New Year's Eve

Have a laugh at the picture.  It's from a 1960's McCulloch chainsaw manual.  No protective gear at all and the pipe just cracks me up.  Very cheesy - I'll post more pictures from it sometime.

The first chainsaw I ever had was a McCulloch top handle - it barely worked so I advertised it for £50 and sold it to a guy who ran in, snatched it, threw the money at me and ran out again without even seeing it start... Bet he had a surprise!

That tree climbing dog again...

HERITAGE CRAFTS ASSOCIATION
Could I ask anyone to whom it is relevant to please fill out a survey here if you haven't already done so. 

Wishing A Happy & Prosperous New Year to everyone.

New Toy Tool

The snow's gone, the sun's out and Santa has brought me a lovely, shiny Veritas tenon cutter...

Once I get the knack and fettle it a bit I'll be able to knock out some stick furniture which will be fun.
Strange how the manufacturers assume that you have a pillar drill for sharpening the curved blade?

Right - I'm off to watch The Incredibles...

Greetings

Cornmill Stream

It's a real pleasure walking through the Lea Valley Park by the Cornmill Stream on these clear, crispy days with Jed.  He loves the snow and eats it.

The Park authorities have pollarded some of the willows growing beside the stream.

Pollarding waterside willows is traditional management in East Anglia.  The new shoots are out of reach of browsing animals and were cut at varying intervals to use for tool handles, hurdles and baskets etc.
Since there are no cows or deer around and the arisings are all thrown in the bushes and left to rot - why bother?

Jingle Balls

Wocko the Woodman has sent this and I thought I would share it here...

Jingle Balls
It’s going to be a most unhappy Christmas,
Probably the worst we’ve had for years.
I know we’re bound to suffer, the recession’s getting tougher
The situation’s bound to end in tears, I think I’ll go and drown myself in beers.
It’s going to be a most unhappy Christmas

It’s going to be a most unhappy Christmas
With everything that misery entails,
I’m sick of mince-pie munching, and the credit squeeze is crunching,
They’ve even cancelled all pre-Christmas sales.  It’s like a summer holiday in Wales
It’s going to be a most unhappy Christmas

It’s going to be a most unhappy Christmas
The future for the planet’s looking grim.
The temperatures plummet at the Copenhagen summit,
Like modern light bulbs they’re so bloody dim.  The chances of agreement’s looking slim
It’s going to be a most unhappy Christmas

It’s going to be a most unhappy Christmas
The house is all decked out with fairy lights
The opinion is forming to forget the global warming
We’ll solve that problem when it starts to bite, and if we can’t it serves us bloody right
It’s going to be a most unhappy Christmas

It’s going to be a most unhappy Christmas
The long range forecast says it will be wet.
To hell with seasons greetings in the raining and the sleeting
It’s sure to be the dampest Christmas yet..  And the country is a TRILLION pounds in debt.
It’s going to be a most unhappy Christmas

It’s going to be a most unhappy Christmas
Now we have lost the trust in our M Ps
And we’ll suffer from the onus of a banker’s Christmas bonus
They’ve brought this once great country to its knees.
And guess who pays the bill , it’s you and me.
It’s going to be a most unhappy Christmas

It’s going to be a most unhappy Christmas
We’ve cut all Santa’s reindeer up for meat
The fat man’s getting fatter but it really doesn’t matter
The children have seen through all that deceit  That’s why we’ve sent them begging in the street
It’s going to be a most unhappy Christmas

 It’s going to be a most unhappy Christmas
We do it for the children , don’t you know.
But all the gifts we’re buying , they don’t find satisfying
They’re a bunch of greedy so and sos
So just forget the HO HO bloody HO
It’s going to be a most unhappy Christmas

This is one of WOXWORDS 11December 2009

Also the folks at Artichoke who organised Antony Gormley's One & Other sent me a Plinthmas card...

A nice group of sentinel Beech pollards taken on a walk yesterday.

80th Birthday Celebration

Yesterday we went down to Kent for a get together to celebrate my Mum's 80th birthday.

 That's her on the right!

My sisters Jane, Clare, Elizabeth & Frances had organised a lovely party and put on a wonderful spread and it was nice to see old friends, nephews and nieces (and their partners) that I hadn't seen for a while.

We took some hot air balloons and sent our love and good wishes into the night sky...

Oak

I was recently given this lump of Oak by a friend of my Dad's, Leonard Croft, who lives near Scarborough.

Obviously it's only a section of a much longer piece - perhaps part of a beam judging from that cross section?  Maybe from a roof?

Quite a big clue in the photo of the other side...

Hmmm...quite badly fire damaged.

Any guesses??

It came from the roof of the south transept of York Minster when it was damaged by fire after a lightning strike in 1984 so could be 600 years old.  Leonard knew some of the folk involved in the refurbishment and knowing he is a wood carver they gave him some pieces.  Any dendrochronologists out there?

Now what am I going to do with it?

***

Oak is a great tree and timber and one of the little known things that you can produce from it is a very drinkable Oak Leaf Wine.

Very simple to make - just pick a bucketfull of leaves, pour boiling water over to cover them and leave for 4 days stirring everyday.  Strain, boil again, add the juice of an orange and lemon + yeast + sugar and ferment in the normal way.
You can vary the flavour by picking the leaves at different times of the year and the amount of sugar used.  Some tastes like sherry others like a Rioja.
Cheers!