Slow Life Blog from the Lake District
  • Home
  • About Me
  • Contact Me

Yew, Beautiful Yew

5/8/2012

0 Comments

 
Picture
“Do you mind if I take a yew log from your woodpile?” asked the chirpy visitor at one of my garden open days last year. “Of course not, go ahead” I replied, thinking, but not saying, “Cheeky bugger”. Actually it’s nice to be asked. Open days are liberally interpreted as “open house” days as visitors, mainly of the fairer sex, fill their bags with cuttings, or worse. The truth is, I don’t mind at all; I take it as a compliment and no harm is done.
The ladies who filch cuttings never return with the fruits of their labour but the chirpy chappy did, at my Open day today, and I couldn’t have been more delighted. He had taken a yew log which was destined for the fire and turned it into the most beautiful bowl. Making logs into wooden objects is a bit like cooking it seems, in that you have to make sure the wood is properly seasoned. But seasoning in this case doesn’t mean the liberal application of salt and pepper, but involves allowing the wood to mature.
​
The chirpy chappy turned out to be Keith Howard, from Stockport, who carves wood for Beechwood Cancer Care for whom he raises thousands each year. His most popular carvings are little yew wood Christmas trees. I let him help himself to whatever he wanted from my wood pile today – I’d love to see one of his Christmas trees.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.


    ​About Slow Life

    The idea of Slow Life is to take the principles of Slow Food, which are “good, clean and fair”, and extend them to life in general.

    Here in the Lake District, the air is clean, the pace is slow and the atmosphere is calm. If we don’t grow food ourselves, we can buy it in friendly small shops, where you know the quality is going to be the best.

    This blog is a celebration of the Slow Life, with forays into the world of design, music, the arts, gardens, and my particular weakness, Japan.

    Archives

    June 2017
    December 2016
    August 2015
    May 2015
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009
    October 2009

    RSS Feed

Home   |   About Me   |   Contact Me

Jonathan Denby's Slow Life blog from the Lake District

© Copyright Slow Life 2020. All rights reserved   |   cookie policy    |   Site by Treble3
  • Home
  • About Me
  • Contact Me