Sweden, here in Lapland, one can experience midsummer in a special way. 24 hours of daylight with the sun at the horizon during nights. This is how it looked tonight at our cottage ... around

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-37526518462355910172010-05-31T18:20:00.004+02:002010-06-05T16:52:32.902+02:00

Been walking in the woods today. The weather was great and we had beautiful views... such as this...  ... we saw some reindeers... ...and we found moose antlers......one more to decorate our house with! :-) Video available here. Visit our Lapland Photo Gallery for more beautiful Lapland photos!

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-42612806017699473592010-05-30T18:08:00.001+02:002010-05-30T21:05:41.435+02:00

It's time... It's been almost a year since a neighbour came to prepare our potatoe land with a tractor (see in "We want potatoes!!!"). This year we have better weather conditions in the end of May than last year and we can put in our potatoes one week earlier, which will hopefully also result in an earlier crop! Approx. 100m2 of land need to be filled with our old potatoes from last year.  

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-43857700559416963872010-05-28T11:14:00.000+02:002010-05-28T11:14:10.494+02:00

This was the view from our window last night at 1:30am. Only a few weeks to go until midsummer!

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-53115598087706672072010-05-23T22:17:00.001+02:002010-05-23T22:28:40.374+02:00

One of our favorite destinations is the Pite River (Piteälven) as already mentioned in our earlier posts. Many campers like to stay there because it's quiet and peaceful and there are several places where you can stay over night (wild camping) without any fuzz. Now that the snow is gone we enjoy going there more often. It's good to have a lot of firewood!  What a place for a campfire! Grilled

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-42297680289519405702010-05-19T23:58:00.008+02:002010-05-24T13:14:08.266+02:00

We just could not wait to take our first canoe trip this year!     ...it's pretty obvious...in a couple of days all icy barriers will be gone... ...even though there is some ice left...  ...Jan insists on fishing anyway! ;-)...just for the fun of it!   Only a week ago snowmobiles were still driving on this lake, hard to believe isn't it?  ...melting fast now at over 30 degrees C in the sun

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-11089665296705851862010-05-16T20:29:00.018+02:002010-05-23T22:30:22.757+02:00

Since thursday (Kristi himmelfärdsdag) the weather has completely changed - from one day to another. No night frost anymore. From earlier temperatures of 6 degrees C during daytime up to 26 degrees C (warmer than in mid Europe for a change!). Still some ice left on the lakes... ...some snow here and there... ...first butterfly this year... ...and first time fishing...

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-78697461694172478692010-05-08T20:56:00.003+02:002010-05-16T20:56:09.732+02:00

All in all we've had a pretty cold spring so far with temperatures still below zero during nights, which slows down the snow melting speed... ...but days become considerably longer (4 hours of more daylight only last month!) plus warmer with an average temperature of approx. +6 °C during the days... May 6: sunrise 3:38am, sunset 9:46pm ...and open water can be seen again where there has been

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-60620928162422917352010-04-04T13:53:00.005+02:002010-06-04T17:51:37.654+02:00

We still enjoy the views from our cottage...in every season...

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-56397149115320960752010-03-26T21:49:00.013+01:002010-10-02T22:59:10.183+02:00

Svempa and Anne went on a tour at the Pite River (Piteälven). They had best spring winter weather! The Pite River (Piteälven) is partly open and partly frozen at this time of the year.But how do you know when it's safe to ski on the river? Well, we look out for either moose, reindeer or snowmobile tracks. If the ice carries them, it will carry us! Check out the video, too! Cross-country

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-68734940323444535762010-03-26T17:32:00.005+01:002010-05-16T20:58:58.162+02:00

We still get fresh snow and as it becomes milder the snow gets heavier and doesn't necessarily fall off the roof. This means heavy, packed snow on our roof (the shed in this case). We decided to no longer stress our roof to avoid a possible collapse.

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-61662483952465702762010-03-16T18:37:00.011+01:002010-05-16T21:00:01.510+02:00

After four winters we proudly present: OUR OWN SKOTER! (snowmobile)Driving on snowmobile trails or crusted snow is no problem... An Arctic Cat Prowler mc 1992 We've had our first fun driving it off the trails over deep powder snow... and eventually got stuck (video available!;). What did we learn from that lesson? Never ever step off the gas! The minute you slow down or even stop you are lost.

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-11776583185115421902010-03-03T17:41:00.008+01:002010-05-31T23:02:20.089+02:00

In the beginning of March we still get pretty harsh weather conditions. This is the E45 in the beginning of March. Normal road conditions in Lapland during winter time. Driving on the E45 from Janne@LapplandTimes on Vimeo. The same day...a little later... It's been a windy night from Janne@LapplandTimes on Vimeo.  ...a windy night...a lot of snow dunes.

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-55231975276723224112010-03-02T23:28:00.002+01:002010-05-16T21:01:34.237+02:00

Tunnel path to our home Beginning of March. It's been snowing a lot! What else is there to say? ;-)

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-82383233831115028722010-02-16T23:44:00.006+01:002010-05-31T22:56:02.478+02:00

The first snowcastle in Kemi was born in 1995. Back then it was the world's biggest snowcastle. The tradition of the snowcastle goes on. Having seen several of the snowcastles in Kemi (Finnish Lapland) throughout the years we can definetely recommend a visit in the snowcastle. LumiLinna means snowcastle in Finnish. View our snowcastle photos in our Lapland Photo Gallery. SnowCastle - LumiLinna

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-15797499395195663582009-08-26T20:41:00.016+02:002010-05-16T21:05:07.604+02:00

Summer time is our family guests' favorite time to visit us in Lapland. Some like sailing on our cottage lake... ...others like to be pulled by a motor boat whilst fishing... ...laying a net for our visitors... ...and afterwards preparing smoked fish... ...picking eatable mushrooms in the forest...to dry, fry or make a creamy soup of... Sooner......or later... ...all good times come to an end..

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-23378445323647401532009-08-13T21:10:00.001+02:002010-05-16T21:19:41.108+02:00

Remember our earlier blog post from June "We want potatoes!!!"?Well, we have our first potatoes now! Yummy! Take a look...

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-32361780915304437722009-06-29T21:46:00.005+02:002010-05-23T22:32:27.581+02:00

What a catch!A one meter pike caught in our cottage lake.  Good job, darling!

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-33600295920963800492009-06-05T22:07:00.034+02:002010-05-16T21:07:44.381+02:00

Yes, we can grow potatoes even in Lapland at the arctic circle! Our neighbour does it, why shouldn't we? There goes our lawn...(Good! Still got plenty of it to mow.:/)And there it is: our 100m2 of potatoe land...thank you!:-) Followup: We put in potatoes in the second week of June and harvested them mid September. Very good potatoes for a long winter!

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-87192105532319992512009-05-16T20:40:00.003+02:002010-05-16T23:09:57.181+02:00

I've been sooo lazy taking pictures lately, I know! The main reason for this was because of lack of time and camera out of reach. I promise, I will do more photo posts in the rest of this year. :-) ...so this is where we relax in our free time... ...but first there is work to do - filling up our stock of wood... ...a couple of days of hard work... ...and at the end of the day...barbecue!!!

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-71474576401995571822008-12-12T08:20:00.013+01:002010-05-31T22:49:06.834+02:00

Days are short just before Christmas......it's like a fairy tale landscape, a winter dream... Atmospheric Polar Night from Janne@LapplandTimes on Vimeo. Polar night in December ...the sun is at the horizon a couple of hours...

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-75359450342993392192008-11-29T23:39:00.009+01:002010-05-31T20:52:46.515+02:00

Lately, we've had some beautiful views. October and November are months of endless sunsets. If you want to see more beautiful sunset photos check out our  Lapland Photo Gallery.

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-41728136634035216062008-09-07T20:45:00.008+02:002010-05-23T22:31:38.667+02:00

The plan was to hike a week or two on the Kungsleden (King's Trail) but cold weather and a feverish cold forced us to cancel the tour only after two days... :-(Start in Jäkkvik View over Pieljekaise national park

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-83060333799534914832008-07-31T18:32:00.008+02:002010-05-16T21:39:57.936+02:00

Another beautiful destination... Trollforsen... The best pool on earth!

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-23276792983370762292008-07-30T18:03:00.005+02:002010-05-23T22:37:56.103+02:00

Another year has passed. It's been two years since we came to live in Swedish Lapland. Time is flying!The untamed waters of the Pite River (Piteälven). Very nice trail along the Storforsen (rapids). With fire places and firewood...great place for barbecue!

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-9582461811092494832008-04-14T21:48:00.003+02:002010-05-23T22:36:53.470+02:00

We don't have our own snowmobile just yet (still saving money) but some friends invited us to go ice fishing with them. Didn't catch any fish but with suovas (smoked reindeer) our day is saved!;-) Jan smoked some meat in the backyard. Beef (left) & Moose ribs (right)

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-9827892145902923552008-03-29T20:29:00.006+01:002010-05-23T22:38:39.962+02:00

After two winters we can join in the conversation about the famous ice hotel in Jukkasjärvi!

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-70733846544982609252008-02-20T17:15:00.008+01:002010-05-23T22:39:17.349+02:00

We saw a big reindeer herd today!Aren't they beautiful animals? The Sami give their reindeers extra food during winter time to make sure they get enough to eat.

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-88803066137662163802008-02-18T16:57:00.005+01:002010-05-16T21:42:30.429+02:00

We are lucky to enjoy lots of beautiful sunsets. Winterly desert at our cottage lake. This looks much friendlier... taken at Malmesjaure.

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-60045283800435695082008-01-13T16:26:00.006+01:002010-05-16T21:43:25.820+02:00

We have a lot of snow... ...and good food! (moose ragout)

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-26682429410087821272007-09-30T15:13:00.008+02:002010-05-16T22:46:39.934+02:00

We just love campfires... ...September walks (at the Pite River (Piteälven))... ...the nature we live in...

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-60320930872728997312007-08-26T14:55:00.004+02:002010-05-16T22:49:32.849+02:00

Building a privy at our cottage. Look what I found! A big boletus! Fresh mushrooms...delicious! A lot of fire wood to be done for the next winter to come.

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-294102174756099822007-05-28T19:42:00.002+02:002010-05-16T23:08:28.325+02:00

In the beginning of May we still have quite some snow and lakes are frozen. By the end of May - after 7 months - our cottage lake is open again. First tour with our boat this year!

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-16680646459510674702007-04-24T09:31:00.002+02:002010-05-16T23:09:20.438+02:00

Sun is shining, snow is melting, spring is comeing. A fox on "our" lake.

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-48447153056151804502007-03-30T15:47:00.004+02:002010-05-16T23:11:52.223+02:00

We decided to take a day trip to the Norwegian border. Almost at the border Sweden/Norway. Not many trees so far up in the mountains.

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-19457082135568706782007-03-15T16:37:00.003+01:002010-05-16T23:13:25.983+02:00

A cow moose with her two calves came to visit us this morning!

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-20287453286823837182007-03-12T16:50:00.007+01:002010-08-08T07:40:49.327+02:00

Skiing on a snowmobile track. We don't have a snowmobile but skis! YEHAA!!! Jan ice fishing. Caught anything yet? Anne snowboarding in deep powder snow...well, I try! ;-)

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-80019871241265536832007-02-28T16:36:00.009+01:002010-05-16T23:16:00.967+02:00

We really don't have any lack of snow! ;-) Snow has an isolating effect and we don't have to heat as much. The best time of winter is still to come!

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701811416146130959.post-7489364380198940142007-01-20T18:14:00.009+01:002010-05-16T23:17:17.595+02:00

We bought a new wood stove. Just in time. January is the coldest month so far with temperatures up to -40 degrees C. Cold but beautiful. The path to our ice hole to get fresh water.

Aurinkonoreply@blogger.com0