Best Dog at the Wedding

The friend who bred Jimmee got married a fortnight ago. As a surprise we took him along, she was over the moon. He was the first pup she bred and is fond of him. He has a nature that makes it difficult not to like him. That and a lot of work was put into him in his early training.

The lady on the right is Janice my long suffering wife.

Janice and I leave today for Paphos for a fortnight's holiday. Unfortunately we've to leave the two dogs here. However a neighbour boards dogs and treats them well. So off to sit on my rear end in the sun.
I've got the accoutrement's needed for a holiday; cryptic crosswords, a knife and a few bits of wood. A knife making friend wants a spoon carved so I've cut the roughout and hopefully make a spoon he'll enjoy.

I've always been crazy.

Anyone whose ever read this blog will have doubts about my sanity. No doubt crediting old age as a contributing factor. This old photo proves this is not the case.
At 40 years I climbed the Inaccessible Pinnacle on the Black Cullin. So nether youth nor old age can be blamed. If more proof is needed I climbed all the Munroes in Scotland, and enjoyed it.

My photographic skills are one above zero, however played around with the software . The problem was the wood dye I used on this carving, in a colour photo it shows up too strong. So I tried this in sepia. A whole lot better.

You can n't win them all.

Well its a learning process, right? There's a carver I admire a fellow called Mieto. His caricatures are different. I carved one similar to his . Then tried to paint it in his way. Thats when it all went pear shaped. Always one to show what I' carving so why not the disasters?

Here's my latest bit of tortures limewood. The patteren is one I've sone before, this time I've changed the colours.

The op I had has resulted in an infextion. The Anti -biotics do n't seem to be working. Still the course has another 2 days to run.

spoon knife

Here's a knife I recently bought. I purchased the blank blade from Deepwood Ventures in the US. I added a hornbeam handle and I've a knife I'm really fond of. The sharpener is a bit of broom handle on which I've stuck a couple of turns of hard leather to match the shape of the blade. When rouge is added it sharpens well.

nautical spoon.

The old life comes back to me on occasion, the result here is a spoon with a nautical theme. This is the notorious horn beam wood. A lot of work but a bonny wood.

flooding

A bit north of here, the Moray Firth area has and still is suffering flood damage. A month's rain fell in 24 hours. We're on an elavated site here with all rivers below us.
Anyhow I'm confined to barracks and under strict instructions not to leave the premises. SWMBO let me cut a blank yesterday, but fussed in the shed's door was making sure I made my visit a short one. She returns to work today and will no doubt take the keys to the shed with her!

odin scoop

Well thats the op over and the count there is still two. In the mean time as a guard against my Dally I walk around with a pillow on that region.

Now a different topic, I'm learning some carvings just do n't take good photos. I do n't believe I'm over rating this carving but the photo just does n't do it justice. Try as I might, different settings etc the photos are rubbish. However its carved from apple and more importantly I like it. That is the aim of the game.

I do n't BELIEVE

Arrived already for the knife ,again, only to be told the surgeon had been involved in a traffic accident. So home again . A telephone call from the hospital later in the day gave me a slab appointment for today at 13.00 hrs. Will this one be cancelled? The suppense is killing me.
The subject line is stollen from a character Mr. Meldrew in a serious One Foot in the Grave. While I'm not a TV fan this is an exceptionall seried, now finished.