Thank you Emil. You too. My very first spoon is almost finished after a long time.

Yes, from a plum tree near the garden. I put a few pieces aside. But over time they become dry and hard. It would be best to work with the blanks while they are still green or to store them in water (as you suggested). But there isn't always enough time and space for that.

Plum.

Okay, I thought so. Probaly it is, if it's not a wooden butter knife. :) I am carving a spoon (from a very dry hardwood). At the end I used some coarse sandpaper to further smoothen it out.

Beautiful! Do you sand your wooden spoons at the end?

20/12/25: Town church in Erbach.

The church bells consist of four bells tuned to the “Salve Regina motif”*:
“Elfuhr Bell,” cast in 1357 and brought to Erbach from Schönau Monastery in 1563, tone F sharp. The bell weighs 22 hundredweight.
"Our Father Bell” from 1513, recast in 1850, tone A, weight 8 hundredweight.
“Memorial Bell,” cast in 1950, tone D, weighing 32 hundredweight, it is the heaviest bell in the peal.
“Eberhard's Bell,” also cast in 1950, tone B, weighing 6 hundredweight.

All information according to: Evangelische Kirchengemeinde Erbach (ed.): Evangelische Stadtkirche Erbach – Kirchenchronik, p. 3.

#historic #architecture #Architektur #kirche #erbach #church #churchtower #bell

20/12/25 Old blue painted door in historic inner courtyard of Erbach
#Doorsday

#historic #erbach #door #architecture #doors #Türen #tür #Architektur

20/12/25: Two half-timbered houses next to a river in Erbach.

#erbach #river #half-timbered #fachwerkhaus #fachwerkbau

I picked another Christmas tree from the forest. My new larch fence in the background still looks nice and fresh and even makes the concrete wall more acceptable to look at (contrast to the natural wood).
What do you think? Better with or without a fence?

#larchwood #wood #fence #speltfence #christmastree #snow #woodwork #handmade

Fire burning. The ash from my stove is always cleanly burned (almost tasteless and odourless). I often put it in the chicken coop once they have cooled down.

#hot #fire #art #flames #burning #firewood #oven #fireart

One of our old hens (the one in the middle with the green ring) was close to dying. I think she's about 5 years old and no longer lays eggs. She already had a dark blue comb, was bloated and lethargic. I managed to save her again, or at least prolong her life a little.
What I did: I isolated the chicken briefly, gave her a raw egg to eat, massaged her crop for a few minutes and pressed it gently, then she vomited. It smelled bad. In a few hours, things started looking up again and she started slowly eating and moving.
I didn't have to save a human life, but I did save the life of an old chicken.
I don't know exactly what was wrong with the bird. Maybe she was dehydrated and had pecked too much salt. The water supply was shortly cut because the can was covered with ice for some hours. Or maybe she is just too cold and old. Chickens can withstand double-digit sub-zero temperatures, but it's important to keep their environment and nests dry and clean. No draughts. And make use of the hours of sunshine and offering fresh bales to scratch around to keep them moving.

#chickens #backyardchickens #chicken #birds #farmlife #hens #hühner

Today we went for a winterhike in Sulden. Not much snow, but good slopes, trails (usually closed due to avalanche risk), sunny and cold weather conditions.

#winter #woods #rocks #mountainlandscape #mountain #sunset #madritsch #winterwonderland

Frozen stream in winter with water under the ice.

#winter #frozen #ice #stream #footprints #snow

Today we went for a winterhike in Sulden. Winter mountain landscape of the Ortler with forests stretching along its flanks.
My brother has an eye for good photos as well.

#winter #mountainlandscape #mountain #ortler #winterwonderland #happynewyear

thank you. kalthoff small carver axe for the coarse chopping/carving, morakniv 106 for the fine carving

Attempt to chop/carve a sphere out of an arolla pine cube freehand.
The diameter of the ball is approximately 8 cm.

#chopped #carved #wood #woodwork #arollapine

Attempt to chop/carve a sphere out of an arolla pine cube freehand.
The knots and resin ducts make part of the sphere look like a friendly yet sad face.

#chopped #carved #wood #woodwork #arollapine #handmade

Attempt to chop/carve a sphere out of an arolla pine cube freehand. Not so round, still making it a little rounder. Round about.

#chopped #carved #wood #woodwork #arollapine

Merry Christmas to everyone out there!

When lighting the wax candles (many of which have burned down over the years), special caution is required. We always make sure that the candles are stable, have enough distance from the branches above and do not burn for too long. A bucket of water is kept ready in case of emergency. A solid massive larch base ensures that the whole tree stands firmly.
We then sing a few Christmas carols together while the candles burn before unwrapping the presents.
In the past (ca. 30-10 years ago), we always went for a walk in the forest on Christmas Eve, but the dense, healthy dark forest and the paths are no longer what they used to be. And so, from then on, the traditionally obligatory walk was skipped.

#merrychristmas #christmas #christmastree #burningcandles #traditional #sustainability #weihnachtsbaum #weihnachten