Saturday 24 August 2013

Back on the tools.


Good to be back on the tools.

spoon carving

It's been a while.

spoon carving

We've spent the summer galavanting around.

spoon carving

We had a look at another potential carving and bushcraft venue yesterday.

spoon carving

Not far from our new home.

spoon carving

A sweet place, woodland and fresh water.

spoon carving

A meeting scheduled for next week.

spoon carving

Questions answered.

spoon carving

Problems ironed.

spoon carving


Enjoy.
Jx.

Tuesday 20 August 2013

Wilderness Gathering.

Monday morning I woke up in my own bed in wonderful Devon.
The previous four days I spent in the craft field at the
Sarah and I jammed as much as we could into our little car and headed north east toward Salisbury.
We got there in good time and set up for the event.
I made a rudimentary shelter using some capes lent to me by my friend Kevin at Endicotts surplus store.

wilderness gathering

The weather was changeable over the weekend, however, we didn't get the deluge promised by the Met Office.

wilderness gathering

We opened on Friday morning, and boy, I didn't have time to draw breath until Sunday morning when things calmed a little.

wilderness gathering

I met many kind and considerate folk, all with a passion for carving and all on a knowledge based feeding frenzy.
It was FAB !

wilderness gathering

I managed to take some time out on Sunday to take some photos; I didn't get time to see much, if any, of the rest of the show.

wilderness gathering

I demonstrated axe work and showed folk how to rough out spoon blanks,
some knife work and sharpening.

wilderness gathering


wilderness gathering

There was a good selection of stands at the show.
Our small craft field held some super characters.

wilderness gathering


wilderness gathering


wilderness gathering

My next door neighbour was Amanda Rayner.
She taught basket weaving.
She trades under 
A very good teacher and weaver, she also supplied me with bacon butties.
A lifesaver....

wilderness gathering


wilderness gathering

Charles Hutcheon is a walking-stick maker, who also made whistles at the show.
He even made sticks with a whistle at one end.
From time to time you'd hear a whistle peep... Another finished.

wilderness gathering


wilderness gathering


wilderness gathering

I spotted my friend J.P.
He runs courses from 
He had a Harris hawk with him.

wilderness gathering

He came and sat with us for a chat about carving and hawks.
In the background you can just make out Rowland Jones, he spent time with Mountain Rescue back in the day, he can be seen rescuing a lost soul from the miss-direction pixies.
Nothing changes.

wilderness gathering

I can't deny, it rained a little.
Here you can see my friend Kaya doing a sun dance.


wilderness gathering

With a little help from her friend.

wilderness gathering

I wonder if Kaya's pet wasps survived the rain.

wilderness gathering

There was a super group of gents that demonstrated knot tying.
These guys are so very knowledgable.
You can find them at.
International Guild of Knot Tyers.

wilderness gathering

My favourite stand was the one belonging to Willow Lohr.
I fell in love with her felted toys, in-fact, we brought one home.

wilderness gathering

She also makes all manor of clothing and articles needed for survival on our wonderful planet.

wilderness gathering

Nothing commercial, all hand produced.

wilderness gathering

Willow can show you how to make all manor of equipment needed for our survival.
You can find her web page here...
Well worth a visit.

wilderness gathering

Well, I enjoyed my time at the Gathering and I hope to return next year.
It was great catching up with friends old and new.

Jon Mac.











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