Red Beech in Clingendael

I think everybody has one: A favourite tree. Or, in my case, a list of favourite trees. Quite high up on my list is a massive red beech that grows in Clingendael, a park near my home. I have always loved this park for its old and iconic trees, and this beech is one of the prettiest and largest of all.  Two weeks ago I took a picture of this magnificent 200 year old tree, because I was afraid that the fungi that infest the tree would get the upperhand sooner rather than later.

 Unfortunately enough  we were right about the trees decreasing health, and yesterday we found out that wind has snapped off the largest sidebranche of the tree. Other branches have been supported with slings to protect the tree from losing more branches, but I am afraid that this is the beginning of the end of this beautiful old thing.

I was happy to see that some bits of wood from the fallen branche were still lying around. I collected a few pieces so that I could carve some spoons from it, and give the wood a second life. Today I made this eating spoon from the wood, and I took it back to take some photos of the spoon with the tree. 

The knife and spoon are lying on one of the many massive fungi that are growing on the tree.

Quite pleased with the side-profile of this eating spoon.

Out of the wood I have collected I hope to carve a few more eaters and perhaps a cooking spoon or two. It is a strange feeling, realizing that I might outlive something that I have known my whole life, and that generations have known their whole life before me. The spoons I will carve from this tree will therefore not leave my collection but will be a reminder of this tree if it ever decides to die before I do.

New tools require new skills.

Besides the lovely adze I got recently, I have also received a parcel in the mailbox containing a lefthanded spoon knife made by Robin Wood. I am lefthanded, and have always used a righthanded mora hook. You can imagine I was excited to finally have one that I could use the way a spoonknife should be used. 

I put a quick but solid handle on the blade, gave it a stropping and carved a spoon from some plum wood. The knife is very nice, but using a lefty for the first time was pretty awkward. Over time I have become adapted to using a right-handed blade in my left hand. Figuring out new grips will take me a couple of spoons, but judged by the way this blade can slice I think it will increase the quality of the tooled finish in my spoon-bowls. 

I also practiced with the adze and carved this little bowl from plum wood. The angle at which it cuts took a while to figure out but it wastes wood very nicely and it made carving this bowl a very fun project. I never really did bowls since the hollowing out was awkward and time-consuming, but those days are now over!

I am looking forward to getting some larger diameter wood, and throw both of my new shinies in the mix for some decent kuksa-carving.

Fresh Wood

Another period of wood-scarcity has come to an end. I have been given a nice lump of plum wood, and have also been promised a good portion of the trunk of the tree when it comes down one of these days. To me that means one thing: Plum wood kuksa`s with my new adze! Before the trunk is mine to pick up, I`m making eating spoons. The wood is really lovely to carve and to look at. Here are some images I took while carving a little crooked spoon yesterday.

The lovely colour of plum wood.

Rough shaping done

Bowl rougly hollowed, some cleaning up to do on the rest.

Getting there.

Time to go spoon something with it!

I hope I can find some more time this week and get back into a carving habit. I have not done it as much as I`d like in the last couple of weeks.

Easter break

This easter my girlfriend and me were at her parents` farm in Norway, where we had a lovely time away from all the studying that is going on for us in the Netherlands. The circumstances were perfect for an easter break. Lovely weather, 20 newborn lambs on the farm, great company in the form of friends and family, and of course time for me to carve some spoons. 

The girlfriend holding one of the lambs.

 I got to carve 2 spoons in the few hours I took. One large cooking spoon in birch, and a small eating spoon in rowan. Unfortunately my spoon knife was rather blunt and I didn`t bring my sharpening gear. The bowls are therefore still a bit rough. I`ll fix them after I sharpen.

On our way home again we had a few hours to kill in Bergen, where we took some time to stroll through the historical part of town called Bryggen. The wooden houses there are lovely, and it is fun to look at them from a woodworking perspective. Seeing the familiar marks of a side axe on a hewn beam that is 100+ years old is nice. It is also nice that they are restoring parts of the town using hand tools!

Back home I had a nice surprise waiting for me. I had recently ordered an adze from Michael Stibane in Germany. He was already very nice to sharpen and mod it for me, but when I found out that he had added a surprise spoon that he made to the package the smile on my face broadened wider. Such a nice guy! :-)

I am looking forward to trying out the adze. The bit is very narrow, and that would make it ideal for hewing out kuksas. Of course larger diameter wood isn`t to be found now that I want to carve it...

I finally waited long enough.

This weekend it was time. Seven months ago I started my first home brewing projects by making elderberry port and plum wine, and this weekend I finally tasted the fruits of my labours. Having gathered the family on saturday for the occasion of opening the first bottles, I`ll admit that I was a bit nervous. What if I made something absolutely horrible? Fortunately, that wasn`t the case. The plumwine was well received by all, and is quite a succes if I may say so myself. It is fruity and sweet, and the smell and taste of plum is very nice. Judged by the effect that a glass or two of this stuff had on everyone, this wine is quite strong. I am already planning to double next seasons production, and will have to learn about hydrometer readings and determining the alcohol content.

The  next day we popped open the elderberry port, and the first thing that struck us was the smell. It smelled sour in an unpleasant way, and the first sips were not very tasty at all. After I let it rest to reach roomtemperature and some vigourous swirling to get some air into it, it transformed completely. The flavour of elderberry, which was foreign to me, took a bit of getting used to but is quite pleasant. My dad and girlfriend had already declared their absolute hate for the substance after the first taste and aren`t about to change their mind. This gave my brother and me a bottle between us to enjoy. Not too bad at all. For the first ventures into brewing I am not unhappy at all!

ChopChop!

This weekend I finally got around to making a new choppingblock out of a part of the chestnut log I posted about a while back. A kind soul with a chainsaw helped me out and cut it in half for me. Now I finally have a block that doesn`t move when I use it. It`ll be a joy chopping out blanks and kuksas on this beast! Here it is with my wildlife hatchet and one of my previous little blocks for scale.

The girlfriend has also taken a liking to it, and uses it as a table. It is very functional, but the crudest bit of furniture I`ve seen in a while!

New old tools.

The first local carboot sale of the season was today, and I popped over to see if I could score some old tools. I was in need of a balpeen hammer to peen the tang of the next knife I want to build. Luckily I brought my girlfriend along. She has a sharp eye and spotted one nearly right away. At the same seller I got a large auger. Quite a nice score for a sunday morning! I was planning on making a footstool for under my desk out of a bit of the chestnut log I posted about earlier. The auger will come in handy to drill the holes for the legs.

Also, the other week I helped a good friend clear out a house. In the basement was a box of tools that were about to be thrown away, and I was told I could go through it and see if I could use anything. Besides some files and a hammer there were these two gems: a vice and a grinding wheel, both in a good state. The wheel needs to be trued, but isn`t all that wonky. I`ve ground some deep dings out of some old chisels on it, and it works very well indeed. It is nice, all these new old tools!