A Very Productive Day

[Stamp]

Evening all,
Just thought I would share my day with you all.

Started off with a delivery of pigeon and squirrel from my mate Adrian, a cupa and a chat about what we have going on.
I then set about gutting the squirrel (tuff little buggers) and popped them in the freezer for a camp with Madz next month.

Made use of the good weather and tidied up the garden ready for winter and had a trip to the tip, drove straight in and out quick as you like, almost unheard of on a Sunday......

So quick lunch then off to the woods for a little foraging, picked up crab apples and blackberries for Jam making later in the week. Almost collected some hawthorn to make leather and a big bunch of honey suckle for fire lighting.

I got back to a house filled with the aroma of Roast Lamb and sat down the watch the GP highlights :happy-clapping:

After mowing the lawn I decided a little practice on the bow drill was in order by which time the night was drawing in.
I love the bow drill and practice makes perfect (although Im nothing of the sort) I don't get an ember every time but Im not using bearings or other cheats. These are great to build up confidence but I feel if your using a modern insert you are only cheating yourself, and once you have the technique you should move back to a insert free bearing block.

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So bath time to remove the smoke and then Im off to bed, was a good weekend but all good things come to an end, back to work in the morning :(

Thanks for reading I hope your weekend was as good as mine.

Stan

[ian c]

That was a good read and more productive than mine all I did was clean out the ferret hutch/ run then went to boot fare and bought 3 of stainless tea, coffee, sugar caddies.

[woodstock]

We had a Mushroom foray today then settled back this evening with a nice cold beer Ps leave the smokey smell the ladies love it:campfire:

[AdrianRose]

Sounds like a perfect day pal. Plus I agree with what you said about the modern bow drill "accessories".

All the best
Ade

[Tigger004]

Do you know? your write up of your day is great, draws a great picture of you enjoying life, well done and thanks :happy-clapping:

[Stamp]

Do you know? your write up of your day is great, draws a great picture of you enjoying life, well done and thanks :happy-clapping:

Thanks, I have to say I am very blessed. I have a lovely wife that endures my hobby and even comes along sometimes, two great kids that love the outdoors. I have a job I hate but its just a stop gap until I get the job of my dreams managing woodland, so I grin and bear it as I know there is light at the end of the tunnel. But it does pay for my house, car and family life style, so I still consider myself blessed that I kept my job (no mater how bad it is) through the economic down turn. I enjoy my life and at nearly forty I intend to enjoy it more every day.

As someone once said, "You only have one life, LIVE IT!" or something like that......

Make the most of every day, I try to, but its not easy....

I was thinking today, what a great feeling it to make fire by friction. You try hard, it takes hours, you persist, work hard and achieve an ember! Just think how our ancestors must of felt to control fire for the first time, it must of been amazing! IF only we could apply this to every task in life, marriage, work, children? I think the world would be a different place, I could do with putting this into practice at work buts its hard when you are demotivated.

Thanks for your great comments, it means a lot to me.

[shepherd]

sounds like a good day buddy!

[MadZ]

Nice one Stamp, its something i still have to learn, fire by friction looks so good and the feeling of getting fire from friction must be an experience in itself, after going mental for about a month of practice i can light fire by flint and steel pretty well now, i found it works better in more adverse weather conditions, tinder choice and quality make all the difference as well

care to bring your bow drill for closer inspection on the camp out Stamp??? got a few ideas in my head and would like to look one over before i start chopping up my apple tree.

squirrel's on the menu is it, top man, are they skinned?? if not, are you keeping the fur?? and do you know how to tan it for use? if not i'll get on a learning session, as i think a squirrel tail sheath would be awesome, or even just the fur on its own would look good.

cheers

Madz

[Stamp]

We can work on your fire lighting mate and talk about tinders and so on. I will bring along my bow drill set and I will get Tony to bring his too. We will have you getting an ember by the end of the weekend for sure. I will bring a couple of other methods of fire making too for you to have a go at.
I have gutted the squirrel but not skinned, I've not done anything with skins yet so you are welcome to it. Hopefully there will be a few more and a rabbit or two as well to go in the Stew ;)
PM me your email address and your mates and I will send you some more details closer to the date.

[Big T]

Enjoyed reading this, what a nice way to spend a day!