Woodcraft in Poland

The End is Near

noreply@blogger.com (sam_acw) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 06:45:00 +0000

Today is our last full day here in Poland, we fly out tomorrow afternoon. Feeling pretty sad about going and still got a lot to do.

20 Years of Freedom

noreply@blogger.com (sam_acw) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 12:40:00 +0000

Today is the 20th anniversary of the end of communism through the solidarity movement. Poles have a rather different view of how and why things happened then but this date is still one of great significance for the world.
So raise a glass to Solidarnosc and the end of communism.

European Elections

noreply@blogger.com (sam_acw) — Mon, 25 May 2009 07:12:00 +0000

The European Elections are rapidly approaching and I'd like to make one comment on them.

If you vote for a party which is anti-EU, then don't go complaining about the EU for the next 5 years. Electing someone who is determined to see the institution fail is hardly likely to bring about anything positive. This is not the time to register your displeasure with your government or the EU - that's for general elections. This is the time to choose who you think will do the best job in Europe.

One Month

noreply@blogger.com (sam_acw) — Wed, 20 May 2009 08:39:00 +0000

We've only got a month to go here in Poland and then we'll be off to England.
This blog's successor is well under way at Woodcrafter's Log.
I've spent a fair bit of time on it so hopefully it'll be a better blog and more widely read than this one.
To try to gain a bit of circulation I've also set up a Twitter account and you can follow me here.

The Top Ten Things about Living in Poland

noreply@blogger.com (sam_acw) — Mon, 11 May 2009 11:33:00 +0000

As my time in Poland looks like it could well be coming to an end here I thought I'd put up some of the reasons I've enjoyed it so much.

As you may have noticed I have a bit of an obsession with the weather and Poland has enabled me to see real winter. Minus temperatures and weeks of snow are the norm here and more than make up for the lack of spring. Most Brits move looking for the sun whereas for me it was the cold I wanted.
Bank transfers. No one in Poland understands the idea of paypal as there is no need for it here. Cheques came in too late and never caught on so the bank transfer system is very easy, very secure and basically free. On allegro.pl, the Polish version of E-bay, almost every transaction is by bank transfer as giving someone your bank number and name is no big deal here. It is an excellent system and should be exported throughout the EU.
Public Holidays. In England the bank holidays are usually when school is off anyway and are always on Monday. Not so here as they tend to be on a fixed date. The benefit of this is that when you have a Tuesday or a Thursday off people tend to take the extra day and make a longer weekend. There are too few public holidays in Britain and fixing them all to Monday takes the fun away.
The food here, that is Polish food, is generally great. It may not have the strong flavours and exotic tastes that some people might want but it is good, honest food. Although some things like pierogi and zurek have no English equivalents it isn't food which would really shock or surprise anyone. I shall really miss some of the pork dishes and meals when we leave.
The trains. Polish people always laugh when I say this as the trains here are slow and the toilets have probably not been cleaned since the fall of communism. However, if you can get by the drunks and the kebab shops the stations are not very different to those in Britain (just uglier) whilst the prices are much lower (about £3 for 100km) and are charged only by type of train (there are basically 3) an length. Very simple compared to the British system and much better value. The network is also wider and I have never had a train fail to arrive or get to its destination here, something I've suffered on a few occasions in Britain.
Although state health care here is rather byzantine the private system is great. The level of technology in opticians, private doctors and dentists is far above and beyond anything I've experienced in Britain and appointments can be organised the next day. Whatsmore, doctors actually try to treat their patients rather than saying "come back next week if you don't feel better" after you've already waited over a week for an appointment. you may have to pay for the services but they're not that expensive and the price is value for money.
I no that no one Polish is likely to agree with me but in my experience I find Polish streets safer. It may be largely because of the British love of drinking and fighting on Friday night but I've seen very little trouble anywhere in all my time here. Even running a pub for 6 months (before this blog) I saw only 2 fights. I've never had to dodge around piles of sick or look for a cash machine without blood all over it here either.
The Polish countryside consists mostly of forest, most of it nationally owned. You can go and walk there and it makes travelling real fun. Sadly, state control means there's not a lot you can do but at least there is a place and the right to access it. Train journeys show this off to its best and keeping on the lookout for storks always adds to the fun.
Poland still has all the small shops and markets, bakers, butchers and grocers that have been slowly turning into hairdressers and take-aways in Britain. This means you've got a better chance of finding real food tha in the UK. Added to this, in Poland cooking means cooking. Not re-heating, boiling in a bag, microwaving or phoning out. It's easy to be tempted by ready meals but they barely exist here keeping me safe!
Attitude, a lot less of it. It shocked me, even when I was at school, to see small children wandering around swearing and being antagonistic to adults. Poland does have its own chav problem, largely associated with football hooligans, but it is by no means as all pervading as in Britain. They cannot terrorise town centres or shopping centres as they just get kicked out. The lack of lots of attractive benefits also makes them more inclined to get out and do something rather than do nothing but smoke drink and pop out kids.

A rather long list, but I hope it shows you some of the things I've enjoyed whilst I've been here - and some of those I'm sure to miss when I move.

Weekly Update

noreply@blogger.com (sam_acw) — Wed, 06 May 2009 08:53:00 +0000

I've got an inspection in school at the moment so I am fairly busy this week. Hasn't stopped me from applying for a few jobs though and we're continuing the hunt for work in the UK. I'm looking for anything in ESOL/EFL, Classroom assistant or education. I'm also in the process of working out an application for PGCE.
On the bushcraft side I've not had a lot of time to get out for a while due to work, travel and family things. I've started work on this blog's successor when we move - it's going to be over at Woodcrafter's Log. I'm still in the process of building it so there's not a lot to see there as of now.
I think I'll keep this blog up as there are 3 years' worth of posts on here.

Stupid E-bay

noreply@blogger.com (sam_acw) — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 12:42:00 +0000

I wanted to buy a knife on E-bay today, a CRKT M-16 in this case, only for the website to go all crazy and tell me I couldn't buy it because it thought I was trying to circumvent their "weapons policy".
1. It is a knife, it is legal.
2. I live in Poland, not Britain or Ireland
3. The knife was in the USA, not Britain or Ireland
4. The My account was registered in Britain but has since had the postal addresses changed, multiple times, as E-bay and paypal sometimes screw them up.
As of today, I officially hate E-bay.

Hunting for Jobs

noreply@blogger.com (sam_acw) — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 11:10:00 +0000

We're in the process of looking for summer work at the moment. The joy of being TEFL teachers is that we're pretty sure of getting work for 2 months in the summer. We're not sure quite what we'll be doing after that though!
It isn't easy to see what type of jobs would suit someone with a degree in International Relations and Security and 4 years teaching experience?

Happy St. George's Day!

noreply@blogger.com (sam_acw) — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 11:15:00 +0000

Today, the 23rd of April, is St. George's day.

As well as being the patron saint of England he is also the patron of archers and scouts as well as several other regions and countries. It is also the day on which Shakespeare died and was born as well as being world book day.
I shall be wearing my St. George's cross tie to work today, I hope all my readers have a nice day!

Woodcraft in .........?

noreply@blogger.com (sam_acw) — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 07:06:00 +0000

Well, there hasn't been a lot of action here of late due to a variety of mundane reasons.
The only exciting reason is that my wife and I are beginning to think of leaving Poland and heading to the UK. There are various reasons, mainly to do with the nature of our jobs, the difficulty in getting things done and the absurd level of bureaucracy here. With Britain becoming more affordable, in terms of house prices, it does make the country more attractive once again if work can be found. We're not 100% that we're going but we're pretty sure of it.
So there we are, we shan't have Woodcraft in Poland all that much longer!

I don't believe it!

noreply@blogger.com (sam_acw) — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 14:21:00 +0000

Two weeks ago there was snow on the ground, today it is 21 degrees and I've been sitting out on the balcony in shorts and we've got all the windows and doors open to give the place a good airing.

Spring Time

noreply@blogger.com (sam_acw) — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 18:32:00 +0000

As usual for Poland spring is a little odd. Less than a fortnight ago we had snow and minus temperatures, now we've had several days of +20 degrees.
There is, by English standards of variable weather and gradual change, almost no spring here. One minute it's still winter the next you're in shirt sleeves.
As the weather has changed we've spent the afternoon tidying and cleaning so we can get out on the balcony again, had to scrub a load of dirt of the bricks, windows and floor but it's good now.

Not up to Much

noreply@blogger.com (sam_acw) — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 09:48:00 +0000

That basically sums it up, we're hurtling through 2009, now into the fourth month, and I realise I haven't really kicked on and done much on here.
I've been hard at work as ever although the 2 weeks before this were and improvement and now we have more daylight hours, due to the clocks changing and the onset of spring, I have more energy. As usual I have lots and lots of ideas but very rarely see any of them through to their conclusion. This can be a little frustrating but at least I've always got something new to start!
I guess spring's a good time for starting things but I'm not really sure what to do next.

Spring???

noreply@blogger.com (sam_acw) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 08:23:00 +0000

Officially spring starts with the 21st of March here. I guess that's why we had 5cm of snow fall last night.

Quote

noreply@blogger.com (sam_acw) — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 17:51:00 +0000

I was reading one of the Bradford Angier books on the Metro today and I came across a nice quote regarding making things - in this case furniture for a cabin.

"Things should be born of the woods not borne there"

Simple, I know, but a nice quote and one that has insipred me throughout the day.

Don't Consume, Create!

noreply@blogger.com (sam_acw) — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 20:48:00 +0000

With all the talk of crisis and recession at the moment it makes one think about the nature of economics and trade. Through woodcraft I have come to a few realisations that may be of interest here. I hope that the idea that we can create prosperity or capital through shifting numbers and papers will be properly challenged. I warn you, I'm no economist but as seen as everyone else has written their opinion I thought I would too.

Reusing items is a great way of creating value. A bottle in the landfill has no value, it costs. Whereas a bottle, reused as a canteen has created a value from this void. It might not be the the best way of topping up an endless cycle of production and consumption but it does create.
Harvesting natural resources is one way of releasing value from the world. Our economy is in many ways built on this very principle, through the extraction and use of fossil fuels but bushcraft teaches us that there are so many other resources, many of which are a great deal more renewable than squashed dinosaurs. Be it wood, bark, leaves, roots or skins there are a lot of resources which, with the aplication of time and skill can be used to create lasting, valuable, objects.
Teaching and practicing a skill is one of the greatest ways of multiplying value. By teaching another a skill you are effectively doubling the amount of potential value. By practicing and developing your own skills you may not acheive such a drastic increase but there is still an incremental increase in the potential value.
Growth is nature's way of making value. It can be through planting crops, rearing animals or even producing your own :) As a natural way of producing capital it is hard to beat, though it does bring with it its own serious consequences and complications

That's all for now - what are your thoughts?

Take Nothing For Granted

noreply@blogger.com (sam_acw) — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 17:33:00 +0000

Despite my predicitions for the end of winter we still got caught out. We were in Radom to see my in-laws at the weekend and when we went into the restaurant for a meal there was a bit of sleet, when we came out later there was 5cm of snow on the ground!
I've found it almost impossible top predict wether the precipitation will be snow or rain, in general though we're now having positive temperatures most of the time so I expect it to be rain.
March in Poland is truly the spring month, spring tending to be short here. I've seen it go from 10cm of snow on the 1st to t-shirt weather by the end of the month (20 degrees plus).

Whittling Away

noreply@blogger.com (sam_acw) — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 21:00:00 +0000

After the joys of Ostatki (the last party weekend before Lent) I've been having a quiet week. It's especially nice enjoying the snowy vista from the balcony but it's starting to warm up and with sleet and rain this evening it'll only last a couple more days.
I've been using the indoors time for whittling practice - making a small carved dog for my wife. It is always good to work with a knife in hand and brush up on your skills. One of the biggest changes I notice is how I develop different and better grips on the handle and blade which make it a lot more agile and more controllable.

The Last Snow of Winter?

noreply@blogger.com (sam_acw) — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 07:50:00 +0000

Since Saturday we've had snow, now up to about 6 or 7 cm on the ground.
It's scheduled to be about -5 degrees all week so I'm trying to get out and enjoy the weather as much as I can. There's always a chance that this will be the last cold snap of winter - it has been an up and down winter and we had one day at plus 10 degrees about 10 days ago. In years past the thaw would come in early to mid March but the snow has come and gone this year rather than been on the ground for a couple of months.

Back Again

noreply@blogger.com (sam_acw) — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 21:11:00 +0000

Well I've got most of the reports done on time, just 2 more sets next week.
I'm feeling almost 100%, just a bit of a cough in the morning and we've had about an inch of wet snow fall today. It looks like things are looking up for next week

Recovering

noreply@blogger.com (sam_acw) — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 18:13:00 +0000

I've been busy at work all week which has rather slowed my recovery but I'm not feeling too bad now. I'm a little worried I might have an infection in my right ear but otherwise I'm ok.
At the moment, work is busy with reports and tests at the end of semester - the net result is less time out in the woods than last month and less posting. I hope I'll be able to be posting more regularly again in about 10 days.

Sick

noreply@blogger.com (sam_acw) — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 14:38:00 +0000

I've ended up losing the second half of this week to a stinking cold. Blocked sinuses mean I can't hear much out of my right year so I'm bored and depressed by it.
Hope I can get sorted by next week as I can't afford to have time off work

Cree Hunters of the Mistassini

noreply@blogger.com (sam_acw) — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 11:00:00 +0000

I watched this film last night and was incredibly impressed by it. Great scenes of snowy spruce forests along with genuine bushcraft skills and an insight into some Cree beliefs.
Luckily the video is free to watch and the website also has a fair few other videos which have also piqued my interest. Whilst searching for it I also came across another worthwhile blog on paddle making.

A Muddy Walk

noreply@blogger.com (sam_acw) — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 16:55:00 +0000

Spent three and a half hours walking around the woods today, mostly off of the beaten track in order to avoid the quagmire that was on the main paths. Aside from the daft Nordic Walkers - women over 50 who drag a pair of poles behind them rather than putting weight on them - the woods were mostly empty.
There wasn't really a lot of movement in the woods today, far more "dead" than it was at minus 10 with all the snow. Apart from hearing woodpeckers, seeing a few magpies and bluetits there wasn't a lot of life to be seen.
I picked up a couple of bits of birch bark as usual, you never know when they'll be useful! I could have got a lot more as I found a fallen birch which had been kept up off of the ground. However, on closer inspection it was none too safe to be near as it was rather wobbly and I don't really fancy having a tree falling on me.
I also picked up about a foot long length of pine, wrist thick, that'll be for some carving practice with over the coming days. Sawing through it with the saw on my SAK took around 15 mins and gave me hand cramp - not very efficient and I think I'll get a folding saw next time I go to the garden centre. I stripped the inner and outer bark off quickly with my Mora so it'll dry faster and I can get on with splitting and then carving it.
I finished carving a whistle I started last week from a piece of alder whilst waiting for a bus. The whistle looks great but doesn't whistle! Rather a failure there to be honest, time to look for a bit more info and try again. As with so many bushcraft skills - it doesn't matter how nice it looks - if it doesn't work it is no good.
I covered a fair distance - it took me 35 mins of continous walking to get back to near Tesco (last building before the woods) - by my reckoning this should equate to about 2.5km and this was only one side of a triangle.
I did take a few pictures of some fungi that I was surprised to find after the snow and cold. I found a small colony of dried out puff-ball type fungi which were all between 1 and 2 inches across (mostly towards the smaller end) and prodded them so as to produce the lovely whispy clouds of mushroom smelling spores - not only is this fun but also encourages them to grow next year.
I also found an old horse shoe mushroom somewhat covered in moss and saw quite a few birch polypores on the downed birches.
The poor condition of the paths has made me consider putting off Wednesday's trip - going to a wetter area when a dry one is very muddy seems a daft thing to do.

Kampinoski Park Narodowy - Trip Planning

noreply@blogger.com (sam_acw) — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 11:27:00 +0000

Whilst I'm on my winter "break" I'm going to take the opportunity to get over to the Kampinoski National Park to the North West of Warsaw. Some English information is available on wikipedia.
I don't plan on doing much woodcrafting there - you need permits for fires and rules are usually quite restrictive. However, there's always the chance to pick up some raw materials for various projects.
I'm pretty excited about going as there are beavers and moose in the park, neither of which have ever been in any areas I've been to before.
I've got my map and compass sorted so that should be ok and I'm checking a few emergency back ups - spare knife (Bark River PSK), space blanket, matches, fire steel and tinder.