When I was a mature student...
...back in 1995, I worked part-time for a gardener. Usually Wednesdays and Saturdays with more days during the hols.

One day we were clearing a very over-grown garden, cutting back trees and shrubs etc. I was cutting some branches off a couple of trees: ash and yew, and a couple of the branches looked ideal for making into walking sticks. I'd have the ash one and Mrs G would have a beautiful yew walking stick.

I took them home and varnished the cut ends to prevent them drying out too quickly and splitting. The following year, I stripped off all the bark and began paring them into walking stick sized sticks, as they were both easily two or three inches diameter and much too hefty for a stroll.

When my Stanley knife blades were all knackered, I put them away in a shed. When we moved house, Mrs G told me to chuck them as I'd never get around to finishing them. I didn't.

I kept them the next time we moved house too - seven years later. And the next time, three years after that. Now they're in the garage, in the same state that they were in 1997 or so.

One day...
(Che Grimsdale Best before:, Fri 25 Jun 2010, 17:32, Reply)