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.