When it Too Hot to Work Outside–Work Inside

The Plan was to get the Urchin’s motorcycle to the shop, mow the yard, finish the roof trim  & get the larger of my motorcycle trailers up for sale this week.  Well I did get the motorcycle to the shop Friday, loaded it onto the rail trailer all by myself just fine.  I also called the Urchin Friday eve & wished her a Happy Birthday.

Trailer with installed by me wood flooring & ramp

And I got  the yard mowed finally.  The cable that engages the wheels so they turn broke but I got things moving by substituting a bungee cord.  I got half the back mowed Saturday but had to stop when I located the yellow jacket nest under the doghouse the hard way.  No hard work until the effects of  the stings & the shot at the clinic wear off.  Spent the rest of Saturday with ice packs on various parts of my torso & drinking lots of water.  Mowed the front Sunday & the rest of the back Monday, all except a buffer zone around the nest site.  I do not want to annoy these squatters again. 

I got 2/3 of a coat of paint on the rear trim, but the heat is defeating me there.  Its just plain too hot to paint anything.  So the last 1/3 of the rear & the kitchen side trim will just have to wait.  Ditto working on the blue motorcycle trailer.  Its too hot to do anything outside, too hot even to read in the shade outside. 

I did consider finishing this front window because its well shaded but decided to wait until the birds are done here.

So I made lemonade – both literally & figuratively.  Since outside work was out, I worked inside.  Cleaning I did late at night when its cooler.  Letter writing, photo file organization & history projects I did during the day.

This is my shooting bag.  The strap has been reversed for left side wear & shortened for half-ling sized me.  The leather patch in the center of the strap is for a powder horn strap.  The strap slides under the patch so the bag & horn stay together as a unit.  The leather has been treated with Pecard dressing & an 18th century reproduction buckle installed.

Thank you Henry Bryant of Ft. Vause Outfitters for both the buckle & the tutoring in leather working.  This is a Speedy Hogarth bag & I wanted my alterations to match Speedy’s work in quality. 

This is Buffalo Woman’s Leatherman shooting bag.  She had some water leakage issues in her gear storage area & this bag had developed some serious mildew.  Well the mildew is gone thanks to a good cleaning with mouthwash inside & out.   This  bag has also been treated with Pecard dressing.  Another thanks here to Henry Bryant & his workshop on leather care at an Eastern Primitive Rendezvous.

The gear in the bag had suffered from the dampness also & corroded each in its own way.  I polished the German silver & brass pieces then polished & re-blued the iron gear.  The char cloth, flint & tow in the tinder box were unaffected by the moisture, so the box did what its supposed to do – keep the tinder dry. 

I also replace the strap on my mid-19th century style cherry wood canteen & am currently working  on a small pigskin flint & steel bag as well as a powder horn strap.  Will post those pictures once I’m done. 

I have also seen the final Harry Potter film but promised my daughter not to talk about that until she’s seen it too.