Douglas Horrell
@cleftcraft.bsky.social
Gardener on the edge. Lover of natural complexity. Bike life. Making and teaching craft with http://rekindle.org.nz in Ōtautahi/Christchurch, NZ. instagram.com/cleftcraft/
A heads up for lovers of handcrafts - this beautiful pile of willow baskets and more is for sale this Saturday, 10-3 at the Steiner School Fair. Made here un Ōtautahi by my talented fellow Rekindle teachers Diana Duncan (aka Swamp City Basketry) and Gemma Stratton.
#🇳🇿🧶
#🇳🇿🧶
November 6, 2025 at 3:15 AM
A heads up for lovers of handcrafts - this beautiful pile of willow baskets and more is for sale this Saturday, 10-3 at the Steiner School Fair. Made here un Ōtautahi by my talented fellow Rekindle teachers Diana Duncan (aka Swamp City Basketry) and Gemma Stratton.
#🇳🇿🧶
#🇳🇿🧶
Exciting! All the best things take time. This week I had a visit from Tiana, a Hawaiian weaver and hale builder, to harvest leaves from palms I grew from seed 20 years ago. So happy to be able to help out.
September 24, 2025 at 8:19 AM
Exciting! All the best things take time. This week I had a visit from Tiana, a Hawaiian weaver and hale builder, to harvest leaves from palms I grew from seed 20 years ago. So happy to be able to help out.
Very cool! Love how you can drag the audio to identify specific birds.
September 5, 2025 at 9:27 PM
Very cool! Love how you can drag the audio to identify specific birds.
So true. Bikes are incredible. For years before getting a bakfiets I overloaded my regular bike chronically and it always took it. Had to replace spokes regularly though!
July 21, 2025 at 10:32 AM
So true. Bikes are incredible. For years before getting a bakfiets I overloaded my regular bike chronically and it always took it. Had to replace spokes regularly though!
There's a failure of imagination in our incrementalism on transport issues. Why shouldn't the elderly take over bike lanes with their mobility scooters? Who said you need an SUV to take your dog places? Why don't businesses use cargo bikes for their sub 10km trips to avoid being traffic?
7/7
7/7
July 16, 2025 at 1:11 AM
There's a failure of imagination in our incrementalism on transport issues. Why shouldn't the elderly take over bike lanes with their mobility scooters? Who said you need an SUV to take your dog places? Why don't businesses use cargo bikes for their sub 10km trips to avoid being traffic?
7/7
7/7
Thinking about this a lot as I haul gear all over Ōtautahi this week in our cargo bike. E-bikes and particularly cargo e-bikes could really transform those areas in Aotearoa where sprawl or geography makes cars the current choice. But which interventions would enable the shift? A 🧵...
July 16, 2025 at 1:11 AM
Thinking about this a lot as I haul gear all over Ōtautahi this week in our cargo bike. E-bikes and particularly cargo e-bikes could really transform those areas in Aotearoa where sprawl or geography makes cars the current choice. But which interventions would enable the shift? A 🧵...
A favourite tree! Great example of heteroblasty. Here in NZ they hybridise readily with other Pseudopanax sp. Cool highly camouflaged seedlings too.
May 29, 2025 at 9:08 PM
A favourite tree! Great example of heteroblasty. Here in NZ they hybridise readily with other Pseudopanax sp. Cool highly camouflaged seedlings too.
I really enjoyed this, esp. the business idiot's enthusiasm for AI. This line stuck out.
May 24, 2025 at 3:29 AM
I really enjoyed this, esp. the business idiot's enthusiasm for AI. This line stuck out.
I mean, it couldn't be easier on this platform.
May 18, 2025 at 12:27 AM
I mean, it couldn't be easier on this platform.
A few shots from previous years of Open Christchurch.
May 2, 2025 at 12:08 AM
A few shots from previous years of Open Christchurch.
Being a card carrying wood nerd, @cleftcraft refers to the magical technique of cleaving - controlling splits in a log to get a desired shape or sized piece. It never gets old to hear the musical pop sound before it splits open.
April 25, 2025 at 9:15 PM
Being a card carrying wood nerd, @cleftcraft refers to the magical technique of cleaving - controlling splits in a log to get a desired shape or sized piece. It never gets old to hear the musical pop sound before it splits open.
Here's today's wooden cup rough carved. It cracked from my placing too much force on the soft, spalted alder so I won't bother finishing it - I'll keep it as an exemplar of what not to do for my upcoming class in May. Will definitely need some fresh wood before then!
April 21, 2025 at 6:49 AM
Here's today's wooden cup rough carved. It cracked from my placing too much force on the soft, spalted alder so I won't bother finishing it - I'll keep it as an exemplar of what not to do for my upcoming class in May. Will definitely need some fresh wood before then!
Rainy day wood carving here in Ōtautahi. I'm making a giant tea mug or kuksa out of red alder, because the cold weather turns one's mind to hot beverages.
🧶🇳🇿
#greenwoodworking
#woodcarving
#kuksa
🧶🇳🇿
#greenwoodworking
#woodcarving
#kuksa
April 21, 2025 at 1:18 AM
Rainy day wood carving here in Ōtautahi. I'm making a giant tea mug or kuksa out of red alder, because the cold weather turns one's mind to hot beverages.
🧶🇳🇿
#greenwoodworking
#woodcarving
#kuksa
🧶🇳🇿
#greenwoodworking
#woodcarving
#kuksa
I've only ever worn it off so no tips sadly...
Came down from the garden in the dark - time to start wearing a head torch. Cut down a 5m tall self sown cherry plum and turned it to woodchip today. Pulled out expired tomatoes and harvested dry beans to make way for autumn veg. A good Sunday 😁
Came down from the garden in the dark - time to start wearing a head torch. Cut down a 5m tall self sown cherry plum and turned it to woodchip today. Pulled out expired tomatoes and harvested dry beans to make way for autumn veg. A good Sunday 😁
April 13, 2025 at 11:19 AM
I've only ever worn it off so no tips sadly...
Came down from the garden in the dark - time to start wearing a head torch. Cut down a 5m tall self sown cherry plum and turned it to woodchip today. Pulled out expired tomatoes and harvested dry beans to make way for autumn veg. A good Sunday 😁
Came down from the garden in the dark - time to start wearing a head torch. Cut down a 5m tall self sown cherry plum and turned it to woodchip today. Pulled out expired tomatoes and harvested dry beans to make way for autumn veg. A good Sunday 😁
A first for me. The amaryllid Brunsvigia josephinae flowering after I bought a bulb about 18 years ago from the now defunct Parva Plants. The inflorescence stands about 85cm tall from a huge bulb and was worth the wait. I wish I'd thought to buy a few more though... 🇳🇿🌱
April 7, 2025 at 11:06 PM
A first for me. The amaryllid Brunsvigia josephinae flowering after I bought a bulb about 18 years ago from the now defunct Parva Plants. The inflorescence stands about 85cm tall from a huge bulb and was worth the wait. I wish I'd thought to buy a few more though... 🇳🇿🌱
The tool that made them for anyone interested.
March 8, 2025 at 1:53 AM
The tool that made them for anyone interested.
Sometimes what we produce as waste is just beautiful. Drawknife shavings from my prep for tomorrow's beginner spoon carving class.
March 8, 2025 at 1:46 AM
Sometimes what we produce as waste is just beautiful. Drawknife shavings from my prep for tomorrow's beginner spoon carving class.
Today's view from the nursery that will soon be replacing our lawn. Glad to have some rain today as hand watering is taking longer and longer the more I propagate. #aonzgardening
February 20, 2025 at 11:42 PM
Today's view from the nursery that will soon be replacing our lawn. Glad to have some rain today as hand watering is taking longer and longer the more I propagate. #aonzgardening
(Just had to re-up this from @fietsprofessor in the bad place 😁)
February 5, 2025 at 7:11 PM
(Just had to re-up this from @fietsprofessor in the bad place 😁)
Following up because this is delightful @aimeew.bsky.social. Finally got a message back from Scoundrel this week about their summer break days not being posted physically. Turns out there was a good reason!
February 1, 2025 at 12:13 AM
Following up because this is delightful @aimeew.bsky.social. Finally got a message back from Scoundrel this week about their summer break days not being posted physically. Turns out there was a good reason!
Great to see this little pocket of life on busy Brougham St outside Prima Roastery in Ōtautahi. Nyctemera annulata - makokōrori or NZ magpie moth caterpillars feeding on a daisy relative. These weeds could easily have been sprayed or pulled. Nice to see what the alternative looks like. #nzgardening
January 28, 2025 at 1:51 AM
Great to see this little pocket of life on busy Brougham St outside Prima Roastery in Ōtautahi. Nyctemera annulata - makokōrori or NZ magpie moth caterpillars feeding on a daisy relative. These weeds could easily have been sprayed or pulled. Nice to see what the alternative looks like. #nzgardening
Having an enjoyable afternoon industriously spent with @jostle.bsky.social making copper tags out of old spouting for our orchard trees.
January 25, 2025 at 2:07 AM
Having an enjoyable afternoon industriously spent with @jostle.bsky.social making copper tags out of old spouting for our orchard trees.
Because our grapefruit is taller than the house spraying is out so I've been trialling biological control with some tasman lacewings from Bioforce. The picture shows lacewing larvae eating the smaller whitefly larvae. Should know in a year or two whether it's been successful.
January 14, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Because our grapefruit is taller than the house spraying is out so I've been trialling biological control with some tasman lacewings from Bioforce. The picture shows lacewing larvae eating the smaller whitefly larvae. Should know in a year or two whether it's been successful.
It's huge, I forget how many hectares. We spent a couple of hours and didn't even get to the track down to the water where you can apparently see sea lions.
January 10, 2025 at 11:46 PM
It's huge, I forget how many hectares. We spent a couple of hours and didn't even get to the track down to the water where you can apparently see sea lions.