Fraxinus Excelsior


I just bought a new pencil. It's an Ash twig with graphite running through its centre. Marketed as a 'Scribbling Stick' I chose it from a market stall selling products made from coppiced woodland timber by a company called Native and Traditional  www.wight-crafts.com

I say I chose the pencil. I had real trouble choosing from a variety of differently sized and shaped, Cherry, Juniper and Oak wood Scribbling Sticks and in the end I think the pencil chose me, in a Harry Potter Sorting Hat kind of a way.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

life in lockdown

Image
It's 15 days since I last posted, about Covid-19, and in that time the world has been upended. On a Macro scale things have become nightmarish, with hundreds dying in every country, and society as we knew it (certainly in the West) changing out of all recognition. The Macro, informs the Micro, of course, and individually our lives and routines have had to change and adapt too. But amongst the wholesale changes, I've managed to hold on to a few familiar things. I suspect we've all latched on to certain things that are still available and familiar and make us feel more secure in uncertain times. For me, my morning exercises (after coffee) are something that I can continue with, speaking with family and friends, texting and emailing continues too (perhaps more frequently now). Listening to the radio. Gazing out of the window at trees and clouds, a simple pleasure I've always enjoyed and can continue to enjoy. And walking is still allowed to us too, in fact it's encoura
Read more

reading challenges

Image
The weather remains consistently dismal at the moment. By my reckoning it's rained for at least 48 days straight this month, and we've still got a week of wet weather ahead of us, according to forecasters. I have managed to get outside, despite the rain, for walks around the block, along the seafront, into town, any walk that gives me exercise and gets me some fresh air is good in my book. And speaking of books, what this weather is perfect for is staying indoors, on the sofa, nose buried in a good read. I noticed this poster, below, on a visit to my favourite second-hand bookshop in town - Oxfam Books. I don't know if this is a new initiative from them, I've not been aware of it before, but I'm definitely here for it. Love Stories is the theme for this month. I don't generally go for romance as a genre, but I'm happy if a book I'm reading contains a love story, as long as it's not the main focus of the plot. Yesterday, I finished Wide Sargasso Sea b
Read more

free ebook download

Image
Please follow the link to Smashwords.com to download your free copy of The Stolen Days of John Mann. This book is the first part of the John Mann trilogy, All the Days of John Mann. You can choose to download the book in an epub, mobi for Kindle, or pdf format. I hope you enjoy it, and if you do then please consider leaving a review, because that would really help me out. Thank you.  https://www.smashwords.com/books
Read more