Bone fish hooks.

I had some pieces of camel bone left over after a project and instead if consigning them to the rubbish bin I thought I'd make a couple of fish hooks.

The first thing was to scribble a basic pattern on the bone after I had flattened it out.

Then with a coping saw carefully cut out the pattern

Then the sanding and the finishing

Of course these hooks aren't meant for fishing but are based on the Maori pendants I've seen.

These are worn as good luck charms but also as an indication that the wearer is able to provide from the wild to feed himself and his family.

Very apt indeed I think.

Hair Ice

Hair ice or sometimes called beard ice is an unusual phenomena that only occurs in very set climatic conditions and only with dead wood with a particular fungi in it.

Unlike other forms of frost which we know about and see often, like hoar frost in the pic below

Hair ice only forms at certain temperatures and in certain conditions but the result can be spectacular

From a distance it can look like a plastic bag or other discarded trash

On closer inspection it looks a little like a fungus, but really close up..its pure ice and it's wondrous when it forms like this

You'll never see sights like this for real if you don't get out into the woods..