Sunday, January 23, 2005
Who moved my cheese?

Great book, if you haven't read it I'd recommend it to anyone.Of course that is assuming change management books can be considered great...

It's odd how your life changes without you realising. Happens all the time, the trick apparently is to realise that change is not just inevitable, it is often beneficial. Maybe you were running out of cheese and moving to a different place will lead you to a whole new pile of cheese. Anyway enough of the cheese metaphor, if you've read the book you already understand, if you haven't then you won't until you do.

It wasn't too long ago I was sat with my wife in our big old Victorian house. I'd been doing it up slowly and it was starting to look quite nice. Ok, it wasn't, it was looking distinctly like a building site but our daughter's room was lovely. Now a few years, a few debts and a divorce later things have certainly changed. This isn't me saying I'm unhappy with the situation I'm in, I'm not. Recently I've been realising more and more what a good thing this is, but that isn't the point of this either...

I'm not sure what the point is to be honest, it's just that someone's moved my cheese again...

I thought I knew where I'd be in half a dozen years, now I'm not sure. There are at least two money making schemes on the go, more like four if you count the writing and the growing amount of web design. I've no idea if they'll actually pay off. One of them has the potential to be huge, but only time will tell I suppose. It didn't really matter as we'd be secure either way. Now we might not be. Hence the somewhat disjointed blog.

Now where did I put that wine...

Posted by Martin Austwick 2005-01-23 16:27:45

Saturday, January 22, 2005
aren't people great?

I happened to get chatting to a guy I'd never met recently about the fact that I make knives and that I'm always on the look out for good quality steel. He asked me what type of thing I meant.

Old files, leaf springs, that kind of thing I replied. Half an hour later I had four old leaf springs in the boot of my car. Enough to keep me going for a while...

I made a blank from one fo them today, I used about three inches to forge out a small chef's knife. I still don't know exactly what the content of the steel is, but I have a feeling it is air hardening. After three normalising cycles my file was hardly touching it... It's gonna be hard work but it should make a great blade...

Anyway that's all very dull (unless you are me) and we were talking about how great people are. Have you ever noticed how rude people are when you are walking down the street? Well maybe it's just me...

For some one who loves people so much I sure hate the bas***ds!

Posted by Martin Austwick 2005-01-22 18:10:10

Wednesday, January 19, 2005
Not for the squeamish

Or those with vegetarian tendancies...

I may have mentioned a little while ago how I like to eat meat from animals that have lived happy lives. I have a feeling I talked, ok I ranted about why it is the thing to do. Today I'm going to talk about why it isn't the thing to do...

I spent most of the day shooting today, well that's not entirely true. I spent most of the day stood in various fields and woods around Surrey whilst holding a gun.

Thankfully I was not alone and so at the end of the day I got to pick something from the day's bag. Normally I grab a brace of pheasants, take them straight home, fillet them and throw them in the slow cooker for a good few hours to cook the toughness out (though Pheasant Sate is pretty damn good!) but this time I was feeling adventurous...

I've recently developed a bit of a taste for Aromatic Crispy Duck in pancakes (there's an all you can eat Chinese not far from our place) and I even found a recipe. You can see where this is going can't you?

I grabbed a plump looking mallard drake and set off home.

Now I have nothing against dressing meat. I have gutted more fish than I can count, a goodly number of rabbits and I've skinned a large variety of creatures. It struck me as I was sat on the floor in the kitchen staring at a duck that was doing it's very best "dead" look that I have never gutted a bird. I've plucked a few when I was a kid so that didn't faze me. I grabbed a bin bag and set to it.

Within a few minutes there had been quite a reversal of roles. The duck was somewhat balder than before and I was looking what can only be described as feathered. Not to be deterred I kept on. There were a couple of tears in the skin where the shot had entered which made it a slightly messier business than I remember but eventually I was done. Now how to gut acreature when you can't slit open it's belly...

Off came the feet and head. It's looking quite like a shop bought bird now so I'm feeling pretty pleased with myself. I am however still a little puzzled. I don't want to get this wrong as I LOVE crispy duck and as S is away I can have an entire duck to myself if I get it right. So I grab my "Book of Meat" by Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall (if you don't have it, go buy it now, it has changed my life) and set to following his instructions. It is only when I find myself covered in blood and guts (quite literally) up to my wrists that I realise I want to check the book again. I have carefully closed it.

Out come all sorts of things that don't smell nice at all. Did I mention that you have to get your fingers in and root around to get them? Thought not. Well you do. Trust me on this, it isn't pleasant.

Now I've got lots of intestines, a thing that could be a liver and quite possibly a heart. What do ducks lungs look like? I have no idea.

After a lot of rinsing, digging about and more rinsing I have what now looks like something I could pick up off the supermarket shelf 100 yards away from my house... I am fairly sure I got everything out that should be out, but I'll find out for sure later I guess. It is now soaking in a mixture of aromatic spices.

It better be bloody good I can tell you...

Posted by Martin Austwick 2005-01-19 17:00:28

Tuesday, January 18, 2005
A blog that died...

I briefly kept a blog a while ago. This was something I asked there.

Lets say I make a model that is supposed to be a duck.

You look at it and suppose it to be a kettle.

Is it supposed to be a duck or a kettle?

Posted by Martin Austwick 2005-01-18 18:24:02

Tuesday, January 18, 2005
One of those days

Today has not been the best of days.

I have pretty much finished a big order for a re-enactment group which was set to get me a reasonable amount of money. It was cancelled.

Such is life I thought to myself and wandered off to the forge to work on some other projects, I had forged out a really rather pretty blade for a chef's knife, the majority of the work was done, I was just draweing it out slightly and increasing the distal taper when Imust have got distracted. I pulled the blade from the coals and it was ruined. If you let steel get too hot the carbon burns out of it and you are left with bubbling shite full of impuirties that is neither use nor ornament. So I cutthe tip off, dumped itand walked away.

I've had days like that before you see, sometimes I just don't know when to quit, and I ruin piece after piece,today I did. I went and sat in the woods instead and tried to shoot dinner.

I made a pizza when I got home. No luck you see. Suirprisingly I was surprised...

So now I have £15 to my name, my rent is pretty much due, I have no immediate work and I've eaten the last of the cheese.

One of those days indeed...

Posted by Martin Austwick 2005-01-18 18:15:55