The Fenland Woodturners April meeting

The Fenland Wood turners meet at the Spalding Common Community centre on the last Wednesday of the month.
I am a founder member of the club and still and active member.
At the meeting on Wednesday 25th April 2010 we had John Berkeley demonstrating, He was very good as the members are from beginners to near professionals he had some thing for all.
John turns plastics and False Ivory/ Horn. He turned 2 items a small Pepper pot in a patterned Plastic and a pill box in False ivory. See photos below of pill box

sorry about the photos as I'm no David Bailey.

The box is 23mm across and 50mm high it is in 2 pieces and screws together its the screw threading that takes the time and John went into thread chasing in great detail.

I have bought the raw material from John in the past for turning walking stick tops and inlays.

The next meeting is a club night we have an open competition and one of the members is going to bring his thread chasers so that members can have a go.

the club has been invited to the woodworking show at Springfield's exhibition center at Spalding from 11th June to the 13th June to show off our turned pieces and hopefully all the competition pieces will be on display.

Talking about the Springfield's Exhibition center its the Spalding Flower show this weekend .

They have lots of floats covered in flowers mainly Tulips. I have not been to the show for 10 years and its right on the door step as they say.

The Boston May Fair starts this weekend as well it OK if you like the fair.

Well I will have to go as the dogs are at the door wanting to go out.

Monday evening walk

I went to work this morning and this afternoon went to a funeral the ninth since Christmas I hope this is not how the rest of the year is going to be.

After which I took the dogs out for a run the fly were out and flying low.
looking around the fields will soon be all yellow with the rape seed flowers.
I forgot to take my camera so no pictures tonight.

Tuesday night I cropped the dandelions over on the plot for another gallon of dandelion wine that's 3 gallons now 18 bottles should keep us going for the rest of the year.

The plot is across the road and I grow Veg and fruit without any weed killer and chemicals used at all and no dogs.

The Grass is mostly dandelions or Daises.

The best free crop on the plot is the dandelions the flowers are great in batter fried and the young leaves are OK in a salad a bit bitter compared to lettuce.

I have aways liked self- sufficiency since 1973 I used to take the magazine when it first came out I still take the country small holder, but I have now decided on the simple life as the title says.
You don't need lots of land and if you work it right. I walk or ride my bike down the country lanes its surprising what grows in the hedgerows.
Well Will call it night now.

Wet Sunday and Dandelion wine

We went out for a meal with friends last night came home about 1.30am so we were late up this morning.

Barbara decided to go to the car boot in the village.
I decided to take the dogs on the same walk we did on Saturday, called to pick up a paper in the village and it started to rain hard.

By the time I arrived at the car park it had stopped what a Difference a day makes.

On the walk I came across some pheasant egg shells it looks like a weasel had found a nest nearby but I could not find any nest.

It started to rain on the way back to the car but not to hard .

I spent the rest of the day racking the 2 gallons of parsnip wine I made early in the year into clean demijohns, and making Dandelion wine .


Dandelion Wine
ingredients

2litres dandelion flower heads
1kilo (2. 1/4 lb) Sugar add more if sweet wine required
4 Oranges
water to 4.5litres (1gallon)
1teaspoon Yeast nutrient
yeast

Method
pick the flowers when the sun is out and they are fully open.
use the all head (but not the stem)
Pour boiling water over the flower heads and leave for 2 days no more as it give the wine a bad taste.
Boil the mixture for 10 minutes with the orange peel (no white Pith).
Strain through muslin on to the sugar, When cool add the fruit juice, yeast nutrient and yeast.
Keep in a warm place closely covered for for 4 days then pour into demijohn and fit airlock.
leave till it clears then siphon into clean demijohn.
add 1 tea spoon of wine stabiliser and 1 crushed Camden tablet Leave to clear then bottle.
Makes an excellent white Table wine.

Saturdays walk

I got up early on Saturday as my partner Barbara was working. She works some Saturdays, not every one.

I decided to take the dogs out for a run which is about 10minutes drive from home.
We went along the drain bank which you may call a river, but in the fens these are man made drains to move water from dykes around fields, but they are like rivers and have plenty of fish.


In the fens these drains run for miles in straight lines and are pumped out into rivers or the Wash on the east coast.
The birds were singing and for a change there were no RAF planes flying so you could hear all the birds.

These owl boxes have become home to jackdaws but one has a barn owl inside the box and jackdaws have the roof part.

The owls leave lots of pellets around the boxes and some days you can see the one hunting along the drain banks.

The Drainage boards have erected lots of these boxes along the drains in the fens.

The railway runs alongside the drain and these travellers were heading to Boston & Skegness

This just shows how flat the fens are. The dykes and drains were excavated to reclaim the land from the sea.

The 13 wind turbines you can see were not working when I started my walk but were working when I got back to the car.

The wind blows a lot in this area. Lincolnshire used to have about 850 wind mills grinding corn in the late 1800's. Now there are wind turbines on the horizons.

Over the last 20 years there have been lots of trees planted in the fens.

The dogs had a good run and when I came back home I worked on the garden over the road which we call 'the plot'.

It has 2 green houses and a shed. The garden is set out with raised beds, fruit trees and bushes.

We grow most things but buy greens such as cauliflowers, cabbages, broccoli and potatoes.

The local farm shop sells cauliflowers sometimes 4 for £1 but people still buy them from the local supermarket.

The reason for the blog

Toffee, a working Springer spaniel

Blue, a Sprocker spaniel



I decided to do a blog as my diaries end up in a drawer never to be seen again.


I live in the flat Fenland of South Lincolnshire, in some places it is below sea level. The arable soil is good for growing most things.


I live in a village with a Post Office,2 Public houses, 2 General stores, a chemist and which ever road you go out off the village there is a farm shop or a stall at the side of the road selling excellent fruit and veg.


I live with my partner, 2 cats Smartie & Willow, 2 Spaniel dogs, Blue 1.5 years old and Toffee 4.5 years old.

I will have to go now as I have 2 gallons of Dandelion wine to make after picking every flower around my garden and the plot over the road, I will post the recipe later.