Bracelet

An anniversary present. Sterling silver with copper overlay.

I don't get to build much stuff like this, but enjoy it when I do.
One little trick I learned if you don't have the proper equipment, is to use a pick axe handle to bend the band around. It is shaped perfectly like a wrist.

Thanks John for the order.

Won buckles

These are stainless steel damascus with nickel silver letters. They will be given away in september at our local ranch rodeo. If you have never attended a ranch rodeo, they are a lot of fun.

Spurs at work

This was taken in Arizona on the Mexican border.
My spurs hard at work with the U.S. Border patrol.

It always amazes me where my stuff ends up.

Wildlife in the yard

This guy was wanting on the porch this morning. Please, no one asked how high I jumped when we came face to foot.

Some type of water snake. Our creek has dried up, and they are looking for a new home.

Anywhere but my home!

EDC's

Every day carries.

Corn cob handle

Pencil cactus handle

Specs; 2" blade, 5.5" overall length, 1" at it's widest point.
These are small, stay out of the way, and can be worn with about anything, and anywhere.

A bit

I enjoy building bits, especially for good horseman, and this one is going to one of the best.
This is based on an old Bayers pattern I have, but tweaked just a little to suit the customer.

Visitors and pics

 We are getting company tonight. A niece and sister-in-law are coming in, and will spend tomorrow checking out a cosmotology school in Brownwood, a town just south of us.
I am all for a young person chasing their dreams and following their heart, but why on earth would anybody want to be a russian astronaut.

Some pictures from last week;

Damascus cutting spurs

I can only show the inside of these spurs, as the outside silver work, though funny as hell, may not be appropriate for our younger audience. If anyone would like to see the other side, just drop me a note, and I will email it to you.

Thanks Jacob, they where a pleasure to build.

These spurs are 180 layers of 1018/nickel damascus. The buttons are old liberty dimes, and the mountings are nickel silver. They are a one piece spur.

The glamorous life

We preg checked a set of cows yesterday.

Kristen was our official wormer pourer on-er

We have a lot more of these long, hard, hot days than we have the fun ones. Everyone slept good last night.

Unproductive cows are nothing but a drain on the checking account. We had two out of this bunch that were open, and we will let some one else own them via the sale barn next week.

The hard way

We helped the neighbor pen and ship steers last week. Every thing went well except for two head, and nothing could be done with them. We were on some real rough country, lots of brush, mesquite, and cactus, and they were very good at hiding out. We finally caught them cutting across a mostly dry lake, and caught them before they could den up again.

Caught and tied down

Getting the rope off

Loaded, and off to the pens

The hard way is not the way we like to do things, but sometimes it's the only way.

Knives

A few I got back from the sheath maker last week.

The bottom picture is a neck sheath, with a ball chain or a strip of leather run through the attachment on the back. The wood on this one is out of an Agarita bush root ball. Stabilized of course.

All are 5160/8670/15n20 damascus, and all are for sale. Contact me for more details or more pictures.

Practice pen

There is nothing about what we do that is easy. The difference between rodeo and high school sports is you don't have a coach, nobody to tell you when its time to practice, and nobody to blunt the truth about how you did. I am extremely proud of my niece for getting her butt out of bed, trying new horses, and making things work for her. Goat tying is the easiest way I know of for a poor kid with no money to be competitive. Here she is on Kyle's old heel horse, making the best of what she has to work with.

Happy birthday

From fly over country

Killing snakes

Penning cattle yesterday, we ran into Mr. Buzztail. Ronald dispatch him quickly and bravely. This was the second one of the morning.

http://www.uta.edu/biology/herpetology/western_diamondback_rattlesnake.htm

There have been several rattle snake bites in the area this year, and we had one cow messed up pretty bad by one this spring. The people will recover, and the cow won't go to waste, we put it on feed and will probably butcher it for our own consumption.

A good read

http://ranchersdaughterblog.wordpress.com/2012/07/02/protect-the-harvest-their-plan-to-protect-you/

A great post by Ms. Bodine. I hope everyone takes the time to read it, and understand what the agriculture industry is facing on a daily basis. They want us out of business and will use any means possible to accomplish there ultimate goal.

Mokume'

A buckle I finished. Mokume' with nickel silver brand and letters. This buckle fits a one inch belt.

Seth says he is going to save this for when he has to dress up, I didn't know he ever did.

I took these next pictures while out checking water a few days ago.

The story of my life, on the verge of "out of water".

I hope you folks in the midwest got a little relief from the heat today. We did. It is sad when 96 feels cool compared to what the rest of the week was like.