Sunday morning workshop

This morning began with lots of bright sunshine and mild temperatures, so after a few minutes spent watching the birds to the sound of the village church bells I thought that it would be nice to sit outside. So I grabbed a chair and my tool kit and set about some leather work. Late last year, a good friend of mine bought for me another pocket knife, it is a knife of good quality and a modern design. I wanted to make a pouch in which to keep it clean and handy and already had a rough design in my head. So here is the knife, it is made in a style that is becoming increasingly common. I wanted a pouch that would attach to a belt and permit access without a lot of fiddling about with cold hands when I am out fishing. First of all I cut the leather for the front and moulded it into the shape of the knife, while that was drying I cut out the back and belt loop. I stitched the belt loop in place and then fitted the two pieces of leather together I marked it out ready for sewing. Once the hand stitching was complete I trimmed up and burnished the edges. The next job was to hand tool the design into the leather before dying and polishing. I always have a little difficulty when it comes to dying leather because I only want to change the colour slightly, just enough to make the tooling work a little more visible. I have found in the past that coffee gives the colour that I like, so I mixed a very strong solution of Kenco and brushed it onto the desired area. Once dry, I applied two good coatings with a clear leather wax and buffed it to a gentle lustre, this protects the leather and seals in the dye. So, that was it, sunshine over and back to sit indoors and listen to the raindrops on the roof. This had been a very enjoyable little project for me and the fact that I was able to sit out in the fresh air on a quiet Sunday morning made it all the more pleasant.

A little of my treasure

Today the weather has been lousy, it has barely got light, none stop rain, steamy windows and a gentle but constant tapping on the roof. Should have been a Monday. So, I worked briefly on some leather but my ageing eyes struggle in the half light and so I had to give up. Never mind eh, at least I am looking at the right side of the grass. As I cleared away my bits and pieces I thought that I should maybe photograph some of the treasure that I have slowly acquired. You must understand, this is by no means the full extent of my gatherings, in fact, far from it, anyway have a look, you may even be a previous owner. It was not in fact until I laid these items out, that I realised I should have photographed them in the condition that they were in when I added them to my hoard. Never mind, maybe I'll remember to do that in the future. The two pocket knives I bought at car boot sales for a few pence, they were completely unusable, but they cleaned up very well and both hold a superb edge. The small black stone is called an "Apache tear" I carry it with me a lot. There is a story of how this stone got it's name and to save me writing it all out if you look on the Internet http://www.minehead-online.co.uk/apachetear.htm you will be able to read it. The small, four fold, 12 inch rule I bought at a flea market in Yorkshire, it would barely open, it was so neglected. I cleaned it, lubricated the joints and hinges and then researched it on the Internet. It is made in Birmingham UK by Rabone and sons. It is made from ivory and brass and is I believe around 150 years old. I was going to sell it, I have had some good offers, but I can't, it is a thing of great beauty and is just nice to hold. At Christmas my daughter Sarah, gave me a gift and as always wrapped it with great care, she embellished it with this peacock feather which I kept. In the picture below is a small anvil which I use sometimes in my leather work and jewellery making. I have polished the surfaces so that I get a good finish. Just below that is my old regimental cap badge (Royal Corps of Signals) of which I am proud. The yellow fluffy hook is called a "bunny bug", it was tied and given to me by a fellow fly fisherman the first time we met. Below that is a piece of buffalo horn that I intend to slice and make into some buttons at some time in the future. The old penny is one of many coins that I have and to its right is a second penny that I made into a piece of jewellery for a wrist band or something similar should I get round to finishing it. The awl I use regularly and is antique, it is a real pleasure to work with no one makes handles like that one anymore. The strange shaped item on the bottom is a carborundum stone mounted on a wooden handle, I have never seen one like it before or since but it gets a fair amount of use sharpening the old knives that I collect and use.

So there you have it, a very brief peek into my box of treasures and now I have to put them all away back into the box where there isn't any room.

Flashing Lady

The week has been rather slow and drawn out, the television has had a good bashing and apart from the usual daily tasks we have not been very active. Pat has made a couple of pieces of jewellery and Meg has had her little legs walked off as I try to keep myself from becoming a couch potato. So the best I have is another fishing story and to those not interested I am sorry.

Last weekend we had rain and lots of it, put together with the melting snow and several burst water mains the river that runs close by rose rapidly by about 4 feet. Now that alone is no problem, but because the river colours quickly, fishing is not worth the effort, so every day when walking the dog I made an inspection to see if it was worth getting my waders on. Today the water was running much cleaner and so I decided to get the rod out. As I stepped into the water, with a three fly set up, in order to fish my preferred swim the first thing that I noticed was that the shape of the bottom had changed quite a lot, many large rocks had moved and I was very wary about where I put my feet. I moved about the river cautiously, trying all of the likely looking spots, but failing to locate any fish time and time again. After about an hour, success, my 7 foot light weight brook rod was bent well over and the usually well camouflaged "Lady of the stream" flashed silver repeatedly as it tried to shake the hook. The fish only ran for about 10ft and so it didn't take long before it was safely in my river net, I quickly removed the hook and photographed my prize before returning it to the water. The fish was caught in a deep hole at the end of a fast run on the far side of the river and is a place where I have caught on the dry fly. I am told that grayling shoal, so I fished on, in the hope of a little more sport, sadly this was the only fish of the day but never mind, for me it has been the highlight of the week.

I thought that everyone would be sick to death of the snow, frost and ice by now, so no stories about that, anyway, some of you didn't believe the last entry I made; can't think why. I have been keen to go fishing, however, I've had difficulty mustering the courage to break the ice at the edges of the river. So, I have spent hours on the Internet aimlessly mooching, suffering daytime TV (not that it is any worse than evening viewing) and keeping on top of daily chores. I have made a few more leather items, the one on the right being being the latest. It is entirely hand made and lined with very soft glove leather. For a mid afternoon snack today, we roasted a few chestnuts and sat munching them whilst watching the birds on the feeders. So there you are, all very ordinary I'm afraid, but perhaps given the recent weather that isn't such a bad thing.

An Old Flame And A Cold Night

Due to the recent cold spell, and the problems that it can cause, on odd occasions I have taken to lighting a large church candle and placing it in the awning. It helps to keep the frost off the inside of the fabric. Last night when we went to bed I forgot about the candle. This morning when I got up, there was ice on the inside of the windows, you know, in nice floral patterns. Slowly I got myself moving, let the dog out as usual and prepared some food for the birds. I noticed the candle which I had left lit and tried to blow it out. I couldn't, the flame had frozen solid. Blimey, it must be cold, I thought. I took my penknife from my pocket and carefully cut the flame off the candle and put it in my pocket for safe keeping. I put the food out on the bird tables and dived back into the truck to get warm. I sat down with a nice hot coffee to watch the birds. About half an hour later I jumped up with pain in my right thigh, spilling my coffee and smoke coming from my pocket. The damn flame had defrosted. Hope it warms up soon.

Frosty reception

For the last week we have enjoyed the company of our friends Bobby and Trevor, sadly, today we had to say farewell to them, as they decided to return home. We have been friends for many years and had many happy times in their company, we will miss them. So, at the moment there is no one here but us frozen chickens. This is our current set up with the frozen brook in the foreground. Today, the weather has given us our first minor problem of the season, the waste outlet froze and so the washing up water would not drain away. Experience has taught me to leave the waste gate open during the cold weather and place a bucket underneath to catch the water, which up until today has worked fine. At 3 o'clock the temperature rose just above freezing for about half an hour and the plug hole began to gurgle, so, problem over. During the recent cold snap, we have been much more fortunate than much of the country, because as you can see, we have had barely any snow. As I sat down to watch some TV at 4pm., I noticed that the temperature was again below freezing. How fitting, that the programme that was on the television was "Frost", like the weather, it was a repeat.

The Feel Good Factor

I didn't really know what to write in my first entry of a new year and like most days, on new years day I saw the sunrise, it was much the same as many that I have seen and it wasn't until about an hour later that I realised that it was the first day of a new year and also a new decade. So, I thought that I would post my first picture of the year. I was eager to get out for a walk while the world was still hung over and so after walking the dog and taking a few photographs, that is exactly what I did. I invited our friends and current neighbours to join me, which they were keen to do and off we went for a couple of hours. It was a lovely day to be out and the "Feel good factor" that I always get when walking was stronger than ever and just lately I had missed it. Since the age of about twelve I have walked for recreation, I don't know why and I have walked thousands of miles over hills, mountains and moors, in snow, wind, rain and sunshine and I never get tired of it. Our new years day excursion was quite short, about five miles, only about two miles of which were new ground for me, but I enjoyed every step. As we approached the awning on the van I heard the gentle "ding" of a bell, it was the timer on the electric oven and unzipping the doorway I was greeted by the mouthwatering smell of fresh baking. Pat then opened the truck door and taking the hot baking out of the oven offered us all coffee and quiche. For the next five minutes I sat not just eating but refueling, it was gorgeous and thinking what a fantastic way to start a new year. Wondering, how come, I have never completed a walk of any length, in any weather and not really enjoyed myself?