Norfolk

We took advantage of a couple of weeks off over Easter to visit beautiful Wells-next-the-sea in Norfolk. Being bank holiday Britain we reached a barmy six degrees centigrade and gale force winds. Luckily for us the weather wasn't an issue and we took time to visit many fantastic places, such as Pensthorpe (of Springwatch fame) and Holkham Hall and beach.

As seen on Springwatch!

A mandarin...

For wannabe birders such as ourselves, the north Norfolk coast can be an avian overload. However, £16 spent on the excellent Collins Bird Guide helped us out no end!

Things on the turning front have been quiet of late...you know the saying, "I was going to, but life got in the way...". Life (and work) has been getting in the way so I am forced to snatch any spare moments to do what I can. To keep me advancing I invested £25 in a first rate 2" smoothing chisel from the woodsmith's store (http://www.woodsmithstore.co.uk/shop/) to help achieve a smoother finish on turned work.

One big chisel...

Out in the garden we have made strides with the veggies; we have onions, garlic, tomatoes, sweetcorn, potatoes, butternut squash, peppers and marrows, strawberries and on or two others, although not quite enough to end shopping at our local super!

Until the next time...

Time to get mekin'!

The wood fair I mentioned in the previous blog was a great day out. Despite the rain we stayed all day and took in all that was on show. We stopped and spoke to many people who were involved in a variety of practices including charcoal 'cooking', spar making, basket weaving, logging with horses and a few framers and chair bodgers. Unfortunately there wasn't a pole lathe on show, though I take that as a sign to get practicing and get on the APT & GW demonstrator list.

Fineshade woods is in the heart of Rockingham Forest; an enormous managed woodland in Northamptonshire which is home to a colony of reintroduced Red Kites, one of which allowed me a quick photo.

Fineshade could also be a good source of timber for future projects!

I've had a discussion of late on the Bodgers.org forum about what makes a good froe and whether I should continue with my home made froe, or invest £70 in a Swedish Gransfors model. After reading other people's suggestions I came to the conclusion that I should stick with the one I've got and try a different approach to cleaving. The current froe is quite heavy duty and so I realised that the problem may not be in the froe itself, but the object I was using to drive it into the wood. So last night I spent half an hour with the axe carving a beetle from Eucalyptus, which is ideal as it's tough as old boots and not much good for anything else!




Now the froe is much more effective; it just needed a bigger whalloper!

Wood fuel fair.

This Saturday I hope to attend the National Wood Fuel Fair (Byline: 'Kindling your enthusiasm'). Questionable puns aside it looks to be an interesting day and I hope to see and learn some useful information to keep us warm for next winter. I am particularly interested in charcoal making and have already started filtering the charcoal from the ashes of our wood burner to use on the BBQ over the summer.

It seems we have made it through the particularly cold winter with a great deal of wood left to spare. Our gas consumption over the whole period has averaged just £20 per month, which has been further helped by installing new high grade windows throughout the house. Once I've gotten round to laying out all the loft insulation that's waiting to be laid, we should be even more energy efficient.

More info about the wood fuel fair can be found here: http://www.forestry.gov.uk/woodfuelfair

I'll try and include some photos after the event.

Springtime…time for the blog to come out of hibernation!

Since Christmas life has been very busy at home. We have been busy getting the house and garden to a somewhat liveable standard and spending a lot of time with our little fella, Miles. I have been busy learning the craft of green wood turning. However, due to lack of space and the bad weather I’ve had to turn to the ‘dark side’ i.e. the electric lathe. Exponents of the art may find that derisory, a classical craft on a powered lathe, but I feel it’s better to turn than not turn at all.

The first finished product is an ash stool, pictured below. It’s seated in Seagrass, which I may be reluctant to use in the future considering it’s travelled ‘all the way from China’, as Leonard Cohen sang (on Suzanne). If anyone knows of a suitable, locally produced seat covering please let me know.

The current situation I have for work is not ideal as you can see from the picture. Subtle hints like, “you’ve got bloody shavings in the sink again” and “oh God, not more mess!” have given me the impression that working in the kitchen may not be fully appreciated by others, so it’s time to move out to a workshop. I have a patch of land in the garden which may be ideal to house a small bodger’s hovel, giving me the pleasure of working outdoors and the freedom to set up at will. Hopefully more pictures to follow soon.

The raised beds which I included before Christmas are now finished and are now home to onions, garlic, potatoes and will be completed with carrots and peppers once the seedlings are grown. The soil quality is good and is being further enhanced by one of our cats which insists on digging and shitting in amongst the vegetables. One would assume this will add to the soil as fertiliser although some more investigation needs to be carried out to determine any harmful effects of defacus gatus.