Sticks65 Bushcraft,travels,home and hearth

A slight title change for my blog.

2012-01-28T18:56:00.001Z

Some of you may have noticed a change in the title of my blog.
Ive added the home and hearth part because ill be doing work on my home and my garden this year and want to post the results here on my blog so thought a title change was needed.

I will still be adding post on bushcraft and my travels so I hope you all keep on coming over and checking my blog out from time to time.

I also have a few projects like cider making from my own apples from the tree in my garden and setting up a veggie patch.

Oak floor finished.

2012-01-28T18:29:00.001Z

Well we have finished laying our oak floor.

It was hard going laying this floor after a hard days work in the foundry but well worth the effort,it took four evenings to do and now we are working on fitting the oak edgings which will finish it off nicely.

I also have to fit the door devides which will also be done in oak.

Heres some pics of how it looks so far.

Here you can see the edging that I have done.

My new home.

2012-01-14T17:33:00.000Z

Well I thought Id post some pics of my new home.

Its kinda tardis like as it looks small from the outside but the rooms are as big as the ones in my old house and the kitchen is much bigger.

The garden is also bigger,ill be planting a veggie garden down the left hand side when i get time.

The land that the Bungalow is on used to be an orchard and I have one of the original apple trees,I feel the need to buy an apple press so i can make some home made scrumpy.

There is also a couple of small plum trees.

We have a small conservatory which is nice.

A few shots of the kitchen.

we had to get a new cooker so I made sure we got one with a griddle for man cooking.

The lounge looks out onto the back garden so I can watch the wildlife.

I treated myself to a new hifi system hehe.

we tiled the bathroom floor which was a pain in the arse as the tiles are porcelain and were very hard to cut even with an electric tile cutter with diamond blade.

My PC is now in the guest room as I have no office now Boohoo

The main bedroom and look my shorts match the bed,HEHEE.

I still have a lot of work to do,We are starting to lay a solid oak floor tomorrow and we are also having the garage knocked through to the kitchen and converted into a dining room.

Hope you enjoyed the tour of our humble abode.

Yahhh,Im back on line.

2012-01-12T12:28:00.000Z

Finally Im back on line.
I just got my line up today and the first place to visit is here.

Ive moved into my new home and have had a lot of work to do like floor tiling etc,I still have a solid oak floor to lay and will be starting that this weekend.
I have quite a bit of work to do on the garden but to be honest Ive not even thought about that until now.

Its great to be back on line and be able to communicate with my friends and check out what you have all been up to which ill be doing over the next few days as im at home.

Thank for checking my blog out,I hope you all had a great Christmas and I wish you all the best for this new year.

Not going to be online for the next few weeks.

2011-11-13T17:34:00.001Z

Its been a very busy time for me lately as I am in the process of moving house.
We have perchased a detached bungalow which has a nice big garden and trees :-)

We decided to sell up as our children have all flown the coup and we no longer need so many rooms,also the house we live in now is a semi and to be honest I cannot stand for a house that I own to be joined onto another house where I have to put up with neighbours noise.

This is a win win situation for me as the new place has a large garden with apple and plum trees,It also has a bigger workshop than I have now.
Ill be able to give up my allotment and be able to have the space to grow my veg at home which will get rid of traveling to and from my allotment and also I won,t have to pay the rent on that land.

So at the moment its all go for me,we have been sorting out and downsizing.
It surprising how much unneeded stuff you collect over the years.

Im looking forward to moving to my new home and should be in there before Christmas,I have some nice new projects to get on with next year like setting out my veg garden,making apple Cider,wine,chutneys and so on so please keep checking in on me from time to time..

Dangler sheath for my Knife.

2011-10-25T19:37:00.000+01:00

I was talking to my good friend Mark two days ago about the knife project I had just finished and how I needed to make a sheath and he said he had just the thing.

Mark knows that I like dangler sheathes so he very kindly posted this sheath from the Isle of Man.

The sheath is black 4mm leather.

He only posted it yesterday and it was here when I got home from work :-)

So a big thanks Mark.

Its as if the sheath was made for this knife as it fits it perfectly.

Pickling onions.

2011-10-25T19:28:00.001+01:00

Well to be correct pickling Shallots.

The shallots where grown on my allotment.

Firstly we soaked the shallots for 24 hours in salt water,then boiled pickling Herbs & spices in vinegar and then let the vinegar cool.

The all we had to do is put the Shallots in jars and pour the vinegar over and then seal the jars.

Apparently they will be ready to eat in 2 weeks but we will leave then for 2 months which will be the 24 of December so they will be ready for Christmas.

Soaking in salt water.

Pickling herbs & spices.

Yumm,home made pickeled onions.

I have to say it was quite funny watching my Wife peal the onions as she put on my snorkeling goggles :-)

Didgeridoo

2011-10-23T18:38:00.002+01:00

One tribal instrument Ive always liked the sound of is the Didgeridoo,well I finally maneged to get my hands on one.

I told my friends when I perchased it that my Wife would say ''oh no'' what has he brought home now,well she did.

Its been fun playing it but I need to practice the rhythmic breathing techniques so I can play for longer but it certainly improves lung capacity..

An old project lost and found.

2011-10-23T18:02:00.003+01:00

Well I was having a clear out the other day and I found an unfinished knife.
I made this knife a few years ago and didn't get around to finishing the shape of the handle so I took it to work the other day and shaped out the handle to fit my hand.

The blade is 4 1/2" long and 2mm thick at the spine,the handle is English Walnut which is one of my favourite woods for knife handles.
I used 2-6mm brass tubes and epoxy resin to fix the handle to the tang.

The blade was made from an old carbon steel saw blade which I anealed,worked,quenched and tempered.

I have tried various thickness of blade for bushcraft knives from 5mm down to 2mm and have to say that 2mm has to be my favourite thickness as it fits itself to fine carving,making fire sticks,cutting and skinning small game and food prep etc.

As some of you may know I bought myself a Mora after giving mine away a few years back,by using the Mora it reminded me how well a thin blade works for me so Im very happy that I found this home made blade.

Now some may think that 2mm is to thin but I don,t plan on using this knife for heavy camp tasks and curtainly won,t be using it to batton with as I have my axe or billhook for chopping and splitting wood.

So it looks like my Mora will go in my pack as a back up knife and my old new blade will be my main user,I need to make a leather sheath for it now and then its ready to go.

I left the original forge patina on the blade as I really like this look,it gives the blade an olde world look.

Here the blade next to my Mora.

Oh and I forgot to mention it works great with a ferro rod.

A gift from a Friend.

2011-09-27T18:27:00.001+01:00

Today my friend Neil kindly gave me this knife.
He had told me about it the day before and as soon as he mentioned the name PUMA I knew it would be a good knife.

The knife is a PUMA DUKE and has a brass and stag handle,the blade has written on it 905 PUMA DUKE and new stainless super keen cutting steel,hand made in Germany.

It came in its original leather sheath which has written PUMA Solingen Germany.

One thing I noticed strait the way is the weight of the knife,its nice and heavy and has a locking blade.

I cannot wait to put it through its paces.

Thanks Neil :-)

Here a link that will tell you more about this particular knife and other Puma knives.

http://www.knifeworks.com/pumadukestaglockbackgenuinestagwbrassbolster.aspx

Saved from being binned.

2011-09-26T19:50:00.001+01:00

I was helping clear some rubbish from a storage area at work the other day and found this print,My Manager said throw it so I did,strait into my backpack.

The print has significance for me as Its a type of cartoon about heat treating steel,I have worked in the steel trade,foundries and been a knife makers most of my life.

This will look great in my workshop plus its signed.
Hope you all like it as much as I.

Nuts,oh Hazel nuts.

2011-09-26T19:45:00.000+01:00

Well for the first time ever I have been able to keep some of the hazel nuts from my cork screw hazel tree.
The Squirel kept nicking them every year but I haven't seen him in months which is good for me :-)

They taste great.

The lone traveler

2011-09-22T19:08:00.002+01:00

As some of you may know I took a short break to Amsterdam on my own and Id like to talk about some of the risks and ways to keep safe.

Firstly keeping you passport and money safe.
I made sure before I went that I had my money belt,this is very important as I also keep my passport,flight ticket and at least a couple of hundred Euros,by doing this I know whatever happens I can get home.
Also I only keep 100 euros in my wallet just in case I get mugged.

I also carry a fake wallet,in this I carry 20 euros and a fake credit card,the reason for this is if you do get held up you give over your fake wallet which hopefully gives you time to get out of dodge.

Also don't keep anything of value at the top of your backpack and try and lock it if possible as pickpockets will try to open it and take your belongings and if you think that won't happen to you remember these people do this as there job so are very good at it.

Awareness.
I got told that if you are walking alone and see some dodgy looking characters not to make eye contact,well I disagree with this for the simple reason that if you walk with your head down or show fear you make yourself a target and remember they are looking for weakness just like wolves do when picking their pray.
Also I like to make them aware that I have clocked them,I don't stare but make sure they know I have seen them.

There are a few other things I do when traveling alone.
I make sure I have studied a map of the area that I will be visiting and I make sure I know of any bad areas to avoid.

Never walk down unlit alleyways,avoid even walking by them.Avoid unlit areas.
Walk confident,don't look like a tourist,by this I mean don.t wear a bumbag[fanny-pack],don,t have a camera around your neck or on show,don,t stand in the street looking at a map,don't look lost even if you are lost.

Never drink or get stoned to the extent that you are out of control or lose your awareness of your surroundings.
Remember that if you do go for a drink you are on your own and folks will notice this so try to look like you belong,say hello to the bar tender and make conversation,be friendly and polite,you will be surprised at how many new friends you will make by just looking happy.

Another good tip is watch the locals,see were they go to eat and drink as this will keep you away from the tourist traps and save you money.

Getting home.
Familiarise yourself with the airport when you land so that you know exactly were to go on your trip home,the same goes for the train station,buy your return train ticket a few days before you come home and make sure it goes in your money belt with your other items.
Also when you get your return train ticket go check out the platform you will go from in advance.

Oh and don't forget to checkout local laws,a good example of this is folks think cannabis is legal in Amsterdam,well its not but it is tolerated so don't walk about with a Big Fat Bob marley in your mouth as this may attract unwanted attention from the local police.

Remember walk tall,be aware,be polite and keep safe.

Happy travels.

Well heres the photos from Amsterdam.

2011-09-16T17:01:00.003+01:00

As some of you may know I visited Amsterdam a couple of weeks ago and here are the photos I took.
The trip was very enjoyable apart from the rain,it rained every day but that didn't stop me checking the place out.

Rickshaw anyone

This statue is of Rembrandt and is found in Rembrandtplein.

Rembrandtplein is where my hotel was to be found.

Some of the local getting in on the photos,the Dutch are very friendly people.

Coffee Shop,I did visit a couple.

The Bell pub in Rembrandtplein.

They serve Bavarian beer and food here.

The hotel veteran is were I stayed,not the best of hotels.

Lots of canals in Amsterdam and I would recommend a canal boat tour.

Unlike the UK the Police actually smile and are helpful and friendly.

Rembrandt in the daylight

A canal tour boat,I went on three tours.

The national monument,which celebrates the liberation from Germany in WWII.

A boat house

Clock Tower.

St George slaying the dragon,notice that they are standing on an elephant's head ?

On one of the river tours I took.

I don't know what this building is but its nice.

In old times the houses in Amsterdam where taxed on how wide they where, a bit like the window tax that they had in Britain.

So because of this the houses where built narrow and had very narrow stairs which you could not carry furniture up so they took it through the window as this was the only way.

Note the beam on the gables with the hook,this is how the hauled there furniture up into the houses through the windows.

Floating hotels.

the floating chinese restaurant

A river house,because Amsterdam got so crowded folks took to living in houseboats.

The Nimo center.

The seven bridges.

The smallest canal in Amsterdam.

Well we have multi storey car parks in the UK but ive never seen a multi storey cycle park or so many cycles

he floating flower market.

Dutch cheese,all i can say is yumm

You may have noticed that some of the house are leaning,this is because they where built on wooden stilts.

Trams are a great way to get around and cheap.

Madam tussauds

Dutch celebraties going to a show.

No comments

2011-08-28T19:36:00.001+01:00

I wondered why I was getting no comments on my Mr & Mrs Sticks at the allotment stand alone page and today I found out why?

I had not allowed comments [Dumb]

I have sorted it now so please feel free to leave any comment or suggestions.
http://sticksblog-sticks.blogspot.com/p/mr-mrs-sticks-at-allotment.html

Sunset after the rain.

2011-08-24T20:48:00.001+01:00

I had to post this photo that I took of the beautiful sunset that my eyes where blessed with this evening,just after a downfall of rain.

A place that I have never heard of.

2011-08-24T20:43:00.001+01:00

Today I had 8 visitors on my blog from a place called Reunion which I have never heard of until now so I googled it.

Reunion is a French island with a population of 800 thousand located in the Indian ocean,east of Madagascar,about 200km south west of Mauritius.

Administratively, Réunion is one of the oversea departments of France. Like the other overseas departments, Réunion is also one of the 27 region of France[being an overseas region]and an integral part of the Republic with the same status as those situated on the European mainland.

Reunion is an outermost region of the European union and,as an overseas department of France, is part of the Eurozone.

Id like to say hello Reunion and thanks for visiting my blog.

Return of Norris.

2011-08-13T19:35:00.001+01:00

Yahh Norris the hedgehog has returned.
Ive not seen him for sometime now but heard him rustling in the garden the other night and am very happy that he is OK.

Not much happening.

2011-08-10T18:34:00.001+01:00

Well this month there's not much happening so I don't have anything to post about unless something comes up.
My time at the moment is spent at work or tending my allotment so no trips planned this month.

Next month Im going to Amsterdam for four days which im very much looking forward to.
I was looking for somewhere to go and found a return flight for £63 and just couldn't resist.

So Ill make sure I take plenty of photos to share with you all.

Spot the Grasshopper.

2011-07-31T14:10:00.003+01:00

Following on from my post about the green grasshopper I saw http://sticksblog-sticks.blogspot.com/2011/07/grasshopper.html,I thought Id post these photos of a brown one I spotted today.

Now this is the type of Grasshopper Ive seen mostly in the UK.

The quick way down.

2011-07-31T13:43:00.004+01:00

Yesterday my Brother-in-law sent me a text asking if I fancied going abseiling with him on Sunday morning,well my answer was YES :)

He picked me up at 9am and we set of for markfield quarry,Its a dis-used quarry I might add.

Heres some pics.

Julian setting up the rope.

We went around the quarry and abseiled from a higher point..

Wild flowers growing out of the rockface.

A photo of the quarry men.

After abseiling we went for a drive to a place called Woodhouse eves to see a cave.

We climbed to up the rocks to the top and there was very nice views and a church up there.

Good to see the George Cross flying.

Then on our way home we passed by the Reservoir and it was very low.

I must say it was a nice way to spend a Sunday morning and its many years ago since I abseiled so I really enjoyed myself.

Im looking forward to having my Sunday roast though as it certainly makes you hungry :)

Grasshopper

2011-07-19T20:18:00.001+01:00

Ive been told about green grasshoppers but in all my years Ive never seen one in the UK,but on my short break to the west coast we stopped off for a coffee break and I could hear a grasshopper and low-and behold I found it and it was green:)

So I took some photos.

If you click on the photos they will be enlarged.

A little beach bushcraft.

2011-07-16T19:10:00.000+01:00

I didn't get to do any real bushcraft on my break as there was just to much to do and places to visit,But on our last day we did get to spend sometime on the beach and chillout for a few hours.

I took a poncho just incase it rained and my woodland edge fire box to cook on.

What I did like about this coast is that there is no shortage of flint.

I got to try out my little kettle.

Flint collected from the beach.

A couple of nice stones,the top stone which looks like a love heart Mrs Sticks found and the stone with the little pebble in the hole I found.

My haul of flint which should keep me going for a while.

A visit to Landguard Fort.

2011-07-16T18:31:00.002+01:00

One place I really wanted to visit whilst in Felixstowe was Landguard Fort.

A short history of Landguard fort.
http://www.landguard.com/content/short-history-fort

Heres some photos.

Upps Im in trouble now.

Mrs Sticks decided to lock me in a cell.

I managed to escape and capture and lock her in the cell.

I did think about leaving her there for a few hours but thought better of that idea.

Felixstowe Docks.

2011-07-16T18:01:00.003+01:00

You cannot get access to the docks for security reasons but I did manage to get some photos.

As I have mentioned in an earlier post,Felixstowe has the largest docks in the UK.