Scottish Meet Up!! - Archive

[Toddy]

"Did I mention that as well as not being very skilled"

You lie!

"I am not a great cook?"

My sister may be there, she's a chef

"I am happy to make lids for you at the meet."

Done!

"Now I have had a thought about toilets."

Theres a fair bit of space, I was going to propose that a latrine trench be built, if someone provided a largish sheet of something it could be screened off. A bit of campcraft might provide a suitable sitting pole!

Any ladies or kids unwilling to risk life and limb are welcome to use the house.

Sounds excellent. I'll supply fabric for screening; though has anyone seen the eco loos at Talamh? Very hobbitish, very effective and totally un-noxious. A possibility for a group of handy people. I do however possess a trenching spade(Surprised no one, that, didn't it!), so I'll bring it along too.

I'm an idiosyncratic cook It rather sounds as though your sister may be a very great asset Personally I think it might be fun though to see what other folk cook, and how they do it too though. How is cooking usually organised on bushcraft events?

Cheers,
Toddy

 

[Graham_S]

i'm on day shift on friday so i've no idea when i'm going to finish work. i'll probably arrive early on saturday (unless i can scam an early knock-off )

 

[MagiKelly]

I think it might be fun though to see what other folk cook, and how they do it too though.

If it don't boil in the bag it don't go in the pack!

 

[jason01]

Any chance I could be pencilled in for this meet up? I wont take up much space and Im always glad of any excuse to get on the better side of the border.

 

[mojofilter]

If it don't boil in the bag it don't go in the pack!

Im the opposite, I think its worth taking the time and carrying the exra weight to make proper grub, but thats maybe whyIm a wee bit rounder than I used to be

 

[Toddy]

Any chance I could be pencilled in for this meet up? I wont take up much space and Im always glad of any excuse to get on the better side of the border.

'Course you can, and you can show me how to use my new steel properly

Cheers,
Toddy

 

[Toddy]

updated list

Sandbender
Doc
Troy
Toddy
Match
Eric Methven
Magikelly
JFW
GrahamS
JohnC
Stuart
Mojofilter
Jason01
Richie?


Archery
Firecraft
Gold panning
Green woodworking
Latrine construction
Leatherworking
Natural fibres/cordage
Navigation
Suturing & other diverse arts
Wild plant uses


Sounds excellent people....d'you think we'll find time to sleep?
Cheers,
Toddy

Oooops forgot and a 40th birthday to celebrate too!!

 

[Doc]

Goldpanning demo really needs water and gravel but I can always just do 'show and tell' on it.

I learned a bit of geology by goldpanning as any heavy mineral collects at the bottom of the pan, not just gold. You get a lot of almandite garnets in Scottish burns.

Anyway, sounds excellent. I think I can learn a lot from you folk.

 

[Graham_S]

i might run a "talisker appreciation" demo around the campfire

 

[MagiKelly]

I wil bring the canoe anyway so if we have time I am happy to take some people out and go through the basics.

Also I am sure we may be able to fit in a fireside magic show

 

[Eric_Methven]

I'll stick in a couple of porta potties as well in case they're needed. I'll also bring a big roll of bin liners so we can do a sweep of the area before we leave and carry all our rubbish out. We must leave the place the same, or better than we found it. Only fair.

Now as far as cooking goes, and I'm probably going to be really busy doing wood and leather related stuff, I just thought I'd mention I was in the Army Catering Corps for nine years and can handle a camp kitchen for fifty or so, so no panic if group cooking is required. How about fending for yourselves for breakfast, a communal lunch and doing your own thing at tea time. That way we all get to eat our favourites that we bring with us and can still enjoy some quality bushcraft fellowship in sharing a meal. (Primitive bonding and so on). If I can (maybe on the Friday evening, I'll build a bread oven for anyone to use during the weekend.

I've been to Le Prevo leathers this afternoon and bought a couple of sides of veggie tanned leather. I also got half a dozen curved awls and handles for them and two packs of saddler's needles. The awls and needles will be giveaways - maybe prizes if we have a speed stitching competition or something. I also got a chunk of leather that is over half an inch thick. I'm not going to say what animal it came from but let everyone guess once they have seen and handled it. Prize for the first right answer.

As far as the sycamore goes, I'll fell them and we can decide on their best use. Some might be suitable for stools, benches, spoons, bowls, shave horse bases. I'm sure we'll get good use out of it all.

I'm out tomorrow picking up a pile of ash which were felled last month. I have a feeling they are massive though so may not be good for bow staves. We'll see.

That's it for now, I'll add to the thread if there's anything else I think is important.

Eric

 

[Doc]

Great stuff, Eric and John.

This justs gets better and better.

 

[jason01]

'Course you can, and you can show me how to use my new steel properly

Cheers,
Toddy

Cool sounds good to me!

 

[Toddy]

Okay, sounding good People, site & lots of things to do.

The idea of a communal meal sounds good too.
I don't want us to get too tied down in detail, but can we do a quick, Is anyone allergic to a specific food? or is anyone on a particular diet, either from choice or necessity?

I suspect that it's me that's going to be the fussy bitch on this, I'm vegetarian and I'm allergic to fish. That said, I'm easy to feed and anti-histamines work on the fish problem.
I'm more concerned about nut allergy problems in others, most of my veggie foods (like stock, breads, etc.,) contain nuts in some form or other, and I really don't want to cause anyone any grief through carelessness or thoughtlessness.
Also, does anyone have any issues with wild meats? If I play it right I might manage to get some from a friend who owes me a favour or two I don't mind it being preped and cooked, just keep my food away from it and I'm fine.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[MagiKelly]

I can eat most anything as long as I have not cooked it


Just back from the Game Fair where I met up with Doc briefly and we are both looking forward to the meet up. I also saw him haggling for a GB axe unfortunately my attention was caught by the Tentipi 7 man Canvas Arran. What a tent. I think I can feel a major purchase coming on. Not a lightweight tent but ideal for family or canoe camping. Of course if I buy it I will bring it to the meet up.

 

[Graham_S]

i'll eat pretty much anything (best out of three) and i've got no problem with wild foods (in fact i'm quite partial to squirrel) so no problems there.
this meet keeps getting better and better sounding.
@erik
i might take you up on the sheath making, i'm getting a svord drop point and i might want a different style sheath from the one it has. how much are you going to be looking for for materials?

 

[Eric_Methven]

Just got back from collecting the wood. It wasn't ash but sycamore and there were five trees felled all in excess of four feet thick at the base. No way could I cut them up and take them away. I did however get a load of yew. Much of it will be good for walking sticks, some for chair legs and only about a dozen pieces suitable for bows - some of which will be spliced back-to-back types. What do yew bows sell for these days?

Graham, no idea on costs of leather and such. It will be proportional to what I paid for it. I'm not looking to make a profit from this, I don't want too much of a loss either. Just pay for what you use at the going rate.

As to food, why don't we have a large pan of pottage as the main 'filler-upper' and meat or a stew on the side for the carnivores and the herbivores can add their options separately. Everyone can eat pottage. In case you have never tried it, it's a bit like thick broth - vegetables, barley, haricott beans and stock all boiled up till it goes soft and squidgy. It tastes great. We can supplement it with nettle tops and dandelion leaves even.

I'll be bringing some of the yew with me and also a couple of primitive yew self bows and a few home made arrows with goose feather fletchings - just for fun.

I was talking to the forester who wanted to make sure I had a proper chainsaw operator's license - I had. He was telling me about one chap he hired to fell some trees. The man's name was Shuggy and on his first morning the forester handed him a chainsaw, told him to go to a certain plot and fell at least twenty trees. Shuggy toddled off and at the end of the day came back covered in sweat and told the forester that he'd only managed to fell ten.

The forester thought that wasn't much but made allowances seeing it was his first day. The next day the forester told Shuggy to fell forty trees. Of he went and at the end of the second day he crawled back and said he'd only managed twenty trees.

On the third morning the forester decided to accompany Shuggy and watch him at work. The forester told Shuggy to fell a tree so he could watch his technique. He grabbed the starting handle of the chainsaw and gave it a pull before handing it to Shuggy. The chainsaw roared into life - VROOOOOOM. "Good God!" yelled Shuggy, "Whit's that flippin' noise?"

Eric

 

[troy]

nice joke - sounds similar to the one about the new cadet who was told to get the key for the indoor granade range, or the mechanic ask to get the elbow grease - ye I know, their all very old.

Sorry to say, but I eat the same stuff my ancesters have for thousands of years - any thing that fills a hole, especially if my eyes are shut and I can't smell it!

 

[Doc]

Just had Ray Mears on the phone. He's heard that we're running a course in beautiful Perthshire covering woodcraft, leathercraft, bowmaking, arrowmaking, archery, goldpanning, advanced expedition medicine, navigation, cordage, dyeing, ethnobotany and canoeing and that the instructors include professional craftsmen, an archeologist, ex-soldiers, a blacksmith, a doctor and others, with catering by a professional chef and campfire cabaret from a professional magician. He'd like to offer this course himself but it would cost too much, and wonders if he can come....?

Sorry, only joking. We could invite him of course.

Good to see Magikelly and Stewart at the Game Fair. In fact there were three purveyors of Gransfors axes. In the end I went to Light My Fire (the nice Swedish guy selling the tentipi) as I could pick the one I wanted out of a choice of 6. I liked the Roselli on the Moonraker stand too, but went for the GB.

Eric - a yew bow is horrendously expensive. I seem to recall even a seasoned yew stave being sold for a three figure sum

 

[Eric_Methven]

Doc, these staves are still in the round and freshly felled. They came from a churchyard in North Yorkshire where the trees were causing access problems into the cemetery. The vicar chopped down the sycamores himself then started lopping off the lower yew limbs. It's these that I got. There is another yew tree right in the middle of the cemetery with thirty long straight limbs all growing sraight up. I measured it up and figured I could get five staves per limb, three from the lower limb and two from higher up. That tree would yield 150 yew bowstaves. If they fetch say £100 each for good ones, that is a potential income of - fifteen thousand quid!!! If I made bows myself I suppose I could tripple the amount.

My next task is to persuade the vicar to let me cut the yew down. I don't think he'll shift though, he was nearly in tears lopping limbs off the problem ones.

Talking about Ray Mears, and you had me going there for about a tenth of a second - just long enough for my heart to miss a beat, There's a thread called 'Are they taking the ....' On it there is comments about people selling stuff on ebay by jumping on the Ray Mears bandwagon. People are selling Ray Mears style bow drill sets for silly money. Someone had a wooden spoon and put bushcraft in the title. lat time I looked it was going for £6.50. Daft I suppose but there's people out there with plenty money. We were going to see who could put the dodgiest bit of tatt up on ebay without actually breaking the rules. Someone suggested a Ray Mears style digging stick. Anyway, I dug one of my old wooden spoons out and stuck that up. I mentioned Ray Mears I think four or five times. We'll see how it goes. the sale is at http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7334237274&rd=1&sspagename=STRK:MESE:IT&rd=1
So far eleven people have viewed it and no bidders. Lets see what happens. Any other suggestions for daft ebay sales?

Eric