Soft Light Water Lantern

When we are out on our all too few overnighters there is a little trick to spread a soft light around the camp or latrine area,

 

 

shine a torch or headlamp through a 2 litre milk jug of water, it provides a lovely soft diffused light that is actually bright enough to see all around the camp area after your eyes have adjusted to the dark.

 

Fraughan Sunday

Traditionally the time to pick wild bilberries is on Fraughan sunday, the last sunday in July (today) it comes from the Irish "fraochán" the anglicised version of which is fraughan which bilberries are known as in Ireland. So early up before the other gatherers to find enough for a pancake or two..

 

It's been a good year for them, so it didn't take long to gather enough for a few pancakes

 

 

15 mins and plenty for a lunch

 

 

whip up a simple pancake batter and add half the berries, use the other half to make a coulis for the pancakes

 

 

looking good, nice and brown and ready for a short stack

 

 

stack on a plate, drizzle with bilberry coulis, add a little cream and tuck in, food fit for a king!

The Easiest Knife Handle in the World

Putting a handle on a blade can be a chore, but not if you do it this way

 

  buy the ready made handle and blade, cut the tang if you need to

 

 

Tap the handle onto the blade with a hammer, it's self gripping so will not come loose.

easy eh?

 

 

build time, about 2 mins

 

bit of a cheat, but it's a superbly easy way to make a great scandi knife.

 

Bush Tea's... Linden Tea

A little late this year but the lime blossoms are in full bloom and it's a good time to pick them for one of the most common Tisanes consumed in Europe - Linden Tea

 

 

pick enough flowers to see you through the winter as it's also a great remedy for cold's and flu's

Dry them for a few days

 

 

I like to brew it rather than infuse it to get a slightly stronger flavour and to make sure I get all the goodness from the blossoms

 

 

save the rest in a sealed jar and put it out of direct sunlight

 

 

after a few minutes boiling I poured a glass of the Tea, a lovely pale yellow and slightly floral mild tasting tea, it was a little too hot so I added some cold water and...

 

 

after a minute or two it turned orange!

Haven't had this happen before but it was quite a pleasant party trick!

 

It's a good tea for the winter time but it excels at relaxing you after a stressful day, also good for nervous disorders!

Baby Bird

About 10 days ago early one morning there was an almighty rucus between magpies and a Male Blackbird, apparently the magpie had snatched a fledgling from the blackbirds nest and after being harrassed by the daddy bird had dropped the youngster in our garden! I took a close look at him and he was cut around the beak and seemed to be stunned from the fall, but after a day or two he'd healed up well.

So there was no option for it but to protect the little one from dogs, cats and birds until he was ready to fly, daddy bird was extremely diligent in feeding the wee one and today I'm happy to say he took flight after daddy bird..but he did leave us one cheeky picture!

 

 

cute, isn't he?

 

Flint Nodule ..... or not?

I went to my favourite place to find jasper looking for some pieces when I found this, it's a flint nodule, or is it?

 

 

Now anytime I've found nodules like this they have always been flint but there was just something about this piece that had me suspecting that it could be jasper..really? I've never found any this big before so it would be a first, only one way to find out and that's break it open! So lets just do it!!

 

 

and guess what, deep, dark and red and we all know what stone that is..YEAHHHHH!!!

Lauri Camping and Lauri Laplander

 

I had a nice piece of figured walnut and a couple of spare Lauri blades, namely the Lauri Camping (stainless) and the Lauri Laplander (carbon) both blades are around 6 inches long.

 

 

This is the Camping blade and the walnut handle I put on it, the chatoyence of the wood is incredible and much better than the pic would have you believe

 

and in full shot

 

 

and the Lauri Laplander above with a beech handle and a moose bone pommel, they are both very comfortable and will be well used.

Horses Hoof Fungus?

 

No, it's not...

 

 

 

..but I can see why some people have mistaken this particular fungus for horses hoof before!!