A Spoon ,Some Sneaking And Spring Lambs

This weekend I made a big wooden spoon, paddle type of thing, this is used to stir up some huge pots. This replaces one that I made a few years back, that is now worn out.

I also headed out into the woods for a cycle and I spotted three Roe deer.They were out in the warm sun, feeding in a field that borders the wood. After ditching my bike and a bit of creeping and a lot of sneaking about, a little odd in my lycra bike gear! I got to a stump where I could see over the wall where I finally managed to get a few pics of these shy little deer before they spotted me and ran off .

 And on the way home I stopped to watch the spring lambs playing and enjoying a little warmth for a change. After a long spell of cold weather :)

Number 71

I've been working on a hall stand over the past few weekends, I decided to use some cherry.  So after working out the shapes and sizes. I cut, planed, shaved and sanded each part until it popped, then I had to join the long legs into the base and top.
How would I do this I pondered! I could use a chisel to cut the rebates into each part. I marked out  where the legs should go, when I was happy with the look I took the plunge and and scribed in the lines with a marking knife. Then with chisel in hand I started to remove the waste material from in between the cut lines.
This was working out okay, the chisel was sharp but I had something else in mind. Hiding beneath the workbench in a box with a good film of dust, was an old plane that could maybe help me out. A record number 71 router plane! This little blue plane with a V shaped cutter blade that I selected from the three in the box would be ideal for the removal of waste, and by working the two rebates at the same time I could keep the depth in check to keep things  true and level.
So after setting it up and a trial run on some scrap, I got back into my project, and boy the 71 really surprised me. I used the marking knife after every few passes from the 71 to prevent tearing out at the edges, and it gave me some great tight joints . So no more hiding out the way in a dusty box for number 71 :)

Mental Map

Some good weather was with us at the end of the week so I headed off on my bike.
I headed towards South Queensferry and into some woods that I worked in many years ago. And while meandering around in a little nostalgic daydream, in the warm spring sunshine, I remembered a big old shaggy Larch tree with a good sweep in the trunk . Funny how these things stick in your mind !
Anyway I headed to where I thought it was,  wondering if the wind had put it to rest, while I pedaled up the hill to find it. And my old mental map and compass got me there. And was the tree still there ? See for yourself:)

 I'm glad he's still there, maybe I 'll come back in another 15 years or so and keep a check on him !! :)

Crumbling Walls

I got back on my bike for the first time this year and headed out along the union canal.  The ground is bone dry which is really unusual for this time of year, and there's not much growing no buds breaking the only lush growth was a carpet of wild garlic. I stopped and had a little look around what we call, Haining Castle. Which was built around 1400 as a watch tower, it lies ruined and now houses some jackdaws and pigeons but there will be a lot of history in those crumbling walls :)

In Place

Well the desk is now in place along with the little shelf that will live above it  .
It took a while but now here they are in their new home :)