I’ve been busy with a lot of non-outdoor-related stuff lately, but I thought I’d share this video with you. I love this guy’s spirit and wisdom!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6f56Q6-Kcg

Chris Major from movingfastwhilstgettingnowhere has awarded me with a Sunshine Award. The Sunshine Blog Award is “a prize awarded to bloggers who positively and creatively inspire others in the blogosphere.” Thank you, Chris!

Chris is based in the UK and writes about his outdoor adventures and his recovery from a climing-related injury. He takes great pictures and has interesting and insightful write-ups.

Here are my instructions for the Sunshine Award:

• Acknowledge and thank the giver, link it back, and put the award on your page;
• Answer 10 questions about yourself found below;
• Pass the award on to 10 or a random number of bloggers and notify them.

The 10 questions:

What is a real fear you have?

Answering questions like this one!

As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I can remember wanting to be a naturalist, i.e. someone who studies the plants, animals and other natural aspects of an area. Although I didn’t end up doing that professionally, it looks like I’m slowly becoming one in my spare time. 😉

What are some of your hobbies?

My main hobbies can be read about here at my blog. I also enjoy cooking (and eating) a wide variety of foods, traveling, reading, exercising, history, religion, philosophy, languages, music…and so on.

What hobby would you like to start?

Honestly, I feel very content with bushcraft, backpacking etc. and don’t feel a strong drive to start a new hobby right now (not that I’d have time for it anyway), but I would like to improve my Finnish language skills.

If you could tell people anything, what would be the most important thing to say?

Try not to get caught up in the past or future, rather, focus on the present and do your best.

Name one item from your “bucket list”?

I would like to have an as-close-to-self-sufficient-as-possible homestead.

What’s the best prank you’ve pulled off?

Putting half a bottle of Tobasco sauce in my brother’s chili when he was a kid/teenager. 😀

What book are you planning to read next?

I read a LOT, but don’t have any particular one lined up.

Coffee or tea?

Campfire coffee, sweet tea.

Lemon torte or chocolate cheesecake?

Vanilla ice cream with Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups smashed up and mixed in.

I have decided to leave it to other winners to continue the Sunshine Award nominating process. There are just too many good blogs out there!

Again, thanks for the award, Chris. Glad you like my blog. 🙂

The Woodsfamily has moved! Well, I guess we are still in the process of moving, because our new place is full of boxes and such, but we are a big step closer now.

Last weekend, we went to the cabin to celebrate Juhannus, a major holiday in Finland which takes place at the time when the sun doesn’t go below the horizon for several days and when summer officially begins. There was boating, fishing, grilling, earth-oven cooking, sauna-going, mosquitoes, a little primitive skill practice, mosquitoes, beer, great food and mosquitoes. There were also black flies…and mosquitoes….

This week I’ll give you a full report with plenty of pictures and a few surprises as well. Stay tuned!

My buddy Ross over at Wood Trekker recently brought up the topic of Internet disclaimers in a recent post (disclaimer: linking to the Wood Trekker website in no way implies my “choosing of sides” in any battle, real or imagined, between any two parties whatsoever in perpetuity).

Although I think that disclaimers on Internet blogs like mine should be thoroughly unnecessary, we live in a world where common sense isn’t common (no longer exists?), and a lot of people do a lot of strange and ridiculous things, like blaming other people for things in an attempt to defer responsibility (disclaimer: For precise definitions of “strange”, “ridiculous”, “responsibility”, “this”, “a”, “in”, “of” and “the”, please refer to Black’s Law Dictionary. I shall not be held liable for any misconstrued interpretations of “a”, “in”, “the” etc.).

I truly feel bad for anyone who does anything carelessly (especially when it comes to things involving a higher potential for danger, like fire lighting, wild edibles etc.) and then turns around and takes the “natural course of action” of pointing fingers and suing. Whatever happened to personal responsibility? I guess that concept is dead. (disclaimer: By using the word “dead” in the previous sentence, I do not intend to suggest that you or anyone you know change the condition of any living thing to that of “dead”).

Several months ago, I wrote a set of disclaimers for this blog, thinking all the while that it was silly and unnecessary, but I must make it known that I will not be held liable for the irresponsible, foolish or careless actions of others. (disclaimer: By “months”, I refer to the conventional grouping of days into blocks of approximately 30. Any other meanings or interpretations are not intended and should not be construed as such).

“The Weekend Woodsman blog” disclaimers can be read here: https://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/about/  (disclaimer: My “disclaimers” may or may not be disclaimers, and may or may not be intended as such).

Closing disclaimer: I shall not be held liable if you or third persons are injured or in any other way harmed due to excessive laughter, mind numbing, nausea or boredom which could result from this blog post. 😉

This puukko knife was recently found by a friend of a friend:

We’d like to see it returned to its owner, so if you recognize it or know the owner, please contact Marko Kelokaski at [email protected]. The blade is marked “JE”, and the sheath is marked “HK”.

I wanted to take a moment to thank you for reading The Weekend Woodsman blog. I have enjoyed sharing my outings, projects and thoughts with you over the past four months. My reason for blogging is not to get tons of subscribers or blog views, but it does make me happy to see that a handful of people are visiting and, hopefully, getting something out of it.

Here are a few stats worth sharing:

• The total site views recently passed 11,250.
• The subscriber count is at 21.
• The daily visit rate is about 140.
• Visitors live in more than 50 countries.

I am surprised and delighted to see this much interest in the blog. Thank YOU for visiting! It makes me feel that what I am doing is worthwhile and keeps me motivated to continue. 🙂

I would love to see more of you comment on my posts to let me know what you think, make suggestions etc.!

Whether you’re celebrating Christmas, a different holiday or no holiday at all, I hope you are all able to enjoy a relaxing break from work, quality time with family and friends and maybe even a little dirt-time as well. 🙂

Coming soon to The Weekend Woodsman: a new custom knife, a “blast from the past” trip report, traditional Finnish crafts, the rest of my gear series and much more!