Isn't Winter Great?

[British Red]

I've just finished wrapping up the last of the soap I made and canning the last of the cranberry sauce. The final batch of coconut ice is cooling and the turkish delight has been sliced, coated with sugar and packed

BB has iced 5 cakes today and we've taken the LandCruiser through the floods to do the major shopping we needed ( a new pair of knitting needles for this evening)


We've come home and the fire is roaring, the kettle is on, and BB is just putting the parsnips in with the roast.

Life is pretty good sometimes

Red

 

[topknot]

Hi BR,
Yes looks lovely no sugar in mine please!
Topknot

 

[fred gordon]

Looks fantastic and you also had a nice day. Life can indeed be wonderful. What are you knitting at the moment?

 

[Timinwales]

oooooooooh coconut ice!!
open fire and roast dinner,...have say Winter is indeed good Red
Be Well Tim

 

[TheGreenMan]

Yes it is, that's winter and life (sometimes)

Cheers,
Paul.

 

[jon r]

i can only just tolorate winter. There is limited greenery and the shorter days really get on my nerves. I get up in the morning and go off to college in the dark and then come home in the dark! No time for outdoor bushcraft at the end of the day

Oh well i just look forward to the bluebells and all those horrible thoughts go away

 

[bushyboo]

Im a winter lover myself
especialy being able to go out and not get eaten by midges

 

[spamel]

i can only just tolorate winter. There is limited greenery and the shorter days really get on my nerves. I get up in the morning and go off to college in the dark and then come home in the dark! No time for outdoor bushcraft at the end of the day

Oh well i just look forward to the bluebells and all those horrible thoughts go away

What you need is a winter project. Maybe a Roycroft Pack Frame or Roycroft Snow Shoes for the folk in Sheffield! Some walking staves or a bow. Friction fire lighting set. Leather craft. I'm sure you could turn your hand to most of these if not more. Do you have a shave horse for your wood working projects? There are plans for it on the site.

 

[hedgepig]

i can only just tolorate winter. There is limited greenery and the shorter days really get on my nerves. I get up in the morning and go off to college in the dark and then come home in the dark! No time for outdoor bushcraft at the end of the day

Oh well i just look forward to the bluebells and all those horrible thoughts go away

I know where you are coming from here Jon. It can get quite depressing when your lifestyle means you get to see no daylight except at the weekends. Winter can be great though - doing indoor crafts, reading travel books by the fire and clean crisp weekend days for long walks with a flask of something hot or a wee brew kit are just great. I spent the afternoon trying to burn out a bowl rather than carving it out - I only stopped when it started chucking it down ... but that could as easily be the summer.

I know people who just love the sun and could spend their lives on a beach - each to their own, but give me the change in the seasons, seeing how plants and animals go through their life cycles ... winter is just a part of that, although at times I wish I could hibernate just like a real hedgepig

 

[spamel]

The only downside to the winter is the cold playing hell with my knee. I like the winter as the outdoors becomes a better place as people tend to stay out of remote places during the winter.

 

[British Red]

Jon,

Winter is the time to learn, experiment and tell stories and tall tales. This winter I want to produce a practical guide to producing woodash lye from scratch (practical project), write a comprehensive tutorial on water purification (research project), improve my leather work (improvement project), learn how to set and sharpen saws (plain old curiosity) etc. I wish I had your practical skills but I can still have fun doing a bit of learning

Red

 

[spamel]

Setting and sharpening a saw sounds like a good project! Is that a normal chippies saw or a big saw for bucking logs?

 

[British Red]

Crosscut saw spam (6 footer) - I have managed to acquire an old saw set and jointer and have an old beater of a 6' "misery whip" to practice on. I have also picked up a plier type set for smaller saws so I should be able to cover the full range.

I confess that I became interested in reading one of "Old Jimbos" posts about saw setting and have been thinking and reading a bit about it since. Weaver has been very kind in helping me understand the process.

Red

 

[Shewie]

I`m looking forward to some crisp nights out this winter with a warming tipple round the fire. Also made a pledge to myself to learn some more flaura and fauna after my dismal attempts at Reds tree ID quickies the other day


Rich

 

[TallMikeM]

Crosscut saw spam (6 footer) - I have managed to acquire an old saw set and jointer and have an old beater of a 6' "misery whip" to practice on. I have also picked up a plier type set for smaller saws so I should be able to cover the full range.

I confess that I became interested in reading one of "Old Jimbos" posts about saw setting and have been thinking and reading a bit about it since. Weaver has been very kind in helping me understand the process.

Red

oddly enough I was gonna start a thread on saw sharpening. I'll be very interested in knowing how that goes.

 

[Nat]

Winter is a good time of year for me. I use to suffer S.A.D. but then i got into this here bushcraft thing and everything was cool and groovy again (although i still hate xmas with a vengeance )

Shame my knees hate the cold, wet weather but plenty of deep heat fixes that.

Besides, winter keeps the "undesirables" inside

 

[British Red]

Start away Mike - I'll chip in when I can!

Red

 

[Wettstuff]

British Red, i'd be interested to know where you got the saw set and jointer i've got the cross cut saw bit( aquired from an old shed in someones garden i was working in ) but nothing else. Also a link to the article youo mentioned would be great,

Mike i'd love to read about what you know about this too.

Mark

 

[British Red]

Mark,

Old tool shops and dirt cheap on E-bay You can get new ones in the US but a full set is like $200 plus shipping etc.

I'll dig a link out to the articles weaver sent me (he might happen by and post them himself)

Red

 

[Wettstuff]

red cheers for the quick reply, am i right in thinking the set is a qauge to get the correct pitch of the teeth? and the files needed to sharpen, of to ebay i think and give the old gredit card a bit of a bashing woohoo

mark