View Full Version : Isn't Winter Great?
British Red
18-11-2007, 17:22
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.
http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/3640/kettlenx5.jpg
Life is pretty good sometimes :)
Red
Hi BR,
Yes looks lovely no sugar in mine please!
Topknot
fred gordon
18-11-2007, 18:39
Looks fantastic and you also had a nice day. Life can indeed be wonderful. What are you knitting at the moment?;)
Timinwales
18-11-2007, 18:45
oooooooooh coconut ice!!
open fire and roast dinner,...have say Winter is indeed good Red :)
Be Well Tim
TheGreenMan
18-11-2007, 18:49
Yes it is, that's winter and life (sometimes) :)
Cheers,
Paul.
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
18-11-2007, 21:28
Im a winter lover myself
especialy being able to go out and not get eaten by midges ;)
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
18-11-2007, 23:41
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 :D
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
18-11-2007, 23:56
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
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
19-11-2007, 00:13
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
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
19-11-2007, 08:25
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.
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:cussing: )
Shame my knees hate the cold, wet weather but plenty of deep heat fixes that.
Besides, winter keeps the "undesirables" inside ;)
British Red
19-11-2007, 10:00
Start away Mike - I'll chip in when I can!
Red
Wettstuff
19-11-2007, 14:07
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:D ) 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
19-11-2007, 14:21
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
19-11-2007, 14:37
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
British Red
19-11-2007, 15:08
There are several tools you need - but the precise tools depend on the type of saw in question - have a look on the saw sharpening thread just started ;)
gregorach
19-11-2007, 15:14
Winter? Not much of a fan of it myself. Six to eight hours of sort-of-almost-daylight (if you're lucky) just isn't good enough. Sure, there's the brilliant clear days which are fine and dandy, but lets face it - it's usually dreich and dreer. Then there's the days when it just doesn't seem to get light at all - as if the sun reluctantly hauled itself up, saw the impenetrable pall of featureless overcast draped over the entire sky like a clammy grey shroud, and thought to itself "Stuff it. I'm going back to bed."
I wish I could hibernate from about the start of December to the end of February. Maybe longer, depending on the weather...
British Red
19-11-2007, 15:16
Whereas in summer where you are, the days are much the same - just longer :D
(duck and cover :))
Too right.
The coffee pot is just starting to perk, the logs are ready for the Siberian winter and the three foot of snow (I wish) that we are due. Sheer bliss.
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/chopper692006/S8000303.jpg
I am wanting winter to hurry up now. I couldn't believe I was being attacked by huge clouds of midges while working on a roof today. I had to go and ask the lady next door to borrow her incinerator. I made a fire in the bottom and filled it with damp leaves. I now smell like a bonfire, but it sure sorted the miggies. I have always attracted the smoke from the fire, this time I was glad of it.....
Sounds nice round yours Red....
British Red
21-11-2007, 20:39
Well, you know where we are when you're in the area Jon ;)
Winter is great for the clean, crisp and sobring air. Brings you right back to life after you'v been out on the town in the morning on the walk home. Its been awful down south though because of all the rain we'v had in the past couple of days. Everyone seems reluctant to come out which sucks a bit. Also its harder to get up in the morning.
But then again the scenery changes, which is a rather visually pleasing for a while. Then I get sick of the grey and damp and prey for an early summer.
No one is out on the downs or in the woods which is great. Nothing more annoying than mad mountain bikers tearing around n almost side swiping you. :twak:
Christmas is good because its the one time of year I can have a good excuse to engorge myself with sweets, chocolate, lager, meat, vegetables, cake and potatos, as well as nag people to buy me expensive gifts and give me money :D I like to place myself as far away from the centre of town as possible though...the Christmas shopping masses and ridiculous displays irritate the hell out of me. It felt like somthing from the movie falling down :AR15firin .
I like winter Its easier to sleep after Night shift (got o bed in the dark get up in the dark though)
I enjoy mountain biking on frozen/snow covered ground.
I like to get out and about on cold days
The challenge of fire lighting is more interseting.
I will get time to do some carving and knife making and friction fire lighing