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Sunday 29 August 2010

some various pics.






my summer earth lodge now in its second year.
A group of Rosebay willow Herb,or fire weed,named after its apparent magical appearance after bush fires.
Nuts about my knife?Here i used the coronet to break the hazlenut,and if you look closer i made a small indention in the trunk to hold the nut still.
And of course the main star of wolfbushcraft,the white wolf himself.zeus.

READING THE EARTH




The surface of the earth is like a giant book,with the pages changing every second..
Some are obvious some, so slight that we could miss them in a blink of an eye.
Many hunter gatherers are masters at reading the earth,another memory we all hold,but now forgotten.
Sometimes the pages are easy to find,for instance the two game trails above,but even so the infomation on these pages may be hard still to read.Its obvious from the tracks,that there were deer here,dogs,man,and a tractor at some point,but going deeper into the book will give you the whole picture,and help you piece together what occured here..The page will tell you what was there first,was it the deer,man or tractor or dog.By learning to read age signs,and overlay patterns you will be able to piece together vital info,For instance if the deer were on this track before the tractor,did the noise and sight of such a monster cause them to flee?or did the dog give chase?A look a the slots will tell you if they did,Ask yourself has the width length of the slots changed?Are they deeper?Is there chaos within the slot?
Or are they constant all around,no change in stride etc..?When you have made your conclusion from what you have read,you must now put aside the book for a while,And become the deer,if you were going to flee from here,where would you go?You like the deer know your territory,you know every opening in the woods edge that surrounds the field,you know where to run,to hide,to be safe.But we read the slots are constant,no change,they were there after the tractor and the man and the dog,they were made in the evening,they point to area you know well,the pine wooods will be a comfortable bedding area for them,here they will chew the cud,as they have done many times before...Your eyes scan the ground ahead,you now have turned the page,the deer have more of the story to tell..............

THE BIRCH TREE




Here is the birch tree showing the classic signs of bark peeling,good news for the woodsman,bad news for the tree.In a few years this tree could be dead.Some people blame global warming,as very hot temperatures,lack of rain causes the tree to shed bark,also its been noticed that birch bark quality has declined dramatically,the old natives of past times wouldnt be able to just select almost any birch tree and use its bark for a birch bark canoe, even in parts of the extreme north the birch bark quality is suffering..The theory is the colder the climate the better the birch bark....Everywhere in nature things are showing signs of being affected by pollution,My two best indicators are the birch tree,and the peppered moth.In parts of some of woodlands which are well away from any civilization,the peppered moth can be seen almost sooty in appearance,resting on a birch tree that also has a sooty bark texture,gnarled and full of holes....In my video of the fallen birch tree i mention collecting birch bark on fallen weak trees,as an alternative to peeling off bark from a healthy tree...I know alot of bushcrafters favour this tree for its craft values of its bark,but please consider,do you really have to partially skin a tree just for a hobby?There are other ways of practicing making say for instance a birch bark cup,A decent thickness of a large sheet of cardboard would do.Im all for reaching inside ones ancient spirit and learning to do such things as our ancestors did of old,dont get me wrong,but as ive said,look around firstly before you start skinning the tree,there may just be a fallen birch,which even in its death could live on in something you have made..In a survival situation or earth living any birch tree would give up its life for us,that is an ancient bond and understanding that goes back when man was given kingship over all living things,and shown the earth medicine ways.
To me as a woodsman the birch tree has been a constant companion,many a full moon night ive watched her bark shine in the moonlight,i see early signs of spring through her in her sap rising,she gives me a healthy spring tonic in this sap,it provides me with a form of sugar,her inner bark can give me flour,her bark,buds,twigs,and leaves will give me a good tea,a strong mixture will ease my colds,and i can wash with it for any rashes etc,i can also gargle with it for mouth sores..Her medicine doesnt end here,she helps me de-scent my body before a hunt,her bark provides me wamth through tinder and shingles,she can light up my path at night using a bundle of her bark as a torch,with this i can also attract fish,and of course within her is a bowl, a cup,Her bark is used in sweatlodges,to cleanse the body and the spirit.The birch trees medicine is feminine,her direction is East,She is the tree of Venus,and her sign is water....To me the birch is the mother tree,I hope to walk many a journey with her all around me,until i walk no more.....
AUTHOR GRIMBO..WOLFBUSHCRAFT 2010 COPYRIGHT..PLEASE ASK ME FIRST IF YOU WISH TO USE THIS CONTENT ON ANY WEB SITE...THANKS GRIMBO

Thursday 26 August 2010

grimbo;s curry.

THUNDER MOON

The harvest moon is upon us,mother earth has fulfilled her duty once more.Although sick she still gives birth.I have watched blossoms grow into fruits,the wheat spring to life from seed,and watched it being harvested.The birds now rest their duty done,young fox cubs run around(some alone),risking death by the traffic that runs through their ancient pathways.Many migrant species are making their way to winter feeding grounds,as native nomads did of old.My old teacher the wolf grows his coat and licks his lips in anticipation of the hunt.
It seems that as with our own mothers no matter what we do to our earth mother,no matter how much we ill treat her,she forgives us and continues to love and care for her children.But will she become too sick to do so?Will there be a time when she will not awaken from her winter slumber?A time when she will remain under her snow blanket?
Even if this happened,through out the leafless woodland her gentle voice would still be heard whispering,"im sorry my child"......


Author,grimbo...A wolfbushcraft copyright..

Tuesday 17 August 2010

grimbo;s who dunnit ?

fleglings





this time of year i see many birds out on their own for the first time..its a difficuilt time for these new fleglings,lets hope they have learnt well from their parents..here is a flegling robin,at the moment its breast is dull red,i hope by christmas i see him again with his chest brightly red..

Monday 16 August 2010

cord wrap knife handle






I found the leather on my skinning knife handle not very comfortable,so ive done a rough wrap of cordage on it.Its now more comfortable to work with.Its not fancy,just quick and easy...

Sunday 15 August 2010

Bushcraft Skills - Meet the Bushcrafters.

New binoculars




I find binos very useful when im out and about..It helps me id different roe deer from afar,and of course for any birds.I find them useful in unfamiliar terrain,they give me the ability to work out the contours and gradients of the path ahead,and also help me recce suitable sheltering places.
I have used in the past 10x magnification with a 50mm objective lens,i prefer this size objective lens as most of my time is spent under woodland canopies,and a lot of my movements when looking for deer etc is low light.
These new set i have,ive decided to risk a 20x magnification...with a 50mm objective.
I hoping to be able to use these more in the farm fields,and to be able to id more birds of prey in the sky.In increasing the magnification i now have sacrificed hand stability,and field of vision.But in using them intially ive found the hand stability ok,but ive noticed my field of vision is reduced,This will hamper me if i need to spot a fast flying bird etc,its harder to bring the binos into the field area required.
But i have used a spotting scope in the past,and got used to using that..
SPECS.....
NAME AND BRAND..PRAKTICA FALCON.W20X50ZCF.
20x magnification.
50mm objective lens diameter.
angle of view 2.8 degrees.
field of view at 1000m-49m.
minimum focus distance 3m.