Photos taken at Hampton, Academy, November 2008
Located in Barrington, New Hampshire
e-mail: h_ganavac7@yahoo.com
Specializes in unique birdhouses mounted on sticks, as well as wood carvings and spurtles.
These are a few examples of the spurtles made by this artist.
What is a spurtle?
The spurtle (or "spirtle") is a Scots kitchen tool (porrige stick), dating from at least the fifteenth century. It was originally a flat, wooden, spatula-like utensil, used for flipping oatcakes on a hot girdle.
Over time, this implement changed shape and began being used specifically for stirring oatmeal and soups. It is similar to an ordinary stirring spoon, but the bowl of the spoon has been removed since a wide area would cause enough pressure to tear cooked oats apart. It looks like a fat wooden dowel, often with a contoured end to give the user a better grip. Defined as a stirring stick, it is in common use throughout Scotland.
