Jacaranda Walnut

Jacaranda and walnut are the woods that my new bow handle is going to be made from, plus some carbon fibre. We visited Border Bows at Gordon in Berwickshire on the second of the month. Young Sid gave us a tour of the workshop where about half a dozen people were working, each on a specialised aspect of the hand-made bow-making process. He and Old Sid (can I say that? ;-)) gave us brainloads of technical information while we tried to look intelligent. Well, I did: Toad probably understood the technicalities a great deal better than me because he has spent time studying them and I haven't. I'm a practical archer – a learner by doing – more than a theoretical one. Toad loves theory and soaks it up like a sponge.

           We took the motorway route on the way, and it was interesting to see that new-ploughed soil in the western part of the journey had shiny bits but soil in the east did not. Eastwards was redder. Eastwards was also sheepier, the best bit of sheepiness being a small flock of red sheep near Uphall. Yes. Red. Entirely! It was as if the shepherd had gone a bit wild with the spray can of branding dye and coloured in the whole sheep, as small children do with paint on sheets of paper. Eastwards was also snowier, though not as snowy as Kintyre.

           Setting off homewards via Tweeddale, we came into Kelso at about ten to five and then to Caroline's Coffee Shop on the Horsemarket. There was only one customer still there; the proprietors were clearly cleaning up for the night, but they welcomed us in and provided hot soup, omelette and salad and tea. Brilliant minestrone soup – it even warmed my feet which had become very cold. So if you're in Kelso, I recommend a visit to Caroline's Coffee Shop.

           The limbs of my new bow will be Hex6H, for any archery techies out there. And they will be short, as opposed to extra-short as was first suggested by the Sids, to accommodate my increased draw length. I'm keeping to a 23-inch riser (handle) for the sake of lightness. I will be able to increase the poundage of my draw a little, should I wish to in due course, by winding the limbs fully in.

My current bow: "Blubo" (photo taken last summer, as you can see from the grass!)

As we came onto the rough track that leads up to our house, we spotted our first hedgehog of the year. Just as well we spotted it and stopped because it was right in the tyre tracks. I jumped out to shoo it somewhere safe but it went of its own accord into the scrubby grasses at the side. I then walked up the rest of the way, glad to stretch my legs for a few minutes.



Later that week, I had lunch with a Kintyre couple, whose names for the purposes of this blog are Mr and Mrs Soop. We all had fish and chips. There were no mushy peas, at which we expressed such outrage that the waiter (who had a foreign accent; that is significant, as you'll see) went and told the chef we wanted the garden peas mashed up. The waiter came back and told us the chef would mash the peas but we assured him that REALLY it was allright. So my plate had mashed garden peas and their two plates had unmashed garden peas. Naturally we fought over the mashed ones ;-)

I hope that waiter will get used to Scottish gran humour before too long! Poor man. He can't have been there long. The hotel gate keeper was very jocular in the usual west of Scotland style that leaves a wide grin on your face.

And we came out to glorious spring sunshine.

Lady Barebow and her pal, "Soop" (a true lady)

A "Scrappy" for Soop – wall-hanging or table runner

Our first properly open daffodil showed its face on the first of April. As well as that there was a primrose, a lesser celandine, a couple of periwinkle flowers, and the flowering currant. Sometimes I think of months in colours. April, when the sun shines, is fairly yellow. When the sun doesn't shine, a misty grey.


This is a nice story from Colorado: Gorilla cardiology in Denver