yaklady

Johanna, do you really want to know why I live here? At this moment, there are seven bull elk hanging out in front of my house. They have been there since I got up. The humming birds buzz around my head when I stand on the deck to watch the elk. That makes it all worth while! It can snow all summer if it wants to, just so long as I have the wildlife to visit with. Happy with the altitude, Kathy

Hope you're having a wonderful day! It was great to meet you in Sheridan. Kathy

My mechanic friend cleans battery terminals with Coke. I could imagine what it would do to my innards!

I gotta quit drinking. This Dr Pepper is making me fat! It's tough getting old. Some year I'll reach 30. You did a great job on the flask. I made some stuff with the Harley shield on it, and no one has arrested me yet. Maybe they won't arrest you, either!

Clay, the yak and the pig would get along great, except for the fact that the pig would eat all the yak's food! Bacon could teach the little guy about cleanliness, but not manners. Haven't you noticed that my hair is brown, not black like the yak's? Take another look at my profile picture. You're just jealous of my hat. If you want one like it, take a little trip down under. Those are much better hats than the ones you get in Jackson, Wyoming! Johanna, I live here so the foxes, coyotes, goss hawks and racoons can eat my chickens, and I can play with the grizzly that everyone says doesn't live here, and I can build a fire any time of year to warm up by, and I can get much needed exercise shoveling snow. Snow makes it easier to build the fire, either that or freeze. I can also make friends with the bull elk and humming birds that come to play. Yaks do shed, mainly in the spring! Go figure. If you look at the adults in the pictures, you'll see brown on their backs. That's the wool that Braider mentioned. Most of the black gaurd hairs stay. Did you happen to pet my dead bull in Fort Worth last fall? That's what they look like all shedded out. Yaks are brushed, not shorn. I need to set up a chute to put them in to get the wool. There's no other way with these guys. They aren't exactly pets. Braider, you would be wise to say no to shearing a yak! I could imangine what you would look like when you were done, all bloody and bashed! Clean yak wool can bring in as much as $16 an ounce. It's very soft and warm. I have a chunk in my car. Want some? I still recommend the steak. It's tender and juicy and has a fraction of the fat and cholesterol that beef has. Maybe I'll get an ugly baby, or one that's down-right mean and I can name it Veal and put it in the freezer. I need more steaks, I've eaten most of them! Maybe I can get the hide veg-tanned and make yak halters or something. Grammyak, the youngest grandma you'll ever know

Yes, yak wrestling requires a lot of fexing!

Oh boy, a house yak! The cute little fuzz-ball would probably house train real quick if I call it "Veal". If he misses the newspaper, I'll show him the white packages in the freezer. Grandma won't need any stamina! I did try to check under that cute little tail. Did you know that even the smallest of yaks can haul out and kick an intruder? That's when the "mom-calling" comes into effect, and no more playing with the baby. Mom and Dad come running! The females in this species is no different than others. I could sell a female for about $500 more than a male. Guess what I'm hoping for! Kathy By the way, Johanna, it's supposed to snow tomorrow!

I use Krylon Matt finish on my pictures. If you don't put it on heavy, it works great. Too much does turn white. I couldn't tell you if it flexes, though, since I don't often flex my pictures!

You know, I was hoping for a little imprinting myself. I think all I did was make him mad! Prehaps our little encounter will save him later. If he's a she, she's safe anyway. Denise, there is a color of yak called "Trim" which typically has two socks on the rear feet. Mom and dad both have that. Trim includes some white on the face, usually not as much as dad has, and they usually don't have the tip on their tail. Dad's dad was black and white like a holstein, so more white is coming through. This is the first yak I've seen with all four feet with socks. Note the white on dad here. Crystal, my brother has a weird sense of humor, worse than mine. He has new names for all my yaks, including baby. The bull is Yogi, and my borther calls him Yogurt. The cows are Pabu and Pubari, so he calls them Taboo and Pablum. Now he calls the calf Peanutbutter. I guess that's better than Stew! A couple days earlier and he would have been born on my daughter's birthday. I should have named her Maytag! Clay's calling me Grandma now. He makes me feel so old, but I'm a happy and proud grandma! Kathy

That's very nice, Ken! May we call you Sandy now? I think Dale is trying to make you feel better since you don't have to be on a ladder. Have fun in Quebec when you go! Kathy

Who says Christmas isn't in June? I didn't even know this yak cow was "in the family way". New yak calves are so small, fences don't stop them. This little guy came through the fence to sleep in the tall grass by the house. I had the chance to pet him. I may not get that chance again, as the adults are very protective! There are already horns on that little knobbly head. This is the most exciting thing for me! Kathy

Thank you for posting this, Brent. They sent out the list via our guild president, but I can't open it. I can open this one! Kathy

See the cool grain that is has? That's one thing I like about it. On a project like this that doesn't have a lot of tooling, the grain takes over. I like the stuff. Kathy

The gun case is under "Show Off, A guncase for my son", but I can post more pictures for you here. The inside is Hermann Oak and velvet pig suede. The outside is all goat. I found it to be very easy to work with on a project like this. Kathy

I much prefer Tan Kote over Resolene, myself. For one thing, you can wash it off, reapply oil, and put it back on. Resolene I have a hard time getting to coat evenly. The spray would help with that. It does work very well over acrylics to protect it. What you should do is get a small bottle of it and try it out. But please spray it! Kathy

Hi Marlon, Did you see that gun box I made for my son? It was in the World Leather Debut in Sheridan. The outside is covered with goat skin. I use a low-angle bade like Peter uses when I carve it, and don't apply much pressure. Goat is not something you want to try to get depth on, of course! The grain on it is beautiful, and it is easy to work with when you want to stretch and mold. I was perfectly happy with the results I got from it on the box. I have seen wallet made from goat, with a floral design on it. It looked great. Try it, you'll like it! Kathy

Our Tandy's manager made some leather dust using a sander. I forget how many days he said it took to get a bag full. It certainly wasn't worth the time. Like Marlon said, Hide Crafters still carries it. At the show, it was about $5 a one pound bag. Another way you can make a multi-blade knife is to use a large x-acto knife handle. You can stack the blades like Clay said, and have to "trim" the outside edges a bit, but they will fit. Hide Crafters used to sell a knife like that. Their stacked blades were glued together somehow, and you may have to glue them as well. Roz Kaohn sells a knife like the one Clay explained, using a handle like the ones you would have a fountain pen tip in. Just use your imagination, you'll come up with something good. Kathy

A utility knife with a good sharp blade is what I use most, although there are certain things I perfer my head knife for. The head knife keeps the cut straight up and down, while the utility knife can easily undercut. I ordered a small head knife and I think it will be more useful to me than anything. Kathy

That's an interesting Iris. We don't have any around here like that. Right now, we don't have any flowers at all! Here's an iris that bloomed in my workshop this past winter. It's not the same kind as yours. Kathy

Wow! Clay, you're really good at putting those tutorials together! I want to thank you for the bear paw you gave me at Sheridan. I show it to whoever I can, and every one of them asks if the claws are real. It is such a wonderful piece of art work! I'll have to try my hand at making some, now that I can see how they're done. Kathy

Thanks guys, I appreciate the kind words. Ken, you always say the nicest things. It's funny, when I posted these pictures, I was thinking "This picture ain't so great." I guess I've been looking at it too long! Hiloboy, I do have a how-to with a horse head, but it's too big for Johanna to post. I have to figure out how to make it smaller! If you have any specific requests, let me know and I'll see what I can do. Kathy

When I do wood grain, I look at a piece of wood. What better pattern could there possibly be? I don't cut the grain, I use the modeling spoon on it. The more worn look you want, the deeper the impressions. Then I add light horizontal lines with a stylus to make it look more woody. Here's a frame I did some time ago. Kathy

After the show in Sheridan, my family and I went to Yellowstone for a couple of days. There, I found two skulls from elk cows which were probably winter kill. Thier bones were all knawed on by many other creatures, and smelled pretty bad. For some reason, no one wanted me to bring the skulls home. At least I have a picture, so I can pretend I added one to my collection! The other one I failed to get a picture of. It would have been difficult to put in the trunk, as it had most of the backbone attached. How sad, I don't have one like that!

I hate to brag, but one of my pictures came out better than the one Clay took! That's Akiko smiling in the leather framed mirror. In Clay's picture of the mirror, all you see is his arm. Am I good, or what???

"Going by one of the pictures, some of the helpers for the class were Cheryl Katzke, Phil Keller, Rick Vine, Tom Katzke, Kathy Flanagan, Charley Bay, Leon Sevier, Dave Smith, Kay (something that I think starts with an O) and the two Japanese ladies, one is Akieko (again HELP Kathy!!!, I know I spelled that wrong and cant think of the other one's name at all)" Clay, here I am to rescue you! As Anne stated, it's Akiko. Her last name is Okada. She lives in the Tokyo area and teaches leather craft there, here, and in Australia. She spent six weeks building that little saddle under Clint Fay's instruction, drawing out her own pattern. She did a beautiful job! She used Fiebing's Orange Dye on the bachgrounded areas on the pattern, and mahogany paste antique over that. I never would have thought of using orange! The other people Clay could find the names of under his hat are Sachiko Toyoshima, the other Japanese lady who lives in Denver, and Kay Orton. Kay is the secretary of Colorado Saddle Makers Association, and an outstanding 4-H leather craft leader in the Grand Junction area of Colorado. She and others are striving to rewrite the 4-H leather craft books for Colorado and Wyoming. "I did get to spend some time with really good friends like Kathy and Charley and that is priceless." Clay, there is nothing better than spending time with people who have turned into such good friends. Sheridan is the perfect place to find those friends. Kathy