Morning folks — it’s the same old story in the Welsh hills: absolutely horrendous weather, raining nonstop, even a bit of snow, and I’ve not had a chance to get out with the camera. Rather than sit around twiddling my thumbs, I head into the barn and fall back on one of my long-time rainy-day hobbies: spoon carving. In this video I carve a simple little pocket spoon from a lovely bit of local cherry — and I take you right through it from start to finish. I show the basic tool kit you need (nothing mad or fancy): an axe, a straight knife, and a hook knife for the bowl. I split the wood, make a billet, mark out the design, cut in the crank (that bend between handle and bowl), then rough it out with the axe before switching to knife work for control and shaping. I also talk about why I’ve stopped sanding everything glass-smooth — I actually like seeing the maker’s marks and facets now; there’s an honesty to it. To finish, I burnish the spoon (I use a bit of sheep horn) and oil it with walnut oil to bring that cherry colour up. And yes — I’m giving this spoon away to one subscriber.