010

It turned out that it will be easier to build a whole house from scratch than to renovate the old one. I chose a forest clearing for the construction site, more than two kilometers from the village. Unfortunately, there was another problem here - the lack of limestone in the area, without that, making the mortar will be almost impossible, it forced me to change my approach to the problem. Since I couldn't use bricks and mortar, the only thing that came to my mind was to build a log house, standing not directly on the ground, but on a stone elevation. This will prevent the wood from rotting faster, and to be sure, from the bottom I will secure the logs with tar. It won't be a palace, but it will be enough for my needs. However, to build the stove, I will have to look for something to make mortar, ideally it would be lime, until I get it, this house will only remain a summer house.

The construction itself did not take long, being close to the forest, I had enough logs, unfortunately I had to transport the stone for several kilometers. The tools were either in the forge or I made them myself. The entire construction took seven months, seven days a week, from sunrise to sunset, sometimes even longer. The house was 10 meters wide and 50 meters long, it consisted of the ground floor and the first floor, it was 8 meters high at the highest point. More for the appearance than for practical reasons, I hung many animal skins, although it can be treated as a primitive form of insulation against the cold. I also put a few windows in the house, but I will have to close them tightly throughout the winter, the lack of glass, unfortunately, is a big problem that I cannot solve. I smeared the outside of the house walls and the roof with tar and sealed all possible places.

The interior, apart from hanging animal skins, I decorated many wooden elements with carvings, which I then painted with pigment from several plants, mainly there were different shades of brown and green, but always a nice touch for the eye. ... It was my first house, which I built myself, not counting the dugout ... and I was proud of it, although it lacked much to be perfect... A man is said to have to do three things in his life to build a house, plant a tree and beget a son. The mischievous claim that a woman also has to do three things in her life ... clean the house, water the tree and change diapers.

Not much else happened in my life, I was more of a loner type. When there was a need, I was able to socialize with the environment and even was the life of the party ... but on a daily basis I preferred only my company. Floki visited me a few times, sometimes accompanied by Ragnar, Leif, or Torstein, I haven't met Rollo ... but I heard about him from Ragnar's stories. We even went hunting once a whole group, of course I had to show them that I was better than them ... when they caught some small animals, I hunted a deer.

And life somehow passed, I didn't work and I didn't have any income, but I didn't need it either. Food either ran or grew in the forest or swam in lakes and rivers or flew in the sky, I made clothes from animal skins, when I needed certain things, I exchanged meat, bones or leather for them. Life was simple but good.

Unfortunately, everything changes, a tax collector came to me right after the new year and I was not prepared for it. It was even possible to become a slave for having a debt, and this was not an option for me that I would like to check. The only valuable things I had was armor and weapons ... I was given 30 days to pay my taxes along with an additional penalty. You cannot escape death and taxes ... or as my friend used to say...

"Love and sex have nothing to do with each other. The fact that the tax office fucked me does not mean that I love them."

My vacation was over, now I had to go to work. From all possible career paths I chose carpentry, although I had a forge, iron was expensive and I could not afford to buy the raw material, trees grew everywhere and they were free, the only invested was my skills and time. I focused on the production of simple furniture, stools, chairs, benches and tables. I decorated all of them with carvings or used hot metal to burn patterns on wood. Additionally, to increase my income, some of the meat I hunted I smoked with various types of wood, bushes and herbs.

I didn't get rich overnight, but my situation improved. Since there was no monetary system in these areas, most people paid with other products, but richer farmers or other merchants paid with metals, the most expensive was silver and copper ... lead was not of much value. The richer classes of society mainly bought furniture as decorations for their homes. Meat was not expensive and I mainly exchanged it for other goods such as grain or poor quality fabrics. After a month, I already had the amount for overdue taxes, fine and I still had it. I paid Jarl in the copper jewelry I got, leaving only a few silver pieces for myself.

Walking the streets of Kattegat, I noticed a young girl, she was not more than eleven years old, blonde with long hair ... she looked like young Lagertha although she was not so attractive, maybe beauty comes with age or I don't like childish beauty. I inquired discreetly about the mother and the little girl and it was really my future wife. I have to wait a few more years, but at least I know she is from this area.