5th February

Fine sunny day 6 degrees C no wind. No rain again. There’s been no rain for a while now. I’m still trying to track the foxes, but I’ve only saw a fleeting glimpse today as I started off in the wood. I quickly gave up and started on my spoon project. I’ve decided that anything I make, I will only make in the wood with no other materials or tools apart from what’s in the wood, or what I bring with me. This is really quite a lot, because I tend to carry a fair amount, despite a promise when I started not to be too laden down.

I usually have a hand axe; laplander saw (recent purchase) Mora clipper and SAK. My first piece of wood was far too hard to work, but the second seemed to be softer. I quickly made a spoon of sorts, which is very rough and ready.

My second spoon ended in disaster as the wood split on the second axe strike. Far too confident!

The first spoon will do for a while.

Despite my promise only to make tools and crafts in the field, I had to bring home the spoon I started last week and finish it off by a bit of sanding and oiling. It didn’t take me too long to sand down to a nice smooth finish completing it with a couple of coats of olive oil. I decided to mark the occasion of May day (May 1st) by engraving the handle by using a soldering iron. I generally don’t do many craft type projects, so I was quite pleased with the end result.