Handstitched

Those are extraordinary pics, something we don't see here in Oz. We just got through some extreme heat, just starting to cool down, a bit. Queensland just a had a cyclone so all the towns closest to the coast are flooded. HS

Going back to the 'ye olde bad days again. In primary school in the southern ' burbs of Perth in the 70's , our class room was hot, full of flies etc. swatting flies was a highlight of our days in school, during summer, no air cond. the days seemed to drag on, and the lessons were borrrring, God bless Mrs Mickleright. We often kept ourselves ' entertained' . So, a girl sitting in front of me had long hair, I sneakily plucked a strand of hair from her head and very carefully tied it around the fly that I just caught , and let it go while holding the other end , so I had this fly on on a ' leash' funniest damn thing I ever saw ....and then I let it go, so theres this fly with a strand of hair flying around the class room When I think of that these days , I can't help but think of ' Freak On A Leash' by Korn Some of the other kids used to pluck the wings off the flies, they were no longer flies, they were ' walks' HS

When I was a wee lad ( I was a bit of a pr*ck back then) Mum used to take me to a dept shop,called ' Boans', now its Myers, in Perth WA . Mum would take me to the cafe, I found a table, and while she getting food and drinks, I would loosen the tops of the salt and pepper shakers on the unoccupied tables , you can guess what would happen next HS

Just to chime in, I was given 6 full binders full of LC mags as a ' thank you gift' some years ago, , some date back to the 1950's . Good to read, and to see how cheap leather and tools used to be. HS

I have modified a hat pattern by ' diesel punk' before to make it a bit taller into a ' top hat' . It did take a lot of thinking, and counting a lot of holes to make sure everything lined up, but it did work out. I didn't bother with the ' slash' style hat as thats been done to death, so I made a nice carved hat band. Came out good. HS

Thanks My birthday was good. Takeaway was yum, had leftovers for days after, and had a chocolate Bavarian cheese cake thingy with champers. . Didn't bother with candles, too many HS

Its happening again on Wednesday...I've had enough of these damn things, how do I make it stop ?? I'm not cooking....stuff it !!! Take away , washed down with some champers...... etc.

I imagine it would taste like a steak, maybe a bit fatty, but that where the flavour is . I have had Emu steaks, the flavour packs a punch, a strong gamey flavour. Roo meat is yummo, and very lean . The ' big red' roos up north are built like a brick s***t house, all muscle , you don't mess with them, best to eat them , lol HS

For general purpose belts that I make I use a 4mm DB or DS VT , but for the heavy belts I that I make, I use a 5- 5.5 mm . HS

I forgot to point out, that Camel meat is available, but only at a selected supplier, mainly in the east, and the program showed what can be achieved with the meat, a traditional middle eastern dish, looked dam tasty , but what happens to the hides ? HS

Not sure where this topic belongs, but here goes. There was a TV program in Oz recently called ' Eat The Invaders" . One of the 'invaders' was all about Camels as they are a feral pest across Central Australia, theres so many of them, they simply get shot and left to die where they are shot, quite a waste , and the program was all about eating the meat, the same as we eat beef. However, although the program was about eating the meat, nothing was said about using the hides to make leather. Cattle are already rounded up on cattle stations, but I can't understand why Camels can't be rounded up the same as cattle as I believe Camels are a wasted resource. Financial reasons? or Camels are simply not seen as a resource? I had a customer come to my stall late last year asking me where can she find Camel leather. We were thinking the same thing, I have tried searching for Australian Camel leather suppliers, but without success. She then showed me a bag made from Camel leather that she got from over seas, it was incredibly soft. We can't just about get every other types of leather here in Oz , except Camel leather. Strange HS

I haven't been here for quite a while, the 'new look site' took a bit of getting used to as we've all been so used to the " old look" site but I like it HS

Not sure how Mother Nature is treating you over there, but here we've been having heat wave after heatwave, and I've been unable to get into my workshop for weeks . There was a brief moment we had a bit of relief from the heat just long enough last week so I could at least tidy up my workshop and get it ready for work. but the day after , back up 40+ degs. I had so many things I wanted to do over Summer, but it was simply too dam hot. The Summers are definitely getting hotter. Hope all is well for you and yours, Dad is doing OK, touchwood. Stay safe, HS

"I'm on a whisky diet, I've lost 3 days already " ""Answering machine: If you want marijuana , just press the hash key " God bless Tommy Cooper HS

Another good source of braiding info is a really good book called 'Leather Braiding by Bruce Grant , I sometimes refer to it as my 'braiding bible'. HS

G'Day and Happy New Year About a week or so before Christmas we had some extreme weather. It got to 47 degs C on our back verandah in the shade, not sure what that is in degs F , pretty dam hot. So it must have been around the 50 deg mark in the direct sun. We only had one chook left that has been giving us regular eggs, but the heat was just too much for her and she didn't survive the heat. She's had plenty of shade and water , I gave her watermelon etc. but still too dam hot for her. I'll get some new chooks when this weather starts to cool down. Christmas was good, a LOT cooler, plenty to eat and drink of course, and leftovers that will last for a few more weeks. I did our regular grocery shopping last week, I only do it once every two weeks , but after all the ham and turkey I've been stuffing my face with, I had a greasy burger for lunch, not healthy, but nice I hope things improve for you and your Daughter . I have been treating Dad for some cancerous thingies on his back , using some strong creams etc. but they have to have dressings on them so I have to regularly change the dressings. Take care, HS

Yep, I made one more visit . Everything is set, and ready to go, I've got everything I need for Chrissy . Had my last market for the year on Sunday 15th , But I now have house work to catch up on, eek . Anyway, whatever you do and where ever you go, have a safe and Happy Christmas to you and yours. HS

I used to work around cattle branding marks, but not any more, when making belts for example, I keep the marks in , you don't get branding marks on vinyl HS

This topic has been very well covered, but the one I have has interchangeable bevellers , from #1 to # 5 , but I seem to keep using the #5, however, I have also learnt to increase or decrease the pressure when bevelling , saves having to keep changing blades for different applications, I do have quite a few other Tandy, and Craft tool bevellers that can use, but I'm just lazy , lol

Yep, right where the leather goes around the buckle , or the stitching has rotted , or the horse has done something really 'stoopid' breaking the tack...but thats for another thread. HS

After all the years of hand stitching and machine stitching belts and other items, I have never had one break as a result of perforations in the leather. Interesting topic too HS

Back in the early days, I just practiced a lot on lots of veg tan scraps just to get the feel of the stamps , carving knife etc. A lot of what I learnt came from books, Al Stohlman mostly, but also just trial and error , doodling on scraps . But when I finally go the hang of it, and it looked good, that was it, I was hooked , 19 years later...... HS

G'Day again, Yep , the 'refreshments' will be flowing my friend In fact, I found a rare treat that I haven't had for over 20 years, 'Newcastle Brown Ale". I was searching on line and found a bottle shop ( liquor store) in the northern suburbs of Perth that stocked it.So I bought a case of it online, it arrived in just over a week. I had to 'test' some, of course , tasted great Dad enjoyed a drop or two as well. It wasn't cheap as its very hard to get here in Oz , but its rare treat. I'm saving the rest for Christmas . Its still made in the UK , but Heineken now owns it. Everything is in place , sausage rolls, mince pies , prawns ( for me) ham , turkey, Christmas pudding, Christmas cake , brandy for the pudding, and cake . All I need to do is cook it and eat it. January and February are sorted for meals I'll be doing the last few markets for the year this weekend, but won't be staying long as its getting hot now, I don't want to leave Dad on his own for too long either. He is so far so good, , touchwood, I'm making sure he drinks plenty of fluids , eat plenty of fruit etc. I might be able to squeeze another visit on here before Christmas . Stay safe HS

Dam , that sounds tasty I'll be doing Chrissy a bit different this year. Last year I did a turkey and small ham but I had so much food left over, too much , theres only two of us and Dad isn't a big eater, so this year, I've got some turkey drum sticks , and I'll get a small ham, and maybe some turkey breast , for sandwiches etc. I picked up some cooking ideas from 'Nigella' on the TV yesterday. She put her turkey into some home made brine (?) with an assortment of herbs, spices etc left it overnight, . and put a mix of butter and maple syrup on the turkey before roasting, ( I won't be going that far) and she par boiled the spuds, added some semolina to them ( never seen that before, but I'll try it) and roasted them on high in goose fat, I don't have goose fat , but I can get duck fat, but they looked dam nice and crispy . . The ham will be done the usual way, in the oven with pineapple and glazed cherries and a ham glaze , that Mum made a long time ago. Its mostly sugar so its preserved well in the fridge, I also have a jar of Her home made piccalilli, the last one 2022 vintage, in the fridge Tastes absolutely yummo , goes well with ham .When I'm feeling brave enough I'll try to make some myself, I found Mums 'secret 'recipe' in among the gazzilion cooks books thats she accumulated over many years. Its a long process and the house will smell like a giant pickle for about a week , lol , but it will be worth it. I'll still be making a heap of sausage rolls and mince pies ( fruit) , theýre easy to make and freeze. Just in case I don't get here ( public pooter) before Christmas, have a Safe and Merry Christmas to you and your family HS

Al Stohlmans holsters pattern book is a great book to have ,I enjoyed making some of them , even just for the experience and for show, but no too many people are interested in the 'western style holsters' these days, and not to go too off topic, but gun laws are very tight here, and here in the west of Oz, they just got tighter. HS