Air drying ( or how to crick your back )

As Tree has had a bad cold for the last few days, we decided that we both needed a spot of fresh air and to sort some of those jobs that have been nagging at us. We thought hard and made the choice to go and see Adrian Viner, our friendly sawmill guy, at his farm. As the saw bed is situated right next to the cowsheds the air was, how shall we say, ripe !! The long and short of it is, we came home with all of the Yew, Sycamore, Holly and Oak cut and ready to air dry. That was the easy bit !! The hard bit is all the stacking and spacing, called sticking, which allows the air to flow evenly around the wood. Shifting well on about twelve hundred weight in wood is no joke and by the end of it I had cricked by back and knew I would suffer later for it. However, seeing all the wood sticked makes me feel good, knowing that it is only a matter of six months and I can start using it.

The Old Tool Store, we love 'em !!

Not usually being the kind of person to endorse anything, I have decided to make an exception when it comes to The Old Tool Store .When making certain rustic items of furniture, you need very unusual tools. In my case I was looking for a hollow auger. Try as I might, the only place I could find them was in the U.S.A, at very unreasonable prices. Veritas make a modern version but still not what I needed. Then I found The Old Tool Store and was mightily happy !! Some may say that is very sad. I say "Try finding one on the net, for two months, with no success". In case you were wondering, a hollow auger cuts circular tenons onto the end of wood prepared using a spoke pointer (another thing I got from The Store). They have truly earned their place on my links section !!!

Imbolc, Cirencester and "How close do you wanna get"

Tree and I got up early, a significant event in itself considering it was Saturday, and having eaten a full breakfast to surpass all others, got the car ready to go to Ragged Hedge Wood in Cirencester. As we set off towards the motorway I remarked to Tree that the car sounded a little different. This, somehow, seemed familiar !?! Anyway, we put it down to the wind whistling through the bars on the roof rack. Oh Oh !! Yep it's just like No Brakes back in December, except this time it was the exhaust. We got about as far as The Balloon pub when the exhaust starts to get louder and louder. Determined not to be beaten, we carried on to the wood where we would make a decision what to do. As you can see from the photos a lot has changed. There is now a cool sculpture of a dragon at the entrance to the wood and the circle is guarded by an Oak dragon, on the West quarter of the circle. We coppiced the wood we needed, thanking mother wood for her bounty, and performed a short ritual for Imbolc, laying wild flower seed around the circle. We got back to the car and decided to have a coffee at the little mortgage and let Green flag sort out the car. True to their word they were there within the hour and we soon set off for home. All the way home I kept forgetting about the car and, on turning round, would think someone was driving right behind us. "How close do you wanna get ?". Oh well, apologies for the long blog and maybe next time we will be able to get wood and not break down on the Cirencester road. Anyone would think we were jinxed !!!
Blessings to one and all.

Good advice / Bad advice Part II

Following on from my original post about not looking at the sun I couldn't resist posting another. Unfortunately, this time I only managed to capture Worcester at ground zero of a nuclear explosion. Well what do you expect ? It was taken on a keyring digital camera !!!

It's 6 o'clock in the morning and I have woken to see the moonlight flooding in through the window. A wonderful start to the day for two reasons. Firstly, I have finally shrugged off the cold I have had for the last week or so (hence no blog !) and secondly, it's only two days until Imbolc. The added bonus is that the full moon has happened over a weekend, so no rushing about. Tree and I have decided to visit the wood at Cirencester, where we were handfasted, and spread some wild flower seed to mark the first day of spring and the fertile earth. It will be good to ground ourselves in a special place. In addition, we are hoping to coppice some wood to make stands for the new mirrors I have made. We have now been invited to do Beautiful Days Festival in August, subject to pitch availability, and along with about five more events, have a full calendar for the year. Other events include, Spring open day at Tiddesley Wood, Eastnor Castle Steam and Woodland fair, Green man Festival at Clun, Blissfields Festival and hopefully loads more !!
Anyway, a merry Imbolc to one and all. Spread some seed, celebrate the hopes and wishes for the year ahead, feel the sun on your face and bathe in the light of the moon !!!