tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17391659378598222982024-03-13T14:07:36.637-07:00AgrarianistaJoshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05409883521642115031noreply@blogger.comBlogger188125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1739165937859822298.post-85521575681821379532019-08-31T08:07:00.000-07:002019-08-31T08:07:17.350-07:00How to make a signal horn -- a 'toot'orial... also, I think I approached the end of the internet<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4Bn9cfKM8AhIiHla3wu7k_WxVgeeq8gGXIQAqDETMQLETjNXaaJEYB_nlXcaRPHrRrSrV5ng8hjdJOf7_WWsgunMf3lkBEjFOqw0VE09mc8ZD0dXxVz9TXEL-G1CkgAYOX0_Rn7ghJG8R/s1600/20190402_064656.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4Bn9cfKM8AhIiHla3wu7k_WxVgeeq8gGXIQAqDETMQLETjNXaaJEYB_nlXcaRPHrRrSrV5ng8hjdJOf7_WWsgunMf3lkBEjFOqw0VE09mc8ZD0dXxVz9TXEL-G1CkgAYOX0_Rn7ghJG8R/s320/20190402_064656.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The slogan for Clan Donnachaidh, "Garn 'nuair dhuisgear!" means, "fierce when roused!" What a great thing to attach to a signal horn!</i></td></tr>
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<br />
I'm an odd duck, I admit. I'm a touch atavistic, I enjoy working with my hands although I've got nearly zero training, and I seem to look for projects that don't have much practical application. These projects almost never have local experts that I know, either -- a condition that would have made them unattainable for me in any previous era.<br />
<br />
But, today we have a Great Equalizer: the internet. I have been able to use the World Wide Web to find experts who've taken the time to show what they know, others making mistakes and learning, and even those rare masters who know how to teach something in ways that give you the confidence to try it out for yourself. The internet is an incredibly egalitarian force when it comes to previously unshared information, or even information that had been difficult to share due to its nature.<br />
<br />
For the work I do most -- leather -- the good folks at Tandy Leather had broken down that wall many years before in books and classes, and easily took their expertise to the Web. Their video man, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Hurst_(artist)">George Hurst,</a> is great at explaining and showing techniques in ways that make you feel like you can actually do it, too, and his videos at their website have been a great gift to me.<br />
<br />
But even other hobbies and skills I've tried -- from transplanting trees to blackpowder shotshell reloading -- have a varied and robust library of YouTube videos and other free online resources.<br />
<br />
However... I think I reached the end of the internet when it came to making my latest project.<br />
<br />
You see, for some reason unknown even to me, I wanted to make signal horns out of steer horn.<br />
<br />
Honestly, I don't know why I picked it. I feels obvious that I would want to make one, and when I declared my intention, nobody in my house batted an eye, because of course Josh would at some point want to make a signal horn out of a steer horn. It wasn't a matter of "if" so much as "when" to family.<br />
<br />
I jumped on the interwebs, to see some amazing expert with a great YouTube video or Instructables (although, honestly, Instructables has been less than impressive). But this time, I found almost zero.<br />
<br />
Just a couple of guys saying that they were going to try, and they made them. But, no experts.<br />
<br />
When I dug a little deeper, looking for how to work with horn, or Googling how to make powder horns, I found a little bit more. But signal horns are woefully underrepresented online.<br />
<br />
One place I found was (gasp!) a guild that required pay-to-play. There were a couple of nice looking projects, but very few pictures and almost zero description. Now, I understand the nature of guilds and trade unions, but a guild giving away its knowledge for money bothers me.<br />
<br />
Anyhow, it ain't rocket science, so I dove in and tried one for myself. I enjoyed the process so much, I bought two more horns to make for the kids, and took some pictures to post. And so, here's my addition to the ether, on how to make a signal horn:<br />
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1. Buy a horn, preferably from a place that sells them already cleaned out and sanded (Tandy Leather sells them sanded for about $25, but I'm sure there are other places that sell them, too). I didn't buy mine off the internet, and so didn't have a huge selection. In retrospect, I'm glad I had a place to look at them, since many of them were cracked and might not have made for a good horn (though I don't know, I didn't buy a cracked one to try out).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGnkb98QWopkyW9z58RsDfljCYiul67GPLl9k_FfEu5flh7yrh4i6euysZ1KgKtYE3BoIavYB-ozXKbo1aa-f2LwNOhDAjfQNSxMs_e85CXPsnf7K7cYJ9oBqWWTaVzNWLoQaeUhSX8080/s1600/Sanded+horn+from+store.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="845" data-original-width="1357" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGnkb98QWopkyW9z58RsDfljCYiul67GPLl9k_FfEu5flh7yrh4i6euysZ1KgKtYE3BoIavYB-ozXKbo1aa-f2LwNOhDAjfQNSxMs_e85CXPsnf7K7cYJ9oBqWWTaVzNWLoQaeUhSX8080/s320/Sanded+horn+from+store.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Tandy Leather sells sanded horns approx. 16". I have a local store, so I get to check them out individually. Here's what it looks like. Let's put a shine on it.</i></td></tr>
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2. Sand and polish the horn. I've seen videos for drinking horns where they start with like a 120 grit and go up through just about all the grits out there... not me. We aren't trying to remove a lot of material, just knock it down and get a nice shine, and horn is easy to work with. I start with 220 grit, and after a quick run over the whole thing, I switch immediately to #0000 steel wool.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZhHzaTIT1MqrLmbENCWLy7ePD1yEZbe_-26Gn5KQ4WSw9MsTgbiEQc1y57ggZxBF3RV05Rjr952Orxt7nDG3_r0byVz-gUWjesxAAu6zW0__dEiUAq_wX0Nyq4PcMBzdQ1DsrFW0zr-oF/s1600/Horn+after+sanding+and+starting+0000+steel+wool.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZhHzaTIT1MqrLmbENCWLy7ePD1yEZbe_-26Gn5KQ4WSw9MsTgbiEQc1y57ggZxBF3RV05Rjr952Orxt7nDG3_r0byVz-gUWjesxAAu6zW0__dEiUAq_wX0Nyq4PcMBzdQ1DsrFW0zr-oF/s320/Horn+after+sanding+and+starting+0000+steel+wool.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>For illustrative purposes, I've just sanded the black section, and I'm about to start with the steel wool.</i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheTg-xvNWmZlNtqLX7fm9ZZsNlp_Z-bDY7SWIXh_nN4FiC6LFex67WMBqFGDx8nLzHNoywibdG-olR2ZWRF0mq-ckEgpCP2Ob-_ZICZJCFW-IeUua04xnF55FKbcv0dwKgmjGPuRj9zq_D/s1600/20190328_114305.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheTg-xvNWmZlNtqLX7fm9ZZsNlp_Z-bDY7SWIXh_nN4FiC6LFex67WMBqFGDx8nLzHNoywibdG-olR2ZWRF0mq-ckEgpCP2Ob-_ZICZJCFW-IeUua04xnF55FKbcv0dwKgmjGPuRj9zq_D/s320/20190328_114305.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>See the shiny part? That's what we're going to get.</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPgBJCVmRk700SMk3GynlRWKAavfVJhyuWQ1763FuGniDCK1NA7hJGbCLW099jqq26_bqq_nE6suapzeY3KOWimQPfRmz1MaEhJYX8Ae7k6WnT_wSScJ9nvy__XX74CdUm_a6JAwP1J3D0/s1600/20190328_114526.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPgBJCVmRk700SMk3GynlRWKAavfVJhyuWQ1763FuGniDCK1NA7hJGbCLW099jqq26_bqq_nE6suapzeY3KOWimQPfRmz1MaEhJYX8Ae7k6WnT_wSScJ9nvy__XX74CdUm_a6JAwP1J3D0/s320/20190328_114526.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>And more! The steel wool gives a quick sense of accomplishment.</i></td></tr>
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It'll feel like it's going fast. Then it'll get slow, when your muscles begin to argue. I usually stop at that point and do something else. Also, pat your steel wool from time to time, to remove dust.<br />
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You might have noticed that my pictures are all outside. That's because horn smells very, very bad when you work with it. It's yucky. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5mvj0sMnwo-s8tRqDpPiToZri11pNkIJ4EAULSdJbl6yyejr_hmTveo1WYewchIZWuWbxwXcCMktWxK17ghnm-7ENU00WcpWueq-nUieZXE_Y2uueEcCOPVj-ZD7ippZGFj6Tlg3T7pjY/s1600/20190328_121522.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5mvj0sMnwo-s8tRqDpPiToZri11pNkIJ4EAULSdJbl6yyejr_hmTveo1WYewchIZWuWbxwXcCMktWxK17ghnm-7ENU00WcpWueq-nUieZXE_Y2uueEcCOPVj-ZD7ippZGFj6Tlg3T7pjY/s320/20190328_121522.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>After the steel wool, you'll have a nice horn.</i> </td></tr>
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To put a real shine on it, add some brown polish compound to your buffing wheel and run the horn over it for a while. I like to add beeswax in the end -- just rub a stick of beeswax over the whole thing (like a crayon), and run it on the buffing wheel. You can also just take some felt and apply it by hand, but the buffing wheel makes quick work of it.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGeE0mX2YK8wVQGXyoF-_4fEtsITdzjcykRYjR8YrXTbVt7lRE8HC8k1ldYBi9NK1pjCFIkpDHccXOIip5xmkkXqDNtyNKS1J3esK0Kd-GsC_qabgZNCy3qjdBsftybjOhEPm8gTZos1fb/s1600/20190328_134200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGeE0mX2YK8wVQGXyoF-_4fEtsITdzjcykRYjR8YrXTbVt7lRE8HC8k1ldYBi9NK1pjCFIkpDHccXOIip5xmkkXqDNtyNKS1J3esK0Kd-GsC_qabgZNCy3qjdBsftybjOhEPm8gTZos1fb/s320/20190328_134200.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Here it is, all shiny an' purty.</i></td></tr>
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3. Now, the sound-making part. If you have calipers, use them to find the part of the horn that is about<span id="goog_298493874"></span><span id="goog_298493875"></span> 7/8" wide, down by the tip. Take a saw (a bone saw if you have it, or a hack-saw, are best), and cut off the tip (you can use that part to make buttons). Then, take a 5/8" drill bit and chuck it in your hand drill. I have found that a spade bit is best for me. Get it up to a good speed and, holding it tight -- better yet, put the horn in a soft vice if you've got it, but it has to be really, really soft -- drill a hole anywhere from 3/8" to 3/4" deep. The deeper you drill, the deeper the horn will sound, unless you get too deep and ruin it. Be careful, though, the horn will buck and you can hurt yourself, if you are holding it (and I make no health nor safety claims here, you are on your own).<br />
<br />
Once you've drilled your 5/8" hole, get a 1/8" inch bit (if you haven't already breached the chamber), and drill a hole through the center of the first hole and into the chamber of the horn.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjml1IQ7N9M37VcyyIr2WTy8k8Ht6E6-S-TwlQkui7dISwPyuxj44ps57UsaJFhXObJZUh0ZaLhWifXFTfVup46Dkp3_xgKKX_Jbml8567EFJwB_1MkC2nZnoVo3lAelEnrbpPaTqgWbX-x/s1600/20190402_105503.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjml1IQ7N9M37VcyyIr2WTy8k8Ht6E6-S-TwlQkui7dISwPyuxj44ps57UsaJFhXObJZUh0ZaLhWifXFTfVup46Dkp3_xgKKX_Jbml8567EFJwB_1MkC2nZnoVo3lAelEnrbpPaTqgWbX-x/s320/20190402_105503.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>I'm sure you can do a better job making a pretty set of holes here... but, this works, so I'm sticking with it.</i></td></tr>
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Now, go wash it off really good, dry it off, and blow! You blow it like a brass instrument. It's a riot.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhDy1FaLVyYzNxMFpT8QC7FjdbGDBlQpRNCf4LfuuAGHPiW7qXedDQWqfm41aTKh79MLWH3YdkEKnTJ941VC47fswBDio_evpEa2_1WpbfE0Y06OrmXbXzdmVcW41BvFRedmPQhyEe3BZM/s1600/Three+stages+of+horn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhDy1FaLVyYzNxMFpT8QC7FjdbGDBlQpRNCf4LfuuAGHPiW7qXedDQWqfm41aTKh79MLWH3YdkEKnTJ941VC47fswBDio_evpEa2_1WpbfE0Y06OrmXbXzdmVcW41BvFRedmPQhyEe3BZM/s320/Three+stages+of+horn.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Three horns in different stages of becoming a nuisance to your neighbors.</i></td></tr>
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If you google "drinking horn", you'll get tons of different designs if you are interested in carving or metalwork. I don't know how they attach metal to the edges (I'm sure that's a skill "hidden" in the hornworkers' guild, which isn't really a guild because you can pay to see it, so I ain't going in there). I decided that all I wanted was a leather band for carrying it around.Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05409883521642115031noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1739165937859822298.post-53083896098785388012019-03-18T06:33:00.001-07:002019-03-22T06:49:07.828-07:00Springing Spring has Sprung in Northern California... I need tips on keeping the mosquitos away!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg42i3dkeDOYgS0TMvmxL2VBIKCg5rbR-K18zVQiHTPM-xDdaF2aCXBbYpn-5AQ7eB5HTgDk2Xor9UhcS1QQeXdeSWLnHcNhC8Znoo2sUg65_wH8RQ7kyxr9ilezSB6hJ25Q8Tpc-O0YHDI/s1600/2019+Garden+bed1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg42i3dkeDOYgS0TMvmxL2VBIKCg5rbR-K18zVQiHTPM-xDdaF2aCXBbYpn-5AQ7eB5HTgDk2Xor9UhcS1QQeXdeSWLnHcNhC8Znoo2sUg65_wH8RQ7kyxr9ilezSB6hJ25Q8Tpc-O0YHDI/s320/2019+Garden+bed1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Our lovely garden, with decorative dog-repelling wire fence material to make it look ugly, but keep the idiot dog out.</i></td></tr>
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Well, here in the Northern end of the Great Central Valley, Spring is upon us. You can tell it's Spring if you live on the edge of the Delta because the mustard begins to bloom. We have a flower just about all through Winter -- sourgrass, or oxalis -- but when the wild mustard (which is everywhere here, along with bull mallow) blooms, we are at Spring. Soon after, the wild radish will bloom alongside it.<br />
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Last year, in preparation for the big shed and house projects we were expecting, I moved a few plants that would have been destroyed. I've done very little transplanting in my life, and I'm always scared, so I did some Googling and YouTube video-watching to get tips and tricks... but without the confidence that comes from experience, I'm always a nervous wreck.<br />
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The plants were a calla lily, a couple of roses, and a Japanese maple. I know all three are hardy plants, and I shouldn't have been so concerned with the outcome. Still, the roses have been wonderful -- they were on the property when we moved here, and are <i>huge </i>(one of them had grown well over ten feet tall) -- and the Japanese maple was a Mother's Day present the kids and I had bought my wife a few years ago. These have history, and I didn't want to lose them.<br />
<br />
After transplanting, the calla never stopped looking alive, and the roses shot new growth almost immediately. But the maple didn't do anything for weeks.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRnpKrEgvWQfkUZnchaULYtlPUBMKv4c-vrfT-DhqQv3Gmu8eFIVSZp2EGDx4X1wOS4mFlQNrKIiFyP4mLM2Obcp0pqi9YZcd7akrbpHxiz6EPwj2F2ijrW5vYgaqHukdxt2bFCJ3M_aiP/s1600/2019+transplanted+rose.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRnpKrEgvWQfkUZnchaULYtlPUBMKv4c-vrfT-DhqQv3Gmu8eFIVSZp2EGDx4X1wOS4mFlQNrKIiFyP4mLM2Obcp0pqi9YZcd7akrbpHxiz6EPwj2F2ijrW5vYgaqHukdxt2bFCJ3M_aiP/s320/2019+transplanted+rose.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>These leaves emerged almost immediately after transplanting back in November. We've got a happy rose under our bedroom window.</i></td></tr>
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Last week, however, the maple began showing tiny signs of life:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRaDLnXvvaIZOfUrFYL-yrfe8ZFlJ_mMwAqHcjax_W16xHFyWcbpssVNCFhLyBJ64E_kLTZrY_pkE7kE1mgayAEZlQPy42TRCJ-XcSZ6crqp-YdZJ0kZ0tsrcnfJFD9Bqh99EZCcoo7bM-/s1600/2019+Japanese+maple+new+growth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRaDLnXvvaIZOfUrFYL-yrfe8ZFlJ_mMwAqHcjax_W16xHFyWcbpssVNCFhLyBJ64E_kLTZrY_pkE7kE1mgayAEZlQPy42TRCJ-XcSZ6crqp-YdZJ0kZ0tsrcnfJFD9Bqh99EZCcoo7bM-/s320/2019+Japanese+maple+new+growth.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Success! Tiny new growth emerging from the tips of the maple tree.</i></td></tr>
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Since I was successful at transplanting four established plants, I'm now an expert here on the interwebs. So here's my process:<br />
<br />
1) Dig a big hole;<br />
2) Pour some kind of plant transplanting help juice/water mix into the dirt left from the hole;<br />
3) Dig out your plant, sweating and nervously chuckling at the horrible crunching and cracking sounds;<br />
4) Put the plant into the first hole (not the second hole, that was made where you took it out, remember?);<br />
5) Fill around the new plant with the dirt/transplanting help juice/water mix;<br />
6) Pray and be nervous for 6-8 weeks.<br />
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I hope you gain something from my now publishable experience and expertise.<br />
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Something else that pops up in Spring is my archery class here in West Sacramento:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4PDzMIy0rEkD7uZsqgCjgy00EjZzWl0bNZnoT1lXESjienNSG4I4R2Mgj3yzqw77RKozLR6NKqGnBdTRXIYeEoYxn2Rk27H2NBBTqnrMhp_6C2cOudYFZ9kKnjjjeR9kjqZQRjbxcFR97/s1600/2019+West+Sac+archery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4PDzMIy0rEkD7uZsqgCjgy00EjZzWl0bNZnoT1lXESjienNSG4I4R2Mgj3yzqw77RKozLR6NKqGnBdTRXIYeEoYxn2Rk27H2NBBTqnrMhp_6C2cOudYFZ9kKnjjjeR9kjqZQRjbxcFR97/s320/2019+West+Sac+archery.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>My backstop could use a dye job.</i></td></tr>
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Sadly, we also get to deal with the perennial invasion of many, many mosquitoes. My son gets especially large welts from some of them, but they are no fun for the rest of us, either. What I need are tips for reducing/eliminating/fending off mosquitoes that don't involve bug spray directly on us, nor massive amounts of pesticide or pyrethrum or its chemical equivalent. I know we'll never get rid of them, but the numbers are pretty amazing in my back yard. (Yes, I know to remove standing water.)<br />
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Anyhoo, give me your tricks for getting rid of mosquitoes if you've got 'em.Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05409883521642115031noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1739165937859822298.post-40943394723740312592019-02-28T13:07:00.001-08:002019-03-07T06:36:24.511-08:00Shotgun sling, and getting on the stitching pony©2019 Joshua Stark<br />
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One crazy discovery I've found from my time working with leather is that I really, really enjoy stitching and lacing by hand. The stitch I perform most often is the saddle stitch, which involves two needles on either end of a six-foot thread, through a project that is clamped down in a contraption known as the stitching pony.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmC8x8Ijs0qO-Qapr0wFH6QlwJB_70UPI_wvpsb84nI3nHkcWXGQLnmUaRtepWf8EbzcgO0F8FpT_zEX5-sN_ThvAKs2hg6TfUC_xqk8ka4FAVDgdF2sh-BqC9KNPP2Bu-eGt-slwkTXou/s1600/20160107_183950.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmC8x8Ijs0qO-Qapr0wFH6QlwJB_70UPI_wvpsb84nI3nHkcWXGQLnmUaRtepWf8EbzcgO0F8FpT_zEX5-sN_ThvAKs2hg6TfUC_xqk8ka4FAVDgdF2sh-BqC9KNPP2Bu-eGt-slwkTXou/s320/20160107_183950.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>A rifle sling in the stitching pony, about to have a deer skin pad stitched to it.</i></td></tr>
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Of course, my stitching pony is an example of my "useful" handiwork -- a perfectly practical, hideous creation that works a little bit less than a store-bought version, but which cost pennies.<br />
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Stitching appears to be a very boring endeavor, but in reality, the subtle steps to get it right take a lot of time to learn, while improvements and a job done right are nearly immediate in their reward. I get great joy just from hand stitching a straight line. Also, the saddle stitch is nearly indestructible, and easily repaired.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX0lSiKHmTHYAOWazJY-pfzF_VtSy6SH6-x7QE-840urglzuvA7JrePAtlE5-A9nM0DxznJ8lLvy0wJDvT_0l3OrvLs-M8YkrPdxcpJ4JtEwKJzhkyj_fXE0geSFElOj_oArm_ZA2osCqs/s1600/20171116_073122.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX0lSiKHmTHYAOWazJY-pfzF_VtSy6SH6-x7QE-840urglzuvA7JrePAtlE5-A9nM0DxznJ8lLvy0wJDvT_0l3OrvLs-M8YkrPdxcpJ4JtEwKJzhkyj_fXE0geSFElOj_oArm_ZA2osCqs/s320/20171116_073122.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>These pictures do not convey the satisfaction of getting it right.</i></td></tr>
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But it is also one of those skills that goes completely unused if there is no motivation to begin. The steps are many, and they have one purpose -- to put a thread into a material.<br />
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It's a type of work that goes well with a radio -- usually NPR, in my case, or music. I can also talk some, though I can't really lose my focus, or else the lines start to sway.<br />
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For the past month, I've been coming back to a project that put me back on the pony: a shotgun sling for a friend of mine.<br />
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A shotgun sling differs from other slings in that it is not strapped into hardware directly on the gun. Rather, leather straps are slipped over the gun, as in the picture below:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8P5C06rNDXBiufONF-d9d9sVQ8fEDjK96uVLHuJGHiV5BiYyOgOJq2yFiykRWTcv31SzfPC2XZPniON8mISFpgfSJjun9qdOm26TxmJe9wuO5BEGmmuif9XwAm9wqeHGb3NekqKrjKboM/s1600/shotgun+sling2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8P5C06rNDXBiufONF-d9d9sVQ8fEDjK96uVLHuJGHiV5BiYyOgOJq2yFiykRWTcv31SzfPC2XZPniON8mISFpgfSJjun9qdOm26TxmJe9wuO5BEGmmuif9XwAm9wqeHGb3NekqKrjKboM/s320/shotgun+sling2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>I'm not a photographer</i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></td></tr>
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Although you can shoot with the sling on, it is really meant to help for long treks without shooting -- say, to a duck blind -- where it is then removed during the hunt.<br />
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It was a riot to make, since I had to research and test parts, get the buckle on right, and tool a new head for me, a Northern Shoveler (<i>Anas clypeata</i>). These are wonderful birds, picked on by many waterfowlers who don't know how to cook them right, but appreciated for their comical bill and striking colors.<br />
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I also tried to tool silhouettes of canada geese, which came out alright, but definitely not as good as I'd have liked. More practice is needed, for sure.<br />
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Since duck hunting is so wet, I decided not to put a deerskin pad on it, but rather, some neoprene. I looked all over for swimsuit-type stuff but couldn't find it in anything but really large amounts, so I went to the local Big Box and looked around. I found some light neoprene in the form of pads for truck tool boxes, and I cut the piece from one (after I bought it, of course).<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqI7IyITS9PLWcdibSt1zNz-BYEt2AvqxXJImcFy5f03PbA_9BORndM3MPHMu2dfvZ20Rlez5M1nNEMptg1jgeAWIlDBezCVc-CvuhDm0b6dmihikdX83UTYUYPlOABTpquNOYG7geB78O/s1600/Shotgun+sling+pad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqI7IyITS9PLWcdibSt1zNz-BYEt2AvqxXJImcFy5f03PbA_9BORndM3MPHMu2dfvZ20Rlez5M1nNEMptg1jgeAWIlDBezCVc-CvuhDm0b6dmihikdX83UTYUYPlOABTpquNOYG7geB78O/s200/Shotgun+sling+pad.jpg" width="112" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>A neoprene pad, hand-stitched.</i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></td></tr>
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It seems to have come out pretty well.<br />
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If you are interested in a piece of leather work, check out my Etsy page here:<br />
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https://www.etsy.com/shop/OldSoulLeatherWork<br />
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Also, if you have suggestions, let me know!Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05409883521642115031noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1739165937859822298.post-5097514155977915192019-02-23T08:06:00.000-08:002019-02-23T08:06:25.363-08:00A couple of (kinda) cheap shop ideas put to useAs our new shed was being built, I was tickled pink with anticipation (a strange sight, indeed), and since I am a huge fan of Pinterest, I incessantly poked around there for shop ideas.<br />
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Being as absolutely cheap-skate as I am, I particularly focused on things I could make or repurpose from what I've already got, or from dirt-cheap basic materials. One idea I'd had in mind was using cedar fence boards for wood paneling, cupboards, and the like. I already had a jug of boiled linseed oil and some paints, and I went to town.<br />
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I'd seen some pretty cool leather workshops put together with tools hung on wood panels. I didn't want the dark painted wood I'd seen, but I figured that if I sanded down some cedar boards and treated them, they'd look quite nice. And at $2.50 per five-foot board, the price would be something I could live with.<br />
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The result:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyz6Gv-94S6GJy6LXgZE6TBK9Xx9o8oJzeE_0SDtVY-YV2SyU7BF2mpOVHCVKcedBBrklPlp1wmkZrowYEbq2nbzU-Gg_ml7bOMNBvuG3WJz0XgCqIGiSkN_gZ7ctFJwNvl6aD1gbnutgy/s1600/20190117_121224.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="778" data-original-width="1600" height="155" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyz6Gv-94S6GJy6LXgZE6TBK9Xx9o8oJzeE_0SDtVY-YV2SyU7BF2mpOVHCVKcedBBrklPlp1wmkZrowYEbq2nbzU-Gg_ml7bOMNBvuG3WJz0XgCqIGiSkN_gZ7ctFJwNvl6aD1gbnutgy/s320/20190117_121224.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>My leather workshop corner made from cedar fence boards treated with boiled linseed oil. </i></td></tr>
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The cedar boards worked like a charm. Cedar is easy to work with, cheap, and took on a pretty honey look with the linseed oil. The odor was quite strong, both from the wood and from the oil, so if you are sensitive to that kind of stuff, I'd go with something less volatile. I love the smell of those things, and after a few days (even in the fairly cold Winter), it had dissipated. <br />
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One great, cheap trick I discovered was the variety of uses of brass mug hooks. I used them to hang tools, bending them to the shape I needed for weird-shaped ones like this leather stitching punch:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglyzJ5TvKIqaqc9p7YXsNch_kyGsSjFg7MtPQavec64YbbLc_XDR8C8K3Q7C9anuene0ZdbXaGnkrb2XhyC-_Cow3HB4tueUKbAMLdym0ZdR87RI3pC5ILr8KyieQ1kE8muNfwS40wLsTm/s1600/20190119_055152.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="778" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglyzJ5TvKIqaqc9p7YXsNch_kyGsSjFg7MtPQavec64YbbLc_XDR8C8K3Q7C9anuene0ZdbXaGnkrb2XhyC-_Cow3HB4tueUKbAMLdym0ZdR87RI3pC5ILr8KyieQ1kE8muNfwS40wLsTm/s320/20190119_055152.jpg" width="153" /></a></div>
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I also used them to hang my electrical cords, and of course, some of my leather projects.<br />
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As a person who rarely paints or stains anything, I've always been flummoxed by people's ability to dry their project without leaning it against something and making a mess and leaving unsightly marks. Well, it dawned on me that I could temporarily screw in the mug hooks to the project I was drying, and voila! No visible marks, and nice, even application: </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8H1WJ-dhFD4MSGsqFJCFwZjl6zDY18axwWJ9YilWV9RG6byzXDgjqyzM4hEtGSEdyN2gu-2ft95J8RV2YCQyWE52rapw5vsei4Lr3YTks5vrj5-yPs9W7SP_dkT5qVxihQ1SKxWznjycH/s1600/20190118_161301.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="778" data-original-width="1600" height="155" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8H1WJ-dhFD4MSGsqFJCFwZjl6zDY18axwWJ9YilWV9RG6byzXDgjqyzM4hEtGSEdyN2gu-2ft95J8RV2YCQyWE52rapw5vsei4Lr3YTks5vrj5-yPs9W7SP_dkT5qVxihQ1SKxWznjycH/s320/20190118_161301.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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One project I discovered down the Pinterest rabbit-hole was a DIY cyclone shop-vac. Now, I'd been given a gift card by my lovely wife to the local Big Box store, and I'd purchased a vacuum cleaner... I know, it sounds stupid, until I call it a Shop-Vac -- then, it sounds manly and cool. I'm dumber than I thought.<br />
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Anyhow, I'd seen folks do some elaborate woodworking, gluing, drilling with fancy bits, etc., to make a "cheap" cyclone vacuum. A cyclone vacuum will separate the bigger chunks and thicker wood dust, allowing your bags and filters to last a lot longer. But, cyclones are expensive, and I'm not.<br />
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After thinking that the amount of time it would take to make one would make it more expensive than just buying one, I found a guy who said, basically, to just cut a hole in a bucket at an angle, glue in a hose, cut another hole in the lid, jam a pvc pipe into it so that it drops a bit below the bucket-hole, and jam the hose to your vacuum into that pvc.<br />
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I found out that you don't even have to glue it, you can... what's the term? Ah! "Pressure-fit". I just cut the holes a little bit smaller than I was supposed to (don't ask if I did that on purpose, just go with it), and jammed the fittings in out of sheer frustratio... genius.<br />
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The result:<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikOp1pPG7KfY7Cmr1lo1_L8mklo7ShpzGrMHpkT0F-WMb6MafciZvA6K-KLrkBkNL0xPbE-JBEaFDXJYGJNgkZ_yg24ltpgYRzb0kcvxCr9fThNDZi_whBeZoIaRI_IBsyW_sWYNmyi5vd/s1600/cyclone.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikOp1pPG7KfY7Cmr1lo1_L8mklo7ShpzGrMHpkT0F-WMb6MafciZvA6K-KLrkBkNL0xPbE-JBEaFDXJYGJNgkZ_yg24ltpgYRzb0kcvxCr9fThNDZi_whBeZoIaRI_IBsyW_sWYNmyi5vd/s320/cyclone.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Behold the considerably cheaper, but still not cheap, cyclone vacuum.</i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></td></tr>
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One word of caution to the truly cheap-skates among us. The dad-gum extra hose was twenty bucks! I don't know about you, but if my project runs into double digits, then it can't really be "cheap."<br />
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Anyway, the thing works like a charm, and I expect my filter and bag will last quite a while. It was worth it.<br />
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If you have any cheap shop ideas, do tell!Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05409883521642115031noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1739165937859822298.post-2376684481111579442019-02-16T15:31:00.000-08:002019-02-16T15:31:15.677-08:00Small business musings<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1HBeylAJGuWljGMMLH8EbtG24ZCCu8fil9ulCdj3DOgHGCMhQltOT8Z7oJ4Hnbz2StmrqElBihdHlRSKgNl2KXW3zBxj9uqytNK2QehKQ7UdehV9iFJvJ5ggfP8Gml-QLC9_d4io8Kqnw/s1600/20171103_090629.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1HBeylAJGuWljGMMLH8EbtG24ZCCu8fil9ulCdj3DOgHGCMhQltOT8Z7oJ4Hnbz2StmrqElBihdHlRSKgNl2KXW3zBxj9uqytNK2QehKQ7UdehV9iFJvJ5ggfP8Gml-QLC9_d4io8Kqnw/s320/20171103_090629.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>A purse made from Wickett & Craig bridle leather. I'm happy how it turned out.</i></td></tr>
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Since I last posted in 2017, I have continued with my leather working enterprise. I typically sell between one and two items per month, and take in about a hundred bucks. Thank goodness I have an amazing day job! Really, though, I'd never thought of this as anything more than a hobby that would help offset my hunting and fishing, especially as my kids get older and show an interest in those same, bank-account ravaging pastimes.<br />
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There are, of course, upsides and downsides to running a hobby as a small business. In my case:<br />
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UPSIDES:<br />
<ul>
<li>I am forced to the workbench if I have an order, even if I'm not feelin' it. Fear of being late to finish (or start!) a project that somebody already paid good money to receive is a pretty effective motivator. And when I get to the bench, I remember in a visceral way just how much I love doing the work.</li>
<li>I am forced to repeat processes and techniques. This sounds boring, but if you love the work and love getting it just a little bit better each time, it is a remarkably satisfying experience. Also, repetition of proper technique in handcrafts is essential to creating good, high-quality work.</li>
<li>I have a reason to buy decent quality, and proper, tools and leather. This is a big deal, because it really helped me get off the ground. Let's be honest here -- when it comes to buying stuff for me, I squeak when I walk. They greet me by name at Harbor Freight. But when I started making nice stuff, I realized that I'd need decent tools to get the job done. A bonus is that I deduct the cost of this stuff, and that really helped me to get started, for sure.</li>
<li>I get to go off by myself and do something that I love. My family is super-supportive, but I still carry with me some internal guilt whenever I go off to do something alone... that's natural, and a good check on complete hedonism. But sometimes it gets out of hand, and so it's nice to have a little mental crutch ("yikes! I have to get that order in!").</li>
</ul>
There are, of course<br />
<br />
DOWNSIDES:<br />
<ul>
<li>It is, indeed, a business -- which brings a number of headaches, like keeping receipts, and tax time. And state and federal and regional and local taxes don't always match up chronologically. And fees can bite you in the butt, big-time.</li>
<li>I have less time for new ideas. If you have to get the same five things out that you know you are good at getting out, then you have less time in your life for experimenting with new styles or products. I haven't hand-stitched nearly as often lately, for example, nor laced up anything like that purse in quite a while.</li>
<li>I'm stressed! I do stress about getting a product out on time, and that carries its own baggage, even if it ultimately results in a good outcome for me. Adding hobby stress to my work stress is not always the best idea.</li>
<li>This hobby takes precedence if an order is in. Since it is in my, "me" time, it sometimes takes time away from other things I'd like to do -- like fishing and hunting or gardening.</li>
</ul>
<br />
I also teach archery as another hobby/business, and much of these apply to that work, too. <br />
<br />
Do you run a hobby as a business? Have you taken it up to become your primary income, or kept it small? Are you happy with it, either way? I'd love to hear from you, especially any tips and tricks you might want to share.<br />
<br />
Of course, everybody is welcome to leave a comment here if you like! Let me know what you think.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Also, I am looking for ideas for leather work, so let me know if you have any.</div>
Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05409883521642115031noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1739165937859822298.post-8835126168711077092019-02-11T06:48:00.002-08:002019-02-11T06:48:47.072-08:00What am I doing back here?! We'll see... maybe nothing<span id="docs-internal-guid-ab1c4587-7fff-0344-af3c-ca51c2753bdd" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: xx-small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">© Joshua Stark 2019</span>
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZMOgMk_yAg-S3NScdT0ShuyJ84sg2vNDqYlIM1snWfQQrzzs3BEVPwDFTXfgCg_0QfJKmF0HRyE5_LNMXu_pMpZpVAp1N_1tfK0BVxE023eLg1eRNiBaiYPPzI6799ud0w-QH8I21UCXg/s1600/20190117_121228.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="778" data-original-width="1600" height="155" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZMOgMk_yAg-S3NScdT0ShuyJ84sg2vNDqYlIM1snWfQQrzzs3BEVPwDFTXfgCg_0QfJKmF0HRyE5_LNMXu_pMpZpVAp1N_1tfK0BVxE023eLg1eRNiBaiYPPzI6799ud0w-QH8I21UCXg/s320/20190117_121228.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>In our newest addition -- an honest-to-goodness workshop... also, just an obligatory picture</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I've
been away from the blogosphere for quite some time, spending most of my
days in the Facebook. There's something really great about that space,
namely, I've found many long-lost (even somewhat forgotten, at times)
friends and family, and I get to read about their goings-on quite
regularly... well, the ones who use Facebook, that is.<br />
<br />
But
I have noticed that lately I'm having a difficult time focusing on
longer pieces. I can't seem to stop and think, linger, contemplate the
nuances. Rather, I'm constantly looking for a photo, or for the "next"
update. Part of this is probably just the digital medium, more
broadly. It is very picture-oriented, and it is very, very fast.
Pictures are now, perhaps for the first time in history, cheaper than
words to take, to make, to print and disseminate.<br />
<br />
That's
not to say that good words or good pictures are cheap. Good words and
good pictures still require skills, and most people just don't take the
time to develop these skills. For example, keep reading this blog, and
then go read something from Faulkner. You'll see. <br />
<br />
But
the relative price of written words has dropped to near zero. Once, we
had to carve out writing space and time, and have the tools of pen,
pencil, paper. And photography was even more expensive, requiring
actual gear and usually the ability to travel, and also the purchase of
film and processing, and the time it took to see what picture you
actually took. The very physical nature of all of these things was
limiting, too; just imagine storing as many pictures as you have on your
phone in albums.<br />
<br />
Back when words were more
expensive, people didn't write so much. Rather, we prioritized, writing
to our dearest loved ones, or writing to our superiors, our government
officials, our teachers. Most of us didn't write as much because
writing is hard. It took time and effort, it took a part of our brains
we didn't exercise nearly enough in our day-to-day affairs. But, some
of us obsessed over writing: the skill, the dedication, the drive to
draft perfect sentences that uncover deep, universal emotions and truths
about our world and the human condition. Some took it up as a
professional craft, either by stumbling into it, or driven by dreams of
wealth -- using the written word to convince, to titillate, to shock,
all with the end goal of making a buck. Most of us just stayed away as
much as we could.<br />
<br />
(Some of you can take this quick quiz
to discover if you are in the camp of writing as a
profession/dedication, or if you don't care so much: have you been
either bemoaning or smiling contentedly at my use of two spaces to
separate sentences? If so, I daresay you work in writing quite a bit.)<br />
<br />
Back
when pictures were expensive, people didn't take so many, either. We
prioritized, taking pictures of loved ones, great and beautiful places,
tragedies, and the like. Again like writing, some dove into film and
photography as a passionate desire, a discipline, and/or a profession.
But for most, photography happened at birthday parties and the Grand
Canyon. For those of you of a certain age: how many selfies did you
take before digital formats became as high-quality as those of film? I
certainly did not think of myself as photogenic enough to waste
expensive rolls and the time it would take to send off to get
developed. I could just look in the mirror and see all my flaws -- no
need to preserve those for posterity at ten bucks a pop!<br />
<br />
Our
now-ubiquitous tiny, portable computers, and our connected social media
platforms, changed all of that. Though good words and photos still are
not cheap, there are so many more cheap words and photos out there in
the ether. We don't need to pick and choose, or rather, many of us find
it so difficult to find the good stuff because of the proliferation of
the bad. And the sheer number of words and pictures has driven down the
price for all of them so much that many good folks in the written and
photographic professions find it really hard to scrape together a
living.<br />
<br />
And pictures are now even cheaper than words.
People have taken that whole, "a picture is worth a thousand words" to
heart, thinking that just by snapping a shot, they don't have to explain
nearly so much. I mean, it's right there, right? In technicolor?<br />
<br />
But
there is something even more ephemeral about this current medium.
We've thrown up so much out into it that finding good stuff is so much
more difficult. Just last week, I began moving some of my pictures from
my phone to my computer. When I first bought the phone, I was
impressed at the amount of memory it can store. Now, it's just
annoying; finding a decent picture buried in a sheer mountain of crap is
the same as not ever having taken it at all. The scrolling nature of
personal, political, local and global news and economic updates is
similar; there may be good words strung together out there, but finding
them is purnt-near impossible.<br />
<br />
I think there is a happy
medium still out there, between the tremendous scarcity and elitism of
the "old" ways and the utter anarchy of the new... it isn't nearly as
popular as it was in the last decade, but it is still around. I'm
talking about the blog.<br />
<br />
I loved blogs, and I pored
through them until I found some that inspired me. I learned how to do
so many things -- little things, like make yogurt or prune a pomegranate
or wax a duck, but still life-changing skills. Unlike books, where I
have also learned so much, blogs allowed me to reach out directly to
authors, and from it I also made dear, lifelong friends. I also felt a
connection to a group of people I had cobbled together, even though they
didn't, and may never, know of each other. I brought them together
into my world because of what they said and how they said it.<br />
<br />
When
I jumped onto Facebook, it was for a completely different reason. I
saw a friend who was on there, and it occurred to me that I could find
friends and family who were physically distant from me, and I could
communicate more regularly with them. It wasn't because of what they
thought, but simply of who they were -- people who'd been in my life,
from my small community or from my large extended family. I read their
posts out of love.<br />
<br />
Slowly, I lost the threads to
bloggers. Many disappeared, never to be heard from again... something
that bothers me from time to time. Being a fatalistic Okie, I wonder if
they've died, though probably like me, they just stopped putting their
best ideas down on a blog for free. Others also moved to Facebook,
where they mostly lurk. Still others may reside on social media places I
haven't tried.<br />
<br />
And it very well be that blogs were
the downfall of good writing, since they lowered the price for valuable
information to near zero.<br />
<br />
Over time, I lost the
desire to sit down and think through ideas to put on my blogs. I have
three that I regularly posted in the past, but the world started moving
so fast, it felt, that I didn't have much desire to come back and
post... also, I never was really good at it. So it's been two years
since I've posted something to one of my blogs.<br />
<br />
But I
come back here and read them myself occasionally, or link to an old
piece I wrote when I see it may relate to something in the news that a
friend might find useful or illuminating, or silly. Mostly silly. I
also look up old recipes I developed for woodworking, cooking,
gardening. This blog, in particular, was originally meant to be a
placeholder for useful yard and garden things, leatherworking, cooking,
duck-rearing, etc.<br />
<br />
Now, I'm back.<br />
<br />
I
don't know if I'll keep it up this time, but I want to try. I enjoy
writing, I don't do it well enough to get paid for it, and I like coming
back to read ideas that I'd discovered from great places around the
internet and noted here. I also enjoy doing the things I write about
here: gardening, hunting, fishing, foraging, and this place helps spur
me when I can more easily do other things that don't give me the same
pleasure, like perusing Facebook.<br />
<br />
So, on to updates.<br />
<br />
There
are so many! In the past year, we started upgrading our house to make
room for our growing family. No, we didn't have more kids... but, if
you didn't know this, then beware: when you have children, they
literally grow. You have to feed them more and more, and you have to
make room for them. It's crazy, and wasn't in the manual when we first
looked it up.<br />
<br />
So, we are having an extra bedroom built for our daughter, because we don't want her to kill us at some point.<br />
<br />
We've
also put in a shed that is big enough to house all our outdoor things,
plus have room for storage AND a workshop! It's been wonderful, simply
wonderful. I've also got a barrel smoker I rescued and fixed up for
about $30, and I hope to build out a cheap cook-out space in the yard
for it. I'll try to update with all of these things at some point,
including how I'm organizing the shed, prepping and planting the garden,
and getting back into leather work.<br />
<br />
If you've taken a moment to read my little rant here, leave me a message. And have a great day.Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05409883521642115031noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1739165937859822298.post-25567555438523256672017-02-23T06:57:00.000-08:002017-02-23T06:57:14.741-08:00Wood and water and moving earth.<span style="font-size: x-small;">© 2017 Joshua Stark</span><br />
<br />
I didn't grow up with a fireplace, nor a fire pit. When I was a kid, we burned some of our trash in the back yard like good people did then, but that was it.<br />
<br />
When camping, of course we built a fire. But at home, we didn't have a woodpile, or anything of the sort.<br />
<br />
Now, I've decided that I want a fire pit in our back yard (for days when we are allowed to burn, of course -- like good people do today). We've collected some river rocks from Craigslist, and have a decent little camp-like pit. We also have a small rock garden next to it, and I moved one of our raised beds to make some room (pics when it looks better).<br />
<br />
We are also getting plenty of wood from downed branches off of our walnut, redwood and cedar trees, and I do not plan to buy wood to burn.<br />
<br />
However, since everything is wet, we are having quite a time getting something to burn...<br />
<br />
In my search for how people put up wood, I did stumble upon this little stand idea on Pinterest, and put it to use:<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6vPr7aAnSauNlMMpAy6A1lGgONtOR4AvA2EDceH-QTOvYYT9DXp_4JMH1ASShHLE1AlPq-nP6OBNLiMw-gJcgRaQ-MJ0yh1viS7xAoKISGCRn8ORCf8g9zdhfzc4Z2WHOiVzhreT2Zvco/s1600/20170212_114011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6vPr7aAnSauNlMMpAy6A1lGgONtOR4AvA2EDceH-QTOvYYT9DXp_4JMH1ASShHLE1AlPq-nP6OBNLiMw-gJcgRaQ-MJ0yh1viS7xAoKISGCRn8ORCf8g9zdhfzc4Z2WHOiVzhreT2Zvco/s320/20170212_114011.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
It's very simple: a cinder block, two 2x4's, and firewood. No glue, no nails. It ain't pretty, but form follows function, right?<br />
<br />
Around the neighborhood, fruit trees are in bloom. It feels early, because it is (climate change is real, folks). The rains have been, until today, relentless -- for the first time, I had to cut a channel around one side of the house, to drain away some water.<br />
<br />
Today, there's some wind, and a little chill (say, forty degrees), but there's also sun! I think we get a couple days of respite before the next storm rolls in this weekend.<br />
<br />
And speaking of wind and storms (because, let's face it, I live in California):<br />
<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Queue ominous music...</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Somewhere, in that tangle, thirty to fifty feet up, sits a widowmaker. On the other side, about ten feel lower, is another one.<br />
<br />
A widowmaker, for those who don't know, is a large, broken branch. My redwood here is over 100 feet tall, and so the perspective is lost in a photo -- but for scale, consider that each of those larger branches is, effectively, a small tree, hanging horizontally and sixty feet up.<br />
<br />
There is a general understanding that redwoods are light weight woods, and this is true up to a point. However, none of those branches up there are dried out -- they are all filled with water, which makes them still pretty danged heavy, and some of them have got to be thirty feet long. And since F=MA, we've had our troubles over the years with this tree, including roof, car, and fence damage.<br />
<br />
Widowmakers are one of those wild, foreboding natural phenomena... especially if you are a logger. But, not exclusively. Back when I was a State Park Interpreter, my docents told me a story of a fifth grade class visiting the Forest of Nisene Marks in the Santa Cruz mountains. <br />
<br />
This forest is a patch of second-growth redwood, and also the infamous epicenter of the Loma Prieta quake way back in the 20th Century. My visitor center, tasked with interpreting the Forest, would lead groups of fifth graders on a nature and history walk on one of its amazing, dark trails, talking about fairy rings and cathedral stands, banana slugs and eucalyptus. And Loma Prieta and widowmakers.<br />
<br />
During one such walk, after the earthquake/widowmaker talk, the class was gifted with a particularly pointed lesson: a 5 or so scale earthquake and a gigantic branch that fell among them. Thankfully, nobody was hurt. But, it's outdoor education like these that shape and mold young minds...<br />
<br />
I'll be getting out the ladder later today or tomorrow, getting a rope onto these branches, and yanking them down if I can. Of the four seasons in California, we are on the back-side of Flood, which means we've gone through three of them. Only one left.<br />
<br />
(Bonus points for knowing the four seasons of California.)Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05409883521642115031noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1739165937859822298.post-56797340582578992172017-02-13T09:20:00.001-08:002017-02-13T09:23:34.718-08:00Sapping, spaetzle, and an infestation<span style="font-size: x-small;">© 2017 Joshua Stark</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">The fun with the stand mixer continues! I've whipped up egg whites for home-made Belgian waffles, and made a gingerbread (from James Beard's recipe) with the paddle. I've also tried the dough hook twice -- for a soda bread, and yesterday, for spaetzle dough. I'm still getting the hang of it, but it is coming along.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">If you've never made spaetzle, the recipe is super easy: 3 cups flour, four eggs, a teaspoon salt and another of nutmeg, and about 1/2 cup of water. After mixing the dry ingredients together, mix the eggs in the middle with half the water, and then beat in the rest of the water until it's a smooth, elastic and fairly sticky consistency. The dough hook worked for this part really well, and let me do other things while it worked.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Now, the hard part (for spaetzle): I don't own a spaetzle press. I do it the old fashioned way, by cutting it on a board... something like what this <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Y6Ga9hMm4Y">absolutely amazing woman does</a>.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Please, take a moment to watch that video, because that woman flat-out rocks! </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Anyway... I'm actually nothing like that woman. First, I don't have a board with a handle. Second, the board I do have is too wide to fit into my pot. I also don't have a knife that flat -- my knife is too sharp and kept getting caught on the board. What I got was a quick whipping up of the dough, followed by an hour or so of wrestling with a very sticky, gooey mess. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">I finally was able to cook up a bunch (it kept growing and growing!), served alongside garden chard and elk meatballs. The kids liked it alright. The wife absolutely LOVED it!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">That latter fact bodes ill for my future. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Now, for the infestation:</span></span><br />
<br />
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<br />
Not the best pictures, but they clearly show what was a short-lived infestation of maybe twenty or so <i>Meleagris gallopavo</i>. They were first heard jumping from our roof to our neighbor's roof -- I wasn't quite sure what they were, then hey! There's a jenny staring at me through the window!<br />
<br />
I called a couple of times, since a jake was keen on struttin' his stuff, and then I hooted like an owl a couple of times and three or four of 'em immediately gobbled back. It was great.<br />
<br />
I don't know if they were roosting in one of our gigantic trees, but we'll be looking for them tonight (update: no return of the flock).<br />
<br />
These are city-folk, and we won't be hunting this particular flock come Spring. However, I have been very pleased with the efforts of our first bird last year<br />
<br />
<br />
Speaking of trees, I just this morning discovered that people tap walnut trees for sap. I have a monster English walnut in my back yard (it could easily accommodate three taps), but I have a sneaking feeling that our temperatures rarely get cold enough for a good flow.<br />
<br />
Has anybody out there tapped trees in California? Have you tapped trees where you maybe get three weeks, total, of below freezing temps?Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05409883521642115031noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1739165937859822298.post-51442052153236135202017-02-07T18:30:00.001-08:002017-02-07T18:31:51.464-08:00Quick update -- and a new addition to the kitchen<span style="font-size: x-small;">© 2017 Joshua Stark</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Back here for a quick update:</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Still raining.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">No joke, the rain is not letting up here in California. As a result, many critters are accessing habitat they'd been locked out of for a decade, including our amazing King salmon (<i>Oncorhynchus tshawytscha</i>). Here's a great Capitol Public Radio <a href="http://www.capradio.org/89709">report on the floodplain </a>known as the Yolo Bypass.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">I was blessed to get to hunt this stretch of water on the final weekend of duck season with a good friend. It made for a great adventure -- canoeing in with dog and decoys, the sky full of birds (most of them <i>juuuust</i> out of reach), and the weather perfect California -- 50 degrees and sunny, with 40 degree water.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">My friend managed three ducks, and I, one, but we had more opportunities than just these -- including a great chance at a pair of mallards (I whiffed), a pair of canvasbacks (I whiffed, and still kick myself for it), and Canada geese (they must have been wearing kevlar). He was kind enough to give me his birds (I think he was done cleaning birds for the year).</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">It wasn't fast shooting, but it kept on and on, and it varied. A flight of pintail drakes came ripping overhead. My pal reeled in a pair of geese with a call like he had 'em on a line. A few times, we'd be watching flocks of wigeons, pintails, or flights of diver ducks three or four hundred yards out, when suddenly six or eight teal would come screaming in about two feet off the water to land right in our decoys. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">It was a great, great day, especially for this river rat who loves the marsh, and who got to be a part of it. We even saw a mink. Thanks, Ryan!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Back home and a week later, I'm still reflecting on that wonderful day.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Oh, I also picked up a new item for the kitchen:</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc9ptz4W4_ik3DoNAt111NEyvHCRa6SZhHgFwNI-JeR9dXUpGDzbX9TvAjZMJTfG8KOfEfA4uJqOu2jMsXDb8ohKkMwt3iETvCRgP8ipDf3lXDsbzYUu-mgbtgRl_shtho1j6be92SQH8B/s1600/Kitchenaid.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc9ptz4W4_ik3DoNAt111NEyvHCRa6SZhHgFwNI-JeR9dXUpGDzbX9TvAjZMJTfG8KOfEfA4uJqOu2jMsXDb8ohKkMwt3iETvCRgP8ipDf3lXDsbzYUu-mgbtgRl_shtho1j6be92SQH8B/s320/Kitchenaid.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>An extraordinary deal! It's a whole new world for me...</i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> I've never, ever owned a stand mixer before. It's a dream long-deferred, because these suckers ain't cheap. But it was a great deal, on the 575 watt model, which is what I'd been holding out for.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Tonight I'm breaking it in, probably with either a soda bread, gingerbread, or maybe an acorn cake. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Let me know your ideas for using a stand mixer -- what should I do? What accessories? Any interesting tip and tricks, send 'em my way. </span> </span>Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05409883521642115031noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1739165937859822298.post-52559102883308250892017-02-03T16:36:00.002-08:002017-02-21T10:43:32.227-08:00On waiting...<span style="font-size: x-small;">© Joshua Stark 2017</span> <br />
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I've never been very good at waiting.<br />
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Oh sure, I can sit stock-still for a good time in the company of a buck, or scan the skies from a duck blind, or even watch the end of a stick with a line coming out of it into the water. I could do these things, and things like them, for hours on end. But that's not really waiting.<br />
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Watching and listening are active pursuits. Yes, a person can drift off during these times, but that's all a part of it.<br />
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For many hunters, this past Monday marked the first day of Waiting. Duck hunters (good friends of mine, and family) are especially moved at this time -- memes flew around the social media last weekend talking about the dreaded Wait. The End of Duck Season. Questions of, "where were you when it happened?", soft-light photos of the final sunset over the marsh (surely, a tear was wiped away during the shot), and wistful, thoughtful, sometimes poetic eulogies made their rounds.<br />
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This is good. Hunting is filled to the brim with ethical-minded people who absolutely, wildly and passionately love a place and an activity. Make no mistake, any one of us could get up this morning and go poach a bunch of animals, but the thought never enters our minds. The end of season is as final and truthful as the sunrise for hunters. And it is wonderful to see (often) grown men wax philosophical and wistful -- men who otherwise think that their joking love for a particular brand of beer is as emotional as they are allowed to get.<br />
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It is the end of a season, of a cycle, and we, like millions before us, now wait for that cycle to come round again. We know that next time, it will be different, yet completely familiar. Especially this year, we know that the deluge we've received will have altered the hunting grounds in unknown ways. That is a beautiful thing about hunting: it is ever the same, yet each time, absolutely unique. <br />
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And in truth, many of us will take up a rod and reel in short order and hit these swollen waters after fish. I'm already waiting like a dog in a kennel at the edge of the corn field for the warden to swing open that door and send me shooting out after shad.<br />
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In May.<br />
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Of course, it's February 3rd. Which brings me back to my original thought here.<br />
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Since I'm no good at waiting, I'm sure to put too many irons in the fire. In the leatherworking realm, I've gotten completely stuck trying to finish my first, custom-made chef's knife roll for a friend/customer, and I'm therefore backed up on an order fixing another friend/customer's custom-made guitar strap. I'm not getting any new orders from the internets so I've less of a fire lit under me, and that, coupled with the wide-open nature of a new product sometimes makes it hard to actually just start stitching pieces together. There's a fear that comes from hovering over a $100 piece of leather with a knife or punch, wondering if you'd measured right.<br />
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I picked up an old classic, the oldest, in fact -- I started re-reading the Epic of Gilgamesh, written probably two thousand years before the "Iliad". I'm also reading "A Sand County Almanac" with my son as part of his reading log homework every night. I get a chuckle out of writing it down on the check-in report to the Kindergarten teacher, but it has turned into an actual event now. We are able to talk botany, biology, and even some math as I defined and drew out an example of "diameter."<br />
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I've also collected some absolutely beautiful feathers from some of the most gorgeous birds to ever grace the skies: greenwing teal, with breast feathers that resemble shad eyes and sienna-colored mottled neck feathers; northern shovelers who, at first glance, look like 70's game-show host throwbacks with their powder-blue feathers, but up close, show incredible subtleties; and a pintail -- perhaps the most beautiful duck on Earth. The flank feathers, alone, can set me up for years tying wet flies and salmon flies, something I haven't done in years.<br />
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The garden continues its slow decomposition, with the exception of two swiss chard that sprouted up on their own (that stuff is nigh invulnerable). We received half our annual rainfall in five weeks here, and another week-long rain has just rolled in, with two inches expected over the first two days, which means that there simply is nothing I can do out back, but wait. The leaky old shed continues to rust my tools, and the 50+mph gusts mean that even my tiny overhang at the back of the house does little to keep things dry. When we finally start to dry out, there'll be many trips to the dump in my future. At least the trees haven't blessed us with too many large branches (a redwood tree branch is the equivalent of a regular tree falling sixty feet, horizontally, from the sky).<br />
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And my archery side-business is on hold, as well -- no rains + no indoor facility = no teaching. I am lined up for March, however, which is right around the corner, so I should probably get to organizing and fletching up my arrows, and even looking for a better way to hang my targets. Ah, the targets! The rain is also beating down on them...<br />
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So, much of what I do now is wait. Waiting for the rain, waiting for confidence, waiting for the seasons to turn. Many projects sit half-finished, and I'm not very good at waiting.Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05409883521642115031noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1739165937859822298.post-16226142188668867172016-10-09T21:00:00.003-07:002016-10-09T21:03:18.216-07:00A new, versatile addition to the workshop, and another project© Joshua Stark 2016<br />
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After finishing the duck straps, I used some recent archery class earnings (<a href="http://wildspirit-oldsoul.blogspot.com/">I teach archery</a>, if you are interested in learning) to purchase a 10 in. bench-top drill press. It isn't a super-expensive model (it's from Harbor Freight), which means I will be using it for other purposes, as well.<br />
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Yes, it can drill holes in wood and metal with it -- but I also stumbled upon a great other purpose, one that serves my leather work: You can use it as a leather press for rivets and punching holes.<br />
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For years now, I've been working at a workbench in the living room. It's a cheap Ikea dining room table, and it doesn't have the sturdiness needed to pound in rivets, snaps, eyelets, grommets, etc. When I need to set those, or punch holes, I've had to take out a sturdy footstool (confession: it's also from Ikea) and a marble slab, bend way down and hammer away.<br />
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I'd been looking at a nice press tool at Tandy Leather, but I'd been turned off by the price ($155!) for something I can do with a rubber mallet, even if I have to take a few more steps.<br />
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Then I thought, why not look for another kind of press? After all, the Tandy press is just a handle and a place to hold dies. Well, lo and behold, a small arbor press can be quickly modified to hold the dies and tools used for making impressions and holes in leather... which led me to thinking, why not just use a drill press while it isn't moving?<br />
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So I Googled it.<br />
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Yep. Here's a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_20GiCj_xmM">great little video</a> with a couple of good tricks for quickly modifying your drill press to set rivets, grommets, etc. It's not mine, and I don't know the guy, but it's a good video (except for the part where he says, "Who's your daddy?"... that's kinda weird.)<br />
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I tried it, and was able to punch a hole in no time, with no modifications, and set a rapid-style rivet. It works great!<br />
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Okay, so back to another project -- this one a sheath for my cousin. I've only made one other sheath, and this one has an odd handle. Here are a couple of pics:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUSlNfLFY4N2i7dhNZbI9FCwacz45i6zbdsZolbeDy7IjW7BALh5Cy1WK-SapQ8fZLipnz2PPF5CkPMcr3YBV1LNhzEy0DsmM6fMWSXNJL0axB-ExlELXl7PAatF94WnlR68m42qWIEFkW/s1600/KevinSheath1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUSlNfLFY4N2i7dhNZbI9FCwacz45i6zbdsZolbeDy7IjW7BALh5Cy1WK-SapQ8fZLipnz2PPF5CkPMcr3YBV1LNhzEy0DsmM6fMWSXNJL0axB-ExlELXl7PAatF94WnlR68m42qWIEFkW/s320/KevinSheath1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Here's the leather, cased, before staining and stitching.</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyqHZ1-N2Dlnqtets2clNDrzxh5DqCxUTmKVlk2BAR1XoMNoynGN-rqgXCdDSWQWAUS2zOI4rMxgc9fp-UG6dbnsPI-XrUNasy22zZPm3JTZZabQy4zUmIiiAQoviKK_NZlObT0ryuLmUV/s1600/KevinSheath2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyqHZ1-N2Dlnqtets2clNDrzxh5DqCxUTmKVlk2BAR1XoMNoynGN-rqgXCdDSWQWAUS2zOI4rMxgc9fp-UG6dbnsPI-XrUNasy22zZPm3JTZZabQy4zUmIiiAQoviKK_NZlObT0ryuLmUV/s320/KevinSheath2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Stitched and stained (with a saddle-tan antique). All that remains is putting on a keeper, and a copper rivet into the top left corner (maybe).</i></td></tr>
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It's been a fun project, another boost to what had been my flagging confidence. Even my mistakes (hammering it dry, and cracking the leather a tiny bit) have helped build my confidence.<br />
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<br />Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05409883521642115031noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1739165937859822298.post-89900989694778369822016-10-08T06:31:00.002-07:002016-10-09T21:01:59.187-07:00Back on the (stitching) horse...<span style="font-size: xx-small;">© Joshua Stark 2016.</span> <br />
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Well, I had to work through another few months' worth of fits and despair, a general lack of confidence, and an honest-to-goodness artist's block (though I strain credulity with the use of the word, "artist"). However, I have finally finished an <i>extremely overdue</i> leather order -- three California duck straps.<br />
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Confidence is a real problem for me, and it is compounded by the fact that when you finally make your measurements and trace out your templates, there comes a time when you actually have to cut very expensive material. A good side of leather can cost $200, and though it isn't as bad as I make it sound (I mean, I can cut, make a mistake, and cut another part, due to its size), it is still a pretty steep climb.<br />
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These duck straps were ordered by a good friend of the family, going back decades. He's one of those guys you admire from afar: an amazing outdoorsman, great dad, and a man who hunts out-of-state with a group (these folks go to Colorado each year).<br />
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Here are some pictures of the process...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2nuivSIX3JNNjM9KDlGN9TI4ebpA0guxGZ0iRqOVWv0lDYmMy2RxD_WoHsmNt4ceRMzQUJooWnJl4zNj4Gu4CCtXWwI2QLvyZMLVox6uyPD4XXe-6OQYxdVm5ggvtIJv_sVOeFHZ6AwbH/s1600/20160909_121925.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2nuivSIX3JNNjM9KDlGN9TI4ebpA0guxGZ0iRqOVWv0lDYmMy2RxD_WoHsmNt4ceRMzQUJooWnJl4zNj4Gu4CCtXWwI2QLvyZMLVox6uyPD4XXe-6OQYxdVm5ggvtIJv_sVOeFHZ6AwbH/s320/20160909_121925.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>I've picked out the spot on the leather, traced the template, and began cutting with the head knife.</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4AJLzwDukStjBsg_RKpPll-3UMOZFemWX1mAqTA6ANVdiawnBr6PExliWNfKjDdqrsyHZyAkQONUPytqMMtasW_F8buX4G0Kxu1_RuiAfQlD0RciNbGrSdxvS1svd3m7N89VTvXKEEveT/s1600/20160909_124148.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4AJLzwDukStjBsg_RKpPll-3UMOZFemWX1mAqTA6ANVdiawnBr6PExliWNfKjDdqrsyHZyAkQONUPytqMMtasW_F8buX4G0Kxu1_RuiAfQlD0RciNbGrSdxvS1svd3m7N89VTvXKEEveT/s320/20160909_124148.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Here is the process for cutting out a strap end with a strap-end punch. I've got here a rubber mallet, a strap-end punch, a block of marble, and a cutting board of some kind. Notice that the strap has been cut at the end to the dimensions of the punch.</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8K2XlKq24MD-BmTD2lU7JUUm-IvRLImXfQ7iyuuVhq0eh_K4h4057w_iHAO89fZp6VCOGD3XpmQZ9a0SBRBrOGVCTds_zP0CQoHx1E60otyyIzXBFd5EJZsCTU63OvxbheMWvjygr6GS-/s1600/20160909_124133.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8K2XlKq24MD-BmTD2lU7JUUm-IvRLImXfQ7iyuuVhq0eh_K4h4057w_iHAO89fZp6VCOGD3XpmQZ9a0SBRBrOGVCTds_zP0CQoHx1E60otyyIzXBFd5EJZsCTU63OvxbheMWvjygr6GS-/s320/20160909_124133.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>I'm setting up the punch. I'll hold the punch, and hammer on it a few times while rotating it a bit on its edge.</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJvHtdP0D8pnIYhRNAIHovKE925IkAv8-ZFlt_rrAgbxJ0bu2WwBeKcuJdOwAcJoolTUPJMtpAYZox5SiPMWVKLbLMS7RT1N7811ICq2e0HXoMVag1LwpG_859a_2TJZKUtWO3NlIDRcoX/s1600/20160909_124359.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJvHtdP0D8pnIYhRNAIHovKE925IkAv8-ZFlt_rrAgbxJ0bu2WwBeKcuJdOwAcJoolTUPJMtpAYZox5SiPMWVKLbLMS7RT1N7811ICq2e0HXoMVag1LwpG_859a_2TJZKUtWO3NlIDRcoX/s320/20160909_124359.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>And here's the final result. </i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj1BpeAiVKOjmdVYubqz_5I4HfK_XjqtSSDv-QeCACnNhOn6BvqAp17hKC5xgb7lMAYenV1fGICF5R2RU5ReKTFW7cczZVRGhKsgyO-zjCRzhaZVBsquTQituIlrglWd9fONbad6huojoZ/s1600/20160909_131651.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj1BpeAiVKOjmdVYubqz_5I4HfK_XjqtSSDv-QeCACnNhOn6BvqAp17hKC5xgb7lMAYenV1fGICF5R2RU5ReKTFW7cczZVRGhKsgyO-zjCRzhaZVBsquTQituIlrglWd9fONbad6huojoZ/s320/20160909_131651.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Three straps in slightly different stages, after stamping. The top one is stained, the middle one is "cased" (fancy leather term for "wetted with water"), and the bottom one is natural (before being stained).</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM7X3vbNzHX8oBH2pyxiLo7y3LuyKhtxgxOvC9j-74WS1LvcXzzQjySv_LnRmYJ2YbuDWfQGUdDNn7_mPCwoRzMDoeQaVlHXgyfLERsBoHkzF5J7H7CrO81DjMmKiwX13hQPqrv85Cyl6B/s1600/20160930_173313.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM7X3vbNzHX8oBH2pyxiLo7y3LuyKhtxgxOvC9j-74WS1LvcXzzQjySv_LnRmYJ2YbuDWfQGUdDNn7_mPCwoRzMDoeQaVlHXgyfLERsBoHkzF5J7H7CrO81DjMmKiwX13hQPqrv85Cyl6B/s320/20160930_173313.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Cutting three straps from about 6 oz. leather. Since I made three California duck straps, I cut 21 individual 1/2 in. straps, 14 in. in length (to leave room for folding over and riveting the strap ends).</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS6vaAKir-IuOw9cfv6QYQb947-Ebdhps7cHYkpypQMDho1KDlBob0hbd7aROvLR9qdWJH5VIHAv0uvxpncT4y9ut5dUGqysJofXze6hvANPB1L1ACt6C9zNAYHHiBvAMyc5Skh_gL1IVj/s1600/20160930_185841.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS6vaAKir-IuOw9cfv6QYQb947-Ebdhps7cHYkpypQMDho1KDlBob0hbd7aROvLR9qdWJH5VIHAv0uvxpncT4y9ut5dUGqysJofXze6hvANPB1L1ACt6C9zNAYHHiBvAMyc5Skh_gL1IVj/s320/20160930_185841.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>To make the folding and riveting flush, I skived the ends of each of the straps. I use a safety skiver, and hope that one day they'll make a left-handed version.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOHYlyG-jOfHq6oxnSXh6sJ3f5sMt7TtUGQSxrb9CM-UkKVuv1owkkZJ-7LVGhE2ZYRZ8974Va0Nx1VCfr3ke1bSF8qbEWy0wPnJSdShoiEufYeprLu18SsplfNFeCZ7OvfuR52R9EkyZp/s1600/20161007_101324.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOHYlyG-jOfHq6oxnSXh6sJ3f5sMt7TtUGQSxrb9CM-UkKVuv1owkkZJ-7LVGhE2ZYRZ8974Va0Nx1VCfr3ke1bSF8qbEWy0wPnJSdShoiEufYeprLu18SsplfNFeCZ7OvfuR52R9EkyZp/s320/20161007_101324.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Here they are. The top one was stained with "saddle tan", the bottom two with medium brown.</i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I was overwhelmed, in part, by the repetition. I had 21 straps to build, dye, seal, then 42 skive cuts, and 42 rivets to place. The great part is that, once I started, I realized that this repetition was just what I needed! I got into a rhythm, and worked to improve my technique. I also, I believe, have become more confident.<br />
<br />
Now, it's onto a knife sheath, followed by a very nice Ranger-style belt for an Angolan friend. I'm worried about the last one, because I want it to be just about perfect, and hand-cutting billets to look symmetrical is quite a challenge. But working on these duck straps have put a measure of confidence in me I haven't had in a long time.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_Y9J9WZcA6JY45uvEHtZBrgKd83LpLxO3ZXGRu8xx4DPurCvQWPjciH_vtY_PX50GXbvNASveyUGSfcIBaU-rafW_SDzwm2nuSsHG3UZe5UeuVa-GPfi_Q4TBK-fFBadx-IkS4kXpd0lc/s1600/IMG_03711.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_Y9J9WZcA6JY45uvEHtZBrgKd83LpLxO3ZXGRu8xx4DPurCvQWPjciH_vtY_PX50GXbvNASveyUGSfcIBaU-rafW_SDzwm2nuSsHG3UZe5UeuVa-GPfi_Q4TBK-fFBadx-IkS4kXpd0lc/s320/IMG_03711.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Sorry for the gory details. Here's a pic. of my cousin after a successful day afield, using a strap I made for him last year. He's my pro staff, I suppose.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05409883521642115031noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1739165937859822298.post-77874251831528775792016-09-13T11:13:00.001-07:002016-09-13T11:29:50.734-07:00A Grouse in the Hand? Opening day in the California Uplands, 2016<span style="font-size: xx-small;">©2016 Joshua Stark</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1_R2A11Ngg9JlQiP282CXlJmseQmO-Yqj5LwZFcXzkigxXwMyd7obAx6B6L1acBSy8BvSYKBYc-wb1n8IFt-HSjYJiPI-8gFNa92twd-jHJ7f1UDT1ub6xpxS4m6mMjFrCU9RKgTNOIz2/s1600/20160820_105325.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1_R2A11Ngg9JlQiP282CXlJmseQmO-Yqj5LwZFcXzkigxXwMyd7obAx6B6L1acBSy8BvSYKBYc-wb1n8IFt-HSjYJiPI-8gFNa92twd-jHJ7f1UDT1ub6xpxS4m6mMjFrCU9RKgTNOIz2/s320/20160820_105325.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>One of California's many uplands habitats -- sub-alpine and alpine country</i><br />
<i><span data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0"><span data-text="true">("upland" in
California goes from below sea level for gambels quail, doves
and snipe, to 7,000+feet after grouse, chukars and mountain quail)</span></span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span><br />
<div data-contents="true">
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="1apee" data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0"><span data-text="true">For three years, I've actively hunted grouse in my old deer hunting grounds on public lands in California, and have been skunked -- and often humiliated -- by these wily birds. My reputation as a nimrod isn't helped by the fact that these birds are often seen trying to figure out what the chicken's motives were, obviously lost in thought and oblivious to their surroundings.</span></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0"><span data-text="true"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0"><span data-text="true">Not my experience, mind you, but I'd been told on a number of occasions that "a big, grey chicken had just crossed the road about a half-mile back"...</span></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0"><span data-text="true"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0"><span data-text="true">My first encounter with grouse occurred while hunting with that <a href="http://hog-blog.com/">Hog Blog</a> fellow, Phillip Loughlin, who had invited me on an archery pig hunt in the Coast Range of Northern California. It was a traditional introduction to an upland game bird: about a half-hour before sunrise, quietly walking through the deep dark, contemplating having to sneak within 30 yards of a herd of animals about my size and with razor-sharp tusks, a pair of grouse exploded from a branch at hip-level about three feet from me, leaving me a trembling mess. </span></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0">
</div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0"><span data-text="true"><span data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0"><span data-text="true">Not one to hunt
out of vengeance (it's funny to consider, but seriously messed-up if you think about it for more than ten seconds), I didn't consider heading out after them at that point.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0"><span data-text="true"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0"><span data-text="true">My second encounter was just a sound, while out fishing the East Fork of the Carson River. A deep, low, slow drumming sound from the top of a hill. That was all. </span></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0">
</div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0"><span data-text="true">I had never heard it before, but I knew immediately what it was. It was powerful. It was a bird. And it awakened something inside of me, as wild encounters do when you happen to, sometimes accidentally, even, be open in your heart to hearing them.</span></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0"><span data-text="true"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0"><span data-text="true">But my third encounter with these grand birds of the uplands sent me on a familiar spiral, hunting after them with gun and dog.</span></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0">
</div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0"><span data-text="true">Ever since I bought my 20 gauge side-by-side, I had taken to putting a slug in one barrel and a load of steel No. 6's in the other during deer season. I had fallen hard for hunting mountain quail and every time I hit our public lands above 5,500 feet or so, I'd run across coveys... while never finding a deer with antlers sticking out of its head.</span></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0">
</div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0"><span data-text="true">On one such occasion, I had traveled up to a spot I'd known held mountain quail, and started in. About a quarter mile down-hill, on the edge of a clearing, I saw what I first thought was a GIGANTIC quail... it took a few seconds for me to realize that it wasn't a quail, it wasn't a turkey, and it surely wasn't a chicken. It was a sooty grouse.</span></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0"><span data-text="true"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0"><span data-text="true">Having never hunted grouse, I hadn't checked the regulations to know if they were in season. I chuckled to myself at the notion that I'd missed out on a big, tasty bird, but I also felt really blessed. After all, I'd never seen one like this, in the wild, just poking around. It slowly walked past a dead log, and into a stand of small pines.</span></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0"><span data-text="true"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0"><span data-text="true">I arrived back at the car just in time to catch a game warden drive up. I cracked open my gun, smiled as I walked up to him, and talked a bit. I mentioned the grouse.</span></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0"><span data-text="true"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0"><span data-text="true">"Did you get him?"</span></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0"><span data-text="true"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0"><span data-text="true">Sheepishly, "Uhmm, no... I didn't know they were in season, and I wasn't going to take a chance."</span></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0"><span data-text="true"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0"><span data-text="true">"Yeah, you still have two more weeks on 'em. Head back down there, they'll stick around the same spot. They're kinda dumb."</span></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0"><span data-text="true"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0"><span data-text="true">Apparently, not as dumb as some others. I traipsed back down the hill, a bit wary of the advice, but who am I to disobey armed law enforcement in the middle of nowhere?</span></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0"><span data-text="true"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0"><span data-text="true">Sure enough -- and just like that famous scene from The Matrix, that bird was in the same, danged spot! I raised my gun with just a bit too much enthusiasm -- frankly, flabbergasted at the exactness of the advice (it was eerie). The bird bolted into the stand of pines, and hit the jets in full cover. He was gone.</span></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0"><span data-text="true"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0"><span data-text="true">I left feeling as if I were being filmed for Candid Camera by the Department of Fish & Game. </span></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0">
</div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0"><span data-text="true">Come to find out, grouse are masters at popping out right when they have the best chance of getting away... to such an extent that I have come to believe they have some form of instinctive telepathy.</span></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0">
</div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0"><span data-text="true">Over and over, it was a similar story: me, walked to exhaustion, climbing madly after mountain quail, taking a breather and suddenly thinking, "hey, this kinda looks like grouse cover", and BAM! A bird launches out with force to scare the crap out of me, staying just behind cover. </span></span><span data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0"><span data-text="true">I even started bringing my dog with me, an exceptionally birdy rescue field spaniel named Rocio, who would get birdy and bust birds. </span></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0"><span data-text="true"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="e4pf7-0-0"><span data-text="true">But I learned little lessons from each failure. For three seasons, I'd get up only once or twice into spots I'd found the birds, and each time, I wouldn't be disappointed. With seeing them, that is; I still hadn't actually taken a bird. </span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<br />
Until last week.<br />
<br />
Last week, it all seemed to come together: a good bird dog, a mountain quail already in the bag, and a familiar spot where I'd seen birds earlier in the year. For once, I had confidence.<br />
<br />
The first grouse blew out of cover, and gave me about a half-second... no shot. I immediately yelled inside my head: there goes the only bird you'll see today! But I shut me up... and thought... what if there were more than one bird? I kept a brisk pace. I reminded myself, "hunt the dog", and she was birdy, breaking right and left in front of me like a good spaniel (can you believe it?). She broke left, uphill, into brush.<br />
<br />
From behind the tree at the back end of the brush, about fifteen yards from me, an explosion of grey feathers. Again, just a second between the trees, but I was ready. At the end of the day, I'd taken two quail, and my first grouse.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUwxgG5EFgJOPelK6SZYHnKb8JtSLW67tk90EtAS9zHDD9hzvK6D19ksdKLIqkue-yuGpQbsZKPduDuLkdEMPCLCz_rEMZXW06g7zX6C1Iao1cQlGxEYeMDHONTG5pifvnhAZ70ipolu18/s1600/20160910_084711.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUwxgG5EFgJOPelK6SZYHnKb8JtSLW67tk90EtAS9zHDD9hzvK6D19ksdKLIqkue-yuGpQbsZKPduDuLkdEMPCLCz_rEMZXW06g7zX6C1Iao1cQlGxEYeMDHONTG5pifvnhAZ70ipolu18/s320/20160910_084711.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Here is one happy bird dog, along with two Oreortyx picta (mountain quail) and one Dendragapus fuliginosus (sooty grouse). Also, tools of the trade: one 20 gauge side-by-side shotgun, with a 20 gauge shell and a 28 gauge insert for one of the barrels. Please note that those are not burrs on my dog, they are a really sticky seed that gets brushed out pretty easily.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05409883521642115031noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1739165937859822298.post-24997071311509156352016-02-13T08:30:00.000-08:002016-02-13T08:33:47.228-08:00How to be cool...? © 2016 Joshua Stark<br />
<br />
I'm going to need some help from cool people. You see, I may have just discovered that I am, in fact, cool. Hip. With it.<br />
<br />
I am a hep cat. And I don't know what to do with it.<br />
<br />
Two recent experiences took place to lead me to this inevitable conclusion, and now I am at a loss as to what, exactly, I am supposed to do with this power.<br />
<br />
The first experience involved a gigantic bicycle, Amtrak, a West German Army surplus jacket, and the city of Oakland (see? Even that sentence is just so dripping with cool).<br />
<span style="color: #fef1ce;">flx1247rg</span><br />
A couple of months ago, I had to get to my organization's headquarters in downtown Oakland for a strategy session for 2016. Since we are a nonprofit focusing on sustainable and equitable transportation, I'm encouraged to take the train, and this time I thought I'd take my new cargo bike and ride the last two miles.<br />
<br />
In typical fashion (for me), my humongous bicycle didn't quite fit, but I forced it. I got an evil stare from a conductor as I worked at it, but she let me on. Of course, I spent the trip wondering how I could possibly get home if they didn't let me on the return ride, but I was in it for the long haul.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7IgRV2hm1JhXkH09x1HvDJMLWlMW0juAVb3dsvrWg4O_HUpWHikKknAszgil-WgdUfUlH9knjDW6dupqhlA9nm4Q7IWvoYIPu_VGYHnRpDBu6mi8EfBbf4EnVn2k3-q21GlkW4U7hZMtm/s1600/20151111_164720.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7IgRV2hm1JhXkH09x1HvDJMLWlMW0juAVb3dsvrWg4O_HUpWHikKknAszgil-WgdUfUlH9knjDW6dupqhlA9nm4Q7IWvoYIPu_VGYHnRpDBu6mi8EfBbf4EnVn2k3-q21GlkW4U7hZMtm/s320/20151111_164720.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The cargo bike, in its natural defensive posture</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Once I got off the train, I hopped on my bike. Mind you, when I say my bike is humongous, I mean it. It's a cargo bike, a Yuba Mundo to be precise, over seven feet long and 50+lbs.; built to haul up to 440 lbs. plus the rider. I have dreams of hauling out decoys to a local marsh with this beast, but I mostly use it to haul the kids to and from school, and then bike to work. Bonus: it's bright orange.<br />
<br />
It being a chilly day (in the mid-40's), I donned my weather jacket -- a drab green, 25+ year old West German Army surplus jacket that has made it through the years looking really good. It's one of those coats that is pretty heavy, but when you put it on, you feel like you are wearing a sleeping bag, and the weight distributes perfectly. <br />
<br />
So here I was, pedaling through Oakland -- a city with blocks spontaneously gentrifying in such short order that they should have ribbon-cutting ceremonies or dry ice and light shows -- on a cargo bike, with a four day-old beard (if I shave regularly, I look like I've been attacked by wasps), wearing a German Army surplus coat.<br />
<br />
I wanted to yell, "I'm not a hipster! I'm not paying $2300 a month to live here in a flat above my micro-brewery! I promise I'm not delivering crates of kombucha!" I wanted people to know that I was a small-town California Okie, raised in a little Chinatown; that I went to community college in Stockton, where I'd bought this actual coat over twenty years ago at an honest-to-God army surplus store...<br />
<br />
I felt helpless.<br />
<br />
The second experience took place outside my local library, as I passed the time waiting for my daughter's dance class, and it came with a horrible epiphany concerning the extent of my hip-ness.<br />
<br />
I was sitting there, and one of those Facebook memes popped into my head. You know the one about how "you" may be cool, but you'll never be as cool as blah blah blah? Well, I chuckled to myself as I wrote out my own version. It started out innocently enough:<br />
<br />
"You may be cool, but you'll never be sitting in your Prius, waiting for your daughter's urban jazz class to finish..." I chuckled; some people do realize that it is pretty cool... "hand stitching a man-purse for..." flashes of fully-bearded, wavy-haired hipst-hipst- "... your Vogue-published writer-friend."<br />
<br />
At that instant, I knew that there were entire communities who thought that was cool.<br />
<br />
Damned cool.<br />
<br />
Images of me, bowhunting with my recurve, hunting with my cheapie double-gun and a rescue spaniel. Pokepoling for pricklebacks. Tying flies from birds I'd shot. Videotaping a "how-to" on acorn processing. Working for an environmental nonprofit.<br />
<br />
Raising ducks.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://wildspirit-oldsoul.blogspot.com/">Teaching archery</a>.<br />
<br />
Knowing what, "pokepoling for pricklebacks" means.<br />
<br />
Making nocino and walnut ketchup.<br />
<br />
Hand-carving leather arm guards.<br />
<br />
I heard the voice of Sewer Urchin, a super-hero from one of my all-time favorite cartoons, echo in my head: "Down here, I'm the apotheosis of cool!"<br />
<br />
--------<br />
<br />
Now, I know I'm not cool. In my heart, I'm not cool; by my age, I cannot be cool (because I'm not a musician). I've never minded coolness, or being cool -- shoot, I've seen some really cool cats in my time, and I've never begrudged them their cool. But, I've never envied it, either. <br />
<br />
All I've ever done, in all honesty, has been without a care about looking cool. (my continued willingness to go hunting with other people, despite my track record, attests to this fact). I've not tried to be cool or uncool or different. I've just liked what I've liked and haven't thought much about it.<br />
<br />
Part of this probably has to do with being painfully shy as a kid, and growing up in a small California town. Since I only interacted with a couple of people, and they sure didn't represent any one clique (you get who you get in a small town), I just pretty much kept to myself, developed my own interests, and had the blessing of a very diverse group of friends and family.<br />
<br />
But, lately, I'm getting the sense that people have been following me around, and taken up what I've done for years as a goofy guy, as a set of cool things to do. <br />
<br />
If this is true, here are some other things you can expect to be cool pretty soon:<br />
<br />
-Pulling an abdominal muscle as a result of the extra exertions of the flu will be all the rage really soon;<br />
<br />
-Stock up on Buffalo Bills merchandise, because it'll be flying off the shelves in no time;<br />
<br />
-According to my wife, it'll be a hit to let the recycling pile up in the kitchen, rather than taking it out;<br />
<br />
-So will waiting six months to fix the running toilet;<br />
<br />
But back to my original question: for all my cool friends out there -- what should I do with this
power? What can one do with coolness? <a href="http://mallardofdiscontent.blogspot.com/">Mallard</a>? <a href="http://suburbanbushwacker.blogspot.com/">SBW</a>? <a href="http://hog-blog.com/">Phillip</a>? <a href="http://www.snowqueenandscout.com/journal/2015/8/19/chanells-story-one-black-womans-journey">Chanell</a>? <a href="http://honest-food.net/">Hank</a>?<br />
<br />
Not ever having had it before, I don't know where to start.<br />
<br />
Oh, and I have an Etsy Shop. (Facepalm):<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/OldSoulLeatherWork?ref=offsite_badges&utm_source=sellers&utm_medium=badges&utm_campaign=en_isell_1"><img height="200" src="//img0.etsystatic.com/site-assets/badges/en/en_isell_1.png" width="200" /></a>Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05409883521642115031noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1739165937859822298.post-13871272355440618942015-12-24T09:42:00.000-08:002015-12-24T09:42:05.146-08:00Merry Christmas, y'all -- from a man who worships a refugeeJust a quick note, a Merry Christmas to all. We at the Stark House have been giddy, preparing for Santa's arrival, and watching presents pile up under the tree (which, by the way, seemed to have a three-foot thick trunk, quite unusual for a seven-foot tree... there was much trimming).<br />
<br />
The weather turned cold today in California, dropping from the mid-fifties yesterday into the low forties today, and feet of snow are piling up on the Sierra Nevada. A great Christmas miracle, if you ask me.<br />
<br />
Tomorrow is the day we celebrate the birth of our Savior, and I am reminded that we are blessed to live where we do, and to have what we have. As a Christian, I know it isn't because of my hard work that we are blessed, and I do not believe it is karma. I believe that the sun rises on the evil and the good; and the rain comes down on the righteous and the unrighteous (Matt.5:45).<br />
<br />
I am also reminded that His family were forced to run, in fear for their lives. They were hunted in their homeland, and had to go into exile as refugees into Egypt.<br />
<br />
Nor did Joseph take up arms to defend his home. I've seen some call those men who get their families or themselves out of war zones cowards for leaving war. I can never make such a sweeping claim with confidence, because I don't know each person's situation, and I know that, before anything else, each one is unique.<br />
<br />
As a Christian, I must admit that none of us knows perfectly of God's will. I know for sure that I am a sinner, that I fall short of the Perfect Good, of Love, constantly. Like C.S. Lewis points out, we can be sure that we know good, and that we don't do it.<br />
<br />
But I worship a God who became a man, and who, as a child, had to flee with his family as refugees. I worship a God who commands me to make a place for all, even those who worship differently than I do. I worship a God who calls me to defend widows and orphans, to care for the poor, and the imprisoned, to give to any who ask of me.<br />
<br />
Nowhere am I commanded to only do these things if I am not afraid. In fact, I am told to fear not! I am commanded to not cower, but to open up even to those who may do me harm. Christianity makes no room for cowardice to determine our actions. <br />
<br />
I almost never meet these requirements, but I cannot for a second pretend that they don't exist.<br />
<br />
So Merry Christmas from our family to yours. Please take a moment to consider those who are forced to flee, and if you do, pray for them. <br />
<br />
"<i>And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?</i>" Matthew 5:47.Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05409883521642115031noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1739165937859822298.post-47329045584405683542015-10-07T09:34:00.000-07:002015-10-07T09:34:38.009-07:00Recent Leather WorkWell, I'm back, and trying again to get myself into a regular writing pattern. For a while, I've been caught up in my day job (advocacy for a non-profit organization working on statewide and regional transportation and land use policy). I've also been spending time making some leather goods -- belt pouches, possibles bags, knife sheaths and the like. <br />
<br />
Here's a bit of what I've got: <br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibyDjuaqb751v1zYMrBR_GGNzAPN_UGkCEQ54D6cmkP_7ehZsj7Spg1NPJh2hinDZdLhEbg0SOktobfTgIuNRWU30DKyNURYr8Q8VrDCtdRG1GmmoDI1DX05B1TeiLS8cHyfxcUGj1LjxJ/s1600/HAGC1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibyDjuaqb751v1zYMrBR_GGNzAPN_UGkCEQ54D6cmkP_7ehZsj7Spg1NPJh2hinDZdLhEbg0SOktobfTgIuNRWU30DKyNURYr8Q8VrDCtdRG1GmmoDI1DX05B1TeiLS8cHyfxcUGj1LjxJ/s320/HAGC1.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Next test: deerskin gusset.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
A belt pouch, also called a Rob Roy sporran or a purse for dudes when they wear skirts (kilts). I'm happy with the way these are coming out. <br />
<br />
This one is one I did with the Hunter Angler Gardener Cook logo for my friend, Holly Heyser. I don't sell this design, it's Hank Shaw's; I just wanted to see if I could do the logo justice.<br />
<br />
Something I added to this style are tassels, to be used as game straps for those lucky enough.<br />
<br />
The dye job came out better than I'd hoped. I use a leather dye that is, frankly, difficult to work with. On top of it, I used an antique gel dye, and rubbed it off, to give it a darker tone. Next, I applied a sheen, and last, Fiebing's Aussie leather conditioner.<br />
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXDnQt7oVHgqh7IIqUZ6JqHhMmv7TqybskYXuNKVFoyOY0pqBKITvZH2uKZtC6kwpQHyLYp0xp9NXBZDWr8sawh5lnSVndPgnXw9QNhO15g00lOM1KIMeYSHtFlDnzgfMfq31koh_xm8B3/s1600/Possibles+bag_fowling+bag1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXDnQt7oVHgqh7IIqUZ6JqHhMmv7TqybskYXuNKVFoyOY0pqBKITvZH2uKZtC6kwpQHyLYp0xp9NXBZDWr8sawh5lnSVndPgnXw9QNhO15g00lOM1KIMeYSHtFlDnzgfMfq31koh_xm8B3/s320/Possibles+bag_fowling+bag1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>It was hard to be asymmetrical with the ragged flap, but I'm happy with it.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Another one I worked on is this 18th Century-style possibles bag or fowling bag (or, purse for dudes who wear leather pants... don't ask).<br />
<br />
I really like this style! It has D-rings stitched in parallel with the body of the bag, which means it sits flush against the hip, and it has the flap stitched in on the top, so it automatically closes itself.<br />
<br />
This particular bag I made with the ragged edge of the leather, and I am happy with how it came out.<br />
<br />
I've actually started selling bags and pouches, and arm guards for archery as <a href="http://wildspirit-oldsoul.blogspot.com/p/old-soul-archery.html">Old Soul Leatherwork.</a><br />
<br />
I also bought a fine little scian dubh (pronounced "skan doo"), or black knife, at the 150th Highland Games in Pleasanton earlier this year, and designed a knife sheath for it.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0ZmpDOMjXsyRuDnID-_6TLRTkL2vhY6DwHfFc6PkE7KSBTBSpnSESAjFgDZjT_iXv_z98IzpVatjnQfrLOKLUMHTiVwkj63DOQD50ymSHOj9ztqhGoXtqrw_Z744AqYiduCjilfd-SiZ9/s1600/scian+dubh+sheath1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0ZmpDOMjXsyRuDnID-_6TLRTkL2vhY6DwHfFc6PkE7KSBTBSpnSESAjFgDZjT_iXv_z98IzpVatjnQfrLOKLUMHTiVwkj63DOQD50ymSHOj9ztqhGoXtqrw_Z744AqYiduCjilfd-SiZ9/s320/scian+dubh+sheath1.jpg" width="251" /></a></div>
<br />
Afterward, I got the tooling bug ("tooling" is the name for the artwork in the leather), and made a sheath for my head knife (the knife I use in leather work). I like quail, and, spurred by my Facebook friend <a href="http://rebeccakoconnor.com/">Rebecca O'Connor</a>, I designed two panels, one with a mountain quail (<i>Oreortyx picta</i>), and one with a valley quail (<i>Callipepla californica</i>).<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijK1lyej4TfavOQDP3ABDX5yplxw5QXQVT335bFRJw-YVlttuWWO9xC3bh_ACApIyUCM-GXGdq4IuFnKObSzEc65B_8YjCm_MEyvsN8ltqvvRuQuxJKN9rTsuCcg2F_GCtIc0912Mm4Ajw/s1600/Head+knife+sheath1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijK1lyej4TfavOQDP3ABDX5yplxw5QXQVT335bFRJw-YVlttuWWO9xC3bh_ACApIyUCM-GXGdq4IuFnKObSzEc65B_8YjCm_MEyvsN8ltqvvRuQuxJKN9rTsuCcg2F_GCtIc0912Mm4Ajw/s320/Head+knife+sheath1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>My biggest obstacle in any artwork is confidence. Finally, I got up the courage to start cutting on a $5 piece of leather. Here's the first stage of the valley quail panel, with a Perthshire stone knotwork panel. Head knife in the background.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit6Iu3mA4lORZTFh8iHlt1PsxbFsxSQHrOsiGZABsHEZMDvz_NcBwrkxl7cdn6fY7iL8SdzCzwr4fLhyphenhyphenIRa7pNDhj-PAQzhPyCH_d0PLH64bIXQJUEio2fxj6qIAzRjLPJY0eVofO2XsmR/s1600/Head+knife+sheath2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit6Iu3mA4lORZTFh8iHlt1PsxbFsxSQHrOsiGZABsHEZMDvz_NcBwrkxl7cdn6fY7iL8SdzCzwr4fLhyphenhyphenIRa7pNDhj-PAQzhPyCH_d0PLH64bIXQJUEio2fxj6qIAzRjLPJY0eVofO2XsmR/s320/Head+knife+sheath2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Here's the valley quail panel complete (but before final stitching and trimming, of course), and the mountain quail in-process.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY5sBODAs7qnR0viIxiFxdvJfrgi3N3Ioc3Wq1sxx7C1Lgwvt1m-R4fuBo-qzy_ZrpOKlqkOSP8iZjJnZzCKyIhZYcZOIOj-ALa4I0zQ3RiDsXjrcz3T1sTXENCb6akI1Gl90VQUih78zc/s1600/Head+knife+sheath3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY5sBODAs7qnR0viIxiFxdvJfrgi3N3Ioc3Wq1sxx7C1Lgwvt1m-R4fuBo-qzy_ZrpOKlqkOSP8iZjJnZzCKyIhZYcZOIOj-ALa4I0zQ3RiDsXjrcz3T1sTXENCb6akI1Gl90VQUih78zc/s320/Head+knife+sheath3.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>And here's the final product. The knotwork panel tab was problematic: I didn't design in the ability to snap it shut without hurting the art on the panel. Since I'm not taking it anywhere (it stays on the workbench), I'm leaving it as-is. </i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Leatherwork has been very personally rewarding to me lately, allowing me to express some pent-up art, but in a way that is useful.<br />
<br />
(If you are interested in buying something leather, check out my <a href="http://wildspirit-oldsoul.blogspot.com/p/old-soul-archery.html">Old Soul Leather Work</a>).Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05409883521642115031noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1739165937859822298.post-27284785683293836752015-05-18T09:19:00.001-07:002015-05-18T09:19:31.667-07:00Belt practice: Ranger-style beltLast month, my online friend <a href="http://hippo-on-the-lawn.blogspot.com/">Tom</a> asked me to try a new style: a ranger belt. Ranger belts differ from "normal" belts in that billets are stitched onto the belt ends.<br />
<br />
I bought some really nice English bridle leather, and also some decent belt leather straps from Tandy Leather, and decided to make myself a belt as a practice. That was a good choice.<br />
<br />
What I've learned:<br />
<br />
Overall, belts can be very hard. Trying to make a straight line for such a long strip can be challenging. Being off by a fraction of a degree at the beginning can lead to an awkward end, and the size of your workspace and the length of your arms can be problematic.<br />
<br />
Hand stitching a belt is time-consuming. At this point, I'm definitely in it for the meditation, not the money (and I do actually enjoy it quite a bit).<br />
<br />
Hand-stitching takes time to learn. I'm trying to get a more solid pattern out of the saddle stitch, an angled look to it, and it takes a certain technique.<br />
<br />
I always need to go just a little bit slower.<br />
<br />
Here's my first creation, almost completed (I added a belt keeper):<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cNTHSZgSjlk/VVOYqNfeXbI/AAAAAAAAAzA/hq_7eiCMHhw/s1600/20150513_095250.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cNTHSZgSjlk/VVOYqNfeXbI/AAAAAAAAAzA/hq_7eiCMHhw/s320/20150513_095250.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Now, it's time to make Tom's belt. The leather is nicer than the Tandy leather shown here, but really, I'm impressed with the Tandy straps, too.Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05409883521642115031noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1739165937859822298.post-60925111318435787412015-04-26T06:49:00.001-07:002015-04-26T06:49:49.125-07:00Improvements, both voluntary and compulsoryThis past month has, on occasion, felt like one, big butt-kicking. We've been hit with sickness (luckily, just variations on the standard kid stuff) plumbing and mice. Professionally, I've been wrung-out preparing for a giant Summit and Advocacy Day we put on each year. And in my <a href="http://wildspirit-oldsoul.blogspot.com/">semi-pro world</a>, we've been preparing for our upcoming archery booth at the <a href="http://sacramentoscotgames.org/">Sacramento Valley Scottish Games Festival</a>.<br />
<br />
In addition, throw in one or two t-ball games per week for the four-year old and an appearance dancing at a Sacramento Kings basketball game for the 8-year old's dance troupe, and you've got the recipe for our soup of chaos.<br />
<br />
The big news was the plumbing. We've had bad plumbing ever since we bought the house from the bank. The lines were a combination of cast iron, plastic, and orangeburg line, which is basically tar paper, and we didn't help things by buying the absolutely cheapest toilet we could find. Every year or so, we've had to call out a plumber to clear the line, and this year was no different.<br />
<br />
Well, actually, this year was quite a bit different.<br />
<br />
The plumber we called out took a wrong turn with the auger (the big, steel-cabled thing that spins), and broke off the end of it (called a "claw") just under the toilet (he was supposed to clean out the opposite direction -- oops). A fifteen-minute job turned into three hours on Easter night, followed by a day-and-a-half of back-and-forth. We finally bid him and his company a "fond" farewell, and decided that we should get quotes on just fixing the whole shebang. We got quotes, picked one (the guy who was cheapest, but also from the company we've trusted the most over the years -- and he said he'd work a couple of hours free to get that claw out of our line), and three days later, we had new lines.<br />
<br />
It did take him over an hour to get the claw out of the line. At first, he shoved a camera down the pipe (I got to see the new line, too!), found the claw, and decided to come in via the toilet line. We took out the old toilet (catharsis) and set it out in the back yard (confronting, yet again, the sorrows of not owning a pickup truck or trailer). The plumber then shoved a "blow bag" down the line. This is basically a rubber oblong ball with a tiny hole in the front. You attach it to the end of a garden hose, shove it into the line, and turn on the hose, full-blast. The force of the water is supposed to build up in the blow bag until it reaches a certain point, and then it "blows" the water, preferably out the front hole. In our case, it blew the blow bag apart on either side. Regardless, it successfully shot the claw completely out of our line, never to be seen by us again. Perhaps a wayward crocodile will make use of it in the sewers, or one of the turtles can fashion it into a kama or a couple throwing stars.<br />
<br />
Next, we upgraded the toilet to one that, according to its marketing, can flush 12 golf balls in one go. We haven't mentioned this to my son, so don't tell him if you see him -- I don't need to come home to any experiments.<br />
<br />
As for leather work: I've been too slammed at home and in preparation for my work events and haven't had a chance to put anything into the stitching pony (sorry, Tom). However, I did get to go to the Tandy Leather Open House sale, where I got a free tote and bought a few tools and a double shoulder of milled vegetable-tanned leather. Milled leather is soft and pliable -- not suede, as it still has a slick side, and so is able to be tooled and stamped. I'm excited to get to build soft-sided bags with it, and if I get adventurous, perhaps a pair of gloves.<br />
<br />
I also bought a tool that makes me feel like a professional -- <a href="http://www.tandyleather.com/en-usd/product/al-stohlman-brand-round-knife-35014-00.aspx">a round, or head knife</a>. It is pretty and effective -- a knife that can cut corners and smooth curves very well, as well as effectively and quickly skive! (Skiving is shaving down the thickness of the leather on the back side). It takes a bit of practice, but apparently not a ton, as I've already used it to make a leather arm guard.<br />
<br />
As of this post, I'm halfway through manning our booth at the <a href="http://sacramentoscotgames.org/">Sacramento Valley Scottish Games and Festival</a>. It is great fun, and our archery booth did pretty well yesterday. If you are in the neighborhood (it's in Woodland at the fair grounds), I highly recommend coming to experience this great event. From caber tossing to fiddles and pipe-and-drum-corps to archery (that's us!), there's quite a bit to see and do.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IXl5lDLZs3A/VTzqdi05JPI/AAAAAAAAAyg/GFuqMCA5r68/s1600/20150425_173042.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IXl5lDLZs3A/VTzqdi05JPI/AAAAAAAAAyg/GFuqMCA5r68/s1600/20150425_173042.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>That's Paul, my kilted brother in-law, arming and training children. Come on out and get your child the training she needs!</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<br />Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05409883521642115031noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1739165937859822298.post-65204930963138333612015-04-13T07:12:00.000-07:002015-04-13T07:12:21.227-07:00Sporrans and belts and shooting tabs... and some great companies!<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-szWe-WW4WbU/VSvJeddw4AI/AAAAAAAAAyA/4Gk01aut430/s1600/20150410_125718.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>I've made my first online purchases for custom and specialty items
this week. It seems like I may be on the verge of really taking off
with this leather work, as well as getting in gear with archery.<br />
<br />
Last week, after seeing the work I did for my <a href="http://agrarianista.blogspot.com/2015/03/latest-leather-project-belt.html">brother's in-law belt</a>, my good friend <a href="http://hippo-on-the-lawn.blogspot.com/">Hippo</a> asked me to stitch him up a ranger-style belt. If you haven't seen one, just Google "ranger belt", and plenty of images come up.<br />
<br />
Anyhoo, I don't know if you have ever worked with British/German ex-pats living in West Africa. If you have, then you know that they are both jovial and particular, and, if it weren't for my day-job as a lobbyist (that's right), I might have even succumbed to his honeyed words. Heck, I probably did a little bit, anyway. He plied me with fine vocabulary, weaving in particular requests with the vision of a near-perfect belt and its use to draw in hundreds of fawning customers.<br />
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The "particular" about which I speak concerns the type of leather he would like: bridle leather. I'd never heard of it before, but I looked it up and yes, it is, indeed, an actual item. A very nice item, as a matter of fact. I did some further perusing, and learned a bit about it. I also learned about a wonderful place I'd never before known: <a href="http://www.outfitterssupply.com/">Outfitters Supply</a>, out of Columbia Falls, Montana.<br />
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You see, a lot of horse packing gear has to be strong, consistent, weatherproof, and still nice enough to not wear a hole in a horse. Or an Englishman, for that matter.<br />
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I got on the phone with the good folks at Outfitters Supply, and in two days had two fine pieces of bridle leather, finished on both sides. The stuff is beautiful, and pictures (especially the ones I take) do not do it justice. Oh, the ideas it inspires, constrained by finances!<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1gvX-iMCOqo/VSRRgTWsZMI/AAAAAAAAAw4/Yclvn7F8_dE/s1600/20150404_122858.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1gvX-iMCOqo/VSRRgTWsZMI/AAAAAAAAAw4/Yclvn7F8_dE/s1600/20150404_122858.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Some beautiful bridle leather!.</i></td></tr>
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The big difference between Hippo's belt and my brother's in-law is that Hippo wants no tooling, but he does want stitching. Ranger belts require stitching the billets, and I've opted to add stitching along the belt edges for the length of the belt, in order to minimize stretching (although I'm sure that this bridle leather will do a good job of keeping its shape).<br />
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I'm okay with stitching, but, like the tooling job on Pedro's belt, I've never done it for over three feet in length. So, I got back on the horse -- or pony, as it were, and stitched up a sporran for practice. I practiced the saddle stitch (appropriate, considering I'll be working with bridle leather and sitting on a stitching pony), and I feel comfortable. I also know that I need to upgrade my stitching awl.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-96pKsLLITDQ/VSRSl0affqI/AAAAAAAAAxg/igCw5H0FTBI/s1600/20150406_131015.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-96pKsLLITDQ/VSRSl0affqI/AAAAAAAAAxg/igCw5H0FTBI/s1600/20150406_131015.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Another box in the mail!</i></td></tr>
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I also had a great time looking up a custom order for me... in a way. A couple of months ago, an archery shop up in the foothills had asked me if I could possibly make leather shooting tabs, as the ones they currently purchase are made of the suede side of split leather -- which means they are flimsy, as well as sticky. I make my shooting tabs out of vegetable tanned leather, complete, and he said that, if I could get a stamp to cut out the shape, he'd be interested in buying tabs from me.<br />
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I poked around and found <a href="http://www.pro-dies.com/">Pro-Dies</a>. They are great people, out of Colorado, and custom make dies and punches for saddle-makers and people like me. I sent him my pattern, and he got me a die at a good price. I have to really wail on it with my mallet, but I get a consistent shooting tab that I can send up for sale.<br />
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The sporran I made is officially the first real quality leather item I've made for myself (my leather-clad mug was commandeered for a pen holder, and my mug and dagger frogs are too, shall we say, 'utilitarian'). I designed a cross pattern with knotwork inside it. Here are some pictures of the process:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Bn7RbZ_WUHE/VSRR18rvQoI/AAAAAAAAAxA/p5gUjEh6PRU/s1600/20150404_082722.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Bn7RbZ_WUHE/VSRR18rvQoI/AAAAAAAAAxA/p5gUjEh6PRU/s1600/20150404_082722.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Here is the sporran in the stitching pony (a third hand, very helpful). On the table is the front panel of the sporran, and a panel for attaching the drawstring, to be stitched onto the front panel. </i></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tlPvi7FR5GA/VSRSC_ZSIYI/AAAAAAAAAxI/eGg0g_MqMZQ/s1600/20150404_082820.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tlPvi7FR5GA/VSRSC_ZSIYI/AAAAAAAAAxI/eGg0g_MqMZQ/s1600/20150404_082820.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Here is a view of the back panel and flap (this was in the stitching pony). Note that I've tied the corners of the flap temporarily onto the back panel (the lighter colored thread). This is because the soft deerskin stretches quite a bit, and if you don't put your corners in place, you will end up with a lopsided bag.</i></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Or3Q0l-AEeU/VSRSh6o7tiI/AAAAAAAAAxY/j8mJSKDolCs/s1600/20150406_100111.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Or3Q0l-AEeU/VSRSh6o7tiI/AAAAAAAAAxY/j8mJSKDolCs/s1600/20150406_100111.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Here is a picture of the front panel in the stitching pony. You place the pony on your chair, and sit down over the horizontal bar. I'm using a saddle stitch, with a needle on each end of the thread. Note the cash register for all the sales I'm making!</i></td></tr>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8CDk-9p441M/VSvJpY9TceI/AAAAAAAAAyI/hOeciOuKeu4/s1600/20150410_125645.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8CDk-9p441M/VSvJpY9TceI/AAAAAAAAAyI/hOeciOuKeu4/s1600/20150410_125645.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SJ8de8rYvCs/VSvJW9WlPHI/AAAAAAAAAx4/d18A9AWGnZQ/s1600/20150410_125727.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SJ8de8rYvCs/VSvJW9WlPHI/AAAAAAAAAx4/d18A9AWGnZQ/s1600/20150410_125727.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8CDk-9p441M/VSvJpY9TceI/AAAAAAAAAyI/hOeciOuKeu4/s1600/20150410_125645.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SJ8de8rYvCs/VSvJW9WlPHI/AAAAAAAAAx4/d18A9AWGnZQ/s1600/20150410_125727.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8CDk-9p441M/VSvJpY9TceI/AAAAAAAAAyI/hOeciOuKeu4/s1600/20150410_125645.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-szWe-WW4WbU/VSvJeddw4AI/AAAAAAAAAyA/4Gk01aut430/s1600/20150410_125718.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-szWe-WW4WbU/VSvJeddw4AI/AAAAAAAAAyA/4Gk01aut430/s1600/20150410_125718.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Here is the Rob Roy sporran, ready for a button on the top flap. If you are interested, I'll be selling sporrans like these starting at $100 -- you can check them out at my <a href="http://wildspirit-oldsoul.blogspot.com/">other webpage</a>.</i></td></tr>
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Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05409883521642115031noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1739165937859822298.post-23549339801364633222015-03-25T12:11:00.000-07:002015-03-25T13:12:26.594-07:00Latest leather project: a belt<div dir="ltr">
My brother in-law Back East commissioned a belt from me a few weeks back. Talk about a teachable moment! I'd never tried a belt before -- well, I'd recycled a thrift store leather belt for my three-year old son, Ruben's, kilt, but I hadn't tried any tooling.</div>
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In talking over what he wanted, he expressed an interest in some kind of Nicaragua-themed pattern on a simple leather 1 1/4" belt with no fancy buckle<br />
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I skipped down to my local Tandy Leather, picked up a vegetable tanned belt blank (my leather wasn't long enough for a belt, or I would have tried cutting a strip). Their craftsman blanks are plenty thick and good quality. I also bought a solid brass buckle, an adjustable groover, and some tracing paper. </div>
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Then, per my process, I seized up with fear and anxiety for a few days as I considered some pattern. Unfortunately, when I look at a blank piece of veg-tanned leather, I don't see any possibility other than the very likely one that I will screw up a valuable piece of leather with a hideously ugly pattern and a few slips of the hand with a knife.<br />
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I flipped through the Google for good images from Nicaragua. My brother in-law's style is understated. Without getting too far down into a stereotype, he is a professor at a prestigious East Coast liberal arts school: Katherine Hepburn's alma mater, as a matter of fact. He is also, as a geologist and paleontologist, a man who gets out in the field, so something rugged and natural would be important. Earth tones.</div>
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Also trying to avoid stereotypes, it seems safe to say that, "understated" is not a cornerstone characteristic of Nicaraguan visual art. "Vibrant" may be more appropriate. There is a strong leather craft culture, and I would love to go visit and learn from some of their masters, and there is an eon of human history and art remnants, as well as rain forests, lakes, the ocean, and volcanoes for inspiration.</div>
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I knew I'd use images from stone carvings, Granada tile, pottery, and also some images from nature. I looked through the list of national symbols and picked the flower and tree, and also a jaguar and a snail, the latter recommended by his good friend. </div>
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Finally satisfied (mostly), I settled in to the actual work.</div>
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Alright, here's a quick tutorial, in case you'd like to make and tool your own belt:<br />
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First, after a few days of trying out different
pattern ideas, finally commit, dammit! This is the pattern I drafted:
Steps and swirls, some native flora and fauna.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o4fU1CZErhg/VQXp4ycOlsI/AAAAAAAAAvM/xCGDmouBaxA/s1600/20150315_132104.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o4fU1CZErhg/VQXp4ycOlsI/AAAAAAAAAvM/xCGDmouBaxA/s1600/20150315_132104.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Thanks to Mr. Fashion House for the snail tip -- they look cool!</i></td></tr>
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Next, bevel the edges of the belt to round them out (don't forget to wet your leather and let it dry just for a minute or so), and then groove the edge to frame your pattern. You can also cut grooves with that grooving tool, if you want to deepen the background of your belt to make your tooling marks really stand out, but, since I was going for "understated", I kept the grooves shallower.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PeBSTU9vhz8/VQxBBV51ogI/AAAAAAAAAv4/nn6kS02pmVc/s1600/20150318_122001.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PeBSTU9vhz8/VQxBBV51ogI/AAAAAAAAAv4/nn6kS02pmVc/s1600/20150318_122001.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>My newest tool: a groovy adjustable groover with interchangeable tips. </i></td></tr>
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Now, it's time to trace your pattern. I finally bit the bullet and bought honest-to-goodness tracing paper, simply because I couldn't see the pattern through regular white paper well enough to keep it in line. Belts are long, and (especially with skinnier ones like this one) if you veer off course on your pattern, it's visible.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o4fU1CZErhg/VQXp4ycOlsI/AAAAAAAAAvM/xCGDmouBaxA/s1600/20150315_132104.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZFznlFWbHPg/VQxBKV3aVjI/AAAAAAAAAwA/J7_DsMM5byM/s1600/20150318_121857.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZFznlFWbHPg/VQxBKV3aVjI/AAAAAAAAAwA/J7_DsMM5byM/s1600/20150318_121857.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>With wet or "cased" leather, all you need is light pressure with the stylus.</i></td></tr>
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Now, it's carving time! Again, make sure the leather is cased. Keep your knife sharp (the Tandy instructions say to consider your strop a part of your knife, and it's good advice). If your knife starts to drag or catch, stop and strop.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kLE1RkuQ8uQ/VQxA7wgEQBI/AAAAAAAAAvw/B19jEt5vu1Y/s1600/20150318_131856.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kLE1RkuQ8uQ/VQxA7wgEQBI/AAAAAAAAAvw/B19jEt5vu1Y/s1600/20150318_131856.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Carving sets the stage for the tooling. Note strop in the upper right. </i></td></tr>
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Tooling is next. For this project, all I did was use a beveling tool to make the cuts stand out. I could have also use a pear shader on a couple of spots if I'd chosen.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sxj0hsZtxk0/VQxA2Vnk00I/AAAAAAAAAvo/n3Q6Dl0xEG4/s1600/20150319_104816.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sxj0hsZtxk0/VQxA2Vnk00I/AAAAAAAAAvo/n3Q6Dl0xEG4/s1600/20150319_104816.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Tall end of the beveler goes into the cut on the outside of the image. Hammer lightly. </i></td></tr>
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After carving and stamping, it's time to dye... I learned a lot from this belt, dyeing being one of them. My dye didn't go on as evenly as I'd have liked, although it gave an impression of age that the owner really appreciates (whew!).<br />
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For more even dye applications, make sure to thoroughly clean the oils that have accumulated from your hands onto the leather -- I believe you are supposed to use some sort of denatured alcohol or oxalic acid, and I think Tandy Leather sells a "deglazer" that does the trick. I'm looking into it.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LXm_HIHOGhI/VQxAofOtgaI/AAAAAAAAAvg/5Kjqq4AY8Ys/s1600/20150320_084435.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LXm_HIHOGhI/VQxAofOtgaI/AAAAAAAAAvg/5Kjqq4AY8Ys/s1600/20150320_084435.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Almost finished. What's left? Edge dyeing and slicking, hole punching, adding the belt keeper, and shipping off.</i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></td></tr>
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And here are a couple of pictures of the final product:</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdEYcyMjTUFloJr16T5qEWPm3XDSAY0o__tC7lYA6azfw2LU1BR9F7cAxCAGQJF6EdRuRhdq-HeYTHIKWXSKiufZc_CxFOFLOjJTG9aMCqR9T-jkAfwxVwoJLyRFFSHvikFapHrNCq0_zF/s1600/20150320_113558.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdEYcyMjTUFloJr16T5qEWPm3XDSAY0o__tC7lYA6azfw2LU1BR9F7cAxCAGQJF6EdRuRhdq-HeYTHIKWXSKiufZc_CxFOFLOjJTG9aMCqR9T-jkAfwxVwoJLyRFFSHvikFapHrNCq0_zF/s1600/20150320_113558.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Solid brass buckle so it won't rub off to steel, a darker brown edge dye, and Fiebings Aussie leather conditioner applied.</i></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-S1yy38gfjEQ/VRGliNJWecI/AAAAAAAAAwg/rhfOHpfLdck/s1600/20150320_113542.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-S1yy38gfjEQ/VRGliNJWecI/AAAAAAAAAwg/rhfOHpfLdck/s1600/20150320_113542.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The part I'm happiest with -- the belt end keeper. The dye went on beautifully, and the stamping was just a simple and very traditional leather veiner tool.</i></td></tr>
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Lesson learned:<br />
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--Belts are long and narrow, which creates some issues with design (patterns are easier to carve if they flow in a shallow diagonal), casing (keep wetting it!), and the build-up of oils and dust (keep your workspace clean -- even the floor). <br />
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In all, it was a great experience, and now I can add belts, straps and slings to custom projects at my <a href="http://wildspirit-oldsoul.blogspot.com/">other website</a>.</div>
Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05409883521642115031noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1739165937859822298.post-92171679518999345322015-03-15T13:25:00.000-07:002015-03-15T13:25:49.972-07:00There are still good blogs out there! and a business updateSadly, I'm not one of them, though I'd love to be, one day. I might lack the courage required of the wordsmith to post really flaying, soul-searching thoughts, or the depth required of capturing philosophical monologue. Perhaps I'm not well-read enough to know how to turn a phrase, or worldly enough to have any real stories to tell.<br />
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Whatever it is, I ain't got it.<br />
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However! I still read a number of blogs written by some amazing writers, folks who do have experiences and the skill to craft amazing mental pictures, tug at heart-strings, and occasionally make you pee your pants. <br />
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I hadn't realized that, perhaps, blogging is on the verge of becoming a flash in the pan, another medium corpse on the path of digital communication, since I've always thought it, basically, just people writing public journals (something that has gone on for quite a while, I gather). But a blogger I read, Chad Love at "<a href="http://mallardofdiscontent.blogspot.com/2015/01/back-from-land-of-dead.html?showComment=1422568185920#c3436134113501729014">Mallard of Discontent</a>", posted a melancholy piece on a recent trip to Vegas, and in so doing, mentioned that a number of other media seem to be taking over.<br />
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So, to do my part to help keep the medium alive (for the three or four of you who actually read this), here is a short list of some well-crafted blogs:<br />
<br />
--Of course, the aforementioned Mallard of Discontent. Chad Love always writes as if he is apologetically trying to capture the glory (or bemoan the loss) of the profound and nuanced outdoor writing of the early- to mid-20th Century, but what he really is doing is very clearly and articulately representing the kind of profound and nuanced outdoor writing that continues to exist, nearly timelessly, because he and a few other great writers continue to write. <br />
<br />
--My 2nd longest-distance online friend, Tom Gowans, at <a href="http://hippo-on-the-lawn.blogspot.com/">Hippo on the Lawn</a>, who writes about his life in Angola. Amazing, funny, sad, and a bit on the bleeding edge of life. <br />
<br />
--Phillip Loughlin's <a href="http://hog-blog.com/">Hog Blog</a>. You may be cool, but you'll never be Carolinian GQ-published hunting guide who writes his own great blog about hunting feral pigs. Seriously, don't let the title fool you, Phillip Loughlin can write.<br />
<br />
Steven Bodio's <a href="http://stephenbodio.blogspot.com/">Querencia</a>. I know more people are aware of his history and authorship than I am; I know that he writes a fascinating blog of snippets about dogs and dog breeding (from a <i>wonderful</i> angle), hunting and fishing, bird-watching, anthropology and the natural sciences, falconry, and intellectualism. <br />
<br />
If you've got blogs of the style and quality you see from these gentlemen, please let me know. <br />
<br />
----------<br />
<br />
On the business-side of things around here, I continue to work on my brother in-law's belt. The biggest -- and most nerve-wracking -- part is next: cutting the pattern I've designed into the belt. Yes, aside from the panic that grips me for hours on end as I try to actually design the art work, it's almost the entire job...<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o4fU1CZErhg/VQXp4ycOlsI/AAAAAAAAAvM/xCGDmouBaxA/s1600/20150315_132104.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o4fU1CZErhg/VQXp4ycOlsI/AAAAAAAAAvM/xCGDmouBaxA/s1600/20150315_132104.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Thanks to Dave for the snail inspiration. More on the meaning later...</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I've also <i>almost</i> got my first business for archery instruction via my online presence... almost. Fingers crossed that the gentleman will call back.Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05409883521642115031noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1739165937859822298.post-63698251493825620802015-03-05T10:28:00.000-08:002015-03-05T10:29:04.466-08:00Silent Spring? Try, a too-early Spring for California. Also, a quick update on the leather work.What with climate change and a drought, Spring sprung in California in early January. However, that just means that the time between January and April is fraught with chaos: we may get no rain, and highs into the 70's for a couple of weeks, to be replaced, overnight, by three days of precipitation in which we get 5 inches of rain; or, we may instead get visited by a cold snap into the 20's for ten straight days. Of course, we could get days and days of deep, thick fog. Or a wind that blows everything dry as toast and lights Southern California ablaze...<br />
<br />
It means that planting times really don't change all that much due to the weirdness of the jet stream and pressure ridges. Just don't talk yourself into a false sense of security about an earlier planting time.<br />
<br />
But they do change due to a warming climate.<br />
<br />
This <a href="http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/science/indicators/health-society/growing-season.html">graph from the US Environmental Protection Agency</a>, for example, shows that the average length of the growing season in the U.S. has increased by nearly two weeks during the 20th Century. And <a href="http://www.arborday.org/media/mapchanges.cfm">this animation by the Arbor Day Foundation</a> shows the shift in hardiness zones in the U.S. in one decade. <br />
<br />
The California portion of that map just barely covers it, since California has so many climate zones and microclimates. It is interesting to note the creep of hardiness zone ten inland from the coast... also, keep in mind that California is in a drought now approaching four years long, and well past the data of that hardiness zone map.<br />
<br />
For our region, it means watching our plants bloom and leaf early, and then hope for enough water while dreading the dramatic shifts in temperature that tend to come with our precipitation. You see, the lion's share of California's water is supposed to arrive in the form of snow blanketing the Sierra Nevada (which is right now at about 25% of its average for snowpack, a terrible irony if you look up the meaning of its name). But, blooming fruit trees are especially susceptible to damage from hail and freezing.<br />
<br />
If we only get our precipitation from what people are now calling "atmospheric rivers", but what we used to call pineapple expresses, we get a LOT of rain, but warmer rain. In a typical year, that could mean a really bad rain-on-snow event, leading to flooding. However, with no snow, at this time we are hoping for just about anything.<br />
<br />
Sadly, the warmer weather also brings out the nasties -- in our case, mosquitoes, ticks and fleas. Yea. Even worse, a longer hot season will mean more West Nile virus-carrying mosquitoes, which is only a small trouble for people, but may potentially lead to the extinction of our endemic yellow-billed magpie, as well as wreak havoc on multiple other avian species.<br />
<br />
As I type this, I'm watching one picking up sticks for its nests. They have two in the walnut tree from last year, masses of twigs about 2-3 ft. in diameter. <br />
<br />
Updates around the grounds: Our walnut has a slight case of mistletoe, and I am contemplating just what to do with it.<br />
<br />
Our pomegranate, fig, and boysenberry, and my wife's japanese maple (that I feared had died) are all budding and leafing. I'm tempted to try to plant cuttings of the fig and pomegranate to make hedges (if anybody has any advice, let me know).<br />
<br />
As for the leather shop, I've picked up another customer -- my brother in-law, who has commissioned a belt. Having never made a belt, I looked up "custom tooled leather belts" and, after taking recovering from the shock of seeing how much people are willing to pay to hold up their pants, I decided to only charge this one, being an experiment, for materials and the cost of one new tool (an adjustable groover).<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Nvbw-uBGVGE/VPidWO7tHWI/AAAAAAAAAto/UpJZTBcbJOk/s1600/20150305_101438.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Nvbw-uBGVGE/VPidWO7tHWI/AAAAAAAAAto/UpJZTBcbJOk/s1600/20150305_101438.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>I can feel the possibilities in it, including the possibility that I will royally screw it up.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I also banged out another arm guard, this one a birthday present for a good friend, Mr. Jung. It was really nice to get a sense of the speed I've picked up, having cut arm guards for two other clients (one of which I haven't yet delivered, due to my shipment being drawn on by a four year-old). Mr. Jung has a great story, having just recently reunited with his family in South Korea after having been adopted as a baby.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5QgpIRsAT6I/VPigEHmzPrI/AAAAAAAAAt4/TJ0GRKWlziM/s1600/.facebook_1425580020715.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5QgpIRsAT6I/VPigEHmzPrI/AAAAAAAAAt4/TJ0GRKWlziM/s1600/.facebook_1425580020715.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Jungs can take some really nice pictures.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05409883521642115031noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1739165937859822298.post-90206899959409682882015-02-27T12:07:00.003-08:002015-03-01T13:23:37.427-08:00Feverishly tooling away (with a tutorial), and teaching archery again<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4aSC-Zo5aKo/VO5WOSRLanI/AAAAAAAAAoU/W_aOc1wovNo/s1600/20150225_094502.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4aSC-Zo5aKo/VO5WOSRLanI/AAAAAAAAAoU/W_aOc1wovNo/s1600/20150225_094502.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>What have I been up to? Finally filling orders!</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Last year, I picked up both leather working and archery instruction as business enterprises, and though I lost some money (mostly on tools and a tiny archery arsenal), it wasn't a whole bunch, and it really set me up for this year (besides, I hear that businesses usually lose money the first three years).<br />
<br />
Even January was a bit slow, but, since I'd put "getting my business running" on my New Year's Resolution list on the refrigerator (<i>that's</i> depressing -- I don't recommend it) I stepped up my game.<br />
<br />
First, I re-connected with the Jungs, a wonderful couple in town who run <a href="http://www.atasouthport.com/">Southport ATA</a>, a very good taekwondo dojang. They are both amazing martial artists, and more importantly, great and loving people who have allowed me to again offer archery seminars.<br />
<br />
My first seminar of the year took place last Saturday, where nine kids showed up to learn the basics of archery. A good time was had by all, and I've been asked back on March 21st. Sadly, I didn't take any pictures. Next time, for sure!<br />
<br />
Next, I set to finishing an order that had been placed by a friend of mine, J.R., who volunteers for <a href="https://www.backcountryhunters.org/">Backcountry Hunters and Anglers</a>, a group dedicated to protecting our wild places. J.R. had seen pictures of the <a href="http://agrarianista.blogspot.com/2015/01/splitting-difference-and-preparing-for.html">bag I'd made for Holly</a> last year, and asked me to carve and tool some arm guards with the Backcountry Hunters and Anglers logo. I said yes, then immediately became seized with artist's block and debilitating self-doubt. It's my artistic process.<br />
<br />
Three months later, I'd finally worked out my anxieties, figured out how I wanted to approach the job, and set to it. I also decided to take some pictures and explain the process, since <a href="http://hippo-on-the-lawn.blogspot.com/">Hippo</a> had asked for me to explain more just how I do it.<br />
<br />
It starts with a piece of leather -- in this case, vegetable-tanned leather, the kind you can tool:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o579fusLnmE/VO__Ph1pb0I/AAAAAAAAApU/NgNYfPZ-hQw/s1600/20150226_084229.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o579fusLnmE/VO__Ph1pb0I/AAAAAAAAApU/NgNYfPZ-hQw/s1600/20150226_084229.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The ever-vigilant Rocio... let's all just keep quiet about her being in the house for this part...</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I used an earlier arm guard I'd made to trace as my template, and I cut three arm guard blanks with a very precise tool, a "Stanley razor":<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-l-zzn3Se81A/VO__jrmcgiI/AAAAAAAAApk/POmyC6glcjs/s1600/20150226_093308.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-l-zzn3Se81A/VO__jrmcgiI/AAAAAAAAApk/POmyC6glcjs/s1600/20150226_093308.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Three blanks cut, using the arm guard above as template. Note the highly precise tool used to cut the leather.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Next, I printed out a copy of the logo I used, in an appropriate size for the arm guards (it took about one hour to decide on a size... part of my anxiety-ridden "process"):<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-g3FahuYbhMQ/VO__qZTbX8I/AAAAAAAAAps/pEYvCL0Z930/s1600/20150226_100046.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-g3FahuYbhMQ/VO__qZTbX8I/AAAAAAAAAps/pEYvCL0Z930/s1600/20150226_100046.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Note the precision instrument for drawing a circle -- passed down to me by a professional leatherworker. She didn't say so, specifically, but I am absolutely sure that the flowers are a must.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Now, I began the process of carving, pounding and stamping the design onto the leather, known as "tooling". Step 1: Case the leather (a very technical process by which you wet a sponge with water and rub it on the leather). Cased (or, for you novices, "wetted") leather will look darker. let the water soak into the leather for a minute or so, then start your work.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qjsPzsb9iVg/VO__xLSeLoI/AAAAAAAAAp0/TegZObMHOu0/s1600/20150226_101811.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qjsPzsb9iVg/VO__xLSeLoI/AAAAAAAAAp0/TegZObMHOu0/s1600/20150226_101811.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Cased leather on the right, dry leather on the left. No biggie.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I first use a swivel knife to carve out the parts I want to stand out: in this case, the circles and the paw print. Be sure to case your leather when it gets too dry, and strop your blade every few cuts. The knife should always slide smoothly through the leather, about 1/3 to 1/2 into the leather, not through it.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-y3uDUeld2Lo/VO__5MEYCTI/AAAAAAAAAp8/kHYZmOUEKqA/s1600/20150226_110224.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-y3uDUeld2Lo/VO__5MEYCTI/AAAAAAAAAp8/kHYZmOUEKqA/s1600/20150226_110224.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>A sharp knife is vital here; as soon as you feel it "catch" or hang up on the leather, stop and strop. </i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
After carving out the lines, it is time to pound the leather into place. A series of specialized tools are very helpful here. The first one in a beveler. Push it into the cut line, and hammer down, walking the piece around and along the line.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5WCYoV-byzU/VPAAAOntgBI/AAAAAAAAAqE/lZt5IgF2CHE/s1600/20150226_110934.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5WCYoV-byzU/VPAAAOntgBI/AAAAAAAAAqE/lZt5IgF2CHE/s1600/20150226_110934.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>An edge beveler in action (kinda -- I had to take my own pictures).</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I repeated the process along the outside edges of the paw print.<br />
<br />
Next, I used a pear shading tool to put smooth, wide divots into the paw print; then I used a backgrounding tool to stamp out a pattern around the paw print and inside the circle, making the print stand out:<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8k1Ylcg06Tg/VPAANB3AFJI/AAAAAAAAAqU/2RyIsmRV-eE/s1600/20150226_112311.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8k1Ylcg06Tg/VPAANB3AFJI/AAAAAAAAAqU/2RyIsmRV-eE/s1600/20150226_112311.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>There are many types of backgrounding tools -- this one makes tiny, random dots.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MAM-BQUZWiI/VPAA_UermaI/AAAAAAAAAq8/QXRIdfSOknc/s1600/20150226_191400.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MAM-BQUZWiI/VPAA_UermaI/AAAAAAAAAq8/QXRIdfSOknc/s1600/20150226_191400.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>This is the pear shader.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
After this, I made my circles more pronounced. The two inner circles I pushed down and traced with a ball-point stylus, and the outer circle I traced/cut with a Revlon cuticle tool (that's right).<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QAtfKrHOCsI/VPAAV6Pn0EI/AAAAAAAAAqc/2kia-iBVWqU/s1600/20150226_113028.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QAtfKrHOCsI/VPAAV6Pn0EI/AAAAAAAAAqc/2kia-iBVWqU/s1600/20150226_113028.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Stylus on the right, cuticle tool on the left.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I then used a pyrography pen to burn in the letters. This took the longest time of any process.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ve6rntqTBCg/VPAAddl161I/AAAAAAAAAqk/IW5DDXGS8jY/s1600/20150226_150921.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ve6rntqTBCg/VPAAddl161I/AAAAAAAAAqk/IW5DDXGS8jY/s1600/20150226_150921.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Here are the blanks ready to be dyed and punched. The pyrography pen is on the left. Be careful, it is very hot.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Next, I dyed the pieces and cut the edges with an edge beveler:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FPii5D4lxYc/VPAAkrKQgvI/AAAAAAAAAqs/6WEUi92o_S0/s1600/20150226_155759.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FPii5D4lxYc/VPAAkrKQgvI/AAAAAAAAAqs/6WEUi92o_S0/s1600/20150226_155759.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Pieces dyed and edge beveled. I then dye the edges a darker color, paint on gum tragacanth, and slick the edges to a beautiful shine.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Following up, I punched holes and attached the hardware: grommets and lacehooks.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DEDprj3yWpg/VPAAzAsV19I/AAAAAAAAAq0/6wh9vkRqyVM/s1600/20150226_190832.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DEDprj3yWpg/VPAAzAsV19I/AAAAAAAAAq0/6wh9vkRqyVM/s1600/20150226_190832.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Here are two with hardware, and two up next. A rubber or rawhide mallet is a must, unless you like buying new tools all the time. Note the tiny anvil (a favorite purchase) and the white tool, called an edge slicker (another favorite, since it adds a final touch that makes your stuff look really professional).</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
And here they are in all their glory -- four complete arm guards, sealed and waterproofed and ready to be shipped!<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpAupbxJRbrlrYijGkckz7EsX0J1MsFHQZsJ95-OkCKSXOSlaxOEZNuoHhfNUj3aWAyUsA8_1NGqzJMLhE5gw2hhGj1jKtyZuOgX9RMufe55Flr21yjYNIe117fXZ1uSty80B-zNYuKw1H/s1600/20150227_120347.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpAupbxJRbrlrYijGkckz7EsX0J1MsFHQZsJ95-OkCKSXOSlaxOEZNuoHhfNUj3aWAyUsA8_1NGqzJMLhE5gw2hhGj1jKtyZuOgX9RMufe55Flr21yjYNIe117fXZ1uSty80B-zNYuKw1H/s1600/20150227_120347.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Off to Montana with you!</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
If you or someone you know is interested in an arm guard or perhaps a leather possibles bag or belt bag, let me know!<br />
<br />
I am finishing up another website for the two businesses, and will link to it when it is all ready.<br />
<br />
UPDATE: Though still in its early stages, here is a link to my website for archery instruction and leather work: <a href="http://wildspirit-oldsoul.blogspot.com/">Wild Spirit & Old Soul</a>. Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05409883521642115031noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1739165937859822298.post-1303304268433764722015-01-28T07:43:00.001-08:002015-02-03T15:37:30.745-08:00On droughtCalifornia's drought continues apace, and I'm sure we will soon see the standard cries to the residential water user to conserve! conserve!<br />
<br />
I'm not buying it.<br />
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I've written about water at my old blog, "Ethics and the Environment" (if interested, read <a href="http://enviroethics.blogspot.com/search/label/water">here</a>).<br />
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Basically, California's borders are arbitrary, geographically speaking, and so to speak about a "California" water crisis is akin to speaking about an "Eastern Seaboard" water crisis, or some other similarly sized region. <br />
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Sadly, our attempts to conserve water via State mandate only ask for a 20% reduction in urban use, which constitutes roughly 5% of total human water use in the State. If every municipality were to hit their 20% mark, we would conserve about half of all the water that goes just to almonds in California. That is to say, we wouldn't do diddly-squat to really positively impact the drought on a "California" scale. <br />
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However, we most definitely harm local plants and animals by merely cutting back on water use without taking into account our own local watersheds and ecosystems. (Also, consider that "local" is on a California scale: some of the Trinity River, for example, waters Los Angeles some 600 miles to the South).<br />
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For example: My little region has many small riparian corridors that provide habitat for a number of species, including ducks. Last year, many folks cut back on watering their yards, which resulted in diminished water for their small, local corridors. Ducks, finding inadequate habitat, went somewhere; my guess is that they were pushed into smaller patches of protected wetlands, where the higher water temperatures (from warmer climate+less runoff into them from the upstream corridors) contributed to unhealthy conditions. It seems to me that higher concentrations of ducks would exacerbate the rapid spread of deadly diseases, such as the avian botulism that <a href="http://www.calwaterfowl.org/klamath">struck the Klamath Basin</a> last year.<br />
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If, instead, people had continued to water their lawns in riparian corridors, would the subsequent runoff (with higher humidity and higher water levels) have helped to sustain local populations of ducks (not to mention the myriad other, at times endemic, species of plants, bugs and animals)?<br />
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Though my pond is ended, I will continue to provide water for drinking and for bathing for my local birds. Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05409883521642115031noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1739165937859822298.post-34692073595651420342015-01-15T10:16:00.004-08:002015-02-03T15:36:30.268-08:00What would you like in a field bag? And, a quick update around the groundsFor years, I've worn a hand-me-down shooting vest while hunting in the field. My cousin offered it to me a while back, and it's been out with me a number of places. However, though useful, it never did fit quite right, and the blaze orange back is faded, a button and zipper pull are now missing (having both fallen off), and the velcro design of the flappy front pockets grab onto my other clothing.<br />
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While perusing various online establishments, looking for cool leather work to attempt, I have come upon a couple of nice belt pouches. What I've realized is that I just might be able to design and build my own pouch (or sporran, possibles bag, man-purse, whatever you want to call it) for the field.<br />
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I also know some of you out there who have varied and interesting experiences in the field, and I want to know what you might find useful on a bag for the field.<br />
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So far, I know that I'd like a bag that I can fit a box of shotgun shells, a bumper (for teaching retrieving), a water bottle (or flask, but just for the size), a pair of gloves, a tiny first aid kit, and still have room for collecting stuff (perhaps mushrooms or other food). I also would like a separate pocket that I could line with a plastic or wax-paper baggy for the kind of dog treat my dog cares about (greasy).<br />
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It would definitely need a couple of D-rings, and maybe a dog leash latch. Last, it would have a game strap.<br />
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These are my ideas. Please let me know yours.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9faU82xLfAdIAHKXPkeEzy6dHt-1HkZ_-y1Pg1dMnFvpdK9vzJ589rXW1v1QnA0uFt8VhDbXbGXJjthxmepEKrNe8NTlc6BMNfJTOabJjrR7kMBHMWE2SFyyy2Oc146dSHn95msFmjY5k/s1600/Holly+pouch1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9faU82xLfAdIAHKXPkeEzy6dHt-1HkZ_-y1Pg1dMnFvpdK9vzJ589rXW1v1QnA0uFt8VhDbXbGXJjthxmepEKrNe8NTlc6BMNfJTOabJjrR7kMBHMWE2SFyyy2Oc146dSHn95msFmjY5k/s1600/Holly+pouch1.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>I can make a decent pull-string pouch, but the one I'm designing will need to have a bigger mouth</i></td></tr>
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Updates around the house and garden<br />
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We've decided to finally end the pond. Instead, I've filled in the hole with leaves from the walnut tree, and we hope to build a hill with a couple of nice rocks, and perhaps a little trickling stream at the base (we have the pump and liner from the pond, after all).<br />
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There has been a wonderful uptick in the number and variety of birds visiting lately, including a bluebird and two extremely violent hummingbirds. These two went at it hammer and tongs (and yes, the hammer and tongs were precious, being so tiny). At one point, they almost ran into my son. One finally got hold of the others leg, wouldn't let go for quite a while, and then the two separated very quickly back to corners of the yard, like somebody had rung a tiny bell ending the round. <br />
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I have purchased a small smoker that fits into my barbecue, and hope this weekend to smoke three pheasants from a recent hunting trip (where my dog was amazing, unlike a recent snipe trip, where she was horrid. More on both very soon).<br />
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Pictures to come soon, too.Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05409883521642115031noreply@blogger.com5