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Showing posts from January, 2011

Life is fragile and precious

Cancer is a word that I had not used until around 6 years ago when my wife's mum was diagnosed with breast cancer. The weird thing was that as soon as I started to talk about it to people, suddenly, it was everywhere - everyone seemed to know someone who had had it or had succumbed to it. She had surgery followed by radio therapy, and despite some complications, she progressed well. At each yearly checkup, we all anxiously awaited the results, and each time she got the all clear. Then in 2009, she began to get pains in her back and hips. She said that in her heart, she knew it was cancer, but didn't say anything at the time to us. Several trips to the hospital, tests and scans later, it was confirmed that the cancer had spread to her bones, with a spot detected on her lungs and liver. A regime of chemotherapy ensued and the prognosis was not too bad. We had to accept the she would never be cured, but the doctors were confident that they could keep things in remission for

What's important?

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Somedays, you have to say bollocks to Twitter, Facebook and Email. Somedays, you need to kick yourself and say 'so what'? Somedays, you just need to look at the trees, or a sunset. Somedays, you are reminded of who you really are. Yesterday, it would have been my mum's birthday. She died, quite suddenly, 7 years ago.  I need to talk to her, there are things I need to say. I'm sure there are things she needs to say to me. Down to earth with a bang. Tomorrow? Back to Twitter, Facebook, Email and all that crap. Keep on smiling.

My wooden bowl

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In my last blog entry , I mentioned Robin Wood and the porringer bowl that I bought from him. Well, here's a photo of it in all it's glory. Actually, this is bowl number 1 which split (just after I took this photo) - the problem in working with natural materials is that there are sometimes defects which don't manifest themselves immediately. Anyway, Robin was really good and sent me a replacement, which I've now had and used for over 2 years and is in excellent condition. I love to use this bowl. The texture and feel is wonderful, as are the ergonomics. I hold the bowl with my left hand cupping it and with my thumb resting on one of the wings for stability. With this type of bowl, the wide rim is of course turned complete and the unwanted sections are hand axed off afterwards. In the YouTube video below, you can see Robin starting with a log and ending up with a bowl, completely made by human power!

How to Make a Wooden Spoon

Following on from my previous post about ' green woodworking ', one of the assistants on the course I went on was a guy called 'Barn'. Now, renamed 'Barn the Spoon', he has apparently been walking around the UK, making wooden spoons in return for food and shelter. Robin Wood (honestly, that's his name) had him stay for a while in October and blogged about it here , here and here . In fact, whilst I'm mentioning Robin, he has a whole website category on spoon carving which you can check out here . I actually have a bowl made by Robin which was a birthday present from my wife a few years ago - the style is called a 'porringer' - I'll put some images on the blog soon - it's a gorgeous bowl to eat from! Anyway, back to Barn the Spoon - I found a series of 4 videos with him demonstrating how to carve a spoon from a freshly cut branch. Apparently, when he's not being filmed and explaining everything, he can complete a spoon in around 1

Green Woodworking

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Green woodworking is a traditional way of working with wood that is unseasoned, ie in the green. The fact that the wood will shrink in a pre-determined way (and by a known amount) after the item has been made is used to the advantage of the overall piece. An example of this is when making a chair, the cross rails are pre-shrunk for 24 hours or so in a 'hot box' (ie so they won't shrink any further) and are then inserted in the legs.  As they legs dry, they will shrink and grip the cross rails, meaning that no glue or nails are needed. Chairs and stools made from green wood are also immensely strong because the wood is not cut against it's grain which can expose weaknesses. The people who made the chairs in this way were called 'Bodgers'. Mike Abbott, explaining safety procedures. In September 2008, I was fortunate to spend a long weekend on an 'Introduction to Green Woodworking' course with Mike Abbott . It was a wonderful and inspirational exper

When Ideology Meets Reality

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I'm quite an idealistic person. 20+ years ago, I became a vegetarian - not just the sort of vegetarian who eschews meat, but an avid label reader who avoided all animal products like gelatine and cochineal (a red food colouring made from crushed beetles). Although I kept my old leather walking boots until they fell apart, I didn't buy anything with leather, which was really cool when people used to question my ethics and say "I bet your shoes/belt etc are leather" - which they weren't. With that brick wall in their face, sensible people would shut up and accept me, others would harp on about the cries of the lettuce as it was violently ripped from the ground - 'gosh, I never heard that one before'. About 14 years ago, I got to know some people who were vegan - at that time, they were campaigning against the export of live calves from Coventry airport and I quickly made the connection with milk, calves and the live export, so I became vegan. Being vegan

January No-Tox

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One of the herbal blogs that I visit regularly is ' Whispering Earth '. An entry yesterday was interesting as it referred to a January 'no-tox' regime. I've never done a detox as such, they sound like hard work and the whole term has spawned an industry of hype and false-claims, however, a 'No-Tox' diet sounded good! Flower offering at the Rollright Stones, Oxfordshire UK In essence, Lucinda writes that although many people think about detoxing after the indulgences of Christmas, it's actually a bad time because we're still in winter and the body needs different food types at this time of year (heavier, winter foods that build us up and allow us to survive the cold!), so a 'fresh greens' diet would a) be hard to get locally/sustainably and b) quite stressful on the body. Lucinda says that it's better to have a 'no-tox' diet, ie one that eliminates/reduces our intake of toxins and focusses on natural, whole and unprocessed f

Regrets of the Dying

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Perhaps a little morbid, but when you read this article, you get a view of life that precious and full of wisdom, because when it comes to the end of your life, you can honestly look back at the important stuff. Let's take heed from this and concentrate on the stuff that matters. Calendula flower at Springfield Sanctuary, Nr Stow on the Wold, UK From  http://www.inspirationandchai.com/Regrets-of-the-Dying.html For many years I worked in palliative care. My patients were those who had gone home to die. Some incredibly special times were shared. I was with them for the last three to twelve weeks of their lives. People grow a lot when they are faced with their own mortality. I learnt never to underestimate someone's capacity for growth. Some changes were phenomenal. Each experienced a variety of emotions, as expected, denial, fear, anger, remorse, more denial and eventually acceptance. Every single patient found their peace before they departed though, every one of them. W

Do you think in straight or curved lines?

Alan Watts explores his relationship with nature. Although filmed in 1971, it's perhaps more relevant today than ever. Let's stop thinking in straight lines and boxes and look at nature.

The beautiful art of Izumi Omori

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When visiting Devon or Cornwall, we often explore art galleries and alternative shops for interesting cards and prints. One artist whose work I've admired is Izumi Omori whose paintings have a magical quality and depth and is unlike anything I've seen before. From her website:   Izumi’s work features the magic of growth, the miracle of flowers and the life of the trees and hedgerows, alive with bees and insects. Her paintings shimmer with light and living energy, capturing transitory moments of many-layered life and growth in layers of paint and texture. They have both strength and delicacy; a blending of Cornish elements with Japanese style and sensitivity. Izumi’s paintings grow into existence by a process of building up and paring down, allowing the paint to speak and develop as it needs. Izumi Omori explores her Japanese influences as she absorbs and explores the beauty of Cornwall. Born at the foot of Mt Fuji she has grown up with a love of the spectacular, that nature