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Things that I wish I had during the last lunar eclipse: 1. Tripod (I think I did a pretty good job without one). 2. Mosquito repellent. #lunareclipse (at Perth, Western Australia)

Merry Kimberley Christmas! A boab (Adansonia gregorii) tree festooned with fairy lights and massive shiny red baubles on the main street of Broome gets my mum and I in the festive spirit. (at Broome, Western Australia)

Merry Kimberley Christmas! A boab (Adansonia gregorii) tree festooned with fairy lights and massive shiny red baubles on the main street of Broome gets my mum and I in the festive spirit. (at Broome, Western Australia)

Emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae)

When the fire is hot enough for the smoke to billow a kilometre into the sky, I feel like they might be using a fairly loose interpretation of the term "controlled burn". (at Armadale, Bedfordale)

I think this kid likes public art even more than I do. (at Trafalgar Square)

Extreme adventure goat series - the goat is close to the centre of the frame in all phographs.

Grey butcherbird (Cracticus torquatus) (at Subiaco, Western Australia)

#treetexturebattle (at Mueller Park Subiaco)

Should be interesting when they have a telephone fault or the neighbours want to get a line connected. (at Beeliar, Western Australia)

Okay kids, you can play on the rocking horse, but only if you promise not to ask any questions about Bambi. (at Restoran «Macola», Korenica)

A closer look at the sea urchins and the niches they have carved. #seaurchintexturebattle (at Quobba Station)

Hundreds of sea urchins have eroded a network of channels into the limestone rock shelf. #seaurchintexturebattle (at Quobba Station)

A somewhat disappointing attempt to capture the chatoyancy of the wood in the handle. If I still had the knife, I'd film in sunlight (the effect is more obvious), zoomed in from a distance so the focal distance didn't change so much as I moved the handle. However, it now has a better life without me, so this is all I've got.

In the hands of its very capable new master (mistress? :-/ ). The flatter edge of the santoku bocho compared to western knives takes some technical adjustment for chopping because you don't rock the blade on its belly, but the thinner blade profile afforded by the harder (& high quality: fine crystal grain size, etc.) steel make slicing a dream. The kasumi (mist) finish achieved by differentially etching the two laminated stainless steels of the jigane (the multilayer cladding that forms the two outer "sheets" in the san-mai awase construction) is not just cosmetic: the asperities break suction and release food in the same way as the scallops/dimples of a Granton blade. I sculpted the handle so that you naturally hold it in the high control paring grip (demonstrated in the main photo :-D ). It's slightly asymmetrical, optimised for Betty's right-handed grip. The centre of mass sits just forward of the tip of the middle finger, so it feels very light & easy to use.

At home in its natural environment: the cutting board. I finished the handle with my own homemade blends of protective finish and polish in order to maintain the natural wood feel. I'm not sure I'll go to the effort of countersinking and peening the brass pins next time - that may have been overkill.

Neoprene liners are prevent the wood cracking due to thermal expansion of the steel or dimensional changes of the wood with humidity. Brass liners are because I thought it would look cool. ;-)