A WONDERFUL LUNCH AND VISIT WITH NEIGHBORS!

SUNDAY, JAN. 11th-A few years ago, Ralph got into making leather items. He mostly does stuff for himself. Every so often he makes something for friends. Although he is not a professional and is still learning, he has done some beautiful things.

Hoppy's neighbor Richard and his wife Debbie have the ranch next door and together with Hoppy they have a partnership with the longhorns.

Richard is retired from the phone company.  While with the phone company he had always carried this tool called "Electrician Scissors". He still carries it today because this tool comes in so handy on a daily basis. His present scissor pouch has become worn so he asked Ralph to make him a new one. Ralph added a little something special by personalizing it with Richard's initials.

Ralph made a pattern by tracing the outline of the scissors. Next he cut out the pattern and transferred the pattern to leather and cut it out.

He wets the leather to smooth the grains with a hard flat piece of wood. If you are going to do any carving on it, you do it at this time while the leather is wet and soft. In this case he carved Richard's initials. Now it has to dry completely.

The piece you see in the picture "LR" is Ralph's alias name of Lefty Rhodes that he uses in his Cowboy Action Shooting competition. He is making a knife sheath for himself.

Next you put it all together and apply a leather glue around the edges to hold the pieces together. You prepare it for sewing or lacing by punching the holes by hand with a stitching awl.

Next step is to oil the leather and let it dry good. Then it is stained before putting a protective seal on it. The last step is to lace it up with a fancy double loop stitch and viola!

Debbie called us this morning and invited us up for lunch. She said we will have Bill Millers! (Hot Dog!)

On the way over to Richard and Debbie's home, we stopped to watch the Longhorns munch on a round bale of hay.

Here mom watches over her baby. I love the curl on her horns.















 


Ralph gave Richard his leather pouch and he sure did like it. He put it on his belt right away and was a "Happy Rancher".

There is a chain of BBQ restaurants called Bill Miller's. They are very popular and very, very good. Richard had gone out before we arrived and picked up brisket, sausage, slaw, potato salad, green beans, brown bread and brownies. Debbie has quite the garden and from it we enjoyed delicious hot peppers with our meal.

We sat around the table after lunch was over and had a nice chat. I bent their ear about longhorns, oil and ranch life. It is a different world here than in Maryland. What fun it was.

We sure have gotten to know some fine folks while traveling the country.




Debbie is a talented quilter. She is involved with a quilting group and they make quilts for soldiers. It is called "Quilts of Honor".

She has always quilted out of her home but she has gotten so big, she was running out of room.

In front of their house is a detached 2 car garage. Richard remodeled the garage completely inside and out. New siding, insulation, drywall, beautiful french doors, windows, ceiling fan and lighting. It is just beautiful and cozy.

Then I made a mistake. I let Debbie know that it almost makes me want to take it up quilting. For some reason I have always been interested in quilting even though I can't thread a needle!

Debbie piped up and said she would be happy to teach me. YIKES! (She needs to talk to Janna who taught me how to do this blog, I guarantee that she would soon change her mind).

I admire the talent that people have. What I like most is that every quilt has a story.

Until next time, Happy Trails........................