Naomi's made it to Paris

Well, Naomi's made it to  Paris..We just found this picture on Twitter. She is not in it, but her bike is!

 The one on the ground in the foreground, with the flower on the handlebar!

Well done Naomi. We're proud of you!

A simple knife, inspired by H Kephart

I used Horace Kephart's own knife as the starting point for this version. The shape of the blade, the 3/32" (about 2.3mm) thichness, the size, about 3 1/2" blade and 4" handle, is pretty much the same, as far as I can ascertain from the few photos available. The shape of the handle is a bit  different. I wanted a very simple knife with a comfortable, more rounded  handle. I used some old Teak that came from a old Victorian warehouse in London for the scales, epoxied on and riveted with two steel pins. There is a lanyard tube and  a leather lanyard, which is absent on Kephart's knife. I chose the teak for its very oily properties, it also has a nice patina.

The sheath is completely different from his too. I made it deep, as simple as I could think. To that effect, the narrow (1/2") leather forms a loop and is part of the hand sewn welt. Actually, the sheath can be used either left or right handed, without any modifications. It hangs at a small angle, but that's no problem. The long narrow loop is also quite  flexible, which I find more comfortable when on the belt.

The new knife and sheath

In the deep sheath, wide soft leather lanyard

Naomi's London To Paris Cycle Ride

Naomi on her new bike

 Well, the time has finally arrived. Naomi's cycle ride start on Thursday from London. The first leg is from London to Southampton to catch the ferry to France. The other 2 legs will be in France,  On Friday, the longuest leg at over 90 miles. Tthe last leg on will be on Saturday. They will see the arrival of the Tour de France in Paris on Sunday, then return to London on the train.

It's been a lot of hard work getting to this point. We have not managed to get any sponsorship at all. So all the money raised so far has been our own effort, and a lot was raised with the help of the members on this forum, for which we say a big thank you. We raised, so far, over £1000, all of which will go to The Big Issue Foundation.

The other hard work was getting enough training in! What with work, University Summer School, some knee problems and now a cold....

I'll keep you posted with what's happening in the next few days. At least, it looks like the weather, although some rain is predicted, should be pushing in the right direction!

Baskets and basket making knife

Freyja, my eldest daughter has been getting into making willow baskets recently. She went on to a basket making course and has been practising on her own since her course. She has been wanting a good knife for herself, so I made this basket makers' knife based on the original her instructor had. He has had it a long time and it is very worn. I re-sharpened it for him.  The blade for my copy is made of 3mm 01 tool steel, with a convex blade. I have embellished the blade with file work on the spine.

My daughter Freyja's  first basket

Basket makers' knife

Very worn riginal (top knife) with my copy

File work on the spine

Collecting rainwater now illegal...

...in many states ....

as Big Government claims ownership over our water

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/029286_rainwater_collection_water.html#ixzz1RmSCl4H4

Now I know this refers to the USA. BUT...as everyone knows, what happens in the States generally happens in the UK soon afterwards. So, the question is how long will it take for it to happen over here, or in SpainFrance...Germany...Poland...etc

Or maybe it's already happening. Am I paranoid? I hope so.