Cabin puttering described Tuukka’s next few days. The winter solstice, darkest day, has past. Its now Day 5 of the 13th week before summer season. The first batch of drying boards was collected, sanded, pegged into sections then assembled as shelves. He leans the shelves up in the inside cabin making a useful sorting place. Soon it has a share of the various herbs, leaves and flowers for medicine or diet. A clump of turnips is stored just in case a blizzard or disaster overwhelms the cellar. Tukka finds himself puttering on assembling more cordage and braiding rope that can always be useful.
Since he has time to do simple chores Tuukka decides to reset the pit traps. He is now hoping to make a trade run to villages, including exploring to find new ones, while it is the easy to ski “travel” season. The frozen rivers and lakes no longer a barrier but an aid to rapid land travel. There should be trade goods as well as smoked meat for the trip. Tuukka fired up the forge to make iron broad arrow heads to be mounted in his own arrows. These are assembled with sinew fibers from elk backstraps securing his self-forged iron broad head on one end and goldeneye feathers on the other. Twirling each in his hand they have come out as fine as the ones he purchased. He thinks its time to use the regular arrows in archery practices. They dash along the travel lane cleared in the logging days. Arrows catch on branches on this side or that while others thud into the cabin walls. The cabin is acting as a backdrop to limit the search area for stray arrows. One arrow does break, its tip lodged deep in joint between cabin logs. The others are volleyed a few times before the short winter day comes to a close.
The rough nature of the bow certianly is affecting his name, at least that is what Tuukaa is telling himself. A pair of quarter logs are set up to dry properly. Maybe they will become a different type bows that will be more accurate.
Pondering which winter crafts will be next might soon see a bow. An axe is always good for trade and the Owl tribe’s surely could use it. In the dimming light of a forging day Tuukka held up a steel billet realizing how perfect it came out. Such a piece might be better used in a sword or armor.
He has a rethink of what to make coming to the conclusion he should make himself an iron shovel for the spring. Using one of the ideal perfect boards cut by the woodsmen Tuukka attaches a well made decent iron shovel head. The result looks like it would be a fine shovel for more pit traps and other digging works once the ground is no longer frozen. It did though take up even more of the dwindling stocks of on hand iron billets. The coal pile is down from four and half hundred pounds of dried charcoal to less than a third of it. The three mid-size burnings are proving enough for what he has yet it shows just how reasonable it would be for a full time black smith to need a charcoaler to keep them supplied. Tuukka works up a set of pliers but the lower quality of the rivet piece makes is a little floppy. Still having pliers as tongs is so much safer than burning one’s hands all the time. A rough small knife is made for the cabin’s dining table leaving just a single half-pound billet of wrought iron to decide on.
Something else is stopping the trade trip. The timing of the retting is coming up within two days, which is longer than the trip might take. Scheduling all the chores is a great challenge for those living on their own. In the time available Tuukka decides to make use of a failed clay pit west of the cabin to be another trap pit. He doesn’t have to dig that hole as its already there. He’ll just have to cover it and lay various fencing to guide an animal in. This fencing will also give more a sense of perimeter to the cabin. There is a trick to leave openings for animals to enter yet be forced to where the traps are yet also to have ways for him to move out. As well Tuukka puts fencing out at the nearby ford. Its not so useful now but later if he chases an elk eastward from the cabin it will come here and, when flowing, the river and fence will pin them for capture.
Day 7 of the 12th week before summer season
The retting, soaking the plants to release fibers, is complete. Taking off his overcoat and skiis Tuuka expects now to be cabin bound a little longer. A light snow dances in the down in the gray winter morning that still awaits the kiss of the low angle dawn. With that pretty view outside Tuukka stacks hundreds of pounds of plants in the south east corner of the cabin in dry. That will take around a week so he does have the time for a village trip after this laborious chore. Its exhausting work with the table used to help keep things leaning to dry.
<Tuukka drying retted plants>>>