I did a bit more stone carving whilst I had the loan of the side grinder - it has now gone back to its owner. The opening photo is one of my favoured shapes and simple cross over grooves - though the stone is a bit granular and does not cut as smoothly.
Photo of the stash of stones.
And some individual ones. The stone with the white stripe and three grooves is quite large and weighs over a kilo.
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I would love to be able to gather some more black stones - but they appear to be a bit rarer.
The photos in this post are simply a small sample of visions captured on walks and drives over the last week - not in any order or priority - just joyful fragments like the black coo above just sitting in a roadside paddock.
More bits and pieces follow - hope some make folk smile.
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Fiona and I have been so fortunate to see such beauty during our time at the cottage.
Whilst over here Fiona and I have done quite a few walks on rocky coves and shores; and that has usually resulted in picking up the odd intriguing stone. I wanted to do some stone carving during our stay but time is running out and there are a few more maintenance tasks to do. So I have taken a bit of a shortcut by borrowing a battery operated side grinder fitted with a diamond disk.
I have tested it out by cutting some grooves into various rocks - ranging in size from 30mm to 150mm. Photo of some stones selected for a test run is below.
I found that some stones responded better than others. The ones in the opening photo have a finer texture and cut better. Few more photos below.
I cut the grooves freehand - in the main holding the stones in my gloved hand.
I have completed the post assemblage for our friend Karen. The post is titled The Swordly Post as it is to be installed in the grounds of the former Swordly mill and reflects her home there. The post tells stories of sea, sun and home. The sea story is reflected in some of the sea glass that Karen collected and the fish that appeared in rusted wire collected on a beach walk. The sun story is partly told by the sun symbol and spiral retrieved from a car window winding gear - another of Karen’s finds. Home is reflected through old rusted gate pieces and horse-donkey shoes to reflect the animals that share Karen and Brian’s home - a home created by and for them.
In this blog post I share a few images of details of the post. Maybe Karen will share images after it is installed.
The post as it stood in the wee workshop before being collected.
It was a joy to create this post from pieces gathered by and with meaning for Karen
This blog reflects on the traces of habitation we can leave behind. Some of the photos relate to a Mesolithic site-village; and others to a cottage abandoned untouched after the death of the inhabitant. The photo above shows Graham near one of many Mesolithic stone hut circles on the plain at the mouth of the river Naver. The photosbelow show both an iron age broch and a photo of the general area.
Below are a few photos looking into the the life left in the abandoned cottage.
The two moments of habitation are thousands of years apart but hold similar energy and human sacredness.