A little fun in the Woods

As per our usual meets, a few of us turned up and tried some new things out and continued on with some things from the last time. Check out our sister site at Belfast Bushcraft for more pics..Also a special thanks to Alan for traveling up from Newcastle on a rather inclement day, his company was very appreciated!

Food is always a pleasure at the meets

Davy, getting messy making Drop Scones

Man food, real outdoors fare!

And leaving just ater dark.

Homemade Amadou

Davy and I have been experimenting with producing our own Amadou and have found a great way to make it work effectively..It burns well and smoulders long and hot. You can see Davy blowing the tinder bundle to flame in these shots. This took considerably longer than normal as it was so cold Davy's breath was virtually condensing as soon as it left his lips resulting in the cooling of the tinder bundle and the slowing of it going to flame and  far more dense smoke being produced, still, we are happy to inform, we did get it to work quite a few times, and we are now happy with our Amadou production method..The pics aren't great but you get the idea, ( I think I need a new camera!)

Lovely pics

My son took some great pics on our recent trip to Donegal..

Just attatched and ready to transform!!

Jiminy Cricket, ain't he gorgeous!!

Salmonberries, Loads of them and they were delicious.. and this was the only time I've ever found them!

Honeysuckle Blossom.

Hazel nuts, ( number one son called them apple nuts!!!!!)

And an absolutely true and genuine Fairy Thorn, not many of these magical trees left.

A few pics from the Backwoods Beachcomber course

We made the trip to Loch Fyne in Scotland and had a ball with Patrick and his team on a coastal bushcraft course, here are just a few pics..

A stone smoker for venison jerky, delicious!

Handmade Basha canoe for fishing and setting crab traps

Base camp....

Sir Ray of Mears...

A few of us Bushcrafty types went along to the Ulster Hall to see Sir Ray of Mears deliver a session entitled Fieldcraft and Survival. As always Ray is a great Spokesman for the cause and is always ready to answer questions. At the end of the Lecture Davy and I happily got to meet the man himself and get his autograph and our books signed..Davy acted like a big girl and couldn't even speak when confronted with his hero..

Where I feel most at home

Ever walk somewhere and know you have a special connection to a place? There are a lot of places where I feel very connected in one way or another, it's not something I can explain, it's elemental, primal, spiritual even ,well this here is one of my favourite spots..But there are many others...