Sheilajeanne

Very nice! I can't tell if the round thing is a weight or the top of the pommel of a saddle.

I went through this with my husband, who passed away from cancer. He had multiple other problems in the last year of his life, too - heart attack stroke, epileptic seizures. So hard to watch them go through this sort of thing. So sorry! Hospice can be a blessing, as they are really good at keeping their patients comfortable. Roger was in a palliative care ward in the hospital for the last few weeks of his life, and they did an excellent job of looking after him, too. Handstitched, we all have our limits of what we can cope with when looking after family members that are ill or suffering from the problems that come with old age. You need to know what those limits are, and have a plan in place for when you reach them. In Roger's case, I was able to keep him at home until he could no longer walk safely, but I needed the help of a live-in caregiver, as he couldn't be left at home alone. I found that out one night when he refused to accompany me to a church service, insisting he'd be fine. I came home to find him lying in the snow at the side of the house! He'd wanted to go visit the neighbours, but instead of walking down the driveway, then along the sidewalk, which had been cleared of snow, he'd tried to walk across the lawn, fell, and couldn't get up. I knew once he couldn't walk safely that it was time. There was no way to keep him in bed 24/7 - he would be wanting to get up, so someone would have to be able to keep an eye on him around the clock. The hospital had an alarm on the bed, which would go off if he tried to get up, and they were also able to let him have a tub bath, which was one of the few things that helped with the pain of the bone mets - they had a special hoist that would lower him into the tub. It really was the best place for him at that point.

Nor do I. And I just realized I was wrong about the notification thing. If you select that option, it will notify you of new posts in this forum even if you are browsing elsewhere. There has GOT to be something in 'notifications' that you can check/uncheck to fix this problem, as neither Chuck nor I get the 'Off Topic' posts listed when we sign in. I have to go to the forum to see if there's anything new, unless someone's quoted one of my posts or mentioned my name. Then I get a notification at the top of the page.

Squilchuck, I think I know how to fix this, as I don't get notifications of new content when I log in. Go to your settings. Click on 'Notification settings' Unselect the option for 'browser notifications'. Then you can just browse the forums that interest you. The topics that have new content will show in heavier type. There will also be a list of the most recent posts on the right side of the page. Off Topic threads do not show up in that list. If you get e-mail notifications, you can unselect that option, too. Hope this helps!

You don't say what you are looking for. Browse through the different forums until you find what you need. A number of important topics, like what sort of sewing machine you need for leatherwork. are stickied at the top of the forum. Also, the 'search function here works very well. That's usually my first way of getting a question answered. If that doesn't work, I post in the relevant forum. Are you talking about showing off your work, or selling it? Show Off! is at the top of the list of forums. There's also 'Critique My Work' and 'How Do I Do That?" if you want help to improve. I don't believe you're allowed to sell your leatherwork here, though you can sell tools, machines, patterns, etc.

Okay, it seems the piece of granite has either found a new home, or been taken to the dump.

Awesome work! I've been trying to design pockets, etc. for a bag I made. You've given me some interesting ideas! The pockets look like they were wet moulded, too. Is that how you did them?

Pill cups, wood block. You've already figured out stuff many of us figured out only by trial and error. Very messy error! I'm impressed by your advanced planning and methodical approach to your work! Looking forward to seeing the final result!

Chuck likes to work with metal too, if I remember correctly... Welcome to the forum!

I figured out why. Alliston and Area Buy and Sell is a private group. You have to become a member to see what's posted: https://www.facebook.com/groups/266954616689963 Will copy and paste: Details Condition Used - Good I have 3 foot by 4 foot, 1 inch thick piece of black granite that was used as a base for a wood stove. No chips or damage that I can see. It's extremely heavy. 2 people cannot lift it. If you can get it out of my house you can have it for free. Priority to quickest pick up. Need gone asap. Located in Innisfil, Mapleview and 25th sideroad area.

I saw this on my local FB page, and immediately thought hey, this would be great for leather working. If you can find someone to cut it into smaller pieces, it could make several people happy! It's 3 x 4 ft x 1 inch thick. Located in Innisfil, Ontario, which is close to Barrie. https://www.facebook.com/commerce/listing/1199388950811339/?ref=share_attachment

Saw the most interesting thing yesterday. I was at a meeting, and saw there was a bird's nest just outside the window. I could see mama bird's tail, but not enough to know what sort of bird. So, after the meeting, I went outside to take a look. It was a mourning dove, and she'd built her nest on top of an old robin's nest! No, she didn't re-use the robin's nest, just put a bunch of twigs on top of it! Mourning dove nests are the most ridiculous looking things. You wonder how the babies don't all fall out and wind up on the ground! They just make a pile of twigs on a branch somewhere, usually in an evergreen tree. This bird was lucky to have a nice solid base for her nest.

In Canada, we call the 'prairie roses' or wild roses. They are the provincial flower of Alberta. The slogan on Alberta's license plates is "Wild Rose Country'. They have a lovely scent, don't they?

jnottage, thank you for chiming in, and welcome to the forum! Handstitched is indeed lucky to have purchased this piece of western heritage which you authored! Always interesting to learn about the history of our craft!

Wow, now I just learned something new! What I've done previously is wetted a scrap of the mystery leather, and tried to stamp or tool it. If it won't stamp or tool, it's obviously NOT veg-tan. And yes, rotary knives work great for thin, stretchy leather. But just like with a regular blade, you have to make sure the blade is SHARP!

I downloaded fonts from the net, then trace them. I also have several different sizes and styles of letter stamps. I've freehanded letters sometimes, too. It's not that hard. There are also Tandy alphabet Craftaids out there, though I'm not sure if they are still being produced:

Nice work! And when I saw this topic header, my first reaction was: "Wait- Dwight QUIT leatherwork for awhile? WHEN??"

Okay, I've figured it out! If you click on the header for a particular forum, a box pops up on the left side of the screen that says 'follow' Click on the box if you want notifications from that particular forum. In my account settings, I've selected that I don't wish to receive notifications at all. I prefer to read the forums in person. But, for some reason, I selected that I wanted notifications from the 'Critique My Work' forum, which is why I got the post about the Hobo bag! And doing that overrides the 'no notification setting! Fine tune your account settings, and you can eliminate all the posts you don't want to see from your e-mail!

I think because the political threads were originally in the 'Off Topic' forum, they are open to everyone. They got moved to the Adults Only forum when some of the threads got nasty, and there were complaints. I don't remember how I did it, but I have managed to turn off notifications for that forum. I still get notifications for the other threads/forums, but not for every single post that's made. It's weird - I don't really understand how the notifications work. Usually it's only for threads I've posted in (subscribed) to. But yesterday, I got a post about the Hobo bag Bert had made. And, of course, that was a brand new thread. Maybe if the Admin. would make all areas of the 'Adult' forum truly 'subscription only' we could eliminate all the complaints. I certainly agree the forum has gone downhill, and something needs to change. There is SO much valuable information here! If I have a question or problem with leatherwork, the first thing I do is search this site. If that doesn't work, I make a post of my own in the relevant section, and nearly always, SOMEONE is able to answer my question!

Squid, the 50's was a LOOONG time ago, and as I'm sure you know, a lot of stuff that was okay then isn't okay now. And I believe we're better off for it! Derogatory racist and sexist remarks are (or should be) a thing of the past. (Not that I'm seeing those in OT. It's more things like Libertard, DemoRat, etc.) And they sure aren't saying them with a smile!

Agree with Chuck! (Gee, that's TWICE in a row now - will wonders never cease! ) In street gangs, dissing someone - even in a much less disrespectful way than has been done on certain threads in OT - WILL get you killed! Nice adult discourse, huh? That comment would have gotten Doc BANNED from a lot of the forums I've been on. It certainly would have been deleted.

Agree with Chuck that this probably should go in another forum, either the Administration forum or the Feedback forum.

Edit: I have put a few people on 'ignore' but have found the same problem as Squilchuk. When they are posting about leather rather than politics, I would still like to read some of their posts.

Any other forums I've been on have eventually either banned ALL politics-related posts, or had to appoint moderators to keep the conversation civil. Some of the personal insults I've read in the OT forum recently are really over the top. Yup, and a few were directed at me. It should be a rule that it's okay to tell someone you disagree with them, but calling them names because of it IS NOT. Either that, or get rid of the OT forum completely. It's almost totally dominated by a few people with very conservative viewpoints, and most of them don't tolerate any other viewpoint, and bully and insult anyone with an opinion different from their own until they leave. Why do I bother with the forum? Well, I hate to see the discussion so completely dominated by people who are just patting each other on the back and agreeing with each other. There ARE other voices out there that you should listen to, even if you don't agree. TOLERANCE, people, it's called tolerance. That's what makes a civil society work.

Well that just shows you you can't trust everything you read on the internet! Several articles that popped up from my search said it was just fine to use it on fiberglass. Anyway, if he deglazes the leather CAREFULLY, just getting the surface of the leather damp, I think it should work. But stripping the leather off would be my first choice, too, though I'd want to check with the bowyer first to make sure those cord wrappings are just holding the leather in place, and aren't part of the structure of the bow.