Of Chrismas fair mayhem, of breaking bonds and forging unity... impressions from a busy end of 2013

 Now, you have waited quite long for one of those posts, and for a reason. After the Chrismas fair mayhem I was simply feeling as if someone put me through a millstone, and did not quite feel like blogging. But here they come, impressions from a busy end of the year. We had one fair at Volmarstein Orthopaedic Institute, which was a most interesting opportunity to boot, for we forged with handicapped persons and kids alike.

 We arrived early and set up forge. It was going to be a very busy weekend with lots of creativity also in finding solutions for enabling people to have a go. We managed, and it was very rewarding seeing the twinkle in the eyes of a person condemned to lying flat on his belly for most of his life, and being able to master the violent fire and the hissing steam and the unforgiving iron! It was worth the ordeal of pre-Chrismas time just to see this spark in his eye, and I hope it was kindled to give him the strength to brave his everyday life. Think you got a hard life? Think again. And my utmost respect goes to those people. Not because they are "special", but because they - for the most part - are stronger than most just because they are mastering their life. Because they are not special, and don´t want to be.

 This guy, however... ;-)

 had some time to spare and some noise to make to attract the customers, and what did he do? Bushcraft whittler from wootz I found in the woods...

 We made this giveaway certificate for the kids and other customers.

 BAKSCHISCH!!!

 Quenching and tempering the blade. Then suddenly it was absolute chaos. When I looked up again, it was dark. People kept coming, we forged with kids and adults and had to find new solutions constantly. i could not take photos, but, hey, you have alreay seen people forging in this blog, don´t you?;-)

 This is far more important;-) at dinner time I had a break and got me a delicious dish, one of my favourite meals: Green cabbage with sausage and fried potatoes.Yum!

 And back to work again, kindling the flame and sparkling sparks...;-)

Next day we met with the good guys from the Insitute´s staff, can tell you, we had quite a laugh together!

 Then Peter dropped by. He´s an accomplished smith himself, as you can tell by his build;-). He provided visitors with mead and ale in his medieval tavern. We had a nice chat and a laugh together, and he is thinking of ordering some Oseberg lamps... get on with it, bro;-)!

 The kids dropped by and had some fun smithing.

 ...and were righteously proud of their accomplishments!

 I made this common cubicle-nosed Iroquois pig that tries to be a Celtic boar but still has room left to grow...;-) as a hiking staff headpiece. Willi´s currently making himself one which I am very fond of, with a ram´s head, but since wild pigs have some significance to me,  thought I´d go for one of these.

 And some fully-integral En-Nep knife with a tang drilled out for balance.

 Then suddenly, Volmarstein fair was over, and we were headed for Schwelm. This was a bit of a stressy actioon, for for my employer I helped organize the fair, we moved the office, I followed several projects at work that needed instant accomplishment, I had to organize three booths and do some forging at the same time. But when we met at Schwelm, all was forgotten. All the politics and the strategies and the hacking about in the office. At the office, I am but scum. But I know steel-and steel knows me. The fires were lit, Rolf, Nick, Willi, Volker and a load of groupies gathered around the booths. Rolf made some great leather tooling work with the kids, Nick offered some tin can play at skittles, and Volker, Willy and myself did some serious blacksmithing show;-) not at all.

 Brought some blades for some back-of-booth display, too. Lousy picture, apologies!

 Nick had a go at the forge himself.

 We met with Arthur, too. He´s a beeskeeper we frequently meet on events around these parts, and it´s always a pleasure!

 In Schwelm we also forged new links for a chain of unity we also did in Bochum at TFH (2,8 m) and Altenessen (3,05m). The idea behind the project is to let people from every social background have a go at forging an individual link, which is then linked to the great chain. We believe in unity amongst all races, ethnies and social caste and background. We believe that while we may not have peace in the world, at least people should pay each other the respect in allowing the thought that every individual human being is shaping the course of this mankind we value far too much. We believe that politicians, bankers and other warmongers have no power over the hearts of the people, and while they will not allow peace, because peace is not profitable, they cannot achieve total mind control.

And, quite personally, we believe, that, when we light the fire hot enough, the deity -or the Gods- will hear us and listen.

At least, iron does.

 Many of the kids we forged with, had alreay been there last year and waited eagerly for our booth to be set up on Saturday and Sunday. Felt good...;-) not being scum for once.;-)

 Rolf had a load of rare and beautiful pocket knives and craftsman´s cutters on display, together with his lovely leather work.

 Also some weekend project blades out of damascus and 440C.

 Nick suffering from the chills*ggg*.

 A dragon head link for the chain. The chain will be displayed at Schwelm Town Hall.

 Rolf suffering from the chills...*ggg*

 And tooling these leather wrist bands with kids and adults alike. He also made knife sheaths for knives we forged by the dozens!

 And this was the chain of Schwelm. 2,5 m of unity were forged in two days.

 And suddenly, the moon was out, and we were packing up.

We had some dinner, fish and chips without the vinegar, had a chat, and were all headed home. Folks, it´s simply good to have you around. You haven´t noticed much of what was going on beforehand, but you have certainly saved me from going mad that weekend.

Cheers to you weirdos and to those other weirdos out there!

A trail maintenance day @Schwelm

 On Thursday I rode my bike to work, as I did the whole week. That´s one of the resolves I came to: Why do I use the steed just to get to the smithy or around town or any such like, when it can save me roundabout 20€ a week at least, and 40€ this week for train tickets? With a salary about 400€ less than the dole would amount (and no dole for me, no, sir, I like my freedom and human rights left intact;-)), this much money is something I could use better. And riding to work (40 km a day) keeps me fit, and I always come home with a huge pack of spring steel this spring... sorry for the bad pun, I just could not resist*ggg*. I feel fresher and more relaxed at work and have the impression I can do better work. I eat healthier, and after work I can do some singletrail riding for my soul. On Thurssday, however, it was honest work do be done. I met with the locals, Viktor, Erik, Benny and Carsten to do some trail work at their downhill and freeride spot. This is a great achievement of their lot, for this spot is 100% legal, is established by the city management and on city property. It does not harm that it once was strewn with urban litter and now it´s not. They were not allowed extra soil to make jumps from, and no machine access to the woods (no caterpillars here!). They did all this by hand, and when they started they were just kids. Now they are growing up;-)NOT, and they ride with top results races all over the world. Our relationship has not always been free of arguments and misconceptions, and I must admit a huge part of it was due to myself. Only but recently I messed up again, meaning the best and making a huge disaster out of it. I daresay that´s not important anymore. If anyone would ask, I´d tell my tale, but we have learned a lot of it.

There was one guy who wanted to partake in the building and digging, and addressed me at the city marketing how he could help. I gave him the contact data of the local guys and said he should respect them and things like the DIMB / IMBA rules and common sense trail etiquette. It turned out he could not wait to make a proper contact with the locals and just started digging away, modifying the course in a way that made it unrideable in the original way. So, it was a bit my fault. I was enthused about someone willingly offering to help, and, mind you, moving tons of soil by hand is not always fun, so I forgot to mention the rules in my email.

There was a time not so long ago when it was mandatory to repair what you had damaged, but if you wanted to really dig, you had to ask the locals. If you could not get them, you did not dig, period.It is a matter of respect, in my book, but it seems it´s no longer the case this is a commonplace amongst mountainbikers. Too many morons do this for a sport now, and it has become a "fun sport trend", meaning there are a lot of goofbrains around.

So, I have to mention the following rules for the course in Schwelm, and I´ll do it in German and in English, for I guess it´s to ask too much from the average mountainbiker (sorry) to read and understand English.

1. Tragt einen Helm auf der Strecke (Pflicht). Empfohlen wird ein Vollvisierhelm, und entsprechende Protektoren.
2. Fahrt ein technisch einwandfreies Fahrrad. Besonders ist auf intakte Bremsen, Rahmen und Gabel zu achten.
3. Kontrolliert Eure Geschwindigkeit und fahrt die Strecke vorher einmal langsam ab, um Euch zu orientieren.
4. Auf Fußgänger, Reiter, Hundebesitzer und Forstfahrzeuge ist zu achten.
5. Schwächere Fahrer dürfen nicht genötigt werden.
6. Schwächere Fahrer können die Hindernisse auf sogenannten "Chickenways" umfahren, überschätzt nicht Eure Fähigkeiten.
7. Nehmt Euren Müll wieder mit.
8. Habt Ihr Schäden verursacht, behebt kleinere Schäden selbst oder schreibt den Locals eine Nachricht. Am Pumptrack befindet sich eine Werkzeugkiste, an der Ihr Nachrichten hinterlassen könnt. Auf jeden Fall stellt nur den Originalzustand wieder her. Alle Modifikationen, die nicht mit den Locals abgesprochen sind, werden von der Stadtverwaltung Schwelm als Sachbeschädigung an städtischem Eigentum umgehend zur Anzeige gebracht.
9. Bei Nässe ist der Pumptrack nicht zu befahren. Im Zweifel fragt die Locals.

1.Always wear a helmet. A full-face helmet and appropriate safety gear is highly recommended.
2.Take care your bike is in good working order. Especially your brakes, frame and fork should be in good condition.
3.Control your speed and ride or walk the course first to inspect and as an orientation.
4.Respect hikers, horseback riders and dog owners and take care of forest bureau vehicles.
5.Less skilled riders and beginners have to be respected.
6. Less skilled riders and beginners can ride around the obstacles and use the "chickenways".
7.TAKE.YOUR.TRASH.HOME!!!
8. If you have damaged the course, repair minor damages, but do not modify the course without talking to the locals first. You can leave a written message at the toolbox beside the pumptrack. Any modifications not made in consent with the locals will be prosecuted by the bureau of city management as a damage to public property.
9. Do not ride the pumptrack when it´s wet. When in doubt, ask the locals.

And this is how the pumptrack looks like. It is a fascinating way of riding, for it addresses all kinds of skill levels and nearly anybody can have fun there. The locals have also built some dirt jumps for the wilder ones, and they are constantly building on. Each Thursday they try to get together at 4 pm and do some honest work. If you are interested to help out, I have permission to give you the email addresses of the guys. Just comment with your Email address and I will mail you.

We digged and repaired some of the damage done to the course, and certainly built up a sweat. Then I rode home over some singletrails, just smelling the roses. I can tell you, I was all fluffy when I came back into my attic, and just some few kilometres from home I bonked hard... no harm, really, just having a good meal and drink restored my energy, and then it was off to bed. I slept well content with having done some repair to the damage done and having a good talk with the guys bout the critical points in our relationship.

Spring flea market in Schwelm on May 6th.

It´s that time of year again! On Sunday, the 6th, the biggest flea market event in the Ennepe-Ruhr-Region will take place, with roundabout 1000 m of booths and up to 70.000 visitors, even from Belgium, France, the UK an dthe Netherlands. There is no junk permitted, no new goods, so no unused electronics and beeping and hooting electric toys, no feeble and toxic garments. To illustrate what I got on this market on the last occasions, here they come:

There certainly is an abundance of bushcraft-related tools in a very high quality for very reasonable prices. There even are army surplus booths, but the charme of the market certainly lies in the friendly and even party atmosphere amongst the traders and the slightly "burning man" feeling it implies.

If you want to participate, contact my empoyer, the GSWS Schwelm (Society of City marketing and Business Promotion Schwelm (GmbH & CO. KG), by whom this post was powered also. But since I visited the market even before I worked here, I am convinced it´s not just sponsor talk at all*ggg*.

Flea market in Schwelm-from dawn ´til dusk :-)

 On Sunday it was some good hard work again, this time for my employer on the famed flea fair:-) in Schwelm. Got a flea market? THAT´s a flea market*ggg*! Some 1000 m of booths, up to 80000 visitors, and the small town bursting with people. Shops open,  there´s an artist´s mile, and no new goods whatsoever. No beeping electric toys, no flying merchants praising their special refuse clothing, and a kick up the butt if you try to sell them.

 Those are our thugs kicking butts:-). I worked with them, and I am just kidding, of course. They are a very friendly crowd, and certainly know how to be polite. In fact, there´s a good-natured atmosphere on the market, people having fun, music and sharing food and drink. Some black sheep, of course, but those are few. Even if it became slightly difficult, it was a pleasure to work with those gals and guys!

 Enzo having "Bratwürst"*ggg* and obviously liking it:-). Thanks to Tschierse Catering which offered us delicious food at bargain prices!

 The squad ready for battle:-).

 This is one of the many reasons I like this market. Quality antiquities, and many tales to tell. Glassware, porslain, clothing, tableware and cutlery, I can tell you, I could hardly keep my countenance:-).

 This city is crammed full.

 ...

 ...

 Khalil was there again, and we had a nice, good-natured chat.

...und Katha kriegt was Schönes, lalalala.*gggg* nur was?*g*

 ...

 We sold those wildflower seeds like hotcakes. This was great, for we sold seeds for roundabout 2500 square metres, resulting in a huge increase in bio-diversity and loads of food for bees and insects, plus beautiful colours everywhere next year.

 We sold this hiking guide that the AGU wrote about the Schwelm region. It has many great pics and offers hiking trails to natural monuments in the region.

 There were many traders, and they were all kind of nervous, for the weather forecast spelled catastrophe. A very close friend:-), erm, a part of my soul*ggg* made some hard work pushing the clouds aside, though, and so it started to rain when all was said and done. Thanks for those kind thoughts, and thanks for everything, and all*ggg*.

This is Axel, my colleague, with whom I patrolled the booths to weed out those infidels who had not paid:-). Axel is a great man to work with, always with a good-natured joke, and a friendly and laidback guy to boot. ´twas a joy! This is a trader he was acquainted to since his childhood.

Checking the bill...

Oi, Axel, keep those hands ter yerself*ggg*!!!

 Many visitors in spite of the weather...

 ... and good business for the traders, too. Most were quite content and will return next year, to the 72nd fair, which will take place on May, 6th.

 Axel was pleased.... has  a  cool moustache...*ggg*

Of course, I had to work until late in the evening, resulting in some 18 hours of work and riding to work and back home. But it did not bother me any, for it was a great event. I was bonking hard when I came home, but I had a day off on Monday and relished in the luxury of sleeping late:-).