Author: heulwen821948

Thursday 5th February

A day off.  Seb and Stef go off to the farm and we stay home, do our washing, post our blog and catch up on the internet.  That’s it!  However, we end up in PaPaNas at 4pm.  Our lame excuse – internet.  But of course we have to have a pint and then discover cookery programmes on the TV – Top Chef America and Master chef USA interspersed with Frasier and some shit about American kids in talent shows.  So my refusal to leave the TV, even though I had to keep turning it up to drown out the music and the noise of the pissed ‘Reindeer Sami’, leads to more pints and then a burger.  Then we text our house mates and shortly after Stef and Seb turn up.  It’s Stef’s birthday so more beers are required.  Seb doesn’t drink so he has a couple of glasses of water.  However, Seb is entertaining enough without alcohol!  Kate joins us too and we have a couple of games of Jenga. Seb has never played before so we explain the rules in pidgeon english and of course he loses.  Later we get back to the apartment worse for wear and find out we are being picked up early tomorrow!!! Ah well there are 2 cans left in the fridge, best open them too!

  Seb, Hels and Stefi at the farm

Friday 6 February

8am start today. There’s been about 4″ of snow overnight and it’s only -10 today so all chores are extra hard because we have to wade through deep snow and the extra effort soon means we’re sweating and uncomfortable.  We have 3 clients at 11am and Lukas wants Seb to drive but Seb keeps telling us ( Daz and I) that we should drive. But we insist that we shouldn’t and that he should for his personal development.  Finally he agrees grudgingly.  He finishes the tour and says it was OK for ten minutes and then it was dull.  Precisely why do you think we didn’t want to drive.

We are busy all of today with only 2 short breaks because Boss Satu has booked another short sled ride, ice fishing and a horse sled ride and we don’t find out until the last minute.  So we have to keep the Lavuu going and clients waiting to leave the farm have to be entertained.

Once back at the apartment we get a call from Erkki.  It’s Sami national day and there’s reindeer sled rides available.  We imagine high adrenaline activity but actually its us sat on a sled with the reindeer being led by a Sami round a very small circuit.  The reindeer is either too tired after a hard day, too lazy or we’re too heavy.  Whatever the reason the reindeer often grinds to a halt and both it and the sled need pushing and in the end Daz leaves the sled to help push it up the final gradient.  All this for the princely price of 20 Euros. But at least we get some nice photos.

Saturday 7th February

Another 8 am pick up.  Stef’s off today so just the 3 of us.  We’re all tired and I ache pretty much everywhere.  My hands ache, my back is sore and I know when I start work there’ll be other tired/achey parts. Daz has this too but I think to a lesser degree.  I’d have thought after 6 weeks, since we’re both fairly fit, we’d have got used to it.  I wonder if it’s to do with the jolting/jarring nature of our work.  Dogs dragging us all over the kennels, falling into holes dug by the dogs, falling through deep snow, the jolt as another frozen horse poo refuses to divest its grip of the horse wee ice underneath it and horses generally pushing you about as you try to brush them or clean their hooves!

The Spanish group that went to the reindeer roundup came to the farm today for dog sledding – so that was 4  sleds to prepare and there’s been more snow overnight and the temperature is a roasting -0.5 degrees!  Our warmest day yet.  These working conditions are the pits.  We’re all too hot, sweating and stinking and my gloves become soaked. The deep wet snow slows us down and it’s so hard wading through it.  Our last sled group is a British couple.  This is the first British couple we’ve met and it’s nice to chat to British tourists and Daz has soon told them about our travel plans.

Seb puts the bunk beds together, although its not until he is putting the ladder on that he realises half the wood is the wrong way round! Sod it, drill some more holes, it’s only Seb that needs the safety rail anyway! It is a real morale booster working with Seb, his expressions and accent make for funny conversation and we are always pulling his leg so when we are being serious he doesn’t believe us and then appears startled when he finds out we were serious! Sebs pet hate is picking up the dog poo, well today I have to agree with him as none of it is frozen and trying to empty a bucket of wet snow and poo into a sack not much fun! So the cabin is almost ready for occupation.  It’s small, really small, and looks even smaller with the bunk beds up and it still needs a cooker,  the heater installed, cooking equipment and seating for 4.  Wow it’s going to be a tight fit!!

Today we asked Seb what he’s doing tomorrow – it’s his day off.  He says he’s going to the museum and we say yes, the Siida.  Seb immediately pulls a really disgusted face and says “I do not like this word”. We look at each other in confusion.  ” What’s in a word and why such a reaction”. We assume he’s talking about something else but after a convoluted and confusing conversation including condoms, melodies, sexually transmitted diseases and much hilarity as he tries to explain himself, it turns out SIDA is the French word for HIV and his melody was ‘maladies’.

We take Seb and Stefi to the Kultohovi; to the bar with the log burner.  The Aurora are good tonight but Seb is totally unimpressed.  We’re wondering if his nickname should be ‘Victor’ from ‘Victor Meldrew’.

Sunday 8th February.

The temperature had dropped to -10 which should make work more comfortable and it’s a 10am start.  We have 3 clients for dog sledding so Stefi will be driving and because she’s usually involved with the horses, this a chance for her to learn the dog preparation process.  We’re taking the 2 youngsters, Bang and Ripa as part of the teams.  It’s difficult to get just 2 of them out of the cage and we never know how they’ll behave once there amongst the other dogs. The high winds overnight means we have many paths to clear; the path to the Lavuu, the puppy kennel, the bitches kennel, to the lake and around all the sleds.   We also clear the horse shed roof and clear an area for a wood delivery.

Another good night for the Aurora and over the lake we probably see the best display to date.

HOW TO SETUP YOUR DOG TEAM
So it’s a long old process for getting the dogs ready for the sledding… here’s how it goes:
Collect equipment – leashes, harnesses, snow anchors, sled cleaning kit, and reindeer skins.  Take equipment to kennel area.  Find out which teams are running and which dog you need to fetch.  Take leash and approach your dog of choice who by this stage is very excited and will jump all over you and lick you (not good when some are chronic shit eaters), attempt to hold dog and swap chain for your leash. Not an easy task with a moving target and thick gloves.  Swear. Remove warm gloves and keep trying until successful by which stage your hands are freezing.  Walk madly pulling and excited dog through chicane of other madly excited but jealous dogs and be grateful when you exit kennel area unscathed.  Take dog to one of the two holding lines in woods just above lake.
Repeat until 5 dogs (a sled team) are on the line.

Put a harness on each dog by getting its head threaded through and then its front paws and reclip to the holding line. If at the end of this the harness is upside down, you are upside down, or the dog is hanging from a tree by its harness you have done it wrong… repeat until right.  At this stage the dogs are still incredibly excited and will be running  around on the line, jumping at us or other dogs or even lying on their backs for some attention. They also might choose to lick or wee on us. During the unclipping, clipping process there’s the risk of losing grip of your dog and having to chase it back to the kennels as it happily cavorts about (especially bad if it’s Polar or Alaska who detest each other and not that keen on other males either!)

The number of teams required depends on the number of clients.  A sled is driven by one client whilst the 2nd sits in the sled covered in reindeer skins.  The clients drive across the lake led by Lucas or Erkki on a skiddoo.  There are 5 sleds available, so we could have to get up to 25 dogs ready! About 20 mins before the clients arrive the dogs are taken to the sleds on the lake and clipped in to the running lines. Each sled is anchored at the back and the dogs held in a relatively straight line by a snow anchor at the front.  Once the clients arrive and are positioned in the sled the lead skidoo takes off, one person has removed the snow anchor at the front and is holding the dogs steady as another pulls the slip knot and releases the sled… hoping that the person at the front has moved out of the way of a now rapidly accelerating dog team and sled.  If there are more sleds then the process is repeated allowing about a 30 meter separation between the teams… that is until the slip knot snags and its a mad few moments as the dogs are heaving on the sled and you are trying to free the knot… as a last resort we are supposed to cut the rope, but that hasn’t happened yet!

On the return of the sleds we signal to the driver to put the ice brake on as they come up to us and hope they remember, otherwise you’re about to get run over!  We then assist the clients out of the sled and take the teams back to the hitching post to secure them so the clients can take pictures etc!  We also have prepped some bone soup for the dogs to quench their thirst, but most of them are happy either rolling in the snow, eating snow (they love yellow or brown snow!) or just sitting there with a big cheesy tongue lolling grin on their faces.
Once the clients have disappeared for a tour around the farm and to go get warmed in the Lavuu we have to take the teams back to the kennels (no licking etc etc) and clean up the sleds and return all the equipment (when the dogs crap during a run some of the lines and harnesses get messy, thankfully it freezes quickly!) And not forgetting pick up the dog poo from the holding line!

See, I told you it was a long process, it may be only a 30 minute ride for the clients, but it’s a good 3 hours or more for us!

Wednesday 4th February

Bizarre day today.  Started with a vague plan to go up north in horse Satu’s car and see the reindeer round-up.  However Horse Satu, who was driving 8 clients to the roundup, spoke to Boss Satu and she said it was a working day for everyone and  Seb and Stef were going to the farm and me and Daz would be given chores by Erkki at 10am.   So Horse Satu left the apartment and then rang us about 10 minutes later.  There were too many clients to fit in the mini bus so would we take the extra to the roundup in her car.  So something we weren’t fit to do, suddenly became acceptable because there was clients (therefore money) involved!  We think “exploitation” at its best or perhaps I mean worst!

So we got Horse Satu’s car ready and off to see Boss Satu.  She gave us our briefing.  What we should tell the clients about the roundup and what we shouldn’t tell them – “we’ve no idea we’ve never been before!”. And if all else failed to give them a long complicated explanation which they wouldn’t understand because they’re Spanish!

So off we went following the minibus.  In our car we had a young Spanish couple.  And we shared all our newly found knowledge with them and we will share with you too.   On the way north it’s possible to see the vegetation change from Taiga to Semi-Tundra where the trees are much smaller and more shrub like than the birch and fir forests we’ve left.   There are 8500 Sami in Finland divided into 3 tribes; reindeer Sami, fisherman Sami and skull Sami (well it sounded like ‘skull’ – and they are the vagrant Sami from when a part of Finland was originally annexed by Russia).  Each group has its own culture and language.  The site of the reindeer roundabout is very close to a very distinct hill, Ailigas, the 2nd most holy site for the Sami in Finland.

The roundabout: there are about 14000 reindeer in Finland all owned by Sami Reindeer herders.  It’s fairly common to see them out in the countryside, riding their skidoos (the herders, not the reindeer!) with trailers of hay, looking for, feeding and checking the animals.  But remember all 14000 reindeer run loose (in the Karigasniemi area)and aren’t held in areas by fencing.  At the roundup (which occur several times a year)  3000 reindeer had been herded to this site.  They need to be checked, counted and marked by their owner.  Each ‘mark’ is a special cut in the ear of the reindeer, there are about 30 different marks to represent each family. The new calves (born  May 2014) which haven’t been marked yet, need to be done.

There’s a round corrall about 15metres in diameter and off it are gated shutes that lead to small paddocks.  Approximately 50 reindeer are herded into the corrall where there are about 30 Sami and some tourists (us) stood waiting.  The reindeer run around the corrall and the Sami identity their own deer, grab it by its horns and man handle it to their own particular gated shute.   This continues until the corrall is empty.  In some cases there are calves without markings.  They have a tag hung from its neck and are sent to their own paddock.  When the day is done, these calves will be released into the entire herd and will find their mother and then it will be clear who owns them.  All the Spanish tourists and us entered the corrall and watched the action.  The reindeer are running around us madly and although we have been told they will not run into us their antlers look extremely sharp and close at times.  We stay inside the corrall for a few rounds of the selection process and enjoy the earthiness and splendour of the reindeer at close proximity.   Truly memorable!

When no one could stand the cold any longer we went to Uncle Hansi’s cabin to get warm.   If I’ve understood correctly Hansi’s nephew owns (and races) reindeer and is cousin to Boss Satu.  Hansi must be around 70 and is clearly an absolute charmer and flirt and whilst we totally depended on Horse Satu for translation,  there are some messages that are conveyed without language.  Hansi has diversified and has a hotel and recognises the value of the tourist and their interest in reindeer.

He wore (as do most Sami) reindeer moccasins with a pointed toe ( I thought this was some quaint affectation) but it’s so the point can be hooked into their skis.  In these shoes they used to have hay instead of socks; it needs to be specially prepared before use.  

An Arctic fox fur hat, seal skin gloves and over his coveralls a hand crafted belts with 2 knives.  The Sami now use top of the range skidoos (approx £15000) but once used herding dogs and skis.   Hansi told us that as a young man (1959) he was at a reindeer roundabout and there was a young girl there from Helsinki who caught his eye.  She returned to Helsinki and there was no emails or texts or phone lines so Hansi couldn’t stay in contact but instead sacrificed a white reindeer to the Gods.  And in 1962 he came home after a day working the reindeer and a car was parked under his bedroom window and ‘the girl that had caught his eye’ was inside chatting to his mother having finished her degree in Helsinki.  And they’ve been married ever since.

We got back to Inari about 6, Daz said his eyes were bleeding from the long drive with nothing to look at except snow snow snow and maybe if he was lucky the van in front appearing from the snow spray in time to brake if it needed to stop suddenly for reindeers on the icy snowy road!

At least tomorrow is a day off!

Monday 2nd February.

Early start today because there are 2 clients for the long tour at 0920. And because Daz has been waking up every hour worrying about oversleeping we get to the farm even earlier than expected!  Chores done and dog team ready BUT no clients.  So we go out sledding. Just me, Daz, Lukas and ‘Team Kazakhstan’. First I drive whilst Lukas drives the skidoo with Daz on the back.  Then Daz and I swap and finally Daz drives the skidoo and Lukas the dog sled.  It’s a beautiful clear morning and it’s fab and no clients to worry about.  Great fun!

Then we have more puppy time and take them for their first proper walk outside their compound to the yard by the horse paddock.  Only 3 come with us the other 2 are a little shy and stay in the kennel but hopefully next time they’ll all come.  They are so cute and just follow us around… Fatfuck got distracted by the horse paddock when he came across his first horse poop, ‘yum yum’, and runs off chewing on a lump or two!

We do a few chores

 (Daz and his amazin’ shit sled!)

 and clear the snow on the road to remove the drifts and everything’s done but our cabin still hasn’t arrived.  So we give up waiting and go for coffee and then just as we sit down Lukas tells us the trucks have arrived and we all rush out so we can watch and record the delivery of our new cabin with sauna!

     Hels enjoys the sauna!

 new cabin is a bit small! 

Tuesday 3rd February.

Another early start and when Seb falls asleep in his dry muesli we discover he hasn’t slept well.   Apparently the bed’s too small for him so when he rolls over he falls out of bed!!!

Today Rob leaves and Stephanie from Karigasnimi will be joining us.  It’s a really long day for us – 8am pick up and not home until 7pm.   Hard day too.  We start with an early dog sled long tour and then have 6 for short tour at 1.30pm.   We take Grey, Lumi and Beige which is always an adventure.  Firstly going into their cage to get their collars on and they jump all over me.  One always wants my jacket hood so jumps all over my back whilst another is hanging from my ripped pockets and the third generally getting stuck in where there’s space. They’re so excited but finally I get their collars on and its down to the holding line.  Grey and Lumi are pretty well behaved but Beige cries and whines as if he’s being beaten to death and all will fight and squirm to get out of harnesses and even chew their way out.  Daz is supposed to be leading on the skidoo but Erkki decides against it because of the snow drifts and Erkki manages to lose the track several times leading the dogs into deep snow.  One client manages to capsize his sled and another walks away leaving it untended.  An eventful trip and Daz is relieved he wasn’t driving!

We take the puppies for a walk and clearly Lukas hasn’t shared the briefing with them.  When we asked him how to walk the puppies he said ‘ We are their mother.  They love us most and they will follow us anywhere!’. Well clearly they don’t!   The 3 that did follow us yesterday are more than happy to make a break for the yard whenever we let them out and when the more timid 2 follow they all end up down a new track playing in deep snow.  They don’t even look to see where their ‘mothers’ are – 3 of us watching them from a distance to make sure no-one gets lost in the dark.

31st January.

OMG – Double surprise today.  Firstly it’s the first time in over 22 years I woke as a “Civvi”, my disgust was so great I had to shower for over an hour. But fortunately soon realised nothing had changed when we made a timed schedule for our day off, with ETAs and ETDs and NMB timings and started with bed blocks!!!   See – nothing’s changed.

Secondly it’s our consecutive day off.  Fxxx me that’s like a weekend and to think I always complained that 5:2 (work:time off) was shit now it’s more like 8:1 and instead of a bank account briming with cash; now I’m doing it for free!!!

So we had a lie in followed by a mooch around town.  There really isn’t much in Inari but we found it truly pleasurable to pop into the supermarket and get a refund on our empty beer cans; check out the gift shop; send a few postcards and then have coffee in the petrol station.  Actually all petrol stations have a ‘burger joint’ attached.  We were about to leave when the proprietor turned on the TV.  And yes we did watch Finnish langlauf championship for 3 hours. Ain’t moving pictures fab!!! Haven’t seen any since Helsinki.  That’s 28 days – that’s cold turkey that is!!   So we were rooting for contestant 20, 51 and 81 and comparing their style to our own yesterday.  Clearly we would’ve given them a run for their money.

 Rocky relaxing at the Wilderness Church.

Then we did a short walk behind the Sidda -the Sami cultural museum (specially chosen walk for really deep snow – thanks Daz!) and then back to the apartment, just as Seb and Rob were returning.  An early finish from the farm.  And then off to Hotel Inari to update the blog etc and catch up with Kate, who’s back from Karigasnemi to run Villa Lanca for a while.  Chatting to her and hearing her voice some of our thoughts make me wonder if we’ll manage another 2 months here.  Maria and Ola soon arrive.  Maria has found a job in Svalbard and leaves tomorrow and Ola will leave for Ivalo too.  Goodbye guys – we will miss you, especially Ola with her ‘hole’ game.  Apparently it’s her equivalent to ” who am I?” , when a post-it of the name of a famous person is placed on your forehead and you have to figure out who you are.  Ola’s version – I have a hole, meaning I’ve thought of something which has a hole, and all the other game players have to work out what she’s thinking of (we had coffee filter, a wood chisel, Crocs).  Strangely this is the game she played with the Sami truck driver whilst hitchhiking from Norway.  Ola says ” I have a hole, guess which hole am I thinking of?” Strangely the truck driver wasn’t that interested in guessing but in pulling over in a lay-by and looking and perhaps “filling” Ola’s hole.  Oh the naïveté of youth and thank god for our dirty minds as we enjoyed this story massively.  Thank you Ola.

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Petrie the ice fisherman.  The Wilderness Church.  Daz and Rocky skiing.

Tonight after dinner we play poker.  Me, Daz, Rob, Kate and Seb.  Kate and Seb have never played before and we don’t even know if Seb understands the rules or how to win, given his limited English but whatever he does understand, he’s on a winning streak but he’s bored by the game and soon retires.  He doesn’t play cards nor drink (because he’s an epileptic) and it seems he used to rougher play.  Being chased by his brothers and hit over the head with a hammer – well we think this is what he said!  He has 2 brothers – one younger, one older.

1st February

Pick up at 0930hrs.  Rob’s last day at work and Seb’s first day off.  Nothing much else happens although a client did fall off their sled.

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The puppies – can you see Fat Fuck?  I am a feeder and he’s getting fatter by the day.

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Reindeer poo – smaller than rabbit droppings.

Monday 26th January.

A day off today, and the temperature is a very mild -3 degrees with some snow and a little wind.  We wake late, a luxury and decide what to do with our off day… But first there is no food! The larder is empty so Daz has to go cap in hand to Ola at the Villa Lanca to see what he can scrounge.  Fortunately Ola has the petty cash and gives him some cash so he can buy bread, butter, cheese, yogurt, muesli and bacon…breakfast sorted.

Unlike our previous off days when we went off for ages into the wilds and came home much later exhausted and cold, this time we decide on a short walk around the Juuanta river circuit and as Horse Satu has left ‘Rocky’ her long haired Alsatian in the apartment we take him with us.

The walk is beautiful but we soon realise we have way too many clothes on.  Usually we’re cold but today it’s so mild and we take off our down jackets and we’re much more comfy.  Rocky loves chasing snowballs and later we discover he’s fond of stick chasing.  He’s a bit scatty for such a big dog but well behaved off the leash.  After the walk an afternoon nap then over to see Ola and use the WiFi and catch up with friends.  It’s Nicole’s birthday (Daz’s daughter) tomorrow.  She’ll be 18.  Happy Birthday!!!! Hopefully she’ll have the car on the road – Daz’s present to her with contribution to her insurance.  Happy driving Nicole!

Tuesday 27th January.

A really quiet day today.  Only one couple for dog sledding.  Erkki and Daz build the new Lavuu whilst Rob and I sort out the dog team.  In the afternoon we help Horse Satu with horse clients.  There are 4 who want to ride so 4 horses need to be prepared and then each horse needs to be led.  We also receive horse handling training from Horse Satu.  Apparently dealing with horses is about establishing respect so they want to do what their asked.  So we have to lead our horse.  Come to a definitive stop by stomping.  Marching on the spot and doing the chicken dance with our arms if we want the horse to back up.  It works in training but it makes no difference when we’re taking the clients out. My horse, Stella, just wants to be as close to Snellie’s arse as possible no matter how much I was pulling on her harness!  I ask Daz how he got his to walk so slow, but he just had the only male horse and was typically slow!!

Lucy has been escaping from her kennel.  3 times she’s got out.  She’s had enough of her puppies and when we bring water for them she runs off with the water dish, her pups are obviously driving her to despair! Mind you, if I was having to lick clean Shithead everyday I’d be wanting out! Today she is moved back to her old home in the main dog area.  From now on the puppies are on their own.

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News today – Rob isn’t happy here since the fire and has decided he will leave (3rd Feb) coincidentally the same day as Ola.  And there is to be a change of schedule.  Erkki (and Lukas) don’t like the volunteers in the main house so instead of staying the night, all volunteers will be on day working and will return to the apartment.  We think this will start around 3rd February when Rob leaves.   So we’ll see how that suits everyone!

We’ve had confirmation of a job in Norway for mid June and we’ve been offered work in Iceland, thanks to a recommendation from Heli.  We got really excited when they offered us 25000 Icelandic krona each per month……………………..but then discovered it’s only £125 but still that’s £125 more than we’re earning from our other jobs.

Wednesday 28th January

Today Erkki brings the new volunteer.  He’s Belgian, called Sebastian.  He’s only been learning English for 2 months and so he’s going to struggle to follow what we’re saying.  Lukas tries French to begin with but he soon reverts to English.  Seb’s only 20 and full of energy.  Erkki should have brought Maria today but she and Ola decided to hitch to Karigasniemi (and perhaps to Norway) yesterday.  It’s 100 km north of Inari.  They left at 10am yesterday and they were supposed to catch a bus back but missed it!!  So no Maria today and Horse Satu has had to cover for Ola in Villa Lanca.  More of this later.

Today we have to prepare 4 teams and all goes well with our new volunteer. Although the language is a barrier, he is a quick learner.  We have also been told by Erkki that we will no longer stay overnight at the farm from today.  Seb will do the next 3 nights and then after that no volunteers will stay on the farm.  So this will mean warm showers everyday and a real toilet!!!  But possibly early mornings too !!

More news. Maria and Ola made it back to Inari today but for whatever reason they have left. So we’re down to 4 volunteers and one of those, Rob, is leaving on the 3rd February.

Back at the apartment we contact Ola and arrange to meet them in PaPaNa’s to hear their news.  They got a lift within 10 minutes but as the lady was going to Kautokeino in Norway they decided to go there instead of Karasjok where they had originally intended.  They had a pleasant afternoon but started hitching back at 5pm and soon realised they were unlikely to make it back.  They text boss Satu how wasn’t receptive to the news they were stranded in Norway.  They got one lift with a truck driver but decided to stay there because the lady who had given them a lift earlier had promised to get them back to Inari by 10am Wednesday.  By the time they got back to Inari they’d had more texts from boss Satu of such a nature that they decided their work for Erkki and Satu had reached its end.  So that’s 4 volunteers that have left much earlier than planned and one employee who’s been sacked.  Erkki thinks it’s the quality of the volunteer but the common denominator is the bosses and the work.

Thursday 29th January.

Erkki picks us up at 9am – that’s me, Daz and Rob but there’s only 2 clients today so that’s just one dog team to prepare.   There’s been snow during the night and much of it has blown onto the farm track. So job number one – clear the farm track of snow, Seb and Daz go at it with the hand ploughs and me n Rob follow with shovels trying to keep up with them!  Then Rob, Seb and I prepare the dogs whilst Lukas and Daz each take a skidoo to clear the route for the sleds, this was Daz’s first excursion on the skidoo and all he had to do was follow Lukas, but he said he had fun especially when. Cornering as they are not as responsive as you would think.  Whilst he is away I go to get Bang, one of the pups.  He’s going to run today. But disaster strikes.  Only yesterday Daz was laughing because I’ve yet to lose a dog.  Today I lost 3.  3 of the pups escaped when I was trying to get Bang out.  It was mayhem.  I shouted for Rob but he didn’t hear me or realise why all the other dogs were barking and making a huge din.  Usually a give away of an escaped dog.  The 3 pups were running round the public area and into the horse paddock.  I managed to capture 1 but it took ages to get the other 2.  What a nightmare.  I could have kept it quiet but was certain Lukas would spot all the dog prints everywhere including the horse paddock.   In the end we had to chain Bang’s kennel mates to get him out.  And he had a great run. However we do get told off later as Daz forgot to take the collars off the pups and they chew one of them in two!!

There’s now yet another change afoot.  Erkki has brought some sort of wood cabin/bungalow on skis which should be delivered at the weekend.  It’s going to be the volunteers hut – where they go for brews and lunch etc.  But there’s been talk of bunk beds so perhaps we’ll go back to night farming.  The cabin even has a sauna – apparently. So Erkki marked the spot where he wants it and the digger came to clear the ground. As it was such a quiet day Erkki was about to leave and had said to Daz that he would pick us up at 630pm, Daz exclaimed at the lateness, it was only 230 now and all the jobs including poop pickup had been done, Erkki relented and decided to take us home, so an early finish, but we are waiting for the new schedule to see if we will be getting a day off soon… otherwise we will have to have words!

Friday 30th January.

We have 2, yes read it and weep, 2 days off!!!  So off we go, hire langlauf skis and off we ski to the Wilderness church with Rocky the dog.  Its been over 20 years since Daz did langlauf and he was soon on his arse, but my laughter was cut short as I hit the ground too!!  But we soon found our ski legs and setting a good pace.  We get to the church and the cabins and coincidentally Petri is there waiting for some horse sled clients so he gets a fire going which is a welcome respite from the cold and snow.  We visit the church and then get back, we think we might run into the horse sleds on the way back so to be careful we put Rocky on his leash…. I am soon on my arse again as he drags me down a slope, “Daz? Will you take him?”

Fortunately it’s not long before we pass the sleds and we can let him off again.

After our amazing skiing adventure and a nap we complete the day with a lovely celebratory (it’s our last paid day in the Army! Tomorrow we will be civvies!) meal at the Kultahovi hotel; 5 courses of wonderful local produce including reindeer.  It certainly rivalled some of our better experiences in the UK!

Fire, Fire, Fire

Thursday 22nd January
Today our farm cabin burnt down. Everything in that block of buildings razed to the ground: our cabin, the equipment room, the wood shed and the tool cupboard gone!

It’s our day off today and we’ve decided to walk to the Sami Wilderness Church – it’s the destination of one of our horse sled tours. When we leave we’ve heard from Erkki that he can’t pick up Maria for day farming because there’s a fire at the farm. At this point we don’t how serious it is and there’s nothing we can do anyway.

We go off on our walk. Fail to find the Wilderness church -doh! See 4 reindeer, a Sami reindeer herder on his skidoo and walk 11 miles. And I see the sun for the first time since arriving! It’s amazing seeing that orange ball in the sky and feeling the heatmon your face again after so long. By the end of the walk I’m very very cold and tired; walking in snow is hard work.

Back at the apartment we meet Sarah. She says they were just finishing the breakfast feed when they noticed the flames. By the time they got to the cabin the fire was raging and with a gas bottle inside they kept their distance. Sami reindeer herders came to help and the fire brigade was called. Sarah has lost clothes, passport, money, cash cards and other items she had in the cabin. Poor girl – she’s had 3 really tough days truly being thrown into the deep end and then the fire. A few hours earlier………………!!!!!! Lukas had mentioned that he thought there was a problem with the chimney – so perhaps it was a chimney fire!!!

This was the cabin and stores before… 

Maria, Rob and Horse Satu have gone to the farm. Sarah is having to phone many people. She needs money, passport etc.
We have a sauna booked at the Kultahovi hotel at 5pm. No one’s around so off we go. It’s fab. We go on the sauna and then go outside and lie in the snow, several times! It’s soooooo cold!!!

After the lovely sauna we have a beer by their lovely wood stove – it’s made of glass so we can see the logs burning.

Today is opening night of the film festival. There’s supposed to be an opening ceremony but we’re too late. Instead we see the ice theatre – each tier of seats covered with a reindeer skin.

Back at the apartment. Sarah is leaving!! She’s had enough and who can blame her. Maria is back and has some photos. The cabin is gone. Rob and Horse Satu are staying the night on the farm in Lukas’ house. Erkki has managed to buy some dog harnesses and apparently ‘the show will go on’!!!!! Tomorrow Daz and I are back for 2 nights on the farm so I’m sure we’ll see what’s what then!

Friday 23rd January

We’re picked up at 9.30am and at the farm all are very somber. Is it due to the after shock of the fire or is everyone suffering from a vodka induced hangover???? Erkki has bought new dog equipment and we’ve got clients at 12 so it turns out to be business as usual. Well kind of. There’s no Lavuu – it’s still standing but it’s right next to ground zero – the site of the fire and we’re pretending to the clients all is normal. We’re not to mention the fire!! Or the war to the Germans!

There are some new chores to do including looking for our sled anchors in the remains of the fire. Unfortunately the fire is still burning and Daz melts his salopettes in the anchor salvage operation. We also need to chop more wood as the wood store, and all the logs Hels chopped the other day are gone and we need logs to be able to melt the water for the horses and dog soup. There is a layer of ash all over the snow and the site is still smouldering, as it gets dark we can see that it is still burning deep in the ruins, it’ll be a few days before we can try and start salvaging anything else.

Erkki comes along later and takes Daz away to get one of the other vehicles as we need to be self sufficient for the next 2 days as he is going somewhere to the far west of Finland to buy more equipment. Already they have had to buy new axes (wood chopping), auger (ice holes), water pump (drinking water from lake), leashes and harnesses (doggies), more dog food (we’d just taken delivery of a new pallet and that all went up!) more food for us and tea bags for Hels! We need to put a list together of the other things we need like work gloves, head torches, batteries and all the other stuff we need to manage the farm. We are all amazed that the fire didn’t spread to the trees and other buildings, it really would have been the end if that had happened. Let’s hope that tomorrow the mood lifts a bit and we can all get back into a routine as such as it was.

We’re living in the farm house now. Some pics, Maria and Rob drinking tea English style, beds, Hels hugging the fire, Lukas and Maria chilling at the kitchen table (note kitchen bedroom combo!)

Saturday 24th January

No clients for dog sledding today. Erkki and Satu have gone to the west of Finland to shop for replacement stores and equipment. We’re expecting Horse Satu and Maria at some point because there might be horse clients. So without the usual dog team preparation, Daz and I decide to make a more direct path to our new toilet. We chip ice from around the well and we clear snow from the site of the ‘new’ Lavuu

and then apply some DIY to the new toilet which was so high Daz couldn’t touch the floor when he was seated and in order to hoist himself into seated position he’d bang his head on the ceiling, I just looked at it and wondered where my climbing gear was! So we’ve lowered the frame and we’ll see how long our DIY lasts. Apart from this we have the usual chores of dog and horse feeding and picking up poo. All in all a productive day!

Daz and Bandit, his fav dog, Hels and Suvan, her fav dog! (Don’t tell the other 35 dogs!)

Tonight we’re home alone. There’s a Sami rapper (apparently quite famous) on in Pa Pa Na’s – Inari’s main watering hole and since it’s also Ola’s birthday everyone is going out and we’ve offered to cover at the farm tonight and tomorrow whilst they have a lie in.

Sunday 25th January

I get up and light the fires and feed the horses.

 Hels lighting fire and doing morning feed

We do the morning dog feed and poo pick up. It’s only -13 today so nice and warm.
 Lucy has had enough of the puppies (especially Fat Fuck!) stealing all her food, so now she carries her own bowl.

When everyone left the farm last night we told them to call when they needed picking up. But we overlooked the fact that Daz’s phone was running low on power so he switched off his phone only to discover in the morning that he needed the PIN to reactivate phone and its in the apartment. Whoops!! Anyway about 10am we see someone walking past the window. Erkki picked them all up this morning – think they didn’t go to bed until 3am so I think there are some sore heads.

We have 4 clients today so a quiet day but Erkki wants to use the new open air Lavuu so we need to take the seats, and fire bowl etc from old one. The clients are Spanish, one is a tour rep and so whilst 4 of them go sledding with Erkki and Lukas, Daz has to escort the tour rep around and generally look after him in the hope that he will get us some Spanish clients! Daz, waffles any old drivel as he knows the guy will not know the difference between one dog and the next, although he does look worried when the Rep points out the horses are Norwegian fjord horses… Daz nods sagely, “yes, they were wild, but Satu is a great horse trainer!” Apart from that not much happening and we’re allowed to leave the farm at 3pm and a day off tomorrow. Hurrah!!!

Sat 17 to Wed 21 Jan.

Saturday 17th January. The last couple of days have been really warm. Yesterday was only -3 and today is -5. Apparently it’s a big day today, we’re sled training and for this Daz has to sacrifice his day off. Erkki is supposed to pick us up at 0950hrs but he’s late. This is unusual, it turns out a lorry driver took out a power cable at the hotel Inari and he had to help with the paperwork. We go to the farm along with the 2 Dutch clients for the day. They’re doing the the ‘long run’ and in addition to their team another two teams have been prepped. One for me and Daz, the other for Rob and Maria. Erkki leads on the skidoo with Lukas on the back then the clients, Rob and Maria and us at the back. Daz is driving first so I stand at the front of the team and when we’re ready pick up the anchor and run to the sled and get in, pulling the reindeer skin on top of me. It’s comfortable and interesting to see the world from this level, my eyes are slightly higher than the dogs’ backs. Coolio except when they poop. Who would have thought they’d shit on the run??? Except Torre whose back legs think they’re squatting for a poo but whose front are dragged on by the rest of the team. Anyway it’s lovely to sit in the sled and watch the poo world go by. Unfortunately, Rob and Maria seem to be having problems and we keep gaining on them, it looks as if one of the dogs has got a broken harness and is not able to pull as efficiently . We’re supposed to keep a certain distance so we keep having to brake. We’re all brought to a halt by Erkki and we swap drivers. He spends some time with Maria and Rob and we later find out that Saki’s harness is indeed broken so they’ve only got 5 dogs pulling. For the last part of the route we go through the forest along an undulating single track. This is much nicer than going across the flat lake although the scenery on the lake is lovely. We haven’t been here before and it’s very pretty but the snow is really thick and our team are tired now and falling further behind the others. We try running on the uphills and other difficult parts to help them out. We get the teams in and find out we’ve got 2 more clients so we need a team for them. Daz goes home with Satu when she drops the over clients off, after all this is his day off!! He’ll be back at the apartment now, hopefully getting the washing done and going to a WiFi location to published the previous days blog… Well it is his day off!. So that’s 13 days we’ve worked and I’ve had 2 days off and Daz a day and a halfish. It’s worse than an operational tour!!!!!

Sunday 18th January

Still warm. -6 although chillier stood out on the lake with the wind whipping straight at us. 5 Japanese clients today for an early long run… Daz is on Lavuu duty today. Normally after the clients come back in they spend some time taking pictures of themselves with the dog teams and get shown around the farm, especially the Chinese and Japanese but today 3 of the ladies are bitterly cold even wrapped up in all their winter gear (mind you the one wearing the avian flu mask was chancing it!) so they are sent straight up to the Lavuu to warm themselves on Daz’s hot sausage… to explain, this is German bratwurst cooked on the open campfire in the Lavuu to warm people up along with Daz’s hot juice … never mind!!! Daz and I are on nights for the next two days, so I hope my kindle battery holds out, otherwise Daz will be begging me to play ‘bananagrams’ or some card game!! It’s going to be busy tomorrow, we have clients for 9am, 11am and 1 pm but these timings are farsical: remember when you had CO’s (Commanding Officer to you civvies- just checked, I can still say that for another 12 days) Inspection and it was due at 9am but by the time adjutant, then Squadron boss, then squadron 2i\c, then troop staffie had factored in their pre inspection checks, you ended being ready at 7am for a 9am event. Well his place runs in a similar fashion; our bosses only care that everything’s ready but don’t give a damn if we’ve been ready ages… after all we’re free labour.

Before retiring for the evening (crawling, knackered into one of the doss bags we share with all the other workawayers with only a clean pillowcase as protection from who knows what!) Daz and I go for a walk in the dark night, there’s no moon, but the sky is clear and the constellations are out to see, I must learn a few more than ‘Orion’s belt’ and ‘the plough’. We walk down onto the lake and out a while, stopping and checking the sky for shooting stars (1-0 to Daz !!) and Aurora Borealis (0-0). The quiet is amazing, and it is at times like this that this experience is at its most surreal; walking under the night sky, nobody else for miles around, the untouched snow in the woods and on the lake at least 2 foot deep, and it was only 19 days ago that we left Hampshire and all our friends behind. I don’t think in our wildest dreams we imagined anything so amazing. With no cloud cover its getting colder again and we are soon off adventuring into deepening snow as we head back around towards the forest trail and the farm.

Monday 19th January.

So early start today. Lukas lights the fires and we start dog feeding at 0730hrs. Well that’s supposed to be the start time but of course Daz is raring to go and is too impatient to wait for Lukas so by the time he joins us we’ve already done some cages. After feeding and poo pick up, there’s time for a brew and to find out which dogs are running and we’ve now got Maria and Rob to help us (although this should have been his first day off!). So we get 4 teams ready and we have some reserves if we need them because these teams might have to run 3 times. 3 of the substitutes are the older pups; Grey, Lumi and Beige. Daz and I are dreading this because getting collars and harnesses on these guys can be a nightmare and even worse trying to keep them on and stopping the pups’ constant writhing and attempts to get free. It all goes fairly smoothly except for the following: Alaska spend his whole time waiting on the sled line either dry humping or humping his partner Aussi(she’s a girl) but this doesn’t stop when the sled is moving so the horny sod is returned to his kennel

Just as the last tour goes out Klovni attacks Alpha, his jaws clamped round Alpha’s jaw. There is blood. Initially Klovni is sent to the holding line as the instigator until Lukas sees that Alpha’s paw is hurt and bleeding, so he returns to his kennel: and finally the 3 pups are put in line, but actually apart from Grey weasingly out of his collar the new boys do really well. By the time the 3 sessions had finished and everything packed away we were all pretty pooped. Time for a late lunch and then a dash to get the horse shit picked up before the light went completely. Remarkable event today: Lukas saw the sun. He hasn’t seen it since the beginning of December and because of the hills round the farm it takes several extra days to spot it. For tonights tea in the cabin Daz cooks baked potatoes in the fire wrapped in some tinfoil. With a few condiments and a homemade peppered cream and ham sauce they are lovely, steaming in their skins as we break them open and devour them!

Tuesday 20th January.

Another early start. 7 clients for a 9am long run. Maria is day farming but has horse clients so horse Satu needs help. And we have Sarah. A new girl. She’s Danish. We prep 4 teams for dog sledding and I’m driving one sled because there’s only 7 clients. The temperature has dropped significantly and it’s -24. Everyone’s asking if I have enough to wear. I’m nervous. Scared I’ll mess this up for the dogs and the clients and also because driving or riding in a sled is pretty static and in these temperatures that’s going to be cold! So we’re off. No big drama until we stop and I struggle to keep the brake on enough to stop the dogs surging forward (apparently I don’t weight enough to use the brake effectively, yippee!). We swap and the client drives and enjoys it but she soon gets tired at the long stops too because the dogs are still surging forward, wanting to keep going as we struggle to keep the sled braked (the brake is a metal bar you stand on with 2 anchor like appendages that get driven into the snow underneath it). So I drive the final stretch through the woods and nearly capsize ( I know this is a sailing term but it fits the bill) the sled. Really not good with a client. We take a left hand corner but the sled goes up quite a steep right bank and I end up running as the sled drops back to the flat and then jumping back on to the skids. And whilst the dogs aren’t going that fast, this all seems pretty quick and scary to me!!! Glad I was at the back and maybe nobody saw! We get back and unlike the clients, who are also all half frozen and get to toddle off to the warmth of the Lavuu I now have to assist with getting the dogs back to their kennels and cleaning and resetting the sleds; mind you, a few runs behind the still madly pulling dogs to their kennels and I am warm again!

Finally I get a moment of peace as we all retreat to the cabin and the warmth of the log burner, kettles on the stove and hot cups of tea all around. It’s a bit of a squeeze with Daz, me, Maria, Sarah, Horse Satu and Lukas all sat around the table reaching for bread, butter, coffee, jam, cheese, tea, hot lemon and cake but we all have a good laugh, all speaking in English or accented English in the main. Horse Satu is now used to Daz’s daily question of “How are you?” And has realised it doesn’t actually mean he is interested in her well being but that it is a general greeting the English use, and although not annoying is finding it tiresome having to tell him daily that she is fine, we all have a laugh at her expense. It’s great that all the people here are good humoured and we are always chatting away about this that and the zodiac (Lukas believes he is an expert and readily reads from his ‘expert’ book about all our traits, appearances and whether we should be together!). Soon though its back out into the cold, horse poo waits for no volunteer! Later Daz takes me to the woodshed for a quickie… lesson in log splitting and actually I find it invigorating smashing the axe through the old wood and soon get into a rhythm; log on, swing engaged, ordnance delivered on target, smash! Two more faggots for the fire!

About 3pm, I am called away by horse Satu to help Sarah with a horse riding tour. We have 2 clients, mounted on Rangwald and Sninni waiting for their horse tour that neither Sarah or I have done before. We have Horse Satu’s instructions and off we go. When we return we realise we’ve been abandoned. Me, Daz and Sarah are left with 2 horse clients, we have no idea what we are supposed to do with them or when they will get picked up. Lukas and Maria have gone early to town and Horse Satu is still away sorting out the equipment she needs for a sleigh ride she is running later. We have been left holding the fort. Daz ensures there is a fire in the Lavuu to keep the 2 horse clients warm. But after a while and Daz already having used up all his small talk on the two Taiwanese ladies we are still none the wiser!! Slight dilemma but fortunately before it becomes too uncomfortable Erkki arrives to whisk them away. Mind you he forgot the milk he promised and stocks are low, so there could be a tea crisis soon! That leaves Daz, me and Sarah to do the dog feed. It goes smoothly with no escapees or trouble. It’s been a long grueling day in low temperatures for Sarah the new girl, with a shed load of information to try and imprint onto her frazzled memory and she has more to come as she will soon be off to town to assist horse Satu on the sleigh run up to the wilderness church! Hope it all doesn’t scare her off!

Wednesday 21st January

-25 today. Daz did the late horse feed last night as I snuggled in the smelly sleeping bag and gets a text from Lukas saying today we’re not needed until 8am. A slow start after the last few days. We do have clients for around 11am and just need to prepare 3 teams. No real dramas today apart from my 2nd stint in wood chopping ends in bloodshed. I’d chopped the big logs and had started on the kindling but had left 2 pieces of wood on the chopping block and when I hit one the other ricocheted off it straight into my face/nose!!!!! Daz kept asking what was wrong but I couldn’t speak for the pain and then my nose started bleeding. The blood looked really impressive on the crisp white snow but I amin too much pain to notice… fortunately Daz took photos of it so I can reminisce later!

During team preparation we went to get the 3 pups – Grey, Lumi and Beige. Unfortunately when Rob came into the cage he didn’t shut the door and Grey escaped, leaving us holding two wildly jealous dogs as he runs off after it down towards the lake! Later Rolfe who’d been taken from his team to make room for one of the pups got so pissed off being on the holding line that he managed to escape by braking a shackle and came running down to the sled teams. Fortunately he’s not a trouble maker and he trotted towards me and I took him back to the holding line. Daz is driving today – he has Beige (the pup) running next to Belle his mum. He has a number of dramas on his sled ride – but I’ll let him tell the story. He came back frozen and he’d only been out 30 minutes. His ear had frostnip and lost the skin.
Daz- so as Hels said I was driving and assisting one of the clients today, this happens when there is an odd number. I had a nervous young Taiwanese lady and she took first stint in the sled and would get a go later in the trip at driving. So Beige the pup is only about 8 months old and this is only his second go at being on a sled line, and as we all know pups are still full of the joy and playfulness of youth, this does not help as he is constantly trying to get his running partner, Belle, to play with him. Not too much of a problem whilst we are waiting for the off as Belle just puts him in his place, i.e. on his back in a submissive position. However during the run he was constantly running into her shoulder and pushing at her, so much so that twice we are sent off into soft snow on the sled, all the time I am cajoling them to behave whilst trying to steer the unsteerable sled back onto the track and placating the even more nervous client that this was all run of the mill! Anyway, we get to the turn around point and she takes over driving, giggling nervously, but she needn’t have worried as with such a superb dog musher as her partner we only had one further incident that I had to sort (the 2 front dogs circling onto the back 2!) before we were hurtling back to the farm. On a really positive note, I saw the sun today for the first time in 20 days, wow that was nice, but as soon as we went back into the shadow of the surrounding hills the cold bit deep again…hence the frostnip earlobe, it must have come uncovered on the ride! Must sort my hands out too, Hels complains they are like icicles!

A great event today – Erkki is taking us home early. We’re back in the apartment by 3pm – what a treat. Horse Satu who has really been feeling the cold today discovers she has frost nip on 2 toes on each foot. It looks bad and she goes into the bathroom (with under floor heating) to let them warm. Whilst she is warming up we go to laundry and then as we have to wait for the wash cycle to finish we go to the Hotel Kultahovi as we have heard they have a nice bar. It does indeed, with a healthy selection of warm alcoholic drinks to warm the cockles! They have a lovely fire pit too and a web cam showing the night sky so you can’t miss the Northern Lights should they appear, and fortunately soon after they are out in all their glory and we trundle outside with all the Chinese and Japanese camera happy snappers to watch them down out of the hotels illumination by the river. Blimey,they might be nice, but its freezing, back to the bar and the lovely fire we race! The rest of the evening is spent cooking some pasta amatriciana, playing cards and looking forward to our day off tomorrow… But there will be a calamitous event next morning, tune in next time to find out what happened!

Sunday 11th January
After our day off the temperature remains extremely low. -35. It’s too cold for clients and too cold for the dogs to run the sleds. The dogs shouldn’t run if it’s colder than -30, it’s bad for their lungs and for the pads of their feet. So after the usual chores Lukas suggests we put the 7 older puppies into the kindergarten, a seperate cage that isn’t being used at present. These pups usually live in 2 cages; Grey, Lumi and Beige in one and Ripa, Hilla, Kid and Bang in another. The first are about 9 months and the others 10 months. They are from 4 litters; Grey and Lumi are brothers; Bang, Ripa and Hilla are brothers and sister and Kid and Beige single pups. We get 5 into the kindergarten (all in less Hilla and Kid) but it soon becomes clear that Ripa and Beige (pronounced Beggar) have the traits of their fathers – Polar and Lobo- and really don’t like each other.We have to drag them apart several times. We wait, hoping they will decide to play nicely rather than fight but it’s not to be and we return them to their cage and add Hilla and Kid to the mix. They all play together nicely now the other 2 have been removed but unfortunately someone needs to keep an eye on them and it’s very cold standing around. Tonight Gabi is staying in the cabin on her own; she loves this and would rather this than share the cabin. She’s leaving in a few days so she’s saying her goodbyes. Then I’m staying at the cabin for the next 2 nights with Gabi and then Kate whilst Daz is day working and going back to the apartment each night.

Monday 12th January.
-38. Coldest day so far cold. Usual chores today and it’s still too cold for clients. Lukas suggests we go birch bark collecting. Birch bark is a better fire starter than paper (apparently) and we’re running low on supplies. So off we go, the 4 of us. Kate, Gabi, me and Daz but there’s only one pair of snow shoes so Daz wears them and leads the way but unfortunately we soon realise that they don’t appear to achieve much. Daz seems to sink as much as when he’s without the snow shoes but now he makes a much larger depression and then has to drag the snow shoes up and out. Also they keep unclipping and his foot comes away without snow shoe. Anyway we cross the corner of the lake and enter the wood Lukas pointed us to. Now all we need to do is find birch trees. Most of the trees we see are fir but we soon spot a birch and off we go. Kate and Gabi have done this before and have already gone their own way – bag in hand to collect the bark. Having spotted our tree we wade through deep snow and try to peel off the bark. We only get a few little pieces from it – we think we vaguely remember being told that older trees are best so we struggle on through the snow trying to find more birch trees. We do find a couple of trees where we’re able to peel off quite large pieces but on the whole we spend most of our time wading through the snow wondering if using paper to start fires isn’t a much simpler option. Eventually we find ourselves back on the lake and Gabi and Kate are there too. We make our way back to the cabin stopping to admire the beautiful red\pink sky over the lake. Back at the cabin we compare bark peelings – Gabi has managed to peel really large pieces. We have bark peelings envy!!!!! I later discover the larger pieces come from dead birch trees but Lukas says they won’t burn. We still haven’t proven this.

Today is Gabi’s last day. She’s been here since about mid November. She’s always led us into our maddest exploits (running the pups in a sled and dog walking off piste in deep snow) so we’ll miss her crazy ideas. Heli has gone too – she was the employed horse expert living on the farm. It seems that there was a difference of opinion between her and the bosses and she’s clearly unhappy about leaving. We will miss her. She’s a massive chatterbox and Lukas is supposed to be coaching her in the art of ‘being mysterious’ and therefore more ‘interesting’ is her theory. But she’s crap and is like an open book. One question and you get her life story.

Tuesday 13th.
-34 today. No clients again. I get up to light the fires – one in the cabin, one under the bone soup and one under the water trough for the horses. Unfortunately my fires aren’t big enough and the soup starts to refreeze. This is the 4th day of inactivity for the dogs and it really shows at feeding time – the dogs go crazy. Usual chores but Daz drove the day workers here today; he is being groomed for something special I suspect. Time will tell. Today we decide to walk the pups; Grey, Lumi and Beige. Kate takes Grey, Daz Lumi and me, Beige. Grey is by far the best behaved and is out on the track first. Daz follows but when he finally connects the leash to the waist harness, the leather leash snaps. By this time I’m also on the road and Beige is howling and crying and twisting in the harness; he doesn’t like being behind other dogs. Kate keeps walking with Grey and whilst I stop to help Daz with his snapped leash I fail to realise that Beige is getting so frustrated with the delays that he manages to back our of the harness. He’s loose. I give chase but fortunately he only runs to the bitches cage and I manage to catch him, and reharness him. Back on the track we start walking but Beige is still howling and yelping. He’s not happy! We have another problem with Lumi and his leash and once again, when I assist, Beige escapes and this time runs away towards Kate. I give chase but fortunately Kate manages to hold him. Now that we’ve caught up with Kate we try Beige as lead dog and at last there’s peace. We continue until we reach the end of the track and decide to continue to the lake and back to the farm. But there’s deep snow and it seems Beige isn’t too clever at leading in this. Instead of jumping ahead he starts to run round me, occasionally spreadeagling himself in the deep snow and looking at me as if to say, ” Doh! are you kidding me, why couldn’t we stay on the track?”. Soon Daz takes the lead with Lumi and he understands what’s expected of him (Lumi, not Daz!) and we soon return to the farm unscathed with all the dogs still in our possession (thank god!)

We have a new arrival today. Lukas is showing him the farm. He’s Rob from the Netherlands. Young, tall and skinny with long ‘fairy’ hair and beard he looks like Thor, but without the muscles and good looks.

Wednesday 14th January
Only – 14 today. Rob and Daz are night farming now, changing out with Kate and Maria. In fact Rob is doing the next 4 nights. Talk about being thrown in at the deep end. There are 2 Italian groups expected today. We start early. Pick up from the apartment 8am. When we get to the farm we help finish the dog poo pick up. We’re expecting 8 clients for the long sled ride so we start preparing 4 teams. Rob is learning the process. We have 4 sleds prepared but Erkki arrives with the first group and there are only 6. We have to return the 4th team to the holding line, less harnesses. The guests are ready and Kate and I do the anchors and Daz releases the holding rope. The teams are off. They’ll be gone for about 1.5 hours. Maria is preparing the Lavuu and the sausages for their return. Daz is picking up the 2nd group of Italians for the short tour and has to leave. So off we go for a quick brew and we’ll probably do some horse poo whilst we’ve got some free time. Daz arrives with the 2nd group. There are only 7 of them. He has to show them the farm and entertain them until the first group is back (at no stage does he show them his arse, too cold he says!). We see the first group returning. They aren’t coming from the direction we’d expect, mad rush and small panic but we are ready when they slide in. We take the sleds from the guests, turn them around for the next group and go and fetch the 4th team. During the first run the deep snow made it really hard going for the dogs and they are already tired. There were also some reindeer out on our track. Fortunately the guests controlled their teams by keeping the brakes on whilst Erkki chased the deer away. It has been known for the dog teams to chase the reindeer. We are soon ready for the second group. Lukas is driving one sled and I’m going on the back of Erkki’s skidoo. We have a good run but the dogs are tired and Lukas at the back with a fresh team has to keep his brake on for most of the circuit. We’re done. We feed the dogs and then return them to their kennels. Today Horse Satu, Maria and I take 3 horses for a walk to the end of the road and back and then groom them before releasing them into the paddock. Kate, who has Ben our tutor for the past week leaves the farm today. She is going to the other farm in Karigasniemi, 100km to the north. She’s talking as if we won’t see her again. More mysterious goings on! I used to think sharing of information in the Army was poor but now I have a basis for comparison. Everything here is a secret including the work schedule. Remember: knowledge is power!!!!!

Maria and I go back to the apartment. Ola has invited us to Villa Lanca for dinner. We (Maria, Gabi and I) go over and once we establish that the coast is clear run back for some wine which includes the bottle Daz had bought for 30th January, to drink to our last day in the Army, soz Daz!! After dinner we go to PaPaNa’s (local bar, the only one! Also serves pizza, yum!) to meet Heli. It’s a good night and very entertaining – we chat to a pissed reindeer owner\herder trying to persuade him to loan us 3 reindeer for the reindeer race meet in April where you have to ski behind your galloping reindeer, sounds like fun! I think Maria’s charm should work but he’s so pissed he probably won’t remember.

Thursday

Thursday 15th January.
Late start today. 10am pick up. Gabi’s off at 10 too. She’s flying home to Zurich. -12 today, so the dogs canrun, but we have no clients booked. Today we take photos of Lucy’s 5 puppies. They’re about 5/6 weeks old now and for the last 4 days or so they’ve been coming out of their kennel and are now eating solid food – we soak their kibble in warm water which they seem to like. As soon as we bring food there’s one pup who’s always first there. I’ve nickname him ‘fat fuck’. Lukas is unimpressed and wants to call him ‘Aunty’ – this is a Finnish name and I’ve probably misspelt it but it sounds like Aunty. I’m going to call him Aunty Fat Fuck, or Aunty 2 Fs or Aunty F squared. We have to do a rogues gallery. Produce pictures of the pups and then Erkki will decide names from the short list Lukas has drawn up. I wanted to call the bitch ‘Daisy’ but the British name contributions of Daisy and Fat Fuck has been dissed massively. And Aunty is such a good name????!!!!!!

All 5 come out today and they are checking us out. Licking and biting our fingers. They are so cute!!! (Except for the one with poo on his head after he got too close to one of his siblings during a toilet moment, bizarrely our further name contribution of ‘Shithead’ is frowned upon in typical Lukas fashion. Who said the Germans don’t have a sense of humour, neither do the Swiss so it seems!)

Today we’re doing some sled training. It’s for us (the volunteers) and for the older pups. First we take out Beige,Lumi and Grey. We put Lobo in front with Beige. He has his own team so we’re hoping he’ll knock these young pups into shape. We get everything set up but Lumi and Grey both back out of their harnesses. But then we’re ready. Lukas drives first and we’re staying on the road instead of taking them onto the lake. Daz has run off to the junction 700 meters away to help turn them around. And they’re off. Lukas disappears and Maria, Rob and me wait. It’ll be a while. They’ll need to turn the team at the other end but soon Daz comes round the corner driving them back towards us. We turn the team and Maria drives them back to Lukas and then they’re back. That’s it for the time being,can’t do too much as they are still young and growing so we pack everything away. Maria needs to help with the horses. Horse Satu wants to do a practice run in preparation for Friday when she has 20 horse clients. Maria and Satu put Rangwald into the horse box and drive him to Inari. They tack him up with the sled and take him out on to the lake. Ola is out for the ride and boss Satu teaches Maria how to drive the sled. Later in the afternoon we take the other pups out on the spring sled. This time there’s no trained dog to show them the way but with Lukas they’re far better behaved than when we took them out. He truly is a dog whisperer. We do a couple of runs with Rob, me and Lukas driving.

Friday 16th January.
I’ve got a day off but Daz is at work. I’m going into Ivalo with Ola once I’ve put the laundry on (the laundry is about 10 minute walk away!) We’ve decided to hitch because a couple of people have told us it’s easy in Finland and despite the scarcity of traffic we get a lift in about 10 minutes. They are Sami people and Ola enjoys practising her Finnish on them. Not much in Ivalo but there’s more life, traffic and people than Ola’s seen for 5 weeks.

We check out the second hand shops and then have a coffee. The main reason for the visit is to buy alcohol because I drank the celebratory bottle and we can’t buy wine in the Inari supermarkets. Shopping done and we head home. Again we don’t wait long for a lift – from a professional fisherman. He fishes in the lakes using nets; catching trout and white fish. Safely home I get back in time to meet Daz who has returned from his 2 nights away and let him know he is cooking dinner tonight for me and Ola… Well it is my day off! Catch you all again soon x