Video

I thought I'd kick off this year's mowing by demonstrating an affordable scythe outfit - the cheapest I could get - hopefully to show that even with limited financial means, you can try scything without going second-hand. While it is good to recycle, old scythes are prone to mistreatment and decay, and are not really suitable for novices. This kind of scythe might also appeal to those who only ...

Spinning some of the 2022 flax while it's raining. Slowly getting better. I'm sure the spinners amongst you will recognise the Ashford spinning wheel in the video - this is a 1970s version, fully serviced and now running well (although the original bobbins clatter about a little!). I've turned a new distaff and water bowl (to hold a wet sponge) which seem to be working well. The single yarn at ...

The lawn has certainly picked up after the summer drought and, because I'd left it a while, it was quite thick to cut. It was also pretty wet. This will probably be the last lawn mow of the year; I'm using a favourite old Nash blade on a reproduction handle. Nice to see a comma butterfly on the phacelia.

A chance encounter with a female (doe) roe deer in September 2022, NE England. A rare treat to watch such a beautiful creature close up.

A wider than usual swath using a straight scythe handle with strickle.

Re-uploaded video from 2019 - may be of interest to some subscribers. This was my first attempt at a rug using a Navajo-style loom. I am just a beginner and not very good at weaving, but very much enjoyed the whole process of weaving this way. The fleeces came from a local farm; I hand-span them and dyed some of the yarn with alder cones, but most of the yarns are their natural colour. I made t...

Here, I'm using the Belgian/Flemish/Dutch overarm handle that I looked at in another video. So far, I've only seen these steel tube versions of overarm handles for sale in the Netherlands (search online for:'Zeisboom recht metaal'). With these types of handles you can bring into play an extra point of support from your body: the inner arm or crook of the arm. So together with your two hands, th...

Another hay harvest; so much easier to do when the weather is with you! The scythe handle is another variation of the Scottish Y-frame scythe which I made last year; this is its first proper outing and it performed admirably. The blade is a vintage riveted 30" Tyzack with lots of life left in it. Once again, thank you to those who hit the 'like' button :)

Just spinning some of the Teeswater/Cheviot wool that I prepared in these earlier videos: Preparing fleece for spinning: 1 washing czcams.com/video/MRRgS6vzPqo/video.html Preparing fleece for spinning: 2 picking and carding czcams.com/video/YLwtHF_mH7c/video.html

Letting most of the 'grass' grow again for a couple of months. I'm going to call this 'parmowing' (like parboil :)) rather than 'no mow' (I also 'pardig' the garden as I find it more useful than completely 'no dig'). So, not a lot of mowing to do but I want to keep things reasonably tidy in order to not lead folk into thinking that this plot has been abandoned! I also need to clear paths for da...

Just showing how I have been picking through and carding the two fleeces from the fleece washing video. I didn't use to pick wool prior to carding, but have now found that this extra step makes it much easier to achieve a more consistent rolag and consequently a more consistent yarn. Faced with sacks of fleece to get through, I made a swinging wool picker recently to speed things up, but I have...

Video from September 2019 (from an older camcorder). I have been recently spinning this wool which has been stored since 2019, so I thought I'd re-upload the video of it being washed. The white fleece is a Teeswater cross and the dark one a zwartble. In retrospect, I could have 'skirted' the Teeswater a bit more ruthlessly, but it wasn't too bad. All I'm adding to the water is a little bio-degr...

When looking at traditional scythes for sale, the older type of English scythe is not so easy to spot amongst the endless ubiquitous American/Canadian imports to which English blades were fitted. This old beauty, which came from the Norfolk area, is in good original conditon, despite the wood having rotted through. Taking such an old thing apart is a form of archaeology and a real link to our p...

These particular scythe handles and blades are not normally for sale in the UK, but a few complete set-ups came up for sale and I took the opportunity to have a look. Tubular steel handles are a low-cost option over wooden ones but, if used correctly and within their capabilities, they can work well enough. These scythes were sold complete but maybe it's the wrong choice of blade for the handle...

Peening a scythe blade - how I do it

Traditional scything: first lawn cut of 2022

A year of scything the same patch of grass

Flax to linen: from sowing to sewing.

Austrian Fux scythe on lawn: October

Grass hook and scythe at work.

Traditional scything with a straight sned

Vintage American scythe snath with a 3' English blade.

Scandinavian scythe with an Austrian blade

Small meadow hay: baling with a hand baler

Small meadow hay: mowing with an English scythe

Scottish Scythe trimming

Grass hook / Hand scythe

Trimming with an Austrian style scythe

English scythe trimming