Keeping Busy During Lockdown

[Handstitched]

In this episode of " Keeping Busy During Lockdown" .....

I've had trouble with mice for years, I've almost caught 100 . I set the traps as usual , as soon as I see  ' calling cards' on my benches. The trap went off last night alright...but... the * expletive*  mouse went walkabout with the trap  still attached to the mouse. Its in my workshop......somewhere. 

So I've just spent the entire day trying to find the mouse with my  %$#*ing   trap.  No luck..yet . I  don't want  to leave a rotting  smelly mouse somewhere in my workshop,  as that could attract ants . 

@Draconias I'm sorry you've lost your job, sadly, its become a common theme these days . But We do our best to look on the bright side .  These challenging times really do concentrate the mind and  we go back to the hobbies & interests that we once enjoyed, but at the same time wonder why we gave it up in the first place?   This thing called ' life' gets in the way I guess.  I used to play with &  restore vintage valve radios in a past hobbyist life. While looking for my troublesome mouse, I did some tidying, re-arranging, and thought I'd get a few old radios out of one of  my other sheds, where they've been in storage for over 20 years . The ones I grabbed worked   So good to play with some old ' technology' that will be working displays . 

I've been trying to ' * shedify ' my workshop for years , looking good so far   ( *a word I made up) It will take the next 5 years or more to finish it. 

 

* Shed-ify:  Noun ;  to ' man cave'  a workshop,  a bar,  a meeting place,   an old garage,  by displaying all sorts of old crap to make it look very ...manly  , blokey . 

HS

 

[Handstitched]

Thank God for the locals. They've kept me in business. 

One needed a zip replaced on a ute cover, with extra gusset,   recently. ( 'pick up'  cover to you guys  ,  ute , pronounced 'yoot' )   Not leather I know,but, a job is a job.  It was  really awkward to sew, but I got it done. 

You can see I keep my machine well oiled...see the splatter?  . 

I continued to ' shed-ify' my shed today. ' displaying all sorts of old crap'  , ha !! 

I keep seeing the reports in the news about the US , I can only hope & pray that things get better. 

Peace

HS

Edited May 1, 2020 by Handstitched

[Handstitched]

My goodness,  how things have changed around the world since I last posted that. 

My workshop is now ' shedified',(  but I'm sure I'll find other stuff to decorate my workshop with.  . Lots of old tack, some good tack ,  still quite usable and sellable  ,  horse shoes, some shearing shed stuff, vintage radios, some old kero lamps, a scythe,   and a 1940's desk fan. 

What has everyone else been doing?   Coming on here really has helped. 

In a sign things are going back to "normal", here in Australia anyway,  ' intrastate' border restrictions came down  (WA) and I was able to go to Perth  and   pick up equine stock. I ordered stock and supplies from Adelaide and QLD,  Adelaide supplies arrived yesterday, in " normal"  12 days, QLD supplies ( heaps of machine threads) arrived today, ' Express Post' , it meant just that, Express Post, ordered Monday ( June 1st) and  and arrived today, Thursday ( June 4th)  . It was like Christmas Day this morning to open a parcel full of lovely threads    Any other time throughout COVID, that would take at least double that time to arrive. 

Once again, Thank God  for the locals that have supported me ....and one in NSW , some leather jobs, but  mostly non- leather, but a job is a job and it pays the bills   

Stay safe peeps  

Peace

HS

PS:  I did get my 100th mouse . Champagne anyone? 

[Handstitched]

Post Lock down.....Australia.

Well, Victoria ( in the east )  has gone into reverse  and gone back into lock down. What a total stuff up  over there , sorry Vicco  !! Western Australia  is doing OK ....so far...'touchwood' . We're doing the complete opposite  and opening up , re-starting all sorts of events, venues etc. 

I had my first market today  since March. I did really well . Lots of local support  and lots of new faces coming to town. My other regular markets are re-commencing in the coming months . 

However, the cost of some leathers from my supplier have gone way up due to an increase in freight from O/S  . I'll have to find an alternative  for some leathers. 

Stay Safe

HS 

[dikman]

Mate, it's safe to say that Victoria is a basket case at the moment! Australia, as a whole, was doing fairly well until these outbreaks in Vic started up. The people running that State should be shot (or exported to China).

Glad to hear that things are picking up for you. Funnily enough, not much changed for me during all of this, the only real impact has been closure of the shooting ranges, but they're now starting to open up a bit. I haven't done any leatherwork (yet, I really should get back into it) but have spent a fair bit of time getting my larger lathe running on a 3-phase/VFD setup and getting it to run accurately (finally!). And built a gas forge. And melted some aluminium to make a bar to align the lathe. In fact, it seems I've been doing everything except leatherwork!

You should post a couple of pics of your market setup, it could be of interest to others?

[Handstitched]

@dikman Its a horrible thing to say, but I  wouldn't be surprised to see  the ACT and perhaps NSW   go into lockdown .....again, but if people do the right thing, there shouldn't be too many concerns. But WA, (and no doubt SA ) ,  is watching the east very closely atm. 

My leather work load is  almost  getting back to 'normal'. 

Got a market tomorrow (11/7) so if I think of it, I'll take a pic or two and post it. 

Stay safe y'all   

HS

[Handstitched]

Not sure where to put this to be honest, but as its in context to the thread, I'll put it here.

Post lockdown: economic recovery...and my whinge.

Here in Western Australia we're doing quite well  , compared to other states in the east . Victoria are in  deep s...t  atm . NSW , ACT.  and maybe Queensland are a little nervous right now. 

And  I am grateful that I am now just as busy now as I was before the ' proverbial hit the fan .  I've have orders coming in ,  custom belts, cases etc and a custom guitar strap,and some mods to 54 mtrs of  garden netting ( not leather, obviously )  The  pollies ( here in Oz)  talk about  the economic recovery, getting people back into jobs, stimulus packages  post covid etc.  Thats fine, no issue, we  really need it . But  what frustrates me   is that all the  ' traditional'  trades,   like  what a  lot of us do for a living   don't get a single mention, here in Oz anyway.  Surely theres a place for ol' leather workers like myself in the big wide world of commerce?  

*sigh* I guess I'll just be confined to a ' niche market' and ' quaint little markets '  

@dikman I had every intention of taking a pic of my stall here in my town as you suggested,   as  I  bought a new wiz bang deluxe gazebo, on special,  woo hoo !!  I even took my camera with me .....but I forgot to take a pic. I remembered after I packed it  up?......bugger !!   Next time   

Stay safe

HS

 

[Handstitched]

On 7/9/2020 at 5:29 PM, dikman said:

You should post a couple of pics of your market setup, it could be of interest to others?

Long time no post on this thread. Just briefly on covid, , we , here in Western Australia, have  opened up to the rest of the Australia..in Nov. . with conditions.  Our Covid numbers are really low compared to the rest of the world, thats why we can freely go anywhere we like, almost . We're the ' envy of the rest of the world' ,  apparently   For me ,  business has been quite brisk, and EFT has increased quite a bit. 

Anyway, you're right,  I've been meaning to do just that, take a pic of my stall. I keep forgetting to take my camera every time I do a stall, but  today,  I took my camera....but I forgot to take a f*** pic !!  DOH !!!  I didn't remember until after I packed up.... aarrgh!!   Head like a sieve  !!  

I promise you , I will take a pic , one day  

Stay safe 

HS