Saved For A Rainy Day

The weather was pretty wild wet and windy today so I finished off a little stool made out of Yew with Hazel legs. I left a little stub from a branch on one leg to give a bit of character, the Yew looks like its on fire with the vibrant colours in the grain after oil and wax . Some Cedar puzzled me with the way it was drying out with a yellow band down the centre.
 On closer inspection I realised that this part has a very pungent scent so I reckoned this must be cedar oil that's gives the yellow colour. So I hacked out some cedar nuggets taking advantage of the glorious scent for putting in drawers and wardrobes,  its still blowing and lashing down  as I write this.Take a gander at my rainy day's work:)

  

Birch Burl And Kuskacup

On Fridays I  finish work at lunchtime and had planned to go cycling but the weather had other idea's so I ended up in the shed.

 So a burl from a birch tree was hollowed out into a bowl  then, I spent a long time removing bark to reveal the spiky underside.  I could have shaved it all smooth but it was so unusual I had to leave it as nature intended.  I hacked out a kind of cup, kuska,scoop kind of thing although I'm unsure what the timber is I think it might be Lyme. It carved well but a wee bit furry in places and it left my hands a nice orange brown colour  . So this kept me busy this afternoon and on the bowl and cup kuska I tried out my Ben Orford shallow cut spoon knife that was delivered this week, this is a great addition to my wood hacking kit, take a look and see :)    

Something Old Something New

I was messing around with more sharpening stick's for honing spoon carving tools a 800 and another of 1000 grit this along with the autosol. That Ive put on my strop gives a mirror finished edge that is unbelievably sharp.
 I also received my frosts 106 in the post this week, this is a bit longer than my other carving knife so it will come in handy for spoon's and suchlike  anyone that dabbles with wood should have one of these, this little knife is great.
 The varnish on my old spoon carving set was scraped off this week sanded lightly, then oiled up this feels better in the hand and you know I like to carve a spoon or two take a look :)

Storms Gift

Big sitka that came down in the storms of early January are now getting cut into nice chunky sleepers. This is literally a windfall these logs are great for the sawmill:)

River And Spoon

I walked along the river bank this afternoon all fresh and green I found a bit of elm that had been trimmed away from the path. This is spoon material  , I  looked up at a big old birch tree full of burls if only I could get up there, no such luck. Maybe one day the storms will bring a burl branch down for me. Its good getting out into the tree,s to see how the season's change them . Anyway here's what we see around my part of the world at this time of the year along with a two tone elm spoon carved when I got home  :)

story fate | The HemLoft

story fate | The HemLoft, This is well worth checking out guys Mrs Brian put me on to it. A tale of a dream followed to the finish take a look :)

Bluebells And Blossom

Hazel coppice full of fresh growth ,bluebells waking from the ground as the spring sun, warm's the earth, tree,s laden with blossom putting on a real show against a blue sky. When the sun stays out spring is well worth a wander in the the evening after work, finishing with the sun shimmering over the loch, you can't beat it . But when it rains there's always the shed, and my wild wood stools to play around with here,s the latest one :)