A spoon, kolrosing and porridge

Another Spoon – a Small Spoon

I recently carved a small spoon to try out some kolrosing. I carved it from fresh cherry wood, which tends to fray a little.

I made the charcoal in a metal tin on the fire. It didn’t come out as cleanly charred as I would have liked, so it could probably have been crushed much finer than I did. On the little spoon I tried carving a few trees, a fire, and stars. But as you can see on the handle, they didn’t come out very clear. 

I’m pretty sure the problem was that I hadn’t sandpapered the spoon enough, so the charcoal had too many places to settle. I also spread charcoal over too much area compared to the cuts.

The Tiwaz runes stacked on top of each other make a beautiful symbol. Tyr is a god I hold in high regard, and the simple ancient-style drawing of a spruce tree is cool. That symbol will definitely appear in many more spoons.

After coming home from the forest, I gave the spoons a coat of food-safe paraffin oil. The result looks pretty nice, and I’m looking forward to doing more kolrosing on the things I carve.

Oatmeal

When I go on trips, I often prepare oatmeal mixes at home. I don’t worry too much about the exact measurements, but the small 0.5 liter resealable bags are perfect for the job. I mix oats, powdered milk, sugar, and cinnamon beforehand. Sometimes I add chopped nuts and dried fruit (apricot, banana, apple). I usually grab dried fruit when it’s on sale in the “bargain bins” at the store. It just needs to be chopped fairly fine.

In late summer there are apples, raspberries, blackberries, and currants in the forest, so I’ll throw in fresh fruit too. Naturally, that doesn’t go into the dry-mix bag.

The Stanley food jar is absolutely brilliant for this. Just pour the mix in, add boiling water, and set it aside while you do something else. The oatmeal turns out perfect, and you can’t burn it over the fire. Since I’m rarely hungry in the morning, the oatmeal is ready when I get hungry later in the day.

I also use this trick a lot for work lunches. Easy, cheap, tasty, healthy. And it’s really convenient to portion out breakfast for several days of a trip in this way – compact, fast food, especially if you’re tired.

Last week my big bushpot came with me, so I made oatmeal in that. Again, to avoid burning: bring water to a boil, add the oatmeal mix, and set the pot aside. I placed it on the fire but with some stones between. That keeps the heat while the oatmeal steeps, but shields it enough so it doesn’t burn.

The kettle in the picture is one of my favorite pieces of gear. It cost 10 DKK (~1.33 EUR) at a thrift shop, and I’ve had it for 8 years. Perfect outdoor gear – your kit doesn’t have to be expensive, as long as it works.

Finally, here’s a picture of the sunset, where I sat at the forest’s edge looking over the fields. A perfect place to pause on an evening walk.