The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details:
https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
Price is $300 $250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.
Great piece of historic and sentimental memento
That is sad, a classic case of commercialism overriding history.
Same here, was never celebrated here, now it is making a big footprint and getting bigger each year. The kids over the road from me have put up Halloween stuff all over their front fence a month out from the event. They would have no idea what it actually is.
Thanks for that Jon
Used it to open a different knife...one that shall not be named in present company
Thanks mate, it's the only memento I have from that great grandfather, other than tales of him chewing plug tobacco, and drinking his tea cold, both habits acquired from working underground. That generation, and the following one, certainly on my father's side, never seemed to keep much
That's crazy LeonSame here, was never celebrated here, now it is making a big footprint and getting bigger each year. The kids over the road from me have put up Halloween stuff all over their front fence a month out from the event. They would have no idea what it actually is.
Looks like you're having an Australian Lamb Salad mate! 
Looks like a nice edge there
I think they had a completely different mind set mate, home and family were a lot more important to them than stuff. It was the post war generations that started the addiction to commercialism and accumulating stuff. The further you go back through my family, they only left small personal things and trinkets when they died. But what they did leave were very important to them.
Thank you most kindly, Jack!!!Excellent photo JJ, that's a nice-looking Lamb
You're right mate, none of my grandparents would have even thought of owning their own house. My dad's mother brought up six kids, in a tiny 2-up-2-down house, three doors away from where she was born, where her brother still lived. My youngest uncle is only 10 years older than me, and 3 of my dad's brothers still lived with their parents, so it was a busy house when I was a kid. There were a couple of WW1 bayonets, brought back from the war by my great-grandfather, which lived under a table in the corner, and the room was dominated by the coal fire, but there was little in the way of ornaments, there wouldn't have been room for them. When they moved onto the flats during the slum-clearance programme, they left everything behind. At the new place, they had photos of some of the grandkids, the sort of cardboard-framed things that schools charge for once a year, and no ornaments at all. My other grandparents only had one child, and had a few more things. I have my grandfather's watch, and a few collar-studs, but that's about it. I do regret being given things too young though, various military items for example, that were just given to me as toys. My paternal grandmother once gave me a pair of sergeant's stripes, they were gold-braid on a red background. She just gave them to me when she was clearing out an old drawer, as an alternative to tossing them out, telling me nothing about them. It was only many years later, long after they were lost or given away, that I worked out they had belonged to my great-grandfather.I think they had a completely different mind set mate, home and family were a lot more important to them than stuff. It was the post war generations that started the addiction to commercialism and accumulating stuff. The further you go back through my family, they only left small personal things and trinkets when they died. But what they did leave were very important to them.
Glad to see you're not going hungry my friend
Nice pan Have a good day Guardians 
Thanks Harry. Knowing nothing about horses I looked up what a Hames was and of course I must of seen them before without knowing it on pictures of barge horses and sometimes dray horses.
We have 'tree preservation orders' here in the UK. But there to stop the public cutting down trees. If your gov't or council you can cut down whatever you like. But whether your gov't or general public you can circumvent it by asking for a 'tree survey', which if the brown envelope is fat enough, will conclude the tree is 'unsafe', and needs to be cut down.Over here that would NEVER happen, we can't cut down anything. You have to apply to cut down any tree over here, and good luck with that, they will dig out an antiquated report saying some caterpillar lives in it so it is protected, bad luck that YOUR house that THEY collect rates on is not protected. And, and the same rules apply if you own a farm.
My 18 year old nephew is the same Jack. He prefers the company of adults but then I work with a lot of youngsters in my work and find most teenagers to be quite mature. It seems to be the 'middle-class university types' who have trouble adjusting to the adult world.Good morning Guardians, sorry I wasn't here yesterday, a rather stressful meeting took up much of my day. During it, my phone rang a couple of times, and I was surprised that it was my best mate's eldest lad, who I don't recall ever having rung me on his own phone before (though he's texted me a few times). After missing two of these calls, I thought it might be an emergency, so I excused myself, and went out of the meeting to ring him. It turned out that he was ringing to see if I was in the city centre, and if I wanted to 'hang out'! I was flattered, but also found it a little strange, as even though he is now in his early teens, I still think of him as a child. After my meeting, I gave him another call, and as he was still mooching around town, we met up, and I took him for coffee and cake, and talked about films and stuff. It was nice, but I still found it a bit funny. We have always spent a good deal of time together, but usually when I am with his dad, or when I am looking after him and his siblings. I rang his dad, and he said that his son really enjoys talking to me! He's always been a bright lad, and obviously he's growing up. Time flies, but maybe I'll have someone to take me to the pub in a few years (though, knowing how things work, as a father myself, I kind of doubt it)!
I hope everyone had a good weekend, and that your week gets off to a good start. I thought I'd start mine with my Big Bex. The miniature mining lamp bears the fleur-de-lys crest of a small old pit-village called Fitzwilliam, where I used to have a lot of friends. The village was dominated by the mine, but almost all evidence of it is gone now, along with the old miners cottages, and their 'club'. There is still a lot of mining memorabilia here in Yorkshire, but it is increasingly expensive, and the full-scale Davy lamps, which, long after they were used underground, were given as retirement gifts, and what have you, are very expensive. The genuine ones were highly prized, and often adorned mantle-pieces in the old cottages, handed down by grandfathers and great-grandfathers, who mostly died long before their time
Have a good week Guardians
They still make genuine miners lamps (not the ones made as souvenirs) at a company just down the road from me in Eccles, Salford. But there expensive...
www.protectorlamp.com
What a fantastic collection. That token reminds me of a story in my family that a great great uncle (on my dad's side) of mine was a miner, and was one of the first into the pit on the rescue team after the 'Pretoria Pit disaster' in 1910. He received a medal which I believe are quite sort after these days by both collectors and museums.Absolutely mate, I can't even hear that song without thinking of it
I picked up this old miner's hammer some years back, don't really have anything to do with it, but thankfully, I didn't drop it on my foot this time I got it out!
It's not as bad as the shop I was in yesterday which had up their Christmas decorations.That is sad, a classic case of commercialism overriding history.
Same here, was never celebrated here, now it is making a big footprint and getting bigger each year. The kids over the road from me have put up Halloween stuff all over their front fence a month out from the event. They would have no idea what it actually is.
When I think about it, I was the same David. After I started work at 16, I used to go to an old-fashioned street-corner pub virtually every night. The closest friend I had to me in age was 26, and most were in their 30's, while some were much older. I was even friends with an old school pal's granddad!
That's a fascinating link David, thanksI love that diddy lamp
Protector Lamp, Eccles, Mining Lamps, Davy Lamps, made in England since 1873
Protector Lamp,Eccles,mining lamps,Olympic Flame,Torch Relay and Holy Fire Lamps,safety lamp,eccles,davy lamp,sales,parts,servicing
You're right though, those lamps aren't cheap! Another rabbit-hole I can ill-afford to go down! Thanks mate, I have a lot of clutter!
That's an amazing story David, thanks again for the link 
meako
a miniature brass miner's pick and shovel that someone had made, a few years ago, but I don't seem to have a photo. I did find a pic of another pit-check though 
I was shocked when I saw a butchers in Leeds market with them up at the beginning of September!
They had that rotten Christmas muzak on too! 
What great pics DavidSlowwwww......internet yesterday so these are from Sunday afternoon.
I think that is one of the main reasons why Christmas does not mean the same anymore to people over a certain age, i know a lot of people that don't feel the same about it anymore. Just an over commercialised event that goes on for too long, that is 4 months, that is nearly half the year. People should go back to making gifts for people, that would terrify the living day lights out of the big stores.
Looks like any precipitation will hold off until we all finish the round.
Going to be carrying my Ebony once again.
I feel sorry for the staff having to listen to the same dozen Xmas songs, over and over again, for 3 months!
Handmade gifts are the best LOL!My handicrafts wouldn't scare anybody. Except maybe the recipients.
Good luck Bill, you wouldn't want to be on them here at the moment, it's chucking it down!Good morning Guardians. Hitting the links today at Brunswick Plantation.
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I couldn't see it I'm afraid John, but it might be my PC being weirdMy phone is being weird this morning, so you get a recycled picture today... sorry.
As the French say, Quelle dommage! Maybe conkers will make a comeback here
You getting out the winter woolens Jer?
Nice photo buddy 
I’ve got one more class until lunch, and now my stomach is growling…thanks Jack!You getting out the winter woolens Jer?
I'll eat pie at any time of the year, but it definitely tastes better as the nights start drawing in, and the temperature drops
