Gonks

 Over a week since my last posting,  Where does the time go?

The "In" thing at the moment amongst wood-turners appears to be the Gonk !  I had never heard of such things until very recently, however they appear to be popular, and they are sort of cute...

The Photograph shows a pair of them sat on my mantleshelf.  I think they are Father and Son although, frighteningly, they bear a certain resemblance to me.  I think it's the grey beards and the red noses.  

Most turners seem to make these in four pieces !!! They make the body, then the hat, then the bobble on top of the hat and finally the nose (not including the faux fur at this stage)  I simply make the body hat and bobble out on one piece of wood, turn a small nose, glue on the beard then glue in the nose.  Simples...

I suppose if you really wanted the body and the hat in different wood species then fine, but at the end of the day they are just a whimsical little novelty,  hardly an heirloom type ornament. Each to their own.

Apart from that I haven't done much.  A bit of work for the Wood turning club,  have I mentioned we have a web site - www.pendlewoodturners.co.uk  -   there is a GIF (whatever that is?) on the front page of me making a few shavings fly off a piece of wood.

You can also find pics on Instagram  look for howardjones641.

Back soon

Winter Chill

 Thursday 20th Jan, and the Temperature has dropped quite dramatically,  still we are at least more than halfway through January so artound six weeks from now we will be in March.  I always think that by the time March starts the cold weather is behind us and we can look forward to lighter nights and the onset of Spring.

I was reminded last night that two or so posts back I used the phrase "Pics to follow" and I have consequently upset my loyal fans (Both of them) that I didn't follow up with the promised pics...  I had made some wooden sheep:-

So here they are.

Last night I was at a meeting of Pendle Woodturners and Carvers, in Burnley.  One of our older (Or should I say longer serving) members did a superb demonstration on making pens.  Most of us wood turners make pens from time to time, but I always find it interesting to see another turner at work and glean some information re his methods.  The member in question actually used the Lathe to press the component parts of the pen together.  I have always used a small bench vice. The problem using a vice is actually lining up the parts in perfect line.  The Lathe does that naturally.  The next pens I make will be assembled as Bill the demonstrator did his.

If you are interested look at www.pendlewoodturners.co.uk

I have made pens in the past.

It is quite a satisfying part of turning, as even doing a one-off, a finished article can come off the Lathe in about 30 or 40 minutes.

Now I haven't forgotten that I also said a Pic would follow of a Hazel Bud vase I made, unfortunately that bud vase formed a nasty split a couple of days after I brought it into the house.  I am now waiting for it to settle down to decide whether to try and fill the crack or just put it into the firwood basket...We shall see.

I hope both my loyal followers will return to find the ultimate fate of Hazel bud vase.  To be continued....

Chess

 It is just coming up to 12 months since I started playing Chess again.  A long time without playing as Lynne and the Girls had no interest or aptitude for the game.  I would occasionally work through the games published in the Saturday issue of the Daily Telegraph, apart from that it must be 30+ years since I had a game.

Last Christmas at Helen's house, I was challenged to a game by Daniel (middle Grandson) I won!  Big bully thrashing an 8 year old !  Shortly after that Andrew and I started playing regularly on Chess dot com. I think the current tally is 17 games to 16 in Andrew's favour.  I am really enjoying the mental challenge so much I have 'joined' said web site, so I can now play about 20 puzzles a dayand watch alsorts of instructional videos and live games.

Linked in with the wood turning, on the Folksy site I spotted a seller was turning basic bottle shapes and mounting a bottle opener in the base. In a rare flash of inspiration I thought of making Chess pieces with an opener in the base.  There are 3 on Folksy at present, I haven't sold any yet but I was a bit late for the Christmas shopping period. I live in hope.

Here are some Pictures

These are all on Folksy.com at present.   https://folksy.com/shops/HowardJonesWoodBits

 Beech

Black Walnut

 Mahogany

Happy New Year

 With the "Festive" season behind us we can get on with our lives again...or we could if it wasn't for the corona virus.  Spent the last couple of days hiding away in my shed.  Last Thursday, I went for a Birthday tea with No 1 daughter, one of her college friends and all the children.  Saturday I was informed that said college friend (or her Daughter) had tested positive.  

The doubt lies in the administration of the tests, it wasn't clear which of the two had tested positive.  I haven't got any testing kits, so I am going nowhere for a few days, just in case.

So the shed beckons.  Yesterday I made three wooden sheep,  a photo will follow in a day or so when I get round to putting the pics on the PC.  Made a bud vase out of a very weirdly shaped piece of Hawthorn, again pic to follow.  Plus other little sorting out jobs.

Last night I ended up binge watching series 2 of "The Bay"  a police drama set in Morecambe.  I have been meaning to watch it for ages and as series three starts in a few days I thought I would catch up.

Today is frosty but dry.  December is now on record as being the greyest month on record.  the average in the UK was 27 hours of sunshine for the whole month

Just a pic of some Penguins I made last year.  

Back soon with more pics.

All over for another Year

 Most of my acquaintances know that I am not a fan of christmas, so It is no surprise that i am glad to see the back of it.  I don't mind the New Year bit as that is linked in with the Solstice Etc. and  the start of new beginnings.  Well lets hope so anyway.

I have been doing a bit of turning

Pendant made from Zebrano,  About 2 inches across

Bishop (Chess piece)  made from a branch of Copper Beech and has a bottle opener recessed into the base.  it's around 4 - 1/2 inches high and 2 inches acrodd the base.

These are both currently for sale on Folksy.com.  After a month,  I have about 16 or 17 items on that site,  I have sold one small wine bottle coaster....I think I need to hold off booking the cruise.

Well, Happy New Year everyone,  Lets hope we can get back to some form of normality during the course of 2022.

Winter Solstice

 Probably the most 'Looked forward to' day of the year for me.  After today, the days start to stretch out again the nights shorten as we head again to Spring and Summer.

Yule, or Saturnalia has many names, as most of Europe celebrated the Solstice long, long before the Christians stole it. but I won't start ranting about that nonsense just now. Let's just be happy for the start of a new year of seasons.

I have been out for Breakfast this morning,  I regularly meet a couple of friends (Usually on a Wednesday morning, but the Cafe in question is closing after today for the festivities.  It is Clough Head Cafe, on Grane road between Haslingden and Blackburn.  We sit outside, regardless of the weather and have a couple of coffees interspersed with a bacon or sausage butty.  Afterwards I usually walk back towards my friends starting place for a while, then return to my car.

Today it was much colder than usual but we stayed a little longer as we were offered complimentary mince pies and mulled wine - On the house !

Pleasant couple of hours in good company - Happy Solstice to one and all.

Photograph taken from very close to Clough Head, Looking South East towards Scout Moor.

More Storms...

 Well it's only a week or so since the North was battered by storm Arwen, and now we are suffering from storm Barra !

I hadn't thought about Barra for quite a few years.  I have never visited...If you're not sure what I'm wittering about, one of the outer Hebrides Islands off the NW coast of Scotland is called Barra.  It is one of the southernmost islands I think only Mingulay is to the South. 

Many years ago whilst at sea, I sailed with a steward called Barra John.  For the life of me I can't remember his real family name.  It was one of the Mc or Macs but can't bring it to mind.  He was a real character was Barra John.  A typical Western Islander, he was fond of a glass or two of alcafrolics.  One fine morning I was privileged to see him preparing his own breakfast.

Believe it or not He ladelled a portion of Porage  (Notice I have used the scottish spelling here, NOT porridge) into a Pint glass.  He then topped that up with a half pint of Tennants lager, stirred it, and downed it in one.  I only realised that he was a drinker when one day I saw him sober.  Regardless, he never missed his work, was always busy, cheerful and in possession of a great sense of humour.

I believe that when on leave and at home in Barra, he volunteered to work on the Island's airport.  Small aircraft land and take off from the local beach.  I think it was John's job to shoo away the grey seals and move any large bits of driftwood off the "Runway"

GTV ASIALINER  -  The ship, or one of the sister ships I shared with Barra John.