The White Stag

The white stag is the most special of all of creations  beasts, it has found a place in myth and legend, however the white stag truly exists if you are pure enough of heart for it to appear . It is said that he who sees the white stag receives a little of the beauty and wonder that God created upon the earth. Pictures and tales abound about the stag but few if any ever see his noble bearing, "have I ever seen one?" I hear you ask, funny you should mention that....

Not only have I seen the white stag  but also his hind, I hope you see the wonders of his hand as you look into nature. 

Phil.

Not quite a peck of pickled peppers.

By most accounts a pack is a volume of dried peppers that can weigh somewhere between 8 and 14lbs, I certainly didn't produce that but I'm happy with my first haul. I believe a bushcrafter or survivalist should be able to produce their own food not just hunt fish or forage it so this year I started with peppers and tomatoes, the Tom's weren't great but the peppers are still producing even now, below you can see the first crop to come off the plants and into the pickle, it's going to be a very merry spicy Christmas.

Cayenne and jalapeno peppers..yum

Phil.

Chorda filum - dead mans rope

One of the common thong like seaweeds found around our shores and can be easily confused with other strap or lace like seaweeds.

Normally found in the low to middle intertidal zone it's quite easy to see around the northern European coastlines. It's also called whip weed, mermaids tresses and boot lace weed. It is edible and high in antioxidants but not often consumed by people, it's ok and worth a try if you're feeling peckish. It can be dried and then broken up and added to stews and soups to provide a deeper saltier flavour. 

Phil.

Butterburr basket and hazelnuts

There is such an abundance of high fat foods this year and all the little furry critters are stuffing themselves that it's making me wonder what sort of winter we are in for. So not to be outdone and to give the squirrels a little competition I happened upon a great little hazel coppice near a lough and decided to take a few nuts for myself. I wasnt expecting to find anything so I didn't bring a bag but I did find a few nice butterburr leaves..

A couple wrapped into a cone shape and fixed in place with a twig made a very acceptable container

And another 10 or 15 mins collecting saw over a pound of hazel nuts gathered. They are still a little white but on the turn and will further ripen if kept inside. 

Thinking of BlackBerry Charlotte for pudding. Yum.

Phil.

An audience with ... Bob Harper.

It seems to be the season for meeting really inspiring characters. I was recently privileged to hear sir Ranulph Fiennes give a lecture and he was such a witty and inspiring chap. This weekend I got an invite to meet with Bob Harper and his lovely wife Christine.
I'm sure some of you will already know of these wonderful people, newspaper columnists, authors and most especially, round the world sailors.
I spent a wonderful afternoon in their company being told stories of wild weather, pirates, cannibals and hilarious mishaps. He shared some great stories of survival at sea, meeting indigenous tribes, weird food and local primitive skills and customs, I could have picked his mind for ideas for hours.

Bob, christine and oscar.

He also took the time to show me round his property and it had some of the most beautiful ancient trees I have ever seen including this magnificent specimen of an irish strawberry tree, the biggest one I have ever seen. 

I have no doubt our paths will cross again soon.

Phil.

Home made fish smoker

I found a couple of pieces of metal that seemed to fit together quite well, I've no idea what they are from but I figured I could put them to some use. So I reckoned a fish smoker would be ideal,

I think it'll work quite well, I can use a gas heat source or even charcoal and I'm pretty sure the result will be tasty smoked fish either way, time to get the mackerel rods out again !

Phil.

A visitor to the garden

It's been a long time since I've seen one of these little fellows alive and well, but it was nice to see him wandering around the garden doing damage to the slug population.

Phil.