When I set out today my main objective was to seek out an alternative natural tinder to fatwood for fire starting when everything is soaked through !
We are currently on about our 4th consecutive week of more or less constant rain so you can't get any wetter conditions than this !!!!

The first tinder I tried was what looked some kind of birch bark which I fuzzed up, this didn't even come close to taking a spark.

Next up I tried some good old Cedar bark......



This took a spark but just kinda smouldered and went out...



Next up I tried cutting up a pine cone into fine stuff, I didn't get a pic because some sheeple appeared so I had to quickly put my knife and ferro rod away( I'm sure you have all been there !).
It didn't take a spark anyway !!!!

So now I got to thinking what if I took some resinous sap......



And mixed it in with some Cedar bark !



After about 3 strikes I spotted a flame....



Oh yeah baby !!! This continued to burn for quite some time and I finished up putting it out with some moss !



Problem solved. No Fatwood, then mix some sap in with some Cedar bark and ya good to go !

Onto discovery two. As I continued my walk I heard the familiar croak of a tree frog. Usually these are far off in the distance and when ya get anywhere close they go quiet so ya never find them ! Today was different though as I narrowed this frog down to an area about 6' by 6' before he stopped croaking !!!!
Even when you are on top of these critters they are still nearly impossible to spot but lady luck was with me today....



Yay my first tree frog...



If ya doubt how hard they are to spot, take a look at this pic and he isn't even in the deep moss where I found him !



I carried on my walk enjoying the brief break from all the rain !

love the treefrog pic!

Little frog! Surprised he'd be out. Lots of green, it doesn't look like winter!

Love the scent of Cedar.

Very nice pictures and discoveries. Your last picture reminds me of home, even if its very far away from where you took that.

What kind of critter is that in the last picture? Your dog?

Yeah that's Snicker otherwise known as the tiny terror ! Here she is today wondering why the field she normally runs is has turned into a lake !!!!

Great woodscrafting & great idea making your own fatwood variant.
That frog is cool too.It's amazing how loud they are for such a small critter.
Thanks for the pics,and give the dogs a scratch.

Great idea on the sap and shavings. I can not believe that little frog let you find him either.

That cedar bark looked like it burned really good. Nice pics.

Okay! I know my eyesight is getting bad. Where in the picture is the frog?
Didn't see Maisie, is she OK?

Half way down and just over a 3rd of the way across from the left !!! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

Maisy is fine buddy, she just wouldn't stand still long enough for a pic !!!! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/doh.gif" alt="" />