Spoon post

It's not everyday you are asked, to come and take your pick from a freshly thinned wood, that is almost exclusively cherry. I haven't had any fresh cherry for a fair few years, so to be faced with a cherry woodland on the verge of spring, with piles awaiting selection is a rare treat.

I think I will celebrate, by carving a spoon, for Clare and Nigel, the woodland owners.

Split with the froe, into halves, quarters, billets.

Axe a crank. Sketch an outline. The cherry grain has provided me with a centreline.

Saw down to the line.

Axe to the line. Same with the profile, then out with the knives. Time to catch the last few rays of the sun. Almost Equinox.

And we have a spoon. The first of many, I imagine, given the big pile of cherry logs next to me.

From tree to log to spoon, before the sun went down.

I offered some of the cherry to Mick, but I don't think he wants, to carve a spoon; says it's too much like a religion. That made me smile, I used to do a lot of Buddhist meditation; nowadays carving is my meditation. People do all sorts of things in the name of religion, but I've never heard of anyone doing bad in the name of carving spoons! I do treat my chopping block like an altar, though, I guess.

Door and some hunting and gathering.

 A door in Accoya.

Wedged tenons. Pinned with brass. Fixing the drip, with brass flatheads and my turnscrew. Holding temporarily with the Jorgensens.

Hunted and gathered this new old anvil today. It was a lively beast and took some subduing, but with Mick on the seesaw, we roped it in! 

So, forging ahead with the forging. Bang bang bang.

Angles

Lots of angles in the roof lantern. Basically a miniature hipped roof, with glazing bars instead of rafters.

A temporary structure and tent was placed over the roof lantern, as the work was happening in the middle of winter.

On installation day, a genie lift was used to raise the lantern up in two sections.

Over on to the scaffold tower.

Then slid along, and posted through the 'letterbox' in the tent structure. Over the hole and then the scaffold boards slid out and the lantern fixed down.

The tarpaulin battened back down, for work to continue, in the dry!

New roof lantern for Birdwood House

Birdwood House is a listed building, overlooking Totnes market square. It was originally called Somerset House and was the home of the Babbage family; later to produce Charles, the inventor of the Difference Engine, the first mechanical computer.

The building was refurbished in 2005 to house the Gallery, a venue for art. The art gallery is partially lit by a roof lantern. Unfortunately, the lantern had seen better days, so we were called in to do a restoration of it, starting on the 23rd December last. Listed building consent was acquired by the owners. After stripping the paint back, it was obvious restoration was not possible, and so a new lantern was made, saving and restoring the roll-top cap.

Here it is this morning, complete with anti-bird wire to replace the nasty bird spikes that were there before.

From below.

It has been blanked off for years, because of it's unsightly appearance, but now the possibility of using it to add a vertical element to exhibitions, has been opened up.

 

Something in the air

It must be something in the air. Out looking for birthday presents, I found these books, a stone's throw from St. Mary's in Totnes.

Literally for a song. I would happily have paid, for each page, what I paid for each book. Some things are just meant to be.

The first was right next to the second. A fitting accompaniment, given that my interest in 17th century English furniture, was first piqued, by an exploration of American furniture of the same period.

Cantilevered cupboards.

 Hadley chests.

All the favourites. Nothing else to say.

Chickenopolis

When I'm not stopping buildings falling down, making furniture, carpentry, framing and joinery........I'm doing more carpentry! No, not really. Me and her outdoors, try to be self-sufficient in fruit and vegetables and eggs. She is more green-fingered than I, but it's quite handy that I can build all the infrastructure!

We used to have problems with rodents, until we built Chickenopolis. The raised houses give the chooks somewhere dry to dustbathe, their favourite activity, even in wet weather. It makes them easier to clean out and means the rodents have nowhere to get comfortable; wheelbarrow under the big door, open it and pull out the waste, then off to the compost heap. There is a covered way down the middle; for collecting eggs from the nest boxes, sorting feed out and storing tools. Having a dry space to do it all makes all the difference.

In other news, the new old van is on the road, with new livery.

Who put all those spoons in there.

I just went out to the home workshop to get a box to put some things in, but some silly sod (me) has put a load of spoons and ladles in there. Grab other box; the same.

Oh well. I picked this chest of drawers up for the daughter's bedroom recently. I replaced the plinth, because someone had used a few bits of old pallet in a previous restoration. A polish with some Fiddes and good to go. Minimum intervention is the best option sometimes. The top drawer is a writing desk for her studies. Definitely Early Oak, but she likes it.

I was going to make another bowl out of the other half of that Elm log, but nature beat me to it. This is Velvet Shank mushroom. It makes good eating. As well as being tasty, it also is notable as a winter growing mushroom. Never eat a mushroom unless you are 100% sure about what it is. There are two other mushrooms similar to this which are poisonous. To differentiate you can take a spore print; Enokitake has white spores, the other two don't.

Here they are, growing on another piece of Elm in the hedgebank bottom, a bit more developed. I don't mind if this log goes back to wildlife, and the added bonus of a tasty meal.

On my way back from the workshop, I grabbed some firewood and this piece of beech, which was near the edge and got wet, has Turkey Tail mushroom growing on it. Back in the hedge, into a pile of logs and cultivate this one also. Turkey Tail is known as Kawaratake (roof tile fungus) in Japan and Yun Zhi in China, where it is used in traditional medicine. It is apparently good for balancing immune systems, so you never know, it might help me with my joints!

The first shoot of this year's sweet chestnut planting, showed itself. Giving back what we take.