I’ve wanted to try and make a large kasa for some time and after an area of trees had been cleared on one of our reserves I found a large bur on an Alder (Alnus glutinosa) stump, which I removed with a chainsaw.

I removed the outer bark and using my Fiskars hatchet cut cut away faults and flaws until I reached good wood.  Then I marked the size and shape of the kasa I wanted to carve from the bur.

Using my gouge

I began to shape the inside of the bowl and after a couple of  hours work it looked like this

and after another hour it looked like this

I continued using my hatchet to shape the underside

The patterning in the bur is beautiful

and after another couple of hours work the kasa was really starting to take shape

]]> http://naturallore.wordpress.com/2009/12/20/large-alder-bur-kasakuksa-part-1/feed/ 8 fenlander1 Kevin Warrington removing Alder bur (Small) large kasa-1 (Small) Gauge chisel Large kasa-2 (Medium) Large kasa-3 (Medium) Large kasa-4 (Medium) Large kasa-5 (Medium) Large kasa-6 (Medium) http://naturallore.wordpress.com/2009/12/17/singing-the-blues-again/ http://naturallore.wordpress.com/2009/12/17/singing-the-blues-again/#comments Thu, 17 Dec 2009 12:45:19 +0000 fenlander1 http://naturallore.wordpress.com/?p=2520 ]]>

Last year I wrote about an evening I spent being entertained by The CC Blue’s Band featuring primitive skills instructor John Lord.

Like last year the band again featured guest guitarist Phil Harding who is more familiar to viewers of the Channel 4 series Time Team.

It was a really enjoyable evening with some great music like this

and this

Many books tell you that in the northern hemisphere you can find north by looking at trees on moist ground and the side of the tree on which the moss grows highest will indicate north because  of the assumption that all mosses require cool, damp, shaded locations and this can often be true, but not always as you can see in the picture below.  The picture was taken 1 hour after midday and the moss (on the south-easterly side of the tree) is growing about 1 metre up the tree (in this case an Ash tree).

Mosses have no roots but instead have tiny threads called rhizoids that serve to anchor the moss and to supply moisture and nutrients.  Their leaves are thin and cannot retain water so instead they obtain water from rain
and dew and for this reason mosses tend to grow best in wetter places.  You can learn more about mosses here.

So when using mosses on trees for navigation look at a number of trees and take an average to give a rough idea of north but not rely on it.  I would also recommend getting a copy of this book “Finding Your Way Without Map or Compass” which teaches you how to recognise many natural signs and events  to use for navigating.

I thought I would take a step back in time and write about my first visit to Swedish Lapland in September 2006.

My friend Eckhardt had invited me to visit him and his family and spend some time at his cabin in the forest

This was the first view I had of his cabin and I never imagined that nine months later I would be buying it

I spent time walking in the forest and exploring

helping with work around the cabin

shooting

fishing and rowing on the lake (didn’t catch anything of course!)

and tracking animals

Ekhardt also taught me how to drink warm, salt water through my nose to help treat congestion and cold symptoms.

I had such a great time and was determined to return again soon.

The Common Darter Dragonfly (Sympetrum striolatum) is one of the smaller British species of dragonflies.  The male is a rich bright red in colour

and the female varies from shades of green to orange and even red when mature.  This individual has just emerged from life as a larvae living below water.

The Common Darter is on the wing from the middle of June here in the East of England and when I first became interested in wildlife and nature conservation, books stated “June – October” and it is the last dragonfly species you will see in the year.  In the early 90’s I can remember recording this species into the first few days of November and this year 16 -17 years later my last date was 26th November and I expect within the next 5 years they will be recorded into the first few days of December.

In late autumn they are always looking for somewhere bright and warm to sit and absorb the suns heat

I thought this year was going to be pretty hopeless for walnuts. I had gathered a good crop from the one decent tree on my land last year and had not expected the same again in 2009. I had also taken my eye off the ‘resident’ squirrel population so when I was gazing up into the branches back in August I was not surprised when I couldn’t see many. I was delighted,therefore, after strong winds one night at the beginning of October to find the ground littered with nuts. I hastily gathered then up and took them back indoors to process. One of the downsides to gathering walnuts is the tannins in the husks. Despite wearing gloves this year my hands were still stained, first a yellowy brown rapidly becoming nearly black! It doesn’t wash off,takes weeks to,quite literally, wear off and receives horrified looks when you go to shake someones hand! This does ,however, remind you just what an effective dye plant it is and I had been asked to save the husks for this very purpose.Here are some of the walnuts and the husks (to the right) drying by the woodburner.

We are all familiar with the method of scraping the surface of Birch bark  and igniting the scrapings with a firesteel due to the high content of natural oils in the bark.

For some time I have wanted to purchase a pair of US Military “Mickey Mouse” boots.  These were first issued to GI’s in the Korean War and are designed to shield against water and extreme cold.  The boots are constructed of rubber and between two layers of rubber, air is trapped to act as insulation.  A valve on the outside of the boot means you can add or remove air to vary the degree of insulation provided.  In addition the boots are wool lined for increased insulation.

So I was really pleased to find a company in the UK advertising them, brand new for only £9.95 +p&p!  I ordered my a pair of size nines from Surplus and Adventure and 5 days later they arrived.  As soon as I unpacked them it was clear that these boots were not what they were advertised to be.  The label on the back stated “US style” and lacking two layers of rubber, a valve, and wool liner these were in fact just short, lace-up wellington boots with an incredibly heavy steel shank and I would require about 10 thick wool socks to to fill the boot with my foot.  The cost of returning the boots would have been almost as much as the purchase price so I have forwarded them for re-sale else where as a “safety boot!”.  My verdict…..DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY!!

“Googling” this company brings a lot of results from unhappy customers and in fact my colleague at work ordered some items from them three weeks ago and has not yet received them.  When he contacted them, he was told the items are not in stock and will hopefully be in within a week…..we shall see!!

At the beginning of the year I was contacted by a representative from Fusion Productions in the USA, who explained that they were working on a new television series called “Hot on the Trail”, to be aired on the Veria Network in June 2009.

They contacted me because they wanted to use images of some of my crafts made from Cattail/Reed Mace for the Cattail part of the series.  The series sounded really good and after some exchanges of emails I agreed to supply images for the series, in return for a DVD copy of the programme.

Since providing some images I have heard nothing from the company and having emailed the two representatives I had been dealing with to find out if my images were actually used, I have received no response.

I would very grateful if anyone who has seen the series could get in touch with me if any of the images below were featured in the programme.

Willow and Cattail leave baskets

Cattail basket

Cattail leaf duck

Cattail Dolls

Thanks in anticipation.

This is one that my mother taught to me and is always popular with children and adults.

Remove a long leaf from a stem of Common Reed Phragmites australis

Fold the leaf a quarter of the way along from one end and then make two tears to divide the fold into three equal tabs

Put one of the outside tabs over the middle one and into the fold of the opposite one (as shown below)

and then repeat at the opposite end

Now the boat is completed

The boat is ready to be floated on water and will blow around in the wind

While out on the reserve the other day I needed to undo a nut and bolt but realised I had left the spanner behind.  It was a long walk back to the workshop so a decided to try and make something out of natural materials.  I cut a piece of Willow about the thickness of my finger

I used a piece of cord to whip both ends of the stick and then split the stick in half (the whipping prevented the split running to the ends of the stick)

I had to prise the two halves apart and put the nut through the gap

I grasped tightly either side and close to the nut.

I was rather sceptical that it would work but I was pleased to find that it did!!  It would not be strong enough to remove a lock nut or rusted nut and bolt.

Unfortunately I did not have my camera with me when I originally made the spanner so I have reconstructed it for the pictures.