New coffee recipe I tried out

Now, I admit it. Yes, I am an addict. I am addicted to good coffee. And I tried out a new recipe I rather like, and I thought I´d share it.... I took:

2 tablespoons of dark roast, coarsely ground coffee
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cardomom
1 knifetip pimento
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon chili
1 knifetip salt
1 tablespoon cocoa meal
6 cl whiskey
1 l water

Cook the coffee about 5 min. Add the other ingredients and let rest for 5 min. Pour through a sieve. You can also use a coffee filter in the first, then without cooking and with finer coffee meal. Add the whisky. Flavor with sugar or honey and / or milk to your liking. Sláinte!

Strop / Diamond sharpener for my crane bag project

 Had some diamond sharpener lying around and figured I´d give it a new appearance. You can turn it over and have a strop also that can be fixed with the screw-on ferrule. The strop I roughened up a bit.

Handle is vine - infested birchwood. I like the rustic appearance and I think I will make a knife handle in that style also... it´s just a bit difficult to find a suitable piece for the hand, but this one came along quite nicely...

Spring is on the way!

 Went for a stroll, and the birds were all singing, the sun was warming, all was coming back to life again.

 Beautiful crocus...

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 These are the ants... my only friend, the ants*ggg*....(formica rufa). I find them quite an interesting species, and fortunately they are prospering again around these parts. They play a very important role in the ecosystem, taking care of carcasses and rubbish alike and getting rid of vermin.

Vines... honeysuckle, I´d guess;-), and certainly no marjoram...

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Nettles are coming! I love them for soup and tea, and have to get my foraging bag ready!


Spring is here, and I love it!

Forging at the Bethaus Smithy- and a new damascus neck knife / whittling knife

 I met Volker the other day at the Bethaus smithy to have a chat about the oncoming season and had the opportunity to do some quick forging, and that´s what came out (top to bottom): Leaf handle knife (spring steel), little teenie weenie whittling seven-bar damascus (tank bearing, tank cannon), and an integral En-Nep from silver steel.

 I also had quite a bit of good natured talk with Volker. Missed you, dude!

 The damascus blade cried: I want to be made! on top of its lungs, so I set to work immediately;-). Stag antler, and the coin shows how small the blade is.

 Made a sheath for it with some jewellry.

 The antler, tanned.

 The spine varies from 0,8 to 2,4 mm in thickness.

 I fitted a stone I found on the banks of the river Rhine for jewelry... like the colour.

 The other side of the blade.

 overall details...

Dothoppers have a new blog!

The dothoppers, the folk band I am slightly acquainted to, have a new blog.

They make some homemade and very likeable music, and it shows that they have a lot of fun doing it.

Here they come

Birch sap rises! Tapping sap and spoon carving...

 Now spring´s coming with giant steps, and the sap rises everywhere, so I went into the "grove" and figured I´d get me a healthy and refreshing drink. Birch sap is rich with potassium and vitamin C, and it simply makes me feel good. It also always has something spiritual for me, for the forces of the land awaken in the rising of the sap, and tn my own body the sap also rises, bringing new vitality after winter. It´s also a very special place for me, where I do a lot of "stump-sitting". I tried two methods, one with an open system, and one with a closed one.

 If you use the closed system, remember to punch a secondary hole into the cap, for else the pressure will build up inside the bottle and keep the sap in the tree.

 I sat down on my favourite stump, had  a cuppa tea and did some spooncarving from this cherry branch I brought with me. This is the gear I usually carry. A folding saw I got cheap after I lost my Oyakata from Westfalia, a local crafts supply. Mora Classic carving knife, the one with 79 mm laminate blade for more delicate tasks, Nessie a.k.a as Fimbulmuk;-) for bigger tasks. Also my flask, and my beloved kuksa for tea.

In this photo there also is a Mora spoon carving knife (right handed), which to me is a great allround carving knife I also use for other tasks. I sat until the sap bottle was full, and my tea flask was empty;-) some three hours, and then had a sip or two of sap. A squirrell came by just to check on me, a snipe flew above me, geese above, and the sounds of ducks and cormorants filling the air. The sun was warm and soothing, and I really relished in it all.

The sun was sinking over the lake, finally,  and on my way home I was filled with peace and the song of snipe and wild geese returning. A beautiful and peaceful day found a fitting end with the vibrant colours of dusk.



(Of course, the sap did not last me long. ;-))

Another bushcraft hike with Zee Aylienz

 On Sunday I called the cripples (Kai, Levin from Weideland blog, and Seppel all have some kind of handicap at the moment, from broken ribs, punctured lungs, broken knee to a broken collarbone) to go for a hike with some bushcraft practice on top. We met at Kai´s, and NO, THERE WAS NO ALCOHOL INVOLVED for once, that is;-).

 We immediately made for the hills. This is quite an interesting spot. Parents can buy a tree and plant it for the birth of their child on this area. A great project, if you ask me!

 We ventured ever deeper into the woods, thoroughly taking care of the wind and any animal sightings and followed deer tracks into the bush.

 Found some droppings, but no sightings. Had some fun, though...;-).

 Rabbit had been there on the deer tracks, too. On the hunt?*ggg*Rabbits are very aggressive and pursue deer for food around these parts*ggg*.

 Coughwort is there already (Tussilago farfara)!

 On the road deeper into the woods...

 snowdrop (galanthus nivalis) in blossom.

 Seppel checking a tinder conk.

 Foraging for amadou material-we will make some amadou soon... finally!

 ...

 This is a peasant´s junkyard, dating back to early modern times. You can often find a load of useful material at those places, and they are quite abundant. Kai making mischief;-)...

 Towards the lake we went.

 You know this picture. I have shot it a thousand times. But then I simply love that place. It has an air of peace to it, and it was there we had a break and a cuppa tea and a brew and a snack.

 I used to sit under this oak for hours on end when I was  a child. I daresay it taught me more than studying at the university.

 Good.

 We gathered some dry grass for tinder, took some wood chips from inside a rotten tree trunk and tried our best at fire starting.

 First with a cigarette lighter. Was hard enough, for the tinder was not exactly so dry as we would have liked.

 More scenery...

 Then it was the ferro-rod. Most of you readers may laugh at our feeble efforts, but we are still at the beginning, and we were enthused to get it going as well as it went... which was not so well... we soon learned that patience is the most crucial part in making a fire in the wet!

 But we finally succeeded. It is good to have a team that some can go foraging for tinder and firewood and the others building camp and starting a fire.

 This licce ladybug looked on... spring is on the way, definitely!

 Then we decided we´d take  a shortcut back to the city, for time was running out.

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We passed by these cliffs on our way. We had a lot of good-natured conversations, weird jokes and certainly a lot of fun. My bunch of cripples are carved from quite a hard wood, for it was some 25 km with their handicaps, and doing that with a laugh is not for everyone. Props, guys, we have to do that again sometime soon!


We then split up, and I went on my solitary way home.








And on that way home I met others on their way home: The geese are back! Spring is on the way, and I look forward to it!