Handstitched

Well chuck, it's that time of the year where it's starts to warm up on the approach to summer here in Oz, i'm guessing it will start to cool down for you. The canola crops around the district are maturing, they smell like rotten cabbage for about 3-4 weeks then dry out for harvesting. I've been busy weed spraying, then slashing,soon followed by fire breaks, they're compulsory for land holders . Are they compulsory in the US ? The width varies from one local shire to the next, but average 1.8 mtr wide, but I make mine 3-4 times wider to be sure . HS

There's a heap of great advice here. A few more bits to add to that list: good music:, my most recent market at the weekend, the muso was good, but he needed to expand his ' repertoire ' , it was a bit repetitive. The type of music being played can make a difference at a market, the overall atmosphere, the way people browse and buy, and so on. Crap or too loud music can drive them away. The music at one market I went to made it sound like a funeral. At another, the 'singer' couldn't sing, the only thing missing was a howling dog and the vendors had their hands over their ears 👂 🙉 Food stalls near by : Depending on the food, ( aromas) can either invite people to a market or drive them away. Location Location location 🎶 I have some ' goth boots ' with spikes all over them ( they are on here somewhere), and wow , they sure attract people IN to my stall. They ask questions, take photos etc. I then, talk leather, show them pics of everything I have made in my folders, my machines, a few ' how to ' pics and so on, keep them interested, i at least sell one or two items😀 HS

@fredk that would be perfect for satay or marinated chicken or pork skewers , while marinades may not be 'medieval ', they'll taste real good 😋 HS

You did a great job on the paint. That is some serious rubber HS

My latest pet peeve atm , we've had some great weather lately, mainly during the week, but it seems that every time a weekend market comes up over the last few months it rains heavily, or theres a storm causing market cancellations.we really need the rain, except on market day, why can't it be the other way around, rain during the week and lovely weather on market day? I was going to attend a market on Saturday, but I've cancelled as its yet another wet weekend, but right now, its perfect weather HS

Here in Oz , there's a TV program atm , ' Wheeler Dealers, where they buy unloved cars , fix them up, and sell them on. Tonight, they did an 80s ' Jeep Wagoneer' , ,it did remind me of your Suburban , it looked nice, when finished, but perhaps too nice,like brand new, but i would never take it to the places I've taken my landys , I'd scratch it, bend it to billy'o . HS

'I once saw a fish play a piano, it was a ' piano tuna ' HS

Seeing your burb makes me think of my landys. 'sigh' . I have 3 of them Your burb looks so good btw 👍 Atm I am ' resource rich and time poor' , that's my latest catch phrase . There's so many things I'd love to do but no time to do them , including playing with my 'toys' . Yeh , that barby works great 👍 It's Fathers Day here in Oz on Sunday, 7th September. So I'll be doing a roast lamb and vegies, and with champers😋 I got him a Vincent Black Shadow motorcycle model, for fathers day , like the one he had in the uk , and I once rode in ( the side car ) when I was a baby. I sat on mums lap. It was all black with red leather interior, I still remember how it looked and smelt, i don't know how I remember that, i just do, that's weird. HS

@fredk I had a look around on line at some goth 'stuff ' , and holy crap , there's some really wild and bizarre stuff out there. I did start some gauntlets a few years back and never finished them, so I might dig them out of my "basement " and finish those off,finally, just like the boots and put those on display as well. While I am by no means a 'goth' or a punk, but for some reason what I have seen just makes me smile ☺️ You can see those spikes along the back a bit better. HS

That looks great 👍 One thought that went through my head when i saw that was 'Pinhead' from the movie Hell Raiser. I'll put my thinking cap on, pardon the pun, 😀 HS

@Sheilajeanne and @fredk When I put them on my stall, there's a 'not for sale strictly for display ' sign attached as they bring people into my stall, peeps take a lot of pics of them. I' ll try to up load another pic ,but the spikes along the back of the boots are around 3" long x just under an inch in thickness. The rest are around 1" to 2 " in length , some around 3/4 " . The hardest part was fitting the spikes on the toes, as getting my hands , being a bit arthritic , into a small space. I quite like them . I do have some spikes left over, I'm sure I can find a creative use for them try googling ' goth boots with spikes' , and omg, some designs are so wild and whacky. One design had a knife blade as the heel of the boot. So i came up with a design of my own. Love to do more HS

@fredk it been a while , but I have finally managed to up load those goth boots that i did a while ago. The boots came from an op shop years ago, and the spikes were from the US years ago. They certainly get a lot of attention at the markets. HS

My little bbq . It's not very big, but it works just fine, and big enough for me and dad. I got a 2 ring gas burner for my wood fired brazier so I can at least have a barby, while my ol' bunky is being restored. HS

@Gosut I don't think you have much to worry about. I use beer logos in leather, and I also sell beer bottle tops as fridge magnets. Some years ago , I spoke to a rep for a company that covers many beer brands etc. here in Oz , he told me ' as long as I don't modify the logo they are fine' . There's a thread regarding copyright on this site. HS

That lump of beef was......ok , hardly restaurant quality. Quite tough in fact. I'll do a slow cook curry on monday with the leftovers . I will never buy a "discount " lump of beef ever again 😒 thing is, I have one more lump to use up in the freezer . Lesson learnt. HS

@kiwican I know how you feel . Stuff happens often out of our control. Glad you're still keeping up with your leather, working with leather can often be therapeutic. i went to my leather supplier a few weeks ago he pulled out an old invoice....from 2004, just reminds me how much has changed, price wise, and how much I have changed. HS

That's it, I've committed. One of the ' lumps' is thawing out as I type. Its around 2kg . I'll cook it s-l-o-w-l-y on Saturday. It will either be nice juicy and tender , or I'll be able sole my shoes with it . I'll let you know how it goes at the weekend. Thankfully I can freeze the cooked meat if I have a lot left over, soups etc. HS

I think I have spoken about this before, but I have 2 lumps of rump in the freezer that's been there for 5 -6 years or more, freezer burnt to buggery , they were part of a huge slab of 'cheap ' meat that i cut up, I'm thinking of cooking one up this weekend..........very very slowly , or I could get lazy and not bother 🤔, we'll see . Every time I open the freezer, they're looking at me and I think, " I must do something with those", hate wasting food. HS

@chuck123wapati you've convinced me, i'll give the ol bunky bbq a rebuild . Our spam comes in a nicely formed lump out of a tin and can be sliced, just like corned beef in a tin , full of fat and God knows what else, a vegos worst nightmare, that and black pudding, ha! But they taste great 👍 HS

@Sheilajeanne Spam : "Something posing as meat " 🍖 It's all lips and a***holes , and tastes great .😁 @chuck123wapati just turned my cheapie wood fired brazier , with bbq plate, into a gas fired bbq using a 2 ring gas burner from the hardware . It needs a few adjustments here and there, but otherwise works great , I tested it this arvo with a sausage and piece of bacon 🥓 BBQ for dinner Saturday night with fried rice, and a few beers, of course that old ' bunky ' gas bbq of mine needs some tlc now , another 'round to it' job . I'd like to do a full restore on, it not too many bbq's with cast iron burners around these days . HS

800 euros is around $1500 au. That's a pretty good haul of goodies 👌 I'd be like a kid at Christmas, I just want to play HS

Are we allowed to know what your day job is, ? because those tubes look so handy and functional. I used to do a paper round in my little town some years ago, and I kept the empty cardboard tubes from the rolls of cling film that wrapped the papers, so strong and so handy . HS

That's what I call ' flying blind ' . For example: A customer asks me to make a leatherman type case, so I make a tracing , size, width etc of the item, and make template from the dimensions given *. I also get as much detail from the customer as possble. Same goes for sheaths etc. It's best to have the knife, leatherman , or item to make a custom leather case etc. *over the years, I now have quite a collection of templates for various applications. HS

Very nice 👌 All of my rolls of leather are under benches,, scraps, off cuts etc are stuffed in bags, boxes, on home made shelves under benches and in every conceivable gap in my workshop, and i've run out of those. I have a 20 x 20 and it's getting rather tight in there with 4 sewing machines, and a USM press, and a " partridge in a pear tree " 🌳 😀 Time for me to do what you've done, go up in stackable boxes, either that or have a ' clearance sale ' . HS

On of the 'wurst' accidents occurred in Pennsylvania this week , when a truck carrying approximately 500kg of hot dogs lost control scattering the yumny load along the hwy, according to ' sauces' . A truck load of hot dog rolls also crashed immediately after (just kidding) . There is now a competition to see how quick the mess can be cleaned up . It 'mustard ' have been a difficult job to 'swallow' . Just need a truck carrying a load of beer to spill its load to 'wash down ' the mess . HS