yaklady

Cheylor-Fenilli has an edging product that works great. I don't know what it's called because there are no words on the bottle. I always thought Aussies could read and write, but maybe not. Any way, I got some from Keith Johnstone in Wickenburg. It comes in brown or black and it does not crack. Pretty nice stuff. Keith also sold me an applicator with a little wheel on it that puts the stuff on the edge prefectly. I'm sold! Kathy

The yaks are quite at home on their range. The deer like to come play, but I think the yaks prefer playing with the coyotes. That gives them something to play catch with!

I don't think they have their workshop list out yet. Usually, the guilds are sent a list as soon as they're set, but our guild hasn't heard a thing. Can I bring my yaks for the ranged event?

The only earth quakes I ever experienced was when I was a kid. They used to pump toxic waste a mile down under ground at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal. The ground must not have liked that, as it resisted and complained with a huge "burp". They stopped doing that and I haven't felt one since.

They tell me you can use the new Hi-Liter products at Tandy's that way. Also, long ago, I saw a guy use acrylic paint to get that effect. He used turquoise paint, watered down on black. The tooling came out very well that way. I haven't tried it, but it looks like it wouldn't be hard. If you use acrylics, the color range is wide open. Try it out and let me know if it works for you. Kathy

Could that be any worse than from Mexico? That's what we deal with a lot!

I agree with Duke. Nylon latigos are not the way to go. I used one once, on someone else's saddle, and all it did was slip on me. You have to use the tongue buckle to keep it in place. I have used an old wood burner to make holes in nylon, but yes, they get hard and crack. You could put eyelets in the holes, that might help keep them nice, but I don't know how they would hold up to that kind of abuse. Maybe you should suggest leather latigos. They would be better off in the long run. Kathy

Sorry I didn't see this sooner. Hide Crafters has carried these in the past. They may still have them since they changed hands. A lot of thier stuff is the same. Kathy

No sun slits here. Our 2 feet of snow is building back up to 3 feet today.

If you want a really good knife, stay away from the Al Stohlman knives. That brand is made to look great, but aren't as functional as you would expect them to be. Chuck Smith and Bob Beard have excellent knives. Henley isn't bad, but I like the other two better. The blade makes the big difference in your carving. Ceramic blades work well, but my very favorite blade is one from Chuck Smith. The only ruby blades I've seen are from way back. My Chuck Smith is much better. Every person has their own opinion on swivel knives. What works for one is horrible for another. The best thing to do is go to Sheridan and check out the knives there yourself. That's the best place to play with them, since there are so many suppliers there. Good luck on finding the right one. Kathy

It almost got up to 50 here today! Heat wave! Only 2 feet of snow left! Spring is on its way.

My daughter dances so much, she wore her ghillies out. I decided to try to make her new ones, and used the old pair to create a pattern. I haven't actually made them yet, so who knows if the pattern will work. She got impatient and ordered new ones which cost about $40. I'm not in a rush now to make her any, so the pattern is still sitting there. I haven't heard any where to buy a pattern.

Prairie Dogs are much larger than gophers, 14 inches long compaired to the 7" long gopher, or ground squirrel. They have simlar habits, such as digging burrows and eating grasses. Prairie dogs are very social and live in a prairie dog town. You find them all over the Great Plains. Many people get angry with the little creatures because of their holes, which can be quite large. A horse can break a leg in one. They also tend to carry the plague. They are an important part of our ecosystem, feeding coyotes, eagles and such. I like the littel guys, but we don't have them in the mountains. We just have the samller ground squirrels. Kathy

Roo, is Toadie your favorite when he's tanned, or when he's alive?

Doug, That's the only place I have found. Someone else mentioned a place once before on this forum, but I can't remember who or when. How much are you wanting? I could send you some of my 2 pounds if you don't think you'll ever use that much. The 4-cord comes in 1 pound for $25. It has been very useful to me, too. Kathy

I never did try sawing with thread. That would be a new experience. I saw someone saw a hunk of wax with thread once. Seriously, though, I use 4-cord or 7-cord unwaxed linen thread for all my hand sewing. I run it across some paraffin wax before use to keep it from fraying. It comes from Beiler's Manufacturing and Supply in Pennsylvania, phone, 717-768-0174. It comes in several colors, but I just use white. You can always dye it. It looks professional when you're done. I use haness needles to sew with. The waxed linen thread you get at Tandy's is too bulky and too waxy to give you good results. The best thing for you is to try several different things to see what works best for you. Kathy

Very nice, Marlon! Now you need to make a rawhide lamp shade to go with it. That's right up your alley, right, Rawhide? On the next one (you do have 2 stirrups, don't you?) you could do some tooling or stamping on the inside, too. Wouldn't that be cool? You don't leave room for any more critique! Kathy

That new contact cement that Tandy's came out with is pretty good stuff. If you stick your nose in the can, it can hit your sinuses pretty hard, but it does not smell up the room, and quite frankly, I think it works better than the old super-smelly stuff. I have not put it to the test, however. The old contact cement I used to make a saddle 30 years ago. There are a couple parts on it that I never sewed (I was a lazy kid) and the cement has not let loose yet, even after numerous rain and snow storms, lakes, rivers, mud, you name it. I take my horse everywhere! Kathy

That's a really cool picture! You got the details down very well.

Thank you for all the HB's, you wonderful people !!! I do like Clay M's comments much better than Clay B's. Now I'm getting younger than my daughter! I honestly don't remember how many times I've had a 29th birthday, but it hasn't been 30 yet! Guess what fun thing I did for my birthday? I went down to Tandy's and taught class all day, and drove home in a snow storm. What could be better? Jo, I would love to see that yak eating a cake! My yaks just eat cookies. Today we're going to see "Horton Hears a Who". What better way to stay young? Hope all of you had a wonderful day on my birthday!! Kathy

Just thought I'd add my own two cents to all this. Back in the 1900's, I was taking a saddle making class at Tandy's when the instructor was transferred to another state, right in the middle of class. I had a saddle half way done. The second half of the saddle was done strictly with the help of Al Stohlman's books. I didn't know what I was doing, but that saddle turned out very well. I won 3rd out of 5 in a saddle show at the state fair. Al is very thorough in his books, explaining every little detail. I highly recommend these books for a beginner. Kathy

I'm sure you feel terrible! Just wait till this summer. I'll be the one who's laughing!!! This is a four foot fence. You can barely see the top foot. That's how most of our yard is right now. You should see the miniature horse running through it!!

Now the snow outside the front door is so high I can't see over it! It was spring in Wickenburg. No spring in sight here.

That's pretty darn nice! I wish I could have taken that class. What all did you learn? (Perhaps that question will take you all day to answer!) Kathy