Last weekend was somewhat busy for me. On Friday I went to the smithy to prepare some tools for the weekend and do some knifework. Top to bottom:
Celtac design, ball bearing steel, rather thin at 3 mm x 115mm length
EDC En-Nep, 3 mm x 85 mm, laminate wrought iron / tank bearing steel
Integral En-Nep, spring steel
Two "Birka" pumpkin carving and kitchen knives made from spring steel in autumn:-). Great for stuffing zucchini and cucumbers and the like, too, and work like a cinch on pumpkins.
And another friction folder blade. Spring steel, and yap, I shortened the tang;-). And cleaned up the surface, too, for it was bit of... erm ... scrawny?;-)
On Saturday Volker and myself set up the forge in Witten city, and it was mayhem from the beginning on. My task was pumpkin carving AND smithing AND filing AND cleaning up the works of the kids, all at once. 10 hours full tilt, no food, no drink except for a brief excursion to the toilet and a bite or too around lunchtime. At around 5 pm I had severe cramps and bonked hard.
The pumpkin carver up close. I worked some 300 pumpkins with it and do not have to sharpen it, seems I got the tempering right:;-).
Was a nice and friendly atmosphere on both days, with a crowd of reenactors, craftsmen, French grocers and good-natured visitors. It was one ofr the hardest weekends I have ever done, but it was simply a joy and it felt good except for some oversize uillean pipes next to my ear on Saturday for hours on end (KAMPFTRÖTEN!!!!!;-))
Enter the witch...:-)
Those guys really rocked the house. With a drum, a lute and some singing. No microphone. No lightshow, just two musicians. Great job, bros!:-)
This is Susanne, the traditional onion witch...
A carousel which the kids really enjoyed. Powered by a brute pushing:-).
The woodturner´s booth. My favourite place.
Shavehorse...
...
This is Johannes from
www.alte-drechselkunst.de. He offered courses for kids and adults alike and is another friendly guy I had the privilege to meet.
The location in Witten city near the Jhannis church.
Kids really had fun with the pumpkins, and I had enough work to do not to get bored:-).The kids just carved the pumpkin, I hollowed it out on Saturday. On Sunday people had to buy the pumpkin and I did all the carving. Mind you, I can carve a pumpkin now:-). Kidding aside, it was a great practice, and taught me a lot!
I also explained a lot what the real meaning of Samhain was, and why people carve pumpkins to put outside their doors. Many people were there and I daresay some of them will want to know more about the feasts of the year and the traditions linked to them, either Pagan and Christian ones. I sincerely hope they use that grey matter inside of their heads for something more than and aside from shitting, eating, and hating.
This little guy always came back for more and really enjoyed carving. He will visit the Bethaus soon, we´ll make a knife and a handle. Plus, I talked his Da´into buying him a Mora;-). That´s fun...:-)
On Saturday night and Sunday morning I had some time to spare and made this folder assembly. Turned out a bit different, but okay still. I´ll keep the progress shots coming!
Made the tang sort of leaf-handled.:-)
Whoooooooooooooo-TRICK OR TREAT!!!;-)
Quizzical question: Where´s the pumpkin;-)?
Booo!
There also was some theatre play going on...
And that was some great, great music aside from oversized uillean pipes. Wibke played some really nice Scottish and Irish folk and own songs on her first solo tournée. You can contact her via
www.celticnight.de.
Made working next to the stage a real cinch. Thanks for those really nice and gentle songs!
I came home on Sunday night a wreck, but I was deeply contented by the thought of having done a great job with great people and getting to know interesting people who love what they do, too. I bonked hard at the end of both days, but it gave me more energy than it all cost me. It was simply a great experience being there, having fun with the kids. Volker is simply a great guy to work with, too. And I am right grateful for the course my life is taking these days.
